Chicago is love!

During my grade 12 year of high school, I had the opportunity to go to Chicago on a school trip. I have always found Chicago intriguing, so when I heard about the trip, I had to go! Only problem was the fact that it was over five hundred dollars so I was a bit hesitant to go. I actually considered backing out twice; but both times I was talked back into it.

Once we arrived at Sears Tower in Chicago I noticed that the guy I had flirted with during the summer was on the trip. I instantly got butterflies even though I didn’t remember his name. We just so happened that we went in the same elevator to get to the top of the Sears Tower. He asked me, “You’re Angela right?” I replied by giggling and saying, “Yeah. But I forget your name.” I found out his name was Jordan.

Later we went to a Jazz restaurant for dinner. Naturally I sat down with my girls. A couple minutes later Jordan sat down with us. I got those butterflies again. We talked, we flirted, and it was obvious that we had a connection. By the end of the night we were inseparable. We sat together on the bus, to and from the Blue Man Group, and we stayed up late talking.

The second day after we went to an Improv workshop, we went to China Town. There we walked the streets visiting little Chinese shops. It was almost time to go so before we left I pulled Jordan into a little alleyway and kissed him! It wasn’t the ideal first kiss, but it was cute because he was smiling the whole time. For the rest of that day we held pinkies (because I wasn’t comfortable holding hands yet).

The third and last day we went to an art museum and whenever no one from our group was looking, we would give each other a kiss. We also went to this huge aquarium where we went off on our own. That was nice because when we stopped to read something he would hold me.

All of this wouldn’t have happened if I had not gone on the trip, or if Jordan chickened out when he decided to sit with us. After dating a few weeks he admitted that he didn’t plan on sitting with me the first night. If he didn’t, I probably wouldn’t be with him today and I definitely wouldn’t be as happy as I am.


I wrote about this memory because it makes both Jordan and I happy every time we talk about it. It is one of those things that, if things would have went differently, it would be the end of life, as I know it. And who knows what my life would be like now if that guy I who gave me butterflies hadn’t sat with me that night. Whatever the answer may be, I’m glad things turned out the way they did.

Volleyball...

So when I was in high school I played on the school volleyball team. I wasn’t the most valuable player, but I was still pretty good considering I was a year younger than everyone else on the team. The majority of my time went to volleyball because if we were involved in anything else at school, and missed a practice due to it, our coach wouldn’t play us as much. She would hold a grudge over us, or something. Anyways, it was the final OFSAA tournament of my grade 12 year, and I was just about to leave to meet up with my team. My grandma showed up at my house looking completely distraught. It turns out my grandpa had passed away in his sleep. I couldn’t stay to comfort my grandma for long because I really had to go. There, my coach realized I wasn’t myself so I told her what had just happened.
Once we arrived at the tournament, we warmed up and began the match. I wasn’t playing my best, so my coach pulled my off for the rest of that game. After we shook hands with the other team, I pulled her aside and asked her, “How come you didn’t put me back in?” She replied by telling me that I was too emotional to play. I than asked if I was going to play again and she said, “Of course.” But what really happened was that I was never put back in and I missed my grandpa’s funeral. I have such resentment towards her now. If she would have told me that I wasn’t going to be played again, I would have just went back home and go to my grandpa’s funeral for a final good-bye. But NO! She had to be a bitch.


I chose to write this memory because it is something that really affected me. It also has a lot to do with a previous blog about my grandpa. (In Memory…) Thinking of my grandpa made me think of this and I thought this memory would make a good blog.

A Lucky Break

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/yourvideo/media/pages/judy_howells_01.shtml?query_ref=/wales/arts/yourvideo/query_objects/nav/category_arts.sssi&collection_list=/wales/arts/yourvideo/queries/category_arts.shtml

This digital story is about an older lady who was riding her bike down the road. Her brakes were broken, so when a horse drawn carriage came, it knocked her to the ground, breaking her humerus. While in physio she had to do exercises to get the strength back in her arm. She decided to draw and great things happened after that day.

My reaction: Right away it caught my attention because the second picture was of her on the ground. Another picture that caught my attention was the first photo of her drawing. The partial photo that she had drawn was already amazing. The finished product was a very beautiful drawing of two naked men holding each other. I was and wasn’t surprised that she won first place with that drawing. Surprised because she drew it with a broken humerus; and not surprised because it was so well drawn. The last line in the video is, “I love doing what I do and I’m really thankful for that lucky break.” That line makes me laugh because ‘lucky break’ can be taken two ways. One, she was lucky to have an opportunity to become an artist. And two, she literally did break something.

Geri's Game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m7dcbIKvlw&feature=related

This Pixar short movie is about an old man playing chess. There is no one around to play against so he ends up playing against himself. He creates an alternate personality to play with. This alternate personality is aggressive, conniving, cocky, and doesn’t wear glasses; he is the complete opposite of the old man.

My reaction: It makes me smile when he makes his first play and there is absolutely no one to play against. This is when he creates the alternate personality. Just when I thought ‘oh wow, this is it for the cute little old man,’ he fakes a heart attack and dies. Than when the other personality is not looking, the little old man switches the board around. He wins the game, and is so proud of himself. This video is so cute and it makes me smile every time. =]

For the Birds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBXna2RNJkI&feature=related 

This Pixar short movie is about a group of small, bitchy birds that don’t like this big, stupid bird. They talk about him, make fun of him, laugh about him, and they try to make him go away. The message of this video is to treat others the way you want to be treated. In this case, Karma really is a bitch.  In the end, the big, dumb bird gets the last laugh.

My Reaction: The sound the little birds make is so cute! They sound like those squeaky toys you give dogs. There are so many parts that make me laugh; like when the big bird sits in between all the little birds and they all start squeaking at him. When the big bird falls off, the small birds go flying and land with no feathers; so funny! I like the idea of telling a story with no words, just sounds and actions. After watching it a few more times, I noticed that all the birds have their own little personality, but all think alike.