Burnaby Lake

 The most beautiful place on earth. It is so peaceful and calm there. It was a great afternoon spent at Burnaby Lake with my sister. A day that I really needed. I have been caught in a rut lately. Feeling sad and depressed but an afternoon spent here makes it all go away. Being out in the sun taking in all the beauty, listening to all the sounds has a way of relaxing you.

Seeing all the wildlife helps you regain your perspective on life. The ducks, geese, chipmunks, birds, dragonflies and the bullfrog that I caught. He sat in my hand and looked at ease as he stared up at me. Almost as if he was giving me some comfort. I wanted a picture of him, but as soon as I pulled my blackberry out he jump out of my hand and hopped away. I bet he is sitting on his lily pad on the lake, eating some flies and watching the sun set behind the trees. He's my new buddy and I will go back to visit him.

Walking on the pier staring out over the beaver dam and the lake rejuvenated my spirits. And picking Salmon berries with my sister brought back memories of our childhood spent berry hunting in the creek. It was a good day and I can't wait for the next one spent at the lake.

Palm Island

I can't say I understand why they made this island but I do know it looks cool. I'm sure it isn't anything special when you are on it. You wouldn't be able to grasp what it really was. But it must sure be breathe taking to see when you fly over it. I hope when I fly to Dubai I get to see this for myself.

Ryugyong Hotel

I would go see this hotel just to say that I have seen it. It's a disaster and would be a good laugh to look at. They started building this in 1987 and still haven't completed it. I honestly don't even know if this is what it really looks like. I am sure this is an embarrassment to Kim Jong-il and he probably makes photographers photo shop any pictures of it so that it doesn't look as hiatus as it must be. I can see that it had potential. It stands 105 stories high and if it was completed when it was suppose to it would have been the worlds tallest hotel. Maybe one day it will get completed but if it ever does who is going to travel to North Korea to stay in it? Better luck next time.

This is Vancouver

This is the real Vancouver . The Vancouver that we all love. This is Vancouver at its best. When we all come together for good. A week ago today you all saw the worst of our city. You saw those images of our city burning smeared all over your televisions and your newspapers. But that isn't Vancouver at all. In a way I am glad we lost game 7. I know you might all think I am crazy for saying that, but I don't think we were ready to win the Stanley Cup and we showed that to the world. Because after the fires were put out and the smoke cleared we showed everyone what Vancouver really is.

What makes Vancouver so great isn't the worlds best skyline. It's not Stanley Park, or the North Shore mountains. It's not the ocean and the many beaches that line it, nor is it the abundance of outdoor activities we have in our backyard. It's the people that make this city the greatest city in the world. Out of the ashes rises the phoenix. And we all rose up together to take back our beloved city and show everyone what we are really about. We our a diverse city made up of people and cultures stretching from every corner of the globe who all take pride in our city. Without every single one of us Vancouver wouldn't be Vancouver. When the city is hurt and needs us we all put are differences aside and come together to rescue her. Of course we aren't perfect, we showed you all that, but what city is? It doesn't matter if you are from strathcona, the downtown east side or shaughnessy the one thing we all have in common is that we love our city. So don't let the actions of that night determine how you see our city. Instead let the actions of the next day speak to what our city is. And if you still aren't convinced then come for yourself and we will show you that this is the greatest place on earth.

Money

I have always had a fascination for money. Not just because of its worth and what it can do for you. I have always been interested in collecting it. I know some people around the world make fun of Canada's money but I like it. It is nice to have colorful money. It makes your wallet look better and is just easier to tell how much you have when all your bills don't look the same. It's a shame that we no longer have $1000 dollar bills. I know that they aren't the most practical bill to use but just the prestige you feel when you hold one in your hand.

$50 dollar bills have always been my favourite. I think mainly because of this one. I remember seeing my first $50 dollar bill as a kid and being memorized by it. It was the bright red color and the picture of the R.C.M.P. musical ride depicted on the back that I loved.

Eventually they would change but my love for the $50 never did. It has always been my favourite and that won't ever change. Money is getting more sophisticated over the years. Now they have a bunch of different security features from holograms to Water mark pictures. Once again our money is changing. Soon we will bet getting new polymer bills that are more durable and harder to counterfeit. I look forward to the new bills and can't wait to add a $50 dollar bill to my collection.

Crocs

Yesterday I got new Crocs. It has been awhile since I have had a pair. I wore my last Crocs so much that they just fell apart. Well now I have a brand new orange pair and I love them so much. Who knows if I will ever take them off. This pair has a lot to live up too. My last pair took me everywhere. Seattle, Portland Las Vegas and of course New York. I am excited to see where these ones will get to go. So now there are color changing Crocs. So far they are only in kid sizes but they are so cute. As soon as I saw the baby ones I knew that I would have to eventually get them for you to hang in your car. They will go well with your yellow ones and one day I will get to see one of your little ones running around in them. And hell yea I rock my Crocs with socks!

Our list

Today we added a few new things to our list of things to do. We have been making this list for awhile now and I think we should start knocking it off. It may not be as glamorous as other lists people have made but it is full of the fun things we both like. Today we decided we are going to Churchill Manitoba of all places. I know it doesn't sound like a great place to visit but they have Polar Bear tours. It sounds like so much fun. You get on a bus and drive out to wear all the bears like to hang out and just hope they don't decide to eat you. I have always loved Polar Bears and dream about having my own as a pet one day. But until then we will go see them. I hope to be lucky enough to get my own photo like this. They are the largest land carnivores on earth and to see one this close would take my breathe away.

Of course New York is already on our list. Ever since I went I have always wanted to take you. Show you around the city I fell in love with and have you fall in love with it too. We would go everywhere and see everything. The Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bride, Central Park, Ground Zero and the new Freedom Tower. and of course go to Yankee stadium to watch your beloved Yankees play. New York will take a few visits just because of its size and everything there is to do there. Maybe one day we can buy ourselves a condo and live part of the year there.

Our next place we added today is Vermont to visit the Ben & Jerry's factory. We have talked about a trip down south to just try all the flavors but today we actually decided to just go to Vermont and the home of the worlds best ice cream. That is a trip that we will com back from with a few extra pounds on our tummy's but boy will it be fun. Just imagine tasting all 312 flavors. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I can't wait to start traveling with you. I'm just not sure the world is ready for the trouble we are going to get into. Mom and Dad better be ready to come rescue us.

The morning after

We lost and I can't lie I am heart broken. I was really hoping we would win this year. But I am still proud of the team and the whole playoff run was a blast. Vancouver really came together and we all had a great time. To bad it got ruined by a few stupid idiots who decided to riot and cause trouble. Our city was the centrepiece of the hockey world maybe even the world for two months. We showed everyone what a great city we live in and how amazing the people are but the world won't remeber that all they will remember is the few stupid jerks who decided to act like morons. Thanks for ruining something great.

This is what we live for

We have been waiting forty years for this night. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs on home ice. Every kid in Canada dreams about this night when they are growing up. Only a lucky few every get to play out their dream and the rest of us watch. This is our dream too. We may not be on the ice playing but we are all Canucks. Vancouver is electric right now and we are ready to throw the biggest celebration the world has ever seen. Tonight history will be made!

Blue lobster

This is billy the blue lobster and I want him. Not to eat but I want him as my pet. Blue is my favorite color and I think he looks cool. I can picture him just chilling in a tank in my room. I would take him out and let him crawl around my room. I'm sure my cats would love playing with him but I don't think they are smart enough not to get their paws stuck in his claws. I guess they would learn. Well I guess I'm off to the beach to try and find one.

Escape

There is my ship again. Docked with the space station. Oh how I wish I was up there right now. Looking down at the world as I make one last pit stop before I take off and fly away. Escaping from here and leaving with a fresh start, a clean slate. My first stop would be the moon, it's only three days away but with the way I fly I'm sure I could make it in two. Then from there who knows where I would go. I  would just pick a direction and go. It doesn't really matter if I ever end up anywhere just as long as I get away. I better be able to blog from space because I am getting addicted to this and want to share my adventures with the world. Maybe even the universe. I can switch my world map on the stats page into a map of the universe and start collecting different worlds. Yea that sounds cool to me. So universe get ready cause here I come on my great escape.

Pumpkin Raspberry Scone

Another long day at work. They just never seem to end when you are tired and sore and have been on your feet for ten hours. But it's not all bad. The new baker I hired is doing great. She is picking it up quickly and shows a lot of potential. Once she is all good to go that should ease up some of the stress and shorten my days a little bit. So today I created a new scone, pumpkin raspberry. They are a bit of a bugger to make but very delicious. The pumpkin scones are already the favourite amongst the staff and I'm sure this one will get their approval as well. It's experimenting and creating new things that help me coupe with the stress. Thank goodness I love baking so much or I would have gone crazy by now.

Shattered

Today I feel broken. Like I have fallen apart and am scattered all around like hundreds of jagged shards of glass. To broken to be put back together I lay on the floor waiting to be swept up and discarded. A big mess and a big burden that nobody wants to deal with. I get kicked around and stepped on as people walk past. For the most part I go unnoticed as people carry on with their lives all around me. Once and awhile someone will stop and look down as they hear the faint noise I make as they step over me. But their pause is only momentary as their lives are too busy to stop and deal with me.  As the more people walk by I get spread farther and farther away. My pieces get kicked around or stuck to the bottom of shoes and carried away. Never to be seen again. It's too late now those pieces are lost forever and I can never be put back together properly. If anyone stops to take the time and put the effort in they will only end up disappointed as they realize I'm not all there anymore. I was once something beautiful and something useful. Something that somebody had put great effort into creating. Shaping and moulding me into what they needed and what they wanted. I stood tall and proud once, people stopped and took notice of me. But that time is gone now. This is what's left of me.  Eventually some step on me and get hurt. I will slice them open and their blood will stain me red and finally I will be swept up and discarded. Forgotten forever.

Space Shuttle

 So my new thing is that I want a space shuttle. This is the space shuttle Endeavor during its very last mission. It is kind of sad for me to see the space shuttles get retired. I grew up watching them fly their missions into space. I watched all their triumphs and all their disasters. I can still remember watching Challenger explode on lift off and when Columbia disintegrated on re-entry.

The remaining shuttles will be sent to different museums around the United States and I am sure that I will go visit one of them at some point. But I want to own my very own. Just like how my best friend wants to own a aircraft carrier I want to own a space shuttle. I don't think it's that big of a deal. I want it so why can't I have one. I want to fly it to the moon with you and the two of us will have a tea date on the moons surface. We will leave a Canadian flag, Wales flag and of course a Canucks flag behind so when people look at the moon through their telescopes they will know we were there. We will return home with moon rocks to add to our collections of rocks that we steal from all the places we go too. And when we get back to earth we will land on your aircraft carrier. I hope you don't mind if i park it there when I'm not using it.

Willis Tower

This is the Willis Tower in Chicago. Formally known as the Sears Tower. I have decided that now that Oprah is done her show that this is the reason why I want to visit Chicago. It stands 108 stories high and is the tallest building in the United States and the western hemisphere. From the top you can look out and see three different states.







This is the view from one of the the balconies on the Skydeck located on the 103rd story. These all glass balconies allow you to look down to the street 1 353 feet below you through nothing more than an inch and a half thick glass floor. I am terrified of heights but something about this fascinates me so much that I just have to do it.

My Baby

This is my tree. I planted him a few years ago when he was just a little seedling and now he is starting to grow up. Not fast enough for me but that is just because I am very impatient. But he is slowly making his way up there. He is finally taller than I am and he is nice and bushy and very healthy. So I guess I should be happy my baby is doing so well. One day he will be a giant and I will climb him all the way to the top of the world and have a cup of tea with the sun.

Duck, duck, goose

Ah! What a beautiful day it was today in Vancouver. The sun was out and shining bright, it was warm but there was a cool breeze to keep me refreshed. It was a long day at work today to finish off a long week at work.To say it was stressful would be an understatement. But finally I was done all of my work and I was able to take off for a couple of well needed days of rest. I decided I wanted to spend the afternoon at Burnaby lake feeding the ducks, so before I left work I grabbed some seeds and then headed to the paradise in my own backyard. I am spoiled to have such a beautiful and peaceful place so close to home. A ten minute walk and I am there.
It was nice just sitting there away from the hustle of the city. All I could hear was nature at its best and it was such a calming sound. As I threw out the seeds I had brought I was quickly swarmed by different kinds of ducks and the Canadian Geese. It became a feeding frenzy as they all went for the food. The bigger ducks chasing away the smaller ones only to be chased away by the geese. But it was okay I had brought enough to feed everyone and it wasn't long until they were all happy. 

I think I have decided that i want to be a duck or a goose. They seem to have a pretty good life. The can fly they are great swimmers and people love to feed them so they don't ever have to worry about food. I love how they are so graceful and watching them come in for a landing on the water is magnificent to watch. Not to mention who wouldn't like to just fly around to all the sunny and warm places in the world and never have to deal with winters. It was a relaxing afternoon and one I hope to repeat throughout the summer.

Frogs

This is my new frog. My mom gave him to me today. I haven't named him yet but I love him. He has a bad ass look on his face as if to say "don't mess with me." He is a Guiro and really sounds like a frog. He has found his place in my room and every time I look at him I will think of my mom and how much I love her. I don't know how or when my fascination with frogs began but I know that I was very little. I know one of my very first words was frog except I was so little I wasn't able to pronounce it properly so instead of frog it came out as "fuck." I can only imagine the look on my moms face the first time I came bouncing down the stairs repeating "fuck, fuck, fuck" over and over again. She must have been mortified that your sweet little boy was using such language, but when she sat me down and figured out that I was trying to say frog she had a good laugh. So I guess that is the humble beginning to my liking of frogs. I think it's a great story to tell.

My room is filled with all things frogs. They are just another thing I like to collect. Every one has a story behind them. Most of them are gifts from my mom. I am her little toad and she likes to bring me presents to remind me that she loves me and I cherish every single one I have. They surround me as I lay in my bed. I just look around at each one and smile. But they aren't just in my room. I also have a frog tattoo that carries a special story of it's own and every now and then I catch a glimpse of it in the mirror and it just makes me smile. It is a reminder of all the special people in my life that love me.

Sociopath

A sociopath is defined as a person, as a psychopathic personality, whose behavior is antisocial and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.

Today I was called a sociopath and at first I just laughed it off and thought nothing about it. But as the day went on and this lingered in the back of my mind it slowly began to make me think. Am I really a sociopath? And why would this person think that I am? So I had to do some investigating.

So my research led to to find out that sociopath gets its origins from psychopathy. Psychopathy is defined as a mental disorder in which an individual manifests amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience. Psychopaths can be broken down into five Interpersonal traits.

• Glib and superficial
• Egocentric and grandiose
• Lack of remorse or guilt
• Lack of empathy
• Deceitful and manipulative
• Shallow emotions

After reading about all these traits I have figured out that I have two of them. I am glib and superficial and very deceitful and manipulative. Psychopaths are often witty and articulate. They can be amusing and entertaining conversationalists, ready with a quick and clever comeback, and can tell unlikely but convincing stories that cast themselves in a good light. They can be very effective in presenting themselves well and are often very likable and charming. Lying, deceiving and manipulation are natural talents for psychopaths. Given their glibness and the facility with which they lie, it is not surprising that psychopaths successfully cheat, bilk, defraud, con and manipulate people and have not the slightest compunction about doing so. That basically describes me in a nutshell. So after this I have come to the conclusion that I am a partial sociopath. Whether that is a bad thing or not I don't know but I like who I am and I would never change that.