Coffee Break

Bridgehead and Beau's Brewery have made the ultimate fusion... Winterbrew beer! They've combined Beau's all-natural beer with fair trade Nicaraguan coffee to create this intense flavour-party-for-the-palette... and it kept me conscious for a fair bit longer than alcohol usually does! Last night I went to a party at the Bridgehead at 96 Sparks in Ottawa that featured this awesome brew. Really hoping that it will be available at the LCBO sometime soon!

I heard about the Bridgehead-Beau's event through an old camp friend, Cameron, who is a barrista (is this a gender neutral term?) at one of the coffee shops. While we were hanging out last night he also recommended I become a couch surfer. I don't know much about couch surfing, but I do know it is an extremely cost effective way to travel AND that joining the couch surfing community is by invitation only... ladies and gentlemen, I may have just found my in. So I'm in the process of signing up with the website... there is so much info to put in... but such great reward in the end.

I didn't clue in until the other day, but this week coming up is my reading week for school!! How college can schedule a March break in the mid-end of February is beyond me. Regardless, this basically means I have made no plans, and it may be too late to make any. Originally I was going to get to Sudbury, Ont. to meet up with some of my amazing friends at Laurentian University. It might take a miracle to pull this one off!!

Anyways, it's the long weekend here because of Monday being deemed 'Family Day'. No difference to me, it's my 'March break' after all! The plan for the week is to get a move on on my school projects, and perhaps pull a trip to the Dirty Nickel AKA Sudbury outta my bag... wish me luck!

(Sudbury, Ont., view of the water tower from the downtown Tim Horton's!)

Prime Excellence!

I was fortunate enough to be selected to volunteer for this year's Prime Time in Ottawa conference held at the Westin downtown. The CMPA (Canadian Film and Television Production Association) puts on the conference every year and it's focus is mainly on networking and policy. I volunteered all day Wednesday (Feb. 16, 2011) and part of Thursday; and made sure to attend the socials...

Meeting and mingling with industry people is rather tiring by the way... especially when you stay out past 2:30 a.m. to do it!

I am so grateful I got the opportunity to attend the conference, and even got to come in on the last day(Feb 18, 2o11) and take in panel discussions as well as presentations from a few of the industry leaders. My passion for television and media has been re-ingnited.

I am so happy that I got involved, and was able to get so much out of the experience! Thank you CMPA!!

It's been an incredible week! My positive meter is reading off the charts!!

As far as the planning goes for the big trip... I have acquired a merino wool sweater and a pack lock device. One of the best things about travelling and camping has got to be the before shopping. Ottawa has so many fantastic outdoor stores: MEC, Bushtukah, Trailhead, the Expedition Shoppe. Browsing those stores helps to remind me that I can go anywhere and do anything!

The items I won't be purchasing are the camera and sound kit. Those will definitely need to be borrowed from Algonquin College. I was speaking to the guy in charge of the equipment and he mentioned that the HD cameras are typically reserved for special projects... do we all agree that this is a special project?! Heck yes!

Touched base today with my partner in crime, Tasha. We have different reading weeks so we won't be able to coordinate a face to face meeting before I leave the country; however, when she gets home in early March she will have access to a free long distance phone! She recently expressed to me that she cannot wait for us to embark on this pilgrimage: to laugh, to cry, to argue and disagree... but ultimately to become stronger friends. Who knows, this trip may result in us taking on even more challenges around the world.

A few months ago I made a decision: while I am young a fresh I want to do the physically challenging trips... hiking, zip lining, horseback riding, ship wreck exploration, moon landings. Save the beaches, whale watching and wine tours for when my back and knees give out.