valentine's day was yesterday.

Happy Valentine's Day.
This is how it goes when you live in res...
With the big v-day falling on the day after many scurried home for reading break, the ones left here immediately bonded with one another.
Especially in a building 2/3 women.
Especially considering it's Valentine's Day weekend.
I started my day with a nice dose of yoga with Chris this morning and then came back to campus and chilled. Emmy phoned me for lunch and then we ate and napped and watched "Ten Things I Hate About You." It was wicked.
We got ready for our dates and it was SOO fun! Ok, ok, I may be bitter sometimes, and many dub me as an "angry feminist" because I take Women's Studies courses, but I'm not like that at all. I loved having my hair and makeup done and talking with a girlfriend about what we're going to wear and how we think our evenings will play out.
I had a really sweet night and got back around 1:00 just to find out she hadn't had her date yet! Yep, she had a 3am(ish) date so OF COURSE her, Denay and I stayed up watching "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days" and then the inevitable full scale 2:30 am dance party.
We let our hair down, helped her pick out her outfit and danced our asses off.
(I think those lattes from David's definitely kicked in haha.)
Anyway, all in all, while I may be consumer conscious about the state of the flower and cocoa industries, I still had a fun Valentine's Day exchanging my converse and jeans for a dress and little heels.
Life is too short to take it too too seriously anyway.
The Beatles know the drill, "all you need is love" (now let's just spread the love everyday!)

PEACE!

<3>

Jack.

I meant to write about this a few days ago.

Kind of like I mean to do a lot of things before I (or if I) actually ever get around to doing them.

The intention is usually always good.

Anyway, let me introduce you to Jack.

Jack is an outgoing guy, to say the least. Our lives crossed paths one day, not too many days before today. I was sitting by the glass windows in the library when he came down the stairs. I looked casually just to see who was descending from the upper catacombs of our fair library to find a face smiling back at me.

Ok, fair enough. I wracked my brain to see if I recognized this guy, but I definitely had never seen him before.

I glanced away but can't help looking back up just to find him still holding eye contact. He walks toward me where I sit in one of the four empty chairs.

"Can I sit here?" Jack asks, a sparkle in his eye.

Of course I say yes, he seems pretty interesting. So, Jack settles in across from me unloading his books on the other half of our little round table. I move my stuff politely while he jokes about how lame he is for spending seven hours in the library on a Saturday. At least I had just got there about half-an-hour prior, but still, Saturdays are kind of lame spent in the library.

His surfer boy-esque face cracks a warm smile, his green eyes still shining.

I introduce myself, we shake hands. Firm, solid handshake.

I pretend to go back to my readings, he opens his book, then peeks from over the top of cover, "You know when you read and read and read and nothing actually ends up sticking? Then you end up re-reading it, vowing to concentrate and you understand the words but not all the words together because you don't really care?" he asks.

"I'm doing that right now," I laugh.

He nods, satisfied with my answer.

A beautiful, black girl with long corn-rows comes down those same stairs and he knows her. They talk for awhile and while I pretend to go back to my readings, I eavesdrop. He's a grad student. He's into liberal arts/humanities stuff. He's funny and has a lot of friends. Ok, cool.

They chat for awhile reminiscing about good times and catching up. It's sincere. She parts.

I still pretend to be reading.

He smiles at me again. I, not sure what to do, ask him what he's reading. "What are you reading?" I ask.

"This book on a feminist hatin' on feminism. I support many feminist ideals but they just always make me feel like shit for having a penis."

"She's not a very good feminist then," I reply, "It should be about equality." Well that opened a can of worms (excuse lame expression please.) We delve into an hour conversation about the pressures of the media, how the way we are treated in grade school does/doesn't determine our future selves (he went to PenHigh and used to be an ass, apparently) and even about the future of journalism and why he couldn't be a teacher like I want to be.

He was amazed that I do hot yoga everyday and complained about it being such a huge trend((stay tuned for future blog entry regarding that topic)). The thing is, it didn't matter how heavy the stuff we were talking about was, it seemed malleable and accessible in our hushed library discussion. He swore frequently and used expression like, "yeah totally" and "fuck, you totally get it man."

He has a girlfriend btw.

We chilled for awhile and then he was going to get picked up and I was about done fake reading.

He got up and shook my hand again, looking me in the eye, "Kayla, right?"

"Yep. Jack."

"You have to promise me, if you ever see me in the library to say hi. Ok?"

I promise, and make him promise to do the same thing.

He says, "I'm not just one of those assholes who pretends not to know someone if he sees them."

"I never thought you would be," I reply.

Then with a smile and a 'have a good evening' or something to that extent, Jack walked out of my life, for now.

That's an hour with a UVic stranger. It honestly doesn't really matter if we do see each other again, there was something prescious about meeting someone and being able to even have such an extensive, beautiful conversation.

It's All Gonna Break

“It’s All Gonna Break”

Papery burnt skin
and beer starched tongues,
corpses stumble to the stage
to get lost in the sound.

The sound of sparring hummingbirds
when the band strikes a chord,
beguiling gothic faces
causing feet to tap the dirt.

Guitars electrify muscles
orchestrated horns pump their blood,
notes they rise and crash and fall
never damning the symphonic flood.

He told them all to scream.
And like kids atop tractors
in the pouring rain,
they let out a cry.

Then they danced and laughed and sang
Every voice and every fan united.
Until the amps dropped them,
back to pragmatic lives.

Good Day Caddy Bay

A dome of lilacs
is burnt gold over
a sail dappled horizon.
Seagulls hover then shoot
up, up, pulling warmth
over the hills.
I hug my knees
on the sandblasted wood.
No footprints, no voices,
only rustling poplars at my back.
Like figure skaters, boats
slice over glass.
Courses reliant on
another’s breath.

-Kayla Pepper

highway 61, visited.

it's those days when you stand in the cold for so long that your fingers don't operate properly for you to type the words of your 1 1/2 hour converstation about reform.
social reform. the youth movement.
ban segregation and embrace love. love is the movement. scientology is expensive...and pringles are delicious (more than other expensive, fatty snacks...not that i'm eating them, cuz i'm actually not).
kids are also exploding firecrackers below the window...like molotov cocktails?
it's about taking a stand and organizing, taking the power from the few hands and refusing oppression. organizing and having conversations about topics that most people don't want to talk about.
i just want to jam, rock and roll.

happy.coincidences.

it is amazing how when you least prepare yourself for things (for example say, "hey, i'm not going to wear makeup") then you run into that someone that you would want to be ready for. in other words, there is nothing we can do to prepare us for life and the wonderful people that surprise us when we least expect it.
just go with the flow and enjoy the ride.
PEACE