Where you can read the relatively rational ramblings of a silly half-monkey, half-boy. This freak of nature is named Joel. He also responds to the name 'Bart Wang'.

 
I don't know how they do it. So many blogs are updated on a daily basis (if not more). I do less than a lot of those people and still only manage one or two posts a month. I suck. Actually, that's a lie. My friend Jeff explained to me that it is actually physically impossible to suck. It's a misnomer. Jeff's got a huge brain so I believe him. Plus, it's really funny to hear the scientific rebuke to such a simple statement that clearly does not invoke a scientific perspective.
I've had a busy month this October of 2004. Earlier in the month (almost three full weeks ago) I had a couple lipomas removed. When I tell people about this, they usually respond by asking, 'A what?' It's a solid fatty tissue that forms under the skin. I have a lot of them but two were particularly annoying. Cut them out. Sewed up the skin (but not well so it hasn't healed easily). Anyhow, if you are actually interested in learning about lipomas you can go here (if you understand medical jargon) or you can read other people's stories about their lipomas here. I haven't posted my story. Yet.
Last Friday, I flew (in an airplane) to Winnipeg. Got to spend the evening with Mike and Sandi Vandermark. We were supposed to go see King's X (because Mike & I like them a lot but he has never got to see them yet) but we were both pretty tired, they weren't going to play until 11PM and tickets were $27. I've already seen them 3-4 times (and they kick ass) so almost $30 was a lot. Plus, were were getting up early the following day. We didn't go. We slept. We were happy.
Mike and I left Sandi to have some solitude. She's already tired of Mike and they've only lived together a month! Either that or she wanted quiet so she could study. I forget which it was. Maybe both. Anyhow, we drove 14.5 hours to Calgary to stay with Jon Belanger. We hung out with Jon until Thursday morning when we booked it back to Winnipeg (another 14.5 hours in the car). The drive went surprisingly well. The company was really good and the conversation just as great. Mike and Jon are such awesome guys. I'm lucky to have such great friends as them. Both are incredibly generous, caring people. We had a lot of fun. Drove to Canmore (which is essentially a town for rich people in a valley amongst the Rocky Mountains) and stayed at the home of an acquaintance of Jon's (they were away for a couple days). Chris VanHoffen came too. Visited Lake Louise (crazy aqua colour) and also Banff. Ate some awesome chocolate and suffered with the effects of our Mexican lunch. Jon and Chris had brutal gas. Seriously, I'm talking horrific. The flatulence went on and on for about 12 hours - I wish I were exaggerating. The car reeked so bad that we could smell the farts even after leaving the car for a while. And Jon's friend's house smelled like poop after they were done with it. And, of course, we laughed and laughed and, while being disgusted, thoroughly enjoyed the whole ordeal.
The night before we left, we went to Montana's for all-you-can-eat ribs. We didn't eat ALL that we could (well, Jon wanted to barf but Mike and I were just comfortable) but it was good. I think we all ate the equivalent of two full racks of ribs. Oh, well, I should clarify. Mike and I were comfortable - until that night. We woke up a lot in the night and burped this disgusting meat flavour. I was bunged up pretty bad too. I won't be doing the all-you-can-eat ribs for a while. November 7th to be exact, 'cause that's when some of the guys are going to the casino in Niagara for a small bachelor-type party for me. Football, friends and a crapload of unhealthy snack foods. Mmmmmm, unhealthy.
Speaking of which, Melanie and I are in the home stretch. Three weeks tomorrow we will be getting married! That's insane! These next weeks are going to fly by, I am certain. I can't believe it's less than a month now. Nothing major left to be done but finalize our numbers and write the cheques. I think that's it, anyhow. I hope so. We're going to work on our vows in the next couple days (we're writing our own). Almost everyone is coming so it's going to be a great party. Some of the people I will miss having present include Christina Vandermark (too busy doing frivolous things like saving lives), Michelle Grunert (rock stars only get so much vacation), Jon-than Masters (chasing people with overdue credit is a daily demand), Dave Lapsley (movie stars have limited free time) and Chantelle Brown (she loves her parents more than me so she's spending the day with them to celebrate their 25th anniversary). And then there are some we didn't invite because of space and that they wouldn't be able to come anyway because of geographical issues (Bill Power & Ronee Cozza, Ally & Christina Conrad, Katherine Whyte). You will all be missed.
Well, I'm going to listen to last week's sermon from church. You should check them out. They're super-interesting. Have a good day. Maybe I'll talk to you soon. Only so much time to talk to Master Joel - soon I'll be a Mister! PEACE!

posted by HCJoel at 10:00 PM