Boy weds a Girl

Did you know that it snows in late April in Calgary? I definitely did not know this, and you could easily tell if you were to inspect my Calgary packing job. One hoodie. A suit for the wedding. And a fashionable windbreaker. And then the rest shorts and tee shirts. Not exactly clothes you are expected to pack when there is snow on the ground and the temperature dips below zero. But then again, its exactly the type of clothes you WOULD pack when traveling on the brink of May to a destination that doesnt rhyme with Smarkttica or Diberia. Like seriously, snow at this time of year? Its beyond stupid, its ... lets say... poopid. Not only that, but given my justified annoyances and complaints, in complete contrast, the weather was greeted and treated with profound ambivalence by locals. "Ehhh.. welcome to our Winter Wonderland, what can you do. It can snow any month here." Is that the best you can do? Not even any marked insecurity with a rolodex of canned excuses? This just gives me yet another reason to hate the Calgary Flames; the city where they reside has ludicrous weather, which seems to go along with their ludicrous fans (HA! I kid, but then again I dont).

So my buddy Adam got married to his girlfriend Nathalie this weekend, which really means another rare reunion party with friends who are now increasingly scattered and disconnected around the globe. Two friends of which, Matty and Mark, gave me a bit of a hard time for not doing more of this typing which I do now; submitting blog posts. Its as if I didnt feel bad enough already. Its just that sometimes Im lazy. I figured after 5 years, people reading would of maybe noticed by now. Like comeon, Im Noli.

The wedding this weekend was a special one that transcended the disasterous meteorological conditions, one Im glad I did not miss. No regrets and almost a pleasure to fly through 7 time zones to join in (and be fed so well. Im really in the need for some cardio). Adam is one of my few triple threat friends: 1) Charisma: A completely genuine, likable and personable cat, one of those rare peoples that gets along with everyone; that guy that you can't help liking after just the first few moments of meeting him. 2) Intelligence: He's an especially smart dude, one of those types you get jealous of because he makes learning seem easy. And somehow he manages this without exposing an ounce arrogance, simply projecting like any everyday average guy, who struggles like everyone else. 3) Looks: Some say if you were drunk enough, squinted your eyes and tilted your head at the correct angle, then wore rose colored sunglasses, he may seem to look like Bill Guerin. If that actually means anything or could be used to an advantage of some sort.

And then he found and married a girl just as rare and that's quite possibly an improvement on him. She even looks like a celebrity herself... um.. whatshername.. Judging Amy.

Unfortunately Adam dodged a major bullet... no embarrassing stories. Now what's the fun in that? People who know him KNOW how lucky he got by keeping all the embarrassing skeletons in the closet. And lets just say Im sure he tried very hard in order to make this happen, by laying down strict ground rules for wedding announcements and speeches, insisting all public speaking be kept down to under 3 nanoseconds. This is what you do when you've been known to be photographed in speedos. You see, Adam was my roommate when he first started dating Nat. And I have a wealth of stories, just from the first 3 dates alone. It seems so unfair... like what good is a wedding if you cant roast your friend? He completely sidestepped that landmine. Of course he did wear a body painted Flames Bertuzzi jersey to a Colorado Avalanche home game for his stag, but that doesnt count because it never got onto the jumbotron or youtube.

PS... Youd think with the amount I fly I would of done this already by now, but this was the first post Ive ever written on a plane. AC Flight 584, Calgary to New York. It was the peer pressure from Mark and Matty. I hope they are happy.

PPS... Weather over here in NYC and Bangor, ME at the moment? in the high 80s Farenheit! See, told you Calgary sucks.

Streaks of Lucky

The next question is: what happens when work benefits you more than what it normally provides by standard: ie laundry money and allowances for eating square meals whilst sheltered? With no direct agenda, it was quite a serendipitous March because of a schedule that allowed me to visit two good friends over the period of two weeks, even though they are both half the world away from myself and from each other. And both trips kinda just fell on my lap. What can you say? Happy Days.

3 Weeks ago I got to visit Eric in Taiwan. Id been meaning to visit Eric for the last two years, ever since he was assigned there by his company. He was due to move back this summer, so I was running out of time. I didnt think it was actually going to happen. A week after getting back from Colombia, I was asked to head to Taiwan for a job. Great right? Only problem was, Eric wasnt going to even be there when I got there. He was on vacation in Japan. HA! It worked out though that he would arrive back the same day I was suppose to finish the Taiwan Job. Staying a bit longer on, we set up a weekend on the tail end.

Thoughts on Taiwan: its more expensive than I thought it would be. Euro prices, at least on the high street store side of things. Another thing that I didnt expect is that it has a the 'feel' of Japanese influence, you can feel it looking around at the street: Note quite completely Chinatown, there is a flavor Tokyo. Speaking of Tokyo, the only associate I had with me was a Japanese guy from our Japanese partner company. Just me and him. Neither of us could speak Chineses, and we had to find food in the evening this way. Like a broken record for everytime I am in Asia, I was useless. I still cant communicate worth beans. Maruno-san however, was prepared: first he could read the odd character, since Japanese characters are based on Chinese characters. As well, he was technologically prepared with an electronic translator. God bless the Japanese and their gadgets. It meant I could eat food! Otherwise Id being frequenting the 7-11s and eating hotdogs and chips all week.

Weekend with Eric was a different story. With no communication barrier, he knew exactly what I was craving to eat, without me even asking. I just followed. Bubble tea: check. Dumplings: check. Thai food: check. Sushi: check. It was amazing. Everything that I had been deprived of in Dundalk was suddenly an avalanche of plenty. And then we went out in Taipei. A surreal experience that is better expressed by one of Eric's quotes that night "Im surprised to see white girls here. Its because there is a wedding. Normally they never show up here. Its because, compared to all these other girls, they all look too fat in comparison"

Using a work trip as a vehicle to spend an awesome weekend with a good friend who lives far away, these are rare. It takes mostly luck and timing. It would be only natural to expect that it would be a while before I could pull that off again. A long while... like say 2 weeks. Happily, two weeks later, I was with Jill in New York, and she had just moved there two weeks earlier. I got the title of first visitor. Im still waiting for the t-shirt and commemorative pin.

I love New York. I especially love New York when you know someone living there: no more extortionate hotel bills. And I especially especially love New York when your friend lives in an awesome apartment in the Upper Westside, 4 blocks away from Central Park, and 2 blocks away from Grays Papaya Hotdogs. Like comeon! And I especially especially especially love New York (thats especially cubed, Blam!) when, by location, you are even more open to random celebrity spotting because of the immediate proximity of these celebrity peoples. Jill and I were walking only 3 blocks away from her apartment on Amsterdam and 75th, on a Sunday morning. Bono was also walking there. Muther-effin Bono, singer of a rock band called U2. Perhaps you've heard of them. See, that doesnt happen in Dundalk. No effin way. South Dublin, maybe, but south Dublin wouldnt also have Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, Jay Z and Beyonce, Robert Deniro, Harrison Ford, Rihanna. And these are only the heavyweights, it completely discounts the Tina Feys and Liam Neesons and Ben Aflecks and Kelly Ripas. Im a pop culture guy, so I love this shiesse. They can be shopping for groceries in the same crazy insane busy grocery store. You never know. I encourage Jill to create a journal. And itll probably fill fast.

Of course we had good food too, and shopping and all that other good stuff. yaya. Bliss hair and body products. Cupcakes. Cookies. Hotdogs. I love cubed the hotdogs.