we were going up and up a million spiral stairs in a cylindrical clock tower, or maybe it was a windmill. the higher it got the more nerve wracking it was, the stairs were rickety, and the tower jolted from side to side as the mechanism in the center, a large wooden pole with perpendicular poles for counterweights coming off at odd intervals, swung around and around.

once we got to a certain level, our friends were there suddenly. after walking and walking up all these stairs, we demanded how they got there so fast. they pointed out an "elevator" which was actually a bucket on a rope. i was just about ready to get in the bucket to try it, when i saw a group of people going up to the very top of the tower, higher than we were planning to go, because we weren't sure if it was safe. these people looked like a group with a tour guide and everything so i went to follow them. i really wanted to look out the window.

the walk up was very difficult, i kept being thrown against the railings by the swaying of the tower, which made me feel like i would fall over the side. at the top of the tower, there were huge, furnished rooms, almost like you'd find in a victorian era mansion. the people were gathered around the tour guide, near a big window. i couldn't feel the movement of the tower any more.

i asked to use the washroom and was directed down a long narrow hallway (how did this fit on top of the narrow tower? i had no idea). the washroom was weird, the toilet was really low and had a plastic covering that kept coming off because it was overflowing water onto the floor. i couldn't sit on it and it soaked my jeans. i saw a small ring or something on the floor and picked it up and put it in my pocket. i was a small dark-skinned girl with long long black hair.

when i came out of the room the place was in an uproar. the tour guide was looking for the jewel i had, and i got the impression that no good would come of it if i gave it to him. i tried to hide the tiny bulge in my jeans pocket, but the tour guide's female partner noticed it. she pretended she hadn't, and said "oh look at your wet jeans! i have another pair you could change into, just your size! come with me".

it was dark,
we were going to the mall.
devon, me, my boss's brother, and one or two others.
we were all dressed in our fancy clothes.
it was winter.
i tried to go into the mall but the lights were off, or the doors were locked.
it was the biggest building i'd ever seen, this mall. huge doors.
i came to a door that was open.
it was blocked by ice. a big chunk of ice suspended in the middle of the door by several thin filaments (how did it form? did someone put it there?)
we were determined to get in,
so i wrapped my arms around the chunk of ice and pushed it forward with my chest and belly.
the icicle strands broke and i dropped the chunk on the floor.
at that moment, donnie and his friend strolled by outside the now-open doorway.
he was dressed really fancy, maybe he was wearing a top-hat.
it was all very casual.

we were opening for oasis i guess.

we had to walk through this giant crowded mall to get to the backstage area. we didn't have our passes. we somehow figured out where the secret door was in the mall that let you go backstage. as we went to open the door a uniformed lady stopped us and asked to see our passes. we talked our way past her.

under the mall were long, maze-like corridors. the walls, floor and ceiling were concrete and painted blue. there were no signs. it was really confusing and a little scary, because i wasn't sure i could find my way back to where we started, and the corridors were so narrow i felt claustrophobic.

finally after walking for what felt like forever, i came out onto this metal framework thing, hanging in the air. i realized i was over the stage. on the lighting rig or something. i was trying to figure out how i'd get down off it. the drop looked pretty short at first, but on second glance i was REALLY far from the ground. i imagined the shock and pain in my legs if i tried to jump.

just then the stage manager came out. i thought i would get in trouble because i wasn't supposed to be there. but he wasn't mad, he started talking to me. he thought i was his new apprentice i guess. he pressed a button and the thing i was on lowered slowly to the ground.

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somehow i ended up in newfoundland by accident. i don't know how it happened, whoever i was with ended up going to newfoundland while i thought we were going somewhere else. so there i was in st john's. i met up with the hey rosettas, and they were kind of showing me around, but one by one they had to go off and do stuff on their own. me and whoever was left were thinking about going to a restaurant. then i realized i could call ruth, i had her number. this was awesome.

but then i realized her number had one too many digits in it. it was like 757-08765.
i didn't know which number was the wrong one. i tried a few combinations but none of them worked. so i called 411.

i explained to the guy my problem. he seemed really confused. he didn't really want to help me. i had to bug him to do it. "just look up RUTH S in mount pearl. i can even tell you if it's the right number by looking at the numbers i have here". he seemed to think it was a privacy issue.

but finally he put my call through.

oh great, i wish someone had warned me. i came here expecting to see a band i liked and now this is happening.
now here i am, totally vulnerable, embarrassed. i don't want to be here. and now SHE walks in. the worst person to ever see when this is going on. i feel guilty, i feel angry, a little scared. her sister looks at me with hate.

oh well, at least all my friends are here. wait, where is everyone?

i recognize a friend walking in the door. i wave enthusiastically, but... his sarcastic mocking face is strange to me. how did i think that was my friend? that guy is a complete stranger.

i am upset. i go to the washroom. HER sister is in there. she tells me, in her low way that i had better watch out, because she decided it was time i got what was coming to me. she said she had a friend, who would go to my house some day and kick the shit out of me. i told her to send him over, see if i care. but it was an act.

i need to get out of here. i walk toward the door and FINALLY see someone i know. she told me everyone was on the other side of the building watching yvette play. i am relived. that is where i belong, not here. i set off.

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something terrible happened to HER. she was attacked. i was consoling her. we we chatting like old friends. i knew everything would be all right as i was asking her if she still had the same phone number.

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i was somewhere that looked like ashby, but it had insane geological formations like nowhere else in the world. i was walking down near whitney avenue when i saw a grassy area. i walked toward it and i saw a mound of rock, inside a plane of smooth rock, like a fried egg shape. the mound of rock was GUSHING water. i somehow knew how it was happening, another smooth plane of rock under the ground was creating pressure. the mound of rock in the centre was actually a column of spongy porous rock, so the pressure caused water from below to shoot out.

i had to go and get the others to see it.

SHE suggested we stop at the bakery which was in the temple on whitney ave. it was a really fancy bakery. she bought the biggest donut i had ever seen in my entire life, it was more of a cake. i asked for a bite, she was reluctant to let me taste the icing but i insisted. it was delicious. the cake-nut had a trough in the top which held a ton of icing. really great icing too.

i wondered if i should get a donut-cake too, but i looked around a bit. there were glass cases with the really fancy cakes in them. the glass was very dirty and scratched. in these little glass dishes there was some sort of thing with fluffy pink stuff floating beneath a smooth surface covered in what looked like cinnamon.

i saw some little poppy-seed cakes that looked like they were baked in a soup-bowl. they were on display on little stands, rounded side down, at an artistic angle. the tops were cut into pointy, windswept shapes. they looked a bit like flowers. i thought i'd get one of those.

i couldn't believe how dirty and scratched the glass was, though.

my sister and some other people and i went to see david suzuki in an arena thing. at one point everyone put on roller-skates and there was some sort of competiton. devon either won or was on the winning team. i wasn't even trying to win, i didn't understand the game.

i LOVED my rollerskates though, they were bright red. i decided i would keep them. i went to the washroom with my bag and folded the rollerskates up and fit them in and changed my shoes. my shoes were bright red too. almost immediately someone started questioning me about the rollerskates. someone was defending me, and i said i had already returned them, so i figured they had no way to prove it. i hoped they didn't ask to search my bag.