Trial By Bug

What a fucking five day stretch. (This continues my digressive personal writing - for VIFF reviews and an update on Motorhead, see below! Also see the next Skinny for my final New Model Army article and more VIFF stuff).

I am safely in Maple Ridge. My stuff is mostly bagged awaiting spraying for bedbugs, which I hope I did not bring. I am at my parents' apartment, on their computer. I have come full circle, to the home of my childhood, minus about 35% of my possessions (my bed, office chair, desk, and more ended up abandoned, as being not worth the risk. If anyone out there wants to contribute to helping me rebuild my life, by the way, feel free to make Paypal donations to ammacinn@hotmail.com - anything would be appreciated. Bear in mind that I have no ads on this blog, receive no money for it, and receive little money for ANY of my writing, so this would be a very nice way to support my efforts).

Speaking of support, again, great shout out to my friend Kevin, who helped me move, rising above and beyond the call (and braving considerable bedbug-noia). Thanks, man! Without you, I wouldn't have done half as good a job and I would have thrown out a LOT more stuff.

The saddest thing about the move was throwing away boxes and boxes of art, writing, photographs, etc. because they were stored in a risky area without adequate protection. I saved a few special pieces that I couldn't bear to part with. Above - this might have been from as far back as kindergarten - an early piece of art by me, showing a dinosaur! Done at Glenwood Elementary, I guess - the school I went to from kindergarten through Grade 7, a short walk away from where I now sit. As the movers were packing the truck, I ran upstairs to salvage this piece from a box that I'd left to be junked (I DID clean my apartment but I left some garbage for the landlord to deal with; I've written off my damage deposit). I then rode in the back of the moving van, because I had no ride otherwise, with this one page in my lap (and boxes and boxes of my stuff wrapped in black plastic) to my new apartment.

There were some nice human moments throughout it all. I got to finally tell the building's drug dealer that my buddy who used to live in the building (who she knew was a customer) was buying off her to smoke with ME, her neighbour, whom she did NOT know was a customer, tho' we would nod at each other as neighbours will. It was nice to say hi to her and move that relationship above-board. She agrees with me that the caretaker of the building "lies through his teeth" about the bedbug situation, by the way.

Another touching moment: I had to throw away the stuffed dino toy that I put online a few posts ago (not important enough, not worth the risk of spreading infestation). It wasn't actually a childhood toy - just something I picked up with my friend Amber (as she was known then) when we were shopping at the Maple Ridge Value Village (the one that used to be in Haney Plaza and is now some Costco affiliated liquidator); but I was fond of it - Amber maintained that it kinda looked like me! ...Anyhow, on one of my many trips down to the dumpster, I saw that a homeless guy on a bicycle was picking it out of the trash. I told him it had been mine and was a great little thing; I also warned him about bugs and directed him to some other garbage I thought would be worth money. He wasn't interested, but he cycled away with the dino tucked under his arm, saying, happily, "It'll keep me company." I burst into tears in the elevator thinking on the way back up to my apartment, and it's bringing tears to my eyes now, to relive the moment.

One catastrophe I managed to avoid: on a subsequent trip to the dumpster - overflowing with the garbage and furniture of a couple of people, since it's moving week, though the lion's share was mine - I came around the corner and saw a strange giant bushy thing sticking out from behind the dumpster. It looked like an enormous black and white feather duster, at first, and I thought: what the hell is THAT? And I considered picking it up: is someone ELSE throwing away their stuffed animals?

Then it moved. It was the tail of a very large skunk, rooting in the food at the bottom of the dumpster. I'm sure fucking glad I didn't grab its tail.

Anyhow, it's done. Difficult times in ones life can teach you to be grateful for the things you have (family, friends, a very exciting and fun life - I have lived a very easy life up til now and need to realize that and not take it for granted). I won't have time to blog much, and my VIFF coverage is done for now (I will be lucky to see any movies at all).

Hmm... so now I live in Maple Ridge again. Weird stuff, man. What an odd turn in my life...

Post-script

(Here's a drawing I guess of me and Cornflakes, my childhood dog, on the back of that dino piece. Doesn't actually look much like Corny, but what else could it be?).



Compare that with Cornflakes and myself on the floor at Richmond Court, 216th and Dewdney, where we lived from when I was three or four - I think - to when I was in my late teens or early 20's. Sometimes when I dream, I still dream the layout of this place.