Over at 20SB every now and then they have this Blog Carnival thing where they get people to submit a blog post on a certain topic. Then, the powers that be pick a few entries (based on some unknown criteria) and “publish” them out. I’ve submitted a post or two before but they never got picked. How’s now going to be any different? Well, it probably won’t be. I’m just doing it for free ice cream (if it hasn’t already run out). What? Ice cream?

Disclosure: This post is a part of 20SB’s Looking Back Blog Carnival, and Ben & Jerry’s is awarding free ice cream to lucky bloggers and readers!

The topic? Well, this time around they wanted people to pick out a post from the first two months of the archives of their blog. Those who know the history of my blog will know that I actually started writing back in April 2002, but lost everything in a database accident of sorts. So, my archives only go as far back as February 2003. I looked back at stuff I still have, and man, I complained a lot back then. I suppose it’s not like I’ve stopped complaining now, but, apart from my occasional emo periods, the tone is a heck of a lot more positive. A few years of experience really does go a long way. Back in February 2003, I was 22 years old and still finding my feet. At the time I was on a work term and commuting a lot. My family and I were in the process of moving from an apartment by the Don Valley Parkway to our current house. At the new house, I had dislocated my kneecap. Yikes! There’s a picture of my leg in a brace here.

The stuff I wrote back then was largely observational and rather random. When I read it now, some bits just feel manic. There was a bit of a lack of focus. I wonder why that’s the case. Maybe these days I feel like I’ve got more of a sense of purpose such that when I write I’ve got some sort of driving force guiding things. I don’t know. Maybe Twitter has changed the game somewhat. I mean, back then I got away with writing entries like this:

Excuse me…what is it with people looking at my crotch?

Ha! No kidding, eh? It’s gotten to the point where I can weed out the random thoughts, post the appropriate ones as tweets, then have a clean blog post.

Anyway, what post did I choose? Well, with a two month time frame the pickings are kind of slim. In the end I picked a post that kind of shows the fact that even if my writing lacked focus back then, my writing style was always kind of verbose, eccentric, but vivid when I allow myself to let the mind wander. I also already had a good knack for making random thoughts kind of flow into a nice train of thought. The title of that old post is: Wish I had my camera. It was posted on February 4, 2003.

It’s been one of those mornings where I wish I had my camera with me.

I got on the elevator feeling tired and sick. All the other flu symptoms that I’ve been lacking have finally caught up to me. I have a sore throat, I’m achy, I’m a bit dizzy…but I’m still going to work. I’m resolved to stay in my cubicle though. Lucky my boss isn’t here today. Anyway…

Back to the elevator. As I got off the elevator on the first floor, here I was shocked to see this line of brand new toilets sitting in a row down the hallway. It was quite the sight. You’d think you were in some sort of wongo dream or something. There were just so many. I know that the building will be upgrading plumbing fixtures in the next month, so that explains why it was all there.

Today, walking to the bus stop I had to deal with the effects of freezing rain. The sidewalks were still covered with snow yesterday. The temperature became quite mild causing things to melt a bit. It then started raining causing even more melting. By this morning, it had all frozen over again causing a hellish walk to the stop. This guy in front of my decided to walk on the road. I started to do so but I felt my feet slipping every step or two. I didn’t want to end up slipping and falling at an inopportune time causing me to be crushed by a vehicle. In the end I ended up walking through the snowy grass.

Now, because of the rain the snow was quite crunchy making the walk tougher than usual. On top of that I had to keep a close eye on the ground for piles of dog shit. Now, I don’t know what’s wrong with some dog owners, but if your pet happens to pinch a loaf in the snow it will not disappear when the snow melts. I saw lots of turds, uncrushed, and crushed by unfortunate souls who had to walk on the side like me. I thought I had successfully avoided the land mines, but then when I sat down on the second bus I could smell this faint odour of urine or fecal matter. Man, was I self-conscious. Luckily, it wasn’t me…which leaves me to question the hygiene of some of the people whom I ride with.