Writer for hire:

Dean will point out that it's partly my own fault, so I'll get that out of the way right now: I should have taken care of this the moment our marriage license arrived, but now it's too late. I officially missed the time frame in which to get my work visa for Scotland.

But I'm resourcefull. I've lined up a few hours of contract work each week, but alas, this may not be sufficient to fund the many travels I hope to enjoy in light of Lorah's recent move to the UK.

So this is sort of like a call for writers—except it's a call for writING. and editing, mind you.
Here's the pitch: experienced editor/writer/print&web project manager/ad copywriter living in Vancouver, Canada/Aberdeen, Scotland seeking opportunities to edit/write/print&web project manage/write ads at a competitive wage. Email me to see a digital portfolio or to discover how delightfully witty I am over email.

whew, glad that's taken care of.

Since we last spoke...

I'm having a hard time giving up xanga. The move to Blogger was meant to be a step in the direction of becoming a "serious" online writer... in a forum not designed for pre-teen admissions of angst and emoticons. But DANG, xanga makes it so darn EASY to do what I need to do. Thus, I'm following the lead of one of my blogging heroes (heroines?) by two-timing. Henceforth I'll be double-posting, but you'll only need one bookmark, so keep visiting this page as I wean myself off of the milk of the blog world and get into the meat.

Without further ado, the news since last time:

1. We sublet our place within a matter of days. We'll soon be entrusting a couple of engineers from Montreal with Nina's flat and all our stuff. They are young and seem to share my mid-century-modern aesthetic. let's hope they also share my mother's aversion to coffee rings on teak furniture.
2. Flights are booked. We’re REALLY moving to Scotland! Unless you plan to pay a visit to the British Isles in the coming months, you won’t see me in the flesh from September 5 to December 15.
3. I am more than halfway through my thank-you notes. Thank-goodness I'll never get married again. If I only cared less about writing personalized notes in each I could have been finished ages ago. But noone likes a generic thank-you.
4. We took a brief but welcome roadtrip to Banff and Fairmont Hot Springs to hang with the inlaws and pick up our Civic. Highlights: amazing food, good visits, and hiking Johnson Canyon. Lowlight: 20 minutes in the hot pool = 14 mosquito bites.

listed and busted

We're on Craig's List! We start showing the place on Wednesday, but no final decision has been made, so you and yours still have a chance to enjoy this prime piece of Vancouver realestate for four months :)

Jogging through the neighbourhood lately has deepened my appreciation for Vancouver and further confirmed my theory that I live in the best city on the planet. It has also given me a new goal—secure membership into the University Women's Club (possibly the most beautiful building/property west of the Atlantic) or if nothing else, just sneak onto the grounds one night. who's with me?!

And on a completely unrelated note, this little slip-up on the part of George W. struck me as rather funny (and all the extremely conservative conservatives in the US gasp with shock).

Really really really have every intention of posting photos soon. most likely in stages. stay tuned.

love bug?

I might be allergic to marriage (and of course, if this is the case, then I'm like the kid who's allergic to nuts but still can't keep his fingers out of the Skippy jar). I've been married about 16 days now and I've spent at least ten of them feeling ill.

But now Dean has the bug too, and allergies don't spread do they?

If Mexico was rough on my stomach (which it was) then Saskatchewan was rougher. Yesterday, about an hour from home, Dean started to whine about his tummy. Dean loves to whine ;) so I thought little of it until a few hours later MY TUMMY started to feel odd. It's fair to say that we passed marriage's first great test (that is: taking turns in the bathroom all night and still managing to comfort the other in the midst) with flying colours.

whatever had gotten into our respective systems seems to have been suitably purged, now it's just the fun of a long day of rehydrating. popscicles, yum!

*************

for the second half of the honeymoon, we went low-fi on photos, opting for Polaroids only. I'll be sure to post them in installments along with wedding and Mexico shots.

my front lawn is your front lawn

"In the kitchen, he poured another drink and looked at the bedroom suite in his front yard. The mattress was stripped and the candy-striped sheets lay beside two pillows on the chiffonier. Except for that, things looked much the way they had in the bedroom--nightstand and reading lamp on his side of the bed, nightstand and reading lamp on her side... He considered this as he sipped the whisky."  -Carver

Above, a quote and excerpt from my first blog post ever and, in my mind, a fitting analogy of blogs in general: crossing the lines between public and private space, pretending it is totally natural (though we all know it isn't).

So crack a beer and dig your feet into the grass. I'll be back in a few weeks when I've tied the knot.