tell me why...

cause i want it that way

take snapshots into the light

i've been thinking lately, since we got our new camera and all, that it would be great to be able to take pictures of people. but it isn't that easy. you see people don't take kindly to some stranger taking their picture, it implies something and generally i don't think it is that they are beautiful. i can't argue that point cause yesterday on three seperate occasions i wished i had a camera to take the picture and in every case it was because there was something odd about the subject.

the first was my bus driver heading downtown after work. he was a heavy set man with long thick grey hair, a bushy grey beard and big thick rose coloured glasses. they were the variety of glasses that really stand out on a man's face, oddly out of place and seemingly more appropriate for a female octogenrian, they immediately made me want to stare at him. what i was treated to was his lazy lean on the steering wheel as he filled his hand with corn chips, clenched it into a fist and then tilted his head back ever so slightly as he shook some chips from the fist into his mouth. then, as one would expect, he started agressively chewing with his mouth open, his face in an ever so slight grin like he was amused by his shear audacity. now i realize all this couldn't have been caught on film but just one well timed shot, fist in the air mouth open awaiting chips glasses reflecting the harsh light from outside, would have somehow seemed satisfying none the less.

the second time the thought crossed my mind was at the corner of robson and thurlow. as we approached the corner we heard some loud very distorted music wafting through the air. i thought it was simply another store projecting their noise pollution onto the sidewalk in hopes of garnishing some attention. but as we got closer i realized this was not the case. there leaning against one of the 7 starbucks on the block was a middle aged asian man standing beside a boombox circa 1986. he was wearing black sunglasses that wrapped around the side of his head, a black leather jacket with studs and one leather glove with tassles, his head bobbed ever so slightly from front to back. after taking in his apparel i was once again drawn to the distortion only to realize it was michael jackson (and here you would moan and say of course it was!). he seemed to be completely unaware of the dozens of people staring at him and laughing. in fact had i had a camera he likely would not have cared in the least if i had taken his picture, but i still don't think i would have been brave enough.


the third and final occasion was later on in the night when we returned home. getting off the bus we saw a crowd gathered outside the local comic book shop. it is the kind of place you would barely notice in the day, no sandwich board outside letting you know it is there, no glitzy signage. just a door and some dated posters in the window. so at first when i saw the crowd i was a little taken aback, did i know there was comic book store here? but soon my confusion became amusement as i caught a glimpse of the people inside. something between geeky and cool which i think sums up my neighbourhood well. girls with thick lisa loeb glasses, black and white striped tights, pale skin and long faces. mouths upturned in jagged tooth grins. the boys wearing comic book hero t-shirts, ill fitting jeans and sneakers adorned with bright colours had slick awkwardly long hair and seemingly large facial features. there were 2 dozen, maybe more, all spilling out on the street. excitement was in the air as they laughed and jittered. there was no beer, no cigarettes, the only intoxicants present were hormones and comic book magic. in my eye i saw the shot but had to keep walking. the image in my memory alone.

when i got home i thought about these shots and how hard it is to be the kind of person that can take them, well at least without a telephoto lense and then i thought of how we as a society have become obsessed with capturing the moment. whether it is digital cameras or digital camcorders we all are starting to only see the world through an eye hole. i am equally as guilty of it, needing to trap everything in my butterfly net, pinning them somewhere for later. it was, in the end, refreshing to know that somethings, at least for now, are only found in my memory. that some things i am still able to look at, take in and leave behind.

take me to the shore and wrap me in a blind tomorrow

so today's topic= bubble tea. actually i don't think that is all together acurate. you see i go to a bubble tea establishment but the thing i get is neither tea nor does it contain bubbles so really this is about fruit slushies that come from a place that sells bubble tea. otherwise known as my newest addiction. thankfully it won't be at my finger tips for much longer which i am sure my wallet will appreciate.

so there is this place in the student union building on campus that sells me these concoctions. they open at 11am which is really too bad since i am usually jonesing for one by my first break and they are nowhere to be found. by lunch it is a matter of desperation. i must feel the icey goodness in my throat, the tang of the fruit. the drink itself is really quite healthy and so there is no shame in that. to the best of my knowledge they seem to put fresh fruit of your choosing, lots of ice, some sort of clear liquid that may or may not be water or some kind of sweetener and then a few splashes of milk. the whole things gets mangled in an industrial blender and then it is piled high in a clear cup with a thick straw, a straw that is presumably built for bubbles. but as we have discussed i know nothing about this.

so that is the story or the background for the story i guess. you see i need this drink, i think about it all morning. what flavours will i have today. you can get one or mix two together, forever a mixer i usually choose the latter. the options are varied: strawberry, peach, blueberry, pineapple, mango, cantaloupe etc. so this one day last week i set off to get my fix thinking that today i would try something new. it is well documented that the experience of trying something new always leads to one of two conclusions, either you discover something wonderful and are glad to have taken a chance or you are sorely disappointed and mumble things like "oh well chalk that up to experience" but really think "what the hell was i thinking?". in my life it is almost always the latter. this story is no exception.

you see i decided that today i would try what the refer to as "green lemon" mixed with pineapple. i thought mmmmm citrus just what every pregnant woman wants (honest there is something about being pregnant and eating citrus fruits that i can not explain). so i tell the lady what i want. my first clue that something was amiss was when she said huh? and gave me a funny look. i thought it was a language barrier and stuck it out repeating the order. she shrugged a little and got to work. so it turns out that green lemon is actually a lime (and i found myself asking how it is i did not come to this conclusion on my own?). i wouldn't mind this, i like limes, maybe even more than lemons. so far so good. but then wait...did she just put in three chunks of lime with the rind? i start to get a little nervous. do i say something? no they know what they are doing, i have never done this what do i know. then comes the spoonfulls of fresh pineapple and my mouth starts to salivate. the blender is whirling now and i am anxious to try it. i am still slightly wary of the lime rind but think that maybe it gets pureed enough in the blender that you don't notice it. i mean it would have to right?

wrong. i got my drink and i quickly took a sip only to be treated with an enormous chunk of rind. next sip brought another and i was starting to get a bitter taste in my mouth. i made it just outside the building, 6 sips in and i threw in the towel, or in this case the cup into the garbage. i thought of going back and getting another, allowing my need to control me, but i fought the urge. some things are better left alone.

as i walked back to my desk i could be heard muttering "oh well chalk that up to experience" but what i really wanted to know was what the hell i had been thinking?


creepy dolls are from here.