the grace only we can bestow

Well, I'm back from Philadelphia as of Tuesday, and it was definitely worthwhile if completely not what I signed up for.

Here is what I planned to do with my vacation:

1. Visit my oldest friend and have her show me around her adoptive city
2. Party hard in true Franklin+Leroux style
3. Attend Flyers/Bruins game to firstly watch some of my favourite players and secondly
4. Watch my girlfriend team exact vengeance on Hockey Evil
5. Do a little shopping

Instead here is what actually happened:

1. My friend took medical leave and went home to Edmonton to deal with her mental health leaving me to stay in her place by myself
2. My own mental health situation did not stay in Halifax as I for whatever reason expected it to and instead followed me to America where it made fun times very difficult (though not impossible)
3. My two favourite players on the Flyers were out with concussions during the time I was in town, and my very favourite player of all time was announced to be sidelined for the entire season and the playoffs with no timeline for return, and also he's 37 and had eight surgeries last season and may never play again, in which case I will have missed seeing my favourite player in person by a matter of weeks and this will haunt me for the rest of my life
4. The hockey game, which I went to with a random boy from the internet (and it was actually a really good date and he was super cute and I enjoyed it) was a 6-0 blowout loss for the Flyers and I watched as another player got concussed
5. And I did a little shopping.

I am being a little dramatic; I did have a good time, and I actually think vacationing by myself is something that really works for me, but I've been struggling a lot with my depression in the past few months and it was honestly (and ridiculously) surprising to me that it didn't magically go away when I went on vacation.

Pronger's injury status is genuinely upsetting. I think it hit harder knowing that he was somewhere really nearby as well, and just the timing... the whole thing is just. Bad.

But here are the good things:

1. Philadelphia is really beautiful. I loved the juxtaposion of old and new architecture, the city is very conducive to walking around, and the weather was perfect until the very last day when it rained. I kind of fell in love with the University of Pennsylvania's campus. I might actually look into doing an exchange there. It's that lovely. And the gigantic post office by the river, and city hall, and the weird neo-gothic church next to the Mütter Museum, and hell, the Liberty Bell. And being a Flyers fan and walking down Broad Street was just cool.

2. Having that five and a half days to myself was definitely something I needed, even if I wasn't healthy enough to enjoy it as much as I wish I could have.

3. I really, really love going to hockey games. I definitely need to go to some Mooseheads games in the next few months. Very little makes me happier than drinking beer in a rink. And while I resent the loss on principle and it was hard to relive on HBO 24/7, I actually had a really good time at the game. My date was so cute. He's a goalie and he's studying sports management and he bought me drinks and brought a signed Roenick jersey for me to wear and was so cute. We chirped our own team ("Oh look, the Flyers finally win a face-off and Bourdon doesn't know what to do with it") and the Doomsday Crier sitting next to me ("Is only game! Why you heff to be mad?") and I got to rant my face right off about how much I hate Stéphane Auger while my date was like, "O__O." But he is the WORST REF and I HATE HIM.

4. The Mütter Museum was really cool. I love skulls and skeletons and specimens and medical history so it was just super super interesting. Coolest was seeing the skeleton of a person with gigantism next to that of a person with normal growth and a person with achondroplasia dwarfism. Also, fetus skeletons at various stages of development all arranged in standing poses. And the skeleton of a Victorian woman with a compressed ribcage due to corset-wearing. &skeletons; I would love for my skeleton to be displayed.

5. I bought some good stuff! A couple pair of fingerless gloves, some tights, a nice scarf, and a pair of bright orange oxford brogues. AMERICA WHY IS YOUR STUFF SO CHEAP.

I also visited some art galleries and historical sites and Starbuckes (it is how I do) and listened to Canucks and Oilers games on the radio and got hit on a lot. I thought Haligonians were forward compared to Vancouverites, but hoo boy. They have nothing on Philadelphians.

And I touched a Calder stabile! Calder is one of my art heroes, so putting my hands on his work was cool (it's steel public sculpture, touching is allowed).

So, yes. Vacation goes in the win column, but it was a hard win.

( Christmas )

If you've made a wishlist, drop me a link in the comments so I can give you stuff! \o/

So, I made a Luongo picspam, but it kind of got defensive! I just have a lot of feelings, okay. I promise there is the expected squee and delight, it's just prefaced with a short recitation of Luongo's accomplishments to date. :| Um. :|

( This way for stats, records, and 19 photos of Roberto Luongo )

David Booth picspam tomorrow (maybe), because he's adorable and also a Canuck now! :D &myteam;

Thin walls aside, my roommate is the best!

"Today at work there was this really cute boy with an adorable Newfie accent and he was exactly your type, and then he started speaking French to his bro friend, and I was like, he is perfect! But then I noticed he was wearing a Bruins t-shirt. I'm very sorry."

Also:

"Emma [her seven-year-old cousin] went skating for the first time last week, and she was upset because she fell down a lot, and I think she was expecting to be a lot better at it right away then she was. So Uncle Rob and I told her about Alex Burrows and how he can't really skate even though he plays in the NHL."

Me: "HAH. YOU HAVE HOCKEY KNOWLEDGE AND YOU USED IT IN THE REAL WORLD!"

Her: "DON'T YOU DARE RUIN MY REPUTATION WITH THIS."

Now that I have recovered from the Naked Kesler, I will actually post that printmaking work I spoke of.

( Would you like to see my etchings? [large images] )

This is the truest true story.

I have read all the things, and now there is NOTHING ON THE INTERNET. NOTHING. I knew it was bad when I opened the multi-window view thing in my browser and three of the open windows were howmanydaysuntilhockey.com

ps today is my dad's birthday (45! He is almost a grown-up!) and tomorrow is my brother's wedding (totally not even a little bit of a grown-up!) and PLEASE REMIND ME THAT I AM NOT CLEVER ENOUGH TO MURDER MY ENTIRE FAMILY AND GET AWAY WITH IT

OMG

SERIOUSLY IF THEY DIED IN A FIRE I WOULD BE VERY SAD BUT MY LIFE WOULD SEE A NET IMPROVEMENT

I got that job I wanted! \o/ I am so happy there is someone willing to pay me to make lattes and be cheerful! \o/

Hello! I have consistently working internet, now, which is lovely. It's also the monthiversary of me living in Halifax, which is nuts since it's seemed to go so fast. Been ludicrously busy with getting housewares and a job and my school situation sorted.

The housing thing has gone well; my roommate is a close friend from Vancouver, and she moved out here ahead of me to find a place, since she's got family in the area. Our building is a 1920's brownstone that is charmingly dilapidated, and a short walk from downtown, where our school is. Also, the rent to square footage ratio is fantastic. SO BIG. SO CHEAP. My beloved roommate is starting to annoy the crap out of me due to us not having any other friends and so spending a truly stupid amount of time together, but that's all right, we'll be busy enough soon enough.

The work situation is a bit ungood, as I am now Tim Horton's' newest employee, which is something I never aspired to. I have to take out so much jewelry. Also, hairnets. >:( My first day was yesterday and I enjoyed five uninterrupted hours of training videos. I have five more hours of them to look forward to later today. >:( Just need to collect a paycheque while I look for a non-terrible job. I currently have about seven dollars to my name. :/

But back to good things, I am looking for a kitten! KITTENS ARE THE BEST. Haven't got one yet because I am being picky. I specifically want a male long-haired non-ginger tabby. That is too specific. But cats that are not male long-haired non-ginger tabbies are not the right cat, and there is no sense in getting not the right cat when there are so many cats in the world and you can't hug them all.

Also, only fifty days until hockey! But I have no idea how I am going to watch western conference games out here. They are so late (I say while journaling at 3 AM). Off to sleep. Must be awake for training videos. >:(

So, my local sports team has a thing going and we just had a shitty few games.

( Here's a Roberto Luongo picspam to make myself happy! Feel free to skip it if you hate hockey, funny faces, attractive Canadians, or joy! )

I feel better now.