canlit canlit canlit

So Amazon.ca produces three pretty interesting lists: 50 Essential Canadian Reads, the Honourable Mentions list, and even the stuff that [amazon] wishes was back in print.

Tinka's been blogging about Danish canon formation as of late, which has kept the idea of Canadian canon formation tumbling through my mind. For my research/theory course, I have to present a "research problem" and provide a concise, introductory discussion for it as well as an extended bibliography of what's been written about the subject, and I'm really starting to think that Canadian canon formation may be the way to go. (Second choice will be attempting to throw my hat into the "Is Canada Postcolonial?" ring.) The lists that I've linked to above are only the beginning of why I want to write about canon; and it would likely touch a great deal on cultural politics.

The top 50 list above isn't a great example, though--it lists dictionaries, and other "non-literary" books...so it isn't quite canon-oriented, though it tries. It also chooses some phenomenally poor works--Brian Moore's Blackrobe, for example, is poorly written, and hardly essential reading. (Anyone connected with THSWSNBN knows of the other reasons why I hate this book so much--but one can hate books and still believe in reading them...)

Canada's colonial, postcolonial, and neocolonial nature also auger some interesting concerns when it comes to canon formation. If you assume that Canada has an existing canon, it can reasonably be assumed to be a Eurocentric canon...which means, of course, we should be looking at canonical re-formation.

This week's theory class deals with the peformance of racial identity, and in order to tie it in with my discussion of Canada and canon formation, I give you The E. Pauline Johnson Archive, Representative Poetry Online's Emily Pauline Johnson page, and her Gallery of Poets page.

Johnson, also known as Tekahionwake, was a very famous woman in the late 19th/early 20th centuries for her performances of poetry. She would often dress in full "Indian" costume (including a scalp attached to her waist, and a skirt "with silver ornaments, hammered from coins by the native silversmiths of her tribe, four of them being made from brooches plundered at the extermination of the Huron tribe and the twenty Jesuit fathers, under whose influence they had come") before changing into the proper clothing of a Victorian lady for the second half of her performance.

More meanderings on this subject once I've actually read the articles in question.

I am a tool of the establishment

So, after i have posted about clothing and its relationship to the life of the academic, I sit here at this computer and suddenly the realization that the sweater that I'm wearing is ON BACKWARDS besets me.

Please send help, as I am now clearly no longer capable of dressing myself in the morning.

I should probably go eat lunch, and buy books.

straittohell is CUT

Once upon a time, my mum threatened to put me on What Not To Wear as I apparently commit several fashion crimes on a daily basis, not the least of which is wearing predominantly blue clothing and/or clothing in dark, sombre colours. This may help to explain why I am drawn to academia--it isn't my love of English, after all, it's the clothes.

The weekend was wonderful, though I must state that King Arthur's craptacularity exceeded even my own expectations of such; but spending time with people again was a very good thing for me. Straittohell and I did the T.O. thing, followed by the Goo thing (interspersed with a bus losing its transmission and me being late for class on the way back from the t-dot as a result)...which brings us to the reason why Straittohell is cut.

We were talking about something, he made an off-topic comment, and followed it up with, "I'll just put that in the parking lot."

Jeebus, Mary and Joseph. See, Strait (snerg) is currently employed by the government of Ontario. The Parking Lot is this insidious concept developed by the government to refocus or redirect their meetings; insomuch that whenever someone starts talking about superfluous things, the meeting's chair will put that train of thought into "the parking lot" where it can be come back to at the end of the meeting, if there's time. And it's the government, so really, there never is.

Having worked for the government for the last five summers, I've experienced my fair share of the parking lot in training sessions, and I must say that it's a term that I absolutely loathe. I don't loathe the idea, perse, just the term. it sounds so...grade three, I think.

We found a jukebox that would play Crowded House for us, though, and that made it all better.

lymphomania

So it turns out that I am not actually sick in the way I feared (strep throat), but rather I have a very enlarged lymph node that is pressing on my throat and part of my ear canal, thereby making everything extremely sore. Since the cause is likely viral, there isn't much I can do for it, other than pop ibuprofen like they are candy.

You mean to say they are not candy?

I teach in fourteen minutes and three floors up, so this will be quite short, and it is unlikely that I will be around this weekend, owing to the visitor. Today I am teaching the wonderful world of thesis statements, wish me luck.

Greg called from England yesterday, which was quite possibly the best thing to happen to me in quite some time. He is doing well, and will be home (to other London) for Christmas, so I may see him for the first time in nearly two years.

much debauchery to be had next week, as straittohell makes his way to the t-dot. I'll keep you posted.

lying in the depths of your imagination

This makes me crazy happy. Timeline of Fictional Historical Events, how my heart has yearned for thee. Via Esther and Tinka.

Long day at school, this is. Class starts in a few minutes. I thought briefly I had something relative to blog about, but it is appearing more and more that I do not.

I have almost finished knitting my second hat. Hurray.

I need to spend more time with music.

halls cough drops=the breakfast of champions

Just a few minutes before class to say that I think having no fewer than FOUR active email addresses is a bit much; and that I think I need to start some consolidation on that front.

Thanks to all who have emailed, your thoughts have been appreciated.

I got my feminist groove thing on again; one of this week's articles dealt with that word which translates to "writing about prostitutes" and staging of the female obscene body.

This weekend, I will have a visitor, which is quite exciting. Hurray for company. The downside is, I will still have a crapload of reading to do. Ah well. Hopefully the visitor is a patient type, as I have at least two books and three theoretical articles to plough through.

Happy birthday to the three whose birthdays are tomorrow.

blogger triumphant

Still no access at the house, so am still blogging from the school. Oh public computer rooms, how much do I hate you. Though this one *is* virtually empty.

I taught my first class today. It went reasonably well, though my throat was dry, my armpits weren't, and I spoke as though I had just hit puberty, my voice cracking all over the place. I trust that it will go better with time. The class seems evenly divided between those who took the class because they wanted to and those who are taking it because it's a degree requirement for them. We reading some Ursula K. LeGuin and some bell hooks this week, we are doing Yann Martel next week, which is pretty exciting. It's a CanCon heavy course, which I dig.

My classes themselves are going reasonably well. One of my profs is from New Zealand (!) and we are reading all sort of interesting things; the other prof is a Governor-General's Award-winning poet, among other things, and we are also reading all sort s of interesting things. Unfortunately, her course has been changed from Topics in Commonwealth/Postcolonial Literature to Topics in American Literature, but it does help to diversify my CV a bit more, I guess. I am now taking classes in two things I have never learned about before.

There is much reading to be done for next week: James Ellison's Invisible Man (clocking in at a mere 561 pages), Olive Schreiner's Life on an African Farm, and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon; as well as whatever other theoretical stuff I have to read for the approaches to research and theory class...i think that one of reading for this week is Foucault's "Docile Bodies." Yeesh.

At least since I have no friends here, I've got a whole weekend to do it all in.

bloop bloop beep

I have Sam Roberts' "Taj Mahal" stuck in my head. Now, as some of you know, my love for Sam Roberts verges on the unholy, mostly because, well, he is just that damn good and I really can't get enough of his music. And some day, when I have my own computer and internet access in my living space, I will summarize the precise reasons why he is the best thing to happen to Can-rock since Loverboy broke up (Loverboy did break up, right?) but that is a post for another time, I suppose.

So. Class the first (of TAing) is down. My staff advisor appears to be the awesome, and apparently when you TA, you get the course books for free. There are very few things in this world that give me the inordinate amount of pleasure that is free books. Especially when one of them is a hardbacked Handbook for Writers, 3rd Canadian Edition.

Class the first of my MA career, which called Approaches to Research and Theory, takes place this afternoon, in about...four hours. It's a module-based course, and for the first one we are reading a working model of a 19th century minstrel show, and some pretty complex theory pieces, including Slavoj Zizek's The Desert of the Real which is available at Lacan.com and is about September 11th as spectacle. It's pretty interesting reading (especially compared to Deleuze's writings on the Rhizome) and I hope I can contribute well to a class discussion of it.

The Imaginus poster people are on campus today; I think I am off to give them money in exchange for beautiful decorations. They have prints of Le Petit Prince that I positively covet.

dashboard confessional

So, after a week and little bit of living in Guelph, this is what I have observed:

+McLaughlin Library is what the kids these days refer to as "the awesome." (Or, they would if kids these days actually went to libraries.) It has 6 floors, 300+ computers, and a freaking Williams Coffee Pub. Oh, and a self check-out. How cool is that?
+The bus system here actually makes sense. How weird is that? It also seems to be on time.
+There are squirrels everywhere here. As my sisters will tell you, squirrels are evil.
+The recycling program here is crazy good, although confusing as heck to newcomers.
+The downtown farmers' market might be one of the best things ever.
+When you live alone, cable TV can actually be a good thing.
+This is a very pro-activism community.

Things are still going well, I think. I spent yesterday with my mom and my dad is going to be up tomorrow (for work) so I'll get to see him, which makes me quite happy.

Classes start Monday morning at 8:30 with that class that I'm teaching. wish me luck!

portrait of the scholar as a shadow

Thus, the Great Grad School Adventure is begun. So far so good, aside from a few minor hitches--the phone company lost the work order for my landline; I had a bit of an incident with the bathroom in my apartment (apparently I *am* a claustrophobe! who knew?) and a pesky sore throat. Living alone is hard with no outside accoutrements like telephones and emails, and I remain hopeful that some of these will reappear by the weekend at the absolute latest.

I am so frigging homesick and lonely it's not funny.

I am current in the basement of the library, chattering away on a nice computer that is nestled among the government publications. The library here is a thing of tremendous beauty...I adore it already. They also will photocopy stuff for free for the grad students, which I dig. A lot. I have a mailbox and an office...and no doubt, more to report tomorrow. :)

I miss you guys like crazy.

you can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain

This may be the last post for a while, as I depart for U-Goo tomorrow morning, bright and early. All my usual fears have come flooding back to me, but I trust that it will be alright.

I'll be back as soon as I can; depending on how soon I can get the internet set up.

I was dreaming when I wrote this, forgive me if it goes astray

Finally back from moving the Squidge into her new digs in North Bay. Actually, all things considered, the move went *incredibly* well; making me fear for what will happen on Thursday, which begins what one friend has termed "Guelphapalooza". I have decided to prioritize between what *has* to be brought with me and what can wait a few weeks until someone has time to bring it down; I suspect the majority of my books and my beloved Cranium may remain behind in favour of more practical considerations. For example, I am much more likely to need my electric frying pan than all of my Nadine Gordimer books.

Both DnD campaigns are now on hiatus as everyone rushes back to school. Dragonquest could be reinitiated at Christmas, and I really hope it will be--since we just went up to epic level characters after being blessed by Bahamut. The plotting of non-magic Elizabethan England continues, and is likely to be crazy fun.

I spent last night with the Newlyweds, and we watched Denys Arcand's Le Déclin de l'empire americain, which is just brilliant. The Newlyweds have recommended Les Invasions Barbares, which is kind of a continuation of the same story, apparently, so I have to find someone to watch that with me.

Packing must continue, I suppose.

these days remain inside the very heart of me

I have been given an official moving date now (the 2nd, also known as Thursday) and so with that note of finality, I think the summer is finally over. I was going take pictures of my bag and post them here, because I'm quite proud of it, but then I left the bag (and my wallet, worse luck) at someone's house the other night.

I am off to North Bay Rock City for tomorrow to help move more of my sister's stuff into her house; am greatly looking forward to the opportunity to see the Newlyweds, and also to give North Bay a proper goodbye.

DnD: Session the Last (maybe) is taking place tonight; we had an encounter with the Deck of Many Things last week and I will level up after the next thing I kill, in addition to having levelled up at the end of the session, which I think will make me...cleric 8. It's unfortunate that I'm lawful good and therefore not likely to just start killing stuff. I really like the Deck of Many Things; it may make an appearance (in slightly altered form) in the Elizabethan England campaign.

I have rediscovered my affection for Sam Roberts.

something bit my collar bone

Next time I level up, I'm going to take extra ranks in jerk.

It seems like it might be useful.

Another seemingly random post. Not much been accomplished today, except that I've finally seen Hackers; packed a few more boxes; and prepared for tomorrow's Great Washing Machine Blitz (now with 10% more clean power!)

Remember back at the beginning of the summer (by which I really mean the spring, the end of April to be precise) when I started working on my knit handbag? Well, some 17 weeks later, I've finally finished the damn thing--it's blocked and felted, and I must say I'm quite happy with it. Theoretically, I should find a lining for it, but we'll see, I guess, and someone has asked me to make them one too...so I should have ample knitting projects to keep me busy for the next little while.

I can see you with my eyes closed

A moving date has finally been decided upon, and thus I am into the homestretch before I move into my basement apartment. I must confess to being a bit afraid of living alone; my track record for performing basic activities when left to my own devices (for example, eating more than one meal a day) is not a good one. Thus, I have resolved to make a more concerted effort to ensure that I eat, and talk to people, and stay active, etc. while living on my own.

Odds of me just ending up glued to this machine anyway...2:1, probably.

I went on the least satisfying back-to-school shopping trip *ever* yesterday. I don't need a lot for school this year in terms of clothes and such, but I did want to pick up a few things...sweaters and such; some new pants, a pair of "responsible" shoes...but everywhere I went, there was either nothing in my size or only one cash register open and twenty people in the line-up. Some days, you are just not meant to buy things, I suppose. I did end up with a pair of cords and a t-shirt in the end, but not the corduroy blazer I so desperately want...ah well, there's always tomorrow.

I spent yesterday evening at a friend's house, partaking in badminton (I'd forgotten how much I love that), movie trivia (yay team T*C*R) and general camraderie with some of the friends I'm happy to have made/made better this summer.

Tim Hortons has started serving steeped tea (ie, from an actual pot of tea, as opposed to giving you a tea bag and hot water) and I'm not sure I like the changeover. It's still decent tea, but now a large costs me about 50 cents more, which gets a big boo-urns.

gotta get back, back to the pack, samurai jack

ain't that a kick in the head

Ah, random blog posting that serves no real purpose--how you make me happy.

So I am doing some theoretical cleaning down here in the basement...theoretical in the sense that it isn't so much cleaning as packing, but also in the sense that, well, I'm updating my blog, and therefor clearly not packing.

I actually have less to do than I thought I did, although I suspect I will have to start prioritizing which books get to come to Guelph with me, and that makes me sad. Although, when I have six different Italian cookbooks, the question of exactly how many I need to have with me does come up. I want to bring my school books as well, just so I can have all these impressive Norton Critical Editions of Frankenstein and Evelina and Oroonoko sitting out to impress people. It's unfortunate that the only one of those books that I really care for is Frankenstein...I may have to break out Lady Audley's Secret as well, just so that the good doctor doesn't get lonely on the bookshelves.

Back to the grind, I guess.

I'm really going to miss...

Snow in October. Here's why:

this is what it sounds like...when doves cry

I forgot to mention in the previous post that I spent last night at THSWSNBN's Sister Site, which is reputed to be quite haunted. I slept in one of the historic buildings, on the floor, and have very little back problems as a result (hurray!)

there is something terrific about waking up in the middle of history like that.

chevaliers de la table ronde

The [insert adjective here:] chapter of my life that has been THSWSNBN is now finished. This is not, of course, the first time I have said that. In fact, I think I have said that for the last three years...but this is the first time I will stick to it, as I have a wonderful summer term at school to look forward to that prevents me from returning.

I actually took steps to not return this summer, but as I did not get any of the other jobs I applied for, I returned to SMATH. I was quite bitter about this at the time (which may have somehow impacted my summer) but now that I have reached the end, I am given pause to wonder if perhaps there was a reason that I was meant to come home this summer.

There's a pretty good chance that this will be the last time I ever live in my parents' home; it maybe the last time I get to live in this part of Ontario...both of which are things that make me crazy sad. I didn't spend as much time with my family as I would have liked to this summer...I didn't get a chance to do a lot of the things I would have liked to do. At the same time, I did do a lot of things, including strengthening some old friendships and creating new ones.

And so I wind up where I always do, some regrets but not too many, looking to the road ahead with trepidation mixed with excitement.

the dawn's early light has taken you from me

I forgot to mention that I've received my official TA posting for the Fall term. The course is called "Reading the Contemporary World"(click to read the actual course description) and I think it will be good for me because it will combine both literature and tech writing skills. I can't even begin to say how excited I am about this...the only downside is that the class is at 8:30 a.m. Mondays and Wednesdays (and only an hour long); at least my seminar is at 10 on Thursdays. I don't mind morning classes so much, I guess, since it gets it out of the way, but I know that students don't necessarily appreciate them.

so much reading to do!

sunflowers and your face fascinate me

Yesterday was a great day. A crew from THSWSNBN and I trekked our way down to the Molson Ampitheatre to see Sarah McLachlan perform. I was able to convince my half of the crew (being one other person) that a trip to the Royal Ontario Museum was in order. We had a lot of fun (I particularly enjoyed the Arms and Armour exhibit) but unfortunately a lot of the ROM is shut down while the renovate (and build the world's UGLIEST extension onto the building). After the ROM, we trekked over to Queen West and ate lunch at the Bishop and the Belcher, followed by visits to two of my favourite stores in the whole world: The Silver Snail and Lush. I escaped from the Lush store relatively easily, having dropped a mere $75 there...which, considering that I wanted to buy out the whole stupid store, was a good thing. I now own virtually every product they make that has honey in it, which makes me crazy happy, because, well, I love the smell of their Honey I Washed the Kids soap. The other member of my party decided to assert his metrosexuality (god, I loathe that term) and bought himself solid shampoo and some soap.

Sarah herself was pretty good; our early arrival time meant we got great seats at the very front of the lawn. The opening act was the charming Butterfly Boucher, who won me over despite some irritating attempts to shill her record. The concert was recorded for a DVD release at some point, which is pretty cool. I'm not as big a fan of Sarah as once I was, so I wasn't super-thrilled to be there (not the way I am when I see the Finn), and I can definitely see how some people find her live show very...mechanical...but it was a solid show, and she did both "Blackbird" and "Posession" so I was quite happy with that. To say nothing of hanging with the HSWSNBN crew (and various friends of such), which is always a good time.

And I was able to successfully navigate myself around Toronto without any problems at all, which makes me very happy.

this is what a feminist looks like

And T-minus 3 days left at the historic site, which makes me wicked happy. Things are going well, more or less, on most fronts these days, or at least as well as can be expected. A friend has suggested that I try my hand at DMing a one-shot session, and I am considering it; with the setting being Elizabethan England...would anything be more appropriate for an English nerd like myself?

In honour of THSWSBN, here are some links to the French folk songs we have been singing in choir:
+Entendez-vous sur l'ormeau
+Ah! Si mon moine voulait danser (my personal favourite chanson francais)
+A la claire fontaine
+C'est l'aviron
+En roulant ma boule
+The Huron Carole (en francais)


The Great Canadian Tunebook has awesome lyrics and midi files in btoh French and English for traditional Canadian (well, European Canadian--they don't have the Huron words to the Huron carole) folk songs.

dancing with a mathman 

with mon père 

giving my speech (notice the awesome factor of my hair) 

walking down the aisle (with bride in background) 

In the receiving line. 

thinking about making my move tonight

a mere five days of work remain until I will be shuffling loose from THSWSNBN coil, potentially for good. Am somewhere between excited and saddened; this summer has been trying in many senses of the word, and it will certainly be nice to have some "real" time off. The summer's other activities are winding down as well; both RP campaigns are nearing points at which it would be good to stop, and I think that I will very much miss the outlet it provides, unless I find some like minded people in Guelph.

Sort of a funny thing I've noticed recently is that I am very superstitious about which dice I like to use; there is a translucent green D20 that is the only one I roll well with, or so I like to believe. I once referred to a coin as a D2, which made people laugh. Ah, such nerdishness.

Have been feeling a bit topsy-turvy as of late, which I ascribe primarily to the impending end of HSWSNBN/the move, but still unsettling, in general. I am writing something for a friend at work, and I remain hopeful that I will be able to finish most of it this weekend.

I need a new song to sing

Not too much new in these parts; the wedding this weekend was fabulous. I had so much fun (when I hadn't really thought that I would) dancing and being semi-social with my family and friends...and I even drank a respectable amount and didn't embarass myself, contrary to the positions offered by my compatriots. The groom himself predicted I would be in bed by 11 if I had more than two drinks; I had 6 and essentially closed the reception.

Pictures to follow, perhaps?

Today was a generally crummy day. I forgot important things (like my lunch), argued with a friend, spoke poor French, made mistakes I've made before, and wrote bad poetry. I must be pre-menstrual. I hate ascribing my emotions to biological (dys)function, but my tendency to over-react at times cannot be ignored...

The DnD has been treating me well as of late; I've developed a real affinity for one of my characters and it makes me sad that she will likely only belong to this one campaign, because I enjoy how she plays with reference to the other characters in this campaign. I've taken a temporary (hopefully strategic) leadership role in hopes of heading off an uncivil war...it will be interesting to see how that pans out. In the other campaign, we are in the astral planes; specifically, the plane of air, and I am nearly dead.

Another French tour tomorrow, and possibly more bad poetry. If I'm lucky.

I'm just second hand news

I've done a lot of secondhand book shopping lately.

It figures that once I broke down and bought a new copy of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" that I would start seeing it everywhere--though I shouldn't complain, I did get a fairly inexpensive copy. I've picked up a lot of plays in the last month; Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" keeps teasing at me but I just can't bring myself to buy it.

I did get a copy of Margaret Atwood's Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature which is just fabulous. Atwood and I have a love/hate relationship (though decidedly more love than hate) and I am quite excited to read this. I also picked up Sylvia Plath's Ariel, which will be interesting to read. I am starting to get back into reading poetry, and while I'm not sure Plath is necessarily a good place to start, I am hopeful that she will be able to inspire me to write something worth reading, as it's been a while since I have. I picked up an ancient scholastic edition of Matthew Arnold's poetry and prose when I was in Guelph, and I must say I do enjoy him, perhaps more than any non-Victorian specialist ought to.

j'ai des grands instances de lucidité

A nice couple of days off, in which very little was accomplished; a thing exceptionally satisfying, as this summer has been far too busy. I got my ass kicked by a copper dragon (alignment changed for purpose of the campaign, apparently) and when I went to proclaim that I had taken Die Hard as a feat and was still alive, I remembered that I'd done that in the other campaign. Damn it. Other than that, there was swimming, movie watching, second hand book buying, and pizza eating, all of which equates to a happy rhi.

Only a few weeks left to the summer. I wish I knew where the time went.

...lying in the depths of your imagination...

First things first, of course.  The Finn(s) were bloody incredible; this was the third time I've seen them in the last year and a half or so, and easily one of the best performances (and venues).  It makes me sad when they talk about playing the Masonic Temple in 1980 as Split Enz, though, I wasn't even born then.  The merch table actually yielded an autographed copy of One Nil for me and an autographed copy of Tim's CD for dad.  They covered a lot of both the Enz and Crowded House stuff, which was just...wonderful.  Especially "Weather With You."  The fact that a ringtone exists of that song makes me want to own a cellphone...in fact, I would probably call myself just to hear it.

My two days in North Bay were also quite nice; I went to a shower for the soon-to-be-weds, got my hair fixed (a cut and two colours of foil highlights--it looks quite fetching now), bought a ridiculous amount of books from the secondhand bookstore,  and spent some quality time with people that I will soon be missing very much.

I have an apartment in Guelph; this is one less pressure gone.

updates are for suckas

Updates aren't really for suckas; I actually wrote a lengthy one earlier this week and then my computer spazzed out and ate it.  Perhaps it is hungry and I ought to feed it; or at the very least, make myself lunch for work today, since I'm leaving in 15 or so minutes.

It has been a very draining couple of weeks. We are on a different schedule now at THSWSNBN that actually involves working less...but I actually feel like I'm working more.  I think I just need to start spending my days off doing nothing except sleeping and suntanning, and then I'll feel more like I'm actually getting time off.  I filmed an episode of a French kids' tv show...which will eventually air...I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Of course, having complained about the time off thing, I am headed to the t-dot tonight to see Les Frères Finn at Massey Hall, and then booting it back to North Bay for the next few days before returning to work as Simon Desfosses on Thursday.  Damn, it feels good to be a soldier...

In last night's DnD session, I successfully killed a black dragon. It was awesome.

I'm just thinking...

It is my professional opinion that there ought to be at least another six hours in the day, 'cause I have *no* idea how to get anything done.  The summer is slipping away from me ridiculously fast (the finn! next week!) and I still have nowhere to live.
 
I did finally pick my courses, though.  More on that later.

my aching heart would bleed for you to see...

I've been rather enjoying the music of Annie Lennox lately. She has such a lovely voice; I've often thought that if I could choose how my voice would sound when I sang, I would choose her voice. Or, occasionally, Chrissie Hynde.

It's been a busy couple of weeks. THSWSNBN has switched from my old, reliable schedule of Tuesday-Saturday to some kind of 4 days on, 2 days off deal and it's taking some adjustment, although I am enjoying it on the whole, especially since I have been able to visit Wonderland and spend time with friends that I would not have been able to otherwise, like the Mathman.

The parents had a good trip out east; the sister had a good time being here without them. Or at least this sister did. I should probably announce, as well, that the boy and I are no more; I have lost a boyfriend and (hopefully) gained a friend. Any questions will be answered in due time.

More real-life people keep jumping on the bloggy bandwagon, which I quite like. A special welcome to the Pretender. She's a good egg.

Pay day tomorrow, and I have my GST cheque as well. So hopefully tomorrow will yield a haircut, some new DVDs, and possibly a henna kit of some kind. I got two paw prints put on my tummy while at Wonderland, and I'm quite entranced by them. Not quite entranced enough to take the capital-T tattoo plunge, but still highly amused. Friday will involve book shopping, coffee, and a movie...and perhaps I will finally pick up Air's score to the Virgin Suicides...or possibly even the Virgin Suicides in paperback. Although, that may not be the best idea...since every time I read that book (and I do adore it) I wind up depressed for several weeks.

New books are terribly exciting to me...I wish I knew what classes I was taking/TA-ing, so I could start reading up...

brand new day

not many updates recently, I guess. It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks. I started another role playing campaign (this one an actual Dungeons and Dragons campaign--as opposed to the other one, whih is based on D20 but is actually the brainchild of a brilliantly creative friend). Once again I wound up as a cleric (not that I mind) AND I'm half-elf half-dragon. It's awesome.

I need to find some time to sit down and write seriously, and soon, I think. I sense that something big is coming, btu I'm not sure what it is.

running through my head

What a crazy busy week. Not really that much has happened, I guess, except a visit from that Steve guy I used to live with (and, truth be told, miss enormously). I also saw Spiderman 2--which is terrible--not even good cheese like the first film.

I have been doing some bashing with people as work as well, which is essentially doing battle with a variety of weapons created from pool noodles and PVC piping. Such good times. I am lucky to have the friends that I do.

I also made a ring of Power. Because yes, I am that nerdy. 

All in a day's work at THSWSNBN 

you'll be the last one standing

Apparently I have written 17 493 words in this puppy over the last little while. Very unprolific output, considering I've had the bloody thing for two years, but still I am reasonably proud of this, and of the fact that I've made my blogging a little more consistent this summer. So you can bet that next year when I have no friends left, am sleeping five hours a night, and have an ulcer AND pneumonia...I will still be blogging to procrastinate.

I keep forgetting to mention that I did in fact get tickets to the Finn Brothers show in Toronto. It's at Massey Hall (which means I will have seen the Finn in my two favourite concert venues ever) and we have balcony seats, which will be quite fun. My dad is to be one of my concert companions and he is decidedly afraid of heights. I just hope the seats will be better than when we saw Sloan there in '99...as my dad is fond of saying, "there's not a bad seat in Massey Hall...except for our Sloan seats, eh?"

Dust From A Distant Sun has long been one of my favourite reads, and perhaps a tiny bit because it is named after one of my favourite songs. I wanted to give this blog a Finn title as well, but there was just something about the Academia Nuts that greatly amused me, and I couldn't think of a good title, since Something So Finn was already gone...

I remember when Crowded House released Recurring Dream, back in in 1997. It was a few weeks before I would leave for the three months I spent in France, and I remember seeing/hearing "Don't Dream It's Over" on Much Music (which actually played music like this at that time). It was like finding a sweater that you loved and thought you'd lost for good. Dad put Recurring Dream on tape for me and it was one of only three tapes I took with me to Ste. Zacharie. The songs have come to mean much more to me over the years but I still associate them with being away from home, and in that sense, I suppose, they are like friends to me.

the future's so bright...I want to run and hide

Just came back from a semi-successful trip to Guelph. I checked out a few (fairly reasonable) apartments, one of which I would like to take...if I can decide that I want the boy to move down with me, that is.

All of a sudden, I am absolutely terrified. I talked to one of this year's MA students and she really put the fear of god, He Who Shall Not Be Named, gnomes, and all else that is unholy into me about what a rough year it is going to be; citing the usual cohort of ulcers, pneumonias, and other occupational hazards of the MA in English.

The campus itself is gorgeous and the city seems quite nice...if only I could beyond this completely (well, almost completely) irrational fear of everything. I'm sitting here right now with my heart beating quite quickly and I honestly feel like I'm on the verge of a panic attack. this does not bode well for my future.

*sigh*

rocking out is for chumps

Still making with the sick on this end, which is partially why there has been little updating on this end--aside from the part where this week has just been crazy busy with the commencement of Not-dungeons and Not-dragons and trying to spend time all of the various friends.

The role playing is really far more fun than it has any right to be, and I am thrilled with the way my (vaguely Klingon-esque) character is developing.

We also watched Bubba Ho-tep and Grave of the Fireflies. The first is good; the second is better...it manages to be haunting, disturbing, and endearing all at the same time.

In a very short time, I will own this shirt.

did they have airplanes back then?

Another busy day at THSWSNBN. I have seven tours in four days this week, and on the fifth day, I blacksmith. And then we start the new rotation, and that will be really weird. Today was a very random tour day. My morning tour started with my group's teacher announcing to me that I had "the shaft class"...first of all, inappropriate much? (this was said in front of a class of 12 year olds) ...and second of all, WAAAAH! Ironically, they were actually a good group. The afternoon tour was also good, although the kids seemed to get stupider towards the end, which resulted in the question, "Did they have airplanes back then?"

French seniors tomorrow. Wish me luck.

And...I may finally get to see that pesky potter film, at long last.

lying in bed, just like Brian Wilson did

It's funny how sometimes it seems to be easier to talk around things than to actually talk about them. Blogging is a really good example of that. Sometimes I think about things that I would like to blog (during the day) and then when I come home and actually sit down here at the computer, nothing comes to mind and I end up writing about obscure or very general things that aren't too relevant to what's actually happening in my world. I'm not sure whether that's self-preservation or something else.

The weekend was lovely. I am sunburnt now, but that happens when one spends most of two days outside...there is actual COLOUR on some of my skin. it's fabulous. There was poetry, there were good friends, hot tubs, large goldfish, conversations about absurdist theatre, thunderstorms...all this equates to a general feeling of contendedness with the world right now.

Tara wrote about creative drought yesterday, which begs me to consider why I haven't *really* written in a pretty considerable amount of time. I think that at a certain point, it simply becomes easier to not write. I read a book once called "The War of Art" which was essentially about not procrastinating and actually sitting down and writing (by the guy who wrote the Legend of Bagger Vance, weirdly enough)...of course, it didn't actually motivate me to write anymore, but I am hoping that will change soon and that I will have a chance to actually get some of what I'm feeling down on paper.

I actually blogged about the graduation ceremony last night but then my computer froze. Figures. The ceremony itself was fantastic...very short (1.5 hours, a Nipissing record) and I got to see most of the people from my program, and spend the night with Kristabelle, which is always a highlight.

I didn't think graduation would be that big of a deal...even in high school, I knew that I would be doing at least two degrees, so I'd always kind of figured that this one would be more just a stepping stone on my way to the big Bachelor of Education. In reality, it was a beautiful, exciting, wonderful day. I actually feel like I've accomplished something. I think it has a larger impact because I won't be at Nipissing next year.

Me and Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser 

the joke is always on me

so I was all excited, as you can see in the post below, about not being sick anymore...so when I get to work on Tuesday morning, what do I do? Take a cab to the boyfriend's house, 'cause once again I am the president of Sickville.

The last two days have been mercifully healthy and *knock wood* tomorrow will hopefully be as well, as I suspect THSWSNBN might implode if anyone calls in sick tomorrow, as we are severely overbooked.

Gradumauation is this weekend, so I am headed back to the Bay after work tomorrow, to seek the comfort of roommates and to test drive the wedding shoes...by walking across the stage to get my diploma. Hey, I didn't trip in high school, with any luck that will still hold true.

I am all road-trip mix-CD-ed up now, so I am off to bed. g'night!

happy one hundred and one

this is my official post #101. How exciting is that?

Not too much new in the world of the skylark, aside from the fact that I feel human for the first time in almost a week. People keep complimenting me on how I look, which is nice, but I feel I should always be adding "yes, this is what happens when you eat virtually nothing for a week" to my "thank you." No matter, I suppose, I have plenty of time to play calorie catch-up.

I got my shoes for the wedding today. These ones, to be exact, only in black and not white. They are very cute, and not too tall--not that it matters, since I am taller than my escort (whoever he may be) in bare feet.

The Cranium party this weekend did not go as well as planned; although it was still a lot of fun. I hadn't realized when I picked the date that it would be Game 6 of the Stanley Cup. This was the first party I've been to in ages where there were more boys than girls, a vast majority of the people there were more interested in the hockey. Personally, I was more interested in the hot tub, but that's just me. I think I will have a Cranium evening later in the summer that will be a little more low-key...

Back to work tomorrow, with a French tour of grade 11 and 12 students. Worse luck...

on the election trail...

Stephen Harper, leader of the new Conservative Party of Canada, may or may not have blown his chances for election this week...Abortion is always a sticky subject, regardless of where you live, and it seems the Canadian Press want to make it an important issue in this election. The Globe and Mail offers an interesting take on it, as does this story from the CBC.

Harper has said that his government would not table abortion legislation; he has also said that his government would not table abortion legislation in its first term, which is a pretty important distinction to make. Now he has said that he would not object to a private member's bill to criminalize abortion, and would not force MPs to vote along party lines.

I was going to write something a little more rant-y about this, but I've lost my enthusiasm for doing so, and in closing, I will simply note that Paul Martin wants to offer $7/day daycare.

you can buy my vote

I got my voter registration card from Elections Canada today. The election is coming up on June 28th, and I am grateful that this time there will be no repeats of the "from my cold, dead hands" debacle of the last provincial election. It's interesting because I'm now in a different electoral district than I originally assumed I was; which is a different one from virtually everyone I work with.

We only have three confirmed candidates in this riding so far...none of which I want to vote for. The Christian Heritage Party just rubs me the wrong way...when you click on Party Platform, you somehow end up at a page that gives you seven reasons why you should vote for the CHP...which, last I checked, was NOT a platform.

Yes, I do have too much time on my hands.

please, please explain to me

Spending quality time with the computer is always a good thing. I'm hoping that soon I will be able to purchase another ethernet cord so that I am not always at the mercy of other people with whom I share the internet connection. We all know how much I like my internet.

The Squidge started a new blog she wants to call "The Life of Chai" which is a wonderific title.

My blogging has been really flat as of late, and I apologize for that. Work is keeping me quite busy (in a variety of different ways--mostly social) and I am thankful that I will be getting a full paycheque tomorrow.

The girls are taking me shopping on Sunday.

what a wonderful world?

What a busy but mostly wonderful week. Work is absolutely frantic right now; I don't think we've been this busy since the first year I did spring/summer...Some days we have three pages of tours, which is absolutely terrifying.

Kristabelle and I had a fabulous weekend, we visited the Build A Bear and THSWSNBN and its Sister Site. So good to see her, but so sad to see her go. It will be very difficult to live without her next year.

I am participating in a D20 based RPG campaign entitled "The Grimoire" which thus far is shaping up to be quite a lot of fun.

The election campaign is afoot in Canada, which has brought my beloved Trevor home for a brief time period; creating much chaos. (The election, not Trevor.)

strange magic

Strange (but wondrous) things are afoot at THWSNBN. I porbably shouldn't comment too much here, but my summer has taken a turn for the better.

I have decided to destroy my body by my 23rd birthday

Not much new to report here, except that I have caught Lizzy's throat infection, because she is a giant nerf herder.

My hands are healing nicely, and now I have made it through two whole days without having to file an accident report at work. Work will be crazy busy this week, and thankfully being on tour should minimize my injury risk levels. I've got a tour almost every day, which is definitely random...thankfully none of them are in French, as mon francais is pretty rusty right now.

My weekend was pretty uneventful. I went to a party on Saturday night, and ended up leaving early, since both the boy and I were really tired...we were both in bed and asleep by eleven, I think. The rain here has been pretty crazy, but thankfully we have not been beset by tornados as of yet.

The little one painted with me today, her only condition being that we listen to her music. Unfortunately I am not so cool with JT when not intoxicated/in a club...but it is nice to spend time with her.

Kyle, that's telekinesis

I am no longer allowed to handle sharp objects at work. While carpenting yesterday, I slipped with a chisel and drove the chisel into my right thumbnail, and now there's a 3mm crack right in the center. It was very hurty. Today, while carving a piece of wood, my knife slipped off the wood and sliced into my left index finger across the first knuckle. It didn't hurt too much but it sure was bloody.

Things here are mostly good, though busy--I feel like I hardly have time to catch my breath in between one day and the next. I got a phone bill from North Bay today, and Bell is trying to charge me for May's service...even though I disconnected my phone on April 30th. And apparently their 24 hours customer service is a big fat lie, so I will have to phone tomorrow and get this straightened out, because I am not paying for services I'm not using.

It was our first payday today, and I am excited to be not broke. A bunch of us from work went out for supper and it ended up being a lot of fun. It's a really good group of people to work with, and I think I treasure that aspect of my job more than anything else. Where else could I have conversations about comic books (and the social relevance thereof), the supreme awesomeness of the White Stripes, some of the finickier points of historical interpretation, the history of the Bible's translation and interpretation, and the Masonic Bible?

Aside from my general incompetence with all tools, it was a good day.

And I get my Kristabelle back next week.

I don't know why I didn't call

Today was a pretty good day. I got to see my family in the t-dot, which is good--some of them I haven't seen since Christmas 2002, and it was nice to spend some time with them. I also found my missing Norah Jones CD, in my dad's car. This seemed like a good thing until my mom realized I'd found it, because then we got to listen to it six times.

We went to the Build-a-Bear in Missassauga, which was way too much fun. We met my youngest cousin and my aunt there and he got a big black bear, because it reminded him of the movie Brother Bear.

I bought a bear, too--this one, to be exact. And then I dressed him like this. Oh yeah, he's totally a present for the boy.

quiz master

Via Greengrl and Esther:

I'm the limerick, mired in muck. I refuse to be bored or get stuck.    I like to offend,    But not, in the end, As much as to thwart expectations. What Poetry Form Are You?

All too true, I'm afraid.

Saw Troy tonight. Terrible but fun at the same time. Saw preview for King Arthur movie, looks to be more of same--except that the delicious Ioan Gruffudd is Lancelot, which is a choice I cannot argue with. If you've never seen him as Horatio Hornblower, it comes highly recommended.

so many times I thought I'd call...

I'm getting run down by work already, which is a bad sign, since this is only my third week there. I probably shouldn't have come back this summer; I feel so completely incompetent all the time. I'm hoping that it's just an off couple of days and that I'll be feeling better soon. Work has been fairly steady these last few days, which is a definite improvement over opening day, and I have my first tour group tomorrow.

The interesting/crazy visitor brigade has started up again. Today's most interesting was from Holland, and had a good grasp of the English language. He compared the interactions of French and First Nations people (with specific regard to converting to Christianity) at our site to the current doings of Muslims in Europe. (Apparently they are trying to convert people to Islam.) He wanted to talk about how today we would consider this to be wrong, but it wasn't wrong in the seventeenth century, and how unfair it was. It also transformed into a conversation about the French ban on the hijab and other visible signs of religious belief. Interesting, but very random...especially since he was clearly looking for an argument, and I actually agreed with him, so there was no real discussion forthcoming.

I had more to write, but I should probably save it.

I guess that's why they call it the blues

this is a test post

mittens? who eats their mittens?

I am currently connected to the internet via my spiffy spiffy router. I'm not entirely sure why, since I haven't properly installed the darned thing yeet, but if it's working, it's working, and I'm just not going to question that.

Hurray for time off. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do today, but I suspect I will not get done all that I wish to. Things I would like to do: laundry, cleaning/organizing my room, knitting, scrapbooking my trip to Scotland, getting mail ready to send out tomorrow, some writing, painting, and so on.

Yesterday was our first day open at work, and it was busier than I thought it would be, although still painfully slow at times. Considering that a good chunk of our literature says that we don't open until May 2-4, and that it was a cold, damp day, we did pretty well. I got to do the admissions thing, and somehow managed to snag to the only two French groups of the day in the course of doing so.

chill factor

Today was long. We did a Survivor-style activity challenge this morning for team building purposes, and my team did not win (though we should have, but that's another story). I got to learn the admissions program so that I can cover the desk during lunches and breaks. There was a small thunderstorm, and the power went out a couple of times. Sadly, that was one of the more exciting parts of the day.

Last night was fun, though. One of the crew from work is writing an RPG, and I've agreed to participate in it, which is horribly geeky but also shaping up to be a lot of fun, or at the very least a chance to get to know new people. A couple of us went for coffee and shenanigans, and really it was just good to be with people who aren't so familiar with me that they can finish my sentences most of the time.**

I am working on an ambitious knitting project that thus far is going quite well. It almost made watching the Friends finale bearable. But not quite, 'cause, well, it was pretty brutal.

I say the word "wicked" way too much; I think it was originally popular when I wasin grade six or something, which makes me officially lame.

**I am actually really bad for doing this--even with people I don't know. It's part of my social ineptitude.

All this training means that I'm secretly a seal

More staff training at THSWSNBN today. I wish I could say it had been enjoyable. Actually, it wasn't that bad...I guess. French training is always a bit draining, and then part of the afternoon involved going on another tour of the historic site. I know that I shouldn't complain, but I've worked there for four years; I've got a decent handle on what's going on, despite my score on the information test.

I am getting to know new people, which is one of the better parts of the job. We did a neat exercise today about working with visually impaired people, which involved being blindfolded and led around the historic site. It was a very disorienting (but fun) experience.

One of my friends is thinking about running an RPG if he can get enough interested bodies, and I'm considering doing it...it could be fun.

raining letters from heaven

In the past week, I've had a phone call from the president of the university and now a letter from the Dean of Arts and Science to congratulate me on the SSHRC. It's sort of an interesting phenomenom, but their sentiments are certainly appreciated. Even if the Dean thinks that he will look forward to my "achievements in the scientific research community."** I think someone used the same letter for the SSHRC as he did for the NSERC awards.

Not that I mind, as I certainly wasn't anticipating anything like this from him, but it is kind of funny.

**This is funny because I am a Humanities major and my MA will be fairly UNscientific.

clouds of loneliness

The CBC Radio One is playing some of Gordon Lightfoot's new music (apparently he has a new CD coming out next week) and they had Ron Sexsmith introduce the song. I saw his new CD (Ron's that is) yesterday and nearly bought it; I really need to watch my expenditures this summer.

I redid the colours of my sister's blog yesterday and I think it looks pretty spiffy. I will be giving this place an overhaul eventually, with some (read: lots) of help from a friend as soon as I can figure out what I want the design to look like. I have a few ideas in mind but they are taking form very slowly.

Back to work tomorrow, starting my regular tuesday-saturday work week. In spite of myself, I am actually very glad to be back.

and so, that chapter of my life ends.

Chapter the Next. In which the protagonist spends the summer working at THSWSNBN, takes tours, makes friends, and speaks a lot of French. The protagonist also endeavours not to spend money, not to tick off the management at work, and be a valuable employee.

I have moved all of my things from North Bay, finally, and now my parents' house is being overrun by my junk. I'll have to start looking for a place in Guelph soon, I guess. My dad has agreed that if I buy a router, I can hook my computer up to the internet, and this means more regular internet access for me. Considering that I'm still research assisting it up, this will be a very valuable thing.

I get to go to the art store day and I'm really excited about it.

working girl

Man, every year I forget how much the start up period at work takes out of me. The first two weeks are just brutal...and today every thing hurts. I moved wood for a pretty good chunk of the day (which is a good arm toner, I guess) and I can really feel how out of shape I am. Definitely need to put in some Pilates time tonight, I think.

I got my acceptance package from Guelph, finally, and they've decided to stump up some financial assistance for me. So, if I go there I will have a two-term TA or RA position, and possibly some other internal awards. It's funny that as soon as I have a source of income (the SSHRC) that suddenly the university has to offer me more income to go there...I understand that a lot of it has to do with funding and prestige and such, but I still thinks it's crazy. I am really excited about the job, though, and I really hope that it will be a teaching assistantship, because I think that would be a pretty incredible experience. (To say nothing of the fact that if I do my PhD, it will go a long way towards helping me to get into that.)

I'm back up to North Bay tomorrow to move out. Wish me luck!

back to work

Start Day #5 at THSWSNBN. I didn't sleep much last night because I was so worried about it, which was, in retrospect, pretty silly. The whole day was kind of silly--a lot of sitting and listening to people talk. For the most part the people doing the talking were actually pretty interesting, but after nearly 6 hours my bum and my back were not so thankful to be sitting there. The training is a very different format this year than it has been in years past, which I am thankful for. Unfortunately, I have to miss the FAM tour day on Friday, when we visit some of the other area attractions--which, in my own geeky/nerdy way, I'm actually disappointed in.

Also, I was somehow turned in to a pack mule for both sisters and got to carry around my own training manuals AND theirs for the day. How did that happen?

If I tell myself that it will be a good summer often enough, do you think it will come true?

why, I never cry in movies

I watched Mr. Holland's Opus. I really like that movie, in a terrible, cheesy kind of way.

I'm a bit nervous about working at THSWSNBN again. It will be my fifth year there, and that is somewhat intimidating to me--I will be the oldest face there among the interpretive staff. Both of my sisters are working with me this summer--it'll be interesting to see how that goes. I think it will be good for Cait to start work, the poor kid needs some distraction from everything that's been going on in her world lately.

I thought this would be a more exciting post, but it's not. and my comments seem to be broken on this computer.

baby, it's cold outside

In some of the best. news. ever. I am bound to report that I received emails today telling me that my application for the SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities REsearch Council) has been accepted, which means that grad school will now be a reality as opposed to a pipe dream of some kind--they're giving me $17 500 for school next year.

I was really afraid that I wouldn't get it, and I am grateful to everyone who had faith in me.

In other news, I am home now, and starting work back at the Historic Site Which Shall NOt Be Named tomorrow. Woot for that. Figures, too, that just as I find out that I will be okay financially next year, the parent company posts an opening for a position that I would have applied for had I not got into g-school.

It is good to be home, and also to be not puking anymore...it was a rough weekend.

I said I didn't give a fuck about hockey...and yes, I meant it

While I'm as happy as anyone about the Leafs winning (okay, that's a total lie), I really don't feel like my neighbours need to be using their drum kit to bash out a rhythm to yell "go leafs go" by. Of course, I'm bothered by the fact that it's Maple Leafs, but that's because I'm an insecure grammar nerd who is overcompensating.

If you're at all interested in things science-y and fun, you should check out The Gravity Probe B site, which is looking at the probe sent up by NASA, Stanford, and York University that is testing Einstein's theory of relativity. The data won't be ready for release for probably another two years, but this is pretty exciting, since the theory of relativity is a prretty important principle which so much work has been based on...and if it's wrong, well, there's a whole world of possibilities there.

this is weird...

Has anyone else had experience with (or know anything about) a website called Share Your Experiences.com? I've received emails from the website a few times, claiming that people are searching for information about the owner of one of my email addresses (one of my personally identifiable ones, that is not a yahoo or hotmail account). They won't give me information about who is searching for my information, or let me contact the people who are doing so unless I stump up for a paid membership...it sounds like a big scam to me, but something about it has got me really creeped out.

That is in no way related to the copious amounts of CSI Season Two polished off in the last week or so...not at all.

all right, who didn't shower yesterday?

That would be me. One of my neighbours has apparently burst a pipe, so they've shut off all the water to this complex of townhouses--figures that I didn't shower yesterday, and that I have my big English soirée to go to tonight. Thank god for roommates who are willing to let me shower at their new house.

First exam tomorrow...Texts and Intertexts...I only *just* read The Homeric Hymn to Demeter this week, so I might be screwed...or maybe not. Not sure. I keep telling myself it's my second last exam ever, and I must say that that is a pretty neat thing.

I start back at smath in ten days and that freaks me out.

gah

So now I've heard from Guelph...I'm in their "second tier" of applicants...not the ones they absolutely wanted for sure, but not bad enough to be rejected outright, either. Which means I get to wait until they have all of their rejections, and hope that then they can offer me a place after that.

This is what I get for trying to think outside of my box, I guess.

save me from the wookiee

I'm going crazy--I *still* haven't heard back from Guelph, and my last two emails to various people in their English department have gone unanswered...which means that, if I don't hear anything tomorrow, I will have to call them, which I don't particularly relish the thought of doing.

Star Wars now has their own online store. The good news? I'll never be stuck for a present for the Boy again. The bad? The prices are, of course, all in American dollars. That said, I think the Boy would just die if I gave him this for our two year anniversary.

He digs the Clone Troopers, that one.

she comes into focus, focus

Clean laundry is the shit. When my roommates moved out and into their own house, they took our washer and dryer, on the proviso that they provide laundry service for the rest of us until the end of the month. I did two loads today, which (ideally) should last me for the next ten days, until I moved home for the summer.

The university is screwing me around and I am really confused by it. I'm in a supplementary program called Orientation to Teaching, which is supposed to guarantee me a spot in teacher's college provided that I take three classes relating to education (a psych, a sociology, and a practicum) and maintain a 70 average on my undergrad. All in all, a pretty sweet deal. Last week I got a letter telling me that I wouldn't be finding out about my acceptance until my final grades were in and they've reviewed my OTT requirements. Which is irritating, but fine--except that some of my classmates, who are in similar programs and academic standing, have received their acceptance packages already. WTF?

A friend ran into a guy at the school who told her that the school is bell curving the OTT applicants to weed some of them out, because they have more OTT applicants than spaces available, so some people won't be getting in. I doubt that this would apply to me, as my current standing is just above an 80 (A-) but it has got me worried. Needless to say, if this is true, and I don't get in, it will not be pretty...the University would be in a very very bad place, public relations-wise.

yummy

I made chocolate chip cookies today and they are excellent. Project Bread didn't happen because my yeast died (sniff) but I may rectify that in the future. Who knows?

I watched the MTV Becoming today (because I was bored and lonely) on Britney Spears's I'm A Slave 4 U, and it was really bad, except that the guy in the Becoming video who licked Not-Britney's face was wearing an April Wine t-shirt. Yes, April Wine, as in semi-obscure 70s Canadian rock band. who are actually quite a good band, just not the sort fhtat one would expect people in Non-Britney Spears videos to be wearing.

I had my Pilates class tonight and it felt so good. I skipped one of the classes last week because of my Feminist Theory paper and my body was really not happy about it. It's funny how much I've really come to enjoy the exercise, and I will really miss it when I return to Elmvale, although I will hopefully be joining a gym there when I get back, and doing some biking besides. I want to be a lot more active this year.

if I only had a...

if my knitting skills were better, I would make this in a heartbeat...as it is, I'm having a hard time not asking my mum if she'd make it for me.

I plan to knit more this summer. I bought Cait a knitting book for Christmas that has a pattern for a very nice bag (kind of a purse more than a bag, I guess) and I think I am going to work on that. It will be my first time working with real wool (aside knitting various bits of others' projects at THSTSNBN) and I have high hopes for it. It's a very simple piece, but if it comes out, it will look quite nice.

At the rate I'm going, I should be able to make the piece that's linked above by the time I'm 90. I just that when I'm 90, I'll actually have time to make it.

london calling

About a month ago, I sent home all my of CDs and DVDs and non-school related books in preparation for the end of April move out. The CDs that stayed are a good bunch, obviously, but it's been a month...so imagine my delight when I found The Clash's London Calling, The White Stripes's De Stijl, and Rufus Wainwright's s/t under my bed. It was definitely a good thing.

In other good, CD-related news, I finally found my copy of Sloan's OCTA/Party Album, which the boy swore he didn't have, hiding under the owner's manual in his glove department. This is a very good thing, as I have missed that album muchly, and it has prevented me from creating the "Sloan's Greatest Hits" compilation, which I actually have a surprising number of people waiting for.

And, if you live in Canada and you haven't done so already, go check out PureTracks.com. It is also a good thing.

you call this justice?

the mathman moved out for real today. It was a very sad day. The house is a disaster and I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with it, since (as predicted) it's becoming more and more apparent that the bulk of the work is going to be done by me.

I celebrated easter today with my sister. We had ham and asparagus and garlic bread and apple pie. It was awesome. We also watched ten episodes of CSI, and I feel like I'm going to explode. I bought some baking supplies at Some Frills today so I might make some chocolate chip cookies tomorrow...it's been literally YEARS since I've had real homemade cookies, as opposed to those Pillsbury ones in the roll. (Although, I must admit that I've eaten more than my fair share of chocolate chip cookie dough from those rolls...)

I watched a episode of a TV show called Exhibit A last night and one of my co-workers from The Historic Site That Shall Not Be Named was in it.

Maybe I'll make bread tomorrow, I found three packages of dry yeast in my cupboard when I was poking through there. If not bread, maybe some soft pretzels...or foccacia. Which, I guess, is technically bread, but whatever.

Watching CSI makes me paranoid.

I can see you with my eyes closed

it's been almost twelve hours since my last post. Not much is new. I cleaned the bathroom today until I got high on cleaner fumes (and by high, I mean dizzy). I cleaned the newly defrosted freezer. I forgot to take the garbage out, though. crap. I'll do that tomorrow morning.

I watched Apocalypse Now tonight. Damn, I love that movie.

Kurtz has been on my mind lately. I was reading today about how Marlon Brando hated the script for Kurtz at the end of the movie and ended up demanding that he be shot in the shadows and also that he adlibbed most of his lines. I just find that incredible, because I honestly can't imagine Kurtz being done any other way than what he is in Apocalypse Now. And he makes Eliot references!

The same edition of James Frazer's The Golden Bough is in one of the seminar rooms at school, and I often consider stealing it.

adv. adlt. are you a playa?

I get ridiculous amounts of spam email at one of my email addresses (actually, come to think of it, I get ridiculous amounts at the other, too, but do you think I could be bothered to change them?) and it's usually either about our old friend porn/increasing the size of my member/increasing the size of my bustline, or about bad credit. One I got today asked "are you a playa?"

And sadly, I must report, that I am not a playa. or even a player. It's bad when even your junk mail starts ragging on you.

it's sad when the most exciting thing to happen to me in a long time is that my sister has a blog now:
LIzzy's Lair. You can read it if you want.

snowballs in the house?

my mom just threw a snowball at me. it exploded all over my pants and the floor yet narrowly missed the computer.

it is black history month

and I honestly intended to post this before now, since there are only scant days left to February, and certainly, right now that is both a blessing and a curse...but I did want to post a poem I found a long time ago in my beloved Norton Anthology of Poetry, 4th edition, that caught my mind back in first year. You can find the poem and more information on its author, Langston Hughes here.

Theme for English B

The instructor said,

Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you--
Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it's that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

It's not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me--we two--you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too.) Me--who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records--Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?

Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white--
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me--
although you're older--and white--
and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.

You should also check out Derek Walcott, you're interested in a black writer who is not American. His poetry is incredible, and he has a piece called "The Muse of History" which is both excellent and essential for anyone interested in Carribean lit (though I can't seem to find it online).

it's a good thing I work well under pressure

yeah, yeah, I know...it has been a long time, kids. so let me recap the last few weeks for you:

+applications to grad school: mailed off
+seminar on "the education of the artist" and Stella Bowen's Drawn From Life: done
+short feminist theory paper on gaze, desire, and homosocial relationships (sadly titled "Girls Gone Mild" in fit of believing in one's own wit): done
+job interview in Toronto for job in Ottawa: done; ambiguous feelings on potential outcome
+reading week: too short; too little accomplished
+job interview for SMATH: done; little doubt that will be offered job
+paper on the relationship between gender and the art of Stella Bowen in conception, reception, and interpretation of Drawn From Life: done
+phone call from UOttawa telling me that have forgotten to give them my birthdate on application forms, thereby preventing me from being entered into the computer: now fixed
+phone call from Carleton telling me that they have not received letters of reference, which are needed ASAP to submit my application for financial aid, and which were posted on February 10th, tracked, and marked as received by Canada Post: in the process of being dealt with

So that leaves me with:

+fixing the reference letter problem
+making a doctor's appointment
+writing a 15 page history paper which have not started writing nor researching, nor indeed, even picked a specific topic
+calling landlord to fix things for next year
+preparation for two seminars being given next week
+preparation for test on Franz Fanon
+finding a topic for web based learning module on Shelly Jackson's Patchwork Girl
+shopping for bridesmaid dress
+trying to implode

Apologies for the blank entry and my general absence for the past week. The blank entry was caused by a conflict between my counter program and blogger, which unfortuantely I was able to resolve and had to switch companies. Fortuantely the new company seems pretty nifty. Check 'em out at webstats.com.

The absence was mostly caused by my extremely busy last week. I have some news on the grad school front, but I'm still a few days from being able to post about it.

neat history linkage

Virtual Museum of New France - we all know how I feel about the New France
National Archives of Canada
Canada's Virtual Museum
Canadian History Scholar's Portal - ie, sites that have been professionally vetted for accurate content

Read just like me

My Second Term Book List at amazon.ca, just in case you'd like to get a closer look at (or buy) anything that I'm talking about in these pages.

we get titles with these things now?

Subtitle: Poem of the Week

Walt Whitman was probably the second poet that I ever encoutnered. (The first being Dennis Lee.) When I was younger (we're talking about 3), my family went on a vacation to Bon Echo Provincial Park which is just beautiful. If you click on that link there's a beautiful picture of the park, where you can see some of the rocks in the park, which if you could see them up close, actually have petroglyphs (prehistoric artwork) drawn on them, which fascinated me as a child (as well as the fact that the lake was over 100 feet deep, which was so deep that even my dad couldn't touch the bottom). There is a nice monument to Whitman there, as the former owner of the park was a devotee of his work (and an early Canadian feminist), so I've chosen To You as this week's poem:

Whoever you are, I fear you are walking the walks of
dreams,
I fear these supposed realities are to melt from under your
feet and hands,
Even now your features, joys, speech, house, trade, manners,
troubles, follies, costume, crimes, dissipate away from you,
Your true soul and body appear before me,
They stand forth out of affairs, out of commerce, shops,
work, farms, clothes, the house, buying, selling, eating,
drinking, suffering, dying.

Whoever you are, now I place my hand upon you, that you
be my poem,
I whisper with my lips close to your ear,
I have loved many women and men, but I love none better
than you.

(There's more to the poem, just click on the link above to read the rest).

So today's Feminist Theory discussion centered on the concept of 'essentialism'. Talk about interesting (in an 'ow-my-head-huuuuurts' kind of way) and it actually sparked a pretty good deal of controversy within the class. In my own ignorance, I find it hard to believe that anybody can believe in essentialism, but maybe I should explain what it actually is first. It is the idea that things (ie, people) have something essential to them that transcends history, time, culture, society, etc. and is fundamentally unchangeable. In feminist theory, this applies specifically to the concepts of gender. Is it possible to define something as essentially male or essentially female? (Naturally, biological factors--including the ability to bear children--are outside this realm).

I would argue that gender (which is not the same thing as sex--sex is biologically determined) is not essential; that it is determined by our old friends society and culture, but apparently many of the classmates would disagree with that, and argue that there is something essential to being a 'woman'.

+Essentialism (from Emory) - this one is pretty close to the handout we got in class today, so it is especially good.
+from Queertheory.com - a collection of online essentialist resources

It is interesting to think about what traits we identify with gender: aggression, maternal instincts (and I finally grasp the concept of gendered language!), the enjoyment of certain genres of movies/books/art/music/etc., cleanliness, domestic abilities...and of course it is nearly impossible to separate yourself from the concepts of essentialism in any meaningful way.

In the summers I work as an interpreter at a historic site, and I get to dress in period (17th century) costume. I dress as a seventeenth century man (largely because there were never women at my historic site) and now that I think about it, there are different behaviours that I adopt when dressing like a man:
+sitting with legs open
+more authorative walk
+standing straighter
+attempting to imagine myself as illiterate

I don't really see any of these behaviours as essentially masculine, though--especially since some of the other tasks I perform at Ste-Marie would have been/still are "feminine" work (cooking, sewing, knitting) that would have been performed by the men, because, well, there weren't any women around.

Yay, new comment system is installed! Hurray for technology. Rache and Mila, I expect lots of feedback!

Sometimes political correctness is just stupid.

No, I take that back. It is not stupid to be politically correct. People are stupid.

To wit, in my Memories of Paris class this morning, we were looking at a Jean Cocteau piece that described Picasso as being like a Borgia pope. When asked to unpack the significance of that comparison, one of my classmates said, "Well, the Pope has power invested in him by God, or other higher power..." I pretty much tuned out at that point, because really, if you're talking about CATHOLICISM, it's okay to say GOD, because that's what Catholics believe. It's not an 'other higher power'. It's just God.

I know this is a little on the ranty side but sometimes my classmates drive me crazy.

I went to a really good free lecture up at the school yesterday by a journalist by the name of Gqynne Dyer, a Canadian ex-pat living in England and working independently. It was pretty cool to see, as in the past the admin has had some difficulty in finding speakers that people actually want to see and stuff, but the theatre was actuallyf ull of both faculty and students.

He has a couple of well written articles on the website, which I highly recommend checking out if you have a chance, and he has a couple of books as well. The newest one is called "Ignorant Armies," and, well, I'm all about gratuitous Matthew Arnold references. He made some interesting predictions about the state of world politics over the course of the next four years, and talked a lot about the rise of the neo-conservative movement in the US.

Being able to go to stuff like this is one of my favourite parts about being in university.

My SSHRC application is in. Now all I have to do is start filling out actual application forms for the schools I'm applying to, and round up all my transcripts. I'm really not sure where I want to go. The three schools I'm applying to all have aspects of their programs that I really like...I have a feeling a big part of my decision will rest on who wants to pony up in terms of RA and TA positions and such. Of course, if I don't get an Ontario Graduate Scholarship or a SSHRC grant, I'll probably find myself in back at Nipissing for Teacher's College regardless....

+University of Guelph - Guelph is about sixty miles west of Toronto, so it's the closest to home for me, and it's a pretty good school. Their department has the focus on Canadian Lit and Postcolonial Studies that I want, they have some pretty famous names in the faculty (Thomas King, Donna Palmateer Pennee), and if i can get a TAship, it pays over $4200/term...which is nothing to sneeze at.
+University of Ottawa - More of a "big name" school, to be sure, but not as strong in the areas I want to cover (though they do have some good theory stuff) and I find their department very unresponsive to requests for help. If I get a TA position here I will be teaching undergrad grammar and technical writing classes, and that scares me. I do like the school, and it does have a PhD program as well as the MA, which could be useful.
+Carleton University - This school doesn't have the best department, but it is looking to improve its reputation in the field, which could be an excellent opportunity for me. It's also in Ottawa (or just outside it). They also have the CanLit connection and the PoCo, as well, and since they have no PhD program, all of the department's time and effort is focused on the MA students. An added advantage of both Ottawa and Carleton is that I'm allowed to take up to 1.0 credits from whichever school I'm not attending, and that I would have access to the libraries at both schools.

So that's kind of the thought for now...and I'm no closer to making a decision.

Having finally decided in favour of feminist theory (narrow victory over trauma theory), I am now enjoying the wonders of Mary Elizabeth Braddock's Lady Audley's Secret. (Note: That link will take you to a partially complete online posting of the text for Lady Audley's Secret). I've never taken a course in nineteenth century lit, so my exposure to this time period has been largely limited to Rossetti's "Goblin Market" in first year and then Dickens and Great Expectations (among other stuff, like Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach," aka my favourite poem) in the second year British Literature survey.

Lady Audley's Secret is what is called a sensation novel, which is (in many ways) a precursor to both detective fiction and romance novels. McMaster University has a pretty neat site called Victorian Sensationalism Online which has some pretty good online resources and more information on the genre, if you're interested. If I ever have a chance to read for pleasure again (plea-sure?) I want to pick up a copy of Wilkie Collins's The Woman In White, which in light of Timothy Findley's Headhunter and the character of Emma Berry, could have some pretty interesting implications.

I'm really starting to see why the Victorian literature is so appealing...there is something absolutely fantastic about the idea of a newly literate public. To say nothing of Matthew Arnold, the emergence of English literature as a subject worthy of study in universities, and the whole idea of using literature as a way to build national consciousness and identity. My MA work is kind of going to be an off shoot of that, only dealing with Canada and Canadian literature.

Poem of the Week:*
Orphan Hand
by Maria Dunn

Home Boys (or Bernardo's Boys) were sent from UK streets to work as farm hands around Peterborough and across Canada. Most had dismal lives, little short of slave labour.

My name it might as well be John
For all you care from where I've come,
They sent me here to your homestead
To earn my daily bread.

From London Streets they boarded me
The gutter children put to sea,
At eight years old you took me in
But you never called me kin.

Is there no one in this dreary land
With a kind word for an orphan hand
I work like hell and pay my share
Where's the Christian look in your hardened stare
That Blackened ship that carried me
I wish had tossed me to the sea
My trouble would have reaped at least
A long embrace and a moment's peace

Your hardship in this cold, cold land
Left you a tired bitter man.
Your own you still allow small joy
But you're blind to a fatherless boy.

My filthy hands and matted hair,
My feet in rags in winter's air.
Worked like a dog, kept like a pig
Where's the life I am to live?

This land of opportunity
Is no place for a lad like me,
Cast from the old world on the new,
My worth to ever prove.

I'd have better been a tinker's son
Than a homeboy from the London slums,
Sent to this barren farm alone
And worked to skin and bones.

*This is actually a song, written by Maria Dunn, though I am familiar with a version by Aengus Finnan, who is an alumni of NipU's BEd program. I chose this song as a poem of the month because my maternal great-grandfather was one of the Barnardo children, who arrived in Canada in 1880.

New Year's Resolution #2: Update AcademiaNuts on a weekly basis and turn it into a sensical, useful resource tool for myself and any others who are interested in such thins.

So in this inaugral post (with semi-spiffy new layout), I would like to offer you a fun way to procrastinate: Canucklehead Quizzes from The Canadian Encyclopedia. It's good fun, and it has over sixty quizzes in a variety of categories that cover all kinds of Canadian terrain.

Also, Paul Graham has an interesting article on nerds here. Don't really agree with him, but a good read none the less.

John Lye, of St. Catharine's, Ontario's Brock University (known to most undergrads as 'if you can walk and talk, you can go to Brock') has a neat breakdown of theoretical perspectives with relation to reader reponse criticism and theory:

Phenomenological view:
The text functions as a set of instructions for its own processing, but is as well indeterminate, needs to be completed, to be concretized. The 'reality' of the text lies between the reader and the text: it is the result of the dialectic between work and reader.

Reader Online also has a lot of information, including essays and articles. Extra neat because it is not limited to just literature.

So. Back in school at last. What I'm actually doing this year is a little different from what's on the list below, specifically regards to my Gender class, which I've swapped for one on trauma theory instead. That's not til next term, however.

This term is Intro to Lit Theory and Criticism, currently focusing on Reader-Response Criticism, Post-Colonial Lit: Southern Africa, Studies in Genre: Detective Fiction, Honours Seminar: Timothy Findley and good old Canadian Social History.

I'm also working as a research assistant for one of the new profs, and will be researching how universities in Ontario approach literacy and ensure that their students are capable of writing at a university level.

Okay. So I'm lame. A lot. I'm hoping that next year, things will go more smoothly as I tackle my final year of my degree and get to take some pretty neat English courses, and also have more of a sense of what I want to be doing with this blog.

So. Next year:
+Literary Theory and Criticism: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
+Literary Theory and Criticism: Gender **
+Post-Colonial Literature I: South Africa
+Post-Colonial Literature II: the Carribean
+Studies In Genre I: Detective Fiction
+Texts and Intertexts II: Images of the Underworld
+Honours Seminar III: Timothy Findley
+Honours Seminar IV: Paris and Modernism
+Themes in Canadian Social History

**Because I haven't studied gender enough already. (Gender is one of the primary foci of our English department)

I have the same prof for both Post-Colonials, the Paris Honours seminar and Detective Fiction. She's gonna love me.

W. W. Norton's 18th century site