jbailey | Back home again

I had a wonderful trip to Albuquerque and Vancouver. Vancouver is home for me and it was nice to see friends and family. I decided to take a slightly different approach to this holiday than I usually do: Instead of booking a ton of people in advance I told very few people that I was coming out. Then, day before or morning of I would phone people and just see who was available. When I got answering machines, I didn't leave messages. My other trips home have felt a bit too full, because I had a schedule that I had to keep and people I knew I had to see. My plan this time was to go out and spend as much time lying down at the beach as I could. As it was, that turned out to be about 20 minutes with Kit while talking on the cell with Angie, but hey. =)

A few people have given me shit for not telling them that I was leaving for 2 weeks without any computer access. When I go on holidays, I usually tell the fewest people possible (So: my employer, my wife, debian-private, and other people who might call me for paying gigs during that time). This is mostly a safety issue. I'd rather not come back to find my place has been sacked.

The biggest problem with trips back home is that they remind me of how much I hate this miserable city. I don't have the quote handy, but Douglas Adams commented once that no language has ever come up with the phrase "as pretty as an airport" and while this might be true, I think the art and style chosen for an airport tells you quite a bit about the culture of the city you're going to. CYVR has done a really nice job. The redone airport really reflects the native heritage of the surrounding areas, and has waterfalls, local greenary, and bird sounds. The place is brightly lit from outside with lots of glass and is done primarily in earth tones. When I arrived in Toronto's brand new Air Canada terminal one, it felt like I had stepped into Kubrick's spaceport from 2001. Brushed metal everywhere, frosted glass for walls. Gray carpets. Brown chairs. Flat panel displays and glowing green pixelated LED signs showing gate numbers and luggage pickup places. The size of the building makes it feel cold and distant. Sitting on one of the two benches in the huge luggage arrival section, I could see two businessmen sitting on the floor in front of the television screen (Where there were no benches).

Another Toronto-thing I found was on the walk home, passing a building that had apparently been voted the "most beautiful building in toronto". So sad, I'll try to get a copy of the clipping and a photo of this place. It's just another square blocking building as far as I can tell. *sigh*

The trip was wonderful, though. The only thing that I didn't do that I had wanted to was to go see that I didn't make it to the Blarney Stone - And only because it was closed on Sunday night when I was in the neighbourhood. Next time!

Back here, I'm catching up with life - so much stuff to do (so, sorry for not being on IRC much). It's quite surprising how behind I got with being away for a couple of weeks. I'll write more later, this entry is long enough as it is.