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We've got our plane tickets, our itinerary and our accommodation in the bag. Now I would love some travel tips for the destinations listed below. The one place I want you to focus on, however, is Paris. Michael tasked me with planning some exploration options, and I don't know where to start. I'm pretty sure many of you have favourite memories of Paris (or desires to visit something special in Paris), and I want you to share your goods. Lay it on me!

Itinerary
Belfast (day-trip potential)
Portstewart/Portrush (five nights)
Dublin (one night)
Zurich (one night)
Porlezza (three nights)
Sienna (three nights)
Florence (one or two day-trips)
Lucca (two nights)
Cinque Terre (two nights)
Alassio (two nights)
Paris (three nights)

Jonathan, Jonathan

I talked to Jillian on Tuesday and I said, "I just saw Jonathan Richman last night." She responded, "Every time I talk to you, you just saw Jonathan Richman last night."

Of course it isn't true. I've only seen him live three times, and the first time Jillian was sitting beside me when he opened for the 2001 Belle and Sebastian concert in Vancouver.

The show was amazing, as always. Michael, Bex and I left beaming, even though the last song was about his mother's death and I cried a little bit. Overall, he was in a great mood and I think he loved us. I want a copy of his new song about cell phones:

When I'm on the beach, I'm on the beach. No you can't call me there.

Maybe you need to hear it? I can't find it anywhere, but I'll let you know when I do.

Some of you may not know who I'm talking about, so I've attached a clip from a 2007 concert, which most resembles the show I just saw. He played this song for us too, as I expected. It was good.



Tommy (the drummer) was wearing white jeans at our show. They were hot.

Jet setter

I took the float plane to Vancouver again, this time for work. Michael calls me a jet setter, but Wikipedia tells me he is using the term incorrectly:

Jet set is a journalistic term that was used to describe an international social group of wealthy people, organizing and participating in social activities all around the world that are unreachable to ordinary people. The term, which replaced café society, came from the lifestyle of travelling from one stylish or exotic place to another via jet airplanes.

I don’t consider working at Canada Place exotic nor do I consider a float plane a jet airplane.

While it wasn’t stylish, my Saturday shift wasn’t too bad because I got to catch up with Lydia, who joined me at my booth for an hour before we shared a sandwich and a brief foray at H&M.

This is us commemorating the departure of the cruise set.

Not so smart car

The Victoria Car Share Co-op has a new Smart Car. I've always thought these cars were kind of silly because they do not fulfill my vehicle needs, such as moving medium to large objects, transporting more than two people and/or enabling a road trip (this last one is debatable, but I know I wouldn't feel safe traveling at high speeds in such a little thing).

Still, Michael and I were excited to try one out, as were my folks, so we made a special trip to Dockside Green (where the car is parked) while they were in town. We took turns driving around the block.

I still think Smart Cars are silly, even though they're more spacious than they appear. In addition to confirming the concerns listed above, I discovered one more quibble during the test drive: the pseudo-manual nature of the car. You have to shift this car into different gears, even though there is no clutch.

Billy Brown (Vincent Gallo in Buffalo 66) and I are on the same page when it comes to manual cars. We only drive cars that shift themselves.

Making embroidered wedding gifts

These towels involved free-style embroidery, which made me really nervous. And then there was the task of finding an appropriate font for the newly-wed couple. I'm not sure about the one I chose in the end, but I do like the humorous twist that I took at the last minute:


My "J" and my "M" aren't entirely obvious representations, so you can see why I felt some assistance was in order.

Academic closure

Things have been happening, but I guess the biggest thing that has happened is my graduation ceremony. It took place last Tuesday, but I've been busy with family, so I forgot to tell you.

I've been telling people that it was a lot like church, except at one point I had to bow in front of this guy sitting in a throne and he tapped me on the head with his velvet hat. Actually, that sounds a lot like church too. Anyway, it wasn't what I expected. I didn't even get to shake anyone's hand. And my degree wasn't rolled up with a red ribbon.

So it wasn't my vision, but I'm glad I went because it provided closure. It was also pretty cool to see my parents and my Baba in the front row of the auditorium.