November 20, 2011

Dear North American Currencies

Dear North American Currencies,

I had forgotten how expensive it is just to be in Vancouver, and how annoying and heavy your Canadian coins are, especially all those loonies and twoonies. And now that the US dollar is falling, everything seems unreasonably priced, especially books with two prices on the back (ie. $10.99USD, $15.99 CDN) when you have to pay the Canadian one even though its not anywhere equal to the USD one.

And, whats up with taxes never being included in the price? I can’t calculate 6.5% of $3.87 to know how much my pumpkin latte from Starbucks will actually cost, and when I sit down at a restaurant to have a sandwich for $9.65, I have to pay 7% provicinal sales tax, and then Im not sure what the difference is between government sales tax and harmonized sales tax or when I pay them, but they’re each another 6 or 7 %, AND then I have to tip 10 or 20 %, so my ten dollar sandwich winds up costing $14.79. It makes me feel cheated like false advertising does. And why can’t things just cost even dollar amounts? Coffee? $3. Sandiwch? $10. No more of this dimes and cents business.

I dont like pennies, since they make my fingers smell like sulphur, and whenever you need a penny, you dont have one, since when you have pennies, they’re easier to throw away than carry around. Pay phones dont even take pennies, parking metres dont count nickels, and a dime only buys you 1 minute and 36 seconds of parking. Quarters are weighted so sometimes a Canadian Quarter doesn’t even let you make a call in an American payphone.

I just wish we could get rid of pennies all together, sell things for the advertised price, all have the same coins, and bring back the dollar bill to Canada so the tipping culture wouldn’t be so embarassing – no one likes handing a valet parker $4 in loonies. Or we could just get rid of this expensive tipping culture all together, use less coins and make less change with more even prices.

Sincereley,

the traveler who still uses payphones and doesn’t like heavy pockets

November 15, 2011

Dear World: Everything I like about you

If you’re ever down or bored, try writing a list like this. And if you do, I’d love to read it! Leave your your “like” list in a comment to share 🙂

I like painting my toes red or purple. I like tango dancing in red shoes.

I like sleeping with 3 pillows. I like candle lit rooms. I like meditating in old churches.

I like when butterflies land on me. I like when puppies attack me with love.

I like smoking cigars lit with cedarwood. I like fireplaces that burn real firewood.

I like eating before I go grocery shopping so I don’t buy too much. I like having exact change.

I like swimming naked. I like doing yoga in steam baths. I like hottubbing in the snow. I like towels that are actually bathrobes.

I like walking on the sunny side of the street. I like walking barefoot in sand that squeaks under my steps.

I like hosting parties of 3 or more. I like when awkward things happen but no one feels awkward about it.

I like riding crazy horses. I like feeling my heart pulse in my fingertips. I like listening to music that gives me goosebumps.

I like meeting people for the first time but feeling like Ive known them forever. I like smiling at strangers. I like people who have smile wrinkles around their eyes.

I like when my hair tickles my face from being blown around. I like watching the rain fall from under an umbrella, staying dry.

I like swinging in a hammock strung between two palm trees. I like balconies with a view of the sea.

I like spraying my scarf with 5 different perfumes at duty free shops so I smell really good, but not quite like anyone else. And that’s easy to do since I often find myself stuck in airports with huge duty-free shops where I can go wild experimenting with scent chemistry.

November 15, 2011

Dear Mr. DJ

Dear Mr. DJ,

In Miami, I heard the same 6 songs all day long. The same 6 songs played on all the radio stations, so you couldn’t even switch between them to get away from them. They got totally stuck in my head, and now the sound of Miami is a playlist of Saxobeat, Moves like Jagger, Rihanna and Pitbull. They’re all great songs, and I want to keep liking them, so maybe you can play a little something else once in a while so they don’t get overplayed.

In Vancouver, they play the same songs too, but a bigger variety of them, since they also keep playing songs that were big in 2006 which should not still be playing on todays “top 40” type stations. I can almost always find an Adele song playing on atleast one station, and the “Sexy and I know it” LMFAO song keeps plaguing my memory with visions of flabby guys shaking their jiggly junk in prickly speedos.

But most of all, I wish I could actually listen to songs on the radio, instead of flipping between stations and stations of unmelodious advertisements.

Sincerely,

the driver who gets stuck in traffic and wants better radio entertainment

for your viewing enjoyment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyx6JDQCslE&ob=av2e

November 13, 2011

Dear World

In addition to my regular blog posts and Photo Highlight posts, Im going to start this new thing called “Dear World.” Its when I want to write the world a letter, just to speak my mind, complain, send love or make a point. Sometimes Ill address it to a specific part of the world, like Dear Canada or Dear Persians, and sometimes even a specific person, like Dear Gordon Brown.

Its kind of like a Dear Diary entry, that I want to make public. Its for those times when Im not traveling, and cant share any stories from new or exciting places, so instead, I’ll write anectodes from day to day life.