- I downloaded the new Cut Copy album, "In Ghost Colours" and pretty much fell in love with it as soon as I heard it. Its fun and perfect for Spring / Summer. The song currently on my blog "Far Away" is my favourite off the album, by far. I keep dancing to it alone in my room, secretly wishing Caroline was with me so that we could dance together and call out names of people we know / watch at Absinthe and dance like them. Or I dance to it at my desk at work when I'm sure no one is looking. Although, once, Francesca called me out and caught me dancing at my desk. I tried to deny it, but she was certain I was doing it. I can't help it I guess.
I got my ear pierced (my helix) on Saturday. I was determined to do it a month ago, but got a bit worried about karma. Apparently I've become a huge paranoia nut in the past few months. Anyways, Jean, Nadia and Emma finally, and collectively, convinced me to get it done during our staff pic nic. And we made plans to do it. And then Saturday came and I did it - and Jean paid for my ring as a birthday present - which was awesome of her and much appreciated by me (even though I spent most of the time feeling guilty and trying to convince her not to do it). It bled a lot - like a lot more than usual. Apparently if a piercing there bleeds it only releases one big drop of blood. If it bleeds two - then thats pretty unusual. The piercer said I had 10. And then more when I cleaned it at home. I had blood on my shirt. This freaked out Bec to hear, but I was pretty nonchalant about it - just wanted to make sure that it wouldn't fuck up the healing process. Apparently they hit a tiny vein and once the bleeding stopped I should be fine so long as I kept up the normal cleaning regimen. My mom was somewhat pissed at me when I told her. But in this strange 'I don't actually give a fuck' way. She got a new stint put in and I was asking her if she was ok - like profusely (see, paranoia) - and she was like 'yeah yeah I'm fine I'm going to the mall and dropping off Frankie at the bus stop and maybe I'll go get my ear pierced'. Then she started laughing hysterically at the idea of her coming to Europe with her ears all pierced up. I didn't quite get the joke. In fact I think its pretty suiting. MOM GET YOUR EAR PIERCED, NO NO, MOM GET YOUR LIP PIERCED - I KNOW YOU ARE READING THIS....HI MOM! Anyways then my mom tried to convince me that I was going to have a hard time finding a job because I keep doing weird things. I reassured her though that I'm actually pretty tame and that the jobs I'm going for are going to want people more nuts than me. Then I told her that she should just take solace in the fact that I'm her weird and strange kid who's really creative and out of the box - you know the one who had imaginary friends and watched Batman all the time, and who shaved half her head and pierced her ears and wears stupid sunglasses and ugly sneakers. To which she said 'ok I'm going now, talk to you later, oh strange and creative one'. Its all funny and cute, because I'm pretty tame and my piercing are incredibly pedestrian. But, nonetheless, despite it all, I'm happy with the piercing because now the side of my head that is shaved has a piercing. (in the photo, top, my new piercing, the bottom photo is my old piercing)
Speaking of sunglasses, I've started a week long project of cleaning my room. I say week long because I have a ton of laundry I have to do which I can either get done at 1 in the morning or 6 in the morning - depending on if I want to sleep in or if I want to stay up late (hoorah). Anyways I noticed that my two favourite pairs of sunglasses are broken. I took a picture of me wearing them one last time before trashing them (actually I'm keeping the white ones with the hope I can get them fixed) but I'm in serious mourning over the black aviators. They were pretty rad.- We have a holiday Thursday, which is exciting. I don't know what I'm going to do. I go to Paris the next day so maybe just pack and clean and go in the sun, provided the sun is out.
- Friday we had a staff cleaning day. This meant no computers - except to play music. This meant getting in trouble if you were doing work. This also meant enjoying the day outside for a bit, having a pic nic, complete with catered sandwiches, cake, and a pic nic blanket. Pretty much the best day of work ever. Pretty much should happen all the time.
- Friday night we went to Electro night at Usine. Originally we were going to go to reggae (which happens to be my moms new favourite past time) but, although I had fun at the last reggae night, I was aching to go to electro (nerd - i like robot music, or just robots). Anyways we didn't stay long, and called it in early and sober. Which was nice, but all our traveling is certainly catching up to us. We can't hack normal weekends. Anyways while I was supposed to be getting ready to go to Usine, or while I was supposed to be cleaning my room - one of the two I'm sure, I got distracted by the neighbours across the street. There is this couple in the apartments opposite me, who are kind of boring. My window looks into their living ("and I spend the afternoon on top of you") The guy is always in grey boxer briefs, his girlfriend is always in a t shirt and pants, and they are usually smoking on the balcony. They have a big gong in their living room and red couches. But they never hit the gong. Sometimes they watch tv or sleep on the couches. Once the guy was doing push ups and I thought he was 'doing' something else. Anyways in comparison to the Asian guy across the street who usually takes photos of himself while on the internet, and who spent 10 minutes yesterday flailing his arms back and forth (exercise or something I'm sure) and who was in a tux getting ready for some big even earlier in the week - in comparison, this couple is pretty boring. But this couple is in full view and everyone can see them. Neha lives on the fifth floor and has an excellent view into their window - so she knows what a bore they are but also how accessible they are. So anyways, Friday while I was supposed to be doing something that didn't involve me being at my window, I looked over and noticed that the guy was doing some strange jerking dance movements in front of the tv while the girlfriend or wife or whoever sat on the couch and idly watched him. I was mildly intrigued, I mean, who just sits there while their loved one has a seizure in their fucking underwear? Their blinds were half closed and so I had to reposition myself and tilt my head to get a better look - when I noticed two white controllers in the guys hands and that he wasn't dancing, he was punching. So it turns out, the boring couple got a Wii. And they like to play in their underwear. Life by the window just got a bit more interesting.
- Saturday and Sunday were gorgeous - in the 20s. We walked around quite a bit (the EAA girls and Steph), got gelato and such. Steph and I pretty much spent most of Sunday in our rooms, trying to enjoy the weekend and such, but did venture out before it got dark to get more gelato at our favourite place- which had a 15 minute line up...totally worth it though. Mango gelato people, best stuff out there, ever!
- We wound up at some guys apartment Friday night before going out - we didn't stay long, but were incredibly entertained while there. Lets just say mannequins, wigs, fur coats, and political/fashion debate were all in full force. Thats all I have to say about that.
- I finally gave a listen to An Horse - very good. Highly suggested to you that you check out 'company'....whoever YOU are.
- Steph's fiance and sister are coming tomorrow. I'm on the look out for friends to hang out with me and watch Hip Hop Love Story with me. I feel like if Caro or Zach were here, that this would be the point in which one of us said "a wittle wronwry'.
- I'm still dancing to Cut Copy...alone...in my room... because I'm that cool. "and you can be a love to me, but i was far awaaaay - do do do dodo do dodo do"
Monday, April 28, 2008
Another Weekend in the City
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
up the cuts
A few weeks ago, Gilberto and I went to Zurich for web training. Our organization's soon to be new website was developed by a company in Zurich and the day was to be spent learning the ins and outs of the content management system they had set up.
Firstly, I think it is highly important to mention how much of a complete and utter nerd I am. I was ecstatic about working on the new website. Partly because I am sick and tired and frustrated with our current system, which is beyond out of date, beyond tedious, and beyond slow. And partly because I knew the CMS they were using - generally - and really wanted to see all it could do. I was impressed by it to say the least; everything is integrated and works wonderfully (with the exception of a few bugs and plugins to be complete). For a webmaster, it certainly makes my job easier to be using such a powerful CMS. Anyways, enough computer crap.
As mentioned, Gilberto and I spent the day in Zurich for training. However, since we have the Voie 7, once training finished, we couldn't go home for about 2 and a half hours - at least not without spending 40 francs, that is. We had somewhat decided that we should spend that time getting my hair cut in the city as there was a really cool salon that had opened the last time we were in Zurich. We wandered around for a bit, finally deciding (or finally being convinced by Gilberto's enthusiasm) that I was going to go through with some crazy new age mullet that was Tegan Quin (see twin on left) meets Gilberto Lontro hair design.
Upon entering the amazingly cool salon (large Zebra print arm chairs, all I'm gonna say) we were greeted by an uber cool hairdresser - who spoke a lot more German than she spoke English. We told her I wanted my hair cut, she said ok. We told her we wanted to explain it first. She asked if we wanted to see the book - and considering how we wanted it done, we immediately refused and launched into an explanation. It went like this:
DANA: uh, ok, this side (pointing to side of my head) - to be short, like this (pointing to Gilberto's head). And the bangs (pointing to bangs) the same - long, like this
HD: (agreement)
GILBERTO: This side (pointing to other side) long, with this piece (holding piece of my hair that frames my face) really long and this one (other piece on other side) long too but shorter than this one. One should be long and one should be short
DANA: the back should be really long. keep the back really long.
GILBERTO: On this side, short near the ear, but then it comes back long. so it goes up short, then comes back down long.
DANA: The back needs to be long.
GILBERTO: the top short
DANA: but the bangs long
GILBERTO: and the back, at the top, really short
DANA: But the back should be long. just short on top, but long at the back.
After a few more moments of us grabbing at pieces of my hair and explaining them, all while our hairdresser looking at us somewhat dumbfounded the entire time, she agreed and led me to the back to wash my hair. I was nervous a bit at first when she took out the razor blade and made her first swipe - somewhat laughing at me. Gilberto was loving it and seemed incredibly excited by the prospect of me having this ridiculous hair style. It was strange being nervous by the hair cut as I've never been upset or worried about cutting my hair before. So that was a new experience.
Now, I suppose Gilberto and I weren't all that clear with our instructions. Each time she went to cut a piece of hair she asked, or clarified what I wanted. 'this side, short, like him?' - I would reply yes. However, it eventually got to the point when she would ask and I would be like 'uh yeah ok' and she would turn to Gilberto and ask him. He would say yes or explain what he thought should be done, and away she would go hacking at my hair while I just sat in the chair. I think she stopped asking me, and would just turn to Gilberto like he was my personal stylist or boyfriend or owner to make sure he liked what she was doing to my head. At one point, while working on my side piece, she told me she was going to make my hair taller. Language barriers are kind of fun sometimes. I had no clue what she meant by that - making my hair taller - it could have meant shorter or thinner or she could have decided to give me a mohawk - but she was so certain that she had gotten the word the correct that I didn't have the heart to tell her that I had no idea what making my hair taller meant. So I said 'yeah ok, great'. I think she just thinned the piece out.
At the end of it, I was pretty estactic. I finally had the mullet I always wanted. And at the end of it, Gilberto was equally excited. I finally had the mullet he always wanted. Actually Gilberto was excited throughout the whole thing and documented the hair cut on his iphone. Cue photo blog.
Firstly, I think it is highly important to mention how much of a complete and utter nerd I am. I was ecstatic about working on the new website. Partly because I am sick and tired and frustrated with our current system, which is beyond out of date, beyond tedious, and beyond slow. And partly because I knew the CMS they were using - generally - and really wanted to see all it could do. I was impressed by it to say the least; everything is integrated and works wonderfully (with the exception of a few bugs and plugins to be complete). For a webmaster, it certainly makes my job easier to be using such a powerful CMS. Anyways, enough computer crap.
As mentioned, Gilberto and I spent the day in Zurich for training. However, since we have the Voie 7, once training finished, we couldn't go home for about 2 and a half hours - at least not without spending 40 francs, that is. We had somewhat decided that we should spend that time getting my hair cut in the city as there was a really cool salon that had opened the last time we were in Zurich. We wandered around for a bit, finally deciding (or finally being convinced by Gilberto's enthusiasm) that I was going to go through with some crazy new age mullet that was Tegan Quin (see twin on left) meets Gilberto Lontro hair design.Upon entering the amazingly cool salon (large Zebra print arm chairs, all I'm gonna say) we were greeted by an uber cool hairdresser - who spoke a lot more German than she spoke English. We told her I wanted my hair cut, she said ok. We told her we wanted to explain it first. She asked if we wanted to see the book - and considering how we wanted it done, we immediately refused and launched into an explanation. It went like this:
DANA: uh, ok, this side (pointing to side of my head) - to be short, like this (pointing to Gilberto's head). And the bangs (pointing to bangs) the same - long, like this
HD: (agreement)
GILBERTO: This side (pointing to other side) long, with this piece (holding piece of my hair that frames my face) really long and this one (other piece on other side) long too but shorter than this one. One should be long and one should be short
DANA: the back should be really long. keep the back really long.
GILBERTO: On this side, short near the ear, but then it comes back long. so it goes up short, then comes back down long.
DANA: The back needs to be long.
GILBERTO: the top short
DANA: but the bangs long
GILBERTO: and the back, at the top, really short
DANA: But the back should be long. just short on top, but long at the back.
After a few more moments of us grabbing at pieces of my hair and explaining them, all while our hairdresser looking at us somewhat dumbfounded the entire time, she agreed and led me to the back to wash my hair. I was nervous a bit at first when she took out the razor blade and made her first swipe - somewhat laughing at me. Gilberto was loving it and seemed incredibly excited by the prospect of me having this ridiculous hair style. It was strange being nervous by the hair cut as I've never been upset or worried about cutting my hair before. So that was a new experience.
Now, I suppose Gilberto and I weren't all that clear with our instructions. Each time she went to cut a piece of hair she asked, or clarified what I wanted. 'this side, short, like him?' - I would reply yes. However, it eventually got to the point when she would ask and I would be like 'uh yeah ok' and she would turn to Gilberto and ask him. He would say yes or explain what he thought should be done, and away she would go hacking at my hair while I just sat in the chair. I think she stopped asking me, and would just turn to Gilberto like he was my personal stylist or boyfriend or owner to make sure he liked what she was doing to my head. At one point, while working on my side piece, she told me she was going to make my hair taller. Language barriers are kind of fun sometimes. I had no clue what she meant by that - making my hair taller - it could have meant shorter or thinner or she could have decided to give me a mohawk - but she was so certain that she had gotten the word the correct that I didn't have the heart to tell her that I had no idea what making my hair taller meant. So I said 'yeah ok, great'. I think she just thinned the piece out.
At the end of it, I was pretty estactic. I finally had the mullet I always wanted. And at the end of it, Gilberto was equally excited. I finally had the mullet he always wanted. Actually Gilberto was excited throughout the whole thing and documented the hair cut on his iphone. Cue photo blog.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
keep the car running
point form updates:
- I'm learning how to configure Wordpress so that I can use it as a CMS. I'm making small strides, but proving myself to be a pretty huge nerd by how excited I get when I figure certain things out. There are a lot of notes left for me to read, but I'm enjoying how dumbed down they are and how well I'm getting it. I think its coming down to figuring out the best plugins for what I want it to do. If I get desperate enough, maybe I'll brush up a bit more on my php and write my own - but thats doubtful.
- Steph and I have become addicted to Battlestar Galactica - but to ensure we don't embarrass ourselves when talking about it in public, we tell people we're watching "Hip Hop Love Story". Our neighbour Alex was in the hallway while Steph, Bec and I were discussing the show, and we apologized in advance if the noise from us watching the show was too loud. He asked what we were going to watch, we told him the fake name and mentioned that if he hears explosions its because they use a lot of pyrotechnics during the hip hop dance offs. I don't think he understood what the hell we were going on about.
- This is what people from Belfast sound like: http://youtube.com/watch?v=O7CdEFXGK_w
and more accurately (I actually heard someone say 'she's up the duff' while I was in Belfast):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=u54_V7PMgvo - Laura and I have been in discussion about making a real go at our freelance when I get back. I'm hoping it happens
- My parents are visiting in May!
- Alex is visiting a week after them!
- I'm really hoping there isn't a thunderstorm when I fly out of Geneva (to Brussels) on Saturday.
- If you use firefox, download the PicLens plugin. Its pretty terrific and a lot of fun. If you don't use firefox, then get on the trolley! You can use PicLens for other browsers, but seriously, why would you EVER use another browser? Anyways, go here: www.piclens.com to get it.
- I don't know what I was listening to before I started listening to the Kills, but I'm addicted. For this week, at least.
- I desperately want to get tickets to Paleo, but I think they sold out in a day. I can't believe Justice would be so close, yet so far. ugh.
- My cd drive is broken. I can't burn cds or watch dvds. This is balls and needs to be fixed asap. I'm tempted to take my macbook apart myself and re-align the hardware - pretty sure its just a little jangled. But I'm scared of ruining it.
- I downloaded adium to use instead of MSN. It's pretty good. There are features I like, like have all chats within one window. and the design. And the use of growl.
- My mom is in the Caymen Islands and likes to call me to tell me that she is in Paradise. Its cute.
- I need to figure out the best way to clean my MacBook - if you have suggestions, let me know.
- I'm going to Ikea today for cheap food and shoe shopping.
- This is a really cool video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=pVYp2sgA9M0
- I went to an IT meeting this week that lasted a pretty long time. It was mostly about budget. I wasn't 'excited' by the meeting per se, but I think I got more out of it than I did last time I went. I'm starting to kind of understand how these things work. But if it was up to me, I'd just spend all my time playing on the computer trying to make things. I like doing that, I wish I was a bit more capable, but I'm willing to learn, or continue learning. I have fun making things on the computer. I think I just like to create. and shiny things.
- Linda gave us all condoms from her trip to New York. I wonder if its a hint that maybe Gilberto and I's joke about being in a inter-office relationship has gone too far
- I've been getting a strange amount of anxiety recently. I think its related to flying.
- It's raining right now, but its been gorgeous. Flowers are out, trees in bloom, all that lovely spring stuff.
- My ipod headphones that I bought off ebay broke within two weeks. I guess its suiting seeing as how I spent like 2 bucks on them, but frustrating because I don't have any headphones. Luckily I gave the dude a bad score before they were even shipped because he wouldn't cancel an accidental purchase I made. I told him I would retract my comment - but at this point, I'm pretty sure he doesn't want me to replace 'poor communication with customer' with 'sold me a shitty product - LIAR!'.
Monday, April 14, 2008
volare
So my mom has been wondering when I'm going to write my blog about 'spending time with' her. I find it funny that I started this blog so that she could keep up to date with my doings and so that I wouldn't have to write out a trillion emails and so that it would be easier to share things like photos for example. a blog to fill her in, that was what this was about.
how am i supposed to fill you in, mom, if you were there?
granted, my mom isn't the only one reading, but I just found her whole 'so when you writing your blog about me' request rather hillarious. and cute.
so as always, where to start.
Well first of all, the whole purpose for the trip.... I guess I'm not entirely sure what it was. When I was home last, in December/January, I came home at a pretty unfortunate time, stayed during an incredibly tense time and left at even more intense time. It didn't feel right leaving and I even had extended my already extended stay an extra week. But mom told me I had to go, because if I missed seeing the Spice Girls in London she would be 'so pissed'. So I left, a little reluctantly, and a little with my tail between my legs because I was too scared to stay and too scared not to go back and finish my job.
Needless to say, after mom's surgery, my first thought was 'when the hell can I get home'. My dad wanted me to wait, wanted me to consider maybe coming home earlier and not just jumping on a plane for a week. After everyone had calmed down and mom had started getting on the mend and the chemo, and after I talked to and was encouraged by my cancer counselor to follow through with my initial idea (made even before the surgery results) that I would come home in March for a bit just to asses and hang out with chemo-head, I just started telling everyone I was going home in March, and it stuck and tickets were bought.
Because I had a couple of days off around Easter, my director and I chose a series of days that would allow me a good amount of time at home and somewhat save me from paying too much money back to the organization. I was pretty grateful how sympathetic everyone was in letting me take the days off (provided I followed suit with having my pay cheque deducted for the extra time - fine by me).
And so, come march 14, I was off on a jet plane back to Canada and the Herlihey clan for 10 days. Now it should be noted also, that I was delayed on my plane in London for 1.5 hours because a panel near the engine was broken - ugh, terrifying to hear that before a 7 hour flight. And there was also a bout really bad turbulence on the way over - so much so the couple beside me starting holding hands and I was thisclose to asking the guy to hold my hand too. Needless to say I was extremely happy to get off that damned plane (though I do like flying B.A very much) to see my mum and dad waiting for me.
The first couple of days back I spent mostly lazing about with my mom, trying to get over some serious jet /travel lag. We grocery shopped, watched television, went to visit Frankie on Sunday to get the scoop on the stripper she ordered, and pretty much just hung around for the weekend. At one point the three of us (mom dad and i) had dinner and mum and dad sat on the same side of the table and declared they were ammer'can - because thats what they do. It was terribly adorable and almost make me puke at how cute they could be.
On Monday we traveled down to Toronto to stay at my Aunt Tina's house for a couple of days. My mom was pretty proud because it was the first time she had driven the trip to the Russell house since her diagnosis. But it was either she drives, or little miss 'i don't have a license anymore because i let it expire over a year ago' drives and runs the risk of being arrested and not going back to Geneva because I'd be in jail. My Aunt and I tried to encourage my mum to eat fattening things and drink a lot of water, because her chemo was Tuesday and water helps open the veins. Speaking of chemo-head, Aunt Tina and I went to chemo with her on Tuesday which was, at times, a bit hard to do.
The thing about going to chemo that upset me was seeing how many people were there and knowing that they were all in for cancer treatment and thinking about what a bullshit disease it is. And then my mom decided that this time when I was just sitting there looking at these people having to brave their treatments, to tell me about her surgery and such and then get up and leave right as I'm on the brink to have her blood taken. Seriously. Then Aunt Tina came in after a half hour wait in the parking lot and told me that we were going to make funny faces at my mom while she had her tests done - my aunt tina is pretty awesome. Luckily we got there early, so mom was rushed through the chemo (not without a near fist fight between my aunt and the nurse that couldn't find a damned vein in moms hand) and we were out of the hospital in time for lunch.
Aunt Tina and Uncle Derek treated us to some pretty fancy-shmancy meals (I've been using that phrase a lot since Heidelburg, interesting) while I visited, all of which certainly beat the crap out of the...crap that we eat here. Though, Steph and I have become quite the masters of the foyer kitchen recently - just the other day someone said to us that they liked seeing what we were making because its always different, but, I digress.
For the ride back home I made my mom a cd. She decided at some point that 'what a wonderful world' was her favourite song of all time and played it on repeat to the extent that I get 'shania-syndrome' whenever I hear it. You know, the fit of rage I get when I hear Shania play because of the two months at Sunrise Records where that was all we were allowed to play and I wanted to punch a hole in the wall, rip out the speakers, and burn the cd player. But, mom was also partial to 'don't cha' by the pussycat dolls, and so for every eye twitching play of louis armstrong, came a fun sing along.
The rest of the week went by pretty quietly - my mom and I went to church like fifteen times because of easter and special masses, and I stayed a day in Hamilton to play catch up and see my second family - all of whom are doing well and make me miss them lots. A couple of days later they came to visit me at home and we had tea and Trish said some incredible Trishisms that had us laughing - and my mom (who insists she wasn't laughing AT Trisha, but that she was laughing at us laughing....sure thing chemo-head).
Easter was held at my Aunt's house where we had an easter egg hunt between 5 girls, the youngest one being 19 and one who is finishing up med school - because what's more fun than easter egg hunting? NOTHING. photo blog:
Kristina finding one of the last eggs.
Frankie and Lisa searching
Mom declaring Kris the winner of the hunt...sorry Alexa, i think that makes you 0 for 25
Aunt Tina cooking easter dinner - see above.
All in all, the time at home was well spent. It was good to spend some time with the family - and reflecting on that week has me incredibly pumped for when Mom and Dad come to visit me in May. HUZZAH!
how am i supposed to fill you in, mom, if you were there?
granted, my mom isn't the only one reading, but I just found her whole 'so when you writing your blog about me' request rather hillarious. and cute.
so as always, where to start.
Well first of all, the whole purpose for the trip.... I guess I'm not entirely sure what it was. When I was home last, in December/January, I came home at a pretty unfortunate time, stayed during an incredibly tense time and left at even more intense time. It didn't feel right leaving and I even had extended my already extended stay an extra week. But mom told me I had to go, because if I missed seeing the Spice Girls in London she would be 'so pissed'. So I left, a little reluctantly, and a little with my tail between my legs because I was too scared to stay and too scared not to go back and finish my job.
Needless to say, after mom's surgery, my first thought was 'when the hell can I get home'. My dad wanted me to wait, wanted me to consider maybe coming home earlier and not just jumping on a plane for a week. After everyone had calmed down and mom had started getting on the mend and the chemo, and after I talked to and was encouraged by my cancer counselor to follow through with my initial idea (made even before the surgery results) that I would come home in March for a bit just to asses and hang out with chemo-head, I just started telling everyone I was going home in March, and it stuck and tickets were bought.
Because I had a couple of days off around Easter, my director and I chose a series of days that would allow me a good amount of time at home and somewhat save me from paying too much money back to the organization. I was pretty grateful how sympathetic everyone was in letting me take the days off (provided I followed suit with having my pay cheque deducted for the extra time - fine by me).
And so, come march 14, I was off on a jet plane back to Canada and the Herlihey clan for 10 days. Now it should be noted also, that I was delayed on my plane in London for 1.5 hours because a panel near the engine was broken - ugh, terrifying to hear that before a 7 hour flight. And there was also a bout really bad turbulence on the way over - so much so the couple beside me starting holding hands and I was thisclose to asking the guy to hold my hand too. Needless to say I was extremely happy to get off that damned plane (though I do like flying B.A very much) to see my mum and dad waiting for me.
The first couple of days back I spent mostly lazing about with my mom, trying to get over some serious jet /travel lag. We grocery shopped, watched television, went to visit Frankie on Sunday to get the scoop on the stripper she ordered, and pretty much just hung around for the weekend. At one point the three of us (mom dad and i) had dinner and mum and dad sat on the same side of the table and declared they were ammer'can - because thats what they do. It was terribly adorable and almost make me puke at how cute they could be.
On Monday we traveled down to Toronto to stay at my Aunt Tina's house for a couple of days. My mom was pretty proud because it was the first time she had driven the trip to the Russell house since her diagnosis. But it was either she drives, or little miss 'i don't have a license anymore because i let it expire over a year ago' drives and runs the risk of being arrested and not going back to Geneva because I'd be in jail. My Aunt and I tried to encourage my mum to eat fattening things and drink a lot of water, because her chemo was Tuesday and water helps open the veins. Speaking of chemo-head, Aunt Tina and I went to chemo with her on Tuesday which was, at times, a bit hard to do.
The thing about going to chemo that upset me was seeing how many people were there and knowing that they were all in for cancer treatment and thinking about what a bullshit disease it is. And then my mom decided that this time when I was just sitting there looking at these people having to brave their treatments, to tell me about her surgery and such and then get up and leave right as I'm on the brink to have her blood taken. Seriously. Then Aunt Tina came in after a half hour wait in the parking lot and told me that we were going to make funny faces at my mom while she had her tests done - my aunt tina is pretty awesome. Luckily we got there early, so mom was rushed through the chemo (not without a near fist fight between my aunt and the nurse that couldn't find a damned vein in moms hand) and we were out of the hospital in time for lunch.
Aunt Tina and Uncle Derek treated us to some pretty fancy-shmancy meals (I've been using that phrase a lot since Heidelburg, interesting) while I visited, all of which certainly beat the crap out of the...crap that we eat here. Though, Steph and I have become quite the masters of the foyer kitchen recently - just the other day someone said to us that they liked seeing what we were making because its always different, but, I digress.
For the ride back home I made my mom a cd. She decided at some point that 'what a wonderful world' was her favourite song of all time and played it on repeat to the extent that I get 'shania-syndrome' whenever I hear it. You know, the fit of rage I get when I hear Shania play because of the two months at Sunrise Records where that was all we were allowed to play and I wanted to punch a hole in the wall, rip out the speakers, and burn the cd player. But, mom was also partial to 'don't cha' by the pussycat dolls, and so for every eye twitching play of louis armstrong, came a fun sing along.
The rest of the week went by pretty quietly - my mom and I went to church like fifteen times because of easter and special masses, and I stayed a day in Hamilton to play catch up and see my second family - all of whom are doing well and make me miss them lots. A couple of days later they came to visit me at home and we had tea and Trish said some incredible Trishisms that had us laughing - and my mom (who insists she wasn't laughing AT Trisha, but that she was laughing at us laughing....sure thing chemo-head).
Easter was held at my Aunt's house where we had an easter egg hunt between 5 girls, the youngest one being 19 and one who is finishing up med school - because what's more fun than easter egg hunting? NOTHING. photo blog:
Kristina finding one of the last eggs.Frankie and Lisa searchingMom declaring Kris the winner of the hunt...sorry Alexa, i think that makes you 0 for 25Aunt Tina cooking easter dinner - see above.All in all, the time at home was well spent. It was good to spend some time with the family - and reflecting on that week has me incredibly pumped for when Mom and Dad come to visit me in May. HUZZAH!
Friday, April 4, 2008
saving days in a frozen head
I feel like I'm going to playing catch up with these blogs for quite some time. I'm really behind in a lot of work, so I guess it would be incredibly inappropriate if I was on time and up to date with blog entries but not with real life deadlines. This blog is on Heidelburg, but I have yet to comment on: Pin Nics in Geneva, My Easter at home with Chemo-head (aka mom), and the staff retreat. Amongst, of course, the random musings I should have interspersed throughout. Anyways, I guess I should spend less time procrastinating and making to do lists and just get to it.
Heidelburg, Germany. Where to start, where to start.
The intention for Steph and I to venture to this German ghost town was to appease my ever growing compulsion to constantly and always and forever listen to Tegan and Sara. For months I had the con on repeat, had downloaded and bought new music by them, finally succumbing to their terribly smart indy pop after a couple of years of resistance. It wasn't that i didn't like them before, it was just that I never had the opportunity or time to give them much more than a couple of spots on a ipod playlist. And the Con being the last album on my itunes before moving, well, I guess it just made me think of home a lot...and of course, its a brilliant record... seriously. I am happy I finally gave a chance to the band that Crystal tried for nearly 6 years to get me to listen to, and that Caroline forced down my throat during her 'I like folk music and will only listen to ani di franco and one tegan and sara song for a month' phase two years ago. And I really do enjoy the music they put out, I appreciate it a lot, and find comfort in it... I think that music, at times, can be a great source of comfort...and for whatever reason, when I was homesick after first moving here I found myself really enjoying their music. And as well, when mom got diagnosed, and I was out here feeling like I was by myself, I found that their music not only provided comfort but sometimes a distraction. So I guess I got a bit invested while being out here. And beyond the music itself, I do respect the girl's as artists and as musicians working in the industry. The integrity of their music has not faltered despite increasing fame, they've fought against and continue to blur and transcend boundaries and labels, and they've actively sought and built a healthy relationship with their fans that many bands rarely have the ability or the inclination to do.
Ok ok, seriously, enough ass kissing.
So because I had this new appreciation, when I found out that they were coming to Europe (after having initially missed them in the Summer) I quickly bought tickets. We chose the show in Heidelburg because Steph had a friend living there and because it was on a Saturday and because it was the closest place we could travel to by train...well, close as in, 6 hours away.
Now Steph having been to Heildelburg already - and knowing how small of a city it is- , combined with my knowledge of their accessibility to fans, lead to the general realization that there was a slight possibility we could meet the girls. However neither of us were willing to speak such a thought aloud. In part because we didn't want to jinx ourselves, and in part because I didn't want anyone to think I was a crazy stalker fan bent on meeting them.....erm...anyways.
When we arrived in Heidelburg, I quickly discovered how small of a city it was. It was about a ten minute walk to the downtown district, which was probably a half hour walk from our hotel - almost on the outskirts of town - which was about a 15 minute walk to the train station which was ten minutes to downtown - did you get all that? downtown consisted of one main street where all the shops were - after some snack buying and searching around american apparel and the like, steph and I wound up at the end of the main street, heading towards the venue about 5 hours early. Our plan was to maybe catch a glimpse of the band hanging around their tour bus. However, as we walked toward what seemed like a small city square, my attention was quickly directed towards a tiny little girl dressed in all black wearing pretty cool shoes and hanging with a tall blonde girl. The two seemed to appear in mid air, were suddenly in front of us looking at the Heidelburg map. As we walked by them, or stopped near them, we were very close nonetheless, I pointed them out to Stephanie saying something along the lines of 'what do you think of that little girl?'.
Now, Steph, for some reason, had no clue what I was talking about. She seemed confused and later admitted that a) she thought I liked her shoes and b) she didn't possibly think it could be tegan and or sara because they weren't together, and weren't they always together? and c) the girl I pointed out, as we approached from behind/side looked about 14 years old because she was so incredibly tiny. And of course I said 'what do you think of this little girl' quite loud, assuming that it was probably just some small German kid anyhow with a resemblance to the twins, so Steph just looked at me like 'what the hell are you talking about'. I on the other hand knew a couple of things to steer me into questioning whether or not the kid in front of us was actually just some German kid or was one of them - a) tegan and sara are tiny. they always seem taller or something on stage or in interviews but from what I had read, the girls are small. b) tegan and sara are pale As we continued our approach I noticed that this girl was in fact pretty pale - but with her hat covering most of her face and what would have been a tell tale hair cut and with a slight quarter of a profile to go off of, I actually didn't know. For some reason, most of the dawdling around the map is a blur, but I remember getting a good look at her shoes - but for the life of me I can't remember if I stood near her or just walked impossibly close by them. Anyways, Steph continued to walk towards the venue and I stopped her and looked back at the couple. After some hesitation, and while still quite near them (ie probably in ear shot), I told Steph to check her out while I went to look at the other side of the map. I did the whole 'we are here' while steph stood near their side of the map - and about 20 seconds later she shot over to my side to nod and tell me that it was them - she thinks - that she couldn't remember exactly what they looked like, but yeah, she looked at her and she's pretty sure - but she didn't know which one of them. by this time the two girls had left in the direction we had been walking away from in the first place, and I bounced up and down trying to figure out what to do.
"did she have a labret piercing?"
"i don't know, i couldn't see, it was quick"
"ok lets go"
and with that we started out behind them, quickly discovering they were going to the Heidelburg castle.
Now for some reason, maybe in an effort to ditch us, little-maybe-german-girl-or-maybe-tegan-or-maybe-sara and her girlfriend, decided to take the steepest entry to the castle. I was sick with a cold and was holding half an eaten chocolate ball and was suffering from pretty intense anxiety and was walking on a 90 degree angle and was so not impressed with that freaking hill. As we huffed and puffed our way up, we would stop when they would, trying to catch our breath or get rid of our chocolate balls which were undoubtedly weighing us down. At this point I still had no clue who the people in front of us were and was secretly hoping it wouldn't be one of them so that I wouldn't have to meet them all sweaty and out of breath and coughing up my lungs. They made it to the top and looked around, and Steph soon got there after them and eventually I made it up, just in time to see them walk away into another part of the castle. I didn't know who they were and at that point I was pretty sure I didn't care. I just wanted to sit down for a moment, fix my hair, and not be sick anymore.
Figuring that we lost them, Steph and I went to the other part of the castle (the only other part open and that we could get to) - which hosted several lookouts. I kinda grumbled that I thought we lost them, when Steph said 'no' and pointed them out. She asked me what I was going to do and I replied I don't know, what the hell should I do. She asked me if I was going to say something. And I said 'what the hell am I going to say, I'm not even sure its her...what would I say?' Again, I got nervous and stood somewhat frozen in one place. When they finally walked by us to get to the other side of the castle, I, for the first time, finally got a good look - and yup - it was Tegan....or ... Sara?
I had somewhat decided, based on deductions (wearing all black, has a girlfriend whereas I'm not sure whether or not Sara does) that this little girl was probably not a little German kid, but was Tegan - a part of me questioned that maybe it was Sara, but I had gotten a good enough look to believe it was one of them. I walked around the lookout where the other tourists were casually hanging, tried to take some picture, but the nervousness or excitement or something of it all was certainly getting to me. 'ok ok, lets go find them' I decided.
We walked through the castle a bit more, certain, again, that we had lost them. There was a museum, Steph mentioned, that they could have gone into. There was a lot more direction for them that we were somewhat outside the boundaries of the castle. I figured I had missed my opportunity - until, Steph with her amazing contacts (me without glasses) spotted them walking. We headed in their direction, but when they stopped to talk to someone, my stomach flipped and we walked right by, stopping a little while later, not completely outside of the castle but close enough to the road that would lead us back into the city.
Steph questioned what I was going to do - because if I wasn't going to do anything, then we should probably just leave and stop following them. BUT WERE WE FOLLOWING? Technically we didn't know, for half the time, like, we hadn't confirmed, it was them, and even as we stood there I still questioned it a bit. I imagined myself going up to some girl and telling her I was excited for her concert and then having her give me a totally blank look. Except we had, in our travels, around the castle heard them speak, so I knew they weren't German and that yeah, despite the nagging gut feeling that was probably just trying to stop me from making a fool of myself, it was probably her. I kept saying I didn't know what I was going to do. Steph urged me to go on or to make a decision and I kept trying to get her to wait, and eventually Tegan and her girlfriend walked by us again, down the road that would lead back to the city. We started up behind them, thinking that it was becoming painstakingly obvious that yeah, maybe we were following.
At some point down that road, they stopped, and Steph convinced me that this was a once in a life time chance and I either do it or not. So I marched down there, went up to Tegan and blurted "sorry for following you back there". I mumbled a few other things - excited for the show, congrats on the juno nomination, something else that she said thank you to - it last a total of ten seconds. She was incredibly polite, but not in the talkative mood, and considering what a bumbling fool I had become I was ok to just keep on walking, she told us to enjoy the sights, and Steph and I were on our way.
Then I turned back and asked for a photo - if they didn't mind, apologized quite a bit, pretty much came off like the nervous fool I knew I was going to act like. Tegan commented on my 'fancy shmancy camera' - and well after a couple of shots and some fooling with the settings, we were off - but with Tegan and her girlfriend now following us. We tried our best to shake them, because we didn't want it to seem like we were serious stalkers - just the novice / mild type - and went down a series of side streets, winding up back on the main street. Where, oddly, we saw them again, 100 feet ahead of us. A little ridiculous, but unplanned, and really goes to show how small that town is.
As we walked around Heidelburg, Steph contemplated getting a hair cut, but the salon was closing and as we walked down the street I started feeling incredibly sick and a bit feverish. I requested that we find somewhere for dinner so I could get some water and sit down. We found a small restaurant, and ordered food - of which I barely ate anything. As we were discussing the band, the concert, meeting Tegan (I felt a bit like an idiot for the whole castle thing and the whole sounding like a giant tool thing) and as this discussion went on, Steph looked out the window and commented "isn't that Sara" - and it was.
Around this time I had finally sent a few text messages out to Emma, Nadia, and Gilberto letting them know we had met Tegan (I had struggled getting connection to call Gilberto just after it happened)- as I knew they would be excited or at least feign excitement for our sake. And so I sent them another one as Sara walked by. And another one five minutes later when Tegan walked by.
I didn't eat much and our dinner ended quite short. We left and walked down the main street, and not more than two minutes later did Steph point out that we were headed right for Sara and the band. Deciding not to make a fool of myself like I had before, I went straight up to them (no sly walking around and spying this time) and apologized for interrupting and stated that we were excited for the show that night.
Sara was amazing. She asked us where we were from, what we did, and spoke about the language barrier in Europe. It was all pretty funny and light and I even got to embarrass Bec (who wasn't there) by sharing her story about messing up her french when talking about being excited for mountains. I didn't feel like a tool (maybe because I hadn't just walked up a ridiculous hill and maybe because I wasn't embarrassed for following a person around) and felt like Sara and the band were really personable. I don't know how to explain it..but it just seemed like a pretty natural conversation. We took a quick picture 'I'll get in the middle' (I didn't even hear her say that, but Steph says that she did), congratulated her on the Junos, and said 'well, see you in an hour'.
We walked away with two big smiles on our faces, Steph - although she won't qualify it was the best day ever since being here - was pretty fucking excited as well and kept saying how cool that was - and I nearly threw up - because I was sick or because I was so excited I don't know why. But really its me, I always feel like throwing up, so thats not new. Anyhow, it was pretty cool and really appreciated.
The concert itself was held in a tiny club, and we wound up just one or two people from the stage. Northern State opened for the band and put on an amazing show - seriously, people, listen to them. I was almost, ALMOST, happy enough just to see them. NORTHERN STATE. you won't regret it. Tegan and Sara did a great set and it was great to see them. They performed quite a few older songs along with most of the con. I was surprised by a couple of choices, but really happy that they played them because I found the live version of a song like 'i bet it stung' does it a lot more justice than the recorded version ever could. Furthermore, I'm happy that some of the songs got a bit of a change up for the liver version - living room obviously sounds more folky on record but live its got a great rock tone to it. as well, the con - the single - also had a different sound to it when they performed live. Its really a testament to the band when they can perform already great songs and change them up slightly so the audience doesn't feel like they're just listening to the album really loud. The banter was also pretty entertaining, however, Steph and I shot each other looks when Tegan began talking about walking around the Heildelburg castle and how it reminded her of following people home from the airport. Given the context of what she was talking about (relationships, her parents divorce) we didn't put too much weight on the fact that we had happened to kind of maybe possibly not totally intentionally (because we didn't know it was her for sure and because once you get up there there isn't really anywhere to go) followed her around that castle and decided that the two (her thinking of following people home from the air port, and us kind of maybe possibly following her around the castle) were totally unrelated. All and all, the show part, you know, the whole reason we were there, was great and didn't disappoint - if I had to do one thing over, I wouldn't have taken as many pictures, or I would have learned the settings on my camera for concert photos ahead of time.
Steph and I befriended some American's at (because that is what we do when we travel, all the time, no fail, befriend American's) who later gave us a ride to the train station - admist a playful argument over who was the better twin and discussion of Degrassi.
I also bought myself and Laura a t shirt, and I bought myself a poster. I later discovered that the t shirt was pretty snug, so Gilberto is now taking care of it until I can get in it and not have Tegan's face look all discombobulated.
Anyway, it was pretty great. and I think that, the whole day meant a lot because I had...I duno, been using music - and particularly their music - as a comfort blanket while shit was hitting the fan. I mean, I'm not delusional enough to ever say 'music saved my life' or 'music is my life' and its not as if the music is tailor made for me and its not as if I only listen to it when its dark and gloomy... But, it has provided an outlet, I guess. And to be able to see them in concert, or even say hey ' congrats on this, and im exicted for that' to actually be able to show some sort of appreciation well...its nice I guess, and maybe I sound like a bit of a nerd for saying so, but I'm pretty happy it happened.
and now that you have made it to the end of the blog, i reward you with photos.
Dana, Tegan, Steph
Steph, Sara, Dana
(I want to state that if I ever meet an artist again, I will probably not ask for a photo. I feel like you treat them like a landmark or something...maybe its just because we were in Germany, traveling, but still. I don't think I'd do it again)
Northern State
Tegan and Sara
Tegan
Sara
Gilberto in our Tegan and Sara shirt (he was in Turkey that weekend, and on Sunday the three of us met in Basel for the day - he wore the shirt on the train ride back)
Heidelburg, Germany. Where to start, where to start.
The intention for Steph and I to venture to this German ghost town was to appease my ever growing compulsion to constantly and always and forever listen to Tegan and Sara. For months I had the con on repeat, had downloaded and bought new music by them, finally succumbing to their terribly smart indy pop after a couple of years of resistance. It wasn't that i didn't like them before, it was just that I never had the opportunity or time to give them much more than a couple of spots on a ipod playlist. And the Con being the last album on my itunes before moving, well, I guess it just made me think of home a lot...and of course, its a brilliant record... seriously. I am happy I finally gave a chance to the band that Crystal tried for nearly 6 years to get me to listen to, and that Caroline forced down my throat during her 'I like folk music and will only listen to ani di franco and one tegan and sara song for a month' phase two years ago. And I really do enjoy the music they put out, I appreciate it a lot, and find comfort in it... I think that music, at times, can be a great source of comfort...and for whatever reason, when I was homesick after first moving here I found myself really enjoying their music. And as well, when mom got diagnosed, and I was out here feeling like I was by myself, I found that their music not only provided comfort but sometimes a distraction. So I guess I got a bit invested while being out here. And beyond the music itself, I do respect the girl's as artists and as musicians working in the industry. The integrity of their music has not faltered despite increasing fame, they've fought against and continue to blur and transcend boundaries and labels, and they've actively sought and built a healthy relationship with their fans that many bands rarely have the ability or the inclination to do.
Ok ok, seriously, enough ass kissing.
So because I had this new appreciation, when I found out that they were coming to Europe (after having initially missed them in the Summer) I quickly bought tickets. We chose the show in Heidelburg because Steph had a friend living there and because it was on a Saturday and because it was the closest place we could travel to by train...well, close as in, 6 hours away.
Now Steph having been to Heildelburg already - and knowing how small of a city it is- , combined with my knowledge of their accessibility to fans, lead to the general realization that there was a slight possibility we could meet the girls. However neither of us were willing to speak such a thought aloud. In part because we didn't want to jinx ourselves, and in part because I didn't want anyone to think I was a crazy stalker fan bent on meeting them.....erm...anyways.
When we arrived in Heidelburg, I quickly discovered how small of a city it was. It was about a ten minute walk to the downtown district, which was probably a half hour walk from our hotel - almost on the outskirts of town - which was about a 15 minute walk to the train station which was ten minutes to downtown - did you get all that? downtown consisted of one main street where all the shops were - after some snack buying and searching around american apparel and the like, steph and I wound up at the end of the main street, heading towards the venue about 5 hours early. Our plan was to maybe catch a glimpse of the band hanging around their tour bus. However, as we walked toward what seemed like a small city square, my attention was quickly directed towards a tiny little girl dressed in all black wearing pretty cool shoes and hanging with a tall blonde girl. The two seemed to appear in mid air, were suddenly in front of us looking at the Heidelburg map. As we walked by them, or stopped near them, we were very close nonetheless, I pointed them out to Stephanie saying something along the lines of 'what do you think of that little girl?'.
Now, Steph, for some reason, had no clue what I was talking about. She seemed confused and later admitted that a) she thought I liked her shoes and b) she didn't possibly think it could be tegan and or sara because they weren't together, and weren't they always together? and c) the girl I pointed out, as we approached from behind/side looked about 14 years old because she was so incredibly tiny. And of course I said 'what do you think of this little girl' quite loud, assuming that it was probably just some small German kid anyhow with a resemblance to the twins, so Steph just looked at me like 'what the hell are you talking about'. I on the other hand knew a couple of things to steer me into questioning whether or not the kid in front of us was actually just some German kid or was one of them - a) tegan and sara are tiny. they always seem taller or something on stage or in interviews but from what I had read, the girls are small. b) tegan and sara are pale As we continued our approach I noticed that this girl was in fact pretty pale - but with her hat covering most of her face and what would have been a tell tale hair cut and with a slight quarter of a profile to go off of, I actually didn't know. For some reason, most of the dawdling around the map is a blur, but I remember getting a good look at her shoes - but for the life of me I can't remember if I stood near her or just walked impossibly close by them. Anyways, Steph continued to walk towards the venue and I stopped her and looked back at the couple. After some hesitation, and while still quite near them (ie probably in ear shot), I told Steph to check her out while I went to look at the other side of the map. I did the whole 'we are here' while steph stood near their side of the map - and about 20 seconds later she shot over to my side to nod and tell me that it was them - she thinks - that she couldn't remember exactly what they looked like, but yeah, she looked at her and she's pretty sure - but she didn't know which one of them. by this time the two girls had left in the direction we had been walking away from in the first place, and I bounced up and down trying to figure out what to do.
"did she have a labret piercing?"
"i don't know, i couldn't see, it was quick"
"ok lets go"
and with that we started out behind them, quickly discovering they were going to the Heidelburg castle.
Now for some reason, maybe in an effort to ditch us, little-maybe-german-girl-or-maybe-tegan-or-maybe-sara and her girlfriend, decided to take the steepest entry to the castle. I was sick with a cold and was holding half an eaten chocolate ball and was suffering from pretty intense anxiety and was walking on a 90 degree angle and was so not impressed with that freaking hill. As we huffed and puffed our way up, we would stop when they would, trying to catch our breath or get rid of our chocolate balls which were undoubtedly weighing us down. At this point I still had no clue who the people in front of us were and was secretly hoping it wouldn't be one of them so that I wouldn't have to meet them all sweaty and out of breath and coughing up my lungs. They made it to the top and looked around, and Steph soon got there after them and eventually I made it up, just in time to see them walk away into another part of the castle. I didn't know who they were and at that point I was pretty sure I didn't care. I just wanted to sit down for a moment, fix my hair, and not be sick anymore.
Figuring that we lost them, Steph and I went to the other part of the castle (the only other part open and that we could get to) - which hosted several lookouts. I kinda grumbled that I thought we lost them, when Steph said 'no' and pointed them out. She asked me what I was going to do and I replied I don't know, what the hell should I do. She asked me if I was going to say something. And I said 'what the hell am I going to say, I'm not even sure its her...what would I say?' Again, I got nervous and stood somewhat frozen in one place. When they finally walked by us to get to the other side of the castle, I, for the first time, finally got a good look - and yup - it was Tegan....or ... Sara?
I had somewhat decided, based on deductions (wearing all black, has a girlfriend whereas I'm not sure whether or not Sara does) that this little girl was probably not a little German kid, but was Tegan - a part of me questioned that maybe it was Sara, but I had gotten a good enough look to believe it was one of them. I walked around the lookout where the other tourists were casually hanging, tried to take some picture, but the nervousness or excitement or something of it all was certainly getting to me. 'ok ok, lets go find them' I decided.
We walked through the castle a bit more, certain, again, that we had lost them. There was a museum, Steph mentioned, that they could have gone into. There was a lot more direction for them that we were somewhat outside the boundaries of the castle. I figured I had missed my opportunity - until, Steph with her amazing contacts (me without glasses) spotted them walking. We headed in their direction, but when they stopped to talk to someone, my stomach flipped and we walked right by, stopping a little while later, not completely outside of the castle but close enough to the road that would lead us back into the city.
Steph questioned what I was going to do - because if I wasn't going to do anything, then we should probably just leave and stop following them. BUT WERE WE FOLLOWING? Technically we didn't know, for half the time, like, we hadn't confirmed, it was them, and even as we stood there I still questioned it a bit. I imagined myself going up to some girl and telling her I was excited for her concert and then having her give me a totally blank look. Except we had, in our travels, around the castle heard them speak, so I knew they weren't German and that yeah, despite the nagging gut feeling that was probably just trying to stop me from making a fool of myself, it was probably her. I kept saying I didn't know what I was going to do. Steph urged me to go on or to make a decision and I kept trying to get her to wait, and eventually Tegan and her girlfriend walked by us again, down the road that would lead back to the city. We started up behind them, thinking that it was becoming painstakingly obvious that yeah, maybe we were following.
At some point down that road, they stopped, and Steph convinced me that this was a once in a life time chance and I either do it or not. So I marched down there, went up to Tegan and blurted "sorry for following you back there". I mumbled a few other things - excited for the show, congrats on the juno nomination, something else that she said thank you to - it last a total of ten seconds. She was incredibly polite, but not in the talkative mood, and considering what a bumbling fool I had become I was ok to just keep on walking, she told us to enjoy the sights, and Steph and I were on our way.
Then I turned back and asked for a photo - if they didn't mind, apologized quite a bit, pretty much came off like the nervous fool I knew I was going to act like. Tegan commented on my 'fancy shmancy camera' - and well after a couple of shots and some fooling with the settings, we were off - but with Tegan and her girlfriend now following us. We tried our best to shake them, because we didn't want it to seem like we were serious stalkers - just the novice / mild type - and went down a series of side streets, winding up back on the main street. Where, oddly, we saw them again, 100 feet ahead of us. A little ridiculous, but unplanned, and really goes to show how small that town is.
As we walked around Heidelburg, Steph contemplated getting a hair cut, but the salon was closing and as we walked down the street I started feeling incredibly sick and a bit feverish. I requested that we find somewhere for dinner so I could get some water and sit down. We found a small restaurant, and ordered food - of which I barely ate anything. As we were discussing the band, the concert, meeting Tegan (I felt a bit like an idiot for the whole castle thing and the whole sounding like a giant tool thing) and as this discussion went on, Steph looked out the window and commented "isn't that Sara" - and it was.
Around this time I had finally sent a few text messages out to Emma, Nadia, and Gilberto letting them know we had met Tegan (I had struggled getting connection to call Gilberto just after it happened)- as I knew they would be excited or at least feign excitement for our sake. And so I sent them another one as Sara walked by. And another one five minutes later when Tegan walked by.
I didn't eat much and our dinner ended quite short. We left and walked down the main street, and not more than two minutes later did Steph point out that we were headed right for Sara and the band. Deciding not to make a fool of myself like I had before, I went straight up to them (no sly walking around and spying this time) and apologized for interrupting and stated that we were excited for the show that night.
Sara was amazing. She asked us where we were from, what we did, and spoke about the language barrier in Europe. It was all pretty funny and light and I even got to embarrass Bec (who wasn't there) by sharing her story about messing up her french when talking about being excited for mountains. I didn't feel like a tool (maybe because I hadn't just walked up a ridiculous hill and maybe because I wasn't embarrassed for following a person around) and felt like Sara and the band were really personable. I don't know how to explain it..but it just seemed like a pretty natural conversation. We took a quick picture 'I'll get in the middle' (I didn't even hear her say that, but Steph says that she did), congratulated her on the Junos, and said 'well, see you in an hour'.
We walked away with two big smiles on our faces, Steph - although she won't qualify it was the best day ever since being here - was pretty fucking excited as well and kept saying how cool that was - and I nearly threw up - because I was sick or because I was so excited I don't know why. But really its me, I always feel like throwing up, so thats not new. Anyhow, it was pretty cool and really appreciated.
The concert itself was held in a tiny club, and we wound up just one or two people from the stage. Northern State opened for the band and put on an amazing show - seriously, people, listen to them. I was almost, ALMOST, happy enough just to see them. NORTHERN STATE. you won't regret it. Tegan and Sara did a great set and it was great to see them. They performed quite a few older songs along with most of the con. I was surprised by a couple of choices, but really happy that they played them because I found the live version of a song like 'i bet it stung' does it a lot more justice than the recorded version ever could. Furthermore, I'm happy that some of the songs got a bit of a change up for the liver version - living room obviously sounds more folky on record but live its got a great rock tone to it. as well, the con - the single - also had a different sound to it when they performed live. Its really a testament to the band when they can perform already great songs and change them up slightly so the audience doesn't feel like they're just listening to the album really loud. The banter was also pretty entertaining, however, Steph and I shot each other looks when Tegan began talking about walking around the Heildelburg castle and how it reminded her of following people home from the airport. Given the context of what she was talking about (relationships, her parents divorce) we didn't put too much weight on the fact that we had happened to kind of maybe possibly not totally intentionally (because we didn't know it was her for sure and because once you get up there there isn't really anywhere to go) followed her around that castle and decided that the two (her thinking of following people home from the air port, and us kind of maybe possibly following her around the castle) were totally unrelated. All and all, the show part, you know, the whole reason we were there, was great and didn't disappoint - if I had to do one thing over, I wouldn't have taken as many pictures, or I would have learned the settings on my camera for concert photos ahead of time.
Steph and I befriended some American's at (because that is what we do when we travel, all the time, no fail, befriend American's) who later gave us a ride to the train station - admist a playful argument over who was the better twin and discussion of Degrassi.
I also bought myself and Laura a t shirt, and I bought myself a poster. I later discovered that the t shirt was pretty snug, so Gilberto is now taking care of it until I can get in it and not have Tegan's face look all discombobulated.
Anyway, it was pretty great. and I think that, the whole day meant a lot because I had...I duno, been using music - and particularly their music - as a comfort blanket while shit was hitting the fan. I mean, I'm not delusional enough to ever say 'music saved my life' or 'music is my life' and its not as if the music is tailor made for me and its not as if I only listen to it when its dark and gloomy... But, it has provided an outlet, I guess. And to be able to see them in concert, or even say hey ' congrats on this, and im exicted for that' to actually be able to show some sort of appreciation well...its nice I guess, and maybe I sound like a bit of a nerd for saying so, but I'm pretty happy it happened.
and now that you have made it to the end of the blog, i reward you with photos.
Dana, Tegan, StephSteph, Sara, Dana(I want to state that if I ever meet an artist again, I will probably not ask for a photo. I feel like you treat them like a landmark or something...maybe its just because we were in Germany, traveling, but still. I don't think I'd do it again)
Northern StateTegan and SaraTeganSaraGilberto in our Tegan and Sara shirt (he was in Turkey that weekend, and on Sunday the three of us met in Basel for the day - he wore the shirt on the train ride back)
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