under, above, on and in: my skin

Those of you who remember the halcyon days of my undergrad at Nip will remember my feminist theory class and our study of Shelley Jackson's _Patchwork Girl_ (which more of you should read if you haven't). This was my first exposure to the world of hypertext and it was just incredible: even the problems of the text are magnificent.

Anyhow, I thought I'd check back in with Shelley to see what she is upto today, and it is a doozy. She is currently doing the SKIN Project: "SKIN is a mortal work of art: a story tattooed on readers' bodies, one word at a time."

Though tattoos usually aren't something I think too much about, this has got me incredibly intrigued...a mortal work of art, which is constantly in motion as its words grow older. I wish I could participate...but I don't know if I could. Would you, reader?

I'll fly away...

This is a crazy idea. I'd love to do that....if only, you know, I wasn't afraid of flying so much. Or pot, for that matter.

I am so tired right now I could probably go to bed now and wake up for my 6:30 head out time tomorrow. I only have to survive tomorrow (and tomorrow's lesson on birth control) and then I'm homefree for a bit, what with the PA day on Friday and my graduation on Monday.

there are no cats in America

Grade seven is the craziest stuff ever. My class is literally everything you could imagine it to be. Those of you who have survived the BEd will know what I'm talking about--basically all of those scenarios, all of those things that they tell you to watch out for in class, have shown up in my grade sevens. It's so...wow. Intense, to say the least.

I started teaching 'the math' today. Rate and ratios...well...my math vocabulary is a little off, and I find it hard to explain things when I can just see how they look. Isn't that dumb? Tomorrow I keep going with the math and start with the sex ed; specifically the birth control. It's going to be an experience, that's fo' sho'. I'm thinking about emailing Scarleteen and asking if they would be willing to add a teacher section to their site.

There's a swastika on one of the desks in my classroom and it makes me want to cry every time I look at it.

I'm just second hand news...

According to the UofG website, Scott "Griffin Prize for Poetry" Griffin will be my convocation speaker for the College of Arts graduation next Monday. He's also Scott "House of Anasi Press" Griffin if that means anything to you.

That's kind of exciting, though Adrienne Clarkson is one of the other speakers, and she would have been interesting to hear. Gwynne Dyer (whom I have already heard speak), Pamela Wallin, and Michael Ignatieff are also speaking at various other graduations.

Grade seven starts tomorrow. Wish me luck.

God knows I'll need it.

I like to go out dancin'

Reading week is slowly puttering along at a pace that's pretty easy to describe as 'much too fast' for my tastes. I have yet to accomplish much, I'm afraid, although I am getting closer to success on the laundry front.

I got to take my first trip to downtown Toronto in probably 8 or 9 months. Mom and I got tickets to see Julie Andrew's The Boyfriend at the Royal Alex. Nothing spectacular, but definitely lots of fun, great costuming, and a plot that was straight from a Shakespearean comedy, right down to the Carnival and the marriage.

Our afternoon downtown was lots of fun too--we hit up a Winners, where I got the most beautiful black pearl necklacke, with the help of some gift certificates I've been saving up, and the Queen St. LUSH. We then checked out the Winterlicious menu at Urban and browsed the Richmond and John Chapters. This was my first trip downtown since Jane Creba was shot in December, and I was surprised at how little the downtown was changed. Except for the security guards in the Chapters, you'd almost never know.

If I should win the lottery someday, I will definitely be spending a portion of my winnings at LUSH, though.

time I had some time alone

It is, marvelously, that week in which I am supposed to do nothing but read. There isn't actually very much to read in the BEd, so I will have to content myself with wreaking havoc, reading my mum out of house and home, and maybe eventually getting around to doing some homework. And possibly some prep for grade seven, which starts next week. Since I came back on Friday, I have read three books...I'd almost forgotten how glorious reading is, since I think I read all of three books in January.

The weather has been doing most of my havoc-wreaking for me these past few days. Poor North Bay Rock City got somewhere close to 90cm. in the last week, and down 'south' here it continues to snow off and on. We probably have between 50-60 cm. by now.

My dad has come up with a new mix tape/CD game. It would almost make a good meme, really. Basically, what you do is take about 20 CDs, randomly (dad currently grabs 1/2 of a shelf of CDs) and you have to choose your favourite song from each CD and put that onto your new CD. I will probably be doing that at some point this week, too. I bet it works better when you have nearly 2000 CDs, though, like he does, as opposed to the 250 I have.

Split Enz are reuniting!!

Bon Jovi gives love a good name!

Back in my erstwhile high school days, I had a friend by the name of Julia. Julia and I were both huge retro geeks even then (and friends in Finn) and used to have a lot of fun together loving the 80s life. When high school ended, she went off to Toronto and I to North Bay, but we have kept sporadically in touch over the years.

Julia is obsessed with Bon Jovi. Not just 'casual fan who owns greatest hits'; not 'devoted fan who owns the whole CD library and some imported vinyl'; but owns Bon Jovi bedsheets from Germany obsessed.

Which why is you should go here and read a story that, even if you hate Bon Jovi, should make you like him at least a little bit.

Congratulations Jewels and Matt!