morning has broken...me

School marches on this week. It's my last week of classes before I head back to my parents' house for two weeks of practice teaching. As much as it'll be good to be home (as there is much afoot in the Skylark household at the moment, and I'd like to be able to stem the tide of the chaos at least a little bit) I will miss the North Bay. As always. It's hard to describe the hold that this place has on me, sometimes. Certainly, the BEd program is FULL of people who wouldn't understand it.

It has been a busy couple of weeks here. I don't think that I have really done much, per se, although I did go for a sweet 14-km. hike in the back woods of Northern Ontario. I have also leveled my orc hunter up to 20 in World of Warcraft.

I'm getting excited about blogging again, and how it can be applied to educational contexts, so I'm devloping a couple of learning modules that combine blog technology with Reader Response Theory. It's nice to be excited again about something...even if it is just making fourteen year olds critically literate.

Everything is coming up feminist lately--North Bay is a city with a large French population and a large Catholic population, which translates to a wickedly militant Right To Life movement. They've taken to protesting at the bottom of the hill, with a large billboard of what appears to be an aborted, bloody, nearly full-term fetus. It's pretty graphic, and disturbing. I'd also like to note that that type of abortion is not legal in Canada. Not sure how I feel about this...

On a more cheerful note, the CBC ended their lockout of employees after seven long weeks.

on the nature of feminism

Over at Bookish, Kristen Marie has some really interesting things to say. Granted, I tend to have a lot of conversations about feminism, what with the Gender Equality and Social Justice major that I have for a sister, but there are some aspects of them that never get old.

Cait (who would like me to tell you that she responds to Kristen Marie by saying "Feminism is the radical idea that women are people too.") recently bought me a button reading "This is what a feminist looks like." It sits on my backpack, and surprisingly, I haven't gotten a lot of flack about wearing a button like that. For me to wear that button is more declarative than I usually like to be, but it's important to me now in ways that I never imagined it would be. I know that especially once I start teaching, it's something I will be called on to defend again and again...but I'm okay with that.

Because feminism is important to me. It's important to me to show people that there is more to feminism than "angry, bra burning dykes" (though if that's the feminism people want, let them have it): feminism, to me, is tied to basic human rights, to debate, argument, contradiction, and realizing things on a personal level. How's that for vague? It's all true, though.

(As a side note, I should add that the feminism button is beside a keychain with a rubber chicken attached. Only a few of the feminists I know look like rubber chickens.)

this scar is a fleck on my porcelaine skin

I have a confession to make. I--I--haven't been listening to a lot of music lately.

It's like my whole world has come to an end.

There's been a lot of music in my head, if by a lot of music I mean "two songs by the postal service, a couple by stars, and the theme to Clone High." Frankly, it sucks. Don't get me wrong...I like both bands. But what happened to my music?

It's a lot of stuff, I guess. I don't have a CD player, or a tape player right now. I don't have the bulk of my CD collection in North Bay. I can't put filesharing software on the Major.

I miss music. Anyone care to give me some recommendations?

unchained harmony

Last night and this morning, despite the cold/flu/sinus infection, I played baseball with my section. I skipped one game last night to come home and sleep, and I do feel somewhat better today...but not much. We played reasonably well, for the most part, though most of the other teams played better. I managed to bounce a ball off my glove onto my face, which hurt like you wouldn't believe, and still feels kinda weird.

Back home now, I am off to sleep. I hope.

I heard he sang a good song

I've had bits of various Karaoke Revolution songs running thorugh my head as of late, which is I suppose is a nice change after x-number of days of The Postal Service...except not really, because The Fugees just aren't my thing, so much.

No clone High for me yet, nowhere in North Bay ordered it on time...the only good thing is that they will be selling it for a low price when it does get here.

This sickness thing is totally kicking my ass (as is the laptop keyboard) and I want nothing more than to go home and to bed. But I can't...not for another 2 hours. Stupid library orientation...orientation to a library I already know how to use.

let me tell you 'bout the way she looked...

Colour me happy: Clone High is currently number one on amazon.ca's Hot 100 DVD Sales list. Not bad for a little show that ran for one, thirteen episode season and then was cancelled. I can't wait to buy it. Also, I recommend it to everyone who likes a) things that are funny, b) dead people, and c) JFK accents.

I have a wonderful head cold at the moment--wonderful to the point where I've started to develop a "man voice" according to my boy because my throat hurts so much. But, there is no time, and no room, for missteps of sickness this year.

odds, sods, and dirty bits

If you're in need of a laugh on this particularly bleak Monday, may I recommend to you the minutes (if not hours) of fun that is Chubby Productions. It's run by Bryan, a casual acquaintance of mine from around Midland way, (who once starred as Margaret Atwood in a play I wrote, if you can imagine that, and was absolutely luminous). For the first time viewer, I would recommend Poetry by Brendan (who is a good friend of mine, and likely the most talented writer I will ever know) called The Cool Lagoon. If you like what Brendan has done, I should point out that he will be published in an upcoming issue of Grain, and that you can find his music project Vampire Killars online. He is the Slampire Thrillar, yo.

it's a karaoke revolution!

Monday morning may not be my best time, at least not this week. I have a small headcold, which at this point is more inconvenient than anything, but at least my nose has stopped running. For now. Today I am at the school for nine hours, I think, only six of which will be spent in class. I am definitely going to bed early tonight.

I had a pretty good weekend. My boys came over from Sudbury to do all kinds of crazy stuff, which amounted to one night of crazy stuff (split between the Wall and Fionn's) and one night of relaxing stuff, consisting of watching movies in our pyjamas. I love the boys--one brought me candy, the DVD of Classic Albums' Rumours episode, and a boatload of books for a girl who only had two. the other brought Karaoke Revolution 3 and introduced me to the hilarity of Amazon Women on the Moon.

Karaoke Revolution is the craziest stuff ever. It's sort of the same idea as Dance Dance, except that you are singing instead of dancing, and the game measures you on your ability to match tone. All in all, a pretty good time, right? Then you have to add in the songs that they choose...Wham's Careless Whisper, guys! Wham! Featuring George Michael, featuring you! Also: Phil Collins's Against All Odds! (Really loving the Postal Service's cover of it, too.)

Not too much else is new in in Rhi's world, except to note that Clone High (!) comes out on DVD tomorrow, and I am mega-excited for that. Also, where does one draw the line with a prof who chooses to teach and control through humiliation? Is it worth it to make a complaint, or is that only drawing unnecessary fire in my direction?

These are the things I ponder.

monday, monday

Six hours of class today, but I'm at the school for nine. The three hour break is a tricky deal--travel time between the school and my house runs me about an hour (only because of the bus system, mind) and sometimes being home for two hours just doesn't seem convenient. so instead, I will stay at school and maybe play WoW for a bit. Or, you know, do my homework so I can actually do something tonight.

English class this morning--senior and intermediate classes. There is a box on one of the tables that has Robertson Davies's The Manticore in it, and that excites me to no end. I should really read those books again--if I went on Canada Reads, Fifth Business is probably the book I would champion. Well, that or Margaret Laurence's The Diviners.

I'd love to do Timothy Findley's Headhunter, but the idea is to propose a book all Canadians should read, and I don't know that most Canadians could handle Headhunter. How's that for a tangent? I guess I should start behaving like a proper student now.

where we belong

Having finished my week of placement, I find myself back in North Bay Rock City. I finished moving in this morning; my room is pretty much set. While it is the smallest room I've had since that first year in residence, it's still a pretty sweet setup, with the laptop and the new laser printer I got for $149 from the future Shop. Hurray for the laser printer/scanner/copier, which will undoubtedly make my life much, much easier this year, and be more cost effective than my stupid inkjet.

After much encouragement from the boys, I finally bought into World of Warcraft, and I've gotta say, it is a pretty good time. I am playing a female hunter Orc. I'm only level 8 at the moment, but I imagine that will change. The whole MMORPG thing is really new to me; if I felt more academic at the moment, there is easily a book's worth of material to be written about them as a video game genre. Because it's me, the book would probably be mostly about representations of gender.

the first day of the rest of my life?

Today was my first day of school as a "pre-service teacher" (Nipissing's term; I much prefer "apprentice teacher"). It was decidedly busy yet simultaneously empty day. I am only in the class until the end of this week, then at Nipissing for four weeks, and so on until the end of this semester. I did, however, luck out in a number of significant ways. I will be teaching three classes: grade ten Canadian History (20th Century), grade eleven World Religions, and grade twelve Canadian and International Law. The World Religions class should be marvelous--I am already plotting ways to show Python's The Meaning of Life as part of the course, though I suppose that it may be too risque for even the public school board.

IIn some ways doing my placement at 'my' school may have been a mistake. I know the school too well; I can think of stupid teenage things I did at the school (or, more often, watched my friends do). Many of the older staff members taught me once upon a time; some of the younger were my classmates and even my babysitters, once. The students I am teaching are the siblings of my classmates, and the friends of my siblings. There are some I have known since they were four and five years old. How odd it is that they are now all grown up.

It is an interesting political climate to be getting into, as well. The school is about 200 students over its capacity, and has enough teachers for about 75% of that population. Many of the students have been unable to get the classes they wanted to take, taking instead whatever they can to fill their timetables. And yet there is a certain magic to it--the school has always been more than the sum of its parts.

Tonight it will be wings at Cellarman's with the lovely Mila. I've scarcely seen her this summer, what with her behaving like a mature adult and getting a real job. It should be grand. I'm tempted to make her see The Constant Gardener with me; it is exactly her type of movie, and for my part, I enjoyed it much more than I had anticipated. It is, in many ways, a devastating movie to watch...which makes watching it all the more important.

lesson the first: reading directions carefully

When teaching exam preparation last year at Guelph, one of the things that I emphasized to my students was the importance of reading directions over carefully and determining exactly what the question was asking. I even had a really good example to go along with it:

During her literacy testing, my youngest sister (sorry, Ais) wrote a short essay that answered the question "Why Should Canada Join the US?" When she had finished writing, she went back to the start and realized that the question actually read "Should Canada Join the US?" and that she had just written an essay decrying Canada as a nation and would probably fail and be marked by the RCMP for being a bad patriot.**

In the end, she did pass, but it could have been much worse.

So to relate the anecdote back to myself...I came to school on the 7:30 bus, thiking that I would have a nice morning of relaxation before starting school at 8:30...school apparently starts at 9. I could have slept in! Off to class.

**the RCMP doesn't do this anymore. I don't think.

school days

I am currently making some changes to the way that the blogging happens over here at Academia Nuts, but it is slow going as I get used to my brand new laptop, henceforth known as the Major, after the Ghost In The Shell. Hoopefully stuff will get done soon, and I will adjust to the Major's keyboard overtime.

It was a long day at school today. I bought all but three of my books, and it cost me under 150$, which is quite impressive. I've flipped through the ones for my english elective courses, and they focus a lot on using Reader Response (or, as Mark Lipton would say, Reader Oriented) theories to teach texts to high school students. It is intriguing, to say the least.

I will post more later--right now, I need a nap.

a note

Why, yes, it is 6:20 in the morning. I love my life.

I'm actually jetting off to Prince Edward Island today for a brief adventure before school starts up for me on the 30th. Prince Edward Island is a lovely place: it is the birthplace of Canada's confederation, despite not actually joining the union itself for another few years (1870, if I remember correctly).

It is also the home of Anne of Green Gables, and most of Lucy Maud Montgomery's other charming, plucky heroines. The whole island is Anne-crazy (ie, you can buy Anne of Green Gables chips) and it is amazing to see how the stories become not only commodified but also sustainable industry.

Anyhow, if you want a postcard (specify Anne or non-Anne), just send a note on my way with your address.

serendipity

Today I found a very old, faded, and, well, laundered $5 bil in my pants pocket. Things have to be looking up.

anarchy for sale

So, as the Writer points out, I lied and didn't update yesterday. To be fair, I was busy moving my junk out of my apartment in Guelph (it has now taken over my poor parents' house here), and going to see The Skeleton Key.

So. As mentioned, the thesis is done. I feel better than I have felt in months--it's no longer festering somewhere in the back of my mind, quietly disapproving when I didn't work on it, and loudly proclaiming my inadequacy when I did. This means that I get today to myself, as well: I get to clean my room, do laundry, pay bills, apply for new student loans, unpack some of my stuff from a trailer, do some role playing, possibly knit and make some jewelry. It should be marvelous.

Seven more days of work left. Once work is done, I am jetting off to Prince Edward Island for five days, before making my triumphant return to North Bay to learn how edumacate other people, and pick up a spiffy new laptop. This is pretty exciting. I also have been hired by the university to be the Lead Technology Assistant for my class...helping people with their computer problems=good times.

I will write more later, but right now I should go be a productive member of my family.

missing book

If you were a copy of Bertolt Brecht's The Art of Living Together: Poems on Theatre that had a very delicate (some would say pamphlet-like) nature, and I had put you somewhere to keep you safe...where would you be?

a real, live, honest-to-goodness update

I just finished the third and final draft of my summer paper, and emailed it away. I am not sure whether to celebrate or throw up. I can't believe that I am done--oh god, I hope it's good enough.

I would write more but I have to go track down all my errant library books.

I will write more tomorrow. I swear.
rhi

broken glass

I can't seem to win these days when it comes to updating my blog. Every time in the last few days that I've had the opportunity to, I've either crashed the browser/computer, or the power has gone out (as it did for almost two hours tonight). Prior to that, my parents' computer's hard drive went to the great Future Shop in the sky, taking the first draft of my thesis along with it. (Thank heaven and Neil Finn for back ups.)

So I rescued Cortana from Guelph this past weekend; all the better to begin a second thesis draft, right? Right? What do you mean, I have no desire to work on it? Temperatures here have been incredibly hot these past few weeks. While the heat has not bothered me as much this year (perhaps because I am not under the weight of ten pounds of wool clothing), I fully accept that at my heart, I am a winter person.

I have had many discussions on the nature of patriotism lately; this excites me to no end. I think my thesis has the potential to be something I'm quite proud of, but likely will not end up quite there. For someone as concerned with discourses of nationalism as I am (particularly in terms of cultural and postcolonialism discourses), I am very much an unabashed and unashamed patriot; I find myself buying into the propaganda of Heritage Canada, often in ways that I can recognize as ridiculous. For example, a new brewery (Robert Simpson Brewing Company) has opened in Barrie, and one of its initial offerings is a Confederation Ale. This makes me happy to no end, for no real reason, other than that it celebrates the initial union of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into the Dominion of Canada. Granted, it would be an even better product if it were Confederation Scotch, but that's really neither here nor there.

Finally, on a Canadian note, here are two celebrity blogs to look at: Rick Mercer (one of the best written and spoken Canadians I know of), and the BareNaked Ladies' blog.

shopping lists

The first draft of my thesis is due tomorrow. I am eminently not prepared for such an event, and will, accordingly, spend the entire day tap-tap-tapping away here at the computer in hopes of pulling together that at least makes it appear that I have tried. My supervisor has told me that a first draft is expected to be quite rough in content and form, but I am still nervous. Why, why, why did I think that doing live research would be a good idea?

The wee-est of the three sisters embarks upon the path of the sisters today: Ais is on her way to Saint-Boniface, which is the French quarter of Winnipeg, for the next five weeks in an effort to learn to speak French. Godspeed to her, the little doodle. There is no doubt in my mind that she will have fun; it has been seven years now since my own summer there, and I'd really like to get back if I can. Winnipeg is an awesome city.

Watching the Live 8 business yesterday was quite interesting. The Canadian concert took place in Barrie, which is a scant 26 km. away from here, but what with the working and the tickets being sold out, we were unable to go. We did, however, watch a good chunk of it on TV; I particularly enjoyed how everyone at other Live 8 concerts (as well as many of the international performers in Canada) kept refering to Barrie as Toronto...I mean, there's only 100+ kilometeres difference between the two places.

All snark aside, I did enjoy seeing the Pet Shop Boys in Moscow, Gary Dourdan (Warrick from CSI) rapping with DMC in Barrie, and Neil Young's performance of Ian and Sylvia's "Four Strong Winds". There's nothing like obscure Canadian folk music from the 70s when the whole world is watching you...Actually, Four Strong Winds is a great song. (And apparently it's been covered by everyone form John Denver to Teenage Fanclub to Marianne Faithfull, so maybe it's not as obscure as I make it out to be.)

Four strong winds that blow lonely
Seven seas that run high
All these things that don’t change come what may
Now our good times are all gone
And I’m bound for movin’ on
I’ll look for you if I’m ever back this way