10/31/03

Who's the biggest idiot on the planet? You guessed it - me. Stupidly enough I forgot to bring some of the most important and crucial documents with me to Calgary when getting my updated visa stamp. This meant I had to inconvenience a very good bunch of people to send me the documents by courier, but this delayed me a few days, and I missed out on my vacation to Paris. So I've been stuck in Calgary, enjoying sub-zero temperatures, and scraping ice and snow off my rental car. I'm so incredibly grateful to my friends and work colleagues who helped me out here, but I still like such a fool, and was so looking forward to spending some time in Paris. Yep, I inconvenienced and let people down through my stupidity, so am feeling pretty down on myself as you can imagine. But at least I have my visa stamp now, and the opportunity to use my flight another time when I hope everything will go a little more smoothly.

10/27/03

I head off to Canada tomorrow, then France on Thursday, so there won't be any updates until I get back on November 6th.

10/22/03

I'm really saddened today by the sudden death of Elliott Smith. He was one of my favorite singer/songwriters who has left behind a legacy of excellent albums. It's such a shame because he was a great talent, and I was looking forward to seeing him at the All Tomorrow's Party in Los Angeles early next month.

10/14/03

Sometimes I think I should've just hibernated this year. I could have gone to sleep on December 31st, 2002 and woken up January 1st, 2004, therefore missing out the weirdness that has been 2003. All because of some bizarre loophole in INS bureacracy, I have to fly to Calgary of all places next week, just to get a visa stamp in my passport so I can return from Paris and gain legal entry to work in the USA. Even though I possess this, I just don't have a silly stamp in my passport. It just so happens that the very day I arrive back at SFO from Calgary will be the very day I'll be flying out to France. I predict a lot of book reading on the cards. There's other weirdness in my life which, frankly, I can't be bothered to reveal here, or I fear I may lose you forever dear reader.

On a totally unrelated note, I've decided to be obnoxious and take my wooly Domo-Kun with me to Paris, and photograph him next to all the major attractions, Amelie style, except with Domo-Kun instead of a gnome.

10/12/03

Lost in Translation is an absolute gem. It's a wonderfully sweet and subtle film, so different from most Hollywood offerings out there. The performance by Bill Murray is superbly refined, proving once again that he doesn't always have to be a comedy figure, but is equally adept with straight roles. The look and feel of the film is exquisite too, and it's probably one of the best movies I've seen this year.

10/10/03

Miss P is settling in much better now. She doesn't hide so much, sleeps on the furniture rather than behind the TV, continually hassles me for food, and this morning graduated to looking out of the window.

10/09/03

So apparently cats can suffer from depression too. Still, I'm glad to see Domo-Kun is getting hugely popular these days, and if you've ever wanted to make your friends believe they're more drunk than they really are, just put your homepage through this this or merely get them to laugh at this name.

10/08/03

Cal-eee-for-nia.

10/07/03

Even though I have been feeding California's children for near on three years, I am still not allowed to vote in today's historic Gubernatorial Recall Election. Still, best of luck Arnie.

10/06/03

Ack... one of those days that sucked. I felt depressed all day (I never use the term 'depressed' lightly), the lunch at work was gross and unpalatable, then when I went to make a nice cuppa in the afternoon, the coffee/break room smelled of puke.

10/05/03

My friend and Lomo Crawl regular Mark Warren is exhibiting a selection of his night photography in San Francisco on October 11th and 12th. Congratulations Mark!

10/04/03

I have settled into my new apartment quite well. Miss P was certainly a little tentative at first, and still exhibits signs of nervousness, but she's an absolute sweetheart and loves to snuggle with me or chase the laser pointer.