terrified of telephones and shopping malls and knives

So I got out of Calgary. I went to Fernie late Saturday night, drove out to Surveyor's Lake (the camping spot of my childhood) Sunday morning and spent the day on the beach with Erin and her family. The weather was gorgeous. We walked around the lake and found a rope swing into the water. My arms hurt today. Stupid rope swing.
Erin has invited me to go to Mexico in December. She is going in November with some people (an older couple and their friend) and they are renting a villa in Mazatlan. Erin is hoping to get some people to come down so that when everyone else leaves, she can keep the villa for another month or so.
Anyway, the trip was really good. Good but short. The only really bad thing that happened was on the way there, we hit a moose. Those things are huge! I was sleeping in the back of the car and I thought we hit a truck. It was okay though, somehow. It was stunned for a minute and then it walked off the road. I'm so glad it didn't die or get seriously hurt because I think I would have cried my eyes out.

mountain to sound

I need to get out of Calgary.
I went with a bunch of people to Bowness park last night and had a bonfire. Two people brought their guitars and I had my trusty bongo drum. We sang our hearts out... literally. Then we walked around and (get this) it was dark! I didn't know that it was ever dark anywhere in the city. I still couldn't see many stars but it was dark. At the risk of sounding like an idiot I'm going to say that it was amazing. It was incredible to be surrounded by trees, listening to good music. Everyone should do that. It just grounds you.

you will, you won't; you do, you don't

I'm finding it really hard to keep this thing up. Britt is threatening me though, so I will try again. Even though she is the only one who reads it. I should really call this blog "Dear Britt B.".
I went to Stampede on Friday night with Marion. It was kind of sad. I mean, it was really fun (although I spent way more money than I wanted to) but the little girls were all dressed like hookers. The drunk people also got more and more pathetic as the night went on. And the fireworks were unsatisfying. Oh, and I hate what they do to those animals. Stupid cowboys. Anyway, we took the train home in the wee hours of the morning and I stayed at her house (which was tiny and adorable).
I guess the worst thing about Stampede is the same thing that was bad about the NHL playoffs. People are so desperate to have some (any!) distraction in their lives so they don't have to think about what really matters. I'm all for having a good time; I'm really not that anal, really. But it's the extent that the whole city embraces the distraction.
In other news, I drank three pots of green tea and five glasses of water in one hour this afternoon. Then we went and played tennis and I thought I was going to pee my pants.

good-bye teeth #18, 28, 38, and 48

I will especially miss #28.
I got all my wisdom teeth out yesterday. I wasn't really worried about it and as it turned out, i didn't need to be. Maybe it was all the valium, or the pain reliever injection, or the really strong motrin or the tylenol three. I'm pretty sure my dentist used to be a drug dealer. Anyway, it still doesn't hurt at all, so that's good.
In other news, i am reading my sixth John Steinbeck novel. This one is Cannery Row. If you haven't read any Steinbeck, here is a sample. This is a description of a beloved doctor.
"Doc would listen to any kind of nonsense and change it for you to a kind of wisdom. His mind had no horizon - and his sympathy had no warp. He could talk to children, telling them very profound things so that they understood. He lived in a world of wonders, of excitement. He was concupiscent as a rabbit and gentle as hell..."
I heart John Steinbeck. Read anything by him. I highly recomment East of Eden, but anybook will do.