Hey hey hey! Well, I got home from school about a half an hour ago. I stayed a little longer today, just dicking around because I knew once I got home I would have far too far too much stuff to do (far too).
It's the 2nd week of production of the community paper the school runs and that means the first 3 days (mon-wed) is when all the articles will start flowing in. I'm the copy editor for this cycle (of 2 wks) so this means I don't have to contribute any writing, but I do have to edit people's copy. Over the weekend I had one piece to edit and that's it. So far today I've edited 3 pieces of work, and at least 5 more from now until wednesday. This isn't a big deal; copy editing isn't all that time consuming or hard, it's just that I would like to get the people back their work so they can submit it to our teacher to put it in the paper. I would be able to do this no problem if I wasn't working on tuesday night (5-11pm). All the copy is going to be coming in at that time, so after work when I get home (11:30pm) I'll be editing my ass off. Top that off with my actual course work that I have to get done for wednesday as well.
As you can probably tell, I'm not doing any of this right at the moment as I am writing in my blog. This brings me to my next point: I think I have selective ADD. It's selective because sometimes I can really focus on a certain task at hand, but others I just cannot do it for the life of me; it drives me crazy sometimes. It'd be nice if I could get this diagnosed by a doctor, so I'd have a valid (even though still not appreciated) excuse.
Well I've got to go get something to eat I guess, then maybe afterwards I'll get down to business; either that or find something else to keep my mind off actual work >{=o)}{ (turn your head to the left; cool.)
I must say that today was the first time I've gotten up at 8:30am (or pre-noon) on a non-school day in the longest time; it's tripping me out!
Okay so on to the concert description (with obvious side tracks, or else this is all pointless fo rme :P). After I got the scalper ticket and whatnot, I met up with my friend and her friend in line. Introductions were made, yada yada.
We went in after 8pm after my coat check and all that. We just stood in the hall (or whatever it's called) and waited while people slowly trickled in. Nothing ended up happening til 8:30, and by then I was greatful to get some live music.
The first cover band was named FuckYeah! They're like a Crystal Method-type sampling band. Two DJs a drummer and a bassist. Not usually my kind of music, but live they were pretty damn awesome. I was glad we got a good cover band and not some piece of shit.
After FuckYeah, came the piece of shit band I was dreading decided to make an un-announced appearance. By un-announced, I mean I didn't read of this band anywhere. I think they were called The Islands. They were such a gimmicky band, and I really couldn't take them seriously. A seven member band consisting of a singer, drummer, guitarist, bassist, saxophonist, keyboard/clarinet/violin guy and a maraca/violin guy. See what I mean? But wait, this isn't the worst part. I hope this isn't viewed as racist or anything, but I see it as gimmicky: All the members are wearing white suit-y type clothing, the multi-instrument guys are your typical tv asian nerd-type you see. They were acting this role out the whole time, and while drawing a few laughs, fell short of impressive. Another thing I noticed is that their bassist was so stereo-typical. The lone black guy in the group. Now I don't know if they did this on purpose or anything, so I'll leave it at that :)
Okay so after all this cover band shite it's now 10:30pm! The waiting is KILLING ME! My feet and legs are so tired from standing in one position. Okay so we're highly anticipating Metric's arrival now. But wait, they stage people have to clean up and setup for a half an hour! Ugghh!!
Skipping over the most tedious half hour of the night. Metric comes out and starts playing right away; none of that, in my opinion, unnecessary yapping to hype the crowd.
They ended up playing for about an hour and a half. I thought they played around 8 songs max. But yesterday I figured it was around 12. The time just flew by.
Emily Haines, the lead singer of Metric, may not have the best voice, but she sounded exactly like she does on their albums. Amazing. I couldn't get over the quality of her voice and how it was on key the entire night (with a few exceptions, she sounded tired before they took intermisison).
They played 10 songs (or so I recall) from their new album Live It Out, and 2 from their last one Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? Almost every song got an amazing applause from the crowd. People were loving every minute of it, after all the waiting we had to do.
During all the performances (mostly the cover bands), people were lighting up all over the place. I could smell it; so strong. This made me crave the damn weed. I'm not considered a pot head by any means, but if I'm near it, I'll want to smoke it. I didn't this night, however tempting. Security was takin people out of the crowd for smoking up though, so I'm glad I didn't, in the end :).
To conclude (finally), I have to say that Metric was impressive and I would definitely go and watch them play again....although I'll make sure to buy tickets from Ticketmaster when they're released next time!
Hey peoples. Or me. I've delayed writing my "comprehensive piece" about the concert til now... 1:12am on Sunday; for what reason? Meh, I'm just lazy I suppose.
Okay so as I mentioned in my previous blog, I went to meet the guy who sold me the ticket on eBay at a subway station. I get there, he hands me the ticket, I look at it and give him the money; so I figure I'll head back to class which begins in about 20 minutes. As I get off the escalator that took me down to where the subways are I realize he told me "have fun tomorrow night (saturday)", so I'm like - wtf? - and look at my ticket, which says SATURDAY!!!! Sooooooooo pissed off I was.
I went back up and left the station in hopes that I could catch the bastard; but i couldn't. I headed back to class and the entire way back I'm asking myself if i was illiterate and couldn't read the dates.
As soon as I got back to school (just in time for class, as if that was on my mind anyway), I busted out my laptop and proceded to check my e-mail to see if I was truly crazy. I wasn't; it was listed on eBay as friday.
An hour or so later, after class was finished, I called the guy and got his voice mail. I hate voice mail, so I waited and got it again. I e-mailed him and figured I'd check when I got home.
On my way home he called me and said he e-mailed me but I didn't get back to him. Anyway he said he had the tickets forever and completely spaced out on the dates and that he'd give me a full refund. I'm not one to hold grudges that often and this seemed like a genuine screw up so I was okay with it.
What I did do though, on suggestion of a classmate of mine, is I told him that I was going to take it to the Kool Haus and get a scalper to exchange it with me for Friday's concert. He was cool with that. I told him if it didn't work out that I would call him and we could meet up that night.
After getting my hair cut (and today I found out I left my damned hat at the barbers..*sigh*) I went home and ate. I chillaxed for a little while and left around 6:15pm (concert at 8pm). So I'm walking up Queen's Quay towards the venue and I see scalpers asking for/selling tickets. I talk to them about and this bitch gives me the brush off, saying he didn't want a Saturday ticket. So whatever, my friend said there was another guy around the venue.
I'm walking up the road and one of the two guys calls me and comes up and says he may be able to work something out. He calls his "co-worker" and they eventually come in a SUV. The guy in the car seemed pissed that he was going through all this effort of driving 2 blocks for 1 ticket. The two of us then walk up to the venue to talk to another "co-worker" to work something out. On the way this other scalper offers me the ticket for mine and $40 extra. Obviously I say no. I paid far too much for it already. We then worked out a deal where, yes I paid, but meh.
I met up with my friend and we went to the concert....
As much as I wanna talk about it. I figure I would let the pre-drama sink in first. Tomorrow I might get down to business maybe.
Hey again. It's looking more and more like I'm the only person that reads my blogs (so sad, really, I know =P). Either way I feel it's productive to type out my "thoughts and musings" as they come.
Today I made my first purchase off of eBay. Ever since I created my account on the site (sometime in the summer, I believe), I've been somewhat apprehensive about buying something from it. It all seems so shady and questionable; even though many people I know have done it without a hitch.
Anyways. I bought 1 ticket to the Metric concert happening tomorrow night (Fri., Feb. 24/06) at Kool Haus in downtown Toronto. Why 1, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. It's because a friend of mine is going and since I'm a fan of the group she convinced me to buy a ticket as well. That's the extent of that. I'll be going with her and her friend (whom I've never met). I haven't gotten in contact with her since I won the auction, so I hope to sometime soon :S.
So yeah, this concert, I'm terribly looking forward to it. It's going to be my first one! I know, it's incredible how a 21, nearly 22, year-old hasn't been to a concert before. I've come close many-a-time, but it's never happened.
Tomorrow in betwen my two classes I'm gonna go and pick up my ticket from the guy. Hopefully everything goes well. It's gonna be a busy day overall tomorrow, I know that much.
Well I think I've exhausted my primer of the concert tomorrow. I plan on taking in everything I can so I can write a pretty comprehensive piece on how it went. It's a good experience; both writing and fun-wise =P.
As the title of this Blog implies, I'm gonna try something new.
Instead of blabbering on about my personal life, I'm gonna give a book review!
The book that I'm gonna be reviewing today is Confessions of an Innocent Man, by William Sampson.
First off, since this is my first semblance of a book review since I was in like grade 4, I wanna preface the reader to be aware that, even though I'm trying not to, I may give away parts of the book that may be best left for reading. There. Now you know.
Okay so this book is about a man, William Sampson, who is a Canadian/British citizen working in Saudi Arabia. He was accused by Saudi officials of orchestrating a terrorist attack, and this book chronicles his nearly three years in solitary confinement from his point of view (obviously).
In my never-ending search for a book to read at my local Chapters, I came upon this one in the best-seller's section. I don't normally buy hard cover books unless they're cheap, and this one was selling for around $37. I questioned whether or not I really wanted it, and in the end I did.
The story of this man seemed too surreal to pass up, and I felt I would be missing out on something if I didnt buy it.
I read a couple books prior to getting to this one, because I wanted to save it for last. I started reading it and I was automatically hooked to Sampson's style of writing, and to the events that occur right at the start of the book.
Sampson's explicitly detailed accountings of what happend to him is astounding. Add this to his spectacular writing style, keeping me interested in what I was reading at all times, and it was asking to be an astonishingly well-written memoir.
Sampson accounts for his eccentric, as perceived by most in society, personality traits as one of the major keys to him surviving his ordeal. One such example is his ability to thrive in situations where he is comfortable in complete solitude. Sampson speaks of how he climbed mountains and spent days alone with only himself, and also of how he dealt with his demons best alone, before venturing to loved ones for support.
This was one book where I didn't feel the urge to put it down. It didn't have those sections where it seems tedious to read through. Even though it took me a good while to read it (with time restrictions and overall busy schedule), I would have to say that this is the best book I've read. If you are into the first-person story-telling with amazing detail into how the person is going through the experience at hand, then this is definitely for you.
The one thing I would like to offer is for readers to not let someone like James Frey ruin the memoirs of others. His deceipt, even though the book was supposedly well written and overall enjoyable (and I may read it soon), his actions damaged the credibility of all memoir writers. It is up to the readers to determine whether or not they would believe what is written, and I believe you should read, and believe, this particular book.
Today I figure I'll muse a little bit about my professional life, and where that's headed. Oh yeah. I don't really know. It's strange, I've grown up interested in many different things from baseball to drawing to video games, music and movies, but none of them seem to click for me as something I can really put effort into making a lifelong, stable career out of. Nothing that would interest me anyway.
As I finished my final year of high school at 19, I had, quite frankly, no Idea what I wanted to do with my life. I applied for a business program and the journalism program. I didn't get into journalism, but I did get into the business course. I accepted (God knows why). So, time comes to pay for this program and I realize "Man, this isn't what I want to do with my life at all," so I don't bother paying for it. What I do instead is take a year off to work, make money, but most of all work on figuring out what the hell I want to do.
Over this year off I think long and hard about what I want to do (to no avail). I just can't seem to get any semblance of a possible career that would be entertaining to me. So, being as interested in writing as I was, I re-applied for the Journalism program and also the Advertising program (right now, i cant think of a reason why i did that).
I ended up getting into Journalism. So began my path to my career. Or so I thought.
I knew coming into this course that it would require me to be far more personable than I was and that I would have to work hard on my confidence in myself. That was one of the main goals I had for myself coming out of the program. Be Confident.
It was hard. For a while I didn't really have any stable friends; none I really connected with anyway. Then, slowly I got to know a couple a bit more, and it moved from there. The course was also tough to start because I was terrified to approach people; I just couldn't do it. This apprehension stays with me to this day, but I've managed to supress it and atleast make it manageable.
I know right now I don't want to be a journalist. So why am I in the program, you ask? Well, simply because I feel it HAS improved my confidence and I would love to see it through to the end. Also, prospective other careers such as Page Design for a newspaper or copy editing seem respectable enough.
Truthfully though, I know I lack the passion I should have if i really wanted to do this. I just cannot seem to think of a single venture out there that would make me happy. Not a single one. I keep hoping that one day my chosen career will dawn on me and I can pursue it with great enthusiasm. It hasn't happened, and something tells me it may never. It's just something i have to get used to. All i know is that I don't want to end up working at the factory i currently am at for the rest of my life. No way in hell.
What did writing all this do? Well...nothing really. It just helps to get the fact that I am completely lost, and that my prospects seem bleek if I ever wanna be completely happy at my career. I ask myself though, is that possible? Does such a thing exist?
I write this blog for myself and those who choose to read it. It's full of my random thoughts and musings. It's not always the greatest piece of work, but I enjoy doing it.
