I'm honestly not sure what to do about Xanga. I have a strong sentimental attachment to this blog I started so many years ago, but I can't get any kind of a sense of what's going on with the company. The 2.0 thing came and went. Xanga is still here, technically, but it's been 2 years since the last bit of news was posted. And as far as I can tell, nobody new can join.

I just can't tell if it's worth it, or even safe, to revive my activity here. Will it all disappear without warning? Is anyone I used to follow even still around?

I would ask for your thoughts, but I don't know if there are even any "you" still left.

Hello?

So the end of the month rolled around, and we loaded all of our belongings into a mid-sized UHaul truck and headed off down the road. That sounds so simple. In actuality, we jammed the truck to the gills but still had to make trips in the suv and car and such. We also didn't actually move out of the old place until the 3rd or the 4th, I can't quite remember. Don't tell anyone. When we arrived at the new place, it was a disaster. When we viewed it, a family of 5 was living there, and thus their copious amounts of stuff was everywhere. When they left, the ugly truth was revealed. Mold, rot, bugs, filth and grease. It took 3 days of cleaning, aided tirelessly by the in-laws, before we could sleep there. Instead, since nobody was moving into our old place right away, we squatted there. Even now, almost 2 weeks in, we've barely scratched the surface of what ultimately needs doing, but at least we can live here without feeling like we're abusing the kid.

We always repair and clean up a place before we move out. We've never left an apartment without having made it significantly nicer than when we arrived. Obviously, not everyone is like that, and I understand why. But man, its disheartening when you spend weeks cleaning, plastering, painting, steam cleaning and scrubbing your old apartment, only to move into something... not so clean, plastered, painted, cleaned or scrubbed. The place was pretty soggy. Thankfully, I think I know why and have hopefully taken care of the source. You see, there was no dryer vent. The washer and dryer are in the bathroom, and as far as I can tell, this family of 5 dried their laundry by running the dryer with the bathroom exhaust fan on. That so doesn't cut it.  Thankfully, the landlord has been quick to buy whatever supplies we need to get the place spruced up. I've been painting and painting and painting, and it's starting to make a difference.

The other thing taking up my time at the moment is taking those Masters courses. It's nice to see that my French is still up to the task, despite it being exactly half a lifetime since I studied it. Each course has 10 class days. I'm 7 days into the first, which has meant reading 3 novels and writing 3 papers. Next week I've got a half-hour presentation due on a book of short stories. This course ends Wednesday, then the second starts the next day. It's certainly an interesting way to pick up a course, in 2 weeks instead of 13, but I don't think it would be for everyone. To learn a concept, read a novel, write a paper using that concept, then repeat 3 times in a week is... challenging. But my marks are good so far, and hopefully the courses will bear fruit in the fall in the form of increased subbing hours. Fingers crossed!

Well, in the same way that it looks as if I'll be moving away from Xanga, I'm also getting ready for a physical move. The house we've been renting the basement of for the past 4 years has been sold. It's not a tragedy in and of itself, since we've never really liked this apartment, and only stayed because the market here is so tight. But faced with necessity, we managed to luck into what I think will be a good fit for us. It's a non-mobile mobile home a few miles outside of town. It has a fenced yard for dog and kid, a shed for my tools and equipment, and room for work areas for my wife and I. It does need some tlc, but the landlord said he's happy to pay for any materials if we want to work on the place, which suits us. We've always left the places we live better than when we arrived. And the best part is that it's only $50/month more than we're paying now -- money is extremely tight right now, and if we'd stayed in town we would have been looking at at least $100/month more than we're currently paying. Granted, we'll be spending a bit more on gas, but all in all it seems like this might be manageable.

And so we've started packing. Both of us passionately hate moving, but at least this time around it's only across town. Our last move was halfway across the country, and the two before that were halfway around the world! This should be a breeze in comparison, even factoring the kid into the equation

I'm also bracing myself for some further education. I'm taking two Masters-level French courses during July, in the hopes of qualifying for the French substitute teacher list. Since I got my education degree 3 years ago, sub days haven't come anywhere close to paying the bills, so I'm trying desperately to give myself an advantage. For those outside Canada, up here you need to be a fully qualified teacher to substitute. French teachers are in much higher demand than Theatre and English teachers. In fact, I think I can only give teaching one more year to start picking up before I have to head back to the drawing board yet again.

Anyhow, I'd better head off to bed. Lots of packing and plastering and planning to do tomorrow.

Take care
-J-

I haven't posted here in ages, but I still feel very attached to Xanga. I have, after all, been kicking around here for more than a dozen years. When I started writing here, my life was more interesting -- I was newly-married, then I was off teaching English in Korea... Once I was back in Canada and things settled down, I began to write less because I felt kind of guilty inflicting the mundane details of my daily existence on strangers. My last post here was a couple of weeks before the birth of my son, who turns 3 in a few weeks. It's been one helluva ride, and he's an wonderful little person.

I've met all sorts of fascinating people on Xanga. Another big factor behind my lesssened presence here is that the vast majority of the people with whom I really interacted have long since moved on to other pursuits. The "tone" of the place is very different now, and it's much harder to find people to really connect with. Plus I don't have nearly as much free time to devote to such interations. It really was the community aspect of Xanga that drew me in all those years ago.

And so now it may be going the way of the dodo. I hope not. This account might actually get grandfathered into the paid model somehow, I suppose, since I paid for Lifetime Premium many moons ago. If not, I expect that I'll probably integrate my blogging efforts into my personal site and keep things under one umbrella. It's funny that it never really occurred to me that Xanga might one day go away.

This shot was taken about 3 weeks ago on our last hike. The very next day the baby shifted, hiking got much more difficult for my lovely wife, and ever since she has been limited to more of a waddling sort of movement. The official due date is tomorrow, and although only 5% of women deliver on their projected date, there's little doubt that one way or another we're going to be parents in the very near future.

The stress level in the house is noticeably up. My profs are being great about taking my befuddlement into account, and I have accommodations in place in case I have to be away during exams or whatever. My wife doesn't like hospitals, and isn't impressed that she's going to have to be in there alone (after the actual delivery, the  fathers are restricted to the usual visiting hours). We're both worrying about parenthood and whether we're going to ruin this poor child's life. I'm worried about the job application process and what happens if I don't get hired anywhere. Basically, we're just kind of obsessing over all kinds of stuff. But we'll get through it all, one way or another.

And I guess that's it. We're in a holding pattern, just trying to keep ahead of the details while we wait for the arrival of the guest of honour. It's surreal, to go from baby inside to baby outside, then they're going to hand us a baby and we get to take it home! Here you go, here's a baby! It's yours! A baby! Your baby!

It's gonna be interesting

Take care
-J-

I spent my day today wrestling with my resume. I also got together all my lesson plans from my internship, pictures and videos of classroom activities, and other such things. This was all in preparation for the big Job Fair taking place in the afternoon and evening. It was only upon arriving at this Job Fair that the truth was revealed: it was largely pointless. Well, not necessarily pointless but certainly not what I had been led to expect. I thought some part of the actual hiring process was going to take place, but in fact what was there was tables from the various school districts, offering pamphlets and non-specific advice I had mostly already gleaned from their websites. I had gotten myself all worked up, thinking this was a major deciding event in my professional future, but was handed an anticlimax.

Nevertheless! Anticlimactic meeting or not, one way or another the last semester of my Education degree is underway, and I need to be applying for jobs. I'm polishing up my boasting and bragging skills, trotting out all even tangentially-related experiences and accomplishments, in pursuit of gainful employment. I have no doubt mentioned before, numerous times, that job hunting is not my strong suit. Going into the process with so little idea of how this specific industry hires is even more enjoyable. The booth people said it's not particularly unusual to get offered a job the week before classes start! What fun!

But all of this kind of pales in comparison to the real event on the horizon. Indeed, my life is about to change forever. This is not hyperbole. In fact, if my life doesn't change significantly, it will probably be a sign that I'm doing things wrong. You see, in 6 weeks or so, I become a daddy!

Yes, after so many years of waiting for the "right time", my wife and I finally realized that waiting for the "right time" was probably like waiting for "pigs to fly". Such a perfect time is almost certainly mythical, and if we're going to have children we had better get on with it. So we did, and very soon indeed the Burnettlet will emerge and Things Will Be Different. We're both very excited, and surprisingly well equipped so far in terms of cribs and swings and things, thanks to the generosity of friends and family. I'll be stressed with school and job hunting, we'll both be exhausted, but such is the way of things. He will be loved, and that's a crucial first step not every baby is lucky enough to have.

Take care
-Justin-

A few years back, some time around the turn of the millennium, I was sitting with friends in a Halifax bar called Hell. It was open mic night there, hosted by singer/songwriter Al Tuck. His music was great, and when he came over and sat with us after he proved to be an engaging and pleasant individual. I enjoyed the chat we had, and when we all scattered to the winds in the wee hours, I hoped our paths would eventually cross again.

Fast forward a year or two, and Al popped back into my mind. I looked up his website and decided to drop him a quick e-mail. In it I expressed the hope that everything in his life was going wonderfully. It was a week or so later that I learned that his apartment and all his possessions had recently been destroyed in a fire. He never replied to my e-mail. Ever since I've felt guilty about that message, rubbing salt in the wound.

Fast forward again to recent times. Al was playing downtown here in St. John's, and I saw my opportunity. I popped down and caught his set with stellar guitarist Duane Andrews. Afterward, I waited in the line of admirers until I got a chance to introduce myself. I related the story of the e-mail and extended my decade-late apology for my inadvertent insensitivity. Al was very gentlemanly about it. He did remember the e-mail, and said it actually cheered him up at the time.

So there you have it. It's never too late to offer an apology, open up lines of communication, and tie one more little thread of connection in this crazy world.

Take care
-J-

It seems like every time I get on a roll with my posts, life gets crazy busy again and I lapse into silence again. It's been 6 months since we arrived here in St. John's, and plenty of things have happened. Not surprisingly, most of my activity has centered around my return to university and the associated fun. The in-class portion was actually a breeze. Compared to my first degree, the hours and workload were drastically lower. I was pleasantly surprised by the Education program -- I had been afraid it would be stuffy and uninspired, something to be endured rather than enjoyed. But it turned out to be quite contemporary and conspiratorial.

Probably the best aspect of being back in Newfoundland (at least the one we can take advantage of every day) has been the easy access to nature. In southern Ontario, every piece of land is owned. Unless you go to a park or walking trail, your options for wandering are very limited. Newfoundland, on the other hand, had a very low population density and consists mostly of crown land.  It's so easy to get out, hike along the cliffs next to the ocean, and not feel as if you're boxed in by civilization. Perhaps not everyone's idea of a good time, but it certainly suits us. The dog enjoys it too. She turns out to be quite intrepid, able to hike along with us for hours at a time. Since she needs so much exercise, we bought her a backpack which we fill with cans to weight her down. She doesn't mind wearing it at all, and it helps wear her out on the days we can only have her out for an hour's walk.

Another big perk of being back in Newfoundland is that it puts us closer to my family. It's been tough living so far away and only being able to fly out to visit once a year. We were able to drive across to see them during the Christmas break. It was a very relaxing sort of visit, with few ambitions. We just sort of hung out, hiked when we felt like it and the weather cooperated, ate good food, laughed...

Anyhow, I have to post this and be done with it. If I keep trying to get up to date and put in pictures and things, I'll never finish. This actually only takes the action up to the beginning of January Oh well. My internship, which has been taking up all my energy and attention, ends in a couple of weeks, so hopefully I'll be back then to do this properly.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Take care
-J-

Well, after Montreal we decided to try and make a little more progress than had previously been the case. It was our goal to do the whole 12-hour stretch from Montreal to Halifax in one go, plus pee breaks and such of course. Nobody who knows us would be surprised to hear that for various reasons we ended up leaving the campground rather later than we had intended. It was a lovely day for a drive, and we did get partway into New Brunswick before we ground to a halt.  It was 4am and we were facing another 4 hours of driving, so we drove through the foggy and deserted streets of Grand-Sault until we found a pleasant little motel which gave us a discounted rate (and was not a bordello or strip club). We settled into our little cottage at the shores of the little pond with the little island, and settled into blissful sleep.

The next day we again got off to a late start, though we did eventually get going. We stopped in Fredericton for a few hours, doing some laundry, getting the dog extremely dirty at the dog park, then taking her to a wonderful u-wash place to get all shiny again. She probably enjoyed the getting dirty part the best.

Our arrival in Halifax drew very little fanfare, considering it was the middle of the night. A tired brother got out of bed in the hotel and came downstairs to let us in, we schlepped a bit of stuff up, and then conked out in the 16th floor suite. Definitely a step up from most of our previous accommodations on this trip. Halifax was all about family visiting, both with my extended family and with my mother and brothers. We shared some lovely meals, some chatting and laughter, compared notes on where we all were in the scheme of things. It was all too brief, but even though we changed our ferry bookings several times, eventually we did have to go. Hopefully we'll be back there more frequently than has been the case these past few years.

Northeastward next, to the ferry at North Sydney. Our first time ever driving our own vehicle onto the boat, and our first time sailing on the newest addition to the fleet. It made a fairly good first impression -- lots of deck access, improved services and food -- but the lack of rentable bunks (cabins only) meant we slept most of the trip out on deck. I've always loved this ferry trip, especially the mysterious night crossings.

Coming off the ferry in Port Aux Basques, we had originally planned to drive all the way through to St. John's, but for various reasons ended up overnighting in Corner Brook. I can't say I was heartbroken, since that meant I got to spend a little more quality time with my mother and brothers.

So that was the last leg of the trip. I'll save the next chapter for another entry. It was certainly an adventure, filled with fun bits and disappointments, people visited and people missed. I hope to get the chance to do something similar eventually, though hopefully not as part of a move. Did I mention I hate moving? 

Take care
-J-

The trek continues, with perhaps more browsing than travel happening for the most part. It's 3am and I'm sitting at a picnic table at a gas station somewhere in New Brunswick. After spending several days making our way from Ottawa through Montreal, we're doing the 12-hour drive from Montreal to Halifax in one long slog. Unfortunately, since we're having to tackle it at night (for scheduling reasons) it means we can't stop in and visit people along the way. There are some friends I haven't seen in ages, and I regret not being able to drop by. But this trip, with all its good points, has also been all about  having to choose between things out of necessity.

We stayed at two campgrounds in Ottawa, one rather underwhelming and the other very pleasant (in a highly manicured sort of way). We weren't particularly ambitious in our sightseeing, hitting Parliament and the locks and a little bit of wandering. Though politics don't fascinate me, it was fun to see where all that stuff happens, and the buildings are great. Every night during the summer they run a projected multimedia show, which was neat.

Next it was off to Montreal. We arrived at the campground in the middle of the night and were baffled. This place had looked good on the website, but in reality it was over 50 sites jammed into a space more appropriate for a dozen. Looked like a used trailer sales lot. We laughed a lot and decided to move on. It was so late that we thought we'd just give up and try a motel. We pulled into one, and though it looked dubious we went inside to ask. It turned out to be a low-class strip club and brothel! No pictures, since we left rather quickly and laughed our way down the highway.

Montreal is a great city. We soaked up the energy, did some people-watching, and saw some sights. I've always wanted to visit Habitat 67, and thankfully we didn't see the "Private Property, Residents Only" signs until after we'd spent an hour wandering around taking pictures.

It's a much better city to be a pedestrian or cyclist than a driver. Montreal's reputation as home to vehicular maniacs is well-earned. We did some waking, as well as a little biking on rented bixi bicycles, and generally had a great time.

Anyhow, I've been sitting out here in the cold for too long, and the dog is getting whiny and chilly. Time to get back on the road.

Take care
-J-