olympic village

+ two things happened this week. the canada line, the new skytrain line opened and tamara taggart co-hosted 'live with regis' in new york city.

on wednesday i took the canada line, the R-A-V line, the new skytrain line. i took it from waterfront to YVR-airport to broadway-city hall, from olympic village to vancouver-city centre. i walked out of waterfront station and through the looking glass. i had to take the canada line, the new skytrain line, to believe that it was there.

my parents had a house in richmond, a house where they lived before i was born. 'the house on 4 road.' richmond, a city that existed before me but has never existed since. i don't even know what richmond is but i know that richmond is where my dad went to high school.

in 2001 or 2002 i stood behind tamara taggart in line at calendar club. calendar club opened up in pacific centre every year from october to january. i was buying canadian art calendars at %75 off and tamara taggart was trying to return a board game without a receipt.

vancouver is a world-class city, the polls are consistent and insistent, the most livable city in the world. the best city in which to work. 85,000 people took the canada line, the new skytrain line, for free on opening day. the wait was 2 1/2 hours at waterfront station. 150 minutes. i live in the world's most livable city.

i had dinner and got back on to the canada line at olympic village station. there was nobody there, no one in the station, no one on the street outside the station. cars driving past on 2nd avenue.

tamara taggart lives in yaletown. tamara taggart lives in "kits." tamara taggart has parents that live in coal harbour.

vancouver is the only city in canada with a direct rapid-transit link to the airport.

tamara taggart has friends that compare their times on the grouse grind. she went to new york for 'live with regis' because she won a contest.

we hate the expo line, the old skytrain, the first skytrain, the only skytrain. it goes to surrey from downtown vancouver and, unfortunately, back the other way again. kids smoking pot on a packed train coming back from the fireworks, between columbia and scott road stations.

my sister and i would ride our bikes to surrey place mall, where i would buy cds at a&b sound. before surrey central station, before sfu.

on monday, the canada line was on the cover of the 24. on friday, tamara taggart was on the cover of the 24. three weeks ago i was on the cover of the 24, holding a sign that said "they lied."

one other thing happened this week. coors light was forced to take down billboards that mocked toronto. "colder than a person from toronto." toronto wanted to host the 2008 olympic games, but lost. we won.

the first time tamara taggart went to new york was this week, to co-host 'live with regis.' we are the first canadian city with a direct rapid-transit link to the airport. not even toronto has a direct rapid transit link to the airport.

panamax

+ they built a new fence and the smell of the wood in the rain.

+ and i go to a restaurant down the street, i order lunch and a beer. i eat, then order another beer, then see the board in front - someone i knew is listed on the bill, there is an event. someone i knew when i was much younger, another person. i had plans to have a third beer, finish my book, but i pay the bill and go. i bring home a case of beer, and read my book, alone. i finish my book the next day.

+ the skytrain station is rebuilt, week by week, and i, week by week, forget what it was the week before. and years ago, as an outpost. the skytrain line, a spine of landmarks across the region and the only spine i know, a frame for the city.

fern taught me how to eat chinese noodles at penny restaurant. she had a secret piece of paper with secret chinese characters that she would show to the waitress, who would bring us vermicelli with beef and green onions. this is now i learned to eat chinese noodles.

and this spring i ate chinese noodles on my own, every day, most days. across the street, close to where i worked, not far from where i live, on a street i knew and still know.

fern taught me to walk through the city, how to walk across the city from pacific centre to commercial drive, from mall to mall. and they became my poles, a new city, down pender from granville, across to venables and commercial.

where i live now as just another piece, filling in the gaps of the city. between bus routes, bike routes. lists and maps.