I love how I wake up every single morning to a majority of people on my friends' list on FaceBook, bitching and whining about how cold it is outside, or that there is going to be fifteen centimetres of snow on the ground, or that it's really wet and the slush just destroyed their two hundred dollar leather boots. Well you know what? Shut the hell up. As long as you wake up and come home every night to your family, a roof over your head, food on your table and you got some form of footwear on your feet, you shouldn't be complaining. You live in Alberta...you didn't see snow coming?! And if you're so worried about wrecking your expensive leather boots...IN WINTER, don't wear them! I admit that I catch myself complaining about the tiniest things too, but when you are spamming my newsfeed every three seconds about how, "cold" it is outside, just think about the people who are actually suffering all around the world.
We take so many things for granted. I really hope everyone uses the two words that were given to you as some of your first two words which is, "thank-you." Appreciate the benefit of those two words and use them often because you will regret not using them later on in life.
-chantalnguyen
11.24.2011
11.17.2011
Voices West 2011 -Links
I know I blogged a bible about how exciting and fun and wonderful Voices West was...but if you weren't there to see it, well then I'm sharing a little part of my life with you:
http://youtu.be/Q2RhLVxEN1s - Kokopelli sings Tabula Rasa by Don MacDonald ft. Javier reciting the poem and Malaika with the dedication to Corazon
http://youtu.be/yu0-vdR8nYk - Kokopelli sings I See You by Mika, arr. by Jen McMillan, ft. Brooke as soloist, Bryan on piano, Tova on drums, Cory on keyboard and Erik on bass
http://youtu.be/cNqYTCEsLgU- Mass Choir at City Hall: Kokopelli w/EYC, Coastal Sound, Corazon, Ihana and Kamala singing Eternity ft. Tova on piano
http://youtu.be/NawLa5SuOvY - Coastal Sound singing Felix Mendelssohn's, "Richte mich, Gott" at City Hall
http://youtu.be/UBTKHo_2UUY - Coastal Sound singing , "The Song of the Count" from Sesame Street with their own choreography...very fun; ft. George on piano
http://youtu.be/0YZ98DMmNzg - Kokopelli's "Amarula Sponono" at City Hall
http://youtu.be/yxALIaawBRk Mass Choir invades Old Spaghetti Factory singing "Amarula Sponono"
http://youtu.be/bnt9FtR71H8 Intermission mingling: Corazon, Coastal Sound and Kokopelli
http://youtu.be/FCRnXZGjAj4 - Kokopelli opens with "Nunc Dimittis" by Pawel Lukaszewski
http://youtu.be/Q2RhLVxEN1s - Kokopelli sings Tabula Rasa by Don MacDonald ft. Javier reciting the poem and Malaika with the dedication to Corazon
http://youtu.be/yu0-vdR8nYk - Kokopelli sings I See You by Mika, arr. by Jen McMillan, ft. Brooke as soloist, Bryan on piano, Tova on drums, Cory on keyboard and Erik on bass
http://youtu.be/cNqYTCEsLgU- Mass Choir at City Hall: Kokopelli w/EYC, Coastal Sound, Corazon, Ihana and Kamala singing Eternity ft. Tova on piano
http://youtu.be/gByliYbvLV8 - Mass Choir at City Hall: Kokopelli w/EYC, Coastal Sound, Corazon, Ihana and Kamala singing After The War from the movie Passchendale arr. by Joel Forth ft. Natalia (Kokopelli), Stephanie (Ihana) as soloists and Tova on piano
http://youtu.be/NawLa5SuOvY - Coastal Sound singing Felix Mendelssohn's, "Richte mich, Gott" at City Hall
http://youtu.be/UBTKHo_2UUY - Coastal Sound singing , "The Song of the Count" from Sesame Street with their own choreography...very fun; ft. George on piano
http://youtu.be/0YZ98DMmNzg - Kokopelli's "Amarula Sponono" at City Hall
http://youtu.be/yxALIaawBRk Mass Choir invades Old Spaghetti Factory singing "Amarula Sponono"
http://youtu.be/bnt9FtR71H8 Intermission mingling: Corazon, Coastal Sound and Kokopelli
ENJOY!
-chantalnguyen
Voices West 2011
Voices West: Six top Western choirs joining forces to create the most memorable performance in music history...
Alright, I must admit that was a little dramatic, but to my choir and I, that was a milestone for us and for us to top what this weekend was, is going to be difficult. But we're Kokopelli, we can do anything.
Coming home from our insane tour in Lethbridge, us Koko's had a lot of work cut out for us in preparation for the Voices West Festival starting on Thursday, November 10th. We had invited five other Western Choirs: EYC (Edmonton Youth Choir), Coastal Sound (Coquitlam, BC), Corazon (Nelson, BC), Ihana (Red Deer, AB), and Kamala (Battleford, SK) to team up with us for a performance changing our lives forever.
Thursday November 10th 2011: Thursday night was the official start of our festival as all choirs filed into McDougal United Church, eager to meet one another and of course, sing. Kokopelli opened the festival with our welcome speech and welcome song, "Mulumele Shangwe" then had other choirs come up to share their own pieces. Corazon...okay they're amazing. I bawled my eyes out. However, one of the most memorable moments for me that night was Coastal Sound's performance of "With or Without You" by U2 (which featured Kokopelli at the concert on Saturday night.) The way they had staged it and sang it absolutely touched my heart, brought tears to my eyes, literally blew my brains right out of my noggin and made me super excited to get together to work with them on this piece. Even though some of us had disagreements as to what the lyrics were, it just comes to show that no matter how you interpret the piece of music, it will always touch your heart in so many ways. Kokopelli then took the stage with, "I See You" by Mika, arr. by former Kokopelli/Oran member, Jennifer McMillan. Having former members arrange pieces for us like that just makes it that much easier to perform, knowing the kind of connection you have to that song. It just means a hell of alot more to you when it's practically given to you by family.
After our little show and tell session, we got straight to work with mass choir pieces: Eternity by Lisa Freeman (music by Michael Bojesen) and After The War arr. by again, a former Kokopelli/Oran member, Joel Forth...who also happened to be my highschool student teacher. It's a small world I tell you. A good two and a half hours of rehearsing later and it's bonding time with two hundred and fifty people downstairs with juice and cookies for the rest of the night.
Friday November 11th 2011: Day two of Voices West. Also Remembrance Day. Put the two together and you've got a heck of a busy day. Though the day was filled to the brim with preparing for all of the performances, we all found it to be enjoyable and we did find a little bit of spare time to just relax and enjoy one another's company.
The Remembrance Day performance called all six choirs to be at McDougall United Church at 8:30 AM for warm ups and a quick rehearsal where we then made our way over to City Hall for the ceremony at 10AM. "After The War" was dedicated to the many men and women who had laid down their lives for us and who are still living to fight for us. Because the front row was reserved for those in the Forces, I saw so many who shed their tears to that piece and in return, I too, drowned in my own tears. Seeing the reaction of the audience truly touched my heart and I'm so blessed to have been a part of this. However, I could not cry for long. We quickly wiped our eyes in order to sing a lighter song to lift the hearts of our audience. "Eternity" produced waves of magic throughout City Hall that day, leaving each and every person in awe.
Alright, I must admit that was a little dramatic, but to my choir and I, that was a milestone for us and for us to top what this weekend was, is going to be difficult. But we're Kokopelli, we can do anything.
Coming home from our insane tour in Lethbridge, us Koko's had a lot of work cut out for us in preparation for the Voices West Festival starting on Thursday, November 10th. We had invited five other Western Choirs: EYC (Edmonton Youth Choir), Coastal Sound (Coquitlam, BC), Corazon (Nelson, BC), Ihana (Red Deer, AB), and Kamala (Battleford, SK) to team up with us for a performance changing our lives forever.
Thursday November 10th 2011: Thursday night was the official start of our festival as all choirs filed into McDougal United Church, eager to meet one another and of course, sing. Kokopelli opened the festival with our welcome speech and welcome song, "Mulumele Shangwe" then had other choirs come up to share their own pieces. Corazon...okay they're amazing. I bawled my eyes out. However, one of the most memorable moments for me that night was Coastal Sound's performance of "With or Without You" by U2 (which featured Kokopelli at the concert on Saturday night.) The way they had staged it and sang it absolutely touched my heart, brought tears to my eyes, literally blew my brains right out of my noggin and made me super excited to get together to work with them on this piece. Even though some of us had disagreements as to what the lyrics were, it just comes to show that no matter how you interpret the piece of music, it will always touch your heart in so many ways. Kokopelli then took the stage with, "I See You" by Mika, arr. by former Kokopelli/Oran member, Jennifer McMillan. Having former members arrange pieces for us like that just makes it that much easier to perform, knowing the kind of connection you have to that song. It just means a hell of alot more to you when it's practically given to you by family.
After our little show and tell session, we got straight to work with mass choir pieces: Eternity by Lisa Freeman (music by Michael Bojesen) and After The War arr. by again, a former Kokopelli/Oran member, Joel Forth...who also happened to be my highschool student teacher. It's a small world I tell you. A good two and a half hours of rehearsing later and it's bonding time with two hundred and fifty people downstairs with juice and cookies for the rest of the night.
Friday November 11th 2011: Day two of Voices West. Also Remembrance Day. Put the two together and you've got a heck of a busy day. Though the day was filled to the brim with preparing for all of the performances, we all found it to be enjoyable and we did find a little bit of spare time to just relax and enjoy one another's company.
The Remembrance Day performance called all six choirs to be at McDougall United Church at 8:30 AM for warm ups and a quick rehearsal where we then made our way over to City Hall for the ceremony at 10AM. "After The War" was dedicated to the many men and women who had laid down their lives for us and who are still living to fight for us. Because the front row was reserved for those in the Forces, I saw so many who shed their tears to that piece and in return, I too, drowned in my own tears. Seeing the reaction of the audience truly touched my heart and I'm so blessed to have been a part of this. However, I could not cry for long. We quickly wiped our eyes in order to sing a lighter song to lift the hearts of our audience. "Eternity" produced waves of magic throughout City Hall that day, leaving each and every person in awe.
Mass Choir at City Hall: Kokopelli, EYC, Coastal Sound, Corazon, Ihana and Kamala
That was once again, ONLY the beginning of our eventful day. Good thing our morning gig was done and we had a small amount of time to prepare ourselves for our dress rehearsals and final concert (the "Sneak Peek" concert) of the evening. Kokopelli had from 10:30 until 12:15 to do whatever we had to before our dress rehearsal. My fellow chorister and I decided it would be a superb idea (since we were downtown) to go on a little shopping expedition at Holt Renfrew and grab lunch up at the Holt's Café. From City Hall to Holt Renfrew...is really not that far of a walk but when we got there, we discovered that Holt's was closed until 12.That definitely didn't work into our schedule too well. So we shrugged and made our way over to City Centre Mall where we planned to get a nice hot plate of rice at Edo Japan. BOOM, once again, our plan failed as Edo Japan had also failed to open that morning. New York Fries, perhaps? BOOM, plan failed a third time. Subway...? Fourth time failing. Funny thing is we vowed to avoid McDonald's. Guess what was the only thing opened?! MCDONALD'S. A warm cup of Starbucks, fries and a small portion of nuggets it was for Kayleigh and I. By small portion I mean like one nugget each from a box of 10 and I gave the rest to our boys sitting next to us. Seriously, never eat shit like that before a performance. Remember that, singers. Because for the twenty minutes of dress rehearsal time Kokopelli had at City Hall, our stomachs were literally going to explode from our excessive singing and disgusting food we had put in there in the first place. I swear to God, I felt as if I was going to die. Besides feeling sick, we had another break at 12:30PM to do what we will as long as we came back fully dressed in uniforms for 2:30PM. I found a little "kitchen" space inside the holding room and that my friends, became my personal dressing room for the day. Of course I shared...but we felt like stars. Loved it.
3PM came around and our, "Sneak Peek" concert began with Coastal Sound to open, Corazon, EYC, Ihana, Kamala, Kokopelli and Mass Choir to close. I must say, all the performances were quite splendid. It's still somewhat a small shock to me, being with such a talented group of people because when I was in highschool...well, you sort of get it. Corazon made so many of us cry. Their pieces were followed by a letter in regards to war situations, fitting the event like a glove. Ihana and Kamala were the newer associations but they also did quite well. I was only slightly disappointed with Ihana's performace of, "Tshotsoloza." Having Kokopelli do that exact piece three years ago, I'm really sad to say Ihana sang it no where near as powerful as we did, and no body's voice could ever replace Jen McMillan's.
Kokopelli wrapped up the individual performaces charging in with, "Sipiri" then a heartfelt, "Stay" for our beautiful Nunu Uaaka from Africa, "The Ground" then dancing it out with "Amarula Sponono." Then, all choirs joined us to close the event at City Hall with, "After The War" and, "Eternity" once again.
Kokopelli, EYC, Coastal Sound, Corazon, Ihana and Kamala in our own uniforms, closing the event with
"After The War" and "Eternity"
After closing the event at City Hall, our director, Scott, treated the singers of all choirs to Galaxyland for the rest of the night. Though advised not to go on certain rides in order to save our voices...many of us went anyways. It's also probably a good thing that Galaxyland closes at a certain hour, or else we never would have made it to our final day of Voices West the very next morning...
Saturday November 12th 2011: The Final Day of Voices West began at 9AM at McDougall United Church once more. Mass rehearsals and workshops took place that morning where Kokopelli joined Coastal Sound to rehearse and choreograph, "With or Without You" then connected with Kamala and invited them to join us in singing and choreographing, "Les Voyageurs de la Gatineau" as they've sung it once already in Ottawa. Can't get anymore Canadian than that.
Who's hungry after all that rehearsing?! We ALL were! Therefore, we invaded the Old Spaghetti Factory downtown for a small lunch before heading out to rehearse and prepare once more. We serenaded the Old Spaghetti staff with, "Amarula Sponono" which we also taught everyone else in rehearsal that morning. A potluck was planned for 6pm that day and the spring rolls I had planned to bring...oh what the hell, my plans always fail. So I resorted to plan B and called up my aunt at 10 AM asking her to make me 200 spring rolls. She's great. I'm super thankful to have an aunt who owns her own shop. One of the singers, Thomas however didn't get the notification on this potluck. Of course he starts having a freak out at the restaurant and that's when I check my e-mail (I love my Blackberry) Thomas...was on bun duty. No worries, Thomas, you are still my favourite...kind of.
Voices West Luncheon at the Old Spaghetti Factory
So there we were, Thomas and I driving around the city to buy some buns which ended up costing him a good fifty bucks. Twenty dollars were spent on buns...the next thirty dollars were spent on the wicker baskets and cloths to put the buns in. Ridiculous? That's what you get when shopping with a woman. We really care how things look. Anyways, after blowing Thomas's money on buns and baskets, we came back to the church where I went into the kitchen to help Lisa (and Michelle L.) set up for potluck. It's like...innate for me to help in the kitchen. It was fun though and it was like a little bonding time between the three of us. Michelle and I got into a scrap with one of the Coastal girls, but it doesn't matter now. We don't have to see their faces for a very long time and even when we do see their faces, we can choose to not talk to them at all. After all, we are only, "kitchen people." Scoff.
Good thing we all got over it before our dress rehearsal. Why? Because it was with Coastal Sound. Another reason is because we were supposed to be putting on a show without looking pissed off. (Musicians are great actors I tell you!)
Kokopelli opened the concert and our season right at 7:30PM filing in with a bone-chilling, "Nunc Dimittis" by Pawel Lukaszewski; touching hearts with Don MacDonald's, "Tabula Rasa" feat. Javier reciting the poem and Malaika's dedication speech to Corazon; had a little Canadian expedition with Kamala singing, "Les Voyageurs de la Gatineau" arr. by Jen McMillan ft. Bryan on piano and Tova on spoons; finding love with, "I See You" by Mika, arr. by Jen McMillan ft. Bryan on piano, Tova on drums, Cory on keyboard, Erik on bass and Brooke as the soloist and finally dancing it out with our signature piece, "Twatha Kokure" feat. Bryan as soloist.
Kokopelli opening up with, "Nunc Dimittis";
Kokopelli singing, "Twatha Kokure"
That's all us. Opened the season, opened the show. We're a pretty talented bunch I'd say. Up next was Kamala Youth Choir ("Lux Aeterna" from Missa, "The Call," "My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord," "Psalmo 150" and "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream"); Corazon broke hearts with, "We Walk in a Fog" "Ave Maria" by Franz Biebl, and "Awake"; EYC brought, "O Magnum Mysterium", "Salmo 150", "There is No Rose," "A Boy and a Girl" and "Ajde Jano" to the table, Ihana's repetoire was composed of, "All Too Soon," "Eatnemen Vuelie," "Kyrie," Kokopelli's own, "Tshotsoloza" and, "The Voice" and finally Coastal Sound closed individual performaces with a beautiful Felix Mendelssohn piece, "Richte mich, Gott" then preceeded to "AveMaris Stella," "I am the Great Sun," "Eatnemen Vuelie," a fun and exciting, "The Song of the Count" from Seseme Street and, "With or Without You" feat. Kokopelli. And to finish off the festival, we once again called upon all choirs to join us in singing, "After The War" and "Eternity" ...with a little "Amarula Sponono" for some fun at the end!
Kokopelli, Kamala, Ihana, EYC, Corazon, and Coastal for one last performance with eachother
This entire festival right here sums up my entire life. This is what I get to do and I get to do what I love and I'm sure damn blessed to be able to do it. Why did this change my life? Because I got to meet so many new people. I got to share my love and passion for music with the people that I already know and the people who I've just met. Most importantly, I've never in my life seen so much LOVE for one another in such a refined space. We all love eachother so much in the end. I'm blessed. I'm blessed to be able to be a part of something as beautiful as this. I'm blessed be living in Canada, where we GET to do things we want. We all are.
-chantalnguyen
11.15.2011
Lethbridge Tour 2011
It feels so great to finally be home after days of touring in Lethbridge, AB, Canada. Came home on Tuesday, November 8th at 3 AM and went straight to bed...yes, I have missed my bed terribly after having to sleep on the gym floor and ON one of my choristers on the bus ride back to Edmonton. It's an eight hour drive and I have a bad back as is, so...you do the math.
Day 1: I forgot my bag of carrot sticks, my hairspray and Blackberry charger. Too late. Fifty-three of us were on the tour bus leaving Edmonton at around 9 am on Sunday morning and got into Lethbridge at 3pm. The traditional version of, "Tshotsoloza" was learned by ear within thirty minutes on the tour bus and to pass the time on the bus, we all had little mini-rehearsals and broke into song whenever we wanted. Like who needs a radio when you're travelling with an amazing group of talented singers like us?
One of our choristers, Thomas decided to drink I'd say approximately seven litres of water on the way to Lethbridge. Guess what? He had to pee like fifteen thousand times. So when the bus stopped, he asked to go...on the side of the road. I still say, we should have just drove off without him. It's okay to be a little mean somtimes...
We got into the small town of Lethbridge at 3pm where we were taken to Chinook High School to settle down and hold a rehearsal. Staying at Chinook High School over night wasn't exactly what you would refer to as, "comfortable" but it was surprisingly a nicer facility than what I've stayed at in the past, and the hospitality of the people of Chinook High School were incredible.
Later on during the day at Chinook, we held a second rehearsal, this time in the small band room...you'd think a band room would be one of the more spacious rooms in a school, but this was not the case. However, despite the dryness of the facility and the tight area we were sitting in, it did make our voices and ears work harder, and of course gain a much deeper appreciation for our rehearsal space(McDougall United Church) at home.
Rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals: That was practically ALL of the second day in Lethbridge and a little bit of fun of course...it's always fun to be around Koko's!
At breakfast, a student from Chinook High School approached members of the choir and said, "So, you're a choir?...Where's your wheelchair guy?" Scoff. Silly kids. Thinking every choir has to be Glee. Oh well, that made our morning and definitely made a good topic of conversation. Later on, their principal walked into our rehearsal telling us a story of how all the kids this morning, ran up to him, looking worried and saying, "I don't know if you are aware of this...but there are people sleeping in our gym." Real cute.
From Starbucks and McDonald's runs, rehearsals, dancing, massage trains, mingling with people from the Chinook choir, leg shakers for Twatha Kokure (which I had to give back because I can't even dance worth shit), head massages, sleeping on the gym floors, getting squished by fellow choristers in the middle of the night, and sleeping ON a fellow chorister on the 8 hour bus ride home...it was the trip of a life time for me.
This trip was just the beginning of a beautiful season. I couldn't wait to get home and get working for our upcoming concert and I must say that our Voices West Festival (November 10th-12th) changed my life forever.
-chantalnguyen
Day 1: I forgot my bag of carrot sticks, my hairspray and Blackberry charger. Too late. Fifty-three of us were on the tour bus leaving Edmonton at around 9 am on Sunday morning and got into Lethbridge at 3pm. The traditional version of, "Tshotsoloza" was learned by ear within thirty minutes on the tour bus and to pass the time on the bus, we all had little mini-rehearsals and broke into song whenever we wanted. Like who needs a radio when you're travelling with an amazing group of talented singers like us?
One of our choristers, Thomas decided to drink I'd say approximately seven litres of water on the way to Lethbridge. Guess what? He had to pee like fifteen thousand times. So when the bus stopped, he asked to go...on the side of the road. I still say, we should have just drove off without him. It's okay to be a little mean somtimes...
We got into the small town of Lethbridge at 3pm where we were taken to Chinook High School to settle down and hold a rehearsal. Staying at Chinook High School over night wasn't exactly what you would refer to as, "comfortable" but it was surprisingly a nicer facility than what I've stayed at in the past, and the hospitality of the people of Chinook High School were incredible.
Later on during the day at Chinook, we held a second rehearsal, this time in the small band room...you'd think a band room would be one of the more spacious rooms in a school, but this was not the case. However, despite the dryness of the facility and the tight area we were sitting in, it did make our voices and ears work harder, and of course gain a much deeper appreciation for our rehearsal space(McDougall United Church) at home.
Rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals: That was practically ALL of the second day in Lethbridge and a little bit of fun of course...it's always fun to be around Koko's!
At breakfast, a student from Chinook High School approached members of the choir and said, "So, you're a choir?...Where's your wheelchair guy?" Scoff. Silly kids. Thinking every choir has to be Glee. Oh well, that made our morning and definitely made a good topic of conversation. Later on, their principal walked into our rehearsal telling us a story of how all the kids this morning, ran up to him, looking worried and saying, "I don't know if you are aware of this...but there are people sleeping in our gym." Real cute.
From Starbucks and McDonald's runs, rehearsals, dancing, massage trains, mingling with people from the Chinook choir, leg shakers for Twatha Kokure (which I had to give back because I can't even dance worth shit), head massages, sleeping on the gym floors, getting squished by fellow choristers in the middle of the night, and sleeping ON a fellow chorister on the 8 hour bus ride home...it was the trip of a life time for me.
This trip was just the beginning of a beautiful season. I couldn't wait to get home and get working for our upcoming concert and I must say that our Voices West Festival (November 10th-12th) changed my life forever.
-chantalnguyen
11.04.2011
Public Transit...
...just pisses the hell out of me. Technically, it's not exactly PUBLIC TRANSIT that pisses me off. It's the PEOPLE using the Public Transit (ie. LRT, ETS, etc...) who just piss me off, hence completely destroying my day. So if I am having a bad day...well then it's most likely that one screaming kid on the bus who just ruined it for me...at 7 o'clock in the freaking morning. Maybe you don't own a vehicle of your own or maybe your car is totally destroyed because you are an idiot driver or it was destroyed because of an idiot driver or maybe you just want to, "go green." Whatever your situation maybe, I completely understand, but for God's sake just contain yourself. Now, usually I drive my dad's old car...nothing too special. It's a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid. Typical for an Asian, but hey it's a car that works. Or I get rides to and from places (thanks dad!) Sometimes, it likes to just break down on it's own and therefore it ends up in the shop...that's also usually when I'm forced to take the bus...like today!
My days start off early....way too early and end way too late. As in I wake up at six in the morning and automatically, I got so many things to do and I come home basically at midnight just to sleep for literally five hours. My bus at the back of my house to destination "A" comes at 7:32AM, and I just want to clarify that even though that bus stop is behind my backyard, waiting for five minutes feels like a damn long time...especially when you're waiting in the cold...in the morning. ESPECIALLY when you're thinking about that nice warm bed that you could still be curled up in. (I'm sure everyone can relate to this.) So there I am, waiting in this freezing cold weather because I'm crazy enough to still be living in Canada...(free health-care...eh?) and I get on that first bus to go to destination "A" and everything is fine, bus driver is super nice, it's all the people from my neighbourhood, we're all friends and it's all good. Then I get to destination "A" and I have to get off the nice, warm bus again, out into the cold and I have to wait like half an hour for my next bus to arrive. Seriously. It's a long wait. And surrounding me are crazy people. I can't say that about everyone, so if you know you're not a crazy person, don't worry about it. But if you're one of those pathetic losers with no home, no job...nobody, who hang out at transit stations and hobbling up to me saying, "Scuze me miss, can you spare me some change?" Uh...no. Not 'cause I'm not nice but you're probably going to go spend my hard earned 2 bucks that I just gave you, on crack and booze. I'm also broke as fuck, so go find a job. Stripper. Janitor. Whatever. Anything that will fund your loony ways...go for it. I also always comtemplate on giving them the, "Jenna Marbles face" but I haven't exactly come up with the courage to do that yet. I'm not that weird. (She is definitely my inspiration for writing this blog though.)
Now that I've dealt with that smelly bum, I see my bus coming and holy mother, I've never been more excited to be finally sitting down. Holy shit, I thought wrong because that bus is just loaded with people. So guess what? I have to stand for an hour holding my crap in one hand, holding onto a pole with the other while being squashed by everyone else who didn't get a seat. Thing is, I could be sitting down too, only that bitch sitting down put her shit on the seat that I could have had. You have a lap for a reason, put your shit on your own two legs woman!
Another thing that just pisses me off: As I'm standing there minding my own business, trying to stay positive on my hour long ride, I hear this blaring, banging shit thing that I like to call noise but to some kids, it's "music." One thing, you shouldn't be listening to it 'cause it sucks...and it makes my own ears bleed. Hi, I'm a pianist and vocalist so I should know what music really is. And I assume it's some loser dressed in baggy pants and piercings and tattoos coming out of his face listening to his iPod, mp3, BlackBerry...whatever, but NO it's like a twelve year old girl rocking away to that shit and I just want to SUH-LAP her. It's freaking eight o'clock in the morning, shouldn't you be listening to something like Beethovan? Mozart? Clementi? No? Never heard of those guys? ...clearly you're probably not that well educated which is also the reason behind why you didn't know that you can blow out your ears by cranking those ear buds up way too loud.
Eighteen year-olds with like fifteen million kids...I was just talking about this with a friend who I had coffee with just on Wednesday. GOOGLE the word, "CONTRACEPTIVES." Too big of a word for you? GOOGLE the word, "BIRTH CONTROL." Do you NOT use...rubbers? Do you NOT believe in them? ...Well, I guess you can't believe in something that you've never even heard of! So take my advice and Google all that, then maybe you will have less kids and you can remember their names and the STD rate in America will just hopefully decrease and you won't have to drag your zillions of stinkin' children out to piss off the public...on the bus.
What really bothers the most is seeing all the little elementary/junior high kids on the bus. Not the school bus, but the actual "ETS" bus. It actually hurts my heart to see them on there, and this is where I get pissed off with their parents...I don't even know who their parents are! Call me spoiled but when I was at that age, I always got safe rides to and from school everyday from either my mom, my dad, my uncle, my aunt and the list goes on. Where are your freaking parents and/or family members? Like this child is ten. He/she don't deserve this! What did your child ever do to you? You're the one who gave birth to the God damn kid, you take care of him/her until that day when he says, "It's lame to be driven to school by your parents" and then you know, it's safe to let your baby fly because he/she can handle it because he/she is in highschool! Don't be bitching and whining to the media when your child has been abducted and expecting everyone to find your kid for you...go find them yourself! You're the one who let them take the bus. It's a scary place. Drive your child (Kindergarten to grade eight) to school!
As I'm about half-way to destination "B" and thinking about how pissed off I am already, this foul odour just fills my nostrils up. Oh yeah, as if I'm not having a crappy morning already, I'm standing next to some filthy weirdo curled up into a ball in the corner. You have money to take the bus -and hey! you own a freaking iPhone!- GO take a shower! For the love of God, just please use some shampoo and soap and hot water and if you don't have shampoo and soap and access to hot water, I'm sure alot of public bathrooms have all that crap. So just please...go use it.
I just really wanted to make it clear to people that I'm not racist or have anything against fat people. But just one tiny thing: What is it with like all the ethnic people and talking super loud to one another?! Whether you're Chinese, or Mandarin or Cantonese, Vietnamese, Indian, Fiji...an, Pakistanian, Iranian, African, Souda Arabian, like you're sitting literally 2 centimetres away from eachother...no need to scream in eachother's faces...this is not a bar or a club or a riot. And for those screaming into their phones...well just shut the hell up. Nobody gives a shit about listening to your blahblahblah conversation that's not in English first thing in the morning...or any given time of the day.
So that's basically how I live life in the first hour and a half of my day. Seven different things that just piss me off as soon as I wake up. I literally pay $2.85 for a headache. That money could have gone towards a nice hot Starbucks. Sucks hey? So next time you're on a bus, just think about the things that people do to piss you off and don't do it! Remember to always be considerate, where ever you may be. Especially on the bus.
-chantalnguyen
My days start off early....way too early and end way too late. As in I wake up at six in the morning and automatically, I got so many things to do and I come home basically at midnight just to sleep for literally five hours. My bus at the back of my house to destination "A" comes at 7:32AM, and I just want to clarify that even though that bus stop is behind my backyard, waiting for five minutes feels like a damn long time...especially when you're waiting in the cold...in the morning. ESPECIALLY when you're thinking about that nice warm bed that you could still be curled up in. (I'm sure everyone can relate to this.) So there I am, waiting in this freezing cold weather because I'm crazy enough to still be living in Canada...(free health-care...eh?) and I get on that first bus to go to destination "A" and everything is fine, bus driver is super nice, it's all the people from my neighbourhood, we're all friends and it's all good. Then I get to destination "A" and I have to get off the nice, warm bus again, out into the cold and I have to wait like half an hour for my next bus to arrive. Seriously. It's a long wait. And surrounding me are crazy people. I can't say that about everyone, so if you know you're not a crazy person, don't worry about it. But if you're one of those pathetic losers with no home, no job...nobody, who hang out at transit stations and hobbling up to me saying, "Scuze me miss, can you spare me some change?" Uh...no. Not 'cause I'm not nice but you're probably going to go spend my hard earned 2 bucks that I just gave you, on crack and booze. I'm also broke as fuck, so go find a job. Stripper. Janitor. Whatever. Anything that will fund your loony ways...go for it. I also always comtemplate on giving them the, "Jenna Marbles face" but I haven't exactly come up with the courage to do that yet. I'm not that weird. (She is definitely my inspiration for writing this blog though.)
Now that I've dealt with that smelly bum, I see my bus coming and holy mother, I've never been more excited to be finally sitting down. Holy shit, I thought wrong because that bus is just loaded with people. So guess what? I have to stand for an hour holding my crap in one hand, holding onto a pole with the other while being squashed by everyone else who didn't get a seat. Thing is, I could be sitting down too, only that bitch sitting down put her shit on the seat that I could have had. You have a lap for a reason, put your shit on your own two legs woman!
Another thing that just pisses me off: As I'm standing there minding my own business, trying to stay positive on my hour long ride, I hear this blaring, banging shit thing that I like to call noise but to some kids, it's "music." One thing, you shouldn't be listening to it 'cause it sucks...and it makes my own ears bleed. Hi, I'm a pianist and vocalist so I should know what music really is. And I assume it's some loser dressed in baggy pants and piercings and tattoos coming out of his face listening to his iPod, mp3, BlackBerry...whatever, but NO it's like a twelve year old girl rocking away to that shit and I just want to SUH-LAP her. It's freaking eight o'clock in the morning, shouldn't you be listening to something like Beethovan? Mozart? Clementi? No? Never heard of those guys? ...clearly you're probably not that well educated which is also the reason behind why you didn't know that you can blow out your ears by cranking those ear buds up way too loud.
Eighteen year-olds with like fifteen million kids...I was just talking about this with a friend who I had coffee with just on Wednesday. GOOGLE the word, "CONTRACEPTIVES." Too big of a word for you? GOOGLE the word, "BIRTH CONTROL." Do you NOT use...rubbers? Do you NOT believe in them? ...Well, I guess you can't believe in something that you've never even heard of! So take my advice and Google all that, then maybe you will have less kids and you can remember their names and the STD rate in America will just hopefully decrease and you won't have to drag your zillions of stinkin' children out to piss off the public...on the bus.
What really bothers the most is seeing all the little elementary/junior high kids on the bus. Not the school bus, but the actual "ETS" bus. It actually hurts my heart to see them on there, and this is where I get pissed off with their parents...I don't even know who their parents are! Call me spoiled but when I was at that age, I always got safe rides to and from school everyday from either my mom, my dad, my uncle, my aunt and the list goes on. Where are your freaking parents and/or family members? Like this child is ten. He/she don't deserve this! What did your child ever do to you? You're the one who gave birth to the God damn kid, you take care of him/her until that day when he says, "It's lame to be driven to school by your parents" and then you know, it's safe to let your baby fly because he/she can handle it because he/she is in highschool! Don't be bitching and whining to the media when your child has been abducted and expecting everyone to find your kid for you...go find them yourself! You're the one who let them take the bus. It's a scary place. Drive your child (Kindergarten to grade eight) to school!
As I'm about half-way to destination "B" and thinking about how pissed off I am already, this foul odour just fills my nostrils up. Oh yeah, as if I'm not having a crappy morning already, I'm standing next to some filthy weirdo curled up into a ball in the corner. You have money to take the bus -and hey! you own a freaking iPhone!- GO take a shower! For the love of God, just please use some shampoo and soap and hot water and if you don't have shampoo and soap and access to hot water, I'm sure alot of public bathrooms have all that crap. So just please...go use it.
I just really wanted to make it clear to people that I'm not racist or have anything against fat people. But just one tiny thing: What is it with like all the ethnic people and talking super loud to one another?! Whether you're Chinese, or Mandarin or Cantonese, Vietnamese, Indian, Fiji...an, Pakistanian, Iranian, African, Souda Arabian, like you're sitting literally 2 centimetres away from eachother...no need to scream in eachother's faces...this is not a bar or a club or a riot. And for those screaming into their phones...well just shut the hell up. Nobody gives a shit about listening to your blahblahblah conversation that's not in English first thing in the morning...or any given time of the day.
So that's basically how I live life in the first hour and a half of my day. Seven different things that just piss me off as soon as I wake up. I literally pay $2.85 for a headache. That money could have gone towards a nice hot Starbucks. Sucks hey? So next time you're on a bus, just think about the things that people do to piss you off and don't do it! Remember to always be considerate, where ever you may be. Especially on the bus.
-chantalnguyen
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