The Mile High Blog Club

The view from 35,000 feet:

I've never watched the sunrise from above the clouds before.  Patches of orange break through at the horizon.  The tangerine glow of the sky resembles what it looks like when there is a fire in the distance.  "Here comes the sun, do dee do do, here comes the sun, I say, it's alright." -George Harrison

When you're on the ground the clouds look like they are all on the same level.  From above I can see clouds above clouds, and more clouds above those.  And I can clearly see the different types of cloud; cumulus, nimbus, cirrus.  Don't ask me which is which.

Harry Potter movies are just as annoying and unentertaining without sound.  And what is Kenneth Branagh doing here?  Come on, Kenny, you're better than that!  And, when did Hermoine become such a stonecold fox?

We all have little thoughts of evil from time to time, don't we?  Right now I'm wondering what kind of items I could put in the gigantic open mouth of the woman sleeping next to me.  There isn't a lot at my disposal, but I'd like to put these complimentary earphones I'm not using in there... and then quickly go back to typing so that when she wakes up disoriented and asks how a pair of airline issued earphones got in her mouth I can look confused and say, "What?  I'm sorry I don't have time for games, I have a deadline."  And then ignore her for the rest of the flight. :)

Required elements of any flight:

Unsatisfying meal- CHECK (Do hospitals and airlines contract the same Culinary Arts School dropouts?)

Mandatory screaming baby- CHECK

Sexy Flight Attendant- CHECK x2!  (One is British, one is Scottish... nice work United Kingdom, off to a good start!)

It's completely daylight now.  Blue skies above the clouds.  My computer reads 2:53am!!!  So that's why we have timezones...

Terminally Blogging

The average Boeing 747-300 (the plane I am flying in) weighs about 350,000 pounds.  And it flies.  Damn, airplanes are cool.

Sitting here in the terminal, looking at all of the other random travelers, I start to wonder what their stories are:

There is a young man with an oversized manilla envelope and what appears to be small, inflatable tubes.  What are the tubes for?  Would the contents of the envelope explain why this scruffy dude is traveling with rubber?

An older gentleman is wearing a beige suit jacket and yellow dress shirt.  He looks like one of those oldschool guys that still wears a suit everyday.  He has probably had this particular suit for 30 years.  I like his style.  Note to self: when you get old, wear a suit everyday.  It's badass.

Ok... the woman sitting at 5 o'clock is wearing WAY too much perfume.  And wearing all denim.

Still got a couple of hours to go before I board.  As I wait for my transatlantic adventure to begin, I'll probably sit back and think about the summer past.  Incredible new friends, lifelong dreams achieved, sand in my shorts.  Now it's time for old friends, more dreams and less sand.

Duty Free just opened.  Gotta run.  See you in England!

Hellos and Goodbyes

Today, my family welcomed a new addition; my niece Calen Rose.  I'm an uncle!  Or, Crazy Uncle Joey, as I have already been dubbed.  I went to the hospital to see my sister and meet the little bundle of joy.

"Hello, little baby!" I whispered.  "I'm your uncle.  I'm going to buy you a bunch of crazy shit from ALL over the world!"

I held the little Miss until it was time to say goodbye.  And then I said goodbye to my sister.  And then my mother.  Not, "Goodbye!  I'll see you tomorrow."  Not even next week or next month.  I am moving to England, and who knows when I will see any of them again.

Hellos and goodbyes.

Slush Puppies, shocker, and zombie ducks.

Sometimes, you just gotta get out there and live.  My new friend Gigs and I did just that tonight.  We hit the mean streets of Londontown tonight with nothing but a few crusts of bread and a strong sense of mischief.

To begin, I had a couple of questions on my mind:  Where do ducks go at night?  And, if offered, would ducks enjoy a midnight snack?

We headed down to the river Thames with a small bag of Wonderbread crusts (100% whole wheat), looking for answers.  For a few minutes it appeared as though the water was lifeless, but then, out of the shadows.... they came.  ZOMBIE DUCKS!

With their eyes glowing green, the undead ducks feasted on our whole grains.  

After the feeding frenzy, Gigs was hit with a mad craving for a Slush Puppy.  We walked for what felt like days in search of a syrupy treat.  I grew weak and dehydrated in the blistering moonlight.  My spirit was broken and I pleaded with Gigs to go on without me.  She slapped me right across the face and assured me that we would get through this together.  Bless her spirit.  Just then, an oasis appeared to give me strength.  

I replenished my fluids and we continued down Richmond Street.  Finally, we found the little white dog wearing the little blue toque and we made our flavour selections.  Gigs went with strawberry/kiwi and I selected the TOTALLY made up "ice berry".  It was at this time that we were faced with one of the strangest propositions one could encounter while purchasing a low-end frozen treat.  The middle-eastern man behind the counter asked us if we would like a shocker for only 10 cents!  Needless to say, we accepted and Gigs will go down as the only girl to ever buy me a shocker.

We returned home with bellies full of slush and faces full of smiles.  I really like my new friend.

The Write Timing

Hello, Right Brain!  It's nice to use you again.......

I had a few goals for myself this summer:  

Run.  Read.  Write.  Raft.

Pretty simple, eh?  I wanted to get back in shape, read and write more, and build a raft.  And looking at that list written out for the first time, I just realized that all four of those things are incredible sources of relaxation for me.  Therapeutic, even.  And I use to do these things ALL the time, (okay, maybe not the raft building, that was a new one), but then 2008 came along and I guess I got lazy.  Unfocused.  

When I moved to Grand Bend for the summer, I saw the perfect opportunity to "see clearly" again.  With my priorities back in order, I dropped 10 lbs. and got my personal best 5km time down to 23:38, polished off several books and built the beautiful monstrosity known as The Daryl Hannah (more on her to follow).  However, I never really managed to pencil in any time to pick up a pencil (or pen.... or most likely to type.  Let's be honest here it's 2008, who writes with a pencil anymore?  I just liked the imagery of that sentence.)

From time to time in my life writing has played a significant role.  My writing always seems to pick up during major changes in my life.  This blog presents the opportunity for writing to be really important to me once again.  It's all about the write timing.