This post is going to jump around a bit. Forgive me.

I normally don't apply to these sorts of things, but... I'm going to apply for H&M's contest to go to Japan to represent H&M as a reporter for the new store opening in Ginza. I have nothing to lose and neither do you. You have to make a 30 second video and include 3 things: present yourself, reveal your best fashion tip, and say what you would ask to Tokyo's hottest fashionista. I'll post the potential video in a few days. Make a video too, you know you wanna. It'll be fun!

Languages fascinate me. Today, some customers were speaking Spanish and I could pick out pieces of what I remembered what I had learned in Montreal from Katimavik. "Spanish in Montreal?" you say. Si! I feel that Montreal is more lingually diverse than Toronto because of the primary usage of French and the wide-spread use of English. The immigrants that move to Quebec mostly speak French and their mother tongue, plus they pick up a little English along the way. The placement I worked at had an employee who was originally from Costa Rica. She could only speak Spanish and French. So, for teaching her a little English, I learned a little Spanish. It also helped that another Katima-participant wanted to learn Spanish too. We learned together and it was something that we bonded over. Donc, dans Montreal (je m'ennuyer mon clavier francais avec les accents) not only did I get to brush up on my French, I also got to pick up some Espanol (where the tilde accent when you need it?).

Back to the original point of my story. They were speaking Spanish and I was in the fitting room putting some stuff back and I heard that they wanted a black cardigan in medium (in Spanish). Before they could go out and get it, I brought it to them. Guess they weren't expecting that. It's funny, when you learn another language, you can tie the roots of that language and use it to translate other languages as well.

When I was studying Latin and Greek Poetry, I got to learn where the roots of words came from (thanks mostly to the Latin aspect, although I will never forget the PARACLAUSITHYRON!). It sounds nerdy to say it, but making connections to different languages is a fascinating thing for me. If I wasn't so set on Gerontology and a music career, I probably would take up Languages and translate at the UN or something. The beauty of music is that I can translate my own lyrics or something in the future, if I so desire. It'll be a good way to reach out to an international audience.

For lack of a better transition sentence, I'm going to go see a one woman comedy show tomorrow called "Alana Johnston The Show" at the Diesel Playhouse. I'm looking forward to going out and doing something instead of going straight home after work and practicing various skills.

On Sunday (potentially), there might be a Katima-reunion with some participants that I was in the same cluster with (if that sentence makes no sense, you can go find out what I'm talking about here. I didn't mention it in the post, but a cluster is 3 Katima-groups that are within geographic proximity of each other). It would be neat to see how much everyone has changed after the program, what people have done all summer, who misses making only $3 a day... good times.

No more jumping, I'm tired.

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I don't know if there's some event going on in Toronto this week, but there was a lot of British people in the store throughout the day. Maybe it's just a good time to visit? Shopping at Banana Republic in London is more expensive than shopping here because the Pound is so high.

Speaking of expensive things, my hours at Coach are set and are very crazy. I'm working 8-5 every weekday with training in the evening on two days. The store opens on Friday. I'm so excited to start work there! Purses, messenger bags, trenches, wallets, hand bags, scarves, shoes... New merchandise and I can't use any of it because I'm a man (except for the messenger bags and wallets... but I already have those)! That'll curb my spending habit for sure.

There's a beautiful sunset happening right now. I can actually see it because my Paternal Unit has taken down the sun room. We're under construction in our backyard. The new pool is going in tomorrow apparently. Here are some pictures of the work in progress.

I've posted lyrics to one of my songs called Dancing Without Clothes. The title came from when I was in Katimavik. It was one of those things where someone says something and then you say, "That would make a good song title!" That's what happened. There will be music to accompany that soon. I'm trying to get a hold of a friend who does some really dope electronic beats. Maybe it'll be a collaboration.

As of today, Tuesday August 12th 2008, I am officially moved to NuTang and I will no longer post on Wordpress. If you wish to check out my archives, you may do so at any time by clicking on Archives in my Links list. Don't get me wrong, Wordpress is a great blogging site, but NuTang suits my needs better. Where else can you have all of these great side modules, the ability to completely customize your website, be welcomed by a friendly and interesting community, and have baboons at your service? Nowhere.

To end this post, I present to you a new song! Another cover. It's Angela Aki's Love Is Over Now. My vocals start out a little shaky, but they get better. Hope I did the song justice.

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I started my first day at Coach today. It was mostly filled with boxes and putting away things, but I got to go home at 4:15, which meant I could have more time to get to my vocal lesson, which was badly needed since traffic was really bad. The song I have to learn this week? How Deep Is Your Love? by The Beegees. I also talked to my teacher about my future in music. She said to follow my heart and do what makes me happy. I already knew this, but having her in my corner really solidified it for me. So...

I'm leaving George Brown and becoming a musician full time.

My parents support me, but they won't be supporting me money wise as much. I'll have to start paying little rent increments, my own transportation (which I was going to pay for anyway), and I'm going to have to start budgeting for reals, but I've never felt this good about something in my life. Gerontology would of been a means to an end for me anyway. I know that I would end up doing music for a living, so why not start now and get my name out there?

Expect to see more creativity coming soon. Time to head to bed so I can get up early to get to Coach tomorrow. We're going to be training with the product. Purses ahoy!

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And the work continues. I joined a bunch of networking sites, joined a japanese language Meetup, worked on my piano, vocals, and japanese today. I also took pictures of our pool's progress. Tomorrow we are going to have concrete in our backyard instead of dirt! I'll post the whole ordeal when it is all done by the end of this week.

I worked out a budget with my Mom that basically states that I have to make at least $20000 by the next September 1st with just my music ability. We'll see how that goes. The ball rolls on...

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Work was like a two sided coin today. The first half of my day was amazing. I had great quality sales, I was happy, it wasn't ridiculously busy. After lunch, it sucked. I had hardly no sales, and the tension of home seeped into my professional life somehow. I finished up my day and went home because I knew I had a vocal lesson at 8.

Or so I thought. My vocal lesson was actually scheduled for 6, so I called my teacher and told her I'd be there at 7. I made it there, learned and killed the new song Just the Two of Us (I kept thinking of the WIll Smith version for some reason). When I got home, my parents gave me a compromise:

"Starting September 1st, you have one year to become successful.

This is your golden year. Make it count."

This means that I will not be going to school for a year so I can pursue this career seriously. I'm going through the budget tomorrow with Maternal Unit and writing a contract to make things final. All that's left after this is to defer (or attempt to) my status at college and I'll be good to go.

I've got my gig all lined up on August 30th with the Ben Navaee Gallery. I'm going to be playing my acoustic and singing from 3:30-5:00 PM. Come look at some amazing art and check me out!

I'm responding to ads like crazy for music and hoping for the best. No word on the orchestra yet, but I have faith. I am staying positive and I will persevere.

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Today I worked 11 hours. It was sweet. Our team unpacked all of the purses and then re-sealed them sans packaging. Coach believes in a lot of useless packaging. However, now I know a lot about the bags that we carry, which is handy for tomorrow: cash and product knowledge training! I hope I exist in the company directory tomorrow. I didn't today (which means I didn't have to punch out or anything muhahaha).

After work I walked to the bus terminal to try and get a schedule... and they were all out. Looks like I'll have to go online tomorrow to print out some maps. I'm taking the bus on Friday. Better mark it on your calendars. Taking the Mississauga bus solo.

As I was walking out to meet my Dad, there was paramedics and 3 people smoking a joint behind the column between the doors... really classy and not related. The paramedics were not smoking up. They were wearing sunglasses and trying to be "cool" paramedics. Sunglasses don't save lives. People save lives.

When I got in the SUV, my Dad started a mini-rant on my future. Later on the evening he came to terms with it and supports me. Thank goodness. I'd hate to not include him in my Thank You... list. "Thanks to all my family, except Parental Unit #2. You know who you are." Harsh.

I recorded a few things today, but nothing you can see yet. Patience is a virtue! And I have to wake up early again tomorrow! Hooray! Good Night!

P.S. I almost forgot! I'm planning on going to the Fan Expo on Saturday to perform at the Anime Karaoke Contest. Have to get my name out there somehow and network with the other countries. Err... and the otakus. I'm thinking I'm going to sing a song that's not even from an anime. Just to mess with their heads. But it's an awesome song and totally danceable. Plus it's in a genre that isn't all stereotypically anime vocal-esque. Maybe I'll post it tomorrow. Mmmm... yes. A musical preview of this weekend tomorrow. Plus some Japanese studying.

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