bye-bye, booktown....

I've been a little all over the place lately. Sort of don't remember what my bed feels like -- but not in a slutty way.

(Hey Mom and Dad and Granny.... How're you?)

This weekend two very dear friends got married on Vancouver Island. It was gorgeous to say the least, got me thinking all about how much I love love.

(That's right. I love love. What of it?)

Being on the Island, I got to spend a few hours in Sidney-by-the-Sea today before flying back to Edmonton.

True booklovers among you may know Sidney, just north of Victoria, as one of Canada's book capitals. It's a gorgeous little town -- I didn't get to wander around the shelves of all the stores, though. I have to admit I bought a latte and a croissant and headed to the shore and just soaked up the fresh sea air.

I can never decide exactly what ocean air smells like, but I know that when I'm on Vancouver Island it smells like freedom.

(Holy overdramatic, Batman.)

My first real, career-oriented summer job was in Victoria when I was 21 and, well, vaguely ridiculous. I feel like I did a lot of growing up on the island, a lot of learning about myself and my boundaries. I learned to row that summer, learned to get up in the morning to go running along the shore (like, twice), learned to write about people, learned how to be by myself (and be okay with it).... And I learned to surf in Tofino.

I love that island. It was kind of hard to get on the plane today.

Segue, segue.... On the bright side, I had good reading material.

(Insert groans here. Yes, all of you groan at home while sitting in front of your computers. Nice job. Yes, I'm proud of you. No, I won't stop using these brackets.)

If you're as obsessed with Russia at the moment as I am, you need to read Mark MacKinnon's The New Cold War. It explains so much and is so relevant to today's news, and his stories completely pave the way for what we're seeing happen right now.

(Admittedly, I only read this book for part of the day, so I'm not even close to done. I got tired and side-tracked by the availability of Made of Honour on the plane. Terrible movie. Can't wait to see how it ends once it's available on video.)