Chapter 111: Welcome to my Time Machine

. PART 1.
It's been a while...
Please, take a comfortable seat, pour yourself a drink, a 16 years old Scotch maybe, and enjoy the ride.
Let's get back few months in the past, back in 2011, please, don't pay attention to the grunting noise the time machine might make from time to time:

First, the rattling noise, then, the vibrations, and then, some images start to form, take shape....
It is the beginning of November 2011...


Back then, life was challenging.
We were broke, my job schedule was killing me and Christmas was coming as well as the 18 years old birthday of my older son Meriadoc.
But we were happy.
being with the people you love makes a world of difference.
I am convinced that people get use to live with people they don't love and forget what it could be...
We are all guilty of that sin at some point in our life.
However, my wife was wonderful, she gave me strength on a daily basis when I was down, and helped me to climb the hill up when it was necessary.
She also made me realized that I needed a new job.

The end of the month arrived, and the birthday event as well.
Meriadoc wanted something quiet, he didn't want to have friends or anything, just wanted Sylvia to cook his favourite plate, and have buddy's over on the week end.
But 18, in France, is a big deal.
I had, for him and I, to do something special, something really special.

What he wanted/needed was a computer, and has he is a gamer, not just a cheap one.
Thing was, there was absolutely no way I could afford a computer at that time...
Silvia and i thought and thought, and at the end of the day, there didn't seem to be a lots of options...

On the 30th of November 2011,
My older son, Meriadoc, turned 18.
On that very day, we had a wonderful dinner, Meriadoc, Ethan, Silvia and myself.
At the end of the meal, I explained that, even though it often look like his little brother is the "preferred" one, the one we give more attention to, that is only because he is still a little boy.
I explained that, in the past 18 years, I have been proud and I have love my older boy like no one else.
That the first born is something that simply cannot be explained.
And that I love him with all my soul and strength.
And that, for his 18 birthday, I was giving him my computer, my beautiful kick ass iMac 23 inches.
You should have seen his face, it took seconds for him to realize what I was referring to, but hen, light glow out of his being!
I was giving him what he needed to be who he wanted to be.
The deal was done.
- I think it is worth to mention that he has not left the computer alone for more than 2 hours since the 30th of November, just to point out that this was the good present.

A rush of wind, coming from behind, a smell of burned metal, and we are now very close to Christmas...


Christmas is few days ago...
Silvia has a list of goodies she will be making that are making our mouth watery!
I have applied for another job, and I got it!!!!
This was such a relieve and so exciting!
In short, cause, I don't like talking about my jobs here, but I got a job to provide exceptional customer service for a credit card processing company, and let me tell you, to this very day, this is one of my favourite job of all time.
I know it seems weird, but the people I work with, what i do, the responsibilities given to me, and a possible future I can see there made me very very happy.
And this, has not changed...
So, anyway, the job issue was solved, we had more cash to spend and take care of what was necessary, and I got few drays off for the holidays, which quite frankly, was needed!
Christmas came and went, it was absolutely wonderful to see the kids opening their presents, to see my lovely and perfect wife do the same and tom have a real family christmas.
It was simply wonderful!!!!

Now, and this is more personal and almost unrelated, but, by then, I had spent a month without a computer.
I would have to go back more than 10 years ago to find myself in a similar situation, with the difference that, now, most of the communication is done via computer, which stopped almost immediately, and i do music and illustration or Art via the computer as well, and this stopped as well almost immediately, I had come to a standing point, what was I going to do with myself?
This, was a question, that, a then friend of mine, had asked me many years ago:
- What will you do if we had no computers anymore?
it was a question more like, if you had no computers would you still do something? Anything?
Back then I had not even answer the question, for, it was absurd.
To me, it really was.
Because, I come from a time when there was no computers.
They simply didn't exist!
So, what did  do?
Well, I did what I could not do when I had a computer.
Because, the computer is such a time wasting instrument if you are not careful, and you end up spending all your time talking about nothing with no one and everyone at the same time...
It's one of the absurdity of our time.
Or is it who we are as human being?
In any case, after few weeks of doing nothing, I took my courage in my hands, and did something I was, while growing up, extremely fond of:
I organized a role playing game...

This, could require a fair amount off explanation, but this is what WIKI says about it:
A role-playing game (RPG and sometimes roleplaying game) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.
So, in short, you pretend you are someone else, and you act according to the character you are pretending to be.
One of the player is called a master, and he is like the director in a movie. he knows everything of the story, he just doesn't know "yet" what the actors are going to do.
The actors, or players on the other hand, know everything about the character they are playing, but know nothing about the story they will be acting IN.
Therefore, they will be "improvising", on the spot, as the master tell them what is happening as it happens.
Ok, I realize that this is not a very clear explanation of a board game, or somehow a board game, but that's all you will get for me.
If you want to know more, ask me, or do some researches.
It's not that I don't want to get deeper into the explanation, but it would take way too long to try to make it clear via words.
This is something you have to experiment to understand, just like most important things in life.

Anyhow, I organized a game play, based on the world of HP. Lovecraft, using the set of rules, slightly modified, called The Call of Cthulhu.

Howard Philips Lovecraft

Call of Cthulhu RPG

It's a dark and scary game, where players end up losing their minds in the face of the horror really going on in our world.
From the Necronomicon to creatures coming from a far away past, there is no limits in the madness created by Lovecraft.
It is a lots of fun to play that!

So, I started by re-reading a story called The Auction, this was the third time I had that story played, I did some researches, organized tons of pics and maps for players, mastered the story and we played it!
I had 3 players, a non player character played by myself, a kind of character that helps players, as my players were all beginners, Meriadoc Aaron and Silvia were the players.
And, it was great!
We laughed, yelled, got scared and lived a full of action and terror packed adventure.
But, I am not going to explain any further anything related to this adventure, as, i will present the adventure itself, as a story, via this very blog of mine, very very soon!
So, let's stay tuned and be ready for a pretty scary and funny story called The Auction!

A sounds, almost a cracking one, then something metallic rubbing on some other metallic parts, a ray of light, and we are now at the end of january 2012, wait a sec for the smoke to dissipate itself and you will be able to see clearly...


Time's fly...
That is, the very least we can say in our case!
January was busy.
I was learning how to perform at my new job, adjusting to the new life style, re-organizing our life.
Mid January, we came to the conclusion that Silvia had to go back to Brazil to complete her university and to start her legal papers to become a landed immigrant in Canada, and therefore, be allowed to work.
because, for the past year, we had live, the four of us, on my salary.
And, if you put yourself in our shoes for a split second, you will realize that, this is a real challenge to do!
So, here we were, Silvia had to leave for a period of 8 to 15 months...
And there was no way around it...
I did get very sad, very very very sad, for, I have grown accustomed to live with my wife, to have her every day, to be happy and top grow with her.
And, to put all of that on the back burner again, and wait, and communicate via Skype was just intolerable...
Nevertheless, tolerable it had to become.

I got a cold, a nasty one, right before she left, and this made everything worst...

However, 10 days before she left, we got married... For the third time... And the first legal time in Canada!
This was wonderful!
It was that Sunday, at the end of January, when the wind was so blustery.
We got married on the cliff on Dallas rd, the ocean was yelling is approval, the sky was green and grey and I could barely hear what the man who married us was saying.
It was unforgettable!
I was so happy on that day, I was complete.

And then, she left...
The house felt empty, my world became the world of waiting, and I got very sad.

I still had no computer, and we communicated via Skype on my phone, which is quite a challenge, and all together frustrating.
But, it is still way better than no communication at all...
I had coped ok with all the events, but now, something was becoming clear: I was in need of a computer...

One last big shaky moment, more smoke and burnt smell than ever, and we are almost back to present time...


I saved some money and got a new machine.
Not as flamboyant as the one I had in the past, but completely able to do everything I would like to.
I kept on working hard, and learning on a daily basis so much information, sometimes, I get overloaded!
All in all, it is a great feeling.
I started to have ideas and needs of drawing again, same with the music, which, should, soon enough, end in recording some new songs, something that is long overdue!
The boys are still growing up and this makes a lots of sense.
I speak with Silvia on a daily basis, miss her like I have never missed anyone, but love her like I have never loved anyone.
The spring is here, the trees are growing their leaves and the crows eating the worms,.
I am learning again how to look at everything with new eyes, like Silvia had taught me, reminded me.
Many things are still in the work, but I feel confident and I am looking forward to the future with hope and excitement!
I got a new haircut.
And, at last, I am finally ready to get back in touch with all the people I care for, the people I think about, the people who shape the land of my life.



. PART 2 .
Lovely...
It is simply lovely...
I would have never thought of saying that of Victoria, the city I live IN, but it is lovely.
Since Silvia arrived last year, my vision of the city has evolved.
She allowed me to see it with her eyes, like if I was discovering it for the first time, like if I was able to removed all the "taking for granted" that I used while communicating, exchanging with the city.
It was like being reborn.
But with my eyes and feelings.
It has been wonderful!

Here are few things that I noticed, that attracted my attention, that I thought were worth looking at, and, sharing here.
So, here we go, Victoria BC and his inhabitant, alive or not:

Victoria really has some amazing sunsets.
Many parts of the world share that quality.
Here, it is the end of the winter, the light is still cold, but the warmth starts to show her nose.
Taken from the parking lot in the back of my building, in James Bay:

Sunset in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Then, there is the Parliament, this big building, not really old, at least to my personal concept, but definitely not recent either.
Big blocks of rocks, statues, and this green roof...
The inside is gorgeous.
The outside, with a blue sky, tries to match the inside:

Parliament Building in Victoria BC

And then, there's the cars!
Not a single week passes by without me seeing a car with a design that I find absolutely breath taking.
The best is, that sometimes, those cars are old, and not in a great shape.
This, makes then, somehow, even more attractive.
Maybe only because that also means they had a life.
I guess, that is, in a weird sense, a way to relate to the vehicle.
Something to ponder on...
Here is a Red car like no one else!

The Red Cool Car

397 . 989

And, there is the fountain...
Now, there is that small path in the back of the Parliament, that I take every morning and every afternoon on my way back from work, that I take as often as I can, as it is a secret haver of peace within the city.
Ok, it is not "that' secret, but I just didn't know it until recently.
I smile and think that, I guess this made it secret for me...
The fountain has 5 sculptures on it, a crow, a bear, few seals,  a wolf and a beaver I believe.
Now, I must admit that I am doubting myself.
I will confirm those sculptures, which, by the way, represent, somehow, the Canadian spirit.
I do like that.

Anyway, few weeks ago, on a Sunday, while Ethan and myself were going places, we passed by the dear fountain, and something was different...
From far it looked like they had lighted the water with a lime green, which looked pretty cool.
But this wasn't the case.
The water was of a lime green.
And a pretty intense one.
It looked unreal...
People were stopping and taking pictures, and so did I.
I guess, and note that I insist on that statement, I guess they were cleaning the fountains, and had that greenish cleaning water going through...
Whatever this really was, here is how it looked:

The Green Fountain by The Parliament

Let it Rain, in Green

Inside the Fountain

The Crow, or Raven

Ethan by the Green Fountain

And, early in the morning, at about 10 minutes past 6, I pass by the very same fountain.
The green water has disappeared a while ago, and the smell of flowery lilac welcomes me.
The other morning, the fountain was surprisingly quiet.
I believe, again, that they are doing some work on the plumbing there, so they cut the fountain of at night, bla bla bla, I truly have no idea what they are doing, but anyhow, here was the very same fountain.
Keep in mind that, those pictures are taken with my old iPhone, so the quality is terrible...

The Fountain Early in the Morning

We are nearing the end of this post, and I would like to conclude with tow more things.
First, I hope you will enjoy my revamped blog, I think it is a tad clearer, and i will keep on trying to improve it.
Second, Ethan and i went to visit Aaron and Roland few weeks ago, Roland is a gorgeous dog, and this is what came out of it.
The music is from Les Rita Mitsouko, from the album Variety, the song is named Paris, Ma Vieille Ville, and I hope you will enjoy it, i do love the way Roland runs:




Voila, that's all for now folks.
Sincerely,

Serge
Sunday 1st of April 2012