Heat wave... thank goodness for air conditioning!

It was so hot out today... the humidity makes the heat horrible. Though at least I've got air conditioning here. It's stuffier outside than it is in the house! Then in the middle of the day it suddenly started pouring rain, when I walking downtown. So I got soaked. But later the rain stopped so it wasn't too bad after that. I bought a pair of tie-pants (those wide-leg pants that you tie into place, kinda like a wrap skirt) at How Bazaar, and I'm bringing them to Germany with me. At least with those I can be comfortable and stylish without getting yelled at by the chaperones for wearing an item of clothing they banned from the group.

I started yoga classes, and I'll keep taking them till I leave for Germany. I've been doing a lot of fitness stuff lately, going to the gym, taking salsa dance classes, walking downtown and to the park, and now yoga. I need to get in shape for Germany since we'll be doing a lot of walking, plus it might help with dance.

Canadian Idol voters actually voted for talent this week. What a surprise! Though Diego (my fave) didn't get voted into the top 10, Amber did. She's actually talented, she reminds me of Jann Arden. Rex got voted in too, and I thought he was good. The others weren't that great. For a jazz singer, I expected a lot better from Barbara. Devika was ok, but the judges overrated her. The others were boring and had no personality. We'll see what happens next week...

Peake's crowd madness, Canadian Idol news and opinions, and fun stuff in adoration.

Went to Peake's last night, but it was so crowded that I stood in line for an hour before the bouncer let me in. By the time I finally got in, I was so pissed off and restless that I didn't enjoy myself much. Terence works there as a bouncer, and he said I should show up at 11:00pm. I said "I showed up at 11:30!", and he said "You were a half hour too late!". Now that Myron's has shut down, everyone is going to Peake's so it's always crowded on the weekends. There were a few stagette parties going on, judging from the fact that I saw at least 2 or 3 girls wearing cheap dollar-store tiaras with a piece of white tulle as a veil. A girl I knew from high school was involved in one of the stagettes (though not as the bride) and tried to give me some toy that was shaped like male genitalia. I didn't take it. I think those types of stagettes are tacky, if I ever get married in the future, I don't want my stagette to involve gross gag gifts. Well, I don't really have to worry about that, since most of my friends are devout Catholics, they're not into that type of stuff either.

Turns out I'm a local celebrity now because of the Canadian Idol thing. A guy I knew from high school said "Hey I saw you on Canadian Idol!", and some random people that I don't know also came up to me and said they saw me. One girl said she didn't think I did bad and that they shouldn't have dissed me. Later, as I was in my car ready to leave after Peake's closed for the night, a group of people walked by and some girl pointed to me and yelled "She was on Canadian Idol!", then some guy from that group walked up to the car, tapped on the window, and said "were you on Canadian Idol?" I said yes and then he left.

Speaking of Canadian Idol, the latest 2 contestants are duds too. Casey Leblanc isn't too bad, but is kinda boring. I think the only reason she got so many votes is because everyone from the Maritimes probably voted for her, so that they could get a Maritimer in the top 10. Emily Vinette is ok, but is too "star-search-y" - her performance had all the Star Search clichés, basically she's a Star Search kid who is too old for Star Search. I was hoping Josh Palmer would get into the top 10. He's a good singer, performer, and has personality that the two who got voted in don't have. Vince Benenatti also has personality. So far, the top 10 are teenyboppers who are clones of each other, and have no uniqueness or personality. This coming week, I'm rooting for Diego Alvarez, the Latin-American guy who sang in Spanish for his audition. If he doesn't get voted in, then I'll know that the voters are just teenyboppers who don't know good music. I prefer the singers who are like me - the ones who incorporate their own style into their songs and performances. Creativity is important to me in music. Just because a singer doesn't write their own songs or play their own instruments, it doesn't mean they're not creative. There are lots of ways to distinguish yourself from the cookie-cutter Britney Spears clones and one of the best ways to do it is to showcase yourself as a person in your performance. Vince and Dianelys did that by incorporating their cultural heritage in their performance (though Vince didn't in the show last week, he did in his audition).

I went to adoration tonight with my friends, and it was awesome. It's always nice to take some time to talk to Jesus in person and focus on my faith, especially with my friends. Last week, I started reading a book on the Rosary that I found in the bookshelf at the chapel, and it was so amazing that I had to continue reading it this week. It explains every mystery of the rosary, and the situations that the people involved were in. I didn't want to stop reading it, and will continue to read it next week. When I finish it, I will probably end up re-reading it since I love it so much.

A few funny things happened at adoration tonight. First of all, when I went into the chapel, someone's car alarm was honking loudly, and when I walked out it was still honking! My friends and I were outside the chapel after our hour was over, and they said it honked when they came in too (Tasha and Maureen were already there before I came in). Then the honking stopped... and then started up again a few minutes later!

Also, while we were in the chapel, everything was nice and quiet, but we could hear a crowd of people at the Gahan House next door cheering loudly. I wasn't close to the window so I only heard the cheering, but Jason and Tasha were close to the window and said they heard the crowd going "Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" Quite funny - while we were in adoration quietly praying to the Lord, the people in the restaurant next door were getting drunk and being rowdy. Reminds me of Krista's birthday party a few years ago when Cory got me to chug half a bottle of Fireball whisky. When I come out of adoration, I often look at the balcony in the back of the Gahan House and sometimes when it's night and there are people there eating and talking, I feel a sort of sadness. I'm not sad about myself, I'm sad for them. Many people don't know the joy that my faith brings to my life, and I wonder if these people on the balcony have ever experienced that joy. Sure they're happy as I can see when I look from the chapel door, but do they have any idea of the happiness that things beyond our secular world can bring?

Neal put our Adoration Time thingy on his podcast site. I added the site to my links here.

This week, I have the night shift at work again for the first few days... grrr... But luckily, my schedule request to not get the night shift for the Festival of Lights was granted, so I'll get to see the concerts. I don't care much about the rock bands, but I want to go anyway because I love Canada Day celebrations. On Canada Day, there will be a flamenco show on the big stage, so I definitely want to see that. Also, Kalan Porter is performing on July 3rd with an acrobatics troupe.

That's all for now... tune in next time!

Bring your own dancing shoes...

We had our fundraising dance last night, and it went well. We had a good turnout and I didn't see any violence. Apparently, we made about $800 in total - Whooo, take yer shirt off! After the dance, when we were cleaning up, Terence and I started picking on each other like usual, he tried to draw on my face with a marker, but I later sneaked up on him and he ended up with a blue line on the back of his neck from my pen. He then tackled me and threw me to the ground, and again tried to draw on my face. Later, I got a water bottle and threw water on him. He tackled me again and poured the rest of the bottle over my head. All this just because I chipped his tooth last Christmas... Terence, next time don't eat candy while I'm hitting you with a pillow, the candy will hit your tooth and chip it!

Like Neal said on his blog, apparently "dancing shoes" is teen slang for some type of drug. The posters he made said "bring your own dancing shoes", which would sound like the equivalent of "bring your own pot" or "bring your own crack". So we thought the teens would bring drugs. Luckily, I didn't see anyone who was high...

On the way back to town, Neal was driving me, Ryan, and Steve home, and Ryan was being his usual cranky self. Ryan and Neal are like Bert and Ernie - Ryan is Bert and Neal is Ernie. Those two are too funny...

Neal is doing his interview with NET today in Halifax - GOOD LUCK NEAL!

Today the weather is hot - too hot. Thank goodness for air conditioning! Around 30 celcius but with the humidity it's over 40. Spain weather, though Spain had a dry heat. But I do remember in Italy during my WYD 2000 trip, on the day of the 10km walk to Tor Vergata, it was over 40 celcius.

Well, I'm off to take a walk...

WYD group rule gripes, diocese in desperate need of seminarians, and the Adoration Time jingle.

I went to the World Youth Day meeting in Summerside on Saturday, and I drove myself. It was foggy and I couldn't see the road far ahead of me, but I survived! The meeting was good, I felt I got something out of it. The only things that I'm not happy about are: the early curfew (10:00pm? Please tell me you were joking, Joe!), the dress code (In Italy and Toronto we wore tank tops and short shorts, and we never had problems), and the no-drinking rule (no, I was NOT planning on getting trashed, but having a glass of beer or wine with dinner is not alcohol abuse, it's called experiencing the culture). I hope I won't end up feeling like a caged bird, I don't like being treated like a kid. I know the rules are there to protect the group, but there is a big difference between a teenager who has never travelled overseas, and a 20-something who has been to two WYDs and has travelled independently.

After the meeting, Neal, Rachel, Chris, and I went to the Deckhouse in Summerside for supper, and chatted. Chris told us that at the seminary, it's even more restrictive than the WYD group. They can't even get a frickin' haircut without asking permission! Yes, even the older seminarians have to ask permission. Plus, sometimes they have an extreme dress code - must wear a shirt with a priest collar. Chris still has 5 years before he gets ordained (if he has a vocation to the priesthood). So far the seminarians in this diocese are dropping like flies, so the bishop must be desperate to keep him there. Bishop Vernon is even trying to recruit Neal, Jason, and Ryan for the seminary! One time at Father Paul's ordination, he tried to drag Jason over to send him to the seminary and pushed Steph away as a joke. God luv ya, Bishop...

I went to adoration last night at St. Dunstan's with my friends. Afterwards, we ate at dad's restaurant, and Neal recorded a little interview with us for his new website. He and Chris are starting a Catholic website with audio clips about different Catholic issues. Chris wants to do catechesis on that site, and Neal is adding different things to it. He asked us different questions about our perspectives on adoration, and we even sang a little jingle for fun. A-A-A-doration time, come on! Let's go to the chapel, WHOO HOO!

Mindy and Sara-Sour have blogs too now! Sara is in Europe right now and is blogging about her adventures. Mindy is blogging about her everyday life. Maybe the rest of my friends will get blogs too eventually...

Feeling sick, becoming a redhead, and Canadian Idol picks little Daryl whose voice hasn't cracked yet

Well, I think I had a mild flu, because I had a sore throat for the past few days and yesterday I was feeling sick enough to actually call in sick at work. I knew I wouldn't be able to work, considering I ended up being so tired that I went to bed early and my voice wouldn't be able to do much talking on the phone anyway.

I dyed my hair red on Monday. No need to get the Anne jokes ready though, auburn ain't the same shade as carrot-top. And it's only temporary dye - Clairol Natural Instincts - it gradually washes out after about a month. But yes Terence, I WILL smash something over your head Anne-style if you pick on me for my new hair colour!

I went to Peake's on Saturday night, after Macaroon's cd launch. The Macaroon concert was cool, and some of my friends were there too. Peake's was very crowded. I guess everyone is going there now that Myron's is closed. Mr. Cranky was there with Shaun Coady, also Sara-Sour and Amy were there too. I also talked to Tim and Elmer, and Elmer saw me on Canadian Idol. Tim told me that when he auditionned, he didn't even make it past Tier 1. Tim's girlfriend also said she thinks I'm a good singer and that she got goosebumps whenever she heard me sing Sarah MacLachlan songs at Open-Mic Night at the Wave. Maybe I'm not so horrible after all...

Speaking of Canadian Idol, the first group of 8 sang this week, and though Dianelys was obviously one of the most talented ones, she didn't get picked for top 10. The person who got the most votes so far was Daryl - a 16-year-old pipsqueak who sings like a girl. That shows you who's voting - teenyboppers who want a new Kalan Porter (though Kalan actually has a man's voice unlike Daryl). My prediction for Daryl - as soon as his voice changes, his career's over. He sang "When You Believe" by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, and he actually sounded like Whitney Houston. Seems like the voters are voting based on "who's the cutie?" rather than "who's the most talented/creative/versatile?" The voters overlooked Dianelys, who is classically trained and has performed in salsa bands, and picked that puny little runt whose voice hasn't cracked yet.

Andrew is starting up the Divine Cafe again this summer, yay! Though it will only run in July, because he's leaving for Poland after that and a bunch of us are going to World Youth Day in August. Though even if we only get a few sessions, it will be awesome anyway.

Anyway, that's all for now... toodeloo!

The Amazing Race - The Charlottetown Edition

Paul Batchilder was ordained last night. Congrats Father Paul! The ordination was in Summerside, and it was packed. Some of my friends had him as a teacher when they were in school, long before he went to the seminary. One of the things that will probably be one of his biggest strengths as a priest, will be his life experience, especially the fact that he was married in the past. So many people believe all those stereotypes about priests being people who don't know or understand anything about married life, and here's someone who proves them wrong. Same for Father Tom (plus Father Tom has children and grandchildren). Yay for the 3 newbie priests in the Diocese of Charlottetown - Paul Batchilder, John Molina, and Tom Nadeau!

Mr. Squirrel was around again a few days ago, stealing more seeds from the birdfeeder. But this time he didn't squeal or grunt when he saw me. I guess he's getting used to being around people...

I watched Canadian Idol tonight. Now they have the top 32. I actually knew one of them - Dianelys Hernandez. She was at jazz camp with me 5 years ago. She's originally from Cuba but came here for a Canada-Cuba music exchange program for students, and moved here after that. Some of the singers were really bad - the guy who looked like Elvis sucked, and there were others that messed up or blanked out on their lyrics. But CI didn't diss them outwardly like they did me.

My friends and I had our Amazing Race last weekend, planned by Jason. We all met at Victoria Park, and got split up into teams. My team mates were Amy and Steph. Tasha was supposed to be on our team too but she had to work late. We used my car to get around, and Amy drove. We also made a video of our crazy antics. Our first stop was the Catholic cemetary at St. Pius where we had to look for one grave out of over 1000. We found it first, and so we had the lead. But then at our next stop at the Stratford Town Hall, no one could find the clue and all the teams caught up to us and we were tied. Turns out it was hidden in a tree. Then we had to go to the Victoria Park cannons to ge the next one, then drive out of town to the wooden bridge close to Cornwall. In Cornwall, my car overheated so we fell behind. Jason went easy on us when we got to Peake's Quay and didn't make us get 10 signatures from random people like all the other teams. But we were still behind when we got to All Soul's Chapel, and then our last stop was at Victoria Park where Jason as hiding and we had to find him. We figured he'd be at the ball field, but as we were walking over, we heard yelling in the woods and we thought it was our friends. Turns out it was a group of teenage girls acting silly. Jason wasn't at the ball field, so we walked back. As we were crossing the field next to the ice cream shop, we got a call from Jason on the cell phone (each team needed a cell phone, so we borrowed Rachel's) to tell us we were last. It was dark so we couldn't see the crew in front of us on the other side of the field at first, but we met up with them.

After the game, we all went to Sara-Sour's place and wanted to drive out to the beach for a bonfire, but the cars got separated and we didn't know which beach we were supposed to go to, when we got there the tide was too high, and then it started to rain. So we went to Maria's place and watched some of the Amazing Race videos that each team made. We've got to do another Amazing Race sometime this summer...

Summertime and the Living is Easy...

Well, it's been forever since I wrote anything, I've been busy lately. Working the night shift left me with not much time to write stuff here. Grrr... I hate the night shift. The weather is getting warm and I always long to be outside in the evenings at the waterfront or the park.

I'm a university grad! Graduation went well, and now my diploma is hanging on the wall behind me as I write. We've also had a Teen Encounter reunion, and that went good too. I haven't been to one of those since my own Teen Encounter 5 years ago. Cool coincidence - my first one was when I graduated from high school, and the next was when I graduated from university. I've been working 5 days a week too, and going to the gym regularly. I might be going to salsa dancing classes too, but I'm not sure. Mainly because it's for beginners, and I need something more advanced to challenge me. I know the basics already, and I need a better challenge. The best way to learn salsa and other latin/social dances in my opinion, is to dance with a partner who is more advanced. That way the partner can teach me new things and challenge me, rather than hold me back or make me repeat the basic steps all the time.

Mr. Squirrel came to visit! He's a little squirrel that likes to steal seeds from my birdfeeder, and I saw him for the first time this spring. When he saw me he got scared and started squealing and grunting, but he'll probably be around regularly this summer like last. I also saw a fox roaming around my workplace recently.

Canadian Idol can kiss my ass. The show premiered this week, and my audition was shown... in the bloopers. They showed a clip of me singing and the voice-over said "Amelie is definitely feeling it, but is she HEARING it?" I thought I was talented enough not to be put in the bloopers. I want a career in the performing arts, and when I get dissed like that, it makes me feel I'm not good enough. I don't want to be one of those unfortunate people who can never be talented enough to follow their dream. Jerome at work is NEVER going to let me hear the end of it. He said he'd look for me in the bloopers, and turns out he did find me in the bloopers. So I suck at singing, I suck at dance, what else am I going to fail before everyone convinces me I don't have what it takes? :(

I don't want to be stuck in some boring job that doesn't feed my passion for the performing arts. Why does everyone suggest I become a teacher? I don't want to be a teacher, I realized that in my frosh year. Even if it's teaching in Spain, it's NOT my dream job. My dream job is the performing arts. If I settle for the "safe" option in life, I'm going to regret it. I'll always be wondering "what if I had followed my dream?" and I don't want to do that. I just want to be happy. And I'm happiest in the performing arts. No, I don't want to teach the performing arts either. My home is the stage, not behind the scenes. The only thing that scares me is - what if I DON'T have what it takes to acheive my dream?

Last night when my mother was gone for a while, I was listening to some music and started to sing along. When "It don't mean a thing..." (an old jazz standard) started playing, I started scat-singing to it, and I actually impressed myself. Then again, it might have been a fluke.

In happier news, John Molina was ordained this evening! We'll have 3 new priest in the diocese this year, and Father John is the latest newbie. Father Tom got ordained last week, and Deacon Paul is getting ordained next week. Apparently, the last time a priest got ordained in this diocese before this year, was 6 years ago when Father Mitch got ordained. And we have a new deacon too, and if God wills it, Andrew and Chris will have their turn in a few years. They're both in town for the summer, and I hope they'll start up the Divine Cafe again. At least in July, since in August my friends and I will be in Germany for WYD and Andrew is going on a pilgrimage in Poland. Chris is coming to WYD too. Yay! Another seminarian to bombard with questions! But Chris is aware that he'll be thrown in the bear pit, he knows how bad Andrew got it in Toronto (heh, I myself particularly gave him a hard time with all my tough questions!), Andrew told him all the horror stories! God luv ya, Andrew... :D

Father Gerard saw me on Canadian Idol, and he thought it was unfair that they lumped my audition in with the ones that were truly bad. He didn't think I was that bad. God bless you Father Gerard!

Well, that's all for now... tune in next time!