Six Weird Things

Just a little while ago, The Grunt tagged me with the “6 Weird Things” tag, where you simply state six weird things about yourself. I’ve been having a really really tough time thinking of these six weird things let me tell you, not because I’m not weird, but I think since I’m used to my weirdness, my weirdness does not seem weird at all to me. Here is what I’ve come up with:

1) Trigonometry/Calculus Therapy – If I’m feeling nervous, or anxious, or upset and I want to calm myself down, I will do a bit of trig or calc in my head. (Sine = opposite over hypotenuse; the derivative of 3x2 is 6x et cetra.) It’s weirdly calming – at least for me it is. I’m sure some people would find quite the opposite. I read a book (The Memory Keeper’s Daughter) where the main character would recite the periodic table in his head to calm down. Quite frankly, I’d like to try that sometime.

2) Elevator Games – I live on the 27th floor. Hence, I spend a lot of time in the elevator. To pass the time, I will play little games in my head (like closing my eyes for awhile and guessing what floor I’m on when I open my eyes). Once I was in the elevator with my roommate and I asked her what elevator games she played in her head to pass the time (perhaps hoping that I’d learn some new ones). She gave me a weird look, and then I had to explain the whole elevator game thing to her. She declared me weird. Apparently she likes to think of useful things while in the elevator.

3) Christmas Tree Soap Opera – I don’t do this anymore, but the holiday season reminded me of this weird tradition that I had as a kid. As soon as our Christmas tree was up, I’d sit beside it in the evening and make up stories about the ornaments in my head. Quite involved ones, where the tree was more or less their town and they were characters living in the town. That seems even weirder as I type it.

4) Rubbing my Hands Together – Most people do this when they are cold. I do it when I’m excited or hatching an evil plot. My friends have noticed it and make fun of me for it (especially in high school). I don’t think I do this as much any more, which I see as a sign as I’m not concocting enough trouble these days.

5) Play List Queen – Maybe this isn’t so weird; I just have no idea whether other people do this as much as I do. I’m not a fan of putting my iPod on shuffle, because it ends up that I keep rejecting every song that comes up. I’m constantly making “On the Go” playlists. I have a hard time erasing these lists, so my iPod is chock full of lists with titles such as “End of September List” “Last Week of School List” and so on. Do other people do this?

6) Rarely Writing Things Down – I rely on my memory for most things. When I first started emailing my friends a lot (in my first year of university), I didn’t bother using an address book: I had all of their emails in my head and I’d just type them in. I don’t do this anymore but I don’t bother with a daytimer or anything like that – I just remember everything. That’s why if I have a little memory lapse (like forgetting that I lent a kid a pen), I really freak out because if my memory goes, so will my whole memorization system. (Side note: I do pride myself on my memory – if you’re ever going to do something embarrassing, don’t do it my presence, it will not be forgotten.)

If I remember correctly (and I always do, hee-hee) I am supposed to tag six people. So I will tag Jolene, Joanna, Sandee, Becksley, Wes, and AlieMalie.

But if you hit the bottom floor, you'll see the light above my door.

I am in such a better mood today thankfully.

Reason #1 that I'm such a good mood is that I started reading the book I bought last night to cheer myself up. I only read about 30 pages, but they were amazing. The book is "The Girls" by Lori Lansens. It's a book written from the point of view of conjoined twins, and it is set in southwestern Ontario. The beginning has been amazingly interesting; I haven't been rivetted like this by a book in awhile. I hope it keeps up the momentum.

Reason #2 that I'm in a good mood is that I enjoyed my day at work besides an incident that caused me to *panic* for a good 5 minutes (I thought I lost something;I didn't), and another that made me want to bash my head into a wall (more or less a kid who is really really really out to lunch - how can I help someone when they lose *everything* and can't even remember to bring a pencil to class?). Despite all of this, I still enjoyed my day.

Anyhow, I still have to say boo-urns to the fact that there is not a new episode of The Office tonight. However, next week will be an hour.

I'm taking the train to St. Ratford this weekend. I think it's going to be a busy weekend. Hope that you all have awesome weekends and thanks for all of the happy messages on my melancholy day yesterday.

ps I just downloaded the song "The Sweet Escape" from the new Gwen Stefani album. Candy. The song is like sweet delicious candy. Too fun. Get it if you need a fix of sugar.

I'd take the seasick crocodile.

I'm having one of those days where for some reason, I was in a great mood and then blam!, I crashed into a funky weird melancholy mood. I know exactly where I was when I crashed. I had for some reason gotten off at the wrong subway stop (I wasn't paying attention or something). So, oops, whatever, I'd walk to the next stop. Didn't bother me one bit. Since I had to walk a couple of blocks through prime shopping territory, I decided to do some browsing. I wasn't in a shopping mood but I decided to look around the Bay at Christmas decorations. As I was looking at some weird funky decoration my mood totally turned.

Anyhow, I've been trying to do everything to zap this mood. I've watched a couple of episodes of the Office. (Boo to no new episode tomorrow) (Btw, If you wanna watch full episodes of the Office, go here.) I even went for a walk and bought myself a book to read since I finished my book club book last night. I haven't even gotten around to opening it because I've been wasting my time sampling stupid ass songs on iTunes. I hate when I waste time doing something dumb like that because my brain is in some sort of weird state.

I'm also annoyed because when I was talking to my dad tonight he made some comment about me being just an average student. Okay, here I am, YEARS out of school (obviously) and that royally pissed me off. Gah. I HATE when something silly gets under my skin. It's so weird - one of the only things I've ever been confident about in my life is my scholastic ability and if anyone dares to question my ability, I get really mad, which perhaps might mean I'm not even confident in that. Grr. Oh, and one thing I can't stand is if anyone treats me like I'm dumb or talks down to me. Talking down to me is one way to quickly get on my bad side.

Okay, on the bright side, I did show one of my classes An Inconvenient Truth and it got them all riled up in a good way. They wanted to go out and plant trees and write letters to their MPs and the like.

Sorry for the incoherent rant. I think I feel a bit better. Maybe sleep is necessary. I have a bad habit of being tired and needing sleep and fighting it off for some odd reason. Weird.

Oh, on the bright side part 2 - we have another PD day on Friday. That means a day off planning for me. I can stay up late tomorow night and watch the Daily Show. Woo! Maybe life isn't quite the irritant that it seems to be at the moment.

Unplayed pianos are oftern by a window...

Not having to spend about 5 hours in transit this weekend has made the weekend seem super long and relaxing.

To add to the relaxation, I also treated myself to long sleeps and long baths. I feel more relaxed than I have since the summer.

I did some Christmas shopping this weekend. I braved the Eaton's Centre (going between 7 and 9 on Friday and 6-7 on Sunday meant the crowds weren't bad at all). I've been remiss in bringing my camera places with me so my picture-a-day project is at a standstill right now. (However, I pledged to try it for a week, and I did make it a week.) I really wish I'd remembered my camera when I was at the mall; there is a stunning huge tree covered in Swarovski crystals. I swear I'll get a picture next time I go.

Today I went for a movie and dinner with Becca T and a couple of university friends who I haven't seen for a very long time. It was fun. The movie was Deja Vu with Denzel Washington. I'd perhaps give it 3 stars out of 5. I generally don't go for action-y movies. If a movie is too exciting, I get bored and fall asleep. Since I didn't fall asleep during this one, I'll say it wasn't half bad. (I had wanted to see Happy Feet in 3D but I was voted down. Boo-urns.) Dinner was the festive special at Swiss Chalet. Yum!!

That's it for now. I have to get back to reading. It's staff book club meeting on Wednesday and I've got a couple hundred pages to read. I was the one who suggested the book so my face would be a little red if I don't have it finished.

Ciao.

It's not like I don't love you but you wear your braids...

This was tonight:

(Okay the picture is a bit crappy... I would have zoomed out, but there were these people making out on the street behind the sign, and I didn't need a picture of that to commemorate my evening.)

I had a super fun time. First of all, I feel a certain giddiness when I'm out on a school night. Especially when I have a drink or two (I had a couple beers at the show - beer, even in small quantities, hits me hard). I remember having a similar feeling sneaking out as a teenager and "fooling" the adults. Now I have a similar feeling as an adult from sort of shirking my responsibilities and having fun.

Secondly, It was sooooooooooo fun being at a small concert! Espeically since there was no cover... My 2006 concert going has been very disappointing. I need to improve in 2007. New year's resolution made already, I tell you.

The first band who played was called Howl and apparently it was their first show ever. They were fairly enjoyable. As I said to Becca T, I've seen a lot of worse bands in my day.

Colin Munroe (check out his myspace to listen to some songs), aka Becca T's musician friend, was quite good. His songs are really catchy. I'm looking forward to his CD coming out (apparently spring 2007).

Also, check out my friend Becksley's post from today. She's having a Christmas charity/scam dilemma. Feel free to advise her, oh you wise readers of my blog. ;)

We can wish on the pop of a light bulb or those photos lying yellow and curled.

Today's picture: the long line of newspaper boxes at a sample Toronto intersection.

Today was pretty good. I think I left my brand new lunch bag (that I got free with something else) on the subway. Oh well, easy come, easy go. Hopefully a hungry person finds it, since there were a couple of clementines and a banana in it. Unfortunately, so was my pretty and new-ish umbrella, so it's back to the old red one that I have that won't break or get lost for love nor money. A coworker of mine used to marvel about how I'd had the same umbrella for a really long time...

It looks like tomorrow night, Becca T and I will be seeing her friend Colin Munroe at the Rivoli. Yay! A concert! He's opening for someone or other, and since we're old and need to get to sleep at a decent time on a worknight, we'll leave after him. I mentioned his song "Your Braids" a couple of weeks ago. That song has actually sneaked up to become my most-listened-to song on my iPod.

So..... hopefully tomorrow's pic (which may be posted late) will be concert related. Woo!

Even though she is clear and true, she's very talented too, she isn't wearing the right boots.

The shoes on the right are my copper coloured, shiny Mary Jane Skechers that won't quite frankly cut it once the weather worsens.

The shoes on the left are the new shoes I bought today to wean myself off my Skechers. A couple staff members at work have similar ones, and I really like chunky shoes, and it's hard to find a good pair of them now days. They were kind of pricy, but my mom talked me into buying them with a "why do you have a job if you don't splurge once in awhile?" speech.

Pretty ones are hanging on the wings...

These weekends go too fast I tell you.

Friday - PD (professional development for AliMalie... this means there are no kids for a day) day was relaxing.

Caught train home from Union Station. Here's a picture of the busyness of Union Station for you:


Arrived in Ratford in good time. Met up with some friends. Attempted to go out for coffee. Turns out, all decent coffee places in Ratford close at 8 pm. Ended up wandering into a higher end bar for drinks. We ended up feeling a bit underdressed. Also, I accidentally ordered a $9 Irish coffee. Moral of story - never order something that isn't on the menu where you can safely see the price.

Saturday - Visited my mom in the hospital. Here is a picture of where I park. I use the lot near a nature area that we used to call the Old Grave. It has a different name now.

I used to ride my bike here as a kid with friends, and we'd plan tree forts and play in the river and the like. Anyhow, I always think I should go for a walk around the place since I'm always using its parking lot, but I'm always wearing the wrong shoes (Mary Jane Skechers that would result in me having muddy feet.)

I then drove to Waterloo to visit my friend Jo and have dinner. Good times.

Sunday - Ran errands, spent time with my dad. Took picture of train tracks at the end of the day so that I could continue my blog project. I figured that train tracks are quite representative of my life these past few months because I've spent a lot of time on trains.


Thankfully, the train was only 10 minutes late and I'm home safe and sound relatively on time.

ps My dear friend Becksley has started a blog. She is my friend from high school who got me into Hawksley Workman. Bless her soul and read her blog!

I don't know what it is that makes me feel alive.

Today's picture displays how I'm indulging after tonight's round of parent-teacher intereviews.

Yes, I am aware that I'm eating cheap ice cream. I don't believe in paying $7 for ice cream. Anyhow, this stuff is left over from something or other, so I figure eating some of it will help empty out the freezer.

Bonus fun game = my penguin ice cream scoop needs a name. Any suggestions?

Interviews went well tonight. I'm lucky, because the 'rents at my school tend to be supportive so I don't have any horror stories. I tend to more or less enjoy inteviews, even though it makes for a long night. I wasn't overly busy this year; I have two senior classes and only a small class of grade 9s. I spent a lot of time chatting with other un-busy teachers who were wandering around, and various students who were around. I won comment of the evening award when I interrupted someone to say "The big coffee I had just wore off." (Maybe we were over-tired and worn out from a long day, but it killed the people who I said it to.)

Tomorrow is a PD day. Can you all cross your fingers for me that it isn't overly boring?

Then I'm off on the train for another weekend in Ratford. Check ya tomorrow with another picture.

Takin' the long way around

I enjoyed "Shut Up and Sing" and of course went out and bought the Dixie Chicks' new CD today. Oh gosh. My first country CD. My friends from Ratford are going to be shocked. I hated country music with a passion back in high school. I have to admit, living in the city has made me a bit more "countrified" in my muscial tastes. I'm not a fan of anything that's new country, of course, but I'm totally into so-called alt country. A lot of my fave artists like Neko Case, Kathleen Edwards, and yes, even the Weakerthans have a bit of a country feel to their music. It was a matter of time before I got into something like the Dixie Chicks. Of course, the fact that they are ashamed of George Bush and their new song stuff is a bit more rock-ish and political would be the final hook for me.

Anyhow, since I was busy seeing movies and stuff last night, I didn't start my picture-a-day-for-a-week blog project. But I've started today. The picture below is the view of an intersection that I cross daily. I like being able to seeing the CN Tower in between other buildings.


After taking this picture, I thought about how living in Toronto was a dream of mine when I was a kid, but I never really acknowledged it. However, whenever I thought about what and who I wanted to be when I grew up, I always pictured myself in a city, usually that city would be Toronto.

Whenever I visited Toronto, I would be extremely excited, especially at the point where you are nearing the city and you can see the skyline in the far distance. I think that deep down excitement remains with me when I look down Yonge St. and see the CN Tower. It's pretty exciting to think that I'm living where I dreamed to live when I was younger.

And that's why I think I instinctively like my daily view of the CN Tower down Yonge St. as I come home from work.

Time is contagious, and everybody's getting old.

I am a girl who is surviving on three hours' sleep last night plus an after-work nap.

Why only two hours of sleep? Well, my Ratford to Toronto train was over 2 hours last night, getting me home at 1:45 am. And, of course the agitation of sittting around the Ratford train station, on very very uncomfy benches, for two hours made sleep evade me until about 3:45. Yuck.

Surprisingly, I was somehow less tired today than I am on a typical Monday. Go figure.

Here are all of the relevant updates after a 3 day break from blogging.

1) My roommate loved the Office themed gift. Mission accomplished.

2) Weekend was okay. Went home to visit the 'rents. Mom's still in the hospital getting lots of physiotherapy and Dad's back home sleeping a lot and hopefully slowly regaining his strength.

3) My iPod now is playing a mix Damien Rice and Sloan peppered with a healthy mix of Christmas music and other enjoyabilities.

4) New blog project = I want to go a week where I take a picture everyday and post it here. I am so going to start tomorrow.

5) Going to see the Dixie Chicks movie tomorrow night with the student teacher I ended up kind of adopting this past month. Should be fun.

6) Today I received a bottle of wine and some chocolates from various co-workers as a thank-you for my overall fabulousity.

Hmmm, is that the sound of lab reports I hear asking to be marked?

And it leans on me like a rootless tree..

Today's topics of discussion are:

1) Damien Rice's new CD: "9"

LOVE IT. Get it now. It's soooooooooo good.

Only one problem: my favourite song on the CD, Rootless Trees, has a chorus that starts off with a bit of swearing. The problem with this is that I'm constantly singing it and I'm terrified that I will absent-mindedly start singing it in class. Oops. So much for being a role-model.

2) Present for Roommate

...is finishsed. Thank you all for your fabulous ideas for a Michael gift, however I didn't have time to obtain a Chili's gift certificate, nor enough money to buy a Forman grill as a joke, nor the time/inclination/stomach to go to Hooter's. Soooo... I did my best and got her an Office Voodoo Kit that I came across at Indigo. Seemed like the type of thing Michael would give. On the tag, I wrote "Since you don't have an awesome boss like me, this will be useful. I have one myself. I use it on Toby. It doesn't seem to be very effective because he's still coming to work."

I managed to obtain all of the other gifts. I also made a "Schrute Farms: Scranton's best beets" label for the jar of beets. I was laughing maniacally while I was making it. It's too funny. I put a picture of Dwight on it.

3) Mission in the Rain

I ordered Becca T's Christmas present online. It arrived very quickly because it was Fed-Exed. Problem was this is that of course I'm not home when they come around so I have to make other arrangements to pick it up. Now, you think that Fed Ex would have a depot close to central Toronto to pick up packages. Nope. I had to take the subway north and then a freaking bus to pick up the package. I'm so not impressed. I've had things sent to me via Purolator, and I just have to walk a block up the street to pick it up. Anyhow, it took me over an hour to go pick it up.

However, it was totally worth it because it is an awesome gift. I'd tell you all what it is, but I suspect the girl reads my blog from time to time, unlike my roommate (so I hope), so I can't say what it is, nor give any hints.

4) My dislike of Suburbia

My mission in the rain took me into the north part of the city which is so suburban and blah. As I was walking, I realized that where I was looked like pretty much ANYWHERE and had no personality and was just extremely blah. I will never move away from the downtown/midtown areas of the city if I can help it. I cannot take suburban blahness.

That's it for today. Must go to bed. But seriously go buy Damien Rice's new CD. And buy his old one, "O", if you don't have it.

How'd it get this late so early?

I tried to post today. First blogger was out and then my internet went wonky. Gah.

Anyhow, the weekend was good. I enjoyed not having to catch a train, hanging with friends, seeing Becca T speak, being in the city, procrastinating and seeing the Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D. Good times.

Today was a relatively painless Monday. I think the kids got out their bad behavoiur last Monday. I really hope that's it for the semester.

I voted today in the municipal election. The polling station was in the lobby of my building. Talk about convienience. Everyone I voted for won. Wish that always happened (cough cough federal election).

Tomorrow I have to finish assembling my roommie's Office themed birthday gift. If I have time, I'm going to make a "Happy Birdday" card and sign it from "your Thursday night pals". I am going to label each gift from a character. Here's what I am going to get:
a) jello from Jim
b) jelly beans from Pam
c) M&Ms from Kevin
d) a tacky cat thing from the dollar store from Angela
e) a bottle of alcohol from Meredith
f) a crossword puzzle book from Stanley
g) a jar of beets from Dwight
h) the fabulous Office calendar from me

Okay, one thing: I want to give something from Michael. But what? I wish I lived in the States and could get a Chili's gift certificate. Yeesh. Huh. Any ideas?? I did see a voodoo kit for Offices... I could see Michael buying that for someone, but I want something from the show. (Oh, I could get her an iPod... but... she has one already and I haven't won the lottery yet.)

Anyhow, as you can tell, I do like to put effort into gifts. Nothing makes me happier than giving a good theme gift.

Right now I'm listening to a song I really like called "Your Braids" by Colin Munroe. It's available on iTunes. Anyway, he's a friend of Becca T's (I think they went to camp or something) and he's releasing a CD in the spring. This song will be the single and was apparently mixed by someone who worked with the Killers. It is a good song, hence I supported the cause by buying it from iTunes. I recommend it, if you're into happy indie pop.

Tomorrow night = Borat. Hmmmm, could I count it as professional development do you think? Perhaps seeing it will help my classroom management because I will be able to recognize off-task-Borat-related conversations much faster.

I think I will find some wood and build a house or maybe a boat, I don't know.

What a busy busy week. My lack of blog postage this week reflects said business. I had plenty of inspiration, just no time to write it all down. So here are some of my feeble recollections of this week:

a) I gasped in happiness when I found that the Hasty Market by my place had some Schwepps Raspberry Gingerale. That was my fave drink when I was perhaps 12. Yum. I'm drinking some right now.
(By the way, the Hasty Market is appropriately named. The prices there are quite inflated, so you'd only shop there when you're feeling hasty.)

b) Monday was a rough day at school but the rest of the days have been great. Last night, I stayed at school very late helping with the school open house and it was very successful and made me quite proud of some of my students. Oh, plus said students made me laugh a tonne of times with comments like "Miss, you have an iPod? I thought all teachers were against iPods!" Of course, I explained that I was anti-iPod in the classroom because I was not allowed to have mine with me, hence they were not allowed to have theirs.

c) The Democrats took the House and the Senate. Woot. Last night's Colbert Report made me cry with laughter at his reaction to the whole thing. And, in other earth-shattering news, Britney left K-Fed.

d) The Office was kickass yet again. And... Oh. My. God. Next week there will be a Jim and Pam reunion.

e) Don't you love how when you are exhausted from work, and you need to get home so you can make some chocolate macaroons for the staff potluck the following day, there are problems with the subway and you end up walking half the way home? I know I do.

f) May the pimping out of places for Christmas begin. It seems like today is the official start for a bajillion Christmas commercials on TV (admittedly, I haven't really watched TV in a week, so they could have been on early). Plus when I walked into Starbucks today, their menu was all holiday-ized.

Now.... one could be cynical and grumpy about the commercialization of Christmas and how it starts faaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr too early. But... This means I can start listening to my favourite Christmas music!!! I love my Christmas music. My favourites albums/songs are:
1) Almost a Full Moon by Hawksley Workman - I cheat and listen to a lot of the song all year long. This is such an awesome original Christmas album.
2) Maybe This Christmas Tree - An amazing compiliation with Death Cab for Cutie, The Raveonettes, The Polyphonic Spree, Pilate and lots of other cool stuff. Get this. Seriously.
3) Lonely Christmas Eve - Ben Folds - This song is from the Jim Carrey Grinch soundtrack, but it's essentially the Grinch's speech about how he hates the whos summed up in a Ben Folds song.

I usually try to get one new Christmas CD each year. So far I'm tempted by the Sarah McLachlan one, but we'll see what else there is out there before I make my purchase.

g) I am staying in Toronto this weekend. I'm so enjoying the fact I will not be rushing to catch a 5:40 train tomorrow night. So far my plans for the weekend are to go to an event at which my pal Becca T is speaking, go see The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D, catch up on cleaning and laundry, and get report card done. Apparently I'm quite wicked, becasue I get no rest.

h) There are a tonne of movies that I want to go see. Of course, I'm prioritizing and seeing the special 3D version of Nightmare, but I also want to see Borat, The Dixie Chicks movie and Stranger than Fiction. Hmmm... I'm going to do my best to see all of them.

Anyhow, hope you all have great weekends.

I open my mouth and I scream.

Oh gosh. Monday + full moon + kids spending the entire weekend eating Halloween candy (or such is my hypothesis) = frustrating day at work. Gah besmirch. It really sucks having a frustrating day at work, and then getting home only with the distasteful fact that I have a pile of work to get done. I'd much rather crawl into bed and go to sleep.

I really could rant on and on about my crappy day but I won't. I just hope my theory that bad days are usually followed by good ones (at least it seems to be the case in my profession) holds true.

At least Monday is over. I don't like Mondays.

The weekend was okay. I made another trip home, and hung out with my grumpy father. His grumpiness is a sign he's getting better. When he was sick, he was rather mild-tempered and wanted company. Very unlike himself.

I also did a bit of socializing on Saturday night. I feel like I have not been socializing enough in the past five weeks.

Incredibly, I went the WHOLE weekend without taking out my computer once. It sat in my bag the whole time I was home. The nice thing about neglecting the internet world for awhile, is that when you get back, you have a tonne of emails and feel quite popular.

All right, I think I'm gonna have a mini-nap and then attack my pile of work.

How great I am. Gotta tell myself, yeah, I'm the man.

Yay for the Office yet again! Oh, did I laugh. Oh, did Becca T, my roommie and I cry "Jim check your phone!!" I cannot wait 'til next week... He'll have to have seen the text message then, right?

Awhile ago, I was hanging out with my friend Sandee and I told her a story to which she replied "I can't believe you didn't put that on your blog!" So I will put it on my blog.

I was in the big Winners on Bay/Bloor street with my book club pals. (We took a break from discussing literature for a movie/shopping girls day.) Anyhow, we're in the shoe section and on the floor I see the shoes that I've been coveting on the floor and I say "Ohmigosh! They have the shoes I want here!" I go to pick one up to see the price and a lady is like "Oh, um those are my shoes."

I was sooooooooo embarassed. What kind of moron picks up another person's shoe when they're trying on other shoes?? I'm too cool.

Anyhow, that's my embarrassing story.

So the song line in today's title comes from Ben Folds' song Family of Me from the Over the Hedge soundtrack. I'm in love with his songs from that soundtrack.

Well, I'm going to off to the 'rents place again this weekend. Hope your weekends are super fun.

Let's waste time chasing cars around our heads.

Good news! My dad was released from the hospital today!

Now, just my mom has to get better. She admitted herself to the hospital last week because she's been having complications due to her MS. I didn't write about it because I was just tired of thinking and talking and writing about sickness related issues. It's actually good that she's there and getting care. Hopefully she will be home soon.

Halloween was non-eventful. Becca T came over and we watched a movie (Friends with Money - both of us enjoyed it) and had some beverages of the alcoholic type and some candy and popcorn.

Today I did what any good North American robot consumer would do the day after Halloween: I started my Christmas shopping.

In my defense, it was because I saw the perfect gift for the hardest person on my list. What a relief to not have that to worry about.

Okay, here's a call for help from all of you fellow Office fans out there. My roommate, who I am 99% sure does not read my blog, is having a birthday on November 18th and I'm getting her an Office-themed bday gift. It started with a kickass Office 2007 calendar that I found in Zellers in Stratford. Here are the other things I'm thinking of throwing in:
- jello
- M & Ms (Kevin's favourite candy)
- Cups of Noodles (Kevin's favourite lunch)
- a green teapot (if I can find it)
- a jar of beets?
So.... any other suggestions of Office related stuff that I can throw in??

Play me songs on your heartstrings.

After school today I did a little bit of Halloween shopping. I bought some candy for the kiddies, and by kiddies, I mean my students, and by candy, I am referring to the little packs of Mentos that I'm currently chewing on. Now, I'm not much for dressing up on Halloween, but I couldn't resist buying myself a clown hat with a flower that squirts water. You know I'm going to have fun with that.

Anyhow, this weekend was pretty quiet. I travelled to St. Ratford yet again. It was nice visiting my dad in the local hospital, instead of having to make the trek to London. He's getting better; I could tell instantly by the fact he was reading again. I went to the library and got a stack of books to keep him occupied.

I rented a couple of movies.
a) Thank You For Smoking = thumbs up.
b) Over the Hedge = thumbs up. I rented this one because Ben Folds contributed some songs to it (the songs are fabulous, of course). The fun bonus was Steve Carell voicing a hyperactive squirrel. And, I did enjoy that the movie was about as subversive as a big budget kids' animated blockbuster could be. It poked a lot of fun at the stupidity of North American suburban life and consumption.

I am a girl easily swayed by CD reviews. The new My Chemical Romance CD has been getting good reviews that hail it as a (slightly more emo) punk rock opera akin to Green Day's American Idiot. I have previously admitted that I find the first single emo-licious. All of these factors lead me to picking up that CD twice and almost buying it.

However, the following reasons stopped me from buying the CD:
a) the image of the name of the band scrawled on the backpacks of some students;
b) the fact I'd lose a couple of musical coolness points by buying it;
c) I didn't like the cover art;
d) the consternation that I'd face from certain readers of this blog.

So, I did the mature, reasonable, musically cool thing and picked up the new Tragically Hip CD. And I'm happy with my choice. I love love love the songs "Yer Not the Ocean", "In View", "Fly", and "World Container".

Oh, and those of you who enjoy enjoyable free music, head over to www.zunior.com and download their Zunior 1.7 sampler. I am currently *obsessed* with five songs from it. (Songs by The Violet Archers, Wayne Petti, Baby Eagle, Jill Barber, and The Golden Seals.)

Also, an obessession for the Hawksley Workman song "You and the Candles" has resulted from an MSN conversation with my pal Becksley.

Honest to goodness, what would I do if I did not have music to obsess over?

No sir, no dancing today.

Thursday nights are quite frankly my favourite night of the week. First of all, I've always enjoyed the anticipation of it almost being Friday and knowing that the week is so close to being over. On Thursday nights, the weekend seems like it will go on forever.

Then there is the televisision ritual of Thursday nights. My roommate and I plan some sort of dinner (usually pizza or something like that) and settle in to watch Ugly Betty while we tape The Office. Then we watch The Office, which is totally the main course of the night.

Slight disappointment tonight: The Office was a rerun. *sigh* At least there was a preview for next week's show. Apparently someone is going to propose to someone else. I'm excited.

So tomorrow night I'm taking the train once again to St. Ratford. My dad was transferred to the St. Ratford hospital. It's so good that he will be closer to home.

This is my fourth weekend in a row going to St. Ratford. I miss Toronto weekends.

Can you people believe that October is almost over?? Where has time gone? Nuts, nuts, nuts.

Well, there's really nothing that I have left to say. My lillies are blooming here is a picture:


I hope that you all have fantabulous weekends!

Hook me up a new revolution.

Fun words are fun. Indeed. Thanks for the comments on the last post. I laughed and I need it.

Today's fluffy topic is misheard song lyrics. I have three examples that I just cannot remember to hear correctly even though I have learned the real words. Oh, and you know I sing my wrong lyrics loudly and embarassingly.

Example #1: Avalanche by Matthew Good
Christielli hears: "Avalanche started Saturday."
Real lyric: "Avalanche start inside of me."

Example #2: Rattlenakes by Tori Amos (A cover song of a Lloyd Cole and the Commotions song. I've never heard the original. Okay that wasn't really relevant to me mishearing the lyrics but whatever.)
Christielli hears: "She's oblivious to spiders."
Real lyric: "She's oblivious despite herself."

Example #3: Learn to Fly by Foo Fighters
Christielli hears: "I'm looking to the sky to save me. I'm looking for a satellite."
Real lyric: "I'm looking to the sky to save me. I'm looking for a sign of life."

I believe my pal Becksley really made fun of me for example #3. We had a tradition where we would title emails with song lyrics and well, I typed out the wrong lyric which caused much amusement for her.

Anyone else wanna fess up to misheard lyrics?

Bonus Chemistry Joke that I heard last night and that you know I'm going to use through my entire teaching career: A bar of gold walks into a bar. The bartender says "A u, get out of here!"

ps Props go out to my friend Teresa who never reads my blog but who is a great person to call when you need a favour. She answers the phone like she was sitting there waiting for you to call and ask her to do something really important. Again, I'm pretty sure I earned an insanely large amount of good karma in my last life to end up with friends like I have now.

These words are my own...

I like words. Especially ones that are kind of odd and are satisfying to use. One of my all time favourite words is besmirch. I just love the sound of that word. I don't use it in its correct meaning most of the time. I find that it is a satisfying replacement for a curse word. I substitute it for the f-word a lot of the time. (As in "Besmirch! This stupid store does not have the Great Aunt Ida CD that I covet.")

(Aside: a few of my oddball friends and I use besmirch as an all-purpose word when we were in university. It was a substitute swear word. It also meant a gift - as in "I bought you a little besmirch".

Context was key a lot of the time. "Besmirch the music" could mean many things. It could mean turn the music on, turn it off, turn it up, or turn it down depending on the actual state of the music.

Oh, and you know that I learned the word besmirch from the Simpsons. Can any of you remember which character in which episode used it?)

Anyhow, today my love of obscure words made it hard for me to communicate today with one of my colleagues.

Me: There's quite the kerfuffle in the office right now.
Colleague: What? I don't know that word.
Me: Oh um... there's.... uh... quite the hubbub in the office.
Colleague: Huh?
Me: There's a melee in the office... Ummm, you know a lot of students in there for some reason.
Colleague: Oh.. I see. I don't know all of the cool slang.
Me: Oh, the slang I use is sooooo not cool. I'm a total word geek.

I don't know what the point of this story is. I just couldn't think of a plain word to describe the commotion in the office.

Sometimes when I get mad at my classes (usually for slacking off), I lecture them and I realize the words I'm using are most likely over their head. The more frustrated I get, the more verbose I get.

Anyway, what's your favourite word?

Daylight's rushing through you like paper and we say no.

I hate that I'm feeling so down in the fall. It's my fave season and I'm not getting as much happiness out of walk through crackling leaves as I usually do.

Okay pity party is over. My friend Wendy rocks. She left me flowers on my doorstep on Saturday night. I believe I was supposed to hang out with her, but I crashed and missed her phonecalls and knocks on my door. Boo-urns to me. I tell you, I always wonder what I did I do to deserve such awesome friends. Perhaps I was a saint in my previous life?

Anyhow, here's a picture of the pretty flowers. I decided to bring them back to Toronto on the train. They made it safe and sound.

My apartment is messy. I will deal with the situation tomorrow as I do not believe in exerting myself on a Monday. Surviving a Monday is enough trauma for one day.

I am reading Antonia Fraser's "Marie Antoinette: The Journey" (the book the movie is based on). I'm enjoying it and getting through it quite quickly.

My dad and I have a weird relationship. We talk about history when I visit him in the hospital.

My friend Jolene makes me laugh. I asked her to text me something funny the other night and she sent me the word "bougar". Not only was the text message itself funny, so was the misspelling of the word booger.

That makes me think of when Mr. Burns refers to himself as "the boogerman".

I wonder what percentage of my posts contain Simpsons references?

Be sure to cover my eyes when we round that corner.

Hola. I haven't been in the writing mood lately, but I did write the following post below while on the train Thursday night. Yesterday I was having internet problems so it didn't get posted.

*****

I am sitting on the train. It’s Thursday night at 11:15 pm. I’ve tired reading, I’ve tried sleeping, heck, I even tried doing some actual work but I just couldn’t focus on much. So I figure why not try writing a blog post in Word, which I can post tomorrow. Actually, I considered even posting it from the train, since the train is supposed to have wifi, but doesn’t seem to work right now. And… I don’t really feel like paying money for it anyhow.

The past few days have continued to be stressful. My dad is still in the hospital and it doesn’t seem like he’ll be released soon. I was really hoping that he’d be released this weekend, but he hasn’t been able to put weight on his right foot since the surgery to amputate his toes, so I’m thinking it may be awhile longer. These past two weeks have seemed like an eternity.

At least I’ve been able to distract myself with work. Work is busy, and it keeps my mind off of things for a good nine or ten hours a day. I can really understand how someone could get addicted to that damned workahol. (Isn’t there a line in the Simpsons about getting off of the workahol? Sounds like a Simpsons thing. Where else would I have picked it up?)

I’m taking Friday off so I can visit my dad. I was initially going to take the 5:40 train back to St. Ratford, but I’d forgotten that there was a staff meeting tonight. I could have sneaked out, but as I sat there, I realized that I could take the late train, and not have to risk breaking my neck to get to the station and actually eat dinner. Plus… I wouldn’t have to worry about the train being late arriving in St. Ratford and missing The Office. Now that would be a horror.

My pal Becca T came over to watch The Office with me. Hilarious episode. Plus the Pam/Jim phonecall? Ahhhhh!! And, Dwight and the Temp throwing eggs killed me.

After The Office I had to head to catch the train. Thankfully, I left earlier enough that I could turn around when I boarded the subway and realized that I’d forgotten to pack my cell phone charger (pffft could live without a phone OK) and my iPod charger (GASP!!!!). A weekend of having to be frugal with my iPod would have been abysmal.

Tonight I discovered an awesome new site: www.zunior.com You can download some awesome indie albums for low low prices like $6.66 and $8.88. I’ve been on a search for a CD by a Vancouver band called Great Aunt Ida. Their website pointed me toward the Zunior option and I downloaded the album while I should have been packing. (Perhaps the over-stimulation of discovering a new music site lead me to packing haphazardly and forgetting essentials?)

So on tap for Friday is visiting my dad. And, at night I’m going to see Marie Antoinette. I hope it’s good.

Happy weekend to you all.

*****

ps Marie Antoinette was very good.

I read somehwere that phantom pains never go away.

My good news regarding my dad last post was a bit premature. It turned out that they cancelled the crutch fitting and scheduled another surgery for today. He got the toes on his right foot amputated. However, that should be it and I really really really really really hope he's home soon.

This was a busy weekend. I took the train home on Friday night, hung out with friends, visited my dad on Saturday, did some errands for my mom on Sunday and then marked on the whole train ride home on Sunday night.

I had composed tonnes of clever blog posts in my head this weekend but I'm too tired to write them now.

Happy Birthday to my pal Sandee tomorrow!

I'll say more later.

We'll carry on....

I love Thursday nights.

It's become my roommate's and mine ritualistic fun tv night. We have dinner, watch Ugly Betty while taping The Office, and then watch the tape of The Office where we die over Pam and Jim moments. Normally, we watch the current episope of The Office and then might watch some back episodes. One is so not enough.

Tonight I put together an awesome dinner - frozen lasagne, ceasar salad, ice cream and wine. I'm still a little fuzzy from the item.

Oh, if you are an Office lover - check this out. If you're not - boo.

It was nice to be back to the craziness of school today.

Good news - my dad thinks he may be out of the hospital tomorrow. Well, they're fitting him for crutches at least, so he thinks that's a sign that he might be given his walking papers. I'll be less stressed knowing that he's at home, and that my mom isn't home by herself.

Tomorrow I'm going back to St. Ratford for the weekend. I hadn't been able to see any friends when I was there over the long weekend, but my lovely friends are organizing a dessert night tomorrow for me. Hopefully the train will be punctual so I don't arrive when everything is eaten and people are on their way out.

While I was driving home from visiting my dad in the hospital in London, I heard the new My Chemical Romance song on the radio. Now, I would file My Chemical Romance under guilty pleasure since they are MuchMusic staples (and we all know how downhill Much has gotten). However, I must say this new song (Welcome to the Black Parade) is totally emo-licious and I'm quite liking it. (Note: I think it's 'cuz I'm rather emotional and angsty at the moment that something so wrought appeals to me.)

I was walking down King St. today on my way to Moutain Equipment Co-op to buy a backpack for my laptop (the case I own is too heavy and I'm tired of it) and it started to sleet. Sleet! Yuck! It's only the beginning of October. I think it was my fault for laughing at people in Winnipeg having snow.

Okay, I really should be in bed now. I got like 4 hours of sleep last night and tomorrow's another day.

Happy weekend to you!

ps This weekend will be the second anniversary of me living in this apt. with my roommate. It's crazy that two years has gone by so quickly. It's kind of sad to think we'll be moving out in July.

Stranded Must-Haves

Swiped from Guggenflurgen:

These are my Deserted Island Must-Haves.

Books:

1) Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Now, maybe evenutally someday they'll publish all of the Harry Potter books in one (long long long) volume and then I can just bring that. For the time being, I'll settle on the 6th book, not because it was my favourite HP book (I think I just may love them all equally), but because it was the most recent, and hence the one I've read the fewest times. Note: as soon as book #7 comes out (please hurry JK!), I'll bring that one.

2) America: The Book - Jon Stewart et al - It still makes me laugh after multiple browsings, so I think it'd last on the dessert island.

3) The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution - Richard Dawkins - I own this book. It's massive, but the writing isn't too heavy so it's readable. I aim to read it in its entirity someday. I'm thinking being stuck on a desert island would help me.

Albums/CDs:

1) Reconstruction Site - The Weakerthans - Contains my favourite song of all time (Reconstruction Site). I can't get sick of this album.

2) Ben Folds Live - Contains a good mix of Ben Folds Five and solo stuff. Plus there is a fun cover of Tiny Dancer and a hilarious song called "Rock This Bitch".

3) You Were Here - Sarah Harmer - I have listened to it a billion times and have never gotten sick of it. I'm pretty sure I could listen to it a billion more.

People:

1) Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional - he's dreamy, yo.

2) My pal Becca T

3) Chris Murphy of Sloan (to distract Becca T so I can have the other Chris to myself.)

Hmmm, I'm thinking now that I have people with me, and 2 rockstars at that, I probably won't get around to reading my third book. Oh well.

Movies:

1) The Wedding Singer

2) Corpse Bride

3) Can I puhlease bring a season of The Simpsons??? Anything but season 1! (if I'm not allowed one season, even just one disc from on season, I'll bring Edward Scissorhands.)

***********************************

Dad update: Still in hospital until they figure out what to do with his toes. I'll be making the trip to London again to visit him tomorrow. My mom's gotten herself very rundown from the stress of my dad being sick. I'm a bit nervous about leaving her at home alone, but I think I'll go back to work for Thursday and Friday, then come back to Stratford Friday night.

Goal For Tomorrow: Get up early and take a walk around the river and enjoy the fall colours.

Rockin My Ipod: Danny Michel/Emm Gryner/Memphis/Stars/Death Cab for Cutie

Happy Wednesday!

I stay focused on details it keeps me from feeling the big things.

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you fellow-bloggers for your support on my last post. You people, as I know you're all very well aware, rock.

My dad had his surgery late Friday night. It turned out that he didn't need a triple bypass, he had a femorofemoral bypass instead, where they created a graft that would shunt blood from his left leg to the femoral artery in his right leg, which was blocked. He may have to lose some of the toes on his right leg but they are going to give them a chance to see if they can recover.

My dad seemed okay when I visited him. One of the first questions he asked me when I saw him was how the Tigers were doing in the playoffs, and he was pleased to hear that they'd beat the Yankees. He was glad to get the novel and the book of Sudoku puzzles that I brought too. I think he'll be OK; it will just take a bit of time for him to recover, but hopefully he'll be back in gardening form for next season. Although he might have to change which foot he shovels with...

Anyhow, it's been a pretty emotional trip home. I've been helping my mom out while she's home alone and doing some housework that was neglected while my dad was sick. Hence I quoted the Ben Folds song "Still" in this post's title. That line came on my iPod while I was cleaning, and it more or less expressed what I was feeling that exact moment.

I'm going to stick around St. Ratford Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm so thankful I have a supportive work environment where my coworkers are kind enough to remind me that the place will not collapse if I'm gone for a couple of days.

All right, if you need a good laugh, I'd recommend listening to the song "Cereal For Dinner" by McEnroe. I heard it last week on CBC Radio 3's podcast and it reminded me of how I ate when I was in university. Ok, ok. I still have cereal for dinner. One night in the summer, I stopped off at the LCBO to get some wine. I honestly was planning cereal for dinner and I actually thought "What kind of wine goes best with Mini-Wheats?" I decided to save the wine for after-dinner.

Lights will guide you home and ignite your bones.

I have an ostrich tendancy.

I try to keep my head in the sand about a lot of things in my life. I guess I feel that if I don't acknowledge them, I will lessen the effect they have on my life.

Today something I'd been burying my head about is facing me head on. In fact, I'd wager it's a multitude of things.

I think I joked previously in my blog about my dad's "shovel foot". My dad is an avid gardener and last year he found his digging foot was bothering him. The doctor thought it was arthritis, but this summer it turned out that it was due to a blockage in his arteries caused by far too many years of smoking. Ironically, I taught one of my classes about how plaque builds up in arteries this week.

(I found that growing up with a parent who smoked lead to me being totally disgusted by cigarettes and I've never even tried one.)

I think it was the end of August when he found out he'd have to have bypass surgery. The actual surgery seemed like it would be miles away then, but they've moved it up and he's going to have it tomorrow or Friday.

I'm terrified. I know that it will be okay and tonnes of people have this surgery (Letterman, Clinton... heck my roommate's dad had it in August) and are OK.

I'm also feeling very stressed for my mom. My mother is not well. She has multiple sclerosis and I worry about her being home alone while my dad is in the hospital.

I think I will spend some extra time at home this weekend. I don't know the details of how long my dad will be in the hospital, but I may take a couple of days away from work next week.

I also envision myself travelling home a lot in the next couple months.

Right now I feel that there is a lot of weight on my shoulders, and I'm terrified that it will crash down on me.

Blog Questions

I've spent the past two hours doing work-related stuff at the ol' computer. Apparently I haven't had enough typing, so I'm going to do the ol' blog questionnaire that I've seen making the rounds.

1) Are you happy/satisfied with your blog's content and look?

Content: I babble about what's on my mind. I'm more or less happy with that. Sometimes, I've wished that I was a little bit more free about what I blog about (ie things that really bother me don't come up here, because I tend to bottle things up), and I've also wished that sometimes my topics were more substantial. Oh, and I'd also like to do some sort of weekly features like other bloggers do, but I haven't *yet* thought of something innovative and creative.
Look: I'm still digging the summer rockstar make-over of the blog.

2) Does your family know about your blog?

I believe I've mentioned that I blog to my family. However, my immediate family (ie my parents) are totally un-computer savvy and would have no idea of how to find my blog.

3) Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog? Do you consider it a private thing?

When I started my blog, I think I aimed to keep it private from my friends, so that I'd feel free to write my deep dark secrets, whatever they may be. However, I ended up having so much fun blogging that I opened my big mouth and most of my friends know about my blog and have told me that they're huge lurkers. (Hello you lurkers you!) I've also roped some of them into blogging.

4) Did blogging cause positive changes in your thoughts?

I don't know if blogging has changed my actual thoughts (I'm set in my ways) but I think I'm more expressive. One thing that's for sure is that I'm constantly composing posts in my head.

5) Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or do you love to go and discover more by yourself?

I'm very faithful to anyone who comments. I like to find new blogs every now and then using the old "next blog" button.

6) What does a visitor counter mean to you? Do you like having one on your blog?

I don't really care about the number of visits that I get. I'm into the counter more for the amusement of finding out how people get to my blog (today's funny referral of the day is "where does Antonio Banderas live?"), and seeing where they are from.

7) Did you try to imagine your fellow bloggers and give them real pictures?

I have mental images in my head of all fellow bloggers. Even for the ones with pictures. I wouldn't be surprised if my mental image is different than how they actually look, despite the pictures.

8) Admit it. Do you think there is any real benefit in blogging?

Yes. It's improved my ability to transfer thought from my brain to computer screen.

9) Do you think that Blogger's society is isolated from the real world or interaction with events?

No, I'd wager it's a reflection of the real world.

10) Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it is a normal thing?

I'm all for constructive criticism.

11) Do you fear some political blogs and avoid them?

I don't fear political blogs but I do tend to avoid those who are on the opposite spectrum that I am. Everyone is entitled to express themselves, and I'm entitled to avoid those who I disagree with.

12) Were you shocked by the arrest of some bloggers?

Yes, it was very shocking when they arrested me. Ha-ha. What kind of question is this??

13) What do you think will happen to your blog after you die?

I really think it would be cool if I could blog *from* the afterlife. That should really generate some publicity, eh?

14) What song do you like to hear? What song would you like to link to on your blog?

I would never link just one song to my blog since my listening mood changes constantly. I normally just quote what ever song I'm listening to in my post title.

15) The next "victims"?

If you want to be a victim, go for it.

Out across the rooftops, out towards the hills...

The weekends go far too quickly.

This weekend involved drinking wine while watching The Office backwards, seeing Little Miss Sunshine (again), shopping (and not buying anything!), an all-night contemporay art thing, lots of friends, brunch, more shopping (and only buying a CD), a little bit of work, a little bit of reading, and missing a concert (tragic, will not discuss).

Anyhow, the contemporary art thing was cool. Bascially, three large zones in Toronto were turned into an all-night art installatation called Nuit Blanche. It was cool. Becca T and I wandered around from 11 until past 1 ('cuz that's when the subways stop). I've never seen the streets so busy that late. I loved the energy and coming across unexpected art in the streets.

My favourite installation was Fog in Toronto which was set up in Philospher's Walk at U of T. There was a long lineup to walk through the fog, and I got muddy, but it was really cool.

And... I'd really really like to post the pictures that I took (yes, I remembered my camera!) but stupid blogger's being stupid. Grrrr. I'm uploading them to flickr right now, so feel free to click if you'd like to see.

Well, this is a short post, but I need to get rested for yet another week. I was thinking of all the work I need to do this week earlier today. Yuck. I might as well bring my sleeping bag to school and camp out in the staff room. Why even bother coming home? Yeesh.

But he talks like a gentleman, like you imagined when you were young.

I had a really good day today. I mainly attribute it to the fact that it was dress down day for the kids, and for once I actually remembered to wear jeans on dress down day. Normally I forget, walk into school, see the kids all out of uniform, and curse myself for forgetting. All this week I kept chanting to myself "wear jeans on Thursday" and it worked. I also enjoy dress down day, 'cuz most of the kids are quite fashionable, and it's fun to see what they wear.

I had a weird bonding moment with some students in my period 1 class. They were discussing the new Weird Al song (Young and Nerdy). I had actually seen that video on Muchmusic awhile ago. Needless to say, I was stunned to see Weird Al on Much. I had totally thought those days were over. Anyhow, we discussed Weird Al classics like Eat It and Amish Paradise. Good times.

We had our book club meeting tonight after school. It was fun. I enjoy getting other people's perspectives on books. It always makes me reeavulate what I thought, and I end up seeing it in a different light. (Or perhaps it's just a sign that I'm wishy-washy...)

One thing that the book did, was make everyone reminisce about their childhoods. I continued to do so while I walked to the subway and home in the chilly autumn air. Autumn is my favourite season and I love that it's getting a little bit chilly. I find there's something about fall that makes me pensive and nostalgic for pretty much everything in my past. There is also something ghostly about the fall. As Hawksley says in the song Autumn's Here:

"I think that ghosts like the cooler weather.
When leaves turn colours, they get together."

Perhaps these aren't sprits of the dead per se, but the spirits of our pasts. Sometimes, when I'm walking in places that I associate with my past, such as the streets in the neighbourhood where I grew up, I picture the ghosts of my past walking down the same streets. It's probably kind of weird, but it's comforting to think of the shadows of mine and my friends' teenage selves still walking down the streets laughing and being silly.

When I got home after enjoying the chilly fall weather, my roommate and I had a TV bonding experience. We watched the premiere of the new show Ugly Betty while taping The Office. Ugly Betty was pretty enjoyable. I'd recommend it as a new show to pick up. It's reminiscent of The Devil Wears Prada, although it's based on a Spanish show that came years before.

Then we watched the new Office which was very good. Oh, those Office people are very clever in the way they tease you with the whole Jim/Pam thing. Love it. We also watched last season's finale, to catch my roommate up. So The Office is officially the new TV obsession in our apartment.

And... yay! Tomorrow's Friday! I'm looking forward to this weekend. It looks like there is a girls' Saturday movie matinee that will go down, Sunday brunch with other friends, and a free concert on Sunday night. The free concert is this CBC radio deal called "See Vous Play" that is in celebration of international music day or some such thing. Anyhow, I got free tickets online and Emily Haines is playing and the headliners is my beloved Joel Plaskett along with his Emergency.

There is also an all night art party happening on Saturday night called Nuit Blanche. It sounds so cool. Apparently there is going to be this fog display at U of T's Philospher's Walk, so I might have to find time for that.

Unfortunately, I will have to find time for cleaning, schoolwork and laundry this weekend too. Boo-urns to that.

Hope your weekends contain suitable levels of fabulousity.

It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift.

Finished the book (Fortress of Solitude)! I didn't do my alotted reading last night because I got distracted by going out for girlie drinks with my pal Becca T to relieve work-related stress. I know where my priorities lie. Anyhow, I was able to compensate by reading from the time I got home until now. (With breaks for an episode of The Office... and that time I fell asleep.)

Overall, I didn't care for the book. I wouldn't say it's a bad book, but there was something about it that just didn't do it for me. It will make for an interesting discussion, I'm sure.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Thursday, since Thursdays bring Fridays.

Time for another cartoon, since I have nothing overly original to say.

ps The other day someone stumbled upon my blog through googling the probing question of "does Chad Kroeger have a tattoo?" Kind of made me laugh.

I remember years ago when our punk rock was none of their business.

The sweetest thing about Monday night is the feeling that I've made it through another Monday. I always feel that the prospect of another week is much more attainable once I've survived that pesky first day.

Rewind to Sunday and my rather unsuccessful journey to Word on the Street. I didn't go there until the afternoon, and it was just far too busy when I got there to really have a good look around. Then it started to rain a bit. So I just went to a CD store and bought a new CD (Emily Haines and Soft Skeleton) instead. I didn't really need new books. I have too many books to read anyway.

Speaking of which... Staff book club is on Thursday and I'm determined to finish the book (Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem). I figure if I stick to a hundred page a day diet, I'll be done by Wednesday night. Actually, I've probably already read 75 pages today, so I think I'll exceed the daily goal.

After school, I went to my local Starbucks to read. I ordered a cafe latte, but the barista thought I said a pumpkin spice latte and rang that in. I thought actually that was a better idea, so I said to here "You must be psychic. I ordered a cafe latte, but actually a pumpkin spice sounds better so I'm fine with that." She decided to be nice and just charged me for a regular latte, but I got a pumpkin spice instead. I saved about a buck. However, it totally made my day. Does this make me pathetic if the highlight of my day is getting a deal on a pumpkin spice latte?

I'm not sure of my opinion of Fortress of Solitude yet. There are some things I like about it, but I am finding it a rather tough read. I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't reading it for bookclub, I'd probably have abandoned it, instead of plowing through it. One thing I do like about it, is that it has a lot of musical history (some late 60s stuff, but a lot of 70s soul, and the birth of punk and rap) in it.

So, I've been reflecting on my recent listening patterns as I listen to it. Lately, I've been listening to new stuff (new Sloan, of course, and Emily Haines) and David Usher (seeing someone live always makes me dust off their stuff).

I've also been listening to a few Hole songs, which is odd for me. I was never a huge Hole fan in the 90s nor was I especially interested in them. However, I'm really enjoying listening to their old radio singles. I find it hilarious that I like the song "Malibu" again. When that song was on the radio in the late 90s, my friend Jolene and I would scream everytime it was on the radio because it had become massively overplayed (along with Praise You by Fatboy Slim) and could not stand it any more. We joked that the radio station we listened to (London's FM96) was more or less just a Praise You/Malibu station because that was all they played. Anyhow, I'm kind of surprised that I can enjoy Malibu again. Only took 6 damned years.

I never listen to the radio anymore since I have my iPod. This means that if a song does become overplayed, it's only my fault. Kind of makes me notalgic for the days I could curse a radio station for wrecking a song for me.

Courtney Love is coming out with a new CD and a book at the end of this year. I'm interested in it, because I think she's a rather interesting figure. She's a huge mess, but she pulls it off somehow.

I've also been listening to Hawksely's Lover/Fighter album. I think it's my favourite non-Christmas Hawksley CD. I always listen to it around autumn, partially because I put "Autumn's Here" in heavy rotation in the fall, and also because it came out in the fall, and makes me happy to think that my life is much different than the way it was when I bought that CD.

Anyhow, enough with my music babble. I need to get back to reading!

I carried you down to the St. Lawrence river...

First thing I'm going to say is that I'm angry with myself. Angry with myself for forgetting my camera at home on two separate occasions this weekend. I could have had lots of cool pics for this post, but no, I had to forget my camera. Boo-urns to me.

So last night, my pal Becca T and I braved the elements to catch David Usher playing at Nathan Phillips square for the kick-off of the Waterfront Marathon. We got there in time to see Emm Gryner (she's enjoyable) and to stand in a bit of drizzle while waiting for David Usher.

Becca T and I have quite a history with David Usher. Normally, we don't refer to him as David Usher: David "Attractive" Usher and "The Superior Usher" are our names for him. We also are constantly referring to the SNL skits of The Antonio Banderas show whenever we see David Usher. I hope everyone has seen them before because they are hilarious. Chris Kattan plays Antonio and keeps doing things like unbuttoning his shirt and his sidekick keeps saying "Too sexy! Too sexy!" and then Antonio says "but I must". They're hilarious skits. Anyway, whenever David Usher does something particularly attractive on stage, we always say "but he must" a la SNL. Corny, yes, but really funny in my humble opinion.

Anyhow, he put on a really good show last night. (Wish I'd remembered that darned camera to get pics!) I can honestly say that I haven't been listening to much of the Superior Usher in the past year (I never listen to the Inferior Usher, just so you know) and I forgot how good his music is. He also played some new stuff, which was really great. He's got a new CD coming out in 2007 and I'm feeling it's going to be a good album.

I can summarize last night's concert in three words: "but he must".

One last David Usher note: he's a great songwriter. There is one line from his song "Devil By My Side" that I think is especially poignant in current times when there seems to be a lot of religious intolerance:

"Believe your truth is not my truth.
Believe that God can exist with many faces at one time."

See, that Superior Usher is not just a pretty face.

Today I got up early (for me on a Saturday, that is) and had breakfast at Starbucks and met Becca T at her subway stop. We had tickets for a matinee performance of MacHomer at the Young Centre in Toronto's Distillery District.

Confession: I really don't take advantage of Toronto as much as I should. I live my life in a few neigbourhoods: my neighbourhood, my school's neighbourhood, the Yonge/Bloor area (just because I used to live around there and miss it), Queen St., and the Annex. I had never actually been to the Distillery District (nor had Becca T). The Distillery District consists of historic distillery buildings that have been converted into an uber-hip pedestrian mall.

I could have taken some neat-o photos of said District, but, alas, I forgot my camera again. I also had forgotten the map which I had printed the night before, but my sense of direction while in Toronto was good enough to get us there. Note: my sense of direction fails me anywhere outside of this city.

The play was freakin' hilarious! Oh my. I can honestly say I've probably never laughed so much in a 70 minute period. MacHomer is a one-man show where one man does Macbeth using over 50 characters from the Simpsons. He is pretty faithful to Shakespeare's script, but he throws in a lot of Simpsonian moments. My favourite was a scence between Burns (King Duncan) and Smithers (Duncan's son Malcolm) where they go out of character for a moment.

Burns: "Smithers, who was this infernal play written by?"
Smithers: "William Shakespeare, sir."
Burns: "Have this Shakespeare fired immediately Smithers."
Smithers: "Uhh.. sir, Shakespeare's been dead for about 400 years."
Burns: "Excellent."

If you live in Toronto (Scott), or are visiting (K), make sure you catch it. It runs until Sept. 30th. And for the rest of you, keep an eye out for if it makes its way near you.

After the play we wandered around the District, stopped at a funky cafe for coffee, and browsed around some stores that we couldn't afford. I did get a neat-o bracelet from an outdoors jewelry stand.

From there we headed to the Eaton Centre, where I'm proud to say that all I bought was some cheap jewelry at H&M. Hmmm... I deserve a present for being so frugal. Hahaha.

Tonight I'm buckling down and reading my book club book. I believe I've made it to page 20. I feel like I'm in university again: giving up a Saturday night to frantically read something. Yeesh.

Tomorrow I plan on heading down to the Word on the Street book festival at Queen's Park. Maybe I'll remember my camera. Last year I ran into Jack Layton with a thermos of coffee (or perhaps something stronger?) there...

Happy Sunday!

And the sky was made of amythest.

I just finished watching the season premiere of The Office. It was enjoyable. I have my theory of how I think this season is going to go. I think Jim's new branch in Stamford is going to be merged with the Scranton branch due to downsizing. This will bring him back to the Scranton office and we'll have more Jim/Pam moments. Although they do a good job of Jim/Pam moments even when they're not together. Lots of shots of empty chairs and meaningful longing glances at the empty chairs. Also, I think the manager from Stamford will be transferred to Scranton branch and will have to interact with Michael. Michael will be threatened by the idea of a boss who is actually cool, and act even more like an ass. Hilarity will ensue. So that's my prediction for the season. Of course, I've borrowed heavily from the British Office for my hypotheses.

Okay, so what's going on besides The Office?

- I gotta start reading the book for my staff book club tonight. We meet next Thursday.

- Thank God tomorrow is Friday.

- I got my MacHomer tickets.

- I could use a couple more hours in the day.

- Either that, or being able to stop time. Huh, think I'd take the time stoppage.

I'm feeling a lack of post material yet again, so I'm going to share with you an email forward I received today. Look carefully at what's inside this Mexican bag of lettuce:

That would def add protein to your salad.

Okay, I'm seriously off to start that book now. To do that, I'm even going to forgo my nightly crack fix (by that, I mean reading celebrity gossip blogs - nasty, addictive habit that I want to get off).

Happy Friday!

Who taught you to live like that?

Happy new Sloan CD day! The 30 song opus came out today and I'm on my first listen. Love the first two songs. Now I'm on an Andrew song... Andrew songs typically aren't my thing, but this one has potential.

Lately I've been having a bit of blogger's block. Yesterday I started a post three times, and rejected all three starts. We'll see if this one makes it to the publishing stage.

I'm psyched for the season premiere of The Office. I bought the second season on DVD, and watched it this weekend. So funny. So good. Cliffhanger ending. What, oh what, is going to happen?

Has anyone read the book Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem? I was supposed to read that this summer for my staff book club, but never got to it. I have until the 28th to read it, so I figure I'd better get cracking on that.

I'm psyched for this weekend. There's a free David Usher show at Nathan Phillips' Square, and I'm hoping to get tickets for MacHomer.

I'm feeling this post is sucking, so I'll add a cartoon that makes me laugh and be gone. Hope your weeks are going well.

ps I think the Jay songs on this CD are the best.
pps I Understand (Patrick song) is seriously catchy.

I'm a million different people from one day to the next...

Stole this from Scott.

1. If you could build a house anywhere, where would it be?
I’d like to buy a house in the Annex area of Toronto instead of building new. I’m a city girl.

2. What's your favorite article of clothing?
This changes constantly. I just bought a new pair of jeans that I’m in love with and a black jacket that I adore. However, tried and true would be my green Old Navy hoody that has a rainbow on it.

3. What's your favorite physical feature on the opposite sex?
Eyes. I’ve also always had a thing for forearms.

4. What is the last CD you bought?
A Little Place in the Wilderness by Memphis.

5. Where is your favorite place to be?
A Weakerthans concert.

6. Where is your least favorite place to be?
In a long line.

7. What is your favorite place to be massaged?
Hmmm, I’m not really a massage person. I’m weird.

8. Strong in mind, or strong in body?
I’ve always been referred to as “the smart one”, so mind for sure.

9. What time do you wake up in the morning?
Monday – 6 am. As the week progresses, it moves closer to 7 am.

10. What is your favorite kitchen appliance?
The microwave. I’d be screwed without it.

11. What makes you really angry?
Intolerance.

12. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
I’d like to rock the piano like Ben Folds. I can play the piano, but quite badly. I wouldn’t mind learning the guitar either.

13. Which do you prefer, sports car or SUV?
Can I get a VW Beetle instead? But quite frankly, I’m peachy keen with the subway.

14. Do you believe in an afterlife?
Yup.

15. Favorite children’s book?
Definitely the Harry Potter series. Can’t wait for book seven. From my own childhood it would be Matilda by Roald Dahl.

16. What is your favorite season?
Autumn.

17. What is your least favorite chore?
All of them.

18. If you could have one superpower what would it be?
Stopping time, so that I could do stuff at my own pace and have a nap when I need it or take a time out when need be. Oh, I could probably cause a lot of trouble while I stopped time too. That’d be fun.

19. If you have a tattoo what is it?
Don’t have one. Too indecisive.

20. Can you juggle?
I juggle sharp knives and flaming torches in my spare time. Okay… I wish I could. It would be a good party trick.

21. The one person from your past that you wish you could go back and talk to...
Can I pick both of my grandmothers?

22. What's your favorite day?
Saturday. On Saturday I can relax and still have one day of weekend left!

23. What's in the trunk of your car?
No car.

24. Which do you prefer, sushi or hamburger?
Depends on the day. Some days, I crave sushi, other days I’m quite carnivorous.

Rain, rain, falling is the only thing you ever do.

Yesterday was a heavy day. I'd like to blog about it but I'm having a hard time getting the post out. It's all okay; but yesterday I had to deal with some sad news that I'd heard over the summer, but I hadn't really dealt with until yesterday. I have a bad habit of dealing with things by not really dealing with them.

After an emotional day, I came home to the news of the Montreal shooting.

Today I've seen pictures and read a bit about the girl who died. It's so tragic when a young person dies; especially in circumstances such as these. It's hard too, because she looks like she could be a student at my school, and filled with life one day, and tragically gone the next.

In my short teaching career, two students in my school have died. Yesterday, we had a memorial service for one of these students. It's hard enough for me to cope with death. It's especially hard seeing how it affects the other students. I'm used to seeing these kids being loud and silly or swaggering and acting tough; but seeing them filled with sadness is disconcerting and just plain wrong.

At the memorial, the priest mentioned that when you are filled with grief, it seems right when it's raining. It's as if the earth is crying with you.

It rained yesterday.

When I watched the news today, it was raining in Montreal.

Yay! Lukas won!

Woo-hoo! All's well that ends well.

I threw a mini-finale party for my roomie and Becca T who came into the Rockstar viewing quite late but enjoyed the finale.

I was quite glad that the cake I bought was celebration cake and not ease-the-pain cake.

ps What's up with Global? They cut out the part where Magni was sent home... Did anyone else experience this?

Take my hand, we'll make it I swear.

So, I'm sure there are a lot of topics I could blog about today. There's political strife and home and abroad, stars are running rampant on the streets of Toronto for the film fest, I've hit a blogging milestone (my 300th post) and my job is keeping me on my toes. But... you know what I'm going to blog about today...

Rockstar!

Tonight's the final performance night, and then tomorrow, Supernova had better pick Lukas as their lead singer for the sake of my TV. By that, I mean if they pick someone else, I'll probably get mad, through the remote control at the TV with all my might, and the TV will break. Or such is the way the scenario plays in my head. Bright side: my tv is older than the hills (yet way smaller than the hills) and I could really use a new television. Dark side: said TV is an heirloom of sorts, and I'd feel guilt for breaking my grandparents' old tv...

(One could point out that the above situation could be completely avoided if I make sure that I don't have anything within arm's reach during the announcement is made. But what's the fun in that?)

So why, in my humble opinion, should my dear Lukas win? Well let me set up my case for you.... (15 points to match the # of contestants that we started with)

1) He looks like Hawksely Workman.
2) He occasionally has a Hawksley moment on stage - like when he growls at the end of a song, or hits a high note.
3) He rocks the sparkly pink eyeshadow like no man does.
4) He's from Toronto.
5) He sang a freakin' Chad Kroeger song and I did not hurl. I rather enjoyed.
6) He has a Degrassi accent. (When I hear him speak, it makes me think of the way the kids of the old Degrassi spoke.)
7) He's all about the drama - when he performs. (Not like the way Dilana's been about the drama in the past few weeks...)
8) He sounds good on my iPod. (Guess who stayed up far too late last night downloading his songs?)
9) Raina loves him.
10) He does not have a secret pop past. (Thanks for the tip, Raina)
11) I read a quote in the paper where a fan said that he would make crochet interesting. I concur with this quote.
12) His orginial song is quite good. I like it. And I'm totally objective when it comes to all matters Rockstar, hee-hee.
13) I read a interview where Storm thought he'd be the best lead singer for the band. I like Storm and think highly of her (even before I read that comment.)
14) His performance with Supernova was the best of the bunch.
15) He has rocked my socks off every week.

And look at that! An air tight arguement! I won't even dare you to poke holes in it, because I know you can't...

So, I'm looking forward to Lukas' performances of Headspin and Fix You (he can fix me anytime... oh my, can't believe I typed that...) tonight.

Stay tuned for tomorrow night's post which will be on one of two topics:

a) Yay! Lukas won!

or:

b) Why it's better for Lukas' career that he didn't win and why this stupid show was flawed anyway.

Post-show mini rant: Toby = meh. Lukas = intense and so interesting to watch. Dilana = very good Roxanne, original is song a little weak. Magni = meh. But... why the hell was Paula Abdul there? Wreck my favourite show, why don't they?

I'm nice and safe in my serene surroundings...

So here I am on the unhappy side of the weekend.

On Friday, I ended up staying really late at school for some reason. I did score a ride home from a colleague though, which kicked ass because I was tired and didn't feel like doing the whole public transit dance.

Anyhow, upon my return home, I had a mini-nap and when I woke up I was a bit groggy. My poor roommate was home at the time and though she'd be kind enough to fill me in on some information. Apparently her friend, who is starting teachers' college at U of T, was lucky enough to see the Weakerthans that afternoon as they played a concert for frosh week.

"What!! What??? What!!! How could they?? I did not know about this! I was at school PHOTOCOPYING while my favourite band was playing!!! I totally could have gone! As an alumna of U of T that school owes me big time. When I was there, no one good ever played. EVER! For frosh week, the band was the Killjoys! Do you remember them? Probably not... Gah! Last year I saw Sloan play frosh week and it was great! How could I not know about this?? Oh woe is me. Next time you have news about a past tense Weakerthans concert puh-lease don't tell me. Ignorance is bliss..."

I think my poor roommate was shocked at my response. Poor girl. She probably assumed that I knew, since I usually know when most bands are in Toronto. My response would have probably been a little calmer and collected if I had not just woken up from a nap...

Anyhow, I was in a crappy mood the rest of Friday night, so I went for a walk and then went to bed early since the lack of sleep from the past week was still playing havoc with my system.

Saturday I spent the day at my friend Ali's place. My book club has been in limbo lately, and we haven't scheduled a meeting for our last book (March by Geraldine Brooks), which we chose a long long time ago. I'm just halfway through the book now. It's good, but I haven't been reading voraciously these past couple of weeks so it's taking me forever. Anyhow, in lieu of having a meeting we had afternoon tea which turned into dinner and dessert too. It was greating catching up with friends who I feel that I've been neglecting.

My pal Becca T won the quote of the evening award. The conversation had drifted toward silverware... well, actually my friend Ali (who is married) and my roommate (who is engaged) were discussing (gah!) silverware, while the rest of us were quite silent. Anyway, Ali went to go show my roommate her silverware, leaving us single girls on the couch. So Becca T breaks the ice by saying "So... any luck finding husbands?" which had me on the floor laughing.

Today I ran errands and now I'm blogging before I do some work. It'll be Monday morning soon.

ps My title of this post is from the song "Farewell Faded Memory" by John K Samson who is the lead singer of my favourite band who'd better play Toronto again soon. It's from an old EP that he made in the early 90s when he was in the band Propagandhi and was released on iTunes recently. It's tiding me over until the next Weakerthans record.

I was saving this for an occasion...

... such as me making it to the first Friday....

ps Today a student asked me what I was doing this weekend and suggested that I should go to a bar. Yeesh, apparently I already look like a need a drink.

pps I find the first two weeks the most harrowing, even though it's when the kiddos are at their best, because it takes me awhile to get into the groove. Mainly in the sleeping and eating department. I've been suriving on four hours and I find I can't eat lunch for some reason...

You make my head spin.

A post with three parts...

A) Another Day Down

Thank God that I don't audioblog because my voice is so tired and needs a rest. It had a nice summer vacay, and after a full day of teaching, especially the first few classes where I have to talk a freaking lot, it's strained and tired. I don't think I help things by spending a lot of time yapping with coworkers after work...


B) Rockstar Rant

What will I do when my beloved show is over? I won't have anything to obsess over. Dammit.

Anyhow, I enjoyed last night's show muchly. Storm was probably my favourite performer of the evening. Of course, I loved loved loved Lukas, as I always do, but I really enjoyed Storm's original song. I dug Lukas' version of Bon Jovi's Living On A Prayer, and his original was great, but I didn't love it as much as Storm's. However, Head Spin has actually grown on me now that I've heard it more than once.

Voting: what the fuck? I coudn't vote!!! When I clicked on the vote flag on the Supernova website, I got the message about how to vote that you get during non-voting times. Did anyone else have this problem?

I have a theory: there was a conspiracy blocking Canadians from voting for dear Lukas so that he'd end up being in the bottom three for once. Harrumph. To that I will steal Toby's little saying and say evs. Evs. Lukas was in the bottom three, but was in no danger. In fact he benefitted and got to sing his original again, and now it's in my head.

Now who should have been in the bottom three? Magni! Magni's a great singer, but he just lacks a certain je ne sais quoi. I'd personally call it a lack of sparkle. I think it was his time, but those damned Icelanders apparently have no problems voting. So, unfortunately, it was Storm who got the Tommyhawk, which Tommy himself couldn't bear to bring down, so he made Jason do it. I think Storm deserved to be in the final four.

Next week = final week = a big "Go Lukas" from me!

C) Tag-o-rama (courtesy of Wes).

This requires eight things you don't know about me. I can totally do random, but I may struggle with the unknown. Please don't hate me if I say something you already know.

1) When eating a hotdog, I always put mustard on, and then ketchup. Not the other way around. Mustard goes on first.

2) My pal Becca T thinks I'm obsessed with birds. I don't think I am... Last night, we were watching Rockstar videos online, and a commercial came on that featured a dancing pigeon and I commented that I liked the commercial. "Of course, you like it! There's a bird. I could sell you anything if I put a bird in the commercial!" she exclaimed, happy to have further evidence for her theory. More evidence for her theory: I like a lot of songs about birds, for example: Bird as Prophet, by Christine Fellows.

3) I buy a lot of Skechers brand shoes.

4) This morning I ordered a tall mild coffee and a white chocolate blueberry scone from Starbucks on my way to work.

5) I saved the scone for lunch.

6) I was obsessed with dinosaurs as a kid. My favourite toy was a stuffed Stegosaurus named Steggy. Steggy still lives with me.

7) If I'm asked to pick a number between 1 and 10, I'll probably pick seven.

8) When I get stressed out, I walk really fast, and think about trigonometry and calculus (just simple derivates) to calm myself down. How nerdy is that?

I will be lazy and say if you want to be tagged, you'd better believe that you're it. Oh, and a special shoutout to any of my friends from the GSA (greater St. Ratford Area), who I pressured into starting blogs, and whose blogs require some updation.

Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell...

I'm here. I'm alive. I survived. My next challenge is to get through tomorrow; the first real of school (we only had 20 minute classes today).

I think I'm bit lightheaded from inhaling odd fumes by the photocopier as I killed many the tree for the sake of edumacation.

ROCKSTAR IS ON TONIGHT!!!

My brian is mushy, so I don't have much else to say except for the fact that I'm alive. I wish I could fast forward through the next two weeks and arrive when my classes are nice and settled and I don't have worry about kids transferring in and out and in and out of my classes. (Headache.)

I'll leave you with a favourite quote of mine from my favourite television show.

Principal Skinner - "Ah, there's nothing more exciting than science. You get all the fun of sitting still, being quiet, writing down numbers, paying attention...[chuckles] Science has it all."

If we keep it still, it won't go by so fast.

My long weekend thus far:

Friday - Went to school, of course, to continue unpacking our science stuff into our new labs. I've learned that if you leave Erlenmeyer flasks, beakers, pipettes, etc. in cardboard boxes over the summer, they breed like freakin' rabbits. I swear we did not have that many when we packed them up.

Forgot my keys at school. Realized this once I got home and tried to get in the building. Went back to work praying that someone would still be in the building. Made a deal with God - if I get my keys, I will not try to worm my way out of having my aunt (who I love but drives me bananas) crash at my place in a couple of weekends.

There were caretakers in the building still (and my VP for that matter), who saw me banging at the front door immediately. Keys were in desk drawer. Made trip home, again. That reminds me, I need to call my aunt tonight...

I rented "Akeelah and the Bee" on my second trip home. It was all right. I'd give it 3 silent Es out of 5.

Saturday - Woke up feeling like absolute shite. Yuck. I haven't felt that bad in a long time. Yucky headache, sore stomach etc. Decided that no, I wasn't going to let feeling like crap ruin one of my last days of summer. Showered, got dressed, decided to momentarily lie down on bed. Woke up at 5 pm. However, sore stomach and yucky headache were gone, so not all was lost.

Today - Decided the only way to face my back-to-school anxiety was to buy lots of fun school supplies. Look at the pretty marking pens I got:


With pens like that, and the funky new haircut I got earlier in the week, and all of the new fall clothing I've bought, I think I'll be OK. I think. (Pens, new clothing, and new hairstyles are my defenses against anxiety).

In celebrity sighting news, I'm pretty sure that I saw Andrew of Sloan by U of T today. Either that, or it was his doppelganger.

In cool iPod accessory news, look at these iPod skins called Gelaskins. I am so tempted to get one, once I survive a week of school. Hmmm, I think I'd get one by a well-known artist: I'm tempted by a Van Gogh, Monet, or Kandinsky. What's that iPod? No! You can't have the Snakes on a Plane one! Just because I let you have that stupid Snakes on a Plane song, 'cuz it is funny, doesn't mean you can have that skin. Be quiet or I'll won't get you a new anything.

Enjoy the rest of your long weekend!