Black Friday

When I was four years old, I was trapped in a basement.

It was Friday afternoon on a muggy day in 1987. My mom was stuck in traffic on her way home from an appointment, and my dad was at work. My cousins and I were playing outside while my Uncle and Grandma read in the living room.

It was very warm outside, but the sky was a depressed periwinkle blue. Me, my older sister, and my two cousins decided to walk to the Red Rooster for penny candies and slushies. On our way there we passed a homeless man sleeping on a park bench. On our way back, the wind picked up, the sky darkened so quickly as though God put his hand over a light bulb, and the homeless man still slept on the bench on the bridge over the lake behind our house.

I don't remember what happened next or who called us inside, but I remember being in the basement. My cousins and my sister were crying, but I wasn't sure why. Nobody was hurt. It's not like it never rained before. My Grandma told stories to cheer up the kids and my uncle told us not to go upstairs or sit next to the windows.

I had never been in the basement before. I was curious. I found a box full of Christmas ornaments and began putting garland around my head. I found my mom's guitar that she would play for me belting out Joan Baez' version of "The Night They Drove Ole' Dixie Down". I plucked a few strings making up lyrics of my own about cats and werewolves, when I noticed a small fridge in the corner. I opened it and finally realized why I was never allowed in the the creepy undeveloped basement. The fridge in front of me was filled with fudge-sickles.

Eventually, the kids found me and we all ate the chocolaty treats. After about two hours in the basement, the sun came out, the wind died down and we ventured upstairs. Windows were broken, and trees were lying in the streets. My mom came home telling us how she was trapped in her car with water up to her ankles waiting for the storm to stop. My dad came home swearing about the damages to the house but happy we were okay, and the bridge with the bench over the lake was no longer there. That friday became known as "Black Friday", the worst tornado in Canadian history.

This was one of my first full memories of life. There were others such as my first memory of television being a breaking news story of the derailment of an indoor rollercoaster killing nearly everyone on board. I remember this because it was the same night I was rushed to the hospital for poking my eye so hard I had to wear a patch for several weeks. I remember my first memory of music being Cindy Lauper's True Colours album, I remember being confused as to why it was so bad for my babysitter to have invited her boyfriend over, and I remember my first encounter with vomit after witnessing my sister puke at the foot of my bed, but none of those memories stuck out as much as "Black Friday." A month later we moved to the suburbs of the city.

I guess today's the last day of poetry week

HI. I found out from a friend that this past week was poetry week. I was unaware, and as it is now 1:08am on Saturday, I have missed poetry week. However, I don't think poems should be recited or read only during poetry week, so i've dug up one of my favorites by my favorite poet Mr. Leonard Cohen. This poem is based on the biblical story of Isaac and his father Abraham.

Story of Isaac

The door it opened slowly,

My father he came in, I was nine years old.

And he stood so tall above me,

His blue eyes they were shining

And is voice was very cold.

He said, I've had a vision

And you know i'm strong and holy,

I must do what i've been told.

So he started up the mountain,

I was running, he was walking,

And his axe was made of gold.

Well, the trees they got much smaller,

The lake a lady's mirror,

We stopped to drink some wine.

Then he threw the bottle over,

Broke a minute later

And he put his hand on mine.

I thought I saw an eagle

but it might have been a vulture,

I never could decide.

Then my father built an alter,

He looked once behind his shoulder,

He knew I would not hide.

You who build these alters now

To sacrifice these children,

You must not do it anymore.

A scheme is not a vision

And you never have been tempted

By a demon or a god.

You who stand above them now,

Your hatchets blunt and bloody,

You were not there before, 

When I lay upon the mountain

And my father's hand was trembling

With the beauty of the word.

And if you call m e brother now,

Forgive me if I inquire,

Just according to whose plan?

When it all comes down to dust

I will kill you if I must,

I will help you if I can.

When it all comes down to dust

I will help you if I must,

I will kill you if I can.

And mercy on our uniform,

Man of peace or man of war,

The peacock spreads his fan.

Leonard Cohen

Mr. brightside

Hello. I'm still getting the hang of this blogging business. I was trying to figure out how to add a song and it took me a very long time. It's a cover of a "Killer's" song called Mr. Brightside. I do believe if you click on the title above, you'll be able to hear it.

k

Yikes!

So today is my only day off to get things done, but unfortunately there are not enough hours in the day to do that. The fact that i'm writing also shows that i'm a bit of a procrastinator. Today I found out that all my bedroom furniture is being taken away. My friend who is in politics and left me her furniture until her 3 year term was done has decided to take it a bit earlier then I expected. She told me she'll be flying out here in 2 days.

Among the pieces of furniture that she requested is her bed. Unfortunately when I went to my old place today to collect her bed, there were several pieces missing. And by several pieces, I mean that I could only find half the frame. I came back home and received another message asking for her old wardrobe (which has my clothes in it), her night stand (which has my stuff in it), and her book shelf (where all my books currently reside).

So even though I had planned to buy a cord for my printer, pick up ink for my old printer, go downtown and spend a gift certificate, pick up my pay check, drop off DVDs, buy groceries, and practice with my band, I now have to go buy a new bed frame empty out a wardrobe, night stand and book shelf, and still manage to practice with my band for our big show on Friday.
And I don't drive either.

Speaking of my band, here is a video of us performing Dec 11.

Hmmm

This is what I read in the paper today:

"The third Monday in January is
when 15 per cent of Canadians feel
down in the dumps,according to the
B.C. chapter of the Canada Health Association."

That's funny because today I felt quite down. I decided that even though I always try to see the good in everyone, i'm beginning to lose faith in people. I think I already lost faith in people a long time ago, but just tried to come up with excuses for them. There's that old saying "put yourself in someone else' shoes. If it hurts your feet, it probably hurts them too." I don't care about anyone else' feet but my own. If no one is willing to change and improve themselves to becoming better human beings then what's the point. Get a better pair of shoes! Don't bother trying to preach words of wisdom if everything you say is going to contradict what you do.

I really am a nice person, I swear. I've just been sucked dry, so i'll just stand by and watch rather then get involved with other people's immorality.

As for today being more morose than most, maybe it's not the Christmas bills piling up or the rainy/snowy weather or weight gain. Maybe once a year people just realize the person they're becoming and it depresses them momentarily until they wake up the next day and decide to be content with the jerk they've become.

Don't worry, there's only one more hour left until we can all be happy again.

k

Electric Jam



This is an old video I made four years ago of my friends Eric, Jesse, Rollie and I.

A New Year

Hello and welcome to the creative world of me, K. Alexander.

I'm 26 years old and currently reside in Vancouver, BC.  I came from Edmonton 4 years ago to be a filmmaker. My dad insisted that in order to be anything, you need a piece of paper to prove it. So even with all the books I read and workshops I attended, I decided to go to British Columbia's Institute of Technology to learn what I already knew.  The good thing about attending BCIT was that included in the tuition fee was  a Panasonic DVX100 A camera, Final Cut Pro editing software, wireless mics, and audio engineering software. The bad thing about attending BCIT was that it left me with a $27,000.00 loan that won't be paid off for another eleven years and I left my 2 friends along with our old rock band "Electric Skull Expansion and the Accidental Music Project". 

That was 4 years ago. Since then i've made more friends, worked several odd jobs, and have created many adventures for myself (some not intentionally).

I'm very expressive, but not necessarily through conversation or words. In fact I'm kind of a shy girl. I express myself through songs and writings.

After giving my friend Ba a badly recorded CD of my songs she decided to help me make this blog in order to share my creations with others.

So without further delays, I will recap for you what 2008 brought for me.

2008

January 1st, 2008, began with a pancake breakfast at IHOP with Mr. R. Bohncke. We were both disappointed, not with the food, but the fact that my ice tea cost 3.99. I haven't been back.

February 14th, 2008, R. Bohncke fixed up an old Raleigh bicycle for me, and I went to Seattle for the first time. We stayed downtown at the Moore hotel, went to see a metal band, and ate hot dogs and drank shots at the Coney Island bar where all the old pin ball machines were converted into tables. 

March 24th, 2008, I quit my job as an anime subtitler. I miss watching those cute, annoying, sexless, Japanese characters and matching their lip movements to their words, but it wasn't for me. It was never for me really, but I enjoyed doing it while I was there. 

April 12, 2008, I became a latte artist. No this isn't just another name for barista, I actually had to learn how to make artwork out of latte foam and espresso. I wasn't as good as some of my coworkers, but it was fun. Unfortunately I had to quit because the 16 hours a week they offered couldn't pay my rent. I still get the urge from time to time when I'm at a cafe to grab the pitcher out of the barista's hand and show them how to make a heart or a rosebud!

May 24th, 2008, I got my current job working in a deli at the Santa Barbara Market. Even though I refrain from eating a lot of meat, I like the people I work with and there are no uniforms. We listen to the radio, give attitude to old people and it's very hard to get fired (unless you're cutting prosciutto on a meat slicer while drunk).

June, 2008, I rode my bike everyday, became healthier after quitting smoking, and did a lot of reading. I read "Lovely Bones" (I forget the author), "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey, and finally finished "Welcome to the Monkey House" by Kurt Vonnegut.

July, 2008, I finally finished recording a CD with my old band ESE and the AMP after 4 years in the making! I also realized that the time had come for me to leave the house I was living in and find new accommodations. I wasn't really fond of living in a "Vancouver special" with no character in the suburbs far away from every place I hung out at. 

August, 2008, I moved in with Mr. R. Bohncke in the East end of the city. It's a tight squeeze but liberating as well. I'm not a party animal, but it's nice to not have roommates and neighbors complain when you're having a good time with friends. This was the month of good parties, and good opportunities. I was hired by My-TV to film the entertainment at the North American Indigenous Games in the Cowichan Valley, I witnessed a stunning performance by Radiohead at the Thunderbird Stadium even though I was very sick and I danced to !!! at Richards on Richards. 

September, 2008, my uncle Ted passed away. He wasn't really my uncle, but I called him that anyway. He had a tumor at the top of his stomach causing it to burn when food would land on it. He was from Croatia and one of the most interesting people I knew. His life would make a great movie.

October 2008, I started a new band called "Ramona Quimby", my friend Katie and I permanently stunk up my kitchen with a batch of "special" brownies. It was our first time making them (and they were good). I dressed up as Amy Winehouse for Halloween with Mr. R. Bohncke as Hulk Hogan. 

November 3, 2008, I turned 26 years old and was treated to cake, a lychee martini, rubber boots, and a beer on a mountain.

December 2o, 2008 I bid farewell to my friend Sara who moved to Costa Rica to start a beauty camp, My new band played our first show and it rocked, I witnessed the worst weather ever bestowed upon the city, and Mr. R. Bohncke and I went to visit my parents for Christmas in Edmonton. 

In 2008, I was told that I was too nice to people and that it's going to be my downfall. After thinking this over I decided that there's nothing wrong with being too nice, and that i'd rather be known for being nice then for being mean any day.

K.

 

 

Hello!

We'll be up and running soon.