Wanderful

Three Years! Yikes

2010-12-12T00:31:00.003-06:00

So much has happened in the last three years it's unreal. I spent a good hour today figuring out how to transfer this blog to my new Gmail account and figured hey why not start blogging again. These days I have a lot of time on my hands during the day due to a still unhealed broken foot and despite Facebook taking over the world it's still kinda nice to have an uncluttered place to vent. Tonight we watched a full UFC fight night for the first time. It was pretty good, some exciting fights and GSP kept his title in a standup match against Koscheck. GSP's from Montreal and the fight was in Montreal which made it even better.

Time to see if I still remember how to add a picture

Yep still super slow on the upload, c'mon blogger step it up already. This is a pic from the day we tried to get a good picture for christmas cards...it didn't work, maybe next year

For Autumn

2007-10-30T01:50:00.000-05:00

Who you are to me

You are the one my heart longs for
The girl of my dreams
The one I miss when I wake up

You are an inspiration
My truest source of encouragement
The most beautiful girl I've ever known

You are a patient teacher
My favorite study partner
For the best lessons on being close

Autumn amazes me constantly, she actually likes me, I have no idea how I am so blessed to have a girlfriend like her. She is by far the best thing that has ever happened to me and I can't imagine how life would be without her. I had happy times before I met her don't get me wrong, and I'm still happy when I'm not with her but with her it's a whole other level of happy. Joy would probably be a better word for it, the sort of thing that just makes you smile. I could and have spent hours with her almost every day and still wish we could be together more.

catching up

2007-10-20T16:58:00.000-05:00

Blogger is useless, every time I have time to put up pictures it doesn't want to load. Catching up is impossible it seems.

last week

2007-10-08T21:28:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday

2007-10-08T21:16:00.000-05:00

Canoe Kickoff last month

2007-10-08T20:02:00.000-05:00

September 16, 2007

2007-09-30T01:04:00.000-05:00

more pics from Kenora....way way back

2007-09-29T23:55:00.000-05:00

blogger sucks

2007-09-29T23:11:00.000-05:00

I've been trying for almost an hour to get more pictures up here and they just refuse to load. Wait wait it just worked, sweeet.

Cow Town

2007-09-29T18:29:00.000-05:00

Calgary again

2007-09-29T17:39:00.000-05:00

Unforgetable

2007-09-08T00:37:00.000-05:00

Tonight........wow, one of the best nights of my life.
Autumn baked me a pie! From scratch yet, even the filling, she had to peel apples. It tasted sooo good. I might even have some right now. K maybe not cause it's super late and I'm working tomorrow. Unreal how good it was though, she's the best.

The pictures are from last weekends road trip to Alberta and they're not all of them, I'll post more some other night.

Hey Chad sorry there's not too many pics

2007-08-23T21:57:00.000-05:00

whoops

2007-08-08T20:59:00.001-05:00

K for some reason I thought I had posted these yesterday, ah well, most of these are of Phil instead of just the one I put up yesterday.

more pictures

2007-08-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

There's a bunch of bmx pics from Winkler, one of Autumn, and some from today in Winnipeg, most of the riding pics are of Phil who we've been trying to get some good stylish air pics of, I'd say they're pretty good.

To let you know what's been going on in my life. Lets see... my truck will most likely be written off (it was hit by a big truck while it was sitting on the street), the house deal went down the toilet at the very last moment (yeah I was going to buy a 10 acre yardsite) had some high hopes but it didn't work. Autumn and I only get to see each other like once a week but they are the best days of the week.
I think that pretty much covers it.

The Streets I Know

2007-07-25T21:28:00.000-05:00

Steady to the slow ache
my beating heart returns
to the city
the streets
I know

Would I go down quickly
would dissappointment be the end
my weakness revealed
and a woman
a woman who knows

This must be where time draws away from the curb
where the dust swirls to the side
with each passing moment

Solitude scrambles back to its favorite shadow
as the leaves whisper soft goodnights
taking the last rays
before the darkness screams silence

"Dear nighttime friend, I missed you tonight,"
come a breeze
carry the words round the corner
that one is gone

I wrote most of that probably a year ago now, at that time it meant a lot more then it does now. To be totally honest I'm not too sure exactly what it means to me. I know I was alone, probably in Alberta and most likely in a very reflective mood. It was inspired by something else I'd written even longer ago, this was just with new insight. I found it again the other day in a stack of papers and since my family keeps asking for writing I figured this might satisify them for a little while.

July24

2007-07-24T22:27:00.001-05:00

Here's some pictures from the north field at the ranch. In all the time I've spent there I'd never camped there so the other day when I was there to finish some ramps I camped out in the field. The biking pics are from in Winkler of me and Phil with one pic of Steve. Henry took the biking pics as well as the ones from Winnipeg in a previous post, now that he doesn't have a bike to ride he's been working on photography and actually getting pretty good. Enjoy

1664 Street Justice Contest in Edmonton

2007-07-19T22:25:00.001-05:00

We left on friday after work the contest was saturday and we hit up saskatoon skatepark on the way home on sunday. We didn't sleep except for in the car and it was one of the best road trips ever. Had Shaun, Colin, and Devin along for the ride. Good times for sure.

BMX SMB July 14

2007-07-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

Lots of Shaun riding and some of the other guys

Winnipeg

2007-07-17T18:25:00.000-05:00

These are pics from this last Sunday. Chad and I went in to the city to visit two very beautiful ladies. It was such a good day, we did a bunch of stuff, lol k mostly walked around. We started off in Assinaboine park then down Corydon to Osborne village, we hung out down by the river then went to Saint Boniface for supper. We saw the sun set over the city from the glass elevator that goes up to the revolving restaurant and ended the night at the legislative buildings.

At the Lake

2007-07-10T23:39:00.000-05:00

Here's some pics from two days at the lake with the family.

Chad Fehr

2007-07-10T23:32:00.000-05:00

This is a picture I stole off his myspace cause it's soo good, I just had to post it here.

Winnipeg Folk Festival 2007

2007-07-10T22:57:00.000-05:00

This was the first time I had ever been and it was awesome. I went with my really good friend Sacha and most of her family was there too. I would highly recommend anyone to go, well I guess as long as you like good folk music cause it's a blast. The community feel is something you can't find just anywhere. Plus it's close to home, really you can't go wrong.

Matt

2007-06-24T00:26:00.001-05:00

Phil riding a kids bike

2007-06-23T22:58:00.000-05:00

there you go Phil, pictures for your myspace

in print

2007-06-12T23:18:00.000-05:00

ok i hate blogger now that google owns it, anyway it's really late this has taken way too long already so here's some pics of my name in a bmx magazine

Vancouver

2007-05-06T23:13:00.000-05:00

So the last half of the trip was just as good as the first, less biking due to rain, but still good. Went to Seattle and hung out in Woodinville, Washington then went back to Abbotsford. On the way home we rode a new park in Cochrane. Good times.

more Seattle

2007-05-06T23:02:00.000-05:00

the original Starbucks........maybe

Seattle

2007-05-06T22:56:00.000-05:00

Road Trip

2007-04-23T15:46:00.000-05:00

Don't know if you know this or not but I'm actually on a roadtrip to the west coast with Phil and Holly, here's a few pics from the trip so far. They're not really in order so I'll explain a little. The slush pic was the first and that was taken close to Strathmore AB. We were waiting for a semi to get pulled out of the way and then once that was cleared we hit the ditch ourselves but crazy Phil managed to drive halfpipe style out of that. There's some pics from in the mountains, by a river and such and yes it really was that color. Then there's a skatepark pic or two from yesterday. Enjoy

My Family

2007-04-17T22:24:00.000-05:00

Oh My

2007-04-08T01:21:00.000-05:00

These words fail, dear reader why must you demand such attention. So much of my life is up in the air. Do I stay or do I go. Do I commit here or there or not at all. Is this really where I want to be and am I doing what I really want to do. If I had clear answers I wouldn't even mention those questions cause it's usually not the questions with known answers that I or anyone cares about. As well, a question is never asked for no reason, meaning that I am seeking answers these days. But forget it, only time will tell.

Hoar Frost from way back

2007-04-08T00:40:00.000-05:00

Bell Ringer

2007-03-20T23:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight was quite the night so I figured I may as well pass some of it on. As most of you know I'm running a private indoor bikepark here in Winkler and since I'm there every day not much worth mentioning happens in my life, unless of course you ride yourself, and I'm pretty sure Phil's the only one who may even read this. So about tonight, it started off really well, the boys were getting right down to business. I rode for a bit and then went to get out my laptop so I could finally catch up on some music organizing. Jeremy was sitting off to the side when I went back towards the couch so I asked what was up and he showed me the large lump he had just created on the top of his foot. He could still walk but it was starting to hurt so he decided he would go to the hospital just to be safe. Chad had just arrived but went with Jeremy anyway. About an hour later they were both back and riding, Jeremy with torn ligamints on top of his foot. So I'm sitting there moving songs around looking up every now and then to see some of the stuff the guys were doing. All of a sudden I look up to see Chad falling headfirst toward the concrete and he didn't get up right away. Immediately we were all down around him, he was moaning and wouldn't respond to anything for about 30 seconds till he slowly came back to concienceness. I wasn't too sure what exactly to do so to be safe I called 911. They sent an ambulance and we made sure Chad didn't move and was as comfortable as possible. Chad was in a pretty good frame of mind but had no idea what happened and kept asking if his face was bleeding, it wasn't. He also didn't remember going to the hospital earlier that night or getting his liscence on Monday. His Mom ended up taking him to the hospital so there wouldn't be an ambulance bill and he came by the house later to let me know he got a concussion but still wants to ride this weekend. Tough kid.

the fifth

2007-02-19T02:14:00.000-06:00

Hey guess where I am...............wow that's exactly right I'm in Lethbridge in a hotel room, you are amazing at guessing. It seems like I get the most done in the most random places. This weekend I tagged along with Phil and Holly to Joel Funk's wedding, and it was a gooder. They got so much style it's not even funny, well ok sometimes it's hilarious. We drove all night on Friday to get here in time for the bachelor party paintball. Paintball was really really sketchy cause it took place in old chicken barns out in the country at some company operated by teenagers, no I'm not joking it was sketch, and the goggles kept fogging and Phil managed to get hit in the neck twice. But he did call it on himself, poor guy shouldn't have said he didn't want to get hit in the neck. Joel had a good time though which was awesome cause at Phils bachelor party he froze his butt watching us bike. Today was the wedding itself which we almost missed cause we love value village so much. Then there was a break for a few hours till the reception. It was a good wedding with a ton of awesome people to make it even more good. Right now I should probably be sleeping but it's not often I feel like updating and the internet is free so meh I figured I'd go for it.
What have I been up to lately you may ask, well monday to friday I awake at 6am to go to work for 7 till 330 after which I relax for a bit call people, run errands, eat and then head to the park till 1030 11. On Saturdays I sleep in and then go to the park for the rest of the day which also goes for Sunday after church and lunch. A few weeks ago I tried to buy a house, which was looking very possible until my parents decided they wouldn't co-sign. This week I was sick and even missed a day at the park as well as two days of work. I had terrible aches and a fever and was just weak in general. Way back I went to the ranch for a staff reunion which was good. Other then that I haven't really left Winkler, my life is pretty much work and the bikepark, no girlfriend, no other hobbies, no car of my own, no time, no cellphone, no time for non bmx friends. So no promises that this updating business will be regular, probably more pics soon though, I'll try to keep those rolling. Oh yeah that's cause I now have Photoshop and I was able to hack my ipod so I've been spending a bit of time sorting out the 3000 songs I have on this computer. The bed behind me is now screaming at me and I should probably go and quiet it down before it wakes up Phil and Holly.
night,
eric

the fourth

2007-02-19T01:58:00.000-06:00

Colin is a young man from Miami Manitoba who possesses a large amount of natural talent on a little kids bike

Chad is another young talent who comes from Winkler Manitoba that's an x-up folks

this is most of the Winkler crew minus Phil and Jeremy who's in the next pic. I have to have different crew nights cause otherwise it's pretty crowded. A list of crews: Winkler, Morden, Mountain Biker, Winnipeg one, and Winnipeg two (they don't get along) all those different groups translates into me being at the park at least 6 days a week. Good times

Jeremy is not afraid kids, look out

the third

2007-02-19T01:46:00.000-06:00

Cleo the cat that sometimes sleeps with me

I love this laptop

this is a friend of a friend and she's super cute and really shy

only in canada, welcome to redneck country folks

the second

2007-02-19T01:32:00.000-06:00

A picture of either the Red or Assiniboine

My good friend Randy taking a strange look at my camera

Phil and Matt sitting on their rides waiting for a line on Phils backgarden mini ramp. Gotta love the bmx "lingo" eh? Yeah even we don't talk like that.

that's me and Phil chilln' in the kitchen and I believe this was taken before he got married last year

that was one of the best days of my life, thanks to Sacha for the long walk around the coolest parts of the city

some random guy from Steinbach getting his mail with his riding mower so he doesn't have to walk

mmmmnnn gravel road, another fairly random pic

one way folks one way

the first

2007-02-19T01:21:00.000-06:00

These pics were taken one really cold day while I was driving to the ranch. Those huge propellers are part of a wind energy farm. I know this is really random stuff but I gotta start somewhere, I almost forgot how to do this blog thing.

Hey I'm Alive

2007-01-21T22:42:00.000-06:00

Oh yeah that too

Tribute

2007-01-21T22:33:00.000-06:00

Mr. Adams was and still is inspiring and no I don't think this is one of his.

Failure to mail

2006-12-20T22:53:00.000-06:00

My apologies folks, I know I was going to email people and update this blog well I'll be honest I haven't sent one email yet.
Here's the deal, I have a job as well as an entirely new place to spend all of my money and the rest of my time after work. At the beginning of December I started working on Christmas park. It is a private location for my friends and I but it needs a ton of work before it's totally operational. So for the last two weeks I have spent every available evening and saturday and sunday there. This weekend I won't be in Winkler so hopefully I can actually take some time to refresh my communication skills. I miss all of you and hopefully we'll see you all soon, no matter where you are.

The 24th of November

2006-12-03T19:07:00.000-06:00

Well here's another sorry excuse for a real post. These pictures are just a few of the ones I took that night but I still don't have photoshop. Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! So my plan for the next week is to post something real, email real people, and stay real for a few days. Sorry this took soooo long.

One Great City

2006-11-11T23:37:00.000-06:00

Life

2006-10-26T21:37:00.000-05:00

I once had a teacher who would not allow us to write "I think..." in any of our papers. So I'm not gonna tell ya what I've been thinking. I'm not going to tell you what I've been doing. Pretty much this is a post to push that really long one down out of the way so it looks as if I'm good at updating. I have been really busy lately and it probably hasn't been good for my health so I'm gonna try to slow down, well that or work harder just to catch up. Oh and I'd really like to know if anyone who reads this knows how to get music off a new ipod. Well I'm gonna head'r, have a good one.
eric

2006-10-26T21:24:00.000-05:00

Well Eric it's about time

2006-10-19T00:30:00.000-05:00

At this point an apology is pretty useless, begging and grovelling for forgiveness probably won't work and probably half of the people who used to read this blog have given up on me. I really don't have a good excuse either, cause I have been checking my email for the last few months. It's just..........I dunno, and that right there is pretty much exactly why I haven't updated.
To start bringing everyone up to speed I'll list a few things I've been doing.
Two days after getting back from London, wait, I haven't said where I went from London or why. Ok so the whole shibang, here goes.
It was a Tuesday in London, England. I was planning to leave for Hong Kong on the way to New Zealand on Thursday. I had spent the day cruising to the travel agency and then random book stores that only had books on politics and literature with absolutely no fiction. Anyway that evening I just relaxed in the basement of the hostel watching movies with my bike locked securely right outside. I was waiting to bring it inside cause the luggage room only had enough room after the people who were touring around all day came back and took their stuff to their rooms. When I finally did go to bring it in it was gone, lock and everything. The video security camera showed some kids taking it a half hour before I went to go bring it in. There was pretty much nothing I could do so after calling the police I went to bed. I still had enough money to buy the ticket to New Zealand but not enough to get a bike at the same time which was pretty much the reason I wanted to go to a warm country like New Zealand for a few months. My arm was also still in a cast and Canada became the best looking destination so the next morning I went to the travel agent and paid an outrageous sum to fly home. Thursday morning I took the first metro train to the airport and on the way everyone was informed that any passengers flying out of Heathrow airport would not be allowed any hand luggage. Supposidly some folks were planning on blowing up ten trans-atlantic flights or something. By that time I didn't care, all I wanted was to be on a plane, going somewhere. The flight itself was kinda strange after all the crazy airport security precautions there were a few stressed out people whose only option was to watch the inflight movie, no personal devices makes it a lot quieter in a plane. I arrived in Winnipeg sometime during the late afternoon, 6 I think and decided I wanted some fresh air so I started walking to the Greyhound bus depo downtown. For those of you who know Winnipeg you know that's a long walk and I'm not the most normal person (well you should know that anyway) I made it about half-way to Polo Park. On the way I met some Americans who knew that radio announcer guy from Morden who I can't think of the name of at the moment, and two Winnipeg locals riding a mountain bike, well actually one was riding the bike and the other one was riding the poor bike rack that is definitely not meant for human transportation. I took a bus from Polo down to the depo and found out that no buses were going to Steinbach that night so I called my parents who just minutes before had heard that I might be back in Canada and after some miscommunication sat down to wait for them to pick me up.
Anyhow I hung out with Mom and Dad for two days then went to camp. I counselled some kids the first week, went home for one night at the end of the week and cut my own cast off cause the doctors were busy. The second week I was doing maintenance stuff and tested my arm in a fake (but mostly real) fist fight during pony express which is skits done for the kids with wild west themes and always involving running horses. After camp I was asked to stay for a while to help with stuff so much to the dismay of all my friends I went back to live there for a month and a half. One of the most memorable moments was Crystals' cooking which is to die for and the crazy wild animal day when I got to help catch and hold and carry and then release a rather large rather alive porcupine and then chase a really good looking and not at all bad smelling skunk followed by chasing deer in a field. I think one of these days I'll try to write something exclusively about the ranch, today is just not that day.
I left the ranch last week friday which just happened to be the 13th. That night and right up till last night I slept in my tent in my best friends Phil and Holly's back garden. They offered a room in their basement but I really wanted some fresh air and a cold weather camping experience and cheated by hanging out in the house with them and only sleeping outside. Monday I went job hunting and Tuesday I started at Keystone grain stacking bags of sunflower seeds. It's not the greatest job but for now it'll do. Tonight I went biking for like the fourth time since breaking my arm and for the first time it wasn't at all sore. Buying the bike and this fancy white foldable wonder machine has pretty much drained all my funds so for the next while I'll mostly be in Winkler living at Lou and Debbie's house saving money.
Holy was that ever an anti-climatic end to the story. I can't leave you that way.
Ummm, Ok, random grocery list from tonight
Potato Chips (Sea Salt and Pepper for on sandwiches)
Smokies (Jalepeno and Cheese)
Christmas Oranges
Wonder Bread (with 11 essential nutrients)
Cheese slices

Goodnight then
Eric

Forest Gumping it

2006-08-09T18:06:00.000-05:00

Here we go, another adventure. The money is spent, the flight is booked, and I am pumped.
London has been really good. Incredibly stressfull and expensive in more ways than one but really good. I recommend Nick at flight center as the best travel agent ever, the service he gave was incredible.

For those of you thrill seekers out there I have a new crazy ride for you to try. First off break your arm (not compulsurary) then get a bike in London and try to keep up with a local cyclist during rush hour. The rush was unreal almost as good as sky diving. K gotta go

yup still in London

2006-08-08T04:38:00.000-05:00

This has been the most stressful two days of the last few weeks and its still not over. You see I am trying to go to New Zealand right and well unless I stay in London for a month it costs close to 1000 pounds for a return flight from here. That was impossible for me so I went a found a deal where for 1150 pounds or 2400 Canadian I can get a round the world ticket that stops in Hong Kong, Auckland, San Fran, and then London. I really liked the sound of that cause then I can go to Canada and still have a flight to London paid for. Anyhow the only reason this is stressful is cause of money, my card doesn't want me to have it, and New Zealand might not let me stay as long as I want to. But I'm gonna go for it anyway and hopefully by tonight I'll be on a plane to Hong Kong.

Anyhow here's a quick story. So last night I was just gonna relax and maybe read a bit. Well shortly after getting into a good story a guy from South Carolina was like hey you wanna go check out this lookout point and I was like sure, why not. So we hiked off through the streets of London to find this hill that supposidly has a really good view. We had walked for quite awhile and finally arrived at the park where the spot was supposed to be but were wondering what view we were going to have cause we still hadn't gone uphill at all. Sure enough as soon as we got into the park there appeared a hill. And the folks weren't lying about the view it was awesome. London at night looks pretty amazing. Sorry this story was mostly anti-climatic. Oh right before I go I just wanna say I love you to my Grandparents cause I missed mentioning them on the last post but don't worry I haven't forgotten about you.

hmmm

2006-08-06T17:05:00.000-05:00

the last person i talked to was from seattle, unless you count the british people who work at the hostel. the last food i ate was peanut butter and bread. one loaf of bread was 80pence which is about 1.60$ canadian, peanut butter was about the same price but i had the whole jar already and a small jug of milk was 35pence. so today i spent less than two pounds on food but that was to try to suppliment the cost of the hostel which was 25 pounds last night and 18 tonight. to convert to canadian just double it. according to ads in the windows a ticket to NZ is 639pounds, hopefully i can get a last minute deal or something. my bike is locked in a luggage room. oh yeah holly was wondering how i broke my arm. its kinda embarrassing it was so very very stupid i was rolling from one bowl into a deeper one and i was trying to be smooth and nosedive but the roller was way too steep and i nosedived to flat and went over the bars and stuck out my hands and broke my arm right at the wrist joint. and i know nobody will understand that but phil so its a good thing he's married to holly so he can explain. speaking of phil and holly, hearing about them renovating and generally improving their lives makes me want to get going on mine, to start working on something that will last instead of just working to earn money and then travelling to spend it. ah well hopefully my life will slow down in nz and ill be able to work again and get a routine back. ok i have 6 min what should i say. Mom and Dad I love you guys very much and Melissa you too and my Aunts and Uncles and cousins. Thanks to Aunt Renetta for keeping my parents up to date while they don't have a computer. Oh and mom could you pay that hospital bill, ill make sure to pay you back. and my friends, i miss you tons especially the ranch friends right now. bye then

London eh

2006-08-06T16:44:00.000-05:00

Wow computers that speak english are so handy. I understand the warnings and questions now and don't have to guess about whether or not i want to delete everything. I arrived here yesterday and already europe has taken more, a lot more, of my money. Ah well London is nice, I biked to all the main spots today and was a tourist. This broken arm makes being anything besides a tourist out of the question which is kinda annoying but probably keeping me out of trouble for now. Oh and I went through the channel tunnel yesterday and it was spectacular....okay its not that, its actually really boring and i think i slept through some of it. tomorrow i will try to get a ticket to new zealand and hopefully i can leave before london takes me for all im worth. I'd put up pics but i don't think i have time at the moment. well actually i may but ill type some more first.

ok on to more structured dialoge. my time in germany was remarkable. i have never felt that at home that quick anywhere so a huge thank-you goes out to max and mareike and svenia and everyone else. i miss it already even though i am sucking up the english here like it's candy. the thing i miss the most about germany is that i had just figured out how everything works. i knew where to buy cheap food and beer. i knew streets and places and some phone #s. me and trains were becoming very good friends and there were soo many good looking people everywhere who wore clean clothes and smelled nice. stop laughing, go to france sometime and then go to germany and you'll notice the difference. ok maybe i shouldnt pick on france too much. i did get to know a nice french train man who very nicely bumped me up to first class on the way to london.

sorry i just looked in my notebook for some ideas about what i could write and while waiting in hamburg i wrote three pages of random, at times angry, then spaced out, then strange, gibberish. im a nutcase, it's guarenteed. so there's a bunch of people who want me to email them personally about whats happening and hopefully these sketchy blog updates are enough. although if you email me questions well then i have to reply. so i'll try to think of some questions to answer and then post the answers later.

sorry no words and click on the pics to see the full versions

2006-08-03T12:30:00.000-05:00

pics from Rügan

2006-08-03T04:01:00.000-05:00

white cliffs taken with special camera features
tree lined roads
sunrise over a field of grain
beach
same beach different angle
castle/hotel
park at the castle
view from the lookout point
another park pic

blogger sucks (today at least)

2006-08-01T10:51:00.000-05:00

Well, I was planning on putting up a bunch of pics with captions and stories and such but it took half an hour for these three pics and its making me incredibly angry. So here you are, three pics of me and my cast that werent released until now because I wanted to tell my parents personally that I broke my arm but instead the French hospital beat me to it by sending them a bill. Oh and the first two are from the train station in Avignon when I still had the half cast (hard on top soft under my arm) and the bottom one is with my German plastercast.

here and now

2006-07-31T11:09:00.000-05:00

"Not all those who wander are lost," Tolkein

Festivals

2006-07-21T06:57:00.000-05:00

Somebody somewhere planned out this summer really well. I made it to Germany for the end of the World Cup, then went to Pamplona and on the way there or back could have seen the Tour de France. Before I forget let me tell ya that the fireworks that they had in Pamplona were incredible, best Ive ever seen and they have them every night for week, its crazy. Anyway I made it back into France in time for Fete National which is their France day, then I stopped in Avingon for a huge theatre festival by accident. So far Ive met people from all over Europe, North America, Korea, Australia and there were a ton of people from Mexico in Spain.
So Ive enjoyed German hospitality that I could have never gotten from a hostel, hung out with a bunch of crazy folk from Scotland, Mexico, Ireland, and the US. One night me and a guy from Australia slept in a really small schoolyard in Hendaye France, in Marseille I played cards with some Canadians and two Swiss girls, and the next day got a ride from the Canadians to Avingon, and today Im going to a wedding forthe guy that I helped move a few weeks ago. Sunday we are going to Ruggan, which I horribly misspelled just now, a famous German island for a week of camping. Hopefully I can keep my new camera stabilizer dry.

pictures of bulls actually running

2006-07-21T06:34:00.000-05:00

see all the people, they are way scarier then the bulls
chant to san fermin for a blessing
the smoke is from the first rocket meaning the bulls are loose
here they come and the smoke is from the second rocket saying they are all on the way
now i thought there were 6 bulls and i think there were on the day i ran but on this day there was 12
pandemonium after they are past
here they load a guy into the ambulance who is lying on his stomach on the stretcher. i dont know what happened but guessing is kinda fun
new pamplona from the hill where the arena is and most of the old city, and thats just a small pic of new pamplona, they call it a really small city anyway

the day after i ran, when i watched

2006-07-21T05:58:00.000-05:00

okay to make sure this gets posted ill break it up a bit, captions are under the pics and click on the pics to see the full size

this is where the bulls wait, its pretty small and i hear they get kinda angry in there
another pic of the pit
the gate
this is the square where me and a whole bunch of other people waited, the bulls come from the left of the pic
this is looking towards where come from and behind me and to the right is the arena
thats the arena in the background

here is where most people get hurt including the american who was paralyzed, the bulls that ran are already put in their pens and these are bulls they send out one at a time for the crazy people to play with. i didnt actually go into the arena when i ran cause they control how many people get in and i was way way up the street that was blocked off as soon as the bulls went past. plus travelling alone i had no interest in increasing my odds of injury
thats my sash wrapped around my arm and the pic was actually taken in Marseille France

the day i ran (kinda)

2006-07-20T13:50:00.000-05:00

the street i was on when they ran past without trampling me
see the kids on the far right sitting on a fence well the fence went from there to the street corner on the left (the white building) and they remove it after the run, this was where i would have jumped the fence had the bulls been coming straight for me which they didnt
looking towards where the bulls come from and the previous picture is behind me, this is where i stood until i could see the bulls
this is where everyone has to wait until 745am and then they can go to other points along the run, if they go too soon to the other places the police will kick you out. they also close the gates to this run area at 730am so if you sleep in youre outta luck, the run itself only starts at 8am
a really cool irish guy took this pic, he had never run before either and so we kinda stuck together

Change my shorts

2006-07-20T11:07:00.000-05:00

I finally used a real washer to wash my clothes and undershorts and then it stalled a bunch of times so hopefully everything is clean. I heard yesterday that my parents sold a house so I assume there is someone else living in my childhood home by now. Oh and my dad got a job so thats really good news, i hope life settles down for my parents soon its been quite the stressfull few months. I posted some pics earlier but they were from way back so Ill be posting more soon dont worry.
Theres something about going an a really long train or bus ride that makes a person want to document exactly how long everything takes to prove to everyone we have incredible endurance. So instead of talking about that Ill share something I wrote during one incredibly long wait in a really hot and smelly train station in France where nobody spoke my language and I was really hungry and tired and probably smelled aweful.

my favorite toys - ipod and digital camera
most useful - bike
most annoying - bike
most useless - sweater
wish i had right now - peanut butter
heaviest - bike and tools
favorite clothes - shorts and a button up shirt
dirtiest - the same
wish i had - unlimited library at my finger tips
wish i knew - spanish, french, russian, german
could know the quickest - french
thing besides food i will probably buy next - flip flops
thing i want the most - a shower
hours waiting in train stations on this trip to spain upwards of 16

pictures with words

2006-07-19T13:40:00.000-05:00

i havent updated for while and www.fotothing.com/afoolproofplan only lets me load 10 in a day so here are a bunch of pics from the world cup party thats Inga and me sitting on a couch
Thore sitting on the same couch
Max and me rejoicing that Italy won, not really but kinda
Mareike and Svenia self portrait (the only boring normal faced one, but they deleted the rest)
Max and Thore Welt Masters
random German pride

two the women of my life

2006-07-19T13:13:00.000-05:00

because of one i am and have the other
to mom and her daughter

sorry the time for this has past
i hope these will not be the last
days to mark your births
and poems for your mirth

five and twelve i did not know
nor time of day but for the tower
this the week that follows
a visit not in my power

slowly this poem has gone
from inspiration to putting on
here it shall charm no more
and peacefully fall to the floor

i love you girls very much, mom a little more for she bore me in her belly but melissa almost as much cause she can make my belly hurt with laughter.

simpler down there

2006-07-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

im not sure there could be anything better then this right here right now. its 11:30, 20 degrees outside but it has that nice warm clean feel, not humid, and im listening to old greg mcpherson, without a shirt on i might add. today was good, really really hot, but good. i fixed my bike again cause the other night i searched out another skatepark and popped a tire within 20 min of getting there. (note for other bikers, tubes in Germany are expensive 6 euro). after fixing my tire i biked downtown (about 3km) to look for a cheap shirt, then raced back for 6pm. when i got back max was already eating some supper so i joined in then we left right away for his parents house about 15km away. we made it there in about 35 min just in time for haircuts from a friend of the family. after our trims we did some handstands and then ate supper again before biking home.
last night we went to a football party, well it was 5 girls and max and me. once again i wished i knew german but it was good anyway cause they were all really excited and loud, at least until italy scored and then scored again, crushing germanys hopes for the cup.

so i gotta go cause max needs his sleep and im right beside his bed but ill throw in one more mental picture.

on the way home tonight we took a detour down this road lined with dense green forest that broke out into some fields that were dotted with those ginormous windmill generators. it was picture perfect, the sun was setting, the fields were lush and green, and the blades of the generator were whooshing past.....thats right i said whooshing, the next time youre driving down the highway and you see one take the few minutes to stop and walk right up to it just to hear the whooshing.

little bike rider

2006-07-01T08:49:00.000-05:00

I finally dialed in my bike, the brakes and chain needed adjustment, it has probably been the most usefull thing I brought cause we cycle everywhere. Of course it gets a lot of looks because everyone out here has mountain bikes or nice old stylish cruisers. Yesterday I rode around until I found the skatepark here, its pretty small and there was nobody there and not really any sign of bike riders but kinda fun anyway. Then in the late afternoon we watched (on tv) Germany beat Argentinia in a close match decided by penalty kicks. That evening was Mareikes brothers graduation ball which was a really good time even for me cause they let me dance. I may be terrible at it but I think Im getting better and its so much fun I dont really care how bad I am. Today we helped one of Maxs friends move and nearly all of the church young people showed up to help, which was good cause most flats dont have elevators and the one place was on the fifth floor and the other on the third. Tonight we go to Maxs parents by train to pick up a car for the weekend. I feel like writing something different at the moment but Ill have to save these thoughts till later I guess.

DE

2006-06-29T17:06:00.000-05:00

Random shot of me being excited
the spire of the church Max lives in
the Hamburg train station

Well well well, guess who went to the opera today. Thats right the opera, it was Don Quixote in italian with german subtitles and i didnt understand a word. Im not gonna lie to ya, i was so bored i nearly fell asleep. mareike took me downtown today for a bit of site seeing, and the highlight was a ride on an elevator that is constantly moving, there are no doors and you have to step in on the go. plus you can ride it all the way around. tomorrow ill do some exploring on my own and then come back to watch germany beat argentinia.

planes trains and ........

2006-06-28T08:54:00.000-05:00

so i made it to germany, all the way to Keil even, and now i have to get ahold of Max for a ride to his place at which point i will pass out. so far its been 28 hours of movement with a bit of upright sleeping thrown in there. its pretty hot and heavy out here, the air that is, but way way better weather then the last time i was in germany. i'm in a grocery shop slash internet cafe killing some time before i try calling max again. if this post ends up being really odd sounding, boring, or even confusing, it's my brains fault not mine.
my flight had crew members that spoke french really well and german and english. i was pretty impressed and decided i wanted to become a flight attendant......just kidding. i think id lose my mind being trapped in an airplane for a job unless maybe i was flying it.
they gave me two breakfasts on the plane which i thought was pretty nice of them
my bike travels free as long as i leave it in its bag but its the biggest pain in the butt then so.....
i think i should go to russia cause if i stay in europe too long ill never leave
the frankfurt airport was a cinch this time probably cause i wasnt flying out of it
hamburg was really busy and the wc cost money so i held it till keil then had to pay anyway
lots more people seem to know english then the last time i was here
i have that really dirty traveller feeling right now
and i have 20 min left to email my folks
the z and the y are switched on these german kezboards

sorry bout that

2006-06-25T03:00:00.000-05:00

yeah i was gonna write stuff for that last post but there were so many pictures that i figured i'd spread it out a bit into two posts so as not to overwhelm my readers. so it's now after 3 in the morning, i still have some stuff to fill out online and tomorrow is fully booked as far as seeing people and hanging out in general. i'm trying to leave monday as open as possible for some last minute relaxing with my parents. note to self, don't say goodbyes, leave, then go back prematurely ever again. seeing all these people again gets me so pumped and happy and then it makes leaving so much harder. i saw my grandparents, friends, close friends, and even met some new people in the last three weeks and to do all that in a short time is really hard on the ticker. i just wanna say i love all you folks and you better keep in touch.

OD on Nostalgia

2006-06-25T02:23:00.000-05:00

matt
chad
eric
eric
phil tyretap
phil barspin disaster
phil downside whip unlanded
phil peg stall
phil barspin disaster
phil tuck
phil downwhip unlanded
phil tailwhip unlanded
sunday
sunday vs the frog

Once Upon a Time

2006-06-08T19:35:00.000-05:00

In this land far far away, there was an idea to try and adventure to be had. This is that story.

On Tuesday at roughly 7:30am I rolled off my Aunt and Uncle's driveway in Cochrane Alberta. Not even off the block and the trailer wheels were rubbing my bag, that was just the beginning. My goal for the day was Bottrell, well by 10 the handle had broken on the trailer but I got it working by rigging it with a tarp strap. The wheels still needed adjustment every few minutes or they would have been bald even quicker. I made it to Bottrell by 11am and decided to go to Cremona to see if I could maybe get the trailer welded up solid. On the way I had a farmers dog follow me for a bit down the highway and was trying to ignore it when all of a sudden I heard screeching tires and looked just in time to see a motocycle swerve narrowly missing the dog. Needless to say he was not happy, but hey it wasn't my dog. A trailer tire blew out even before getting to Cremona so I just kept going with the flat and trashed the trailer in Cremona. I rolled into Cremona around 1pm, had a nap and then left for Carstairs, another 30km away. My estimate of 10km/h was pretty accurate cause by 5 I was in Carstairs, AB. I treated myself to Chinese buffet and had the entire restaurant to myself. That evening I watched some baseball.
I was pretty happy with my first day progress although Cremona to Carstairs was a lot harder cause my pack was on my back instead of on the trailer. I had biked/walked approximately 80km in 8 hours. I knew by then that biking all the way to Manitoba would not happen but I wanted to keep going anyway.
Day two I left Carstairs at 7am, by 8 I was past Didsbury and almost to the #2 heading east. The reason I was going north first was I wanted to go to Saskatoon to visit a friend, ride the park, and it's on a major highway making hitching more probable. The biking was way harder due to the wind as well as there being less hills to roll down. I even had to pedal down some of the hills cause of the wind. Anyhow I passed one dead skunk, visited one cheese factory that wasn't open, and got pretty close to a badger before it ran off. Quick little creatures those badgers. By 10am my routine went like this; ride sitting till my ass really hurt (about three minutes), ride standing till my legs got tired (about five minutes), and then walk until the blood was flowing properly again (another five minutes), extremely slow and painfull but not exhusting. I rolled into Linden at 2pm and stopped there cause the next town was at least a days ride away. Besides I had biked probably 60km already. In Linden I found a little coffee shop that had internet access so I emailed my folks. On my way out I noticed a for sale poster for a van only $450. By this time I was up for anything but another day with my pack pushing me onto my seat. So I gave the guy a call and he was like "yeah I'd take $200 but it's got a major oil leak so it may not make Manitoba" I told him I'd think about it and get back to him the next day. I bummed around town for the next couple hours, had a bagel and sardines for supper and was working out the situation sitting at my campsite listening to music. Suddenly the music quit.........my ipod was not responding, my new ipod with all my music that I had just bought was frozen. I tried everything short of reseting it, nothing worked. Right there was all the reason I needed, I had to go back to Calgary, back to Future Shop and to Cochrane to get all my music again. I called Melissa, which sadly wasn't even long distance, and was gonna bike down to Irricana the next day so Melissa didn't have to drive far to pick me up but that didn't work for her, cause she's leaving for camp the next night (tonight) so she agreed to come to Linden in the morning. The next morning, I figured I'd check my ipod again, during the night it was still frozen, and sure enough Murphy's Law returned, my ipod was working. It was too late to call Melissa so that was it. No more biking to get places, not in Canada at least, time to move on a little quicker.

Here's what I was gonna post yesterday right after stopping for the day.

This whole biking to Manitoba idea is retarded.
These are my reasons:
1. My ass is hurting...... a lot
2. My back is hurting
3. My bike is absolutely not meant for this sort of transportation
4. My backpack is too heavy
5. I shouldn't even be wearing a backpack
6. The wind, oh the wind
7. It's costing me money and I'm not getting anywhere for it

Reasons I want to keep going
1. I'm an idiot
2. My legs aren't thaaat tired

Anyhow I'm gonna leave on a bus for Austin just after midnight tonight, I've had my fun, Manitoba here I come.

Doug was right I like black and White

2006-06-03T17:15:00.000-05:00

I wonder what it's like to be good at goodbyes. They are always hard, no matter what.

33 posts is a pretty short fence

2006-06-01T23:10:00.000-05:00

right on so i think i have my cameragraphic touch back. i figured out how to get my music off my ipod, involving hours of slow processes. now today i'm working on converting everything to acc which is the apple type of music file and getting my music onto my new ipod. which could take upwards of 6 hours, conversion is really slow. then i'm going to go through the library and delete the duplicates, this reminds me of organizing hockey cards when i was just a young lad. oh and that up there with the pink wheels is my bike trailer i rigged up.

my camera is making me angry

2006-05-29T22:52:00.000-05:00

i just took these pics of an unreal rainbow and they look like crap. redeye is also becoming a problem, or maybe it's me. i had something strange happen to me today, i was at work and slowly my ability to focus went away, it was like i was underwater or seeing stars, it was really strange. i asked what my eyes looked like and they said my pupils were really large. i wasn't dizzy or nausious i just couldn't focus, then halfway through coffee, about a half hour after it started, it went away.

And by salsa you mean......ah i see

2006-05-28T18:31:00.000-05:00

Ok let me begin by saying that dancing to Clem and Friends who play foxtrots, two steps, waltz's, and polkas was absolutely nothing like what i did last night. imagine a stalk of corn in a field of wheat that's flowing and swaying with the wind. well ok maybe not that bad but i'm a mennonite not known for his sense of rhythm causing many ackward moments resulting in feeling incredibly foolish, quite hilarious really. Actually pretty tiring that dancing was, but i liked it a lot better than the two step. This long weekend sure killed last weeks. Oh to be a framer, k i'm not gonna lie to ya it's the people i'll miss the most. These people especially.

hardware stores and checkered floors

2006-05-27T16:34:00.000-05:00

in an effort to post something, anything really, this is what i've come up with.
it is finally raining out here in alberta and things are almost all green. yesterday i didn't work cause of the rain, and watched X3 with a whole bunch of strangers and a few framers. oh and for those of you who know Mark Wilson, i met his Olds College roommate at Jaclyns house last night which is also where i slept with the dog on the couch. this morning she made pancakes for me and Calvin cause she loves us. and then hitchhiked back to Cochrane, i just had a shower and changed my clothes and will be heading back to Calgary for a bbq/salsa dancing later on.
it's really strange to be writing about stuff i'm doing again instead of random ramblings.
to Phil: I saw some ramps i built in a magazine known as RED BMX, so I win. send pictures NOW!

lowercase

2006-05-21T00:41:00.000-05:00

I wish I could say this picture was real, but the truth is, I left my bike lying down took five paces and set the delay on the camera then ran to get into that position before the 10 second delay ended. Photoshop then made it look even better. Now go outside.

Oh Jackie

2006-05-20T02:48:00.000-05:00

Jaclyn is the only girl on our framing crew and absolutely hates being called Jackie. Tonight she invited me over to hang out and meet some of her friends. And to those of you in the know, she (Andrea) is very pretty but planning on waiting for Mr Right and as I do not want to be a Mr Right at this time....... The night went really well though, not too ackward, considering I barely knew Jaclyn nevermind her friends.

Anyhow in other news we have a winner of the CD recognition shenanigans, congratulations goes out to Sacha R from Winnipeg Manitoba Canada
Sacha, well Sacha likes music, actually Sacha loves music. She's my main source for new musicians to try and so far there's only been a few of her suggestions that I haven't liked. So I guess it's fitting for her to win such a prestigious honour as this, lol. She is probably hating this coverage she is getting as she likes her privacy but she earned it. I've only known Sacha for maybe three years, through the ranch of course. She lived in Portage for a little while with Christilee and Stacy and is now back in Winnipeg. As one of the coolest people I know, Sacha remains down to earth and approchable. Unless you're a creepy guy then she'll unleash rage with her eyes and possibly give you a tongue lashing if you deserve it. I know she has reminded me sometimes just how precious women are, and if you don't respect them she won't respect you. She is one of the best friends I know of to her girlfriends who are close by, always there in the middle of the night to get phone calls and make house calls if necessary. So if you pass her on the sidewalk downtown you'll probably have no idea that it's her but if you're one of the lucky ones that does know her already then make sure to say hi.

GET PUMPED!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-05-17T23:51:00.000-05:00

The Amazing Race just made my day, week, month and possibly my year. The Hippies who were representing the true spirit of world travel, are going home with ONE MILLION DOLLARS (or two hundred thousand after taxes) I cannot believe how awesome it is that they won, I am soo pumped right now I can hardly type. I can't wait to get going myself, I won't be racing but wow it's gonna be unreal. K I better settle down, I have to go to work in a few hours.

1000 Words

2006-05-15T00:03:00.000-05:00

Garage Saleable

2006-05-14T00:09:00.000-05:00

My sis and i headed out to some sales this morning and we hit the jackpot. Combined with last weeks find i now own a nice stereo system and 9 new cds all for less than $12, just check out the pics. and i was extremely tempted to get the hot pink hard hat that was only $1 but i resisted by imagining the verbal abuse it would attract. oh and if you can name all 9 cds pictured i'll write a post just for you and if you can name the one on the floor too i will be very amazed and might have to buy you a coffee sometime.

New Zealand by June

2006-05-12T20:03:00.000-05:00

Of all the places i could go, and of all the options of things to do i think New Zealand will be my destination. I won't say for sure yet cause i haven't bought tickets and still have some lingering indecision but as of right now that's the most likely. It's a relatively warm place, there's biking to be had, it's close to Australia if i feel like a visit, and it's less than $1500 return.

The pics on the right are from the bow river yesterday evening. I wish i could say something interesting about them but really i went for a roll just to take a picture or two and this was all i came up with.

Don't "Do" Drugs

2006-05-09T23:16:00.000-05:00

eric: so when should i get a dog
melissa: as soon as you get back, but that limits where you can live
eric: no it won't cause i'll have my own place out in the country, i'm gonna come home with untold millions
melissa: and where will this money come from, doing opium in thailand
eric: usually doing drugs doesn't make you any money, usually melissa people differentiate between doing and selling ( i followed with a witting example of how "doing" drugs all day is impossible without getting high which sent my sister nearly to tears with laughter)
ok so you had to be there, it was hilarious, trust me
oh and dislaimer, we don't do or sell or endorse the doing or selling of drugs

Sun Burn

2006-05-06T00:22:00.000-05:00

The Red Mile after a game 5 win by the Calgary Flames
My Aunt and Uncle's other nephew, Crazy, he will never be caught

The Land Rover is gone, there is still some details to work out but it's sold and the money's in the bank. Now I guess I should probably decide where I'm going, until then I'll keep working out here, probably till the end of May.

K Mart

2006-04-29T10:53:00.000-05:00

see i told you guys i shouldn't have been posting the other day, what a sad excuse for a post, ah well i won't deny i have my days but then there's days like today. it's saturday, i was going to go to work but i received a message last night from a guy who wants to take a look at the rover so here i sit waiting for a call. it's not even 10am yet and already i went to the site to tell the guys i wouldn't be there, washed the truck, bought some armorall and cleaned out the inside of the truck. impressive what you can get done if you get up at 7:30.
last night melissa and me hung out, well ok we pretty much drove around all evening but it was still fun. we went to one garage sale and then explored costco. it's really easy not to buy anything in a store where you're not allowed to without a card. then we stopped in at Chapters/Starbucks and spelled the crazy words they have on these cards, words that aren't really official words but could change the world one word at a time. ah the inspirational abilities of a coffee shop.

words unspoken.......

2006-04-27T21:56:00.000-05:00

this may not be the best time to be writin' one of these but ah well. tonight was a slow night. we worked a full day today, Carl and me. for the last while we had been putting in six or seven hour days but today the rest of the crew showed up and we started the new phase of construction. leaving at five was i guess still a half hour early.....nobody really cared.
dinner was excellent again, i don't think my aunt can make a bad meal, we've had some burnt ones but they still had flavor. i finished another L'Amour, this time a collection of his short stories. i lifted some weights cause i felt like it and then went for a roll.
this town really has nothing to ride except some curbs, i came home with a bruised shin and scraped hands.

tonight........tonight was a night where sitting and looking out at the mountains from the deck was.........lonely, really lonely. lonely that remembers what it's like to be with someone, to have them sitting beside you, whispering back and forth. simply having someone's presence so close that......even silence is ok.
But please don't comment about this post cause if i pull my head out of the sand i know this (being away) is a choice i've made, i know that it would be really hard, probably impossible, to be this free with someone to share it with. i imagine marriage may be a little like that, and someday i'll find out that it's probably far better. so i'll leave you with a quote from the weakerthans that if you want you can pretend is about me or maybe about you.

"If I could I would make you a raging river,
with angry rapids, supplied with rain,
so you could always meander and forever be able to run away
without contending
with myths wrongly interpreted
with pain.
A harsh wind."
-Without Mythologies

Self Portography

2006-04-23T16:18:00.000-05:00

Me and my bike will be famous, you just wait and see. We'll start a protest for equal rights in Geneva, maybe roll along the Great Wall in the name of peace, and we'll circumnavigate the globe to raise awareness of the nasty effects of urban sprawl.

Until then we'll enjoy lazy Saturday afternoons together on the shores of mighty rivers.

Light Enough To Travel

2006-04-23T16:01:00.000-05:00

Check out my sweet new bag. It's got wheels and a telescopic handle and it's brand new and it's blue and I only paid like 6 bucks or something, oh and i'm pretty sure that I can change the wheels to skateboard wheels so that I can tow it behind by bike and it also has back pack straps so you can wear it on your back and i think i'm gonna build a ramp that fits on it for street missions. It's the ultimate in carry on/travel/kindergarten utility purposes.

The Quiet Stranger

2006-04-17T21:26:00.000-05:00

There is always someone to fulfill every archetype concerning humans. Everyone knows a doctor, a janitor, a friendly neighbor, a concerned mother, a hockey dad, and a quiet stranger. Somehow that stranger, even though we know them, remains a stranger. They never say too much, just enough to interact with us. The "us" is our world and they, well they are lost in their own world, a world where they are totally unknown to us. That's where our imaginations take over to create a life for them to live. Maybe they have family, with kids they play with, with parties at friends houses. Maybe they have a job that they love, and a favorite coffee shop where they meet their best friends to talk. Maybe they love sunsets and actually do enjoy long walks. Maybe they have a house and a yard with big trees that they climb up to feel young again. Maybe they have mentors who are older and greyer then themselves who they ask the tough questions about life, love, and happiness. They might even have a life partner who is their closest friend and lover, who they will spend the rest of their lives with. How much of this will we, as outsiders or their world, discover as true in their lives? Probably not very much, and that may be exactly what keeps the quiet stranger in a mysterious light. If we knew all that about them, they would become real to us, they would become part of our world as we would be a part of theirs. So enjoy the quiet strangers, enjoy how your imagination creates an ideal for their lives, just remember that the real people, the ones in your world, are the ones you should be investing your time and energy into, so that hopefully their lives grow closer to the ideal.

Let's talk marriage

2006-04-14T23:35:00.000-05:00

jen: you could be married soon
eric: so far the lights not on at the end of that tunnel
jen: well turn it on
eric: i can't, it's a motion sensor and i'm not within range

Repeat

Blood to cap a roll
Walking that same route
Holidays filled with anger
Here we go again

Nowhere to go
Passion mixed down to time and money
Alone for a sunny day
Another day another dollar

Hole at the knee
Broken mirrors reflect
Stained hands rough
Just like the last

Back to back
Rest evades again
And back to the beginning
Repeat

Girls Want Guys With Skills

2006-04-10T23:24:00.000-05:00

I was going to post about how girls never look for gentlemen rather they are far more attracted to dangerous, rebel sorts of guys but I didn't know how to word it so nevermind. In other news I'm in love.......with my new hammer. It looks like I'll be heading back to Manitoba once again. And I won't be posting about music cause I'd have to use music to describe how I feel about music so it just won't work. Really I could just type lyrics and song titles instead of trying to literally translate my thoughts and feelings for this blog. Of course then we would have to have the same tastes and music libraries but it's a thought. As this post was going nowhere it is now going to end.

The end of the road

2006-04-08T16:43:00.000-05:00

I went out for a roll today, around town then back into the residential area on the hill where I'm staying and then into a whole other world. Up on the hill it's windy and you can hear traffic and kids playing but if you take the opening between two houses on the last street at the back of the hill your surroundings almost instantly transform from urban to forest. After skidding down a washed out path I came upon the creek at the bottom of the coulee. Alongside the creek runs a winding trail through the trees. At the end of that trail is a bridge over a gravel road and at the end of the gravel road is what you see in the picture, which was taken looking back down the road. It was beautiful there, quiet enough to hear the birds and hardly any wind. There is a reason for the road though, directly to my right a just out of the frame stands a dream home.

Humbled By a Crack Addict

2006-04-05T00:06:00.000-05:00

I was asked to work with Marty today. Marty is someone who had it all, a wife and kids, he employed 60 people in his own construction company, now he’s a crack addict and an alcoholic. I had heard awful stories that his appearance did nothing to contradict, he looks close to death, purple skin and bloodshot eyes. With this I formed an opinion of him, or maybe judgment is a better word. I thought to myself, great I have to work with this guy the rest of the day, is there anything I can learn from a lowlife like that.

Now this is not going to end with me justifying the man, he is who he is, but he had an affect. Right off the bat he was on me and ragging me about my attitude and to be honest I was saying things with a twinge of contempt. He wouldn’t have any of it, every time I had a defense for any of my actions he came right back with “it’s all about you, isn’t it.” I couldn’t say or do anything right, and I was starting to feel like a fool. And he kept calling me a little girl, no shift in tone, not joking, just “you think you can do that, little girl.” He wanted under my skin, and to an extent he got what he wanted. I was mad, I didn’t want to show it but he was pissing me off and yet he was the one who knew what he was doing.

Marty, the crackhead, knew far more than me and was making sure I knew that. At that point I had a choice to make, I was either going to stay mad and make it my goal to make him look like a fool and probably insult his life or I was going to have to let go of a lot of pride and admit that he is not just a shell of a man but someone with a lot more knowledge and skills then myself. Someone I could learn from, maybe not life lessons but I’m a terribly ignorant construction worker compared to him. I felt whipped, but I walked home free of a lot of pride, asking myself “who am I.”

2006-04-02T23:50:00.000-05:00

Trampoline 3 eric 0

2006-04-01T21:47:00.000-06:00

I tried again today, backflips that is and the first one was to the springs so that's it, the trampoline is the official winner. So I probably won't be learning flips on a bike any time soon unless I find a foam pit somewhere.

I don't know how many days in the past two years I've been overwhelmed with an incredible urge to leave. To take any form of transportation in any direction, and be gone until I felt like coming back.
that's my Cheetah On The Razor's Edge shirt, I don't know if anyone remembers when they brought a cheetah to the mall in the early 90's but I got a shirt like this then and was super pumped when I found a new one at Value Village out here.

it's all fun and games....

2006-03-30T20:38:00.000-06:00

Work was finished early today and it was super nice outside so I figured I'd go out on the trampoline and try to learn how to backflip without flying backwards. Now I know some of you are laughing already cause you have an idea where this is going and it's ok I don't mind. I did a whole bunch without bouncing at all, and starting from one side. For a the first bit I flew from one side to the other but not off and slowly I started moving in to the middle. All was good so I started doing small bounces, and that went fairly well so then I curbed my excitement and decided I'd do one more and leave them for the day. Well one more is never a good idea, let me tell you. I landed with one foot on the trampoline and one on a spring which proceeded to stretch and I fell off the side with my foot stuck over the bar but under the tramp. It didn't hurt that much though..... so I figured I'd keep trying until I felt good about them again. I did a few without bouncing and was thinking I'd better stop so again I decided one more. I bounced a little and threw myself up and upside down, then I saw springs. My toes landed right at the edge, slipped and since my momentum was still going backwards I ended up hanging, my legs over the bar and my feet under the trampoline.
I think I might try again tomorrow otherwise I'll never do it for the rest of my life, wish me well k.

Classic

2006-03-29T23:38:00.000-06:00

One of these days i'm gonna pour my heart into a post about music, i'm just having some trouble with the mold. Until then here's a picture of a creek melissa and me visited on our "3 day" chasing the sun adventure.

The Littlest Birds

2006-03-26T10:15:00.000-06:00

For everyone who's never heard this song, it's really not a sad one, it's folk and really really good by The Be Good Tanyas

Fights and Frustrations

2006-03-19T23:02:00.000-06:00

I didn't get into a fight with anyone, but I lost one with myself. Today was like that, internal turmoil I mean, I was going to get a lot of things done and I did but not the most "important" things like applying for an Australian Visa which I can't get myself to do until I actually think that I'll be leaving soon. My Rover still isn't finished so I can't even try to sell it yet and until it sells I can't leave. I'm supposed to be in the Philippines by April 6 if I want to go to my Aunts housegirl's grad and then my aunt leaves on the 11th so unless my truck sells by the end of March I doubt I'll go to the Philippines. That was the main push to go that direction right away and if that doesn't happen then I should rethink my entire plan.

The last few days have been pretty good though, Melissa and me went out a bunch, first to a Spanish Restaurant Thursday evening and then Saturday to an awesome deli place where the above pic was taken. Adobe Photoshop is a new hobby that spend a lot of time with these days. Oh and I even took in a CutCo demonstration at Melissa's house with her roommates, me and the ladies were very impressed with the very very expensive knives.

"I wanna fall asleep somewhere, warm and not afraid."
Greg McPherson

Mike D

2006-03-10T19:30:00.000-06:00

This has got to be one of the coolest and funniest people i know, and if you know him you should check out his msn profile for the full story.

Reminiscing

2006-03-09T00:24:00.000-06:00

So last night was awesome, I sat down, started some good tunes going on my ipod and simply remembered as much as I could. Good memories and bad, early memories and fresh ones, sad memories and happy ones, slow and fast ones, they all came and it was wonderful. And here's a photo memory. This was in a coffee shop downtown Portage La Prairie, Manitoba Canada, summer of 2005 before a street concert by Jason McCoy with a bunch of friends from the ranch and K town, it was a great time.

for Mom

2006-03-03T20:15:00.000-06:00

i think it worked