oh, edmonton...

Another night of drinking about two or three too many pints, causing me to holler like an ass, confuse my words and generally embarrass myself. I've started to think I really have to knock that off, as I've come to realize I don't like waking up in the morning to the sensation that I probably said something stupid (or, at the very least, drunkenly uninteresting). Ah well. What are you supposed to do when a friend's in town, I guess.

Oh yeah, Kris Meen's leaving Alberta and going back to Toronto was the occasion last night, and it's a shame to see him go... again. Kris, Jeremy Derkson and I gathered on the Dog patio at around 8ish and hung out until it started to rain, at which point we grabbed some seats by the window and proceeded to get sincerely hammered. Along the way, Derkson was doing his best to convince me that Edmonton is a fantastic place to live and people shouldn't be so hasty to leave. He almost had me convinced, to a degree, until Dave Berry and his friend Prishani (I'm sorry, I don't know if that's the right spelling) showed up and Prishani, who runs the ECOS department at the U of A, mentioned how the people she works with basically hate me. And then I remembered why I so badly want to leave Edmonton.

I'm just so weary of that kind of bullshit, of people in that same, depressing, go-nowhere university activism crowd who decided I'm the worst person in the world for some reason--and, amazingly, continue to think that, despite my not having any contact with that scene or actual real-world impact on their lives in any way. It's infuriating to hear that people are judging me based on no actual information about my personal character, and it drives me even more nuts that I have to hear about it, because there's obviously nothing I can do to change their minds--nor should there be, because I don't feel I've done anything wrong beyond not being the cause-championing preacher/writer that they wish every journalist would be. It's petty, uninformed, small-town, retarded shit that could only exist in Edmonton's petty, uninformed, small-town atmosphere. In a bigger city, I'd hope these people would realize there are more important things to tend to in our lives than randomly hating strangers. And even if this wasn't the case, in a bigger city, I wouldn't have to hear about it. Because it fucking sucks that people take joy in hating me. And I hate how it sends me into this stupid, poor-me spiral when rationally, I know it doesn't matter. I just want to get away from it, I guess.

Oh, Edmonton...