A Place of Paradise

Treasure Island has been in my family for so long that it is hard to try and gather a memory that does not include the island in some way. My great aunt and great uncle bought the island a long time ago and my grandfather worked on the island as a child. He actually met my grandmother at the island, so it really does have very special meaning to us. I remember going to the island and the beautiful boat ride we would take to get there is one of the best. It's just the anticipation of coming over to the island to see everyone and spend an entire week together.

There is so much to say about this irresistible place that I just don't even have the words to explain it to you. It is the reason I look forward to summer, it is the glue that holds my family together (aside for love of course), and it is the history that continues to grow with every trip back to it.

It is a part of my family and no matter what happens to the island it will continue to be a member of this family.

Water

A compilation of videos I took during the summer of when we were on the boat. I took them using my GoPro Hero 4.

We're All Mad Here

“Where is the Leaning Tower of Pisa anyway?” I asked. She looked up from the computer, her brows knitted and an incredulous look was on her face.

            “Oh I don’t know, maybe, Pisa?!” Oh, right. I guess that made sense, I can’t believe I didn’t notice that right away.

            “You seriously didn’t know that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is in Pisa?” She retorted with a snort and rolled her eyes before going back to the computer screen.

            I don’t think there has ever been a conversation shared between us that did not involve some level of sarcasm. Most of the time I thought we should have our own reality show. We are pretty damn hilarious.

            I glanced over at her round, porcelain doll face. She was naturally tanned like a surfer though, something she inherited from our mother that I did not. She looked up at me with what I called her “just brown” eyes, to annoy her. But what she called usually striking a dramatic pose, her “copper against honey with flecks of sage that glowed when they were watery and became shades of nature after a storm” eyes. She was pretty creative with her words, as well as in a drawing book.

            She turned the computer screen towards me and said,

            “look at this post on Tumblr”, a sentence we say more often than we should.

            This post was a gifset, the first gif was of two bats who frantically moved their wings and the second, was basically the same except there was a few seconds where it was focused on one of the bat’s stressed faces. My sister animated the captions of the gifs, something not unusual in our house.

            “AHH Walter, get the spider!” She said in a girly voice for the first gif.

            “I am TRYING HELEN.” Was said next in a deeper voice, with exaggeration on the last two words.

            Her loud laugh from her own joke made me burst out laughing too. She shook her head while laughing. This made her waist long brown hair bounce, the light from the lamp changed it from golden to dark chestnut with every shake. My laughs turned into chuckles as I looked back down at my own Tumblr. She thought she was so funny, always laughing at her own jokes but I guess she was pretty hilarious.

            She fixed the beanie on her head and pushed her bangs back under the hat. The navy colour always made her black eyeliner and mascara stand out more than usual. It amazed me how she could change how she looked all the time and it came off like she wore that style of clothes all the time. When we were younger it was always hot pink and sparkles but now it’s a mix of everything. Some days I saw her in plaid button ups and beanies and some days in fancy blouses and leggings; she wore converse and then moccasins. It really was no secret that she has a large closet full of variety. One she had also colour coated.

            Her room was pretty much her personality in a nutshell: crazy. She has her own artwork on one wall, quotes on her ceiling, a brightly coloured comforter, and bright coloured scarves hung on her canopy bed.  

            Immediately when you walked in her room all you saw were boys: boys here, boys there, and boys everywhere. And no, not a variety of boys either. It’s the same British/Irish (she would murder me if I just said British) boy band known as One Direction. Cue hoards of teenage girls screaming. Yes, I live with a mad fangirl. And I know you are probably thinking, “yeah my sister (or brother) is a fan too and it gets wild” but no, you do not even know the half of it. She was absolutely obsessed. Not a crazy fake fan that said they loved the boys but completely butchered their names and information, she was a wrathful, dedicated directioner (the fan clubs name). Unfortunately I was on the receiving end of her antics, although it was pretty entertaining.

            She quoted what they said and tried to imitate their accents but she can only do Niall’s, the Irish one, moderately OK and only with certain phrases. This “phase but not really a phase anymore phase” has been going on since 2010 when they were on the X Factor. Yes for four years and yes I know more about them than I would like to admit. She has all of their songs, even ones not on their albums, on her IPod plus hardcopies. She has t-shirts, drawings, and a Twitter dedicated to them. At their concert she cried and legit bawled when Liam (her favourite) came out on stage. She has a real crazy thing for boy bands and people who are British. Even one wall in her room, that she painted herself, was of the Union Jack and not the Canadian flag. 

            I knew she sounded like a complete whack job now but the way I saw it was that she was very passionate. When she loved something, she invested her whole being into it and even if she didn’t love it she tried her best to do her best, which was something I admired.

            “I WILL FIND HIM!” She suddenly screamed, which made me jump. She said it a few more times before looking at me and smiled, her naturally pale red lips separated and showcased her straight, white teeth. Something the both of us acquired without braces.

            She was saying what Michael Shannon said in Man of Steel when he threatened to find and kill superman on Earth. It was her favourite line and I absolutely could not tell you why. She was a weird one.

            I had always wondered what it was like to be inside her head, I assumed it would be like Alice in Wonderland. Everything made no sense at all but at the same time made perfect sense. I knew I would definitely see bright colours, weird animals, and abstract landscape. Whenever I thought about what went through her mind I instantly regretted it. Knowing it was probably like me being in the maze in the Triwizard Tournament without having my name picked from the Goblet of Fire: dangerous and wrong. She really was mad, “entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.” I can only deduce that her mind was like those two great stories, breathtaking and magical.

            Her projects for school definitely showed that she has a wild imagination. Her one, hypothetical not actually performed, experiment in grade 9 was “The Affect of Crayons On Hamsters”. Yes you guessed it, that would mean that the hamsters would have had to eat crayons.

            I looked back over at her again but she was no longer sitting on the opposite couch as me. I saw her from the corner of my eye coming back from the kitchen.

            “Man I love food,” she said while eating off of a plate covered in cut up cheese and crackers. She was dancing exotically around the TV and I could not help but stare. She stared back at me for a few seconds before breaking out into a creepy grin, one I could only describe as the Grinch’s before he said “I know just what to do” and decided to steal Christmas from the Who’s. I returned the sinister grin for a mere 5 seconds before I dropped it when she lost interest in me for a yogurt commercial on TV.

            She could never stay too focused for too long and if she absolutely had to, like on a test or something in school, then you could guarantee she would not be sitting still. Everyone was born with basic reflexes and I am pretty sure the Megan was born with a few different ones. She shook her leg, tapped her pencil, and cracked her knuckles like it was nobodies business. She only ever realized she did that stuff when someone commented on it or told her to stop.

            My mom walked into the room doing up a bracelet on her wrist.

            “Get ready, we have our friend’s party soon,” she said to us. I looked over at Megan as she looked over at me; a mischievous glint was present in her eyes before we both looked back at our mom.

            “Our friend? Could you be anymore vague? Believe it or not we actually have friends in the plural sense not just one friend.” Megan said with a smile, letting my mom know she was just messing around with her. Of course that didn’t stop our mum from rolling her eyes at her. 

            “Diane, remember? I told you about this last week. No getting out of it.” She replied with finality.

            “Is there going to be lots of people there?” I asked, finding my voice.

            “Yeah, I mean you know we don’t really like people. “Socializing”? This term is not one I enjoy.” Megan added on. I looked over and smirked at her, we were both pretty awkward when it came to social situations and therefore tried to get out of many, if not all, of them. 

            “It is a party you know, meaning yes, there will be people there now go get changed” mom snapped, which made us grin widely before we got off of the couch and went up the stairs to our rooms.

            As we walked up the stairs I could not help but think about what a crazy pair we were. Megan made up a lot of the crazy as well as cockiness and wit.

I would never understand how she could be wild yet a “confident in the closet”. She reminded me of a chameleon; could be absorbed in the surroundings, unique, ever changing, and unpredictable. I am not going to lie; she was a pretty rad sister. 

Her hair flows in soft waves down her back to her waist. It glistens a warm honey brown in the sunlight, yet a dark chestnut in the moonlight. A knitted beanie covers the back of her head most of the time, letting her bangs fall on her forehead. Her face is round, as smooth as a porcelain doll but naturally tanned like a surfer. Her eyebrows are full and brown, perfectly complimenting her eyes. The copper against honey with flecks of sage glow when they are watery, becoming shades of nature after a storm. But when she is happy, her eyes hold a golden gleam. The navy colour of her hat makes the black on her eyelids and lashes more bold. Her nose is round, marked with a freckle on the left nostril. Her lips look like they are constantly covered with a light red lip stain, her bottom lip being larger than the top. Laughter is what I hear often coming from her mouth. Her teeth are straight and white, almost screaming "look at me." The smooth tone of her voice is either joking or being sarcastic and when she is serious it becomes sharp and dangerous. She always has to be in motion; whether it is shaking her leg, constantly touching things, or playing with her fingers. She is always anxious; jumpy, a confident in the closet", modest and shy. Her clothes reflect her ever-changing personality. One day she wears lip gloss, pale pink pants, and a cream blouse, but the next she is wearing dark red lipstick, skinny jeans, a graphic tee, and converse. She is hard to keep up with. What she thinks about, how would I know? Schoo, gossip, friends, One Direction. I imagine it to be something like the characters from Wonderland: she's mad, "entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are." She confuses me at every corner, but she is my sister so I don't care. 

Retail

I have worked in retail for the past six years and from this experience I have come to some conclusions:

1. Everyone should work a retail job in their life: It will make them be a lot more money conscious as well as conscious of how they treat people after leaving this job. 
2. You lose you faith in humanity so many times: People are stupid, just like beyond dumb and retail makes you realize that much more. 
3. The customer is never right: Mr. Selfridge, Mr. Wanamaker and Mr. Field had no idea what this really meant. The customer is 99% always wrong and sometimes when they are right it is a major fluke. 

Retail is able to open your eyes to many different things, not only because of the people you meet and the situations you are put in but because of the work you have to do and the shit pay you get. Some places will pay their employees well (like over $12 an hour) and some places will try and cheat you out of your pay because they think they can do that. I have some amazing stories from my six years of experience, and some of them I will share with you. 

The first story is a continuous one it is the dreaded 2 for $5 sign or any 2 for... sign. This is obvious but clearly not to the thousands of customers I have put through. The sign clearly states you can get two cans of soup for $5 and then underneath states 'Or reg. price: $3.29'. But sometimes people come up with one can of soup and are like oh the sign says 2 for $5. My face drops and I look at them losing the last bit of my soul and say you have to buy two to get the deal. It honestly amazes me how idiotic people can be when it is literally laid out right in front of them. It literally states everything on the sign, there is no reason as to why someone should not understand the sign.

Another one is "If it doesn't scan it's free", my god. The last bit of my soul I had left in me has just escaped from that one statement. NO it does not mean it is free, and NO I do not find it funny. This laugh that I am currently laughing is only there because I can do nothing else without being fired. I hear this daily, and most of the time multiple times a day. It honestly surprises me so much how many people actually say it and how many people actually find it funny. Cashiers DO NOT find this funny. In fact, we hate it and if you could just stand at the till and not talk to us that would be great.

The workload of someone who runs a department is startling. I run the fashion department at the store I work at and it is honestly one of the hardest things to do. People who work in offices or in construction or whatever else really have no idea what it is like to run their own department, while also knowing how to use a till, and cleaning up after every single person who walks through the store. I, myself, simultaneously do every single job in the store at the same time, while some people in office buildings can barely do their own job properly. If I don't do my job right things don't run smoothly and customers get angry which makes me pissed off. I do a lot in one day; I have price changes, I have markdowns, I have over 30 boxes of fashion to get out even though are racks are so packed you can't fit anything else, I also have other responsibilities like jumping on the till when it gets busy, letting the cashier go for their breaks, going for my own breaks, doing returns, running to the bank to get money, and the list goes on and on. And people just think I'm standing around waiting to help them. That is definitely not the case.

Anyway, that is my first of I'm sure many rants. Retail rants are endless as people just become dumber and dumber. Good luck out there to anyone in retail and everyone else who isn't, remember a few things: we are the people who stock the shelves for you, clean up after you, and put your items through the till, if you piss us off we can make your life a living hell. And also we are human beings like you and deserve to be respected. 

Oscars 2016

Close to 700 films have been released from January to December 2015 and it all boils down to this one night when all of our favourite a-list stars will walk the red carpet and we will watch at home and bite our nails when they announce the winners.

Here are my choices for winners this year:

Best Picture:
The Revenant 
Winner: Spotlight

Best Director:
Alejandro G. Inarritu, The Revenant 

Best Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Best Actress:
Brie Larson, Room

Best Supporting Actor:
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Winner: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Best Supporting Actress:
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Best Original Screenplay:
Spotlight

Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Martian
Winner: The Big Short 

Best Foreign Language Film:
Son of Saul

Best Documentary- Feature:
Amy

Best Documentary- Short Subject:
N/A
Winner: A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

Best Original Score:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 
Winner: The Hateful Eight

Best Original Song:
Writing's on the Wall- Spectre 

Animated Feature Film:
Inside Out 

Cinematography:
Mad Max: Fury Road

Costume Design:
The Danish Girl
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road

So, not a bad show. The definite highlight was Leo DiCaprio finally winning his Oscar. The look of love that Kate Winslet gave him just killed me. It was amazing. I ended up with 10 correct answers out of the 16 that I had picked winners for. Which is pretty good. Hope you enjoyed the show, can't wait till next year!

Harry Potter and Pottermore

As with a lot of people my age we have grown up reading and re-reading the Harry Potter novels until the covers no longer stay on the book. We have grown up with not only the characters of the novels but also the actors who portrayed these characters on the screen. We have cried for our lost favourites (mostly Fred) and we have laughed with the Weasleys, we have rejoiced when the 'good' guys win and we cheer when Slytherin's lose (most of us anyway). We have waited in line for the books at midnight and we have worn our very own robes to the movie premieres. We are the Potter generation.

The one thing that utterly impresses me every time, especially when I go on Tumblr is the amount of people who have come up with extensive back stories for characters or places inside the Potter World.  The stories or even the fan fiction that has come out of this series completely astounds me. It just shows the dedication and pure love us readers and fans have for this series. Pottermore also gives us fans even more opportunity to delve into the world of Harry Potter and being sorted into a house as well as reading histories about wands, other wizarding schools, history of locations and history of other characters, among so much more. It creates this world that allows the reader to imagine that it actually exists. Sometimes people need that; they need that world to escape to and live inside of because they believe their world isn't magical enough.

Tumblr has amazing stories as well as gifsets that are just extraordinary. There is one blog that I absolutely love as it has a lot of different back stories for other wizarding schools around the world (and not just the new ones JK added to Pottermore). Take a look:
http://asheathes.tumblr.com/tagged/gif:hp

We, as a generation, have fallen in love with this story. To the point where we could not even imagine our lives without this series. Even though the books and the movies have ended the story continues to live on in the people it has enlightened.

Golden Globes 2016

So I absolutely love award season. From January to the end of February when the Oscars air my entire life revolves around award shows. I watch every single one of them, the SAGs, the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, Grammy's and finally the Oscars. I enjoy watching the red carpet arrivals and seeing what everyone is wearing but I also love it because I get to watch every single movie or TV show that is nominated because I always guess on who is going to win. And I am usually always right. This year I actually filmed myself (and partly my sister) watching the Golden Globes just for fun and this was the result. Enjoy!