Old Crow: a short description

Last week, I returned from a two week trip to Old Crow, a very small place in northern Yukon.

It's the kind of place that hollows you out, like your body leaves, but your mind lags behind. Your thoughts want to be in a place where it is so quiet that you can hear the river freezing over. It sounds like: water rushing and pushing against the fragile surface,

and the ice threatening to crack.

unfinished story

Here is a little comic detailing 2 minutes on a bus trip down

Hastings Street. And then, the man got off the bus.

connoisseur of life series #1

I am so sorry to everyone for not keeping up with my blog. I got a little bit sick of myself and sick of drawing my stupid giant head on that inaccurately tiny body...I might return to that someday, but for now, I hope this new thread that I'm unspooling still captures everyone's interest (all 3 of you).

Here's a story to introduce the actual introduction:

Two weeks ago, I was touring the Okanagan wineries with a few friends. My limit was three wineries in one day (I can only nod my head and say "ah, interesting" while having no clue as to what is actually interesting about the wines, for so long).

At the end of a long, tiring day, we stopped into Mission Hill for the heritage tour. The guide was an enthusiastic and thorough man, who told us that he had a colleague who studied picking out flavours and aromas from wines by practicing everyday - smelling a new scent throughout the day in order to familiarize and identify it in wines.

My eyes almost popped out of my head, I was so excited at the idea that I wasn't a hopeless case...that everything could be honed and practiced. And I don't have to become a poverty stricken lush to get there.

Actual introduction:

Quite often I find myself a passerby to a very intense moment in somebody's life, in a public space. Sometimes these little scenarios stay with me for a very long time...often for months, sometimes for years. I never know what to do with them, except to wonder about it. So I want to share these little excerpts (hopefully not in a depressing World Vision advertisement way) to offer little excerpts of life, or little mysteries for us to try to figure out together.

#1

The other day, I went to the library, and just outside the door, this woman was sitting on a low bench, crying loudly and telling a stranger who was unlocking his bike nearby:

"I was supposed to meet my ex here...but he didn't show up!"

I went inside, browsed a bit and then grabbed two trashy magazines. When I came out, I found her still gasping for breath between these chasmal heaving sobs.

the past cookie

I was in Masset a few weeks ago for an workshop at an elementary school. Having the weekend free to explore, I spent most of my Sunday walking down beaches, skirting the waves, and picking up extraordinary looking pebbles. For hours I watched the waves recede and return to me - what bliss.

It was difficult to be torn away from such a scenery, but by ten o'clock in the evening, my tummy was rumbling as loud as the waves were, so my colleague and I returned to Masset to look for food. All supermarkets were closed and we only had two Chinese restaurants that were open to us so we decided on the Golden Pam where I ordered a bowl of chicken soup noodles.

Although I did enjoy my meal, what I really look forward to at restaurants like these is the fortune cookie at the end of the meal. It's a random piece of literature (sometimes wisdom) and the shell that contains it is edible. Delightful.

I crack mine open with greedy anticipation, and pop the cookie in my mouth - it was crisp and delicious! However, I found the fortune part a little stale.

It read:

"You will find much enjoyment by the seashore"

ATM Troubles: Part Three

I know I should be over this, it's been seven months since this incident! Many days I've been fuming, this final blog entry on the topic will be the catharsis I've been needing:

Returning to my studio, I decided that this was going to be the one time I needed to be pro-active.

Complaint letter first draft:

VANCITY! DAMN YOU! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO ME?!!!

AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elisa

I thought about what results this might yield and decided that a bit of editing might be needed. So I tweaked it a bit and came up with - Complaint letter second draft:

To Whom It May Concern:

At approximately 1:30pm today, I used an ATM machine at the ***** Community Branch. During the transaction, I requested sixty dollars before the ATM machine froze. No cash or card came out. The woman behind the desk told me to wait in line to speak with a teller who, “if they weren’t too busy”, might retrieve my card for me. My card was found inside the machine, but while I was in the line up, someone had taken the cash. I now have $60 missing from my account because of a faulty ATM machine, and because I was told to leave the it unguarded in order to to get help.

This is a big disappointment; I feel that the security of my money was not a priority for your bank. I would like reassurance that your bank will not allow for me to be victimized and disempowered like this again. I want confirmation that I will have my money returned to me. Please look into this matter.

Sincerely,

Elisa

ATM troubles - part two

I lined up to talk to the teller and waited for about twenty minutes.

At the front of the line, "My card is stuck in the ATM outside!" I said to the teller, piteously.

Her response: "Fill out this form and I'll take a look".

"Thank you."

A few minutes later, she returned, "Well it looks like someone took your money while you were in the line up to talk to me. But we have your card."

I looked at her, and she simply stared back. I raised my eyebrows expectantly- I got in return, silence and a blank look.

"Will I ever get my money back?" I asked weakly.

"Maybe, we'll do an investigation and give you a call."

"Ok".

But twenty minutes after leaving the bank I began to realize that it wasn't OK...