Mill-ion Dollar Weekend

This past weekend Shauna and I gave a big middle finger to winter and took off for Mill River Resort in western PEI. We were hoping for a weekend of relaxing around the (indoor) pool...unfortunately the place was crammed with families, who of course took over the pool like packs of locusts. But, no matter, we had a good time, starting with the tubing hill:




Then later that day we took a trip to North Cape, the northwestern tip of the Island, where there is a crapload of windmills:



And things are sexy in that icy-dirty kind of way:



Basically, it's a real beach vacation in PEI:



So we hung out at the resort for awhile, ate good food, drank more wine than necessary, turned our noses up at all the bratty kids, that type of thing. It was beautiful again the next day, and we decided a snowshoe through the woods in Millvale was in order. Mill River, Millvale, no relation to each other, more than an hour away from each other, but whatever. First we went home and got Bru, because Millvale is pretty much his favourite place on Earth. It's, like, better than a thousand unattended kitty litters in his mind, to the point where jumping photos are in order:



I'll let Bru take it from here, at The Bru Blog.

Upkeep

Umm, in case this thing vanishes if I don't post at least once every few months...

*post*

There.

Honestly, I will update it sometime.

Scaffolding

I just finished reading Ian McEwan's Amsterdam. The funny thing is, I just started reading it, this evening. It's under 200 pages, but even so starting and finishing a book on the same day is an extreme rarity for me, as I've got the reading speed of a concrete block. Yeah, it was really helpful in grad school. But Amsterdam also turned out to be fantastic, which sped things along.

The further along I get in a plot like that of Amsterdam, the more I think of scaffolding. Most humble house painters and storytellers build a scaffold from the ground on up. At his blackboard or his park bench or wherever he does his scheming, perhaps McEwan erects his plots from the ground up, too. But with something as intricate as Amsterdam, perhaps not. The relevant details, the key planks and piping that allow one level to link to the next, are interspersed so skillfully and almost randomly throughout the narrative that I can't see how they could be thought up in linear fashion. Instead, I'm so dazzled by it that I envision the scaffold floating in mid air, pieces gradually filling in here and there below it, with not a touch of urgency or wobble. Add McEwan's graceful prose, eye for metaphor, absorbing characters, intelligence without pretension, and you end up with a novel that would please architects and concrete blocks alike.
I highly recommend this book, as well as Atonement and Saturday, and I'm confident his other dozen or so books I've yet to read are just as impressive.

The May Update

College: On the day we were moving Algonquin College finally accepted me into the program I wanted, but I was so unimpressed with them that I decided in favour of Centennial at that point. Sheridan never let me know one way or the other. So, I've accepted Centennial's offer of September admission, but at this point it doesn't look like I'll actually follow through on it. The more likely plan is to engage in an internship with a multimedia company here on the Island and take courses or a whole program over the internet. While I'm a bit antsy about this less traditional form of schooling, moving back to Ontario would be rather difficult, in terms of money, living arrangements and so on. I won't say there's no chance at all that I'll be going to Centennial, but right now it doesn't look likely. Part of the reason for this...

House-buying: At first Shauna and I were looking around for an apartment and dealing with our favourite rule of the rental world: "No Pets". We got frustrated with that and visited the bank. The bank gave us good news. We started looking at houses. At first we only looked in rural areas, as it is our dream to have a place in the country with some acreage where we can have a little farm. But then we changed our focus to finding a small starter home in downtown Charlottetown, which we thought would be more in our price range and better suited to our current way of living and careers. We've looked at a bunch of houses now, and last week we found a place that we really liked and once the vendor lowered his price a little, we signed an offer and agreed on a closing date. However, in house buying it's always a good idea to make an offer conditional on inspection, which we did. Our respective father figures have tons of experience in construction and on Sunday they gave the house a thorough going-over in the manner of Holmes On Homes. The house was great except for one critical flaw in the foundation, which would have been extremely costly and inconvenient to fix. Given that the house was already in the upper range of what we could pay for, we decided to walk away from the deal, which was a giant let down. But we moved on, and inspected another house that we had looked at previously. Its price tag isn't so high, and it's more solidly built. While there's no showstopper issue like the first house we saw, there's more minor/medium problems/fix-its, so we have to decide whether we're willing to buy a house that will require some money and "sweat equity" as they say in this business. Right now we're mulling over this decision, but have also identified several other properties, which we hope to view on Wednesday. We hope to find a place that is appealing, affordable and structurally sound. Sometimes we wonder if this is too much to ask for, but those three principles aren't ones we're willing to compromise. Until we find the house that meets those criteria, we're living with my folks in Cornwall. They've been super, and very patient despite suddenly having two other people and their pets in the house they're used to having to themselves. Shauna and I are a bit sick of living out of boxes, though, and another plus to whatever house we choose will be MOVE IN A.S.A.P!

Soccer: I've joined a team in the senior men's first division here. We haven't had the best start: one win, three ties and two losses. Certainly nothing as confidence-building as Imports FC last summer. But the team is a good bunch of guys, several of whom are from the UK, which makes things fun. The level of soccer isn't quite as high as it was in Kitchener, either, but I think it's improved from when I last played here almost a decade ago. Almost all of our games are on new turf fields, too, which is pretty kick ass. Nonetheless, I was reading the forums on the websites of the two Kitchener leagues I played in and found that I miss all the rivalries, trash talk and post-game analysis. Honestly, by the amount of time some of those guys put into the website, I wonder if they ever do any work in their day jobs.

Otherwise, I'm kind of in stasis right now. The month of May has had its good points, but it's also been rather gloomy. I'm motivated to hunt for houses, but not much else. I want to get my own space, to set up, to have a home base, and then to sink my teeth into what I'm going to do about education and work. But right now I feel more like I do when I'm camping---my home and my stuff are somewhere else, and it's nice for a few days, but it's no place to be when you need to get shit done. So I'm listless in limbo.

But, June (and hopefully some good weather) is around the corner, there are some good possibilities in the next batch of houses we're going to look at, and my listlessness can't last forever. Perhaps part of the reason for the listlessness is that I'm trying to break my daily coffee habit, and I've been fairly successful. I still crave it, but I don't get headaches anymore when I go without. I haven't weighed myself, but I think my tummy softness has reduced a little, too. And with that, the rain has cleared, so I'm going to wake Bobo from his doggy dreams and we're going to go for a walk.

The College of Frustration

This week I got some information that will factor in to my decision on college for next year. But it's not good info. No, I didn't receive a rejection---I received a nullification of sorts. Holland College has decided to suspend their interactive multimedia program for a year, to review it or some such. So whether I would have gotten in or not doesn't matter, because there's nothing to get in to. My decision is now whether to work for another year in PEI and aim to take the Holland College program in Sept. 2008 or to attend one of the Ontario schools I've applied to, this September. Either way, I will be moving home to PEI for the summer at least, as Shauna starts her job at UPEI on May 1st. It's now a logistics decision; I don't want to wait till 2008 as I'm eager to get into the multimedia field as soon as possible, but coming back to Ontario would mean being apart from Shauna, having two rents between us, saddling her with pet duties, etc. At the moment I still have offers on the table from Centennial, Canadore and Algonquin and am waiting to hear from Sheridan and Algonquin on a more advanced program. Hopefully letters will be out this week, as Ontario college admission offers must be accepted by May 1st or they are revoked.

So, friends in Ontario---hope to see you over the next few weeks. Otherwise, have a good summer and I might be back in the province in September. Friends in PEI---I'm looking forward to a good summer on the Island, hope you're around.

Bambi on the Barbie

Meat is murder. Tasty, tasty murder.

There is no better way to ring in the month of April than by grilling some venison in the backyard. Today was a misty, drizzly day, but some warm weather earlier in the week made Barbarian Brian and I vow that this would be the weekend of the barbecue's return, no matter what. So this afternoon we dragged it out of the shed, dusted it off, with trembling hands lit the flame and then stood back in caveman-awe at the low roar of fire reawakened.

I had been waiting for this moment for some time, and wasn't about to throw any old piece of gristle on the burning altar of manly cuisine. Upstairs Tim gave us some deer steaks back in the winter, and I tucked them away in the freezer for a momentous occasion like today. This morning I researched venison marinades and chose a honey garlic recipe (it was the only one for which I had all the ingredients). As I am wont to with those little bulbs of taste, I overloaded the garlic and the house was pungent all day long.

Over beer, humus and guacamole we stood outside in our shirt sleeves and salivated as the steaks, chicken and veggies sizzled. In honor of the barbecue's emergence from the shed, the sun emerged from the clouds and gave the evening a pre-glimmer of summer. Nextdoor Cindy came over and tossed the soggy tennis ball for Bru until his tongue was hanging in the mud. Aunt and Uncle Funtime baked Sauce n' Cake de rigueur, for which Uncle Funtime invented a song to the tune of the Spider Man theme. When the meat was ready we retired to Casa Courtney to feast and watch the Juno Awards. The verdict on the venison: "gamey," much as Upstairs Tim had said it would be. He couldn't explain or articulate it any better, and neither can I. The verdict on the Junos: a flop. We Canadians can fire up a mighty barbecue, but don't ask us to put on a music awards show.

All in all, a great first barbecue of the season for 205 Strange People.

The deer steaks gather their succulence. And yes, my counter top is blood red.


Barbarian Brian and The Gaping Maw of Meaty Deliciousness.


Aunt and Uncle Funtime in da house.


Action shot: Nextdoor Cindy is about to launch Bru on a chase, Barbarian Brian enjoys a contemplative grunt and Mavis is a tired little mop.


That thing on the bench? It's a tennis ball. After Bru has had his way with it.


Uncle Funtime tries the ingredients for Sauce n' Cake, which he says taste neither like Sauce nor Cake.


Choice cuts of Bambi, sizzling away...


Uncle Funtime can't believe Nelly Furtado is doing that on television.


Sarah Chaperone works around her barbarian bun in the oven.


Shauna was absent, so Aunt Funtime gives me the vegetarian's "Honestly, you men and your obsession with the meat of innocent animals" look.

March is a cruel month...

For Shauna, March is Major Thesis Writing Month. Her data-collection is complete and now she just has to buckle down and conquer (write) the beast.

For me, March is the month for deciding. I've applied to interactive multimedia programs at Holland College (Charlottetown), Algonquin College (Ottawa), Sheridan College (Oakville), Centennial College (Toronto) and Canadore College (North Bay). By the end of this month, or hopefully earlier, I should know where I stand in terms of acceptance with all of these places, and I should be able to start planning my future, i.e. where the heck I'm gonna live. Some acceptances have actually started to trickle in...

Holland College - Wildlife Conservation Technology: This was my original aim in applying to college, as I thought I would like an outdoorsy job, which I still might. But then I realized how much I've enjoyed the digital/web design components of my job at MVCA, and thought interactive multimedia might be more my ticket. Anyway, I've been accepted to the wildlife program, which is two-years long. However, I haven't heard back about HC's multimedia program. I'm pretty keen on moving back to PEI and so I'm anxious to hear about this one. The one problem: tuition. This program costs $8000 for nine months. That's pretty rich for my blood, and it doesn't include books/materials. Whether this can be offset by a lower cost of living on the Island, I don't know.

Algonquin College - Interactive Multimedia Developer: I've been accepted into this two-year entry level program. However, I'm still waiting to hear about their one-year, more advanced Interactive Multimedia post-degree program, which I'd prefer. Algonquin looks like a very good school, and I like the Ottawa area, despite its cold winters. Also not too far from Montreal, and Aur and Bry live there. They're not the cheapest for fees, coming in at just under $5000, but they're more reasonable than Holland College.

Sheridan College - My application to their Interactive Multimedia program is still under consideration, but the college that was originally my frontrunner has kind of fallen by the wayside in my opinion. It's expensive to go there, Oakville sucks, and while their program has a good reputation, I think a lot of the other schools will be just as good.

Centennial College - Despite being in downtown Toronto, this is the least-costly option, with tuition around $3000 for their 12-month New Media program. Centennial also seems to want me the most; a requirement of their application process is a one-on-one information session with the program coordinator. I sent my portfolio in, but then lost interest in the school and didn't set up the information session. They called me twice, said they were impressed with the portfolio, and this week I got my letter of acceptance---without ever having the information session. There is an open house there this coming weekend, and I think I'll give the place a chance and go see what it's like. My one sticking point with Centennial is that it's in Toronto. While I'm partly open to living in a giant city, our recent experience with the car break-in (see Shauna's blog) has soured us on Toronto a bit. It's also expensive as all get out to rent there. The other option might be for me to commute from Kitchener, preferably via the train. Shauna could get a good job here in KW. But commuting would be kind of hellish, and I'm not sure how well it could work with my school schedule.

Canadore College - I've been accepted to their one-year Interactive Multimedia program, and it costs about the same as Centennial, so money shouldn't be an inhibitor. North Bay looks like a pretty place, and I suspect it would be more like Charlottetown than Toronto. However, I don't know much about the quality of the program. It could be good, it could be bad, it could be average. All these programs have similar-sounding course titles, and most have some sample student work and graduate testimonies on their webpages, but it's still hard to judge. Assuming rent in North Bay is a little lower than Toronto, it may be feasible for me to move up there while Shauna finds a good job here in KW, and visits on weekends. It's about 3-4 hours north of here, I think.

So this is what I'm looking at right now. I almost want one or two rejections just to narrow the field a bit. If only Holland College's program didn't cost so much, it would make the choice much easier. There's still more research to do...