i had my first poetry class at camosun last night. it was sweet. a lot of old people but the teacher is youngish and there was one girl my age. i really enjoyed it a lot. i like learning. we did a free form journaling exercise where you have to write without stopping for ten minutes and you're not allowed to second guess or edit your thoughts. it was scary at first and then kind of liberating. i'm going to try and do it every day.
today i did it sitting by the harbour downtown with the sun on my face, which was lovely.
on monday i went to a 90s dance party at a bar downtown with new friend elisa (who i met through rebecca) and about half the first year law class. we didn't manage to drag rebecca out. i lost my phone. i found the situation very interesting because:
1) i wouldn't have brought my phone at all except that elisa mentioned that she wasn't sure if her apartment buzzer works.
2) when transfering valuables from my jacket to my dress pockets so i could leave my jacket in the corner of the bar, i considered putting my cell phone back in the jacket because it was one more thing to carry, and really not all that crucial to my day to day existence. I didn't bother.
3) there were three things in my pocket: my wallet, my keys and my phone. i was so happy to have not lost my wallet or keys that the phone seemed insignificant.
4) i had been thinking, earlier on, about what i might do with my phone. get a new plan and number, keep it as is, or cancel it altogether? maybe this was the gods interceeding on my behalf...
i checked with the bar a few times over the night and no one had found it. the next day, i tried calling the phone as well as the bar, with no luck, but was happy that the phone was ringing. i worried that someone might be making expensive phone calls with it, but didn't to think to call the phone company until the service lines were closed. no luck reaching the bar even after they should have been open, and it was too rainy to bike down, so i waited another night.
called koodo in the morning. no one had made any calls. i suspended the service, anyway. figured it had to be waiting for me at the bar. still not picking up their phone. i was putting my coat on to bike down for a second time today (i tried in the afternoon, but they don't open until late) when my home phone rang. it was some guy who had picked up my phone. he called back the number that had been calling the phone and found me.
so, no gods interceding on my behalf. just, perhaps, reminding me of how little i care about my phone.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
oh, hello there!
hi friends,
i suppose i'm due for a post. i've been quite busy the last couple of days with my new blog, where i will be writing about the things that i do and see and hear that are music related. please check it out! my most recent post was a review of a show i saw last night in victoria. i shared it with the artist, and she offered very kind words of thanks and linked to my blog on her website, so i'm very pleased about that.
other news... i have a flight booked to toronto for dec 16th! still looking into alternative transportation arrangements, but it's nice to know that i will make it home for christmas no matter what. don't know how i will get back to victoria (i plan to come back) but i have faith, as always, that things will fall into place.
i have also enrolled in a poetry class at camosun college that starts on tuesday and runs until mid december. i am excited to have some structure and guidance when it comes to thinking about words and lyrics and how to affect people with them.
i will have an orientation session next week to volunteer with CFUV, the UVic campus and community radio station, so that's exciting.
hmm what else? had a lovely brunch this morning with rebecca and her father, who is visiting from toronto, and friends elisa and miriam. we went to a spot called the superior that is excellent and supports local sourcing of their products. yum!
can't think of any other news, though i'm sure there's more.
take care and don't be square
love, jacqueline
i suppose i'm due for a post. i've been quite busy the last couple of days with my new blog, where i will be writing about the things that i do and see and hear that are music related. please check it out! my most recent post was a review of a show i saw last night in victoria. i shared it with the artist, and she offered very kind words of thanks and linked to my blog on her website, so i'm very pleased about that.
other news... i have a flight booked to toronto for dec 16th! still looking into alternative transportation arrangements, but it's nice to know that i will make it home for christmas no matter what. don't know how i will get back to victoria (i plan to come back) but i have faith, as always, that things will fall into place.
i have also enrolled in a poetry class at camosun college that starts on tuesday and runs until mid december. i am excited to have some structure and guidance when it comes to thinking about words and lyrics and how to affect people with them.
i will have an orientation session next week to volunteer with CFUV, the UVic campus and community radio station, so that's exciting.
hmm what else? had a lovely brunch this morning with rebecca and her father, who is visiting from toronto, and friends elisa and miriam. we went to a spot called the superior that is excellent and supports local sourcing of their products. yum!
can't think of any other news, though i'm sure there's more.
take care and don't be square
love, jacqueline
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
kid in a candy store
i got out 20 cds and 5 dvds from the library today.
the country music section is not what it used to be.
most exciting cd finds:
THREE dolly parton albums
old crow medicine show
chatham county line
jenny whiteley (!!!)
rae spoon & rodney decroo
chris thile
a bunch of willie nelson
and much more
bahahahahahaahahah
the only hard part was getting it all home
actually, to be honest, with my speedy new bike and a detour route along the ocean, getting it all home was pure joy, too.
ha.
xox
the country music section is not what it used to be.
most exciting cd finds:
THREE dolly parton albums
old crow medicine show
chatham county line
jenny whiteley (!!!)
rae spoon & rodney decroo
chris thile
a bunch of willie nelson
and much more
bahahahahahaahahah
the only hard part was getting it all home
actually, to be honest, with my speedy new bike and a detour route along the ocean, getting it all home was pure joy, too.
ha.
xox
Friday, October 23, 2009
happy birthday momma!
i wrote a song today. it's about rain. and it's a happy song. almost excessively happy.
all summer i could swear the sun was following me around. everyone around me was whining about the shitty weather but all i can remember is sunny road trips, swimming in clear lakes and browned skin. when i got to bc everyone wanted to warn me about the impending doom of endless rainfall. for the first few weeks it was an unfulfilled prophesy. even the weather people kept pushing back their predictions of when the rain would fall. some days i was convinced it it was a giant hoax and the rain would never come.
but of course it has rained. but even on days when it rains the sun will come out. and the rain is either light or short lived. and the rain is beautiful. because i'm unemployed, it's an excuse to spend a day curled up with a guitar or a book and some tea. and it makes things grow. today i was so happy about the rain that i started singing about it.
rewind to the peterborough folk festival. one of my favourite moments of the weekend was when canadian folk legend penny lang and her grandson jason lang led the crowd in a singalong of 'we shall not be moved'. http://www.xtec.cat/~vfeliu/lyrics/folk.htm#sha2 here's one version of the lyrics, if you are unfamiliar. i had never heard it before, but the simple tune and repetitive lyrics made it easy to catch on to. it was a really beautiful moment. i decided right then that i wanted to write a song like that - dripping with singalongability.
so that's what i was thinking about when i wrote this. here it is, dedicated to my mom, on her birthday.
Rain Dance – Jacqueline Ronson
Oct 23, 2009
G-G-C-G/G-G-C-D/G-G-C-G/G-D-G-G
I don’t need to go outside today
I think I’ll stay inside and play
I don’t need to go outside today
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I’m gonna dance round my living room
I’m gonna dance to a brand new tune
I’m gonna dance round my living room
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I’m gonna sing at the top of my lungs
And I’ll sing till every song is sung
I’m gonna sing at the top of my lungs
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I can hear the rain’s steady beat
It makes me wanna tap my feet
I can hear the rain’s steady beat
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
In the creek, the pebbles are singing
The crickets hum and the fish are swimming
In the creek, the pebbles are singing
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I can hear the thunder boom
It stirs my soul and it shakes the room
I can hear the thunder boom
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I can see the lightning strike the earth
With it’s fire there comes rebirth
I can see the lightning strike the earth
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
The trees are shining right to their roots
Drawing water right up the shoots
The trees are shining right to their roots
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
And the seeds in the soil will grow
Waking up from beneath the snow
And the seeds in the soil will grow
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I can see the farmer smiling now
She knows it’ll work out somehow
I can see the farmer smiling now
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I’m gonna run right out into the wind
Let the rain soak right through my skin
I’m gonna run right out into the wind
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I’m gonna breathe in the freshest air
And let it carry away all of my cares
I’m gonna breathe in the freshest air
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I’ll shout praises to the sky up above
For sending me the rain that I love
I’ll shout praises to the sky up above
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall (x3)
all summer i could swear the sun was following me around. everyone around me was whining about the shitty weather but all i can remember is sunny road trips, swimming in clear lakes and browned skin. when i got to bc everyone wanted to warn me about the impending doom of endless rainfall. for the first few weeks it was an unfulfilled prophesy. even the weather people kept pushing back their predictions of when the rain would fall. some days i was convinced it it was a giant hoax and the rain would never come.
but of course it has rained. but even on days when it rains the sun will come out. and the rain is either light or short lived. and the rain is beautiful. because i'm unemployed, it's an excuse to spend a day curled up with a guitar or a book and some tea. and it makes things grow. today i was so happy about the rain that i started singing about it.
rewind to the peterborough folk festival. one of my favourite moments of the weekend was when canadian folk legend penny lang and her grandson jason lang led the crowd in a singalong of 'we shall not be moved'. http://www.xtec.cat/~vfeliu/lyrics/folk.htm#sha2 here's one version of the lyrics, if you are unfamiliar. i had never heard it before, but the simple tune and repetitive lyrics made it easy to catch on to. it was a really beautiful moment. i decided right then that i wanted to write a song like that - dripping with singalongability.
so that's what i was thinking about when i wrote this. here it is, dedicated to my mom, on her birthday.
Rain Dance – Jacqueline Ronson
Oct 23, 2009
G-G-C-G/G-G-C-D/G-G-C-G/G-D-G-G
I don’t need to go outside today
I think I’ll stay inside and play
I don’t need to go outside today
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I’m gonna dance round my living room
I’m gonna dance to a brand new tune
I’m gonna dance round my living room
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I’m gonna sing at the top of my lungs
And I’ll sing till every song is sung
I’m gonna sing at the top of my lungs
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I can hear the rain’s steady beat
It makes me wanna tap my feet
I can hear the rain’s steady beat
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
In the creek, the pebbles are singing
The crickets hum and the fish are swimming
In the creek, the pebbles are singing
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I can hear the thunder boom
It stirs my soul and it shakes the room
I can hear the thunder boom
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I can see the lightning strike the earth
With it’s fire there comes rebirth
I can see the lightning strike the earth
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
The trees are shining right to their roots
Drawing water right up the shoots
The trees are shining right to their roots
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
And the seeds in the soil will grow
Waking up from beneath the snow
And the seeds in the soil will grow
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I can see the farmer smiling now
She knows it’ll work out somehow
I can see the farmer smiling now
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I’m gonna run right out into the wind
Let the rain soak right through my skin
I’m gonna run right out into the wind
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I’m gonna breathe in the freshest air
And let it carry away all of my cares
I’m gonna breathe in the freshest air
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall
I’ll shout praises to the sky up above
For sending me the rain that I love
I’ll shout praises to the sky up above
Let rain fall let it fall let it fall (x3)
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
catch up
hey folks,
sorry its been a while. it's been particularly hard to get solid internet times lately. here's the catch up, in no particular order:
dream bike!
been desperate for a bike since i moved away from becca's. walking around the city all day is fun but you can pack way more in when you're traveling at bike-speed. really wanted one of those super light super fast old school 10-speed road bikes with the skinny tires and handlebars that look like ram horns upside down (becca has one. i borrowed it a few times last week. it initially terrified me but i got hooked on the speed). anyways these particular bikes are very popular and very hard to come by - the g
uy at the used bike store said they rarely get them, and when they do, they go fast. getting to the point now, i went on craigslist yesterday to see if there were any new bikes posted, and there was my baby (see picture). they guy was selling cheap because he is leaving the country tomorrow. the ad said to call or show up at the store downtown where he was working that day. i called right away and told him i was on my way. i got really frustrated with the bus for not moving faster, ran to an atm and ran to the store. just in time! he was getting a flood of phone calls from people equally desperate for such a sweet find. but i won and i took home the prize! today's adventures - finding a helmet and lights. hooray!
dream apartment!
so, i moved on saturday. like the bike, i got really lucky with house hunting. all of my appointments ended up being for tuesday of last week. i saw six places. four of them we're really awesome. two of those emailed me right away and asked if i would live there. so now i live with marg, who is recently empty-nested and renting out her extra room. it's an extra sweet deal because marg is hardly ever around - she goes to her boyfriends on the weekends usually and has 1-2 week trips planned to hawaii and montreal before christmas! and she's really cool and we get along great. monday night we practiced guitar together from dvds that she has. it was a lot of fun. last night was her boyfriends birthday and after they came back from dinner the three of us sat around drinking wine and eating treats and playing guitar and singing songs. sweet.
yoga!
becca goes to the moksha hot yoga studio here in town. they have a $20 unlimited first week special, so i signed up and have been going every day since saturday. taking today off. it's really fun to get all hot and sweaty and i hope to be able to continue going. they have an 'energy share' program where you can exchange a few hours of work a week for unlimited access to the yoga classes, so maybe i'll do that after my week is up!
library!
i discovered the public library here in victoria. they have great cds! i have been pilfering the canadian folk section and taking home bundles of cds at a time. it excellent. perhaps i will start writing up mini-reviews of all my discoveries.
job?
hahah. i worked one day last week. through craigslist i got a job dressed up in a blackberry mascot costume as part of a marketing event called campus chase. it was really silly. the costume was incredibly uncomfortable and impossible to move around in, which was funny because my job description was basically 'move around constantly'. oh well i made some money and met some interesting people. here's a picture of me doing my finest work.
no luck so far with the uvic jobs. enjoying unemployment for the time being and not particularly stressed about getting employed right away.
food!
this one is way out of date but deserves a mention. while living with rebecca pretty much all we did was hang out and make treats. fall bounty included delicious squash butter, pumpkin cranberry loaf, brussel sprouts, soups, lots of things involving fried onion and LOTS of sausage. or as they say in new brunswick, sauseege. oh yeah and bacon. yum yum yum. meant to make a fuller list of our culinary exploits, but too bad for now.
thanksgiving!
spent an incredible tgiving with friends becca, steph and oli. we went to sombrio beach, a surfer's haven. we frolicked, collected firewood, and watched the surfers. as the sun went down, we made a bonfire and cooked a delicious meal of fire roasted sausage and corn. yum. we read stories to each other and had a great campfire singalong, which attracted some neighbours to our fire (or maybe they were just cold - we had the forsight to stop at a different beach on our way to grab fire wood, it was slim pickings at sombrio because of its popularity as a camping spot). great trip with great friends!
that's the scoop.
oh yeah, new address
302-2623 Richmond Road Victoria V8R 4S8
and home number 250 592 7321
cell number is still functional
i like mail!
sorry its been a while. it's been particularly hard to get solid internet times lately. here's the catch up, in no particular order:
dream bike!
been desperate for a bike since i moved away from becca's. walking around the city all day is fun but you can pack way more in when you're traveling at bike-speed. really wanted one of those super light super fast old school 10-speed road bikes with the skinny tires and handlebars that look like ram horns upside down (becca has one. i borrowed it a few times last week. it initially terrified me but i got hooked on the speed). anyways these particular bikes are very popular and very hard to come by - the g
uy at the used bike store said they rarely get them, and when they do, they go fast. getting to the point now, i went on craigslist yesterday to see if there were any new bikes posted, and there was my baby (see picture). they guy was selling cheap because he is leaving the country tomorrow. the ad said to call or show up at the store downtown where he was working that day. i called right away and told him i was on my way. i got really frustrated with the bus for not moving faster, ran to an atm and ran to the store. just in time! he was getting a flood of phone calls from people equally desperate for such a sweet find. but i won and i took home the prize! today's adventures - finding a helmet and lights. hooray!dream apartment!
so, i moved on saturday. like the bike, i got really lucky with house hunting. all of my appointments ended up being for tuesday of last week. i saw six places. four of them we're really awesome. two of those emailed me right away and asked if i would live there. so now i live with marg, who is recently empty-nested and renting out her extra room. it's an extra sweet deal because marg is hardly ever around - she goes to her boyfriends on the weekends usually and has 1-2 week trips planned to hawaii and montreal before christmas! and she's really cool and we get along great. monday night we practiced guitar together from dvds that she has. it was a lot of fun. last night was her boyfriends birthday and after they came back from dinner the three of us sat around drinking wine and eating treats and playing guitar and singing songs. sweet.
yoga!
becca goes to the moksha hot yoga studio here in town. they have a $20 unlimited first week special, so i signed up and have been going every day since saturday. taking today off. it's really fun to get all hot and sweaty and i hope to be able to continue going. they have an 'energy share' program where you can exchange a few hours of work a week for unlimited access to the yoga classes, so maybe i'll do that after my week is up!
library!
i discovered the public library here in victoria. they have great cds! i have been pilfering the canadian folk section and taking home bundles of cds at a time. it excellent. perhaps i will start writing up mini-reviews of all my discoveries.
job?hahah. i worked one day last week. through craigslist i got a job dressed up in a blackberry mascot costume as part of a marketing event called campus chase. it was really silly. the costume was incredibly uncomfortable and impossible to move around in, which was funny because my job description was basically 'move around constantly'. oh well i made some money and met some interesting people. here's a picture of me doing my finest work.
no luck so far with the uvic jobs. enjoying unemployment for the time being and not particularly stressed about getting employed right away.
food!
this one is way out of date but deserves a mention. while living with rebecca pretty much all we did was hang out and make treats. fall bounty included delicious squash butter, pumpkin cranberry loaf, brussel sprouts, soups, lots of things involving fried onion and LOTS of sausage. or as they say in new brunswick, sauseege. oh yeah and bacon. yum yum yum. meant to make a fuller list of our culinary exploits, but too bad for now.
thanksgiving!
spent an incredible tgiving with friends becca, steph and oli. we went to sombrio beach, a surfer's haven. we frolicked, collected firewood, and watched the surfers. as the sun went down, we made a bonfire and cooked a delicious meal of fire roasted sausage and corn. yum. we read stories to each other and had a great campfire singalong, which attracted some neighbours to our fire (or maybe they were just cold - we had the forsight to stop at a different beach on our way to grab fire wood, it was slim pickings at sombrio because of its popularity as a camping spot). great trip with great friends!
that's the scoop.
oh yeah, new address
302-2623 Richmond Road Victoria V8R 4S8
and home number 250 592 7321
cell number is still functional
i like mail!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
the job hunt
it's funny how quickly 'i quit my job' becomes 'i want that job'
i guess not really all that quickly, since i've been essentially on vacation since july.
but the job quitting and the adventuring around the country is about more than shirking responsibilities and holding on to the carefree days of youth for as long as possible. and the new job search is about more than finding a way to finance more gallivanting on the west coast. the job quitting, the road trips, the folk festivals, leaving toronto, the west coast adventures, all of it (listen up kids, here it comes) is about building for myself the kind of life that i would like to be living.
so here i am, getting excited about jobs at the university of victoria. good jobs. jobs where i could work part time, cover all of my expenses, and have a zillion hours to pursue my own activities and interests. i could take courses, make music, volunteer with campus radio, volunteer on a farm, take up surfing and a million other things.
i expect intense competition for the jobs, they are after all, really sweet. i imagine i will be up against much more qualified and experienced individuals. But maybe, just maybe, i'll be able to convince them to give me a shot. if i don't get my dream job - a study abroad advisor with the international and exchange student services office -maybe they'll at least let me work in food services. i'm certainly qualified for that, and it would give me status as an internal applicant for future postings, and allow me to apply for the really sweet jobs like working in the library.
browsing craigslist it is apparent that as a young able bodied mobile person with few financial responsibilities or other commitments, i shouldn't ever have too much trouble finding jobs that will keep a roof over my head and food on my plate. but i'm thankful that, at this point, i don't need to wash dishes for $10 an hour and can concentrate on applying for jobs that could go somewhere.
and if nothing works out, i can always be a snowboard bum this winter!
i guess not really all that quickly, since i've been essentially on vacation since july.
but the job quitting and the adventuring around the country is about more than shirking responsibilities and holding on to the carefree days of youth for as long as possible. and the new job search is about more than finding a way to finance more gallivanting on the west coast. the job quitting, the road trips, the folk festivals, leaving toronto, the west coast adventures, all of it (listen up kids, here it comes) is about building for myself the kind of life that i would like to be living.
so here i am, getting excited about jobs at the university of victoria. good jobs. jobs where i could work part time, cover all of my expenses, and have a zillion hours to pursue my own activities and interests. i could take courses, make music, volunteer with campus radio, volunteer on a farm, take up surfing and a million other things.
i expect intense competition for the jobs, they are after all, really sweet. i imagine i will be up against much more qualified and experienced individuals. But maybe, just maybe, i'll be able to convince them to give me a shot. if i don't get my dream job - a study abroad advisor with the international and exchange student services office -maybe they'll at least let me work in food services. i'm certainly qualified for that, and it would give me status as an internal applicant for future postings, and allow me to apply for the really sweet jobs like working in the library.
browsing craigslist it is apparent that as a young able bodied mobile person with few financial responsibilities or other commitments, i shouldn't ever have too much trouble finding jobs that will keep a roof over my head and food on my plate. but i'm thankful that, at this point, i don't need to wash dishes for $10 an hour and can concentrate on applying for jobs that could go somewhere.
and if nothing works out, i can always be a snowboard bum this winter!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
victoria!!!
hello friends,
i am writing now from my dear friend rebecca's pad in beautiful victoria, b.c.
things continue to be really awesome.
hmmm what news?
sue and i drove up to tofino on sunday. it was quite nice and i hope to go again and get some surfing in. sue thinks she can get her kids to take me along for the ride when they go next, which is pretty rad.
monday i took the train to victoria. it's an adorable train ride - just one car, just one track. it goes up the island in the morning and back down each afternoon. we saw ocean and mountains and lush forests. we went on some tiny bridges over vast valleys, and on one we stopped for a few minutes right it the middle. it was beautiful and kind of terrifying. all you could see is the tops of trees hundreds of feet below.
today i did something pretty exciting - i applied for a job at uvic! the job i applied for is in the coop program office, which is pretty rad because coop is a big deal in these parts. also it's only part time which is super rad because i could probably cover expenses and have lots of free time for other assorted projects. there's a few other job listings at the university that i will apply for over the next week. i'm pretty sure that this is a solid plan because i'm pretty sure working at a university is basically my dream job. anyways we'll see what happens. i've been vaguely browsing craigslist for places to live and the like. there's a hostel downtown where i could get a room for a month for $345. pretty solid temporary solution, in all likelihood. but for now i will continue to bum out on rebecca's sweet futon and be a charming and helpful house guest for as long as she'll have me (actually it may come down to how long her upstairs landlord will have me - she's a bit bonkers and makes up crazy rules about no overnight guests for more than 14 cumulative days. she says it's the law but i can't find any reference to it anywhere).
yep, so, that's my life. we're going camping this weekend somewhere awesome that has yet to be determined and it's going to be so awesome.
words of the day:
solid, rad & awesome
peace, love and radical awesomeness
jacqueline
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