Frantastic!

You know how there's that place, that you've always dreamed about, and thought, boy wouldn't it be awesome if I could go there, visit there, laugh there?

Well for me, that place is San Francisco. Something about the ocean, and bridges, and warm Californian climes.

I asked my Dad once to move to California, so our family could live the sweet West Coast life. He told me to go there myself. So I have. Big thanks to Rob and Jerome for putting me up!

Extras

In my wallet, I have bus tickets from three different cities, I have restaurant vouchers for establishments in different provinces, and I have slips of paper with phone numbers and addresses from postal codes across Canada.

It seems a bit senseless to save such knick knacks. But it does make sense. At least for now. For now, I'll hang on to this wide panapoly of scrap paper. And I'll look forward to the day when I'll be able to clean out my wallet with a certain mind.

Nothing to do but rank and wait.

I had my last interview yesterday. It's amazing to me how approachable and friendly world experts can be.

Also, almost without exception, I think I left every school with a higher regard for it than when I arrived.

The interview crowd hit the town to celebrate. I flew at 6am this morning, so this meant I had to go straight from the bar, to packing, to a taxi, to a plane. (And I only took the taxi since I fell asleep in the hotel lobby while waiting for the airport shuttle.)

Anyways, now I have to rank the programs I applied to. And then wait.

In other news, I'll be boarding a plane to Indianapolis in 10 minutes! Hooray!

Halifacts

I'm in Halifax right now. My last interview is this coming Friday.

I'm staying with a friend from French camp. It's hard to believe that it's been five years since French camp. My friend looks different, but her laugh is the same.

For all those in the GTA, my sisters' are going to be in a musical from Feb 21-24. Be there or be square!

Back from the West

I was telling my mother yesterday about my interview experiences so far. How I'm tired, I'm traveling every other day, how I see more of airports than I ever thought possible, how I'm just getting... fatigued.

She told me to stop whining. It's something everyone has to go through, she says. Suck it up, learn form my mistakes and move on!

My family is practical that way.

Anyways, the interview tour has moved out of the west, and we now prepare to barnstorm through Ontario.

I think the most discouraging thing is when you don't' feel you've showed all that you had to offer in an interview. This is especially if it's at a school you were keen on. It's like being kicked in the groin many times. (You may think i don't know what this feels like, but I do, since I've had the (dis)pleasure of riding a trotting horse.)

Anyways, I thought to myself, how can I do this better? And of course my thoughts turned to Sexy Rexy and Tango-hips Manning.

As you may know, one quarterback leaves the Superbowl a loser and one leaves a winner. Thinking about this made me realize two things:

1. It really sucks when you work really hard for a really long time at something, only to flub up at the last, crucial moment. (ie, the big game, the big interview). I've come to realize these "all the marbles" type moments are just a part of life.

2. Just cause you're awesome, doesn't mean you'll always come through for "all the marbles". Witness how many times ol' Tango Hips had to lose before coming through. And even his detractors have to admit that he's pretty awesome (and his dectractors do not include my cousins Ryan and Matthew, who I hope to visit in the coming month in.. you guesed it,
Indianapolis). Anyways, I'll bet losing all those division finals musta felt pretty awful. And yet he stuck it out, and won. Eventually.

And why? Because he was super prepared. Because he didn't try to force things like Sexy Rexy. Because he learned from experience. And because he wasn't afraid to come around for another kick at the can. For all the marbles.