BAM! the sound of worlds colliding

on saturday night i made my way to the arbour lake sghool for the first time. my older brother has lived there for several years but i never managed to get there before. my family drove from our suburban sub-division for about 30 minutes to pick up my friend danielle from a distant but almost identical subdivision and then on to the sghool, which is located in yet another bland and identical subdivision. in spite of the drab surroundings, the blue painting of tupac on the window foreshadowed that this was not to be an ordinary evening. some highlights- a man jumping into the huge christmas tree (about 3 feet too high for the ceiling), said tree falling on everyone in the livingroom and then being thrown back up into position- awaking at dawn to view the beautiful sunrise with a purple, fibreoptic tree silhouetted in front of it- one partyer reappearing at about ten in the morning, still intoxicated, picking up a plastic shield found on the floor and telling us to throw onions at him- a kitchen decorated with by-law violation notices and complaints from neighbours- watching my brother's roomate vacuum jello off of the carpeted stairs while wearing a ratty bathrobe- the fact that many people came in theme costumes, but few of the same theme, the best being two sturdy lads who came dressed as "scott's parents before bed" (scott being my brother and hence they also being my parents), this ensemble consisting of matching t-shirt nighties, headbands, fuzzy slippers and each with a fingerless leather glove that they would frequently hi-5 with- a room decorated with numerous unicorn pictures, despite the household consisting of 6? 20-something males... so there is that. a glorious eyesore on the supposed perfection of calgary's ever-increasing suburban sprawl. if you're interested in any of this, don't take my word on it. if you haven't already done so, check out the link i have over there on the right. all you have to do is click it. click it! i know you want to! it's just that easy using the interweb.

i spent the next day at home reading and recovering. i've also been researching if huge amounts of alcohol help to kill intestinal parasites....

then today happened. i woke up from strange dreams to have a phonecall from ian arriving in calgary. i was very glad to hear that he wasn't huddled in a ditch somewhere along the coquihalla, green lightning crashed and he wrapped in layers of my resplendant finery, alive but indignant at being forced to wear colourful clothing for survival. he brought me a pie (thanks eb). we hung out in my home for about five hours and then took an odd wander through downtown calgary, consisting mainly of plus 15s and looking at interesting things that existed but were not open. i swear that there are giant trout in the shopping mall. i swear. i also got to point out many hideous pieces of public art that the city of calgary has chosen to install. and i rode a metal horse in front of the city hall. i almost might have tried to go with him to drayton valley. perhaps i could have finally met his elusive family! sadly i am too attached to my own family and the short time i have with them and hence decided not to push the matter.

BAM! the sound of worlds colliding! it's so strange to see people in and out of their usual contexts, environments, constraints. how much of who we are is based on those around us, our surroundings, the images that we wish to portray? how much of my writing voice, speaking voice, singing voice is determined by my audience? in such a peopley-peopley world how do we find ourselves, our alone selves, and how much of that should we show? are we most free when we are alone? perhaps. but perhaps we also need to see ourselves in these various roles in order to learn more about our place in the world. i guess that i should hope that that is the case. otherwise human interaction would ultimately be useless and really nothing but a burden and distraction from higher callings. yah. i hope that's not the case, cuz i kinda like all you guyses....