over and out.

i think the time has come.
for years i have written this blog, mainly as a way for me to vent, to comment, to try and inform, to have a few laughs, to post some pictures, to just kinda have fun. (to post the many pictures of the garbs.) i have, though, lost a lot of my drive to update it and, frankly, don't have that much to say anymore - at least anything i think anyone wants to hear. (i have also been thinking of ways to reduce my digital/internet footprint but that's another thing altogether...)
there was a time when i took camera everywhere and documented a great deal of what i did. my life was really on display for all to see - with me in very few of the pictures but i really enjoyed taking pictures of the friends and family i was spending time with and the places i was hanging out at. pictures and stories from long road trips across the country, short hops to santa cruz to get a burrito or flights, recently, to germany to see lambchop and nyc to attend ailsa's brother gavin's wedding. i have always been a storyteller - or just a guy who rants, and this was another way for me to tell the stories of my life. some good, some bad and some somewhere in between.
i have found that i leave my camera at home more often now. 
i was encouraged to start the blog by a therapist, barb bernath, i was seeing years ago and for a long time, eight years i think, it (the blog) was a great thing. now, not so much or at least my interest, and others interest, has wained in it so why bother?
so..i thank you for reading, when you did, and i hope i entertained you from time to time. the garbs pics were often worth the price of admission alone.
i have been thinking of this for a while and had thought i would shut it down at 50 but that just seems to far away now. i had also thought of things i wanted to say, how i would shut it down, etc...but i can't think of anything right now - not that it matters.

there you have it.

adios.

g. xo

eating some old school.

garvie's place of employ - rethink communications - has landed Hy's steakhouse as a client and lord knows you have to go and check out the wares to see what they have to offer. really. to do the best work possible you need to sample the goods. so last night we did.
for those who don't know, Hy's is a super old school steakhouse. the waiters, like ours last night, have been there for years - ours, bonny, 44 years. the chairs are carved wood and plush. the walls adorned with paintings of ...well, i dunno who the paintings are of but they are old oil paintings of men who knew how to dress for dinner. it's not a cave but it is dark. there are no windows and the main attraction behind the glass at the end of the restaurant is the cook flipping steaks on a mesquite burning grill. old school.
we sat at a table that overlooked the joint and could see other patrons enjoying their various cuts of beef. it was cool. ailsa ordered a filet and i a rib steak - a manly 16 oz. cut or prime red meat goodness. there are, of course, three types of baked potatoes to choose from, sides designed to be eaten by two people - asparagus, creamed spinach, mushrooms, etc. and the service is amazing and very personal. or so it feels. my steak cut like butter and garvie looked like she had no issue with hers as she cut into it and gave that look of someone really enjoying a nice bite.
it really is a neat place that found something that worked, and has worked for decades, and they see no need to really change it...and they make a decent margarita. i was a little surprised by this but they do.
so thank you to rethink and to garvie for taking me to Hy's for dinner, something i may not have ever done.
side note...mishi reminded me today that her father had once been the manager at Hy's and that he had met her mother there. small world.

g. xo

lightening bolt and redhead.

well. it happened. just like my bok choy last year before it, my broccoli bolted - went to seed and flowered over the course of a couple of days. it looked great the other day and i thought i would pick it soon...now it's too late. more goods for the compost pile. between it and the zucchini, this garden is not what i had hoped for...oh well. i'm still learning.

 
on the good side of things i have seen my first red tomato of the year and with the amount i have on there right now in the green stage, lots more red is on the way.
good times...somehow i always get decent results with the tomatoes...
nice action.
get outside.

g. xo

nothin'.

just checking in.

but i got nothin'. lots of thoughts of things that would only open up a can of worms so i won't bother.

have a great weekend.

g.xx

watertown.

well, i made it through tennis without injuring myself....barely. pretty good fun but it's a workout even if we were just rallying back and forth - a lot of the time either hitting the net with the ball or launching the ball into next week. ailsa made me run for it more often than not - which i guess is the point. and man, i do not have a backhand in this game - i remembered being a little better than i was...i think i last played with the garbs and mishi a couple years ago and before that probably twenty years, at least.
good times. then we went for well deserved tacos for dinner. pretty, pretty, pretty, good.
made my morning appearance at corie and katherine's to water the veggies and plants - it's become my morning routine this week and will continue until they come home (i should really find out when that is...) i get there and start watering and before i know it, i'm late for work - i find it very easy to lose track of time and before i know it....oops.
ok. back to it...have a great wed.

g. xo

ps...happy birthday beefie! my man, bomber brother and o/o of black dog video, darren 'beef dip', 'beefie', 'beefstick', gay is 47 years young today. go rent a dvd today and give him a slap on the ass...

passport stamped: white rock visa

where have i been? well, i know where my camera has been - in white rock/south surrey at my aunt and uncle's new love pad. they moved from dunbar out to the cozy confines of the crescent beach area and it's quite a spread. i thought i'd kill a couple bird and go out there - last friday, and cut the lawn of their new place and afterwards get some accounting lessons - between glen and kathryn i may actually learn something soon. and i'll tell you what, that's a hell of a lawn. the back yard is more like a small soccer field.

while i was there the local lawn dude was next door and he came over and made a bid on the lawn that i was stunned by - how this guy makes any money i have no idea but glen and denny are happy and i say good for you...don't ever let that guy know he doesn't charge enough. good guy, maybe not so good at charging the right rate. but maybe that's what the market will bear out there - as long as he doesn't come and try and steal any of my clients we'll be fine.
what else?

it was a tough week. lawns, bummer action at school, more and more homework...dinner and tutoring with kathryn on sunday night...some nights and early mornings watering the garden at corie and kathryn's, a bbq this weekend coming up at the fawnz's for her man's birthday and back to work this monday - two days in and i'm tuckered out (though that could be due to the late night hockey last night...).
off to play a little tennis now and see exactly how bad i am at it. hopefully no one i know walks by when we're playing - me and garvie - as the sight of me trying to run and get to balls and get them back to the other side of the net could be funny. for them. not me.
ok...

i'm off...

g. xo

lost.

i was just doing some clean up here on my laptop and somehow just deleted my entire photo library. i have most on a back up but have lost all from april to now...
i need a snack.

g. xo

hard day out.

yesterday was a hard one for a few folks in my immediate orbit...i'm hoping today is a little better for all of them.
one of them, my friends having a rough day yesterday, is still feeling the effects of his 'action' yesterday as he, while trying to chase down a ball on the tennis court - in a class, not in a game, as eight other class attendees watched in shock and horror, tripped and had his face meet the asphalt taking off some skin on his face plus, in the end, required five stitches to the inside of his mouth and four to the outside of his upper lip...and...and...sore wrist from trying to stop himself, scrapes on his knees and sore shoulder...i am awaiting approval that will allow me to show you a couple of pics i took last night at the VGH's emergency fix 'em up area. 'he who can not be seen on the blog' may indeed be seen on the blog for what would be the third time ever.
we'll see. but it is a sight to see.
had a very nice dinner last night at corie's and katherine's place as they were back in town for one night and one night only before heading off to ontario and the heat. it was what the doctor ordered too after eating a lot of meat products, that i do love, in the last few days. huge wicked salad, nice piece of salmon, warm potato salad and, to prevent scurvy, a fresh squeezed lime margarita...oh and pie from savary island with DQ soft serve. it can't all be super healthy - damn, it's summer afterall...and shockingly i see sun in the sky today...it was during dinner that i started getting the texts from 'he who can not be seen on the blog'...or named...and knew that i would be heading to VGH at some point after dinner.
cut four lawns yesterday as well, none today as i need to do some studying as i haven't opened a book in a while now and need to get back up to speed before i lose everything i have, kinda, learned thus far.
ok...oh yes, and lunch today with the queen of the universe - that's exciting!

have fun today.

g. xo

dog dish heaven

oh stella, you were quite a pooch.

g. xo

o canada victoria style

ailsa, fiona and i packed up the car saturday morning and headed over to victoria to attend janine's birthday party - (happy birthday janine!) at her and floyd's place. and it was a full family affair - glen and denny (floyd's brother and his wife) were there, tracey and kathleen made the scene (janine's daughters) and tracey's daughter maya was in full effect. it was a full meal deal - bbq, drinks, laughs...good times.
we got over there around noon saturday and found a great parking spot downtown and roamed around downtown and around the parliament buildings seeing all the people dressed in red and dressed in all manner of costume celebrating canada day. i am not a patriot but liked walking around and seeing what was what. we ran into a woman from singapore, i believe, who wasn't aware until we told her that it was canada's birthday...had to get a picture with her. took a picture of a wicked canada day gut. sat on the lawn of the parliament buildings and enjoyed the sun. ate some good bbq at pig. took a pee at an outdoor open air urinal! highlight! well, i shouldn't say that but i thought it was pretty unique. had some good coffee. nice. then it was off to the house for the party.
today we had a pancake breakfast, had coffee with ailsa's pal tara and her kids, i had a burger at big wheel burgers, ailsa and fiona went for a bike ride, floyd and i hung around the house and i finished the set up of their new apple tv....the movies come to their house...and then after we got off the ferry we had dinner at ton and doro's in tsawwassen....and now, i am ready for bed.
i need to really study this week...i am behind.

have a great week.

g. xo

below a few of the pics from the weekend...

out of here.

i have a pair of vintage...as in really old - boston acoustics speakers. they are for/were for my surround sound. i bought these in the early 90's. yup, they're old. and they do show their age but before i put them in the alley i thought i'd see if anyone needed some speakers for their garage or studio or...they sound pretty good...
let me know...

g. xo

busy slacker

(my pal coco e.mailed me the other day and said she had lost the battle with her lawn...yes coco. yes you did...)

i got up today in plenty of time to get shit done early but, really, i didn't have that much to do early on....so i spent the first part of the day just hanging around the house - drank some coffee, had a smoothie, looked at really, really interesting stuff on the interweeb...then. action. dan, BOC co-founder, just bought a new place and asked me if i could help him move some of his planters from his old place to his new place. sure. i love moving. ok, that's not true but i like dan and i don't mind lending a hand and i get to see his new place in the process. so off i went. and it was fine. i haven't seen dan since the end of our last show which has been a while now so we caught up, shot the shit and moved some zinc planters. good times. his new place looks great and will only get better once he makes it his own - fresh paint, new deck, etc...nice work.
then it was up to judy's to cut her lawn and say hello to the neighbours and see if they ask me to cut theirs as well. they didn't and i was fine with that today. i have no doubt i'll be cutting it again sometime, just not today.
hey. roy oswalt is pitching for the rangers...weird.
'he who can not be named on the blog' has a friend who has moved into a place up on dunbar that needs a little TLC and i said that i could, for a price of course, lend a hand....so after judy's lawn i went by to have a look and see what needed t be done...really, it's painting at the moment and they're trying to tackle it but i am now in the wings if they need me...i love painting so very much.
i came home, had some leftovers from last night and then hoped on my bike and rode over to corie and katherine's to water their garden. just making sure everything keeps on growin'...it was a slog up first ave on my bike - it's not really designed for hills - but otherwise it was a great ride over. now i'm home and ready for a second round of leftovers - just different leftovers. good times.
have fun.

g. xo

ribs, margs, corn and pudding.

holy crap fat and happy. that was a feast. tonight for ailsa's birthday i had her parents and her daughter fiona over and we ate like champs. and now it's couch time to relax and watch baseball - giants/dodgers - and digest a little.

ribs - three ways, three fresh made sauces (last night's action), corn, mini burgers, salad with lettuce from my garden and a wicked fruit pudding made by ailsa's mom dorothy...so good. oh, and i made myself a very nice freshly squeezed lime marg. good stuff.

 happy birthday ailsa!

g. xo

happy birthday garvie!

happy birthday to you.
happy birthday to you.
happy birthday dear ailsa.
happy birthday to you.

i love you! have fun golfing today...

g. xo

oh.

that was a weekend.

lawns, a birthday, hockey, more lawns, another birthday coming up....
saturday morning found me heading back to langara for my accounting class and i have figured out that i seem to take more in during the week after class (reading the textbook, etc.) than i do in class - and not because i'm not paying attention but my teacher moves very quickly and is a messy writer. i'm getting it done and did well on my first assignments but i think everyone did - we got to take it home so really the score should have been high. still good. i have some more assignments to do over this week and next as i don't have a class this next weekend due to the long weekend.

saturday night was birthday dinner at chambar on beatty street with ailsa and her parents, tom and dorothy...it was a landmark birthday for tom, 75, and it was great to see him enjoying a nice belgian beer, having a nice steak and a fancy 'scotch' desert. he's a good guy that tom and looks amazing for 75! he claims a good shot of scotch has helped him keep his youthful look. i may have to start trying that. happy birthday tom.

sunday was the annual, kinda, yard/courtyard sale at the manhattan building - home to mishi and the garbs. i had told mishi that i had a few things from issy's basement that i needed to get rid of so i may as well try selling them before they ended up in the alley or the landfill. and it was a a huge payday because i made that decision - i bet i made a cool 25 bucks...maybe more and i found a pair of small speakers that i will use in my bedroom to replace the ones i have there now...good times! it was also a reunion of sorts in the courtyard. LLB came by with her new little fella (rescue dog) carlos - though i call him dog carlos. and what a great dog! lots of spunk, well behaved and good lookin'. i got so caught up talking to leeanne that i forgot to take a picture of him...or leeanne. great to see her - i haven't seen her that much in the last couple years or so since she moved out of the building i used to live in. maybe now we'll actually have coffee....and! then there standing before me was ang. yup that ang. the ang that moved to the sunshine coast to chill. it was great to see her as well. she was in town to get an MRI...holy cow. i hope that went well.
then it was time for bomber hockey...we played well - we had to only having eight players and a substitute goalie as drew couldn't make it. i have to say we all had a great game and came close to winning in the final minutes...next time.
today, the start of another week, didn't start out well but i'm hoping it gets better as the week rolls along. tomorrow is garvie's birthday and i'm gonna make dinner here for her, fiona, tom and doro. ribs and three different home made bbq sauces...nice action. 
ok. let the sauce making begin.

g. xo

Yard sale Sunday

Manhattan Yard Sale
Sunday June 24 10am-3pm
784 Thurlow (Thurlow & Robson)
Household items, Kitchen wares, Furniture, Clothes, Shoes, Vintage goods & Collectables (clothes, patterns, shoes, nic naks), kids stuff, electronics, cd's, books
arts & craft supplies,sports equipment and much much more!
12+ people selling! Come find a treasure!
See You There!

data mine rain delay.

i managed to get out and get the three lawns i had on my slate today done and done and done. as i was finishing the dog lawn the drizzle that had been threatening turned to rain but i was all but done so all good. i have some lawns to do over the weekend and am hoping for some breaks in the rain action to try and get them done...if not...oh well.

one for the lawns i do in richmond is over near five road and not far from the que pasa deli, which is awesome, and next door to it is this house that seems to have more cars in the yard every week - which isn't exactly true but today there were two more than usual. i understand that who ever lives there is not popular with the locals but it doesn't seem to deter the love they/he/she has for crappy old hondas and such.
after the tax bill i received the other day i was hoping that would be it for a while, but no. i was lucky enough yesterday to get another email saying that my personal tax had been reassessed and i, after already paying a few thousand in tax, owe five hundred bucks more. payable any old time. but soon.
i'm feeling it. feeling awesome. feeling good.
ok. i need to get some food before i hunker down and get into some homework. have fun today.

g. xo

lookin' for mr. kawsbox.

 good lord.
i have been emailing back and forth and back again with a guy regarding selling some Kaws toys to him. i think he's a nervous sort and is asking all sorts of questions - some reasonable, some smart and some just paranoid. but it's his cash and i understand, he's never spent a bunch of cash on something like this before so i'm giving him the best answers i can and taking pictures including pictures of the original boxes - which is a big deal in this game. problem was i couldn't find the boxes which meant - if i couldn't locate them - the price would drop by at least 400 bucks...nice. i was sure, as i could be, that the boxes were, along with a bunch of other toy boxes, in issy's basement. so, this morning i drove out to her place and went through the closet that should have had them in it. it didn't. not after the first look or the second or the third. i didn't lose my cool, sure a few choice words but no freaking out, but inside i was wondering, 'where the fuck are those boxes...?'
not wanting to waste a trip out there - issy was not there when i first arrived but came home after i had been there about half an hour maybe more - so i decided today was as good as any to do a little purging of things i had in the closet. i was ruthless. pictures of people i didn't remember - tossed out. blurry pics of people i did know - tossed. books of bad stories i had written - gonzo. crappy nick-knacks - adios. all in all two small garbage bags of old memories i had long forgotten.
and in the other corner. pictures in frames that took up far too much room. so out with the pictures and into another box with the frames - that are not being, probably, devoured by the art kids on granville island as i take such things down there and let them have them.
and now in the back of my car awaiting disposal at mishi's yard sale this sunday (the manhattan building at robson and thurlow) - pool balls (eight ball), books, pictures, model paints, a car model, t-shirts, and all sorts of odds and sods. and i'm going to be taking some more stuff from here as well to that sale...and once it's outta this place it ain't coming back.
but after all the purging. no kaws boxes. but i had to get going so i left, after some great tuna salad sandwiches made by issy, and came back here to get my trailer and go cut grass on the north shore. i thought i would completely obsess about the boxes but i didn't, the lawns did their job and took my mind off of them.  but when i got home i looked, once again, through all my cupboards and nothing. and then. there they were. in, literally, the first place i had looked this morning. thank christ - or someone. so now pictures of the boxes have been sent and maybe he'll want them, maybe not, but either way i know where the boxes are now.
now dinner needs to be made. hopefully i'll find everything i need to get that going.

g. xo

eye to eye.

 
last week i interrupted a mangy coyote in the back yard of a client's place and thought that may be that. nope. today there was some more evidence that he/she had still been frequenting the yard and then, as i made my way into the back area to start cutting, there he/she was again and now only feet away from me. it was pretty clear that it was not interested in coming at this thing making a loud sound and made eye contact with me and then ran in the other direction and away into the corner of the yard. i got the fuck outta there too. after some searching, jim and i couldn't find the critter but are going to look into ways to make the back yard less of a place it's gonna want to hang out in...more as it develops.
you know, i am pretty liberal when it comes to personal adornment. and when it comes to tattoos i'm open to most but lately i have to say i'm a little mystified by all the young women getting full chest tattoos. huge, all encompassing pieces that can only be covered with a turtleneck or high and tight t-shirt collar.and i am not talking about a piece that comes a little across the chest or that sort of thing. i'm talking about the full on sailor jerry 'don't tread on me', snakes and flags and all seeing eyes up to the collar bone full side to side numbers. sure, the artwork is pretty good - not in all cases but tattooing has come a long way and a decent artist can really do some great work. anyhow...just something i'm noticing and while i have never been one to support the argument that always comes up, 'how are you gonna feel about that tattoo when you're 60?'....in this case i may be on side with that one.
i saw a woman yesterday standing near the eternal flame thingy - which is never actually lit - near cornwall and burrard and in front of the lululemon building. and she was all dressed in lululemon gear and looked to be someone who probably worked out or ate nothing, and she was hacking a butt right there while facing towards chip's empire. so awesome. would have been a great lululemon ad...'even while hacking up a lung, you can do it in style in lululemon...'....
just got my tax bill for big rookie inc...nothing like being out of work, temporarily i hope, and getting a five figure tax bill. good times. and that's not all, i have another one coming due very soon as well....i better get cutting some more lawns. (i may have sold some kaws toys this week so that will help a lot...)
ok..go OKC!

have fun.

g. xo

i really am missing something....

wtf?

g. xo