the art of faking sick ?.

i’ve been told many times to join dailybooth, and to be honest… i just didn’t get it. the concept seemed useless and silly, but as of lately more of my friends joined and i started seeing how fun it is. last night, around midnight, i was bored, stumbled on the website, and decided to make an account! i can’t promise i’ll be posting webcam shots daily, but i’ll try to post as many of them as possible! i’m scared that if i post daily, they’ll only get repetitive and boring.

you can follow me, i’d appreciate it! and i highly suggest you to make yourself an account if you don’t already have one. here’s my link: dailybooth.com/alexevans

i’m leaving for toronto later tonight! and my university interview/portfolio assessment is on tuesday! nervewreckinnggggggg! and last minute, i found out i was preparing myself for the first year portfolio assessment, while the criterias for the advance standing portfolio assessment appear to be completely different. so i’m rushing right now to get every done properly before i leave. i’ll definitely post pictures of my portfolio in my next blog! some kind of a sneak peek. i rarely share my drawings, paintings, cause i feel they’re personal and such, but i think i’d only be fair to show some of them to you since i keep talking about it!

the past few days have been so stressful! they usually never schedule me on sundays at work, and i asked for a week off starting monday. big surprise! once i got my new schedule i was on it for today, 12 to 6pm. how random! i’m leaving for toronto at 5, i already have my tickets… you have no idea how many excuses i ran through my head over the past few days in order to be able to skip work. i would’ve felt bad to just be like “oh hey, i can’t come in on sunday either. i just asked for a week too, but that’s fine you knowwww”. they would’ve been annoyed. for a while i was planning on just going in to work, and faking sick after a few hours. then i acknowledge the fact that i’d need all day to finish getting prepared, so i decided to forget about that option. calling in sick? way too awkward. then i was planning on simply not showing up, and next time i’d come into work i’d act clueless and if they asked i would’ve just told them that i completely forgot because i usually never work sundays. and then yesterday, at work, i talked to another employee about it and they said it’d be very rude and they’d hate me for it. bummer!

then i walked pass someone at work who isn’t even given many hours, and i remembered that he needs/wants more hours. THANK GOD! so i ask him if he wants to take my hours on sunday, and he says sureee thank you i really appreciate it. but then i still need to go see the boss, and ask him if that guy can take my hours. i told him i had a last minute thing that came up, and fortunately for me, the boss said yes. he seemed a little hesitant, but he did indeed say yes! it was very relieving. i hate when i have to lie, and make up all kind of stories.

i went to see Shutter Island last night. it was a very well done movie… the actors were great, it reminded me of these old Alfred Hitchcock movies. and while the movie was good, the end left me feeling bleh. it’s one of those movies with such a twist at the end that sometimes it makes you feel like you’ve lost your time watching it. i don’t know. i felt weird when i walked out the theater. the end somehow leave you hanging for more.

the reason why i’ve been missing in action.

wow… this feels weird. writing a blog again i mean. my last post is dated january 10th! i’m a bad blogger! but then i have a few reasons, or just events that have been going in my life which somewhat distracted me from blogging, or it just sucked out all the motivation out of me… and now things are getting into place, or my brain is simply getting used to the new.

so you want to know the reason(s) why i’ve been M.I.A (missing in action) lately? the main one would be that my parents got separated after 28 years. yes, they had been together for that long. had been together since they were 17 or so. and for most people this reason is going to sound immature considering the fact that i am a nineteen year old man, but you see, i’ve always enjoyed the fact that i had a “perfect” family. my parents were the kind that never fought, never, ever fought. if they were mad at each other, they just wouldn’t talk or they’d make efforts to ignore it. when your parents are still together after that long, while most your friends are already meeting their fifth step-mother/step-dad, you somehow feel good about yourself. it’s like living something unique, and you feel lucky. and that is, one of the main reasons why their separation really made my sister and i depressed.

they separated in december, days before christmas. and their separation was very immature to us. yes, we understand if they don’t want to be together anymore. i’m honestly more than happy for them. i’m not a kid, when you grow up you understand when your parents get separated. but then they were sort of immature about the whole thing, and so was the rest of my family. my godmother/aunt, who’s always been one of my favorite people in the world became so weird after their separation. she is my dad’s sister, and completely took his side after the separation. it is understandable up to a certain point, but she’d only really make the situation a lot worst by feeding the story with random things from the past, or theories that she had about my mom. and she’d always tell my sister and i how she hates my mom now, and that she doesn’t want to see her face anymore, and blah blah blah. what didn’t really help the situation is that my mom found someone else, shortly after, which somewhat implies that she had known that person for a while. feelings don’t grow in a few days. so that brought fire to the drama.

my dad couldn’t handle the whole thing, so he took two months off work and stayed home all day, trying to get better. this, while my sister and i had to go on with our lives has if nothing ever happened. they had been together for 28 years, and we had been with them for 19 years, for me, and 17 for my sister. i still had to wake up in the morning, go to work, and act as if nothing was wrong in my life, but then deal with all my university stuff, choosing a university, the application, the preparation of my portfolio, finding an apartment, a roommate etc, which my parents couldn’t really help me with since they were too busy arguing about the past, and the present, and this and that. my sister on the other hand, had school, work and a school play to work on.

my mom is the one who had to move out. my dad was a mess, and my sister was heartbroken. i had to be the one who was pretty much holding this place together, and it was a huge responsibility. i had to be strong, just so my sister would get better, and i had to plan things i never had to before like, groceries, dinners, lunches, cleaning the house. it might seem like an easy task to most of you, and i would’ve been more than happy to do it — only if all that drama wouldn’t have been going on while i had to do it. but i saw it as an opportunity; i’m moving soon to go to university, i’ll be living on my own, seven hours from home. i will need to be self-efficient on every aspect of my life. so going through what i had to go through, and having to take on so many responsibilities, prepared me for the rest.

on new years we went to my mom’s mom, which has been a tradition for the past years. so it’s like we “left my dad alone” for new years. but in a way, it wasn’t our fault whether he was alone or not. we have our own things going on for us, and we wanted to spend some time with our mom – whom we hadn’t been seeing as much since she had to move out – and my mom’s family. they’re all really fun people. the whole thing ended up being disappointing. they all seemed changed/strange. i hadn’t seen my grandmother in 2 years (she lives four hours away, and we don’t get to go that often) and there was something about her that was different. it’s like the whole complicity between her and my mom had died. she seemed awkward with the fact that my mom had left my dad after all this time, and that she already had someone new in her life. and so did the rest of her family. i somewhat wish we wouldn’t have gone. it was the most disappointing new years of my life. everyone went to bed by 10pm, probably because the situation was just too awkward, and i was just watching a movie with my sister until midnight.

then a few weeks later my dad met someone. he brought her home a few times – and luckily for me i was never home the times he brought her – but my sister was. and my sister was a little weird about it, which i understand. a stranger in your house. at least my mom didn’t impose her new boyfriend on us. and then just a week ago, my dad walked into my sister’s room and told her that it was over with the person he’d met; “she told me you kept giving her strange looks and that you didn’t seem to like her, and that’s why it’s over.” then later on that day my sister heard my dad complain on the phone to someone about us, saying my sister was just like her mom, that she had no brain and needed to consult, that we were trying to ruin his life, and didn’t want him happy whatsoever. and that is when my sister screamed that she couldn’t wait to get the fuck out of here and that he’s delusional about the whole thing and that she probably just gave him some lame cheap excuse to get rid of him easily, etc. and ever since the atmosphere has been weird in my house. i’m glad she said something. and my mom was too when we told her what happened. my dad is the kind of person you don’t want to confront, at all. and my little sister still did!

and this is only part of the whole thing. you probably understand that i want to keep a few details for myself and respect the privacy of my family.

on the bright side, things really are going better. we see my mom more often, have dinner at her new home a few times a week. and my dad has calmed down. he used to get upset whenever we would want to see our mom, or talk about her. also, i was partly accepted to the university i applied to, meaning i was accepted for my grades, and now i need to be accepted during my portfolio interview. i’ll need to show them fifteen of my favorite artworks, and show them that my background in art is strong enough. especially since i applied straight to second year, in advance standing, instead of applying for first year. and why? because i did and graduated Arts & Culture at dawson college. which was just like the first year they have at the university i applied to. all their students are required to take a first year of general arts before their choose their major. i applied for a photography major. it’d be so great if i can go straight to photography. i’ve lost interest in traditional art, well not that i’ve lost it… but the two years at dawson were enough. so wish me luck with that! my interview is on the 23rd, so i’ll be spending a week in toronto!

weirdos.

it’s been a while since my last post! i’ve been busy enjoying life, and working too. gotta save up some money. but things have gotten better. remember how i told you about those family issues and such, well it’s getting into place. maturity finally decided to show up in the mind of some people, and it’s kinda relieving. i was about to lose hope. and work is okay. though i have a few stories for you. and i decided that this is what the post is gonna be about. things that happen at work. some weirdos we have to deal with on a daily basis.

story #1
today a customer was checking out, and what he bought came up to 12.55 with taxes. the original price of the item was 20$ and there was a discount, 40% off or something. then with the taxes added the final price was 12.55 and when i tell the customer how much the total is he complains at me:
- wasn’t there 40% off?
- mmm… yeah, the original was 20$ and now it’s 12.55.
- why 12.55 ?
- ??? the taxes ???
- k. i don’t want them. pff. wtvs.
i really don’t see how a difference of about a dollar could make someone upset, or why someone would even be surprised at taxes. not like it’s some new thing we have. we always had sale taxes. anyway. it was some good laughs.

story #2
a customer ask this girl i work with if we had this one scarf in green. and she looked it up on the computer and let him know that no we didn’t. he then asked if it was possible to call another store to see if they have it. she picks up the phone to do it and the man says “hope i’m not bugging you too much miss -her name-” with a annoyed tone. and the whole time she was on the phone calling the other store to find out he was just there standing in front of her cuddling and kissing his wife. it was kinda disturbing. she was so annoyed. especially when the guy told her to “forget about it miss -her name-” right after she got the answer from the person at the other store…

story #3
this man comes up to me and asks me what fabric this one dress shirt is made off. i look at the tag inside and tell him it’s 100% cotton. he then looks at me with a disgusted face and tells me: “huh, i don’t wear cotton. i don’t like it. i don’t own anything that’s cotton. so i don’t want it, just keep it. k. thanks.” and then storms out the store. i hope he’s well aware that more than 90% of the clothing made in the world has cotton…

story #4
this customer asks me to look at the tag inside his pants in order to know what brand they are. i stare at him a little traumatized and let him know that he can just go in a fitting room to do it himself. he then says he’s in a hurry and pulls out the tag, exposing half his butt, and tells me to look. i try to see the name of the brand from afar, and don’t see one. so i tell him that i just can’t see a brand, then he looks at me like i’m the stupidest person in the world and leaves. i’m not the one who doesn’t even know the brand of my own pants!

so these are some of the things that happen at work. i’m not complaining. it makes it all that much more entertaining and fun! but sometimes it’s a little depressing to deal with people who act clueless…

oh, and i got these shoes today. i needed some new shoes for the gym, and just for spring/summer in general. i’m happy that they’re lacoste, and not some brand like nike, that’d be little generic and a little 1999 too. you’re allowed to dislike them, i know they’re kinda very white.. but i like them, it’s all that matters!

i’m so over winter, and it’s far from being over. i despise it!!! too bad i’m not moving to a warm country to university. i was planning on actually doing it, but it didn’t end up working out. i’m happy with my new decision though, almost happier! i’ll just deal with winter. at least i’m not staying in montreal.