Well, my apologies for having been so boring lately. Didn't have much motivation to type, and my thoughts weren't something I wanted to share, so this attempt may be too litle, too late. Anyways, I'll relate the last 2 days to you and then try to pry into my thoughts. I started my pilgrimage yesterday morning after finding out that I'd missed the hiring period at the ski hill in Golden. That's got some big implications regarding my short-termn future. Anyways, I forgot my map, schedules, and contact info when I left home as well, so I was in a quite the funk on my way to Nanaimo. Really weird thoughts. Anyways, I just immersed myself in my headphones and made it to the ferry and over to Vancouver without too many problems. By the time I got to Van, I was feeling better, and I actually saw a side of Vancouver that I hadn't seen yet. Can't really describe it except that it was during rush hour, and I was on foot. I was kinda in awe, and didn't feel so agro against the big city scene. It's just so different, I can't get over that. Everything is completely different than it is in a small town. 24hr gyms and all that jazz. Anyways, I met up with Trina, ate, then went to the Commodore (by myself). Great venure, in my opinion. Maybe not suited for everything, but definately a cool place. It was relaxing, sitting on the upper level, waiting for the show to start. I'd say there was about 500-600 ppl. Anti-Flag was pretty decent, but I didn't like their set list at all. Seems to be a common thing, now that I've seen them 3 times. They played all their slower songs off teh new album. Not slow songs, just slower than their other stuff. Still full-blown punk, but I dunno, I just can't get into those tracks. They didn't play my fave songs: Tearing Everyone Down, Tearing Down the Borders, 911 For Peace, and others. They even had twice as long as the sets they usually have at Warped tour. Oh well. I'm still wondering how I feel about them making teh move to the big labels. I had been thinking about it before they came on, and I'd decided maybe it was a good thing, to reach more people, but with that comes the glam that is already visible (the 'look'). I thought Bad Religiong (being the headlining act), put on a better show, but they dind't play my fave songs either. Anti-Flag played Die for Your Government which is their signature track, and Bad R played American Jesus, but they didn't play Kyoto Now, Conquer the World, and all my other faves. And it's really tough for me to get into a set if I don't know all the words. Anyways, so it was a decent show, but I was disappointed, especially since I paid 45 bucks for teh ticket and took all the trouble to get there, when I'm extremely broke (as you'll find out really soon). So I caught a bus this morning at 7:30 and made my way back to the ferry. After I crossed to Nanamio, I found out that I didn't even have enough money for the bus fare and for some reason my account was -$5. sweet. Anyways, I bummed some money and made it home. It seems almost everything that could go wrong financially has happened. I gotta call the ski hill, CIBC, and my student loan and bitch at them tomorrow.

Something that really I found myself thinking a lot about this trip was weird people. It started in Parksville with these two weird guys, that didn't look like they'd spent much time out of their bedrooms in a few years. Then at every other bus stop, it seemed like there was somebody mentally ill, or otherwise eccentric. Now I'm from a small town, so if I'm supposed to be apathetic, it's not working. But at the same time, it's not like it's purely a bleeding heart response that's happening. Slight discomfot, some anger at our society for not providing proper support for the mentally ill, partial curiosity at what their lives must be like and what exactly makes them different, and also just feeling uncomfortable, partially with the person in question, or maybe wholy at the people around me, sensing their weird vibes towards these other people, even when they're smiling, clean, and aren't trying to talk to anyone. I could go on, but like many things, it's complex and I don't thin I could accurately convey the feeling. I do feel it's something I need to come to terms with though, just so I'm not obsessively thinking about it everytime I'm in the presence of someone like that.