Greetings to the curious and the insane... And that should cover most of our friends and family. A friendly hello to the rest of you.
2002? Well. What is there not to say about the year that reads the same backwards as it does forward except that this year went both backwards and forwards? That's right folks!! This last year has been riddled with riddles.... Okay. Now that was uncalled for. Let's try this again. This last year has been filled with mystery and intrigue as well as world (okay.. Canada) adventure.
The end of last year was filled with Martin and I spending as much time as we could together. He came for two weeks to be with me and we ate dinner at the Brother's Restaurant in Gastown and spent New Year's Eve at the Cactus Club on Robson. Christmas Day we also saw the Lord Of The Rings and Monsters Inc. I felt like a kid again as my memories flooded back to reading the books as I grew up, and how can animation not have that effect. It was great! Unfortunately he went back shortly after. I was so longing for a project soooo much after that. Anything to keep my mind occupied.
Well... With Martin still in Toronto and I (Christina) here in Vancouver I only had need of a small room and was hoping for something better. Vancouver made sure I felt at home with snow for a week (actually the volume of snow lasted maybe 3 days) and I think I was one of the very few that was unfazed by it all. My roommate was a lovely Spanish woman but the double rent (T.O. and Van) thing was driving us nuts. I got news from Martin that he was going to move earlier than expected. YAY! So I went on a 'cheapie apartment' apartment hunt. With the help of a newfound friend Aletta, I got an apartment in her building in East Vancouver. I will never forget Martin telling me that he was going to arrive shortly after Valentine's Day so that I would have to have the place set up before he arrived. I got suspicious when he seemed so... calculated about pointing out the whole 'after Valentine's Day' thing. Hmmmm....
Valentine's Day.... A dozen Roses showed up and that tiny apartment never looked so bright. Martin arrived a few days later and I didn't let go of him until a few days after that. ^_^ <sigh>
Anyway... So here we were living in a tiny hole in the wall. The cats were confused as to what had happened and spent many a day exploring. Most of our life was still in T.O. in a locker and work was not established yet. Not to worry. Many days were spent playing tennis (or at least trying to play tennis) as well as restructuring anything we had to accomplish. Plans were laid out and some driving type exploring of the city ensued. The lack o' cash was hard but was not going to stop us or lock us in. We were as productive as we could have been. Within the last year we have left flowers for the queen mom, met a real life tiger, watched the alignment of the planets, and so much more.....
I (still Christina) have auditioned for commercials and gotten the chance to met a few of the local Casting Directors. Gone to many a 'script reading' series and such and met many people who are interested in doing stuff (hanging, working, whatever..) with me. Volunteered for the Alibi Unplugged CBC Event and the Gemini Awards Gala. Accepted wonderful people like Linda, Murray (& Brenda), and Dave back into our lives as they move across this great country as well. Met many more people who are new and fresh and I look forward to doing things with them..... Hey.. Not that kind of with them... I know which ones of you are thinking that... Or at least ones of you are now thinking that.... Anywho... Did some Scottish Social dancing and hoping to do more. Did an indie film and took the wonderful THE MAX program with Paula Shaw. Plus a new agent... New life.... New outlook....
Martin is working like a dog and impressing his new boss. There have been a few moments where it was a rocky start but much of that had to do with growing pains and they didn't last very long at all. His boss loves him and he loves him right back... Oh oh. I just gave a few of you more ammo. <sigh> He's happy to have all of our stuff here and MAX (Our 4X4) back in our lives even if he is the vehicle with the most rust on him.
US? Well... There's finding the 1300sq. ft. place we're now living in and then there's leaving moderate weather Vancouver and going back to super humid Toronto for our stuff. That was fun. The Ontario Renfest was sparsely populated as the smog and heat/humidex put them under but we braved it. Nothing was going to stop us!! Andrew, Laura and Olivia's visit in order to help us move. The other Andrew's help with his little car until ours arrived. Reconditioning the dragon we were given from the EFC set and assigning him the name of Talon. The birth of Antoinette's and Dana's little ones. The news that three more friends are expecting soon. It's been a busy year and I wish I had the time and energy to write it all down in detail but to sum up the positive. We are here and alive and enjoying it. I still feel a little bit the reject being more aggressive than many others I have met but we are now surrounding ourselves with people who don't seem to mind and really enjoy our company. We now have a group of friends that are the movie going crowd with no connection to the industry and a number of 'industry types' who are helping us into our perspective places. It is very nice to see that not everyone believes the rumours (Big City Ontario kid, and such) that come out of previous associates mouths and/or based on other people's limited experiences and closed minded attitudes. There is faith in the world.
On a negative note we did lose Hermes. That leads to a positive note that little Phoenix has come into our lives but we miss Hermes dearly and Plato could never be more sucky than he is now. Our friend Amanda lost her father and I felt so helpless as I was not there to comfort her directly. Missed all the cons. That felt weird.... We've been getting some nasty reactions from some of the people back in T.O. (& area) to our move as they feel abandoned. That was hard to get past.... Ummm...
Hmmm... I guess that is about all I have time for. I always feel like there is more but my present time is running out. I need to still get promo packages and thank you's out into the mail. I hope that gives you all and idea of what is up. I want to thank many of you for sticking by us and coming through when we needed you the most. We have great plans for this up and coming year of 2003. Some of you will know about it all before the end of next year... OH! I didn't get to tell you about Hallowe'en and how we dressed and the decorations and.... I just don't stop.
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Always remember.........