Let's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like yah.

Have you ever had one of those weekends that goes by in a blur because it was so busy, but at the same time, seems like it was about two weeks long because you fit in so many things?

On Friday night, I headed over to a pub after school with some colleagues for some drinks, and then came home and had a great nap.  At about 11 pm I headed out to pick up my good buddy AlieMalie from Union station.  She's living in Missouri these days, but was in Detroit for a week for work, so took the VIA train from Windsor to Toronto for the weekend!

Her train was about an hour late.  I like to joke that VIA stands for Very Inconsistent Arrival, and it consistently lives up to its inconsistency.  She arrived an hour late, and I took her to a Golden Griddle (I know, I know) for late night noms and they we stayed up past 3 am catching up.

We started our epic Saturday in Toronto by taking the ferry out to Toronto Island since who doesn't love a boat ride, and it offers great views of the skyline.  While waiting for the ferry, we hammed it up by taking goofy pictures with paintings at the terminal.  I'm just posting this 'cuz I love the outfit I pulled together for the day: my new aubergine Hunters, black leggings, my gray cat-reading-a-book sweater, skull scarf, and black vest.  I LOVE FALL FASHION.  (And yes, I had to yell that.)

Here's a panorama shot I took from the island:

We walked from Centre Island to Ward's Island, and then took the ferry back and headed over to Kensington Market to get grilled cheese sandwiches from The Grilled Cheese, which always live up to the hype that I give them. We wandered around Kensington, and headed to the Eaton Centre for some shopping.  As usual, I ended up splurging.  I got new legging jeans from the Gap (30% coupon) and a new *plum* raincoat from Lululemon.  It was on sale.  :)

We returned to my place to chill for a bit, and then went to my local pub for beer and food before starting out for an epic Nuit Blanche night.  We started at the light installations at the Bata Shoe Museum at about 10 pm and kept going until about 3:30 am.  We met up with one of the Alans from work, and had a great Nuit Blanche.  I tend to do Nuit Blanche every second year, and this one turned out to be my favourite ever, probably because of the company and the fact most of the projects were simply illuminated, and weren't video installations.  (When I went in 2011 it seemed like 2/3 projects were video installations.)

Lights at the Bata Shoe Museum:

This is a shot from "A Quack Cure", which was like a stationary float with lots of trees covered in lights and performers dressed up as extinct animals.  I like this shot I got of a dodo and an extinct frog (?) having a moment in conversation.

Here's the line up for "Shrine" which was a gothic cathedral made from garbage bins.  Below is the inside of the cathedral which let light in an absolutely breath-taking manner.  Awesome.

"Tanks, 2013" was by Roy Thompson Hall, and looked really pretty in the night.

This is Burrman, a performance artist covered in burrs.  He eats organic dark chocolate BTW.  We saw his handlers pass him a square through his mouth hole.

 

Here are a couple views of my favourite project: Ai Wei Wei's "Forever Bicycles, 2013" that was installed in front of City Hall (and will be there for the rest of the month... I def want to pass by in the light).  It's fashioned from 3000+ bicycles by the Chinese bicycled maker Forever.  The bottom picture was taken when it started to rain at about 3 a.m. and the crowds started to thin out.

The last project we sought out was "Plastic Bags, 2013" which is a giant sculpture made from plastic bags.  It definitely spoke to my environmentalist sensibilities.
 

We made it back to my apartment by 4:30 am thanks to the subway running all night for the event.  Next year, I think I'll tag along with my friend Alan for Nuit Blanche since he's pretty hardcore.  (He started before us and kept going after we left.)  I'd like to see if I can survive it from dusk to dawn, or at the very least, enjoy it from 3 am to 7 am when the crowds thin out.

We went to a French restaurant in my neighbourhood for brunch on Sunday morning, and then I drove AlieMalie to the airport in a Zipcar: the Mini Cooper that lives next door to me!  What a great visit!

Today was kind of funny, because I felt that some of the themes from the weekend replayed themselves.  I took my environmental science class on a field study, and I wore my Hunters again, and they came in very handy since it was a wet day.  As did my new raincoat.  Also, I kept getting covered in burrs, and that made me think of Burrman.


Anyway, it was a pretty epic weekend.  Three more days until a long weekend!  Friday is a PD day, so I'll be at work, but slower pace than usual so thankful for that.

Up in thin air we lie in wait.

Things I like these days:

1) The song "Arrows of Desire" from the album of the same name by Matthew Good.

2) New midnight blue nails (with sparkle).

3) My bright yellow scarf paired with my denim jacket.

4) My new aubergine Hunters.  Let it rain.

5) Looking forward to my friend AlieMalie's (super brief) visit to Toronto just in time for Nuit Blanche.

6) I plowed through the book "The Silent Wife" by A.S.A. Harrison in less than twenty-four hours.  It was a dark psychological thriller about a crumbling marriage.  Kind of like "Gone Girl".  I recommend it if you're looking for a good page-turner.  I really like dark books about effed-up marriages.

7) I really love stripes.  Today I'm wearing my striped dress.  I wore a striped shirt yesterday.  I have to stop myself from buying striped item after striped item.

8) I love getting vinyl in the mail.  Today my red 45 single from Stars arrived (Wishful/The Light).  This month, the new Matthew Good LP will arrive, and *hopefully* the new PINK Los Campesinos! LP will also arrive.  I love mail.

9) I also love that it's October.  It's my favourite month.

10) I love running in fall weather.  I went for an after-school run yesterday with a friend to Trinity Bellwoods Park.  It was really nice.

Today I got the news about a former colleague's passing.  It was someone who taught at my school at the beginning of my career there, yet whom I always have spoken highly of long since they left my school, and who I truly enjoyed having as a colleague.  I felt really sad when I heard of it this morning, and it was tough to get through the day pretending everything was okay.

I realize it's amazing the number of people whose lives will intersect with mine throughout my career.  I feel like I've been so lucky to work with so many amazing people, even if it is only for a few weeks, months, or years.  I guess it's important to let everyone know how much they mean to you, because you never know when or if you'll get that chance again.

I'll reveal myself invincible soon.

This.



And this.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-bartolotta/happiness-tips_b_3956114.html

That's it for now.  My bag is packed and I'm off to camp tomorrow.  See ya on the flipside.

I think that ghosts like the cooler weather.

Happy autumnal equinox everyone!  Now I can listen to this song on heavy rotation:



I had a really nice weekend as I suspected.  Drinks, brunch, and the Junction Music Festival all happened.  I had to stand out in the rain to see my pal Nigel's band play, but a rain jacket and umbrella made it OK.  I'm in the market to splurge on a pair of Hunter rainboots because I've been coveting them for years now, and I wish I'd done it already because my feet got soaked in my Chucks.


This morning brought the end of an era somewhat for me.  For a year now, I've been going to meetings with my Kenya group once a month on a Sunday morning and today was the very last.  It was very bittersweet.  It was great seeing everyone again, and it was nice to celebrate such an amazing experience, but it's weird to think that that part of my life is over, and that we won't meet again for awhile (unless we plan a reunion... which I'm sure we will).  Endings in life are weird things in that they are often quiet in practice, but have a big impact on your heart.

Speaking of Kenya, I cannot believe the news from there.  I went to an upscale mall in Nairobi on our last day in Kenya, but not that one that the shooting happened at, although I was in the same area of the city.  When awful things like this happen in the world, I always feel horrible and confused at how hateful and violent humans can be, but it's especially disheartening when it happens to a place that I just visited about a month ago.  Travel definitely connects us to other places in the world, and you end up wanting the best for those places, and when senseless tragedy strikes, it's pretty dark.

Anyway, that was my weekend.  Next week will be busy.  I'm heading off to supervise my school's students leaders at a camp from Wednesday to Friday, so it's kind of like a vacation from work, but I'll still be working.   But really, supervising a bunch of nice kids isn't much work. 

Shut us like a portmanteau.

List of autumn-y things that I'm digging right now.

1) The ULTIMATE Pumpkin Chai recipe from David's Tea.  I love this tea when steeped normally with a bit of milk and stevia.   However, making it traditionally on the stove with one part milk, one part water is amazing and it smells so good.

2) The new Los Campesinos! song.  Songs about death are great for the autumn. 

 3) I got some clothing that I ordered online in the mail today!  I've spend many hours browsing the cute clothing on ModCloth.com, but have never bought anything because I am always apprehensive about buying clothing without trying it on, especially things like dresses.  But then, I saw this really cute sweatshirt that sums up two of my biggest loves in one comfy looking shirt and I decided to take the plunge.  I'm going to spend hours curled up on my sofa reading while wearing this sucker.

I decided to try a dress since I'd might as well get the most out of the shipping I was going to pay.  I got the Coach Tour Dress in violet, and it fits really well!  I'm super happy with my first ModCloth purchases!

 

4) Speaking of reading, I've got a pile of spooky fall-type books to get through.  I've been slogging through Kelley Armstrong's "Omens" because it was highly advertised on the subway and looked interesting.  I'm not loving it but will get through it.  Next I have "The Silent Wife" by A.S.A. Harrison to read.  It's advertised as being for people going through "Gone Girl" withdrawal, and since I loved that book, I picked up "The Silent Wife".  After that, I have the new Neil Gaiman.

5) My weekend plans look like fun.  Drinks on West Queen West, and then the Junction Music Fest to see a friend's band play.  That will be followed by more drinks.

Yay autumn!

Blurry Nights

I wish there were more hours in the evening. Once I'm done with work, and then the gym, and then making dinner/lunch for next day/getting my shit together for next day, the evening slips away so quickly as I drink tea and catch up on other stuff. I want more evening hours for reading and watching Netflix and sourcing out new music stuff.

More evening hours please! This school week is going well so far.  My classes are good, and I have so much on the go the days fly by.  I wish I could clone myself because I often need to be in several places at once, like today at lunch when I had a meeting and I had to set up for a lab.

One of my favourite songs of 2013, hands down, is "Blurry Nights" by my perennial crush, Hayden.  He just released a video for it last week (I think), and it's nice eye candy, for sure.  That man ages well. 



The new Matt Good album is streaming in full over at CBC Music.  Loving it so far.  I hope I can find it on vinyl next Tuesday.

I had a really great run last night.  I love cool fall weather for running.  I signed up for the Scotiabank Waterfront 5K race on October 20th.  I'm thinking it will be a great race for me to break my old personal best.  :)

All for now.  Weekend is shaping up to be fun. More on that later.

p.s. Thanks to everyone for well wishes etc when it comes to my mom.  It's much appreciated.  I can't wait 'til she's home though.

Had a good trip home. My mom had her surgery on Friday and is in good spirits after it. I'm not sure how long she'll be in the hospital undergoing rehabilitation, but she's comfortable and out of pain so that's great. I was able to help my dad out around the house, do some grocery shopping and run errands so that was good. He usually does all those things himself, but he doesn't do as well without my mom around. Other than hospital visits and driving around town, I didn't do much this weekend. I was able to combine exercise with some socializing though. My Toronto friend Karen was in town for the Dragonboat festival. I ran to the river to watch her race and say hi, then ran back home. I also went to a yoga class this morning too. I feel good that I took care of myself as well this weekend. Now I sit waiting for the accursed always-delayed 9 pm train. Taking this thing always makes for a rough Monday. The other train is at 8:30 am, so that's why I am always stuck with my nemesis. Yes, I've decided that my nemesis is a train. Happy Monday!

Yesterday evening I was sitting at my dining room table, marking quizzes, drinking tea, and listening to vinyl in the background.  I was in a great mood because I'd had a good workout that evening, and had come home and spent time cleaning my kitchen, and preparing food so I'd have healthy lunches for the week. 

As I sat at the table, working, I thought that, hey, this may not be glamourous but it's a pretty awesome life.  I'm drinking tea out of a mug from one of the many places to which I've traveled.  Yes, I'm doing work, but it's pretty awesome that I make a good wage for doing something that's valuable and not back-breaking.  I'm listening to music.  I have a pleasant cat friend to keep me company.  Life is good.

I took a break to phone my parents.  I'd phoned them earlier in the day to see what was up, and they hadn't answered, which had worried me because they are always home at the time.  Perhaps one of them had knocked the phone off the hook and hadn't noticed.  Anyway, after waiting a while and attempting again, my dad picked up.  My first thought was that this was not a good sign and I was right.

My mother had fallen earlier in the day and was in a lot of pain after the fall.  She went to the hospital and it turns out that she'd broken her hip.  She was in the hospital awaiting a visit from a specialist and would have to have surgery.  That's pretty much all my dad could tell me.  No idea of what recovery would be like, how long she'd be in there, etc.  Not much info.

I spent the rest of the night feeling really down, and worried, and fearing the worst.  I felt helpless and completely frustrated that there was nothing I could do to control the situation or figure things out or anything.  I wanted to talk to my mom so badly to hear how she was doing, but my parents are technological dinosaurs without cell phones, hence there was no way to reach her.  I hate knowing that she's in the hospital, and she hates hospitals, and is in an immense amount of pain right now.  I'm pretty sure that being a worrywart is a trait that has been passed down from her side of the family, and I'm sure she's worrying about the outcome of this injury too.

I had a hard time getting to sleep.  I thought back at how just a couple of hours ago, I was feeling so great, and then, BLAM, total turnaround.  At one point, I wondered why life would tease me like that, but I guess it's better to get bad news when you're OK as opposed to when you're miserable about something.  At about 1 am, I decided to take something to help me sleep.  This morning I went to school, and pretended like nothing had happened.  When I talk about things, I get emotional, and I didn't want to break down, so it was easier to stay composed and pretend that nothing happened.

During my prep period, my friend who also went to Kenya came to visit me in my office.  I had messaged him the night before because I knew that I'd be going home this weekend, and could not make our second last Kenya meeting on Sunday morning.  He and I were supposed to provide snacks for the meeting, so I'd messaged him the night before to let him know that he'd be in charge of snacks, and I'd throw in some money. 

Last night, he'd been working on figuring out how to make mandazi, which is a Kenyan fried dough treat which we'd had there, for snack.  He had a trial batch and wanted to me try one.  All I can say is that that was definitely the best part of my day.  Eating something that reminded me of a place and time so dear to me, as I was sifting through life's next challenge.

The rest of the day was tolerable.  Work takes my mind off of things.  I got to talk to my dad and my aunt (better with details) tonight and found out more.  My mom's still waiting for surgery, and I'm going to head down there on Friday to see her.  I could go earlier, but they feel that there is no point in that, there's not a lot I could do, and there are my responsibilities here.

Oddly enough, I felt a little bit better this evening.  I appreciated small things, like how my fluffy shower mat feels on my feet, and how good my shower gel smells.  I made an amazing cup of pumkin chai tea, using the traditional way where you simmer milk, water, sugar, and tea on the stove.  My friend Mathew called me and we had a great long phone conversation.  I booked my ticket home using my VIA Preference points, so the trip is free.

I know the next while is going to be tough, but I'll handle it somehow.

I read my stars last night, they told me I might end up in your hands.

It was a good first weekend of the school year. On Friday night, after a killer workout mind you, I met up with some friends to wish arrivederci to a friend who is headed to Italy to teach for a semester. It was great to catch up, eat pizza, drink wine, and eat the biggest slice of tiramisu I ever did see.

I spent about half of Saturday hiding inside from the rain, but then headed out for more gym, and a bunch of errand-running. It was one of those weekend days that's vital to make your week okay: you know, getting all of the laundry, housework, and paperwork that's necessary to get through the next week.

Today I had good sleep-in, and then headed to the AGO for the Ai Weiwei exhibit. The AGO always has some great stuff going on. This exhibit was illuminating and had some really large pieces of sculpture that I wonder how they managed to ship to here from China. Anyway, it was definitely a must-see.

The Toronto International Film Festival is in full swing, and I've managed to avoid it thus far. I've gone plenty of times in other years, but I didn't go last year, and this year looks like a no-go too. One of my pals from work is a heavy-TIFF goer, so maybe I'll see if I can get a ticket to one of the movies he's got on his agenda.

That was the weekend, now onto the week!

Don't you worry kid, we'll be seeing you.

I had quite the commute to work this morning. There was a delay at Chester station, so I couldn't change trains at Bloor station to get to work. Instead, I had to go all the way around the loop, and switch to a westbound train at St. George station. What this means is that I had an extra twenty minutes to sit, play Candy Crush Saga (how did I get addicted to that game?), listen to the new Neko Case album, and drink my coffee. Glad I made my coffee stop before I got on the train. Anyway, of course, by the time I got to St. George, the delay was cleared and trains were running regularly again. I made it to work on time, thankfully, but it wasn't even that stressful because this semester my prep period is first thing, so mornings are less hectic. Of course, being that it's the first Friday of the school year, I'm not struggling with a million things to do yet. My classes are actually prepped for the next week, so I'm just chilling a bit. And listening to the amazing new Neko Case album. It's so good it makes me want to cry. I love that woman. I hope she comes back to Toronto soon. I wish I had more coffee. Hmmm, this is something I could take care of right now. Next Friday I'm sure I'll be scrambling yet again. I should enjoy these quiet moments.

Fall Music

I loved that today, being the first day of school, also felt like the first day of fall.  Who wants to wear their summer clothes when they spent their last weekend of summer picking up a few new pieces for fall?  Not me, and I was happy to wear a new dress today.  The best was that since it was rather cool, I could wear a new(ish) jean jacket on the way to/from school.

Anyway, I'm also getting super excited for music that's being released this fall and I'm glad that the weather is co-operating.

Of course, today was the big release of Neko Case's new, and VERY EXCELLENT album "The Worse It Gets, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You" and I picked up the deluxe edition on vinyl today and I'm listening to it now on my little record player and loving it.  It's such an amazing album.  This is my favourite song.



One of my musical guilty pleasures is emo pop-punk sounding music.  I have always had a huge crush on the lead singer of the band Dashboard Confessional, and I was happy to stumble across his new side project, Twin Forks, who is coming out with a new EP on Sept. 17th.  This song is adorable.



On Sept 24th, Matthew Good is coming out with a new album that I'm looking forward to.



And, lastly, my beloved Los Campesinos! are coming out with a new album soon.  They posted this trailer, and I've already pre-ordered the (pink!) LP.



Yay fall!

And it's over.

I always hate this night.  Yes, yes, I know, I just had two months off, so I should quit complaining and griping.  But, it's always nerve-wracking going back.  I know that I'm not going to get a good night's sleep tonight, even though I've been doing this for ten years.  Gah.  Also, what time do I have to leave the house?  I always forget.

The last weekend of summer was pretty sweet.  I hung out with my pals Mathew & Luke on Friday night and we watched Dateline and made fun of Keith Morrison.  This is a hobby of mine and Mathew's, and Luke just joined in because he lives across the street from Mathew.  Keith Morrison is so creepy and Bill Hader's SNL impersonation is spot-on (sad that Hader is gone from SNL this year). 

On Saturday, I ran the Color Me Rad 5K race at Downsview Park.  It was really fun.  You wear a white Tshirt, and then as you run 5K you get pelted with colour bombs of dyed cornstarch and sprayed with liquid colour.  It's pretty fun.  I ran it with a friend who did a beginner's running clinic at the Running Room, and a couple of friends she met at the clinic.  At the end of the race, I found out that her friends were the instructors, and I was able to keep up with them, so woo-hoo to me!  I have no idea of my time for the race because it wasn't timed.  Oh well.

On Sunday, I went to check out Stars play at Nathan Phillips Square.  It was just a one-hour show in the evening in the rain.  It was great.

Today I did some back-to-school fashion shopping at the mall and then read a bit.  I've got my lunch made and now I'm going to go pack my gym bag.  It's crazy that I'm back to the grind tomorrow.

Seriously, last September feels just like yesterday.  How does time go by so quickly?

Gratitude

One thing that I definitely learned in Kenya was to be grateful for all that I have.  When I got home, I came across this article in my Twitter feed about 10 simple, science-based ways to increase happiness.  What's cool is that I practice a lot of these strategies: exercising, sleeping more (well, I try to at least), spending time with loved ones, and helping others.  I've always tried to work on gratitude, which is #10 on the list.  In fact, when I was in Kenya, I wrote in my journal that I'd like to keep a gratitude journal when I get home.

I haven't started that yet, but I have an empty journal kicking around, and I'm going to consider this post as my first entry.  Each day, I'm going to jot down at least three things that I'm grateful for. I had a pretty great day today.  I spent the full day at work.  I lead 40 student leaders in preparing for tomorrow's grade 9 orientation.  I do this every year, and I find it's a great way to ease into the school year.  Instead of just going in and doing mind-numbing paper work, I get to work with a great bunch of kids.  (And then when it's over, I do the mind-numbing paper work.)

Today I was grateful for the following:

1) The president and vice-president of student council were the first two students to arrive. They were excited to see me (aww) and gave me big hugs (aww).  I was grateful for the welcome.

2) My friend Nigel was helping me out today.  We also are taking the student leaders to a camp at the end of September.  We did this last year, and we reminisced about how the worst thing that happened during those three days was when we were lounging on a patio, overlooking a beautiful view of fall foliage, and then there was a slight breeze and we felt cold for a few seconds.  We had a huge laugh remembering this, and I'm grateful for laughs with good friends/colleagues.

3) I bought rafiki bracelets for some colleagues at work who supported my trip to Kenya.  I handed out a couple of them today, and my colleagues were thrilled with them.  I am grateful for support, and also to be able to make people happy with small tokens of appreciation.

Last Post (for awhile)

Well, tomorrow's the big day.  At 11:20 pm, I'll be on the redeye to London. 

There will be a 10 hour stopover in London, which means I'll get to quickly visit with the lovely Claire!  I'm so excited to see my dear friend; I haven't seen her since 2011, but she's always there for me when I pull a Liz Lemon or other such insanity.

After the London stopover, there will be another redeye flight to Nairobi.  Then, we will hop on a coach that will take us to our camp in the Maasai Mara.  I think it's about a five hour drive.  We'll be able to stop in the Great Rift Valley (think of the setting of the Lion King) on our way to camp.

There are a lot of things on our itinerary that look super exciting.  A lot of our time will be spent volunteering in the community on construction projects.  (Don't worry, there will be lessons first.) I look forward to working hard.  We will be visiting local schools, health clinics and going on a water walk.  We will be able to experience the journey of a local woman who has to get water for her family.  I think after this, I will appreciate water much more than I do.  We'll get some time to visit a local market.  We'll get to meet Maasai Warriors and learn how to bead with the Maasai Mamas.  And, of course, there will be a safari!

I can't believe that the trip that I've been prepping for over a year is finally here.

I'll take lots of pictures and write in my journal.  I'll definitely post some journal entries and pictures when I get back.   Until then (August 17th), I am off the social media grid.  Take care my friends. Kwaheri!  (That's goodbye in Swahili.)

Four more sleeps 'til I leave for Africa.

Miss Rilo Kitty is settled nicely in her country home.  Who knew that cats have really great memories?  It's been about a year since she's last been at my parents' house but as soon as she got there, it was obvious that her first matter of business was to check out the place to see what had changed (not much).  I bet she probably still remembers her life before I adopted her and she became Miss Rilo Kitty.  I always wonder where she came from.  All I know is that she was picked up on the street somewhere near Long Branch.

Anyway, I had a nice little visit in Stratford.  I napped, ran some errands, watched a couple of pathetic baseball games with my parents (oh, those Jays), saw some old friends that I hadn't seen in years, went for a run around the old high school, and visited with my aunt.  A lot to pack into 48 hours, huh?  Well done me.

I took the train back to the city today.  I love a nice sunny morning train ride through the countryside while I drink a cup of coffee and listened to music.  I made a pretty sweet Matthew Good playlist for the ride.  I haven't listened to him in a long time, and a lot of his music takes me back to happy places in my life.  Anyway, the point of this is that it was a nice journey back home.

Of course, it's not really home without Miss Rilo to welcome me.  Cat-less life is weird.  No one's trying to lie on my keyboard as I write this!

After a relaxed afternoon, it was gym, then errands.  Right now I'm in the process of making myself low maintenance for my trip: I had my shellac manicure stripped off my nails without getting a new one, not even one without polish, and no pedicure either.  I figure construction work in Africa is going to be hard on my hands and feet, so I'll get those fixed when I'm back.

It kind of blows my mind that I'm going to go three weeks with no jewellery, no makeup, and not really worrying about fashion.  It will be good for my soul I think.

My nails are actually really long right now.  Six-plus months of healthy living is doing wonders for me.  I haven't gotten sick once (I used to get a cold about every 2-3 months) and my nails are super strong and don't break.  Anyway, I'm going to go cut them and take the polish off my toes.

And, four more sleeps until I fly out.  It's off to London, then a ten-hour stopover, then off to Nairobi.  So six more sleeps until I'm in Africa.  I. Cannot. Believe. It.

Random summer moments

- It was still pretty hot on Friday, but there was a bit of a breeze out.  Enough that I could enjoy a nice lunch with a friend on a shady patio, instead of heading indoors for A/C.

- Friday night I went to the Jays game.  My friend Mathew scored free tickets only 21 rows behind home plate.  I haven't seen a game that close in, well, have I ever?  I have memories of sitting in the 100s back when no one was visiting Toronto because of SARS, and you could get $2 Jays tickets.  Other than that, it's been the 500s for quite some time.  The Jays lost, but it was a fun game... lots of homers and strikeouts despite the loss.

- On Saturday I got a warning from an arborist.  No, I wasn't harming any trees, just sitting on a park bench reading a book.  I was listening to music and lost in my book when a man comes up and said "Sorry for interrupting your reading, but you might want to sit somewhere else.  I'm an arborist, and that tree there is very cracked, and with these winds we've been having, it might fall over." 

I thanked him and found another bench, although I'm doubtful that the tree would have fallen over on me.  It was a pretty calm day.  However, I'm going to keep an eye on that tree from now on and see if my friendly neighbourhood arborist was right.


- Today I had a busy fun-filled day with my pal Vern who's up for a short visit.  We went to The Beach and had a nice lunch, then went for a walk along the boardwalk, went to Yogurty's and she drove me to Ikea to buy a new lamp for $16.99.

I walked out of Ikea spending almost $200.  Expensive damned lamp.

The problem was that I fell in love with a pair of purple velvet curtains that I thought would look great in my bedroom and also do a better job blocking out the morning sun than my current curtains, which are old, and were cheap anyway.  I hemmed and hawed and decided that they were worth the splurge because they'd give my room a nice makeover.  In addition, I got two purple velvet throw curtains that match the curtains, and a little vase with three fake purple flowers.  Mini-bedroom makeover!

On top of that, I decided to pick up a couple new pillows, bulbs for the new lamp, and a couple of lint rollers (can never have too many of those). 

And that's why my lamp cost $200.

- After the Ikea trip, we went to the Jays game.  I was back to my usual spot in the 500s.  The 500s don't give you the view that you get in the 100s, but you do get added entertainment.

The game was painful.  The final score was 14 - 5 or so for the Dodgers.  There were three various innings where they gave up 4 runs.  Ugh.

However, for the last couple innings, we were entertained by a drunk dude in our section.  He came over to make friends, and tried to win a debate about baseball with me.  (I won.)  He and his friend then gave my pal Vern some awful sales pitches about loans from their bank.  It was rather hilarious.

Seriously, you always get bonus entertainment in the 500s.  I remember being at a game with someone a few years ago where there was this super drunk dude who called himself "Cliff Robertson" (I think) and was trying to pick up some girl by telling her that he operated a scuba diving lesson place in the suburbs somewhere.  It was pretty hilarious, and I remember trying not to laugh so hard as we eavesdropped.

- Tomorrow I'm catching a ride back to Stratford with Vern.  It's that time finally: Rilo's heading to my parents' place for safe-keeping as I travel.  In exactly a week's time, I will be on a plane to London, and then a plane to Nairobi.

Watermelon

It's hot and I've messed up my sleeping patterns as of late by going to bed really late, and sleeping in 'til 10 am or so.  I call it summer vampirism.  It usually happens every summer.

I just ate a slice of cool watermelon over the sink in my kitchen.  Is there anything better than juicy watermelon when it's super hot, especially when it's chilled?

As I was eating, a memory came back to me of the time I paid $30 for a watermelon.

My first teaching job (ten years ago from this September OMG) was on an isolated community in Northwestern Ontario.  I worked for an internet high school.  Northern Ontario has dozens of these small, remote aboriginal reserves, and they have populations far too small to support secondary schools.  As a result, children have to leave their families to pursue secondary education, and of course, this leads to many challenges.  The internet high school that I worked for was an alternative to students leaving their home communities.  They had a classroom in their community with a teacher, and they took their courses online.  I was responsible for putting some science courses online, and marking work of students in other communities.  During the school day, I helped students in my community complete work in their courses.  (I remember learning a lot about art and communications technology while helping my students.)

I had about seven students in my home community, which was an Oji-Cree community.  At the end of the school year, we were lucky to get a bunch of shiny new computers.  My principal told me that we could take one of the old computers and raffle it off within the community and use the funds to throw a year-end party for my students and other children in the community.  My students and I diligently went around selling tickets and we raised enough money for a good party.  I was pleasantly surprised at how great the support was for our little raffle.

For our party, I had to fax in a grocery order to the grocery store in the nearest town.  They would pack our groceries in cardboard boxes, and then there was a small airline that would fly our food to us.  (This is how I ordered my groceries too when I lived there.)  Of course, you had to pay the airline a certain fee per pound of cargo.

I asked my students what they wanted to order.  They basically had free range.  If they wanted it, I'd order it for them.  (In fact, I don't think I really cared if the order went over what we raised.  I was cool with paying the difference out of my pocket.)

I was expecting their first requests to be junk food: pop, chips, hotdogs, ice cream and such.  But the very first request was for a watermelon.

"A watermelon, huh?  You guys are healthy!  Nice," was most likely my response to this request. 

When the bill for the food arrived, I understood why, when given the choice of any sort of food to order, my students requested a watermelon.  The price of a whole watermelon from a northern grocery store was about $12, and I know that I calculated the shipping of the thing to be about $18, more than the melon itself. 

After finding the cost of buying and shipping a large melon that's 91% water, I then understood why watermelon was the huge splurge for the party.  Watermelon was certainly not an every day food in this community.

I remember that watermelon being eaten up incredibly fast at that party.

And I can't help but remember this whenever I eat watermelon.

You know I think about you, let me know you think about me too.

This evening I went to a few of my favourite Toronto spots:

1) The Bloor Cinema to see the documentary "20 Feet From Stardom".  I love docs.  I love our city's documentary cinema.  It's a beautiful space and was packed tonight.



2) A Markham Street patio for beer on a humid summer evening.  Yes, it was a little bit sweaty, but I love being outside.

3) Browsed records at Sonic Boom.  Restrained myself from buying any vinyl.  I still have the new Two Hours Traffic record that I got a couple weeks ago and have not listened to yet.

Now I'm listening to Whitehorse and reading on my sofa.

Also, I think this Neko Case cover of Harry Nilsson's "Don't Forget Me" is great for a hot summer night.  Or any night, really. 

I could've been your girl, and you could have been my four-leaf clover.

Somehow week three of summer vacay has crept up upon me.  I have to say that I'm feeling super relaxed these days... I walk around in a zen-like state of relaxation.  It's a good place.

I've spent these last few days spending lots of time with various friends.  Some good dinners out, some good dinners in, a bit of shopping, a cardio martial arts class, and lots of good conversation.

In my time on my own, I've been binge-watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix (verdict = love) and reading the book that the series is based upon. 

Really, there's not a whole lot more going on.  I should be devoting more time to organizing my apartment and going to yoga classes.  I guess I'm not totally relaxed if I'm still criticizing my use of time, huh?

I have a few more things to complete on my Kenyan to-do list: mainly get some Kenyan shillings, some US dollars to pay for my visa, and purchase some steel-toed workboots, coveralls, and work gloves to wear while doing construction projects there.  Oh, and more sunblock (can't have too much of that, I figure) and assorted other items.

I was thinking of booking a haircut before my trip, but I am going to leave my hair at its current length for the trip.  I can sort of tie it back at this point.  I feel I'm going to be wearing my hat a lot of the time over there.  I will resume my pampering schedule (hair, nails, etc.) once I return.

I can't believe in two weeks today, I'll be arriving in Nairobi.  Getting there is seriously going to take two days.  We flight out on an overnight flight on July 29th, have a 10-hour layover in London, and then it's another 8-hour overnight flight to Nairobi.  I feel like the journey there will be half of the battle.  Anyone else survived a flight to Africa? I guess I've done Australia, but this seems more arduous.    I know few people who've actually been to Africa.  It'd be cool to get travel trips from someone.  Even though I have a detailed packing list, I feel like I'll forget something important.

All this thinking; that's summer life.  Hope you are all well, and surviving any heat wave you may be facing.  We are in the midst of one.

Quiz Show Audition

In May, I found out that I passed the online test for a popular quiz show on TV.  I'd taken the online test in November upon my parents' prompting (well, insistence, really), and then completely forgotten that I'd even done so until I got the email.

(I'm not going to post the name of the show, just in case someone googles ___________ auditions or whatever.  No spoilers for them!)

Today was my audition.  I was a little bit nervous and pessimistic about it last night, I'll admit.  I'm naturally introverted and last night the thought of having to talk to strangers was very unappealing and I was also afraid that the online test was a fluke and that I'd know nothing today, or be faced with all sorts of questions on American history, geography, and opera, all of which are my worst categories, and end up looking really dumb in front of others.

The audition was in a downtown hotel's meeting room.  The people outside really did look like quiz show contestants, and I had to do my best from bursting out laughing.  It just was really funny.  No one was saying ANYTHING until the dude beside me made a joke about it and we struck up a conversation.  He also turned out to be a teacher.  This was his second time auditioning for this show; he'd actually flown to NYC the other time.

We then were called into the meeting room and sat at tables.  The first order of business was a welcome video hosted by the host of the quiz show.  Then we tried out some questions as a group to warm-up.  Turned out there were lots of lawyers in the group.  There was also an engineer sitting in front of me who'd also auditioned before in Toronto, and thought I looked familiar from it, but nope, first time for me.  There were also some people from as far away as New Brunswick, Montreal, and Winnipeg.  (Lucky me with a 20 minute subway ride.)

We also found out that 100 000 people did the online test, and only 2 500 made the audition stage.  That's a nice intellectual confidence boost for me!  Of those who auditioned, only 400 will make the show.  Basically I'm now in the contestant pool for 18 months, and if I don't hear anything, it's back to the online test for me. 

Anyway, but the audition was super fun.  First we wrote a 50 question test (like the online test) and I think I did pretty well.  There were lots of questions that I knew for sure, and only a few that I did not know at all.  After that, we were called up in groups of 3 to play a mock version of the game.  I felt I was pretty competitive.  I managed to buzz in first on a good number of questions and get them right.

After each game, the contestant hopefuls had personality interviews.  I felt that mine went well.  I told stories about lighting my hand on fire at school, and playing quiz games with my students in class.  Also, the interviewer said to me "By the way, you have really really pretty hands."  This is actually something I've heard before, so I joked "Well, if this quiz show thing doesn't work out for me, maybe I should be a hand model."

So yes, that was the audition.  And, we got a souvenir pen, and earbuds in a little pouch.  It was totally a really fun experience.  That's how you can truly tell you're with a group of fellow nerds: you all say "Wow! That was fun!" when you write a test.  I'm going to totally try to audition again in 18 months, because let's face it, I have approximately a 16% chance of making it.  (I did the math of course.)

Now that I've used my brain a bit this summer, I can go back to letting it mush-ify with bad reality TV.  :)

I hate the rain. (Part 2)

I believe the rain at Sunday's Turf show killed my trusty iPhone 3GS.  I started having problems with it on Sunday night, and then it worked properly again early Monday morning, but by about 10 am, the screen was really dim (it wasn't the settings).  I could at least still get calls and texts but it was hard to read.  Anyway, it was probably the best time ever for me to break my phone as it was 3.5 years old and I was ready for a new one.  I was going to hold out until Apple released the next iPhone (most likely so I could get the iPhone 5 for cheaper), but here I am with a new iPhone5 with a nice bright screen and oh-boy is it fast with a much much better camera.

Back to hating the rain. Hey - that song is playing on my record player right now.  I love Neko forever.

So, how did I spend rainmageddon?  (All extreme weather event are required to be suffixed in -mageddon, right?)

Well, rainmageddon started off as a humid, yet sunny day.  I woke up and decided to run on the treadmill on the gym to pre-work off the feast I'd be having later in the day.  After my run, Becca T came over to visit Ms. Rilo and listen to some records, and then we headed off to High Tea at the very nice Windsor Arms hotel.  We had to wear our sunglasses on the way there as it was so sunny.

Near the end of high tea, we noticed that it was really dark out, and right before we were going to leave, it started really coming down.  There was no way we were going out there, so we decided to hang out in the Windsor Arms' bar and have some Prosecco.  Good call on our part.  We were able to keep up with the havoc that rainmageddon was wreaking on Toronto on the bar TV.  (I tried to check Twitter on my busted phone and joked "There's either flooding or flooring in Toronto right now... it's really hard to read on this thing.")

Becca had organized a drinks night at a pub at 7 pm, so we had to brave it.  Luckily, by the time we left at about 6:30 pm, it was raining at a reasonable rate.  We walked to Bloor subway stations, where it was utterly chaotic.  Various portions of the subway were closed down.  However, Bloor to Lawrence was open, which was really fortunate for us, since that encompassed where we were, where the pub was, and where both of us had to go home.

We were lucky ducks for sure.  I have a friend who lives in Etobicoke who was still without power this morning.  I was only inconvenienced by having to hang out in a really nice hotel bar with a nice glass of sparkling wine.

I hate the rain.

Fun moments from the past four days:

1) Joel Plaskett playing an amazing set at TurfTO on Thursday night.  I think I'd forgotten how much I love him.

2) Dancing to She & Him.  I loved seeing them live.  They were adorable.

3) Post show beers with my pal Eric.  We had some much-needed catch-up time.

4) Toronto bargain shopping with my friend Heather, who was visiting from London. 

5) SEEING BECCA T!  She's in town! We had sushi, and she joined my group of friends to see Tegan and Sara and Fun. at Downsview Park.

6) Tegan and Sara played an amazing set.

7) Fun. were well, fun.  The best was that they had fireworks going on during their encore.

8) Two mimosa brunch this morning at the Drake Cafe.

9) Seeing Whitehorse play at TurfTO today.  They are a great live band.

10) Watching Neko Case in the pouring rain with my friend Karen.  I don't think I've seen Neko since maybe 2009, and man, she is THE awesome.  It was pouring and it go so muddy.  She played the song Fever, which has the line "I hate the rain" which was kind of perfect, because we were on at least our third downpour of the day.  But still, watching Neko in the rain and mud was a rather special moment and I'll never forget it.  She played a killer set and I cannot wait for her new album.

11) Belle & Sebastian closing out TurfTO.  I was rather unfamiliar with most of their music, but it was a lovely set nonetheless.

Tomorrow I have high tea and drinks with Becca T.  So excited. 

I wanted to control it but love I couldn't hold it.

SUMMER FOREVER!

Seriously, the past week has been great!  I've finished two excellent books (both Canlit too), listened to a lot of vinyl, got some good workouts in, got my nails done, etc., etc.  I love this pace of life.

I also got my shots for Africa (yellow fever, typhoid, Hep A) and my prescriptions for anti-malarials.

Tonight is the first of three concerts in four days.  It's The Barr Brothers, The Joel Plaskett Emergency, Camera Obscura and She & Him for TURF (Toronto Urban Roots Festival).

I am excited for all the bands, but I am most excited to hear this song.  For me, it's one of those songs that I can really relate to.  It's a little bit of a heartbreaking song, but because the melody and vocals and strings are so lovely, who cares?  Also, the video is set in European cities like Paris and Barcelona, and we all know how I feel about those places.

I've gotten back to the road where I started.

Summer's here!  And here's how it started for me.

Rainy Friday.  Our year-end staff social on a massive neighbourhood patio was moved into the school.  It was still fun.  Afterward, I carried on to the Bier Markt with some friends where I indulged in Belgian and Kenyan (!) beer.

Early Saturday morning.  Met up with my pal Mathew and a couple of his friends for a cross border shopping extravaganza in Buffalo New York.  We had to get back to Toronto by 8 or 9, so it was a whirlwind.  I ended up pretty much buying a whole new summer wardrobe: lots of shorts and light Ts that I hope will be appropriate for Kenya.  Lots of fun bright colours too.

We had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.  I've never been there before.  Since we were in a rush we had to get our cheesecake to take home.

Crossing back home was rather funny.  My friend Mathew always gets a bit clammy when being questioned by customs agents.  When the lady asked us where we'd been, he froze and then said "The Buffalo" to which she replied "What did you do in THE Buffalo?"  From now on, it's always going to be The Buffalo to me.

I was home by 9 pm and had the problem of the cheesecake on my hands.  My diet's been a little off track during the month of June because of the sheer amount of parties going on.  I've been cheating far too often.  Anyway, I know that my trainer always tells me that a good time to eat carbs is after a workout, so I threw on my running clothes and ran over 7 km to earn my delicious cheesecake.

Sunday was a day of rest.  I finished reading a book, and listened to She & Him Vol 3 on vinyl. 

Today I went with my pal Mathew to the Jays' game.  Being that it was Canada Day, there were free read Jays hats for the first 20 000 fans, and the game sold out, so we went early.  Good thing too, because the dude beside us was about 15 mins later than we were, and got no hat.  It was a great game: the Jays gave the Tigers a nice drubbing (to steal a word from the CBC).  The final score was 8 to 3.

After the game, I came home, had a nap, then watched TV for the evening (rare for me).  I watched shows on either end of the intellectual spectrum: Jeopardy! and The Bachelorette.

Long weekend is over, and tomorrow starts my time off officially. This week is busy.  I have training, exercise dates with friends, shots to get for Kenya, three concerts, and I need to get my apartment into some semblance of order.  Good thing I got a bit of rest this weekend.

Am I the one you think about when you're sitting in your fainting chair drinking pink rabbits?

My work-friends and I picture our work as a sitcom.  Cataloging all of the characters and the sitcom-y moments is a great way to cope.

Tomorrow's the season finale.  We have some meetings, then a social and it's a two-month hiatus.

The hiatus sort of started today.  I slept in, got a pedicure, treated myself to sushi, went to the gym, and had a small nap.  I also read 100 pages in the interim as well.  After a really nice me-day, I headed out west to the pretty inn where our school has graduation.  This year's graduating class was very special.  There were some great kids, and I'm really going to miss them.  I feel very privileged to have made a difference in so many lives.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to summer.  It's going to be a great one.  I've got a lot of fun things planned so far: cross-boarder shopping trips, concerts, visits from Becca T, lots of exercise and clean eating.  I feel like July is going to be like today: still lots of socializing but alone time to relax and rejuvenate.

I fly to Kenya on the 29th.  We have an overnight to London, then a bit of a stopover, and then a long flight to Nairobi.  I can't believe that it's just a little over a month away!

But first, let's see how the season finale plays out.

A - Z(ed) of Me

Borrowed from my lovely friend Siobhan. 

A. 

Age: 33.

B. 

Bed size: double. 

C. 

Chore that you hate: all of the chores.  Seriously, I need a housekeeper.

D. 

Dogs: my first pet was a dog!  She ran away, and then a friend of my grandmother's dog-napped a new one for me.  Luckily, my mother was able to return it to its family.  Read about it here. 

E. 

Essential start to your day: breakfast (Greek yogurt, berries, almonds) and coffee.

F. 

Favourite colour: purple.

G. 

Gold or Silver: I prefer silver but am starting to like gold.

H. 

Height: 5ft 6in

I. 

Instruments you play: I used to play the piano, but I've lost it.  Can still hammer out Fur Elise though. That one's like riding a bike to me.

J. 

Job title: Teacher.

K. 

Kids: I'm on the fence about that.

L. 

Live: Toronto.

M. 

Mother’s name: Lucy.

N. 

Nicknames: my friend's husband calls me Crunchy Crackers.  Also, is "Miss" a nickname?

O. 

Overnight hospital stays: When I was born.  Not since then, though.

P.

Pet peeves: whoa.  This one could be a post to itself.  Selfishness.  Thoughtlessness.  Entitlement.  And people who are outside sitters on the bus which makes it impossible for me to sit on the seat beside them.  Especially when they aren't getting off any time soon.

Q.

Q. Quote from a movie:

“Spider Pig! Spider pig! Does whatever a spider pig does!” - Homer from The Simpsons Movie

R. 

Right or left handed: right

S. 

Siblings: None.
T. 
There's no T!  Hmmm, but for tea, I sure do love David's Tea!

U. 

Underwear: I wear it.

V. 

Vegetable you hate: onions.

W.

What makes you run late: I'm usually pretty punctual.  If I'm running late, I'll blame the TTC like any good Torontonian.

X. 

X-Rays you’ve had: teeth, and right foot.

Y.

Yummy food that you make: Chipotle-Glazed Roast Chicken with Sweet Potatoes.  This is a recent find and it's amazing.  I've made it for a few friends and always get rave reviews.  And it fits my healthy-eating plan!

Z. 

Zoo animal: lemurs.

You don't think before you jump.

The heat arrived this weekend.  It finally feels like June... not that I'm complaining.  I loved the cool summer days that preceded this weekend.  But now it's one of those evenings where it feels hot, and I don't even feel like even thinking about sleeping so I'm watching The National videos on YouTube while drinking some red wine.

Which is probably not the best thing to do as songs by The National are pretty wonderfully mopey.

I need their new album.  I love the song "This Is the Last Time" because I can really relate to it.  I wish I'd come across it in February, I really do.   (Well, it didn't exist in February either but I wish it did.)

This Tiny Desk Concert on NPR is great.



Weekend was pretty great.  Nice day on Friday at Centre Island with student council.  Birthday party for my friend Mathew on Friday night.  I finished up my marking and report cards on Saturday.  Today I went to the spa and had dinner with a pal.

But still, the hot weather brings a weird sort of sadness with it.  I always get a little bit nervous before summer starts.  I need the rest, but all of the undefined time seems overwhelming.  Too much time that I could spend lost in my thoughts, wrapped up in my introversion letting myself be haunted by ghosts of summers past.  I'm going to do the best to schedule myself silly, buy a Metropass, and get out of my neighbourhood during the month of July.

Really Great Day

I had a really great day today.  Seriously, there were several times where I exclaimed this aloud.

Today I proctored my last exam of the semester.  It was for my environmental science class.  This class was challenging to teach: they V-coded the course, which means two different courses were put together in my class at the same time.  It was like a split grade.  I had students who are on their way to the workplace taking one level of envi-sci as well as students who are on their way to college/university taking the other level.  It was really hard to teach, and I feel that I have done a much more effective job at delivering these courses separately in the past.  Often education is a numbers game, and that is what unfortunately happened this year.

However, even though I couldn't be as effective as I usually am, it was really nice having one last day with my students.  They also showed me that although logistics prevented me from being 100% awesome, I was still pretty darned awesome.  Everyone worked really hard on their exams, and many of the students wrote very sweet thank you messages to me on their exams (I've gotten a lot of those this semester).  It's great when you teach a course that you are very passionate about, and that your students actually tell you that they will take with them what you taught for the rest of their lives.  I'm so lucky to be in this profession.

After the exam, as I was cleaning up the room, two of my students brought me a thank-you gift: a case of Coke Zero.  Usually in this class, I'd be drinking a Coke Zero (stolen from a friend's mini-fridge; but I pay him a monthly CZ fee) and talking about things like toxins in the environment and eating healthy foods from sustainable sources and then remark "and yes, I know I'm being a bit hypocritical as I drink this potentially-carcinogenic solution from a multi-national food company but I REALLY need caffeine to get through the rest of the day.  And I don't like sugar-y sodas."  It became a bit of a class joke and it was so sweet that they dragged it from the mall for me!  A case of pop has never touched a person so much as it did today, I think.

I have hidden it carefully in the storage room off of my classroom.  There is summer school in the building this summer, and I don't want anyone to steal my special stash.  I'm ready for September.

After exams wrapped up, a couple of my friends and I drove out to my local pub for lunch and pints on a patio in this beautiful sunny temperate weather.  (LONG LIVE EXAM WEEK.)  We then went to do some marking at the Starbucks across the street and got some marking in.

I had to abandon the marking party early because I had running plans with a former colleague/friend.  We worked in different departments, and she's at a different school now, but we've kept in touch over Facebook.  She's recently started running using clinics from the Running Room, and invited me to a run in The Beach neighbourhood.

I don't go out to The Beach enough.  It's in the city's east end, and I tend to stay central or go west.  However, it's such a pretty neighbourhood, and is a nice 20 minute streetcar ride from downtown.  I need to get out there more often.  We did a nice easy 4K run with the group, and then had some delicious frozen yogurt.  We took our yogurt out along the boardwalk, and then settled on a nice rock by the lake.  It looks like we'll do some more fitness activities together since we're both going to be sticking around Toronto for July.

Anyway, so I've got 32 exams left to mark, but I think I'm going to hit the hay and work on them tomorrow.   Awesome students, friends, fitness pals, and an awesome city with great neighbourhoods to explore make for such a nice day.

Had It Coming/Old Time Sake

I'm always trying to break up with Matthew Good.  I say "oh, I'm not going to listen to his new album or go to his shows.  I don't think I'm into him anymore."

Then he comes out with something new, and I really like it as per usual and circle the date his new album is being released on my calendar.  Maybe this one I will get on vinyl.  And now I'm thinking "okay yes, I've seen him at Massey Hall at least once before but it'd be cool to see him at Massey Hall again in the fall so I should get tickets but who will I bring as my MG BFF lives in France?"



I should give up on this musical break-up though.  It's not going to happen. 

I can't remember the last time I had a successful musical breakup.  Once I love an artist I'm pretty committed.  I like following careers for years and listening to each new album.  And I'm not the type to say "oh, only their first two albums were any good and then they went downhill."  Once I'm hooked that's it.

I'm a keeper, I suppose.  Or all of my bands are to me.

Last Sunday, after Field Trip, I went to my local pub for a beer.  Like a nerd, I was wearing my fave BSS Tshirt because well, I had the BSS afterglow about me.  My server, a punk-ass looking dude who must have been about 25 and had floppy hair, said "oh did you go to the show yesterday?"

I said yes, it was awesome, and then he went on a rant about how BSS and Stars and pretty much every Toronto indie band from the 2000s only had 1-2 good albums and then went downhill.  I wasn't taking it and kept saying "I disagree!  Stars' latest album was a total throwback to Set Yourself On Fire.   BSS' Forgiveness Rock Record was pretty good.  It had Meet Me in the Basement after all."  But dude kept going on until finally I said "Can I order my food now?  And I need another beer."

Apparently he was good at band breakups.  Unnecessary band breakups.  How about you guys?  Do you do musical breakups??

Also, I've been digging this old Kathleen Edwards song lately.  It's been going through my head.  I'm feeling it these days.

Blurry Nights

Good weekend.  Lazy weekend.  Fitness groove reset tomorrow I tell you.

On Friday night, I headed to Yonge-Dundas Square to catch a free show for NXNE. 

I saw Hayden for the third time this year; this fact would elate my teenaged-self.  I've been a Hayden fan since I was approximately 16 years old.  And yes, he played this: (my favourite song to mope to since I was ~ 16)



And this... (the song I will always associate with breaking my foot a week before starting university)



And this... (my favourite song from the new album)



Hayden twice within one week?  Yes please!

The National headlined this show, and I'm new to The National.  So many of my fellow music snobs love The National, and I kind of wanted to go to this show, so I picked up High Violet on vinyl a few weeks ago on the advice of my hair stylist.  (Who was probs at the show too.)

The National are amazing live.  I really enjoyed their show, even though YD was pretty packed.  The highlight was the crowd sing along to "VanderLyle Crybaby Geeks" which was the song I was waiting for.  It was also cool when lead singer Matt Berninger went into the crowd during the show.  His mic cord was super long because he got pretty close to us (we were maybe 25 rows of ppl from the stage) and went in a big circle through the crowd.  I had to duck under the cord too.

Anyway, that was followed by drinks, so all-in-all, a pretty great Friday night.

I slept in on Saturday, read a little, then met up with my friend Elaine for shopping and dinner at the Eaton Centre.  I splurge a bit on a couple new summer tops from Aritzia, and a new running threads (v-neck Run Swiftly T, Inspire II crops, matching headband) from Lululemon.  All of my old running Ts are supper loose, and I have to pull the drawstring super tight on my old crops so that they don't fall down when I'm running.  :)  I figured it was time to splurge on some new workout stuff, and yay, I am now down a full two sizes at Lulu.  Victory. 

My friend Elaine always gives me great perspective on my life.  She is always very empathetic when big stuff goes badly, but laughs at the little stuff that goes badly, which is what you should do.  As I was telling her some recent stories at dinner, she pointed out that my life is like a sitcom, and I agreed.  Then I told her that I have a Jeopardy! audition this summer and she was like "see! that would only happen on a sitcom."  It's true.

I spent most of today reading a book that I picked up at the mall: "The Silver Star" by Jeannette Walls.  I really like both of her other books (The Glass Castle, Half Broke Horses) so I figured why not.

This upcoming week is all about tying up the semester and getting my workouts back on track after three days off... Tomorrow I'm going to run to a yoga class and back, and then I'm sure my trainer will crush me on Tuesday which is leg day (dude's leg days are insane).  I have a running date at the Beaches on Wednesday with a former colleague which I'm looking forward to.

Happy Monday blog pals! 

Almost there...

One more teaching day, and then it's on to exam week.

I'm going to miss my classes.  My mom points out I say that every semester.  It's 'cuz it's true.  I always get the best kids.  It's exam review Jeopardy all day tomorrow.

Weekend plans are to be determined.  I'll probably catch some free music for NXNE, get some exercise in, a bit of shopping, dinner with a friend, and finish off that blasted term marking. 

I'm looking forward to a July; almost a whole month with not much planned other than a few shows and getting myself ready for Kenya.  And I'll need to book a massage or two.  And de-clutter this apartment.  And read.

Ahhh.  Can't wait.

Everything will change.

I realize that I've been celebrating the year 2003 over the past few days.

On Saturday, I went to Arts & Crafts' amazing 10th anniversary festival, where Broken Social Scene played 2003's "You Forgot It In People".

Tonight, I went to see the Postal Service play at the Air Canada Centre to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their album "Give Up".

Funny enough, I wasn't overly into either of these albums in 2003.  I was into indie rock back in those days; perhaps since I was just finishing Teachers' College, I didn't quite have the music budget that I have these days and wasn't into all of the bands.  I know I liked Death Cab for Cutie back then, so I'm surprised I didn't listen much to the Postal Service; I probably knew a few songs. (The Postal Service is a side project of DCFC's Ben Gibbard.)  Same with BSS.  I read "Chart Magazine" voraciously back then (a Cdn music magazine), and know that I'd definitely heard of BSS in 2003 but didn't really get into them until later in the decade.

Anyway, I'm now fully acquainted with each of these 2003 albums and loved seeing them live over the past few days.  The remastered "Give Up" is definitely one of my fave albums of this year, even though it's 10 years old.  I love the 3-record collector's edition I bought on vinyl.  Moreover, I love the album as a whole, and seeing it played tonight (although shuffled up with some B-sides, a cover, and two new songs) was incredible.

More incredible is that one of my favourite musicians, Jenny Lewis, who sings/plays on "Give Up" played in the band tonight.  She is from the band Rilo Kiley, who I named my cat after, so it's always a special night when you get to see the lady whose band you named your cat after.  She has an awesome voice, and is a multi-instrumentalist: she played bass, acoustic guitar, and drums this evening.

Anyway, all of this 2003 music got me to thinking about myself in 2003.  Ten years ago I finished my education and had to figure out my place in the world.  I'd never even been on a plane at that point in my life.  A lot of my friends have remained the same (heck, I took my friend Mathew to tonight's show and he was around in 2003), and a lot about me is the same: I'm still the same person at heart, still love music, books, etc.

But I'm way different now.  And I like it.  I really do think I've gotten much better with age, and I'm super proud of that.

I'm way stronger: physically, emotionally, and mentally.  I've been through my share of heartbreaks, challenges, and disappointments, but have gotten through all of them, and I think I'm way better off for them.  I think I'm probably in the best physical shape of my life right now thanks to an intense five months of training/healthy eating.

I've traveled lots in ten years.  I've been able to maintain the vast majority of friendships from ten years ago, but have also made lots of new friends.

I've read a lot, learned a lot, and discovered a lot.  I have a career that I love and from which I get a lot of fulfillment. 

I'm like a fine wine, I think.  Definitely better with age.  If The Postal Service does a 20th anniversary of Give Up in 2023, I look forward to seeing how I'll have grown by then.  It's nice to reflect and realize that I'm happy with how I've grown, and that I know I'm probably just going to get better.

Looks just like the sun.

Field Trip 2013 came and went and it was awesome.

It was held at historic Fort York, which I've never been to for a show before, but I have two more there this summer, and it's a great spot.  There was lots to do: tonnes of food, vendors, beers, wines, etc. so we decided to get there early, and I'm glad we did, we were among the first 1000 and got free copies of the Arts & Crafts 10 album!

Also, I love how my Field Trip wristband matches my nails. :)

We walked in, and a volunteer asked us if we were interested in free wine samples.  We were very interested and went into a barracks building (or some such old historical fort thing) where they were giving out free wine.  Nice.

Then food.  The food at Field Trip was provided by TUM (Toronto Underground Market) which is basically a bunch of yummy restaurants/vendors from around the city.  Oh and there were food trucks too.  So much to choose from.  I had some cheese/potato pierogies for lunch, and then had some amazing gelato.  I chose three flavours, but the root beer gelato blew me away.

After being feed, we picked up our Amsterdam beer passport and got all of our samples.  After that, we picked up some of the special Field Trip IPA for the show, and headed to watch Jason Collett perfom on the Garrison Commons stage (which was the larger of the two stages).  He was great, as he always is.  I loved when Amy Millan from Stars came up for a couple of songs.  Jason Collett is someone I've been seeing since my university days on the TO music scene, so it's always happy nostalgia for me to see him again.

We then headed over to the smaller Fort York stage for Cold Specks.  She was great.  After her, we took a break for some shopping (I got a Field Trip tote bag!) and to wander around more.  Then it was back to the big stage for Hayden, who I've been a fan of since I was sixteen.  That's where we had to split up for awhile.  My buddy Matt headed to the autograph tent to get Dan Mangan to sign his CD, but I wanted to listen to Hayden.  I'm glad that I did because he never disappoints.  I have so many good memories linked with his music.

After Hayden we got more food to enjoy with Bloc Party.  I don't follow them, but they were very enjoyable.  Stars were on next, and Matt and I spent time comparing how many times we've seen Stars over the past year (Me - 5; Matt - 3).  We couldn't believe the embarrassment of riches at this show; we actually had to leave Stars a couple minutes early so we could get a good spot at the little stage for Dan Mangan.

Here we are waiting for Dan.  The best part of waiting for Dan was when I ran to the washroom, came back and couldn't find Matt and he had been sitting right beside where I was standing.  I can't find people when they are sitting apparently.

And here's Dan!  He put on a great show, as he always does.  Nothing's better than singing along to Robots on a cool-ish summer day.  (The weather was perfect BTW; cool and cloudy for the most part so you weren't sweating to death.)

After Dan, we walked over to the big stage for Feist.  Last year I'd flown to Winnipeg to see Feist with Matt, and this year it was the reverse.  I guess next summer we'll have to see Feist again too!

Feist was great, as usual.  She's grown out her bangs and looks really different without them.  My favourite thing about seeing Feist live is how much she changes her songs when she plays them live.  Her live versions of 1-2-3-4 and Sea Lion Woman are amazing.  Yay Feist!  Here's Feist on stage from very far away.

A reunited-for-one-night-only Broken Social Scene were the headliners.  This was an anniversary party for Arts & Crafts records, and BSS's "You Forgot It In People" was the record that got it all started.  Hearing them play that record in its entirety is definitely one of my favourite concert experiences ever.  They played an awesome selection of songs after YFIIP too: Superconnected, 7/4 Shoreline, Fire Eye'd Boy, Texico Bitches, and closed with the instrumental Meet Me in the Basement.  It was an awesome show.

Broken Social Scene is probably the most Toronto of band, A&C is probably the most Toronto of record labels, and this was definitely the Toronto festival of the summer.  It was awesome.  So much of me really hopes that Field Trip becomes an annual event.  :)  But, if not, thank goodness for this year.  It was really amazing.  Hats off to all of the organizers of this event.

Prom is less stress when you are in your thirties and just a chaperone.

I'm going to prom tomorrow night.  After taking last year off.

I got my nails done tonight (light aqua blue) and I managed to pull together a pretty great outfit out of my closet.  Cheap dress from H&M, wide belt that I bought in France a few years ago, and coral heels from Le Chateau.  Lots of silver jewelry.  And, thankfully it's unseasonably cool here in Toronto so I can wear black stockings with my dress... otherwise it might be too short for a school function.

Seriously, I'm super excited for this outfit.  I'll have to get a picture.

It's so much less work than my own prom, I tell you.

Post-Script

I have now found something that I am excited about MORE than my outfit.  Teaser for NEKO CASE'S new album.  I have been waiting for this with a glacier's patience.

Countdown is On

7 more instructional days.  That's 7 x 3 = 21 more classes to teach.

Sets of marking to complete = seems infinite, but I'll get there.

Exams to photocopy = 70

Exams to proctor = 3

Proms to attend = 1

Extracurricular year-end-parties to organize = 2

Classroom to clean = 1

Desks to clean = 1

Year-end-tasks = lots

Graduations = 1

P.D. days = 1

Still a lot, but I'll get there, right?

So meet me by the river, let's go for a ride.

I went almost two months without going to a concert. For most people, that's probably normal.  Or, it's even a short time in between shows. For me, that's a dry spell.

I didn't realize how much I missed a good show until last night.  I made a last minute decision to go see Young Galaxy at Lee's Palace.  They're not even a band that I'm overly familiar with, but I got a chance to listen to their excellent new album "Ultramarine" a few times before the show.

They blew me away in concert.  Man, what a great find.

And, as soon as they were playing their first song, I felt a dormant part of me wake up.  I think the time in between shows for me has been a little bit rough: I've been really busy with work, and I've also been feeling a little bit off as a result a negative even at the beginning of April.

However, watching a band made me feel like myself.  It was like "yeah, stuff will be OK as long as there's live music and beer".  It's so weird how live music brings me back in touch with me, but it does like nothing else. 

June's going to be super awesome: my dream concert is a week today.  Field Trip is Arts & Crafts Records 10th anniversary show and Hayden, Dan Mangan, Stars, Broken Social Scene, and Feist will all be there.  Broken Social Scene announced today that they are playing the album "You Forgot It In People" from front-to-back for this show.  I am so excited.

I also have the Postal Service coming up, and I might check out some stuff for NXNE too.  Other than music, I have some end-of-school-year parties coming up, and I just have a feeling that June is going to be a great month.

My favourite song from Young Galaxy's new album is "New Summer" and I think it sums up how I'm feeling going into that season.

#BEDM - One Whole Month

Getting my last "Blog Every Day in May" just in under the wire.  (Gotta leave here soon for a rock show too.)

Well, I made it!  I missed out on three of the topics last weekend when I went camping, but 28/31 is a pretty good score.

Thanks to Rosalilium for creating this challenge.  Hundreds of bloggers participated.  It was great having a focused topic to write on every day.  However, it was challenging to find time to write every day.  Also, I wish I had time to read more of other bloggers' #BEDM posts like I did at the beginning of the month, but man, May is a busy time.

My favourite post was the one that I wrote about pets.  I'd forgotten that I had such an interesting pet history growing up!  It was really fun to look back at my childhood again.  I definitely want to take some more time to remember and reflect upon growing up in a small Ontario town in the 80s/90s.  Fun things happened.

So now it's back to my regular blogging schedule: whenever I feel like it/have time.  I'd definitely like to do something like #BEDM in the future, but will enjoy going back to freedom.  :)

#BEDM - Who Inspires You?

1) My Mom: I think I've shared this before, but my mom has multiple sclerosis.  She inspires me because despite the fact that she's had this awful chronic illness for 33 years, she always has a positive outlook, and doesn't get down on life.  I need to keep this mind when I get all emo about my silly problems.  I wish I could be half as optimistic as my mom.

2) My colleague-friends: I'm lucky that I have a close circle of friends at work who are amazing teachers.  We joke about starting a super school together.  Anyway, it's truly inspiring to work with such a committed group of educators who are "here for the right reasons" to borrow a quote from the Bachelor/Bachelorette.

3) My students: Today was student council election day, and, as always, I am inspired by students who are brave enough to go up in front of their peers and run for student government.  It's not only student council kids who inspire me.  I'm inspired by so many of my students for other reasons.  Those who persevere despite enormous challenge, and those who are kind and giving. 

#BEDM - Morning Ritual

Today's Blog Every Day in May topic is morning rituals:  "What do you do every morning to help you get ready for the day ahead?"

My mornings are ritualistic, and they are dull.

The first part consists of a few hits of the snooze button, usually with me getting up once during the snoozing to give the treat monster (Rilo) some treats because she'll be poking and meowing at me.  At least I don't *really* need an alarm clock.

After that, it's breakfast: most likely plain Greek yogurt with stevia sweetener, berries (today was blueberries) and almonds. 

Then it's a shower, get dressed, dry hair, do makeup, pack bag out door.

If I've timed everything properly and there are no transit delays, I'll have time to stop for coffee on my way to work.  That's the most important step, and man, it's a rough day if I miss out on that.  Caffeine is the ultimate day maker.

#BEDM - Bad Advice

"What's the worst advice you have ever received?"

Unlike yesterday's topic, this is a topic that I have an answer for right away.

My worst advice came from my high school guidance counselor.

I didn't frequent guidance much in high school.  I could figure out all of my course selections on my own, and even though I had some problems in life (who didn't?), I would have never felt comfortable to talk to someone in guidance about them.  (Although in retrospect, as an educator, I really wish that teenaged me would have felt comfortable talking to a caring adult about things going on her life.)  However, when it came to the university application process, I realized that I did need some guidance and made an appointment.

My question was simple: which college at the University of Toronto should I apply to?  I didn't even really understand U of T's college system.  Basically, since U of T is a ginormous school, it's divided up into seven colleges.  All your college really determines is which registrar's office you go to, and where you'll live in residence (if you live in residence).  However, since I didn't understand that back then, off to guidance I went.

I was called down to guidance during my Algebra & Geometry class.  My guidance counselor asked how he could help me, so I asked him the above question: which college at the University of Toronto should I apply to?

"Hold on there!" he exclaimed "You are asking too many questions at once!"

Hmmm, I thought to myself, I counted only one question there.

He proceeded to ask me about all of my career plans and what other universities I had applied to.  I had the rest of this all figured out.  I told him that I was leaning towards applying to U of T's pharmacy program after completing one year of Life Sciences, and therefore I wanted to go to U of T.  I had also applied to two smaller universities, because you could apply to three schools.

Even though I had a pretty decisive and well-thought out path, I recall him taking out all of these career flashcards and asking me if I'd considered these paths.  Seriously, I remember sitting there for a good ten minutes where he'd hold up a flashcard that said "construction worker" and I'd reply no.  Then, "marine biologist" and I'd say "maybe".  It went on and on.

After this exercise, he agreed that it seemed like I was interested in a career related to science.  He asked me the schools I was applying to, and then pulled up my marks on his computer.  My high school marks were quite good.  I don't think there was any school that I wouldn't get into.  However, he was glad that I had a "safety" school on my list, just in case. 

Then, he looked at me (and this is where the bad advice comes in) and said "Listen, Christine, I know you well." 

This was clearly untrue.  First of all, no one who calls me Christine (unless it's a joke) knows me well.  Secondly, this was our first conversation ever.

"And since I know you so well," he continued, "I think that you should go to a small school.  Maybe one of the colleges at the University of Waterloo would suit you.  You are quiet and you have a small circle of friends.  You would get lost at massive school like the University of Toronto.  I went there.  I know.  I hate not recommending my alma matter to a student, but I think it would be a bad choice for you."

I believe I just looked at him blankly.  I knew my plans.  45 minutes of math class gone and still no answer to my question.

"But, you can still apply there if you want and see what happens.  But don't go there.  If you do apply, choose St. Mike's as your college.  That was my college."

Finally, after missing 46 minutes of my math class, my question was answered.

I did not take his advice, and I went to the University of Toronto, and I loved it.   You know what?  I am a quiet-ish person with at least a medium-sized circle of friends and I LOVED U of T.  I met some of my closest friends there.  I have to admit that I actually liked the hugeness of the campus: I could just be myself and sort of get lost in the crowd.  After growing up in a small town, it's nice to be able to get lost in a crowd.  I liked that not everyone knew me as "the smart girl" or "the geeky girl" or whatever, nor did they pester me for help/answers and I could just do my work, succeed and get on with it.  I had no problems meeting friends.  I have many friends from U of T to this day.

I am very glad that I did not listen to that advice.  When I was a kid/teenager, all of my dreams revolved around myself living in the city.  However, lots of people (friends, family, and clueless guidance counselors) feared that I would not make it.  Well, I did.

Who knows what would have happened if I'd clung to smallness, familiarity, and comfort?  I definitely would have not been who I am today and I like who I am today.

However, to my clueless guidance counselor's credit, I am glad that I listened to him and chose St. Mike's as my college.  If I hadn't, I would have never been randomly placed in a residence room with my dear Becca T.  What would life be like without my BFF?

I guess that's a lesson: with bad advice, sometimes comes good advice.  You just have to be able to sort it all out.