The July long weekend is an unusually quiet time around these parts – while it seems as though we should have days full of non-stop fun and illegal activities, it’s almost always a pretty chill affair with no real sense of urgency. While this isn’t the way I normally spend my days – I tend to thrive on the thrill a minute – it’s been a pleasant change of pace.

Except now I’m done relaxing and am totally ready to get back to my usual programing.

This is the last day of my 4-day weekend, and I’ve spent much of it snoozing. That’s not to say I haven’t done anything at all – I’ve had little pockets of fun that definitely brightened up my cloudy days off, saving me from the dreaded cabin fever and from feeling like I wasted this precious time away from the office. Canada Day was spent lounging around the house in true Canadian fashion – naked – before heading over to Railtown for a group-effort pasta dinner and fireworks at Darren‘s place (he of the view overlooking the Five Sails). Friday was more of the same, until I demanded food on a stick – Ed and I went for an evening scooter ride out to Richmond where we spent an exhausting two hours wandering the Summer Night Market (I bought socks, kettle corn, cushion covers for the couch, and a tiny hat) before getting caught in a surprise downpour on the way home. We watched Hot Tub Time Machine while I hunted dungeons on my iPad, then turned in for the night. In contrast, Saturday was a buzz of activity – it was Heather’s birthday, and we met her at the Lonsdale Quay for an afternoon of bubble tea and enabling which resulted in her buying a Mac Mini later that night. From North Van, it was off to Burnaby for Derek’s birthday party which was fantastic – Derek is known and loved by all, and his party was a veritable who’s who of awesome Vancouver people. There were many hugs and excellent conversations and the most adorable dog ever, and delicious cake(s) – it was a beautiful night to be surrounded by great people, and I enjoyed myself a lot.

The night was still young and Barry and Yunn wanted some lovin’, so we met them at Original Joe’s for food and beer. The place was unusually packed, which was apparently because of the PPV UFC fight being broadcast. As we are not neanderthals OR douchebags, we had no idea this was going on – but luckily, the sweaty mostly-naked men were just about done hugging one another and the bar quickly cleared out once there was no more homoerotic action on the big screen. We ate some delicious food, laughed at many things, and went our separate ways for the night. Good times all over the place, even if most weren’t planned in advance.

Other weekend happenings that do not warrant a paragraph:

• I went slightly mad and reviewed 6 iPhone games for Gamers With Casts, the first of which can be seen here
• I made a goddamn wizard!
• I was apparently very cute yesterday afternoon; an old man stared at me while smiling creepily (scary) and a young guy stared at me with surprise and what I hope was open admiration (I’m oblivious to these things; he may have had gas)
• It is Ali’s birthday and I love her and hope her day is awesome
• I “gifted” Heather with the Twilight books with the instructions that she is to spread the pain when she is done reading them (Donna, I think you’re next)
• Ed has two more days off and therefore he sucks
• Voltage on Main FINALLY reopened after being closed for the entire month of June and I celebrated by buying many small vinyl toys. I got a Morbo AND a Zoidberg!
• I am not ready for the upcoming heatwave
• Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?
• Getting blog compliments from someone I admire a lot makes me giggle and blush and generally come off like a fool
• C’mon, buy my Macbook already