Author Archives: Chloe Desilets

First Things First

I’m now in my hotel room–tiny, cramped, and windowless–in New York City; I’ve already had a shower, and I’m looking to sleep off whatever jet lag I have left before embarking on my great adventure of discovery and fulfilling a long-time dream.

Oh, the things we creative types do for our creative pursuits.

But I can’t believe I’m here. In New York City. And that I was able to come on my drastically limited funds. For right now, though, I’m going to get some sleep–I don’t want jet lag interfering with my exploring and research.

One Hurdle (Barely) Cleared

I’m at Seattle Tacoma International Airport now, waiting for a midnight flight to Houston, Texas, on the second leg of my trip to New York City, where I’m going to spend a few days checking the city out and doing research for my entry into this year’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short).

I almost didn’t make it this far, though. When the bus I was on got to the Pacific border crossing in–or near–Blaine, Washington, the first guard to process everyone who was on the bus ushered me to the side so he could talk to me, after I admitted to him I’m currently unemployed. He was courteous and patient, and didn’t raise his voice–even when I took longer than I should have to register, at one point, that he was asking for my home address in Vancouver. He searched my bags–the only thing he did I didn’t like was stack two of my spiral notebooks on top of each other with the spirals facing the same way–then he let me proceed. I, for my part, didn’t lash out, but sucked up the situation, and honestly answered his questions.  The ladies checking luggage were quite gracious, waiting patiently for me to fumble with, and then close, my knapsack before placing it on the conveyor belt for them to survey.

At least I was allowed to continue on to Seattle.

When we arrived at the Amtrak station, I was disappointed to find there were no staff around for me to ask if I would be catching my train back to Vancouver from that same station, so I’ll have to assume it is. So I just hailed a cab outside of the station, and we headed to the airport. The cab driver was friendly; we had some good conversation, and he very politely corrected my pronunciation of Mount Rainier; I pronounced Rainier the French way (my dad’s side of the family tree is French Canadian), but it turns out, here in Washington State, it’s actually pronounce raehn-YEER. Well, you learn something new every day.

Please allow me a digression here: I’m absolutely amazed at how big Seattle is in comparison to Vancouver, whose council seems to be focused on growing upward instead of outward. It took so long to get from the King Street Station to the airport, and the ride cost me just under $40 US. Given the distance between the bus/train station and the airport, I honestly didn’t think I was going to get off that cheaply.

And now I’m waiting to continue my trip.  I have to admit, I’m really looking forward to getting on an airplane again, now for the first time in over ten years.

Imagine No Religion 4: Day Three/Fin

Here it is, the last day of Imagine No Religion 4; the conference is over for another year. And the worst thing to happen to me today was losing the lens cap to my camera. Oh, well–shit happens.  I’m sure I can live without it.

Another fun-filled, enlightening day, another day of taking careful notes from all of the speakers–one of whom I completely forgot to photograph, before or during his talk, but there’s no point in crying over spilled almond milk. One of the presenters, near the end of her presentation, showed a photograph of Earth, shot from behind Saturn–she had to zoom in to show us this little blue dot that is our planet; I honestly thought I was going to cry at the sight of it, and the thought that we live on a planet no bigger than the point of a ballpoint pen relative to the universe as a whole–and to Saturn, whose image took up most of the left part of the photograph. And I got my books signed by their respective authors, one of whom seemed to really appreciate meeting me as well as my buying his book.

I did miss some opportunities this year–chiefly the chance to interact with one of the speakers–but this year was an improvement over last year in terms of me rustling up the nerve to talk to people I want to talk to. Overall, though, I’m glad I came to this year’s conference, and have every intention of going to next year’s conference if there is one. Hopefully by then, I’ll have a thing or two to say to people I want to talk to, and I won’t let as many opportunities pass me by out of sheer nervousness.

Imagine No Religion: Day Two

After an earlier-than-expected start to the day (for reasons I won’t go into), I had a very long, informative day at the conference. I even sat next to two of the speakers for most of the day! I spoke to them only a couple of times so far, but even from that, I can safely say they’re very nice. Also, I bought a book, and have plans to purchase another, and to get the authors to sign them. Not to mention I got some excellent photos–even if they do need touching up so they look professional; unfortunately, I had to run out of one of this afternoon’s talks to get fresh batteries for my camera, because I didn’t think to purchase a package before this weekend. Stupid, I know. (Christopher diCarlo, if you ever read this, I’m so sorry.)

We had an hour and a half free before the banquet and movie scheduled for this evening, followed by a question-and-answer period–which I just returned from, by the way. I would definitely see the movie, The Unbelievers, again, but I haven’t decided if I’m going to buy it from iTunes or wait until it comes to Netflix; at least I’ll have a couple of weeks to make that decision.

Imagine No Religion 4: Day One

I returned, not ten minutes ago, from a panel discussion, which is part of the Imagine No Religion conference. I only got one photo of the panel, and participated in a group conversation with the panel’s host at the subsequent reception. Not a great start from where I sit–mostly because I don’t like to initiate or even join conversations, especially with complete strangers, unless I feel I have a reason to, and what I feel is the drastic shortage of photos–but a good night out over all, especially when you take into consideration that I learned some valuable lessons–even if my iPod’s battery did run out near the beginning of the panel discussion–and even developed at least one essay idea, which I hope I’ll develop more fully and then write in the not-too-distant future.

Now, I really should get some shut-eye, as I feel the need to get up early tomorrow.

A New Beginning

It’s almost 6:20 AM in Vancouver, and already I’m up, eating breakfast and reveling in my new, if short-lived, freedom, while still getting used to the idea of being unemployed for the first time in six-plus years.

The reason I’m up so early is because I’m headed off to Kamloops today, for a conference called Imagine No Religion, and my ride is picking me up at either 7:00 or 7:30 this morning, and I want to be ready when she gets here. It’s not that much of a problem, though, as I’ve grown accustomed to waking up at 5:30 each morning from Monday to Friday to make a 7:00 AM work shift. It’s quite the drive from Vancouver to Kamloops, so the earlier we leave, the better.

End of an Era

‘Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.’
Semisonic, ‘Closing Time,’ Feeling Strangely Fine, 1998

 

After six years and some months of loyal service, I quit my job; today was my last day. My now-former co-workers saw me off with a pizza lunch, and some of them gave me parting gifts–two shirts and a knapsack–and now, as of 3:30 PM Vancouver time, it’s all over.

I will admit there were a few minutes earlier this afternoon when I wondered if I had made a mistake in submitting my notice to my supervisor; I guess that happens to everyone who has quit their job, especially when they have nothing else waiting in the wings, as is the case with me right now. I was stoked and scared of this day–another example of how change is scary as well as exciting, I guess.

I had the privilege of working with some wonderful, if eccentric, people over the six years and few months I’ve worked at the job I just quit–my interactions and relationships with those folks were the best part of working at my now-former job; I do intend to drop by from time to time to visit them and catch up, and I promised them I’d do my damndest to not be a stranger.  But, for me, the time has come to move on.

Now, I’m going to enjoy my unemployment for a bit, before moving on to the next stage.

An Introduction (Of Sorts)

Hi, there, and welcome to my blog.

I’m not the type of person to deal with just one subject, so here you’ll get my thoughts on a variety of topics, which I’ve divided into categories: Art and Culture, News, Politics, Popular Culture, Religion, and Science and Technology; also, because I feel some public figures desperately need to be called out on their reprehensible behaviour, I’ve added a category titled Rogues’ Gallery, in which I do just that; plus I have the category labeled ‘uncategorized,’ which I’m sure I’ll use. I’ve just created those categories as a starter, and I’ll add more if I have thoughts on other topics, and modify and perhaps change the ones I have now if I see fit to do so. As I write this, I’m thinking I may write about some personal stuff as well, which I’ll do within reason.

Cheers, and enjoy!