how I spent my weekend.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
A Chase Around the City
Amazing Race meets Fear Factor, but it's called CityChase and has been happening in Calgary for 3 years. With over 1100 participants this year, my partner and I decided to join in on the action and try to finish within the first 150 teams.
Backstory: I'm not athletic at all. I could get to the peak of a mountain if I have a flask of JD with me, and no time-limit, but that's about as far as it goes. I'm not a runner (once I learned I can't outrun a bullet, or a bully, I stopped trying). Swimming is limited to: a) with a lifejacket b) in a hot tub c)when I dive into the pool and need to get to the ladder. And, after high school, I decided that I don't want to do any physical activity without getting paid for it. Yet somehow, CityChase sounded like a great idea to me.
A roommate of mine, and my partner in crime for the race has a bit of a better track record. She goes hiking often, has taken outdoor rec in school. She's trained for the RCMP in the last year, and has seen the inside of a gym in the last decade. But being sick on the weekend of the race (and having called into work the day before), we were in for one hell of a day.
"What have we gotten ourselves into" is the thought running through our heads as we leave the house in the morning. I'm wearing jeans, and she has some expensive sandals on. Our backpacks hold anything and everything: winter gloves, a flashlight, 3 energy drinks, clean underwear, and so we're off on our journey. 2 guys on the ctrain let us know we're in over our heads just by looking at them. They're dressed in their gear and look hardcore in their sunglasses. I could look hardcore too had I not registered the day before, or picked up our stuff. But after registering, and changing our team-name from "The Lakecomers" to "The Jack'ettes'", we eat some breakfast and point out "hey, at least we didn't bring a purse". We ignore the opening "warm up/stretching" exercises... amatures, and paranoia sets in when the announcer starts talking about a clue sheet that we don't possess. The strategy: make an alliance with some 40 year old ladies and just follow them all day.
The race begins: We run east along the Bow River in Eau Claire for about 3 minutes with the mass of people. Then we run out of breath and walk. We get to the clue sheet, read while walking to the C-Train and decide we're either headed to the Science Center or Kensington, depending on whichever train comes next. Kensington it is. We're in the cab reading clues outloud, and then meet our "alliance". A team called the "Keep it Simple Sisters" equipped with friends helping them on the other end, and a blackberry for all the secret info. Score!
Challenge 1: Running, reading maps and finding flags to spell a secret word. Those challenge fukers even thought ahead to create more than 1 map, more than 1 word, so that we couldn't cheat.Whatever, at least we know how to spell. Our word was "Check". Moving on.
Challenge 2: Wheelchair basketball. Wheelchairs, backwards, through pylons. Then score some baskets (without travelling... odd) and play a 2 on 1 game. Hilariousness, we're so gonna join a league! Challenge 3 involved paining bones overtop my skin at the science center Yeah, I looked ghey the whole day, but I wasn't the one that was gonna be naming them, so I decided to go with it.
Being moderately good at one activity, our next stop was Chinook, where we climbed up a rock climbing wall in no time at all, and after bowling with some wooden kart thing (stupidest activity of them all) we were on our way back downtown. But as we waited for a train, some teams told us of a park with 2 more challenges, we took off running again. At this point in time, we realized that our "alliance" were in much better shape than us. They could run, and we felt like we were holding them back. We let them go ahead and said we'd meet for a beer after. Then came Challenge 6: Frisbee golf. Chucking a Frisbee at a tree and having a penalty if you have to throw x-amount more than the alloted times. The penalty (like a harder pushup) sucked, so we cheated our way through it, and went on to our next and favorite challenge. It was a spider web type deal that we had to climb through, and though I got a bit dizzy, and got a wedgie, it was awesome.
I learned to play blackjack at the casino, saving my partner in crime from eating bulls balls. We rode a bus down 17th with about 80 more participants. Sang with strangers in a car at the top of our lungs, and stabbed potatoes while quoting unknown people, before heading back to the finish line. And out of 550 teams, we came in 146th!
After finishing the race and beaming with pride, I got some ice cream and went for a leisurely kayak down the river, hopped on the shuttle bus and went to the afterparty, where I stayed true to my detox and hung out with my partner in crime and the "alliance". Life is an adventure, and I wish I had more days like these. Days were you do things without thinking twice about them. Hell, I would've eaten a cricket, played with a teranchela, done some pole dancing, chained myself to a girl, or run up 52 fights of stairs. Next year I'll beat 11 challenges, or 146th place. Are you up for the challenge?
Backstory: I'm not athletic at all. I could get to the peak of a mountain if I have a flask of JD with me, and no time-limit, but that's about as far as it goes. I'm not a runner (once I learned I can't outrun a bullet, or a bully, I stopped trying). Swimming is limited to: a) with a lifejacket b) in a hot tub c)when I dive into the pool and need to get to the ladder. And, after high school, I decided that I don't want to do any physical activity without getting paid for it. Yet somehow, CityChase sounded like a great idea to me.
A roommate of mine, and my partner in crime for the race has a bit of a better track record. She goes hiking often, has taken outdoor rec in school. She's trained for the RCMP in the last year, and has seen the inside of a gym in the last decade. But being sick on the weekend of the race (and having called into work the day before), we were in for one hell of a day.
"What have we gotten ourselves into" is the thought running through our heads as we leave the house in the morning. I'm wearing jeans, and she has some expensive sandals on. Our backpacks hold anything and everything: winter gloves, a flashlight, 3 energy drinks, clean underwear, and so we're off on our journey. 2 guys on the ctrain let us know we're in over our heads just by looking at them. They're dressed in their gear and look hardcore in their sunglasses. I could look hardcore too had I not registered the day before, or picked up our stuff. But after registering, and changing our team-name from "The Lakecomers" to "The Jack'ettes'", we eat some breakfast and point out "hey, at least we didn't bring a purse". We ignore the opening "warm up/stretching" exercises... amatures, and paranoia sets in when the announcer starts talking about a clue sheet that we don't possess. The strategy: make an alliance with some 40 year old ladies and just follow them all day.
The race begins: We run east along the Bow River in Eau Claire for about 3 minutes with the mass of people. Then we run out of breath and walk. We get to the clue sheet, read while walking to the C-Train and decide we're either headed to the Science Center or Kensington, depending on whichever train comes next. Kensington it is. We're in the cab reading clues outloud, and then meet our "alliance". A team called the "Keep it Simple Sisters" equipped with friends helping them on the other end, and a blackberry for all the secret info. Score!
Challenge 1: Running, reading maps and finding flags to spell a secret word. Those challenge fukers even thought ahead to create more than 1 map, more than 1 word, so that we couldn't cheat.Whatever, at least we know how to spell. Our word was "Check". Moving on.Challenge 2: Wheelchair basketball. Wheelchairs, backwards, through pylons. Then score some baskets (without travelling... odd) and play a 2 on 1 game. Hilariousness, we're so gonna join a league! Challenge 3 involved paining bones overtop my skin at the science center Yeah, I looked ghey the whole day, but I wasn't the one that was gonna be naming them, so I decided to go with it.
Being moderately good at one activity, our next stop was Chinook, where we climbed up a rock climbing wall in no time at all, and after bowling with some wooden kart thing (stupidest activity of them all) we were on our way back downtown. But as we waited for a train, some teams told us of a park with 2 more challenges, we took off running again. At this point in time, we realized that our "alliance" were in much better shape than us. They could run, and we felt like we were holding them back. We let them go ahead and said we'd meet for a beer after. Then came Challenge 6: Frisbee golf. Chucking a Frisbee at a tree and having a penalty if you have to throw x-amount more than the alloted times. The penalty (like a harder pushup) sucked, so we cheated our way through it, and went on to our next and favorite challenge. It was a spider web type deal that we had to climb through, and though I got a bit dizzy, and got a wedgie, it was awesome.
I learned to play blackjack at the casino, saving my partner in crime from eating bulls balls. We rode a bus down 17th with about 80 more participants. Sang with strangers in a car at the top of our lungs, and stabbed potatoes while quoting unknown people, before heading back to the finish line. And out of 550 teams, we came in 146th!
After finishing the race and beaming with pride, I got some ice cream and went for a leisurely kayak down the river, hopped on the shuttle bus and went to the afterparty, where I stayed true to my detox and hung out with my partner in crime and the "alliance". Life is an adventure, and I wish I had more days like these. Days were you do things without thinking twice about them. Hell, I would've eaten a cricket, played with a teranchela, done some pole dancing, chained myself to a girl, or run up 52 fights of stairs. Next year I'll beat 11 challenges, or 146th place. Are you up for the challenge?
Friday, June 11, 2010
The Game that is my Life
So there I was... hanging out on cloud 9 as if such a thing happens everyday. I was walking around with a smile on my face, only thinking happy thoughts in my delirious state of "smitten-ness". Then one day, out of the blue, as I sit down on my hammock on cloud 9, I start to fall. The trees that the hammock was attached to were both sabotaged, cut like pencil points in the middle, the way you see on cartoons. Jack must've been around cuz I didn't even notice. I tumbled down in denial the whole way, not acknowledging the fact that I'd left cloud 9 and stuff had not gone the way I planned: perfectly.
I finally landed on cloud 6, justification cushioning that fall, still dazed from denial. Cloud 6 isn't a bad cloud to be on, it's the one in the middle that still allows for happy moments mixed in with the not so happy ones. But once you've been to cloud 9, you always want to go back. So why settle for the in between?
I took out my map to take a look at which way to get back to cloud 9 which I had gotten so accustomed to. From cloud 6 to cloud 7, there's the obstacle of truth. Truth is one of those sketchy bridges that you see in old movies. The ones made out of rope and wood, with half the pieces missing. With every step across you second guess yourself, but to make it to the other side, eventually you have to trust your judgement and just go for it.
After that, to get to cloud 8, you have the obstacle of trust. Trust is a rope that dangles from the sky. One of those ropes that kids use to tie to a tree and swing on to jump into the lakes. The issue with trust is that, 1. you don't know where it comes from and therefore, the likelihood of you getting hurt is great, and 2. it's not something that you could start and then change your mind on. Once you jump onto that rope and start to swing across, you better just jump off on the other side.
The last leg of the journey back to cloud 9 is the ladder of Forgiveness. A long ass ladder that seems like it goes on forever. Every step up makes you doubtful of your decision, and a few steps are even missing which makes you question continuing your climb. But at the end is cloud 9, so if you've started up the ladder, you can't logically turn back.
I sit here, cross-legged on cloud 6, looking at my map and contemplating a strategy for this trek. It's an overcast day... again. All these clouds in my way of the sunshine that shines a bit higher up. I think I'll attempt the voyage to the 9th cloud. What do I have to lose? I mean, I could fall down to cloud 2, but that's a risk I'm willing to take... just not right away, probably in a couple weeks.
I finally landed on cloud 6, justification cushioning that fall, still dazed from denial. Cloud 6 isn't a bad cloud to be on, it's the one in the middle that still allows for happy moments mixed in with the not so happy ones. But once you've been to cloud 9, you always want to go back. So why settle for the in between?
I took out my map to take a look at which way to get back to cloud 9 which I had gotten so accustomed to. From cloud 6 to cloud 7, there's the obstacle of truth. Truth is one of those sketchy bridges that you see in old movies. The ones made out of rope and wood, with half the pieces missing. With every step across you second guess yourself, but to make it to the other side, eventually you have to trust your judgement and just go for it.
After that, to get to cloud 8, you have the obstacle of trust. Trust is a rope that dangles from the sky. One of those ropes that kids use to tie to a tree and swing on to jump into the lakes. The issue with trust is that, 1. you don't know where it comes from and therefore, the likelihood of you getting hurt is great, and 2. it's not something that you could start and then change your mind on. Once you jump onto that rope and start to swing across, you better just jump off on the other side.
The last leg of the journey back to cloud 9 is the ladder of Forgiveness. A long ass ladder that seems like it goes on forever. Every step up makes you doubtful of your decision, and a few steps are even missing which makes you question continuing your climb. But at the end is cloud 9, so if you've started up the ladder, you can't logically turn back.
I sit here, cross-legged on cloud 6, looking at my map and contemplating a strategy for this trek. It's an overcast day... again. All these clouds in my way of the sunshine that shines a bit higher up. I think I'll attempt the voyage to the 9th cloud. What do I have to lose? I mean, I could fall down to cloud 2, but that's a risk I'm willing to take... just not right away, probably in a couple weeks.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Hanging in the Rain
You know what I love more than anything? Rain. When it feels more like fall than it does spring, and everyone is walking around all miserable as we all lived in Ireland rather than Canada. When the puddles and the overcast skies seem endless and my puddle filled skater shoes make my feet beyond frozen... that's what I love most of all. That's what today has in store for me.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
A State of Distraction
I'm at one of those points in my life, when I really don't know when my next day off is going to be. I've recently started a promotion for Sony, then one for Telus, after which I'm doing one for RBC, then Sony again, and probably back to Telus. Although some of the work is totally fun and I don't mind doing it, I think back to last summer when all I did was work, getting roped into that obsession with money that people talk about. I have up my summer months not enjoying my friends, or the mountains nearly enough, and though my trip to Europe was awesome, I've regretted the amount of hours I had to clock in to achieve it.
I don't want to make the same mistakes this summer. I want to visit Waterton and hang in the mountains. I want to party at Stampede and go for random weekend getaways with my friends. I think that this year, I have to concentrate more on happiness than money, so that's my new plan.
The work couldn't've come at a better time though. After the week spent in a depression-like-state, I needed something to get my mind off of things. Everyday when I wake up to get to work, I roll my eyes at having to get out of bed for a reason, but appreciate being out and about when it does happen. So for the next month or so, I'll coax by distracted by work and obligations, hopefully with random adventures along the way.
Weekend 1: Citychase
Weekend 2: Official Camping Kickoff
Weekend ?: Waterton
Plan Set. Ready? Go!
I don't want to make the same mistakes this summer. I want to visit Waterton and hang in the mountains. I want to party at Stampede and go for random weekend getaways with my friends. I think that this year, I have to concentrate more on happiness than money, so that's my new plan.
The work couldn't've come at a better time though. After the week spent in a depression-like-state, I needed something to get my mind off of things. Everyday when I wake up to get to work, I roll my eyes at having to get out of bed for a reason, but appreciate being out and about when it does happen. So for the next month or so, I'll coax by distracted by work and obligations, hopefully with random adventures along the way.
Weekend 1: Citychase
Weekend 2: Official Camping Kickoff
Weekend ?: Waterton
Plan Set. Ready? Go!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
A Whole New Low
Usually, when people are feeling "out of it" they show it in different ways.
Yes, there are the standard: be distant, stay in your room, stop eating ect. ways.
And everyone has a different way to break out of the funk.
I realized that I've hit a whole new low, after hanging out in my bed for days,
when the only reason I had to get out of bed today was to go see a MILEY CYRUS movie.
That's right, I showered, got dressed, and put on make-up to go see this, apparently 4/10 $3 movie. But hey, a distraction at it's best, as I spent the whole thing wondering why the acting is so unbelievably poor, and why I've seen this storyline more than 10 times before.
Good choice ladies.
Yes, there are the standard: be distant, stay in your room, stop eating ect. ways.
And everyone has a different way to break out of the funk.
I realized that I've hit a whole new low, after hanging out in my bed for days,
when the only reason I had to get out of bed today was to go see a MILEY CYRUS movie.
That's right, I showered, got dressed, and put on make-up to go see this, apparently 4/10 $3 movie. But hey, a distraction at it's best, as I spent the whole thing wondering why the acting is so unbelievably poor, and why I've seen this storyline more than 10 times before.
Good choice ladies.
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