hund

P1050225, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

We are babysitting a little dog for Trent's friend Jamie. when we first got her she was a poo/pee disgusting machine. She seems to have calmed down now. Trent gave her a bath and now she's cute and pleasant to have around. Here we are studying for exams. She seems content.

hund means dog i svenska.

Farmor

P1050022, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

We celebrated Christmas with our Grandma who is visiting from Saskatchewan. Her eyesight is failing so while she can still see she made quilts for the future children of all her grandkids. She made one for my kid and one for Trent's kid. She included cards from her for the kids with a sweet note and a picture of her. It was really sweet and sentimental, but also really sad. It's becoming more and more apparent that she's not going to be around for that much longer. I can't imagine what it would be like to go blind. My grandparents often say "Getting old isn't for sissies". I think they are right.

Farmor means grandma (on your father's side) in swedish.

Vancouver is beautiful

Vancouver is beautiful, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

Trent pulled me away from studying today and we went to UBC to hand in his papers and then the Naam for dinner. The view from UBC is beautiful. I have too much homework and nothing funny to say.

hon verkade lite trött och håglös

Today started much too early. After my 4am bedtime, 7:45am really really hurt. I drove Peter to the skytrain and then headed to work. 12 hours later I'm back at home and crawling into bed for a well deserved good nights rest. no pictures today. no interesting little tidbits.

the swedish phrase of the day is hon verkade lite trött och håglös meaning she seemed a little tired and listless.

jul

trent & i hosted a christmas sweater extravaganza at my parents place tonight. Everyone partied a little harder than they should, with glögg, rum & egg nog, wine & sambuca in heavy supply. We all wore christmas sweaters, made gingerbread houses & christmas crafts, exchanged gifts, danced to yuletide hits, and ate tons of delicious holiday treats. It was a fun night.

Double Pick, originally uploaded by phil.caines.
here is alisha who has found a new use for candy canes.

IMG_2209, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.
cam & leslie, our dear newlyweds

IMG_2208, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

peter and i.

IMG_2217, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

gingerbread house!

jul means christmas in swedish.

bibliotek

1987, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

Jon picked me up at 8:30 and we went to school. After accepting a regrettable dare to drink my coffee with rocket candies in it, I went to my last african history classes of the semester. I am sad to say goodbye to this class. I've learnt a lot about history, historians, africa and humanity. This class has made me want to actually be a historian. Fortunately, this cloud has a silver lining because I have this professor again next semester. I spent the rest of the day in the library working on a paper. I worked so hard today and i'm completely exhausted, but at the very least, I feel as though I've been productive. Saw Jon in the library then met up with Peter to work on our take home final for Classical Islamic Civilization. We shared books, drank beer, ate pickles and danced to gangsta rap which was spewing out of his awesome record player. I like Peter because he is passionate about interesting things, is a total dorkface, and has an excellent boisterous laugh, as well as a lovely blonde beard. Today, he made my least favourite class enjoyable.

peter is handsome, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

bibliotek means library in swedish. i go to the library almost every single day.

tvättkorg

I forgot to take a picture today. I woke up late, worked on some homework and went to work at 3. It was a very late night last night because of the ridiculous flood in my kitchen. Fortunately, as far as we can tell right now, there was no real damage and everything is fine. I'm so thankful that I was home and not sleeping when it happened! Spent the evening working for Fran. When I got home I was so exhausted - did some laundry and then fell asleep with my head on a textbook.

the swedish word of the day is tvättkorg, which means laundry basket.

översvämning

chestnut treet, vancouver, bc, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

Spent the day at school writing my paper for Social History of Canada. The paper is a critical review of four pieces of literature which all have a common theme of descriptions of the Canadian aboriginal experience. It's a pretty good topic. Hung out with Mr. Chan in the library. I was planning on finishing my paper at school and handing it in, but the snow started again and the university closed at 7:30pm instead of 11:45pm. So home I went to complete my work. I met up with Katie and we went for a nice walk in the snow to pick up my rent. I love the weather right now! It is supposed to warm up tomorrow, which will melt all our beautiful snow. Very sad. Shortly after I got home I noticed a bunch of water on the floor of the apartment, then I noticed it was coming in through the wall. So my house is now full-blown flooding. I was supposed to work early in the morning, but that doesn't seem possible now because I have to keep an eye on this water situation. It turned out that the water faucet turned because of the cold and was shooting out water. So much water poured out that it seeped into the wall of the house. Too bad. I don't have insurance though, so I have to make sure my items are out of the water's path.

översvämning means flood in swedish.</p>

en kulen vinterdag

the regional assembly of text, vancouver, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

i'm finally back in vancouver! so happy to be home. it feels so good to sit on the couch alone in my own apartment after weeks and weeks of staying at my parents place. i spent the day happily popping into all my favourite shops on main street. bought a few little things for some friends in sverige. didn't do any of the homework i promised myself that I would. instead, i chilled with my dad and went for an MRI at the hospital. It's the last test I have scheduled for my ridiculous eye condition - so I'm a happy camper.

it's amazingly, ridiculously chilly right now. it doesn't seem much like vancouver, but today the whole world seemed at peace as I watched the sun filter through snow covered branches.

our water is clean again and vancouver is back to it's pristine, perfect living conditions. i am so thankful that every day I get to walk out my door into this amazing city.

, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

i'm not bothering to post my favourite links anymore because i've added the del.icio.us feed to the blog sidebar. it is a list of every page that i've bookmarked. it's easier and more comprehensive.

en kulen vinterdag means a chilly winter day in swedish.

istapp

100_3813, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

Wasted the entire day lazing about the house. classes were cancelled at SFU because of the snow! went to value village to try and find funny christmas sweaters with Trent. Apparently, Christmas sweaters are popular items because there were none left. With our Christmas Sweater Party looming next friday the pressure to find horrific holiday attire is mounting. I suppose January would be a better time to buy one.

Spent the evening with the usual partner in crime. We studied then went out and played poker with some friends. a word of warning - the streets have become skating rinks so drive with caution!

walking around surrey was an eye opener today. it breaks my heart that so many people in this city do not have a place to stay when it gets so cold. I did what i could for one person, but it won't be enough. As jon put it "your charity is uncharitable because he will just buy crack!" My perspective is slightly less cynical, but his comment remains in the back of my mind. What is the best way to provide sustainable, safe assistance to provide immediate help for someone who needs it? Giving money to an organization wouldn't have solved the immediate problem of hunger and cold for this person.

istapp means icicle in svenska

snöflinga

100_3738, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

the world looks fresh, white, cold and new again. spent the day happily relaxing at my parents place. played in the snow. did some readings for school. spent some time with little trent.

snöflinga = snowflake i svenska.

nysnö

First Snow of the Season, originally uploaded by trent_maynard.

nysnö means newly fallen snow.

skiva

went to school this morning, with my usual companion. class all morning. went to cafe deux soleil with keri & sadie. keri & I used to work together at stockgroup. I can't believe how big sadie is now. I remember when keri first was pregnant with her and it seems like just a short while ago and now she's so big and curious. she's like a little person. I like cafe deux soleil. today was the first time i have been there during the day. i've been there for reggae night a few times in the last year. met back up with jon in the evening. we went to a party at jon koehn's and at a pub. alisha came and some of jon k's friends were there. on the way back from the pub someone threw an egg at jon chan and it cracked all over his head and jacket. poor jon was so angry. we should have spent the night studying like responsible A+ students, but after a few drinks our academic concerns had vanished and we were ready for a good time.


it snowed today. i put some pictures of it on flickr.
skiva means party in svenska.

arbete

worked all day. hung out with trent tonight. nothing interesting. no pictures. lame.

thanks for nothing broken camera

thanks for nothing broken camera, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

my camera wasn't working today...again. it takes pictures like this.

I’m starting to feel stressed about exams. I know I’ll pass and do decently well all my history classes, but I really wanted this semester to be only about raising my GPA. That doesn’t seem to be happening. I really need to buckle down and focus for the next three weeks. Ugh – all I want to do is have fun. Tonight I was supposed to go to Andrea’s champagne party. I love Andrea and it’s her birthday. I really want to celebrate it with her, but the weather is atrocious and there is no way i'm leaving my cosy apartment tonight. Going to study with Jon Chan for the next three hours then head home from school. It’s been nice having him to hang out with so much. He makes hanging out at school and at my parents place much more fun. Still haven’t heard from my roommate. I’m officially worried.

sjukhus

dilate, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

Home sweet home!! Spent the morning at the hospital getting tests for my messed up eye. Wasn’t nearly as long or unpleasant as I expect it would be. I have no complaints at all about my recent healthcare experiences. I’m so thankful to be Canadian. Say what you will about the evils & inconveniences of public healthcare, but today the system worked for me. Didn’t do anything tonight. I just chilled out at home, cleaned a bit and enjoyed being back in my own space. I’m a bit worried about my roommate. She said she was coming home last night, but she didn’t, and she didn’t answer her phone. I hope she’s just having a ridiculously fun night somewhere and forgot to call…

sjukhus=hospital

fraser heights

fraser heights, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

Somehow managed to drag myself out of bed today. Still staying at my parents house. Jon Chan picked me up and we went to school together. I’m writing this now from the comfy chairs on the 6th floor of the library - home of the spotty wireless connection. Christy and I are going to hang out tonight at SFU. Looking forward to seeing her. And I’m going to finally go back to my own place tonight. It feels like I haven’t been there forever. The last two weeks have felt like a lifetime. It’ll be sad in a way, I’ve been having a really good time. It’s been nice to be so close to the Fraser Heights crew. I’m not looking forward to not being able to drink the water in Vancouver. I hope the water ban gets lifted soon. A city is only as good as it’s infrastructure. It’s amazing that it’s been almost a week without drinkable tap water. (Library)

Edit: Didn’t go home after all. Spent the evening hanging out in Fraser heights with my usual companion as of late. It was a good night.

bibliotek

view from library 6th floor, originally uploaded by traceylikesyou.

Spent the day in the library with Jon Chan. Then we went to Jon Koehn’s and chilled out. We watched the movie Silent Hill, which was much more gory and scary than I expected. Came home pretty early. My parents are redecorating their house right now. There is furniture everywhere and paint supplies covering every spare surface. The house is filled with noise, mess, and inconvenience – but at it’s worst it is still so much more luxurious than my place. I forget how crappy my apartment is until I visit my folks. I doubt that I’ll ever be able to afford a place like theirs, and if I can afford it, I’m still not sure that’s how I’ll want to live.

bibliotek = library

biograf

Half Nelson, originally uploaded by p373.

After a long day at school, some relaxation time was well deserved. Saw Marie-Antoinette & Half Nelson tonight with Trent & Alisha at the Clova. The Clova cinema is a really awesome old theatre in Cloverdale. It has this psychedelic silver metallic curtain. It is easy to forget that it is 2006 not 1976 the second you step into the theatre. Marie-Antoinette was not a masterpiece. It looked good and has the soundtrack of an indie-rock princess, but the screenplay is awful, and I was bored. I liked Half Nelson. It made me reconsider some of my own opinions and double standards about drug use and the criminality of the drug world. Have I created a distinction between the two in my mind to justify my behaviour?

biograf means cinema in swedish...i think.

trollkarl

i left my camera at my parents house yesterday so no pictures. i apologize, loyal fans. if it's any consolation, the pic would have been very similar to yesterday's. Tomorrow is the exam and then I almost don't have to think about it anymore. Please check out my brother's flickr. The weather was so lovely today, and i think he did a great job of capturing it.

my new unitard came in the mail. I'm totally kicking it one-piece style.

the word of the day is trollkarl. it means wizard.

no time for awesome links today. i'm saving them for tomorrow's jolly blog.

matte

math, math, math.
the swedish word of the day is matte, meaning math.

the links:
"Few people know that the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States is the ‘Clan of the Cave Bear’ novels"
make sure you plant the right tree!
new celebrity slang

spöke

we celebrated trent's birthday at the banana leaf. he's 21. tonight i took a long walk in my rainy neighbourhood. apparently there are ghosts in the trees. the swedish word of the day is spöke, it means ghost. 

farmor

Spent today at my parents house hanging out with Trent and visiting Grandma. We had a nice day. Studied tons and tons of math.

the swedish word of the day is farmor, meaning grandma.

jag saknar honom fortfarande mycket

sfu was stormy and autumny today. i chilled with john chan after african history class. in the afternoon, i wrote a paper on the mining strike in bienfait, sk in 1931. then alisha came over. we rented love, ludlow and wilbur wants to kill himself. i'm tired. we ate perogies.

the swedish phrase of the day is
ten years have gone by, but I still miss him very much---det har gått tio år, men jag saknar honom fortfarande mycket

tomorrow grandma is coming from saskatchewan to visit for two weeks. i'm excited to see her.

good links of the day:
willie nelson likes weed and horses, a lot
sfu website got an upgrade
bad news for non-vegetarians

jag behöver dig omkring

Today I worked all day. Here is a pic of me working/msning. Met up with Trenty and ate some thai food. Ran into Doug & Cindy who were sitting in starbucks on commercial when we walked by. It was nice to see them. They are my parents friends, and I guess sort of our friends now.

Now I'm re-writing the paper I wrote yesterday and lost. I will never forget to save again! It's kind of an interesting subject, who would have known that three miners were shot to death during a peaceful protest in 1931 southern saskatchewan?! Anyway, I'd rather read about it than write about it.

the swedish phrase of the day is jag behöver dig omkring, which means, i need you around. this applies to my favourite people, and today specifically this one.

some links
lights in the dark
canada's pesticide regulations are nothing to be proud of
souvenirs; ongoing book project 

den är borta!

Worked at school all day long on my bienfait paper, but at the last minute lost it on the school computers. So now I'm stuck writing the whole thing from scratch. Hung out with delightful Jon Chan. We chilled in the AQ, ate some food, played a game of chess, and studied in the library.

swedish phrase of the day is den är borta! which means it is lost! like my stupid paper. 

Happy Halloween!

Went to Stanley Park and celebrated halloween with fireworks along with Chris, Landon, Sean, Val, Crystal & Katie. Here is a picture of Katie & I bundled up to face the cold winter. It was -5. We drank lots of hot chocolate at Chris & Landon's.It was a nice night.

Media Club

Went to Media Club Open Mic tonight to see fabulous Vanessa play. She's so talented and she blows my mind everytime. It was great to hang out with Andrea, Katie, Corey & Vanessa. The ol' McCow crew. It was another lovely night in the city in Vancouver.
 

parade of lost souls

Tonight Alisha, Peter, Steph & Pete & I went to the parade of lost souls on commercial drive. As you can see, I was a robot. Peter was a Wizard. Alisha was some sort of white trash mechanic. Steph was a 80's goth-rock princess. And her Pete was a farmer?

It was a ridiculous amount of fun. I was a big hit with the little kids. I must have taken about 100 pictures with little children, and shaken at least 20 little hands (the other 80 were afraid of me).

People were really into the costumes, and there were thousands of people walking the streets. I love it when communities can come together and everyone can participate in an event that is both fun and appropriate for all ages. The respect, consideration and sense of humour people showed was inspiring. It makes me proud to live in this city. It also made me really appreciate the car free streets. I definitely support the idea of a car-free commercial drive. But I'll leave green politics for another, more serious post.

Later, we met up with Trent, Francois & Hana. It was a blast. And thankfully the nice police officer didn't arrest either Francois or me. Thanks for the warning kind police officer!

I rate this evening an A+. All the photos are posted here.

läsning

I have been staring at photos of the trips I went on over the past year. It's been a good run. Singapore & Thailand, training across Canada to Toronto & Montreal, and Sweden. Looks like I'll be taking the winter train from Vancouver to Halifax over Christmas break and spending a week in Cape Breton! Quite a lot of travel in one year. I'm lucky, but it makes home seem uneventful, even though I live in such a magical place. I suppose I should be exploring the adventures to be had in Vancouver. I'll start tomorrow. Obviously this picture is old because Jonte is in it and he hasn't lived in Canada since April. But check out how pretty wreck beach is in April. Just an example of the little gems to be found in Vancouver.

Yesterday I went to Zulu records to buy album leaf tickets with Trent & Vanessa. We ran into Marko. It was funny and pleasant that all of us knew him separately.

Tried out a new church last night. Really close to my house and lots of young people. I thought it was great because the worship wasn't done particularly well, the service was run in an awkward, semi-unorganized fashion but it was so sincere and it was clear that it was untrained normal people who were just doing their part to help out. It made me smile and never want to leave.

Here are some good links for today:
my friend luke Marvin is really funny
In the US there are more tvs than people
Bill Clinton is delightful in so many ways
New colonoscopy robot uses snail technology to surf on mucus.

the swedish word if the day is läsning which may or may not mean reading...