Fan Club

“So no one told you life was gonna be this waaaaaaay (dadadanana)  Your jobs a joke, your broke, your love lifes

a.k.a the Toyama girls

DOAaaaaaa…”

group hug!

You’re nothing without your friends.   Right?  I think so.  I bet there’s a famous quote for that somewhere out there, that someone far more talented than I, at writting has expressed in words (sorry, I’m not talking about the Rembrandts).  You’ll have to settle for my babble.  It’s the holiday season and i’m miles away (thousands and billions of miles!!!) from all of my best buddies for the second year in a row.  Here’s a shout out to all my home boys and girls.  I will be pouring one whisky shot for me, and one for my brothers and sisters later.

la famille Alice

alice pile on!

Ashleigh

I was sitting in my very first psychology class of my very first year of university.  I was late.  I forgot which room I was in, so I had to race back to my dorm to find my schedule.  When I arrived to class breathless and 10 minutes after the

ash and me in japan

start, the only place to sit was the staircase.  Fair enough.

I looked up as the prof blabbed about the course and caught a girls eyes.  She had amazing blue eyes and crazy style that stood out from the rest of the sheep at UoG (yes that means no Lulu leggings and uggs).  She had on a bands tshirt that I liked.  She was in a few other of my classes, so I made an effort to sit near her and start talking to her.

We were instantly friends (even though she never came to class and we didn’t live in the same residents), and we moved out together with Scott and Erik after first year.  We’ve been best friends and inseperable (maybe seperate physically, but never mentally) since.

fat enablers!

Ash is the best.  We both love adventures and discovering, walking and long boarding, trying new things, pushing each other to try these new things(we’re big pushers) and always always having fun.  We’re the type of friends that always want to do or be where the other person is.  During uni, we’d seek each other out between every class and we were always in each others bedrooms.  I can’t recall moments being apart.  If we were, they didn’t matter.

Now we are physically apart and it’s sometimes physically painful.  Whenever we chat, i’m reminded of how much i miss her.  We think and feel very similarily about life.  When I talk to her, or when i’m with her, i feel like I can do anything… and I already feel like that on a regular basis!  It’s like me, intensified by two!  Throughout my time of knowing Ashleigh she has been one of the few people to make me a more positive and happy person.  I think she makes people look at life differently… or at least flowers.

attached at the heart

James Scott MacIvor

Scott

Oh, this man is the dude of dudes.  I don’t even know how I live without him.  I could listen to Scott talk forever and ever.  I would never tire, guaranteed, lindzys stamp of approval fo’sho’.   Our meeting was fate most definitely.  We met a week before the start of Uni, only to discover we would be living in the same residents practically sharing the same phone number. Odly enough, we’d gone through high school never having met, even though we shared a few mutual friends, and our schools were known to frequent the same parties.

I reckon we were best pals immediately.  He’s one of the brightest kids I know, and every thing out of his mouth is amazing.  If he wasn’t my brother, I’d marry him.  Scott is always good for a silent walk or a friendly listen.  I can tell him anything and he won’t judge, but he’ll listen real well.  I could spend my life sitting on his bed watching him frantically do something listening to him tell me excitedly about music and science while listening to something new and interesting.

a throwback

Leah

leah sensei!

The day I met her she wrapped me up in a big hug like we’d been sisters forever.  Now I’m pretty sure she’s my soul mate.  There are so many good things I could say about Leah, and she’s so humble she wouldn’t believe any of them were about her.

She’s the type of friend that feels like your favourite sweater in the fall, or your favourite blanket on the couch.  I just feel a-ok around her, like i could say and do anything and she would never judge me (unless it’s my spelling!).  My favourite thing to do is to ask Leah question after question untill I find some wire that has tapped into one of her many amazing stories that she’ll share with me.  Sometimes she isn’t sure if she’s told me the story, but even if i have heard it, I don’t stop her, just to hear her tell me again.  She’s like the best book you’ve ever read.

We worked together for almost a whole year and lived two floors apart from each other.  In other words, we were always together.  Time without her is spent waiting for the next time I get to be with her.  I shall follow her around the world!!

Leah and ME

sisters for life

Jess

My oldest and dearest friend.  Can you say anything better than that?  We met in grade ten and let the education begin.  From drugs to alcohol to sex to partying, Jess taught me almost everything I know.  She has always been like a big sister to me.  Thanks sister.   Thanks for the corruption!  Alright, maybe it wasn’t all her fault…

We made our way through high school together fighting the good fight, made it out alive and better than ever.  We’re like every best friend couple you’ve ever seen on tv: Bizzy and Amanda (who I onced served in a restaurant in Vancouver), Rachel and Monica, Chandler and Joey, Marissa and Summer.  We’re pretty epic.  Everyones got their bestest of the bestest, forever of the longest time ever, and Jess is mine.

Clinton

This boy will cure cancer or something else amazing for all of humanity.  Favourite memory of Clinton: sitting on the

roomies fo' life

couch in our common area in Alice St and Clinton writting on the wall with a black marker, trying to explain to me something he has learnt at school that day.

Clinton is a true friend.  The kind of guy that once you two are for real friends, he’ll never let you down or hurt you (ya, kinda like Rick Astley).  He is open and honest and super intelligent, he’s also calm and quiet and good for a shnuggle and some blankets and a movie.  He’s always got some new gadget or some crazy job.  The best was when he was a pizza delivery boy, and he’d bring us home Toppers pizza all the time.

I love Clinton cause he’ll take time out of a random day to write me an email about whatever might be happening.  One time, I got a picture sent to me, of Toronto taken from a Go train.  It was beautiful.  I also love, how I get emails from him where he just complains for a few minutes about a prof or some experiment or something, like i’m right there in the same country with him.  He always has a way of making me feel wanted and needed, even though I’m so far away.

once upon a time in Hiroshima

born to be wild

Natalie

Natalie was another twist of fate.  I met her on my almost first day in Toyama, Japan.  She seemed so much older and more mature than me.  That quickly got cleared up as I got to know her.   About the toughest thing to do: get to know Natalie ( and get her out of the bar before 5am).  So worth the fight.  She reminds me of me when I was young and bitter .  I’ve seen her grow and change so much while we travelled together though and it’s been a beautiful thing.

Natalie may be a bad influence in some ways (many ways) but she’s a great influence in other ways.  This girl just goes for it.  She lives on the edge, she’ll change her mind with any good idea and fly across the world to do something new.  She doesn’t let anyone stop her, whatever her mission may be.  She is super brave and super crazy party animal.  You put her, me and a flask together and watch out!! I learnt a lot from her while travelling with her for three months in South East Asia, and i think one of the most important things i have ever learned in my whole life i got from her.  “Let’s jump, one. more. time.”

we love boats

Chris

I met Chris on a sunny day in May, where we chilled on a roof smoking a joint in Toronto.  Later I got an email from

Chris and ME!

him in France and I’ve cherished his friendship ever since.  We grew close over a short period in the summer of 2007 and somehow through large distances, we have kept that friendship going.

That’s why I like Marlow.  He is probably the most genuine dude I have ever met.  I’ve never met anyone who has been so intriguing to get to know.  I feel like he would leap from tall buildings and wrestle tigers for any one of his friends, but still slam with you with a (joking..you are joking right??) insult when it was finished.

i.o.u.1.breakfast.

He makes you feel like he’ll drop anything to talk to you, if you need it.  Even though I have known him for such a short time, like Leah, I feel completely comfortable talking to him.  I plan my phone calls to him accordingly, since they could go on for hours and one of us will miss out on sleep.  When I’ve finished my conversations with him I’m always left smiling and feeling good.  Even accomplished somehow.  No matter what the topic or how I’m feeling, I can turn to him about anything; he is completely nonjudgemental and funny and always offers a good word.  I wish we were hanging out.

Erik

Lord I miss this little man.  Erik and I met because he was Scotts roomate.  The year after, they both became my

don't fall asleep in my bed

roomates and brothers for life.  Erik is the type of guy you can already picture being a dad and being a really good dad.  Erik is this completly balanced guy.  Party?  He’ll do it.  Study?  That too.  Talk?  Anytime.  Exercise?  Games?  Risky business?  Looks?  Smarts?  Outgoing?  Funny?  He’s got ‘em all, and non of his attributes go over board and they are all right there in your face creating this amazing guy that you just have to be friends with.

The only thing that isn’t cool about Erik is that I don’t see him or hear from him enough.  Which is probably cause he is just too cool.  Damn.

playing with Erik

I remember one of my saddest days.  I called Erik one summer from Vancouver, and he told me that he was moving out of Alice st, for our last year of school and into a house with some other friends of ours.  I was sincerely heart broken.  I remember crying and crying for the first time in a long time.  My dad was confused, but there was no way to explain to him the loss of losing Erik as a housemate.

Lili

Lili and I connected on a different level than any of my other friends.  She is quiet and beautiful but also crazy and

my little buddy

intense.  She’s really imaginitive and has many great ideas, she’s super passionate about everything she does.  She was my roomate for two awesome years.  She randomely answered to an add to live in Alice st and became the new random roomate.

We shared a wall and many secrets, all of which i completly trust her with.  She does everything at her own pace (her putting-on-socks-pace is incredibly incredibly slow unfortunately…) and the outcome is incredible.

I just want to know her forever and have her in my life always.   To me, she is someone I want around all the time, but I never get it enough.  A great example of how wonderful Lili is, is that, when I told her that my cousin had passed away and that I was confused about whether or not I should go home, she immediately offered to start a fundraiser to pay for my flight home.  The fundraiser?  A kegger, obviously.  That’s Lili in a nutshell.  (I politely declined this beautiful offer).

winning awards for being amazing

Lyndsay

Meet the Lyndzies.  The Lyndzies are: Lindzy and Lyndsay.  Since we used to be always together (usually walking somewhere intoxicated) people just started calling us the lyndzies.  It works.

messin' around

I met Lyndsay through Jess in high school.  She was a gossiper back then (don’t deny it!!!), but grew to be one of my greatest friends.  If the Lyndzies are together, its a good time, guaranteed.  Mostly cause our laughing is utterly contagious.

Honestly, I think Lyndsay and I grew close because I can’t stop laughing when she’s around.  She’s the funniest girl I know.  She’ll also do anything if you pressure her enough.  Ex. Me: “Lynds, come to Vancouver.” Lynds:” I can’t.”  Me: ” Yes you can.”  Lynds: “No man, I have no money.” Me:”Commooon.”  Lynds:”O.K.”  Done like dinner.

Now she has found a man, and I have gone farther than our country’s coasts and my convincing isn’t as successful.  She’s still my home girl though fo’ sho’.  I just want her to have babies so that she multiplies and there can be many of her.

the lyndzies

Paula

I met Paula when we were just wee tykes.  She was “school”  best friends with my “at home” best friend, Meghan

Paula and ME!

Laturney.  We played together inconsistently on weekends growing up.  We saw each other at birthday parties and other like activities when home friends and school friends all come together.

We were acquaintances in high school… you know, same hallways, same friends, same parties.  It wasn’t untill our last year of high school that we bonded over philosophy, ex boyfriends, and university applications that we became close.  We both had our number one university that we hoped to get in to, but we both ended up at the University of Guelph and as luck would have it, in the same residence building, just a quick three floors up from me she was.

I love Paula, one of my favourite things about her is she is not a stupid girl.  She is bullshit free, strong, independent, fun, and intelligent.  Whether it’s a Uni class where we’re bad talking first years, chatting over lunch or cups of coffee (loooots of coffee), partying or having sleepovers, I always have a great time when I’m around her.  My favourite time was our first week of Uni during frosh week, we couldn’t find people that were old enough to go out to bars.  We took matters into our own hands and set out to the unknown.  I’m pretty sure we will both not forget that night.  Heck, it was our first time to Trappers!!  Miss you lil’ P.

Dariusz

hugging D.

Ohhhh Dariusz.  Totally like my big brother…not that he is similar to my older brother, but that he is like a big brother to me.  When we first met, he refused to remember my face and I had to reintroduce myself one million times on the Guelph campus.. “Remember?  We met at my house?  And last week… and the week before that…” “Ohhh riiight, fack, sorry!”  I remember when I decided I really liked Dariusz.  We were both studying at the library and we decided to get something to eat/drink at the keg.  We ended up talking for hours (maybe it was just one hour?) over beers… I don’t remember the conversation much, but I remember really liking talking to him.  I still do, and I always have. 

I’ve enjoyed many good times with Dariusz… sleepovers in the comp sci building, hugging, dancing, and I could always count on him being at the choice bar of the night without even having to call him back in Uni.  I can also always count on good advice, a helping hand (“We’re taking that back to Future Shop, right now…what did I tell you about buying that?”) and always always a good talk. 

Merry Christmas 2008 you filthy animals.