Bloody Satisfaction

So, I donated blood today for the first time in a few years. First of all, let me say that I had completely forgotten how insanely huge the needle is. I mean, it's practically a soda straw....

Okay, now that that is out of the way, the real story is that I actually had to fight to be able to donate.

It all started a year ago when I got back from Korea and tried to donate in Aylmer. Unfortunately, Hema-Quebec turned me away because Korea was a malarial zone. I can understand that, so I took my bruised pride home. Why bruised? I was so proud to donate blood and make a help people. But I couldn't this time, and I couldn't for a full year.

So now it's a year later and I wanted to try again. But when I got there and did the interview, the nurse said "Oh, it's a one year deferral if you VISITED Korea. It's three years if you LIVED there." Some logical arguments from me, searching the handbook, calling the head nurse and contacting the pros later....I win! I argued my case and came out on top! Since I lived in Seoul (a fully developed area) and only visited rural Korea, I was NOT malarial. And the head nurse/pros at Canadian Blood Services agreed!

To make a long story short and a short story merry, I donated my blood, and I ate the cookies and drank the juice!

My next appointment is June 12th. Whoever wants to come and save a few lives with me is MOST WELCOME! :)

Sorry Everyone....

...for not updating in so long.

But, to be fair, I don't really get many people checking my page out. But I recently discovered that someone DID check it out, and so, in honour of that one unknown person. I'm writing a post.

It's been almost a year since I late wrote anything, but to be fair, I keep a real diary to write stuff I actually want to keep secret in it. Ha ha ha.

Life's going pretty well, I guess. Living at home with my Mum is making me miserable for many reasons, but I'm only there until my trip to the UK/France in August. Other than that, everything is fine. I'm still fiddling, and I actually have a bit of skill, I can even play a few of my favourite tunes (don't laugh at me): Sean Ryan's Polka (the Irish party song from "Titanic") and the first two tunes from one of the fiddle sets from "Lord of the Dance", Dick Gossip's Reel and Calliope House.

One big new exciting thing in my life is that I've started writing again. The story that I started writing in high school is slowly becoming a full novel! Truth be told, I liked the story, but it really wasn't anything more than a constructive outlet for my girlish fantasies. One of the main characters were modelled after myself (of course, a prettier, princess-ier, more likable me), and my high school crush (except that in the story, he ends up liking her in the end). It was kind of embarassing to haul it out again; a painful reminder of my adolescent years, but since I've been working in it, I can see the story and characters mature beyond their love-sick creations into a really fun and interesting story.

My foray back into writing is hugely based on the encouragement of a new friend: a fellow that I met on an e-dating site. Sadly, romance just wasn't in the cards (story of my life, ha ha ha), but all is not lost because I gained a friend. He's a writer, working on his own novel, and we've been exchanging work and editing/commenting on each other's writing. I never knew how very useful it is to have someone else who seems genuinely interested in your writing to keep you motivated! Not to mention reading his writing helps me improve my own.

My story is still unnamed, but I have a barebones plot outline and I have about 15 chapters of first draft written. Hopefully, I'll be able to stay motivated for long enough to finish it!