Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Oui, mon pere, il sait tout.

I just got home from playing at the Treehouse Cafe. Man, I sure like playing at the Treehouse. There was a lot of people there to see me, from home and work and whatnot. I've got a little following now. It's funny, I'm sort of a gimmick artist I guess. I storytell before each song and then sing a song with it. I do a few songs each night, there's generally a more serious song bookended by a couple of funny ones. People like it. I like it too. It's very relaxing. I can go up there and be myself and just unwind after work. I guess I'm more of an entertainer than a musician, because really, my guitar playing isn't very good, but it's enough to get me by.

So tonight I played three songs, the first was called 'Oui mon pere, il sait tout' Or, 'Yes my father, he knows everything'. It's about how when I was four I was convinced that my dad really did know everything. He had an answer for almost all of my questions. I remembered a time when I was about four, sitting in the back of the old chev, with dad. I had been asking him questions all afternoon and I was finally sure that I had one that he could not possibly know the answer to. I swung my legs and piped,

'Daddy, what was the name of the very very very very first man ever?'

Dad paused and replied with certainty, 'his name was Adam'.

I thought to myself, 'How could he know that?' I had no knowledge of the biblical concept of creation, Garden of Eden style. So at that moment my father was crystalized as the worlds smartest man.

So I told that story, and another about how my father used to say gar-bage in a french accent. As a result of this, at the age of five I thought my father to be a great speaker of French.
So I sang this song in french, about my view of my father at the age of four. I laughed a lot during it, and everyone was having a good time. The chorus went:

'Oh, Oui mon pere il sait tout
I'l sait tout qu'un homme
peut sait
Et si il y a quelque'un ici qui pense ce que
ca ce n'est pas le verite
mon je casserai son nez
oh la la, la la, la la .'

yes my father, he knows everything
he knows all that a man
can know
And if there is anyone here who thinks
that that's not the truth
I'll break their nose
oh, la la, la la , la la

ah well. What fun. I also sang a song about a biker gang member who just loved soy chai lattes. And a soft song about home, called 'Porchlights'. Good times had by all.

Cheers. I'm tired and hungry. So to kitchen and then to bed. lates.




Sunday, July 24, 2005

an eventful close.

It really was an odd closing shift. I spent my first real chunk of time working bar. I got a couple of solid compliments on my drinks. I made a pretty double short cappucino with a heart, this heart was a little bit better than before, it had concentric circles around it. It's the design that is a step before a rosetta latte. I love making latte's.

My latte's, however, had nothing to do with my closing shift being eventful.

I actually dislike closing shifts. They are slow and have an hour and a half of cleaning on the tail end of them. Tonight was no different. I've only closed twice, so I was a little rusty. It was just me and my boss, Phil. We were working hard closing up when two of his good friends showed up, one of them unexpectedly back from indonesia. T'was a joyous reunion. The friends brought beer.

So Phil, laughing, clocked out and went to the kitchen and had a beer with his friends, planning on clocking in again after having one.

Phil is wonderful. He sings as he pours drinks, he has a vaguely british accent from growing up in South Africa, he is stupidly outgoing, he knows everybody's drink order, he bought me a beer present yesterday. He is without a doubt the best boss I have ever had.

Anyway, he started his second beer and realized it was going to be a longer close than he had previously thought. I was laughing, and sweeping the floors. I had to go through the kitchen to get the mop. As I passed, Phil waved me over. He says "Meaghan,' (the way he says it it sounds like 'mee-gun') 'do you drink alcohol?' and I replied that yes occasionally I do. 'Mee-gun,' he says, 'do you like beer?' I said sure I do. And he says 'Mee-gun, go clock yourself out and have a beer with us then, you and I will finish closing later'

And so it was that at seven o'clock tonight, I was leaning on my mop in the roasting co. kitchen, having a beer with my boss.

afterwards,
we clocked back in
and finished closing.



Saturday, July 23, 2005

saturday never has breaks.

it never does. seven hour shift today. no lunch, no break. Ahh, complaining's useless though. nobody gets a break on saturdays... Saturday's are insane. The internationally renowned Saturday Market goes on downtown, and everyone needs their espresso machiatto's in order.

I did another heart latte this morning. My milk was a little hot, but my espresso shot was grand. Yeah, everybody wins with a perfect crema.


Ha, I got a gift from work today. A bottle of real nice Quebecois beer. I thought it was wine at first. The bottle and cork would suggest as much. But nope, my boss gives me a bottle of nice beer to tell me that I'm doing alright at work.
I laughed and blushed, such joy.

Now, the real perplexing minute that followed was me trying to figure out who I could drink it with. The household I live in is not alcohol friendly. I hid the beer actually, too many impressionable christian teens (but mom, meaghan drinks it and she's christian). Plus some of other boarders are fasting alcohol for the summer, and the parents avoid alcohol at all costs. Not exactly a good scene.

All in all, the only friend on this whole island I could come up with that I could happily share a beer with is Andrew. It's just so geeky though. Walk up to him in church and say 'Hey, I have beer. Want to hang out and drink it?'

I mean, really. Adulthood is overrated.

(I love presents anyway....)

Friday, July 22, 2005

I need sleep pills.

Or I need to stop taking five hour naps from dinner to bedtime. For crying out loud, it's midnight and I'm ready to take on the world. So I'll just make one itty bitty post, then I'll attempt to crash again. I do an opening shift tomorrow.

In random celebratory news, I poured my first
heart latte this morning. It was beginners luck, but I was so pleased that I ran into the back saying 'Look at my heart! Look at my heart!' I'm still very new to the bar, but man, I'd love to be a very good barista at some point in the future.


Well then, back to sleep I go.




Wednesday, July 20, 2005

if I ever lose my head.

currently: doing trent stuff, attempting to register for courses, singing songs.

I dislike attempting to do all this university stuff online. It's annoying. Now I'm waiting for screens to load to tell me if I did all the registration stuff right. Man, I think this must all be a complex weeding out process, if you can't manage the system, you wont make it in university...

that being said, this is what my courses are looking like.


Political Studies 100 - Governance and Globalization in the 21st Century

History 170 - Conquest, Resistance and Revolution

English 100 - Introduction to English literature

Sociology 100 - Introduction to Sociology

Canadian studies 100 - Producing Canada




I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. These courses sound awfully awesome though. I mean, come on, a whole class on revolution?? This is the best thing EVER, and not a compulsory math or science in sight... I love it.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

late.

I was late for work this morning. I woke up at ten after six, I normally roll into the ro.co. at about quarter to six. What a joke. Happily, I busted through the doors at six fifteen and managed to have the cafe open on schedule at six thirty.
Holy speed-openings batman.

The gang is watching a wierd (but not particularly good) movie in the living room. I am retreating into my geek habit...

In other news I just had a wierd encounter with God on the dirt road outside my house. I guess I'm still sorting it all out.

I dont work till seven thirty tomorrow morning, and that is actually causing me joy. woohoo.



goodnight

Friday, July 15, 2005

yeah I ate a chimmy changa... more cherry coke?

currently: trying to avoid going to an evangelism rally in the park.

They want me to sing in the street worship band. I can't. I don't want to. But I don't want Michele, Jimmy's stepmom to think that I'm dissing her methods of sharing the good news either. I don't know...

I'd love to go to the park to just hang out, meet some hippies, talk about spirituality, talk about Jesus. It's not even hard to pray with hippies. They like to pray and be prayed for. But I can't do the whole bandstand preach thing.

Sigh, I guess I'm just going to have to buck up and be honest. Oh truth... so difficult.

I hitchhiked to Fulford yesterday, it was the first time I really have ever hitchhiked... I made it to a Sarah Harmer concert. Pretty rad.

... now to my honesty...

Monday, July 11, 2005

.wool toques and bare feet.

I'm off work for the day, and I get trained on bar tomorrow. Wonders.
I wonder how that's going to work out for me. I'd better be able to learn fast... like a LEARNING monster.

There's unrest in the massive Severn household (fifteen residents as of yesterday). I think we've got a family meeting coming up shortly. Shudder...
I guess it's alright, issues need to be dealt with so that we can live together in love. Sigh. I wish it was easy to live with humans. Cats seem to be much easier.

I've got that slow acoustic version of 'such great heights' stuck in my head, (I guess it's iron and wine who sing that version). I'm glad it's raining outside.

I'm going to write some short stories or something. Maybe make a photocopy zine to bring to work this week... it'd be easy to distribute...

lates

Friday, July 08, 2005

cough. cough. coffee.

I just finished a very busy shift. I brought in over a thousand dollars this morning... man. I open tomorrow too, but I have Sunday off! What joy the sabbath brings me. In addition to that I'm scheduled to work 35 hours next week, which means that there's a great chance of me clocking in forty. I AM pleased. I'm finally getting trained on bar. My tips are sufficient to pay for my social life. I'm not working any closing shifts. Woohoo. I think my days are destined to start at five for a long time.

I also have a cold. (cough - cough)


I have neither the will, nor the energy to post anything of import. So for now I'm going to go read Lamentations and sleep. I'll post more later. Faye comes for a visit tonight.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

the unimpeachable Prezi-dent / Of the Pepsodent Universe


I dare you to get the reference.

It's been an odd couple of days. Maybe God's not so far away. I don't know, but I'll find out. I feel like reading something by Leonard Cohen. I feel like having my LIBRARY back, but it got sent to Ontario without me. I miss it, I have my staples but nothing else. All is gone, including any anthologies I have that include the likes of Cohen.

I wish I could just turn on the rain and read for awhile.

Amanda is back in B.C. tomorrow. That's pretty cool. Laura and I meet her at the one o clock ferry in Fulford. This puts all Lifeteamers squarely back in British Columbia, with five of us on flipping Saltspring Island. From the looks of thing there's going to be three of us in one BED. For crying out loud, personal space is a faint memory from my distant past.

Right. To bed I go, tomorrow I start new. I will buy something from the hippie store and maybe jam at the Treehouse cafe. I like the Treehouse... it feels like you're in a tree, realy you're in a very intimate patio with a tree growing and twisting out of the centre of it. Live music every night.

Goodnight.