Hibernation, Cross-Border Shopping, Superbowl, and Snowmagddon

It's been a busy long weekend of sorts for me.

I worked really hard last week to get all of my exams marked, semester one wrapped up, and stuff ready for semester two, so that I could work from home on Friday.  This was great.  I didn't leave my house at all that day.

On Saturday, even though our dollar is low, a couple of friends and I went cross border shopping in Buffalo.  I didn't buy very much, other than a bunch of groceries at Trader Joe's.  The highlight was going to a diner called Grover's, which was apparently features on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and had the most insane ginormous burgers ever.  I think I am still full.

Sunday ended up being a rather fun day.  I ended up going for drinks with the same person both before and after the Superbowl, and during the game I ran some errands, but did take time to watch Katy Perry's sharktastic performance.  I have to admit that I might be suffering from a slight hangover today, and I'm super tired, but that's okay.

Today is the start of a new semester, but it's a bit of a fizzle.  We got a lot of snow overnight, and it was still coming down this morning.   My commute to work was awful, and I got in a couple minutes late which didn't matter because classes did not start on time.  When they did start, they were half empty, so I ended up having a light watered-down day one since I didn't want to do anything too important that I'd just have to repeat tomorrow.  I'd love to go home early today, but I have a meeting after school, so I am procrastinating and drinking tea instead.

March Break Booked!

In typical Christielli-fashion, it was a concert that was the impetus for me to actually plan something.

I had been planning to use my March Break to visit all of my pals in Vancouver: Becca T, Wes, & Rawbean (and I'm also hoping to make it to Victoria to see Jabba).  I was dawdling because well, I didn't want to think about the cost of a flight etc etc.

Then today, my #1 crush Hayden tweeted an article about his new song, which also had a listing of his upcoming shows, including one in Vancouver DURING MY MARCH BREAK. He's playing w Dan Mangan, and I am seeing them in Toronto at the end of February.  I bought those tickets way back in August when I was eating delicious Indian food at Claire's place in London.

Anyway, this concert would be a great show for Becca T and I because we both love Dan, and I used to drag her to Hayden shows all the time in university.

So, I booked a flight, and booked the show.  And within a span of 1.5 hours, now Wes is joining us for the show, and Rawbean and I will visit Jen in Victoria on Sunday.

This is all shaping up to be a lot of fun!

First Concert of the Year.

I had a super fun weekend, which I needed after last week which didn't start out the greatest.

On Friday, I went to the mall with Mathew because he had to return a bunch of things, which I made fun of him for.  Then we saw the movie "Selma" which was very powerful.  I haven't seen many of the films that have been nominated, but I can't help thinking this one was so powerful and important that it should definitely get more recognition.  Also, I think EVERYONE should see it.

Before my I went out on Friday, my friend Paul messaged me to see if I wanted to see a concert on Saturday night with him: Elliott Brood & The Wilderness of Manitoba.  I was happy that I was free and able to go to the show. They are both bands that I've seen before and enjoy live, even though I haven't kept up with their albums. Also, I hadn't been to a show with my friend Paul since the summer; it seemed like all of the fall concerts conflicted with his work/travel schedules.  It was great to reconnect with a friend, and live music.  It's been two months since I've been to a show!

I always feel like myself most at shows.  It's weird, but live music puts me in such a great space that it's vital for my mental health.  Even though I'm one of the most logical, methodical people you'll meet, I have a huge creative side that loves the arts whether it be music, literature, film, or visual arts.  I think the arts in general bring me the closest to my spiritual side than anything else on earth, and they are essential to my well-being.  As soon as the first band hit the stage, I felt re-centred and oh-so-better about everything.  Elliott Brood were great because they closed the curtain in between sets, and opened up to a stage filled with balloons and lights.  It was a magical evening.

Today was a nice day because I was able to catch up with other friends over brunch and dinner.  Just as art centres me, so does friendship, and I'm lucky to have a life rich in both.

Teaching is Ridiculous.

On Monday, I had a little bit of a bad day, and it soured my mood for the next couple of days afterward.

However, yesterday out of the blue I got an email from a former student wishing me happy belated new year and asking me how I was doing.  In my reply, I told her that her email really brightened my day.  She replied back to me updating me on her life in university and how yesterday she just had a feeling that she needed to email her favourite teachers from high school. Awwwww.

As I read her email I thought that it's kind of ridiculous that I get paid money to form these awesome relationships with the students I teach.  It's so rewarding that I get paid a healthy salary to make an impact on lives, and in return, such an impact is made on my own life.  I estimate that I've probably taught almost one thousand students at this point in my career, which is rather awesome.

Anyway, I need to keep this in mind next time I'm frustrated over the enormity of my marking pile*, a jammed photocopier, kids not doing their homework, a slow computer, a busted electrical fuse, a dusty chalkboard ledge that makes me sneeze, extra pointless paperwork, a grumpy colleague, and all of the other little things I complain about way too often.

*My marking pile is actually non-existent right now.  I finished marking all of the term work for this semester. Next week is exams, which is a bit of a break.  Woo-hoo!  A guilt-free work-free weekend!

Don't Let People Mess You Around.

Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" is a pretty good anthem for when people have got you down.  Very 2014.

However, I have realized that my ultimate feel-good anthem is Sloan's "If It Feels Good, Do It". Very 2000.

I have been listening to this song for years and years, and I don't think I ever even realized that it was about shaking it off, until recently. I really just listened to it without thinking, but now it's become my go-to when someone's messing me around.



Also, the video is freakin' awesome. (Note: there's another longer more artsy version with people talking about rock 'n roll, which I like, but today I'm in the mood for the song straight through.) 

I love the crowd jumping around and their energy.

I love the scissor kicks and guitar-shredding in time to the lights.

I love the "Sloooooo-oooooan" chant in the middle of the song.

I love how the song takes me back to when I was in university, and I had nothing better to than study, cause hijinks with my friends, and obsessively listen to this song.

I low how this song is ultimately an ode to rock 'n roll, yet at the same time really is about being true to yourself.  The line "you can't wear your heart on your sleeve, if you're just going to leave" is one of my favourites, and I wish I could quote it to people all of the time, but just not enough people out there are up on their Sloan.

Anyway, it's one day past Blue Monday, the supposedly mathematically-calculated most depressing day of the year, and I was having an okay one, until somebody messed me around, but you know what, I'm not going to let them, because I'm just going to listen to Sloan instead.  And maybe some T. Swift too.

Lines.

The other day I was looking at myself in the bathroom mirror.  I can't remember why, other than I was lost in thought at the moment.  I was surprised to notice a deep vertical line right beside the inside of my left eyebrow, which was pulled down at the moment.

I relaxed my eyebrow to its regular position, and the vertical line was still there, although less pronounced.

I started thinking about this line, and noticed my left eyebrow going back down on my face.  Then it hit me: I have a wrinkle from thinking! I have never noticed this before, but when I am thinking, I scrunch up my left eyebrow, and this action has lead to a permanent crease on my forehead.

I'm almost 35, and I haven't worried too much about wrinkles yet. I don't own any anti-wrinkle creams, because I am very skeptical that they even work. I'll admit that my skincare regime is best described as low-key, whereas perhaps some may say it's straight out negligent.

However, I've always believed that it's working for me since I often get compliments on my skin.  One day I was talking to one of my VPs and she stopped mid sentence and said "you have beautiful skin... What do you do?" I thanked her and admitted that I don't do anything special.  I wash it, throw on some moisturizer as needed and that's that.  And it seems to be working, I guess.

But this thinking wrinkle...

As I was staring at this line on my face, I remembered something that I read recently on the celebrity gossip site that I frequent (guilty pleasure = dlisted.com). Kim Kardashian had stated that she tries to smile as little as possible because it causes wrinkles. (Although what about duck faces, Kim?)

What a sad statement, I thought, which reflects how messed up our society is.  We are so obsessed with looking youthful that a woman will willing admit that she tries not to make the best facial expression out there that signifies joy, makes you look better, and actually makes you psychologically feel better.

Smile lines should be battle scars that anyone should be proud of.  They say "fuck yeah! I've had lots of fun and laughter and happiness in my life and I'm proud of it!" Really, people should want smile and laugh lines at as young an age as possible because it means you've lived well and with happiness.

Which brings me back to my thinking line.  As I stood there thinking about it (and cementing it further on my face no doubt) I realized this thing on my face is a battle scar hard-earned by all of the planning, calculating, writing, creating, problem-solving, reading, reflecting, hypothesizing, wondering and thinking that I have done over my almost 35 years of life.  I'll keep it, thank you very much.  And I'm going to be proud of any lines on my face because it means, that I have lived, goddammit.

On track (ish).

Last week I was maybe getting a B- on my new year's resolution of being healthier.  I was rocking the healthy eating, made it to the gym on Tuesday, but then started feeling sick and congested and could not bring myself to exercise on Wednesday.

During the weekend, I felt worse, hibernated indoors and ate some garbage, which definitely brought my overall mark down to failing. However, I managed to get to the grocery store, buy healthy food for the week, and I've rocked the healthy eating again this week.  Even better, I made it to the gym on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and feel awesome.  I did some weight training yesterday and I feel sore and I'm so happy because I missed the feeling of the after effects of a good workout.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy that a crappy first week of resolution did not knock me down.  I'm often really hard on myself if I'm not feeling well.  All weekend I was internally berating myself for being lazy, but now that I have a clearer head, I realize that no, I was actually not feeling well and that's okay.

This week, I'm pretty high energy and have been getting lots of shit done at work and even feel like my workload is under control.  Awesome.

Not only that,  my place is relatively clean, I got my nails done, went out for drinks with my friend Joanna Go9 who was in town for a convention, and registered for the Sporting Life 10K in May.

I think the moral of this story is to remind myself that sometimes I do need to rest and recuperate, and that's okay.

Random Pointless Post

Wow the January blues have come at me fast and furious and earlier than usual this year.

This time of year is always super busy at work.  One semester is ending, and I'm trying to cram a few more concepts into the kids' heads, while trying to catch up on marking and write/prep my final exams. All while it is bone chillingly cold outside.

This weekend I was supposed to write an exam, and catch up on my marking but what I did instead was hibernate and finish reading two books.  However, I stayed late today at school and got so much done. I grudgingly have to admit that I am far more productive at work than I am home, probably it's because I have the motivation of that when I complete my task I can leave the building and go home.  When I'm home, I'm already home and I don't have that push.  I think that I need to put a few more hours in at work, as opposed to dragging my marking around all the time and not doing it.  Sigh.

Anyway, that was boring.  Let me think about what else is going on these days.

I was running some errands this evening, and a dude at the checkout near me at Shopper's gave me his Optimum Points.

I have started watching this season of The Bachelor because apparently I hate my brain cells and want to kill them.

I should probably do a book review post because I've read three already this year.  All involve mysteries and death.

Nerd confession: my Lego sources told me about a set of Lego songbirds and I bought it online and they arrived tonight. It's completely geeky but they'll look good on my windowsill.

After 21 days, behaviours become habits, right?

Or that's what I tell myself as I rather grudgingly force myself to be better.  Hopefully after 21 days I'll remove the words grudgingly and force from that sentence.

In a way though, re-capturing my good habits from 2013 and the first half of 2014 feel like slipping into an old comfy sweater.  Sunday night veggie chopping session? Check. Healthy lunch and gym bag packed before I go to bed? Check.  Dishes washed? Check. Settling in my bed before11 pm... well, I'm working on it.

I also have to work on not being frustrated with myself and berating myself.  I worked really hard for a year-and-a-half and felt so much stronger, healthier, and happier.  But for whatever reason, exhaustion, a touch of depression, boredom, stress, or just sheer laziness, I let it slip away.  A week's break became a month, and then more.

However, I'm relying on muscle memory to get me back on track.  The planning, chopping, and organization feel like old friends that are returning to me.  I'm a creature of routine.  Once I make taking care of myself routine again, I'll be heading in the right direction.

My favourite 2014 albums

I always enjoy compiling my favourite music from a year gone by.  Whenever I read top album lists in my favourite music magazines, blogs, and newspapers, I always feel appalled on how much music I miss out in a year, but man, the older I get, the harder it is to keep up with all of the things I'm interested in, on top of having a job.  

My favourite albums aren't all necessarily "the best" (not that you can really compile music into a list based on merit; it's so subjective), but they are the albums that made up the soundtrack of my life during the year.

In 2014, there were really great new albums put out by Beck, Jenny Lewis, The New Pornographers, Andrew MacMahon in the Wilderness, and Damien Rice that are definitely worth a listen in my opinion.  Also, I just recently bought the album by Canadian band Alvvays, and it's excellent.  (It made a lot of top ten lists that I read at the end of the year.) But since I'm just getting into right now (in 2015), I can't fit it into my list.  But you should check it out!  The song Archie Will You Marry Me? is a definite earworm.

And now onto my list..

10) 1989 - Taylor Swift  I think almost everyone came out in 2014 as a Swift fan because of this super fun pop effort.  When someone besmirches you, Shake It Off, is the perfect song.  I unabashedly enjoy this entire album and feel no shame for including this pop gem on my top ten list.

9) Strange Desire - Bleachers This side project by Fun's Jack Antonoff was an excellent soundtrack to the summer of 2014.  Wild Heart and Rollercoaster are the standout songs for me, and I also love the guest appearances by Grimes and Yoko Ono.  If you like electronic pop with an indie flair, check out Bleachers.

8) Little Machines - LIGHTS Again in the electronic pop veins, Canada's LIGHTS puts out yet another strong album (I was a fan of her previous album Siberia).  I also got to see her live at the Danforth Music Hall, and she's definitely can put on a great live show that showcases her songs.

7) St. Vincent - St. Vincent I love this album.  Even though it came out early in the year, I rediscovered it December and had it on heavy repeat.  Usually when I'm listening to this album, all I can think is that St. Vincent kicks ass.

6) LP - Twin Forks Twin Forks is the newest band of Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba.  Not only did I see them three times, I had this LP on heavy repeat throughout the year.  I have it on vinyl, which is beneficial because this album has a sides A & B with vastly different feels.  Side A consists of fun, bluegrassy sing-alongs, whereas the songs on side B are a bit darker and more brooding.

5) Commonwealth - Sloan Sloan is going strong after being together for more than twenty years.  Commonwealth is a creatively interesting album; each of the four sides of this album features songs by each of the members of Sloan.  Side A are Jay Ferguson songs, Side B are Chris Murphy songs, Side C are Patrick Pentland songs, and Side D is one very long (18 minutes) Andrew Scott song.  I'm definitely a fan of Jay's songs the most; Side A is pure perfection.  I'm a fan of sides B & C too, and I even have a spot in my heart for the sprawling insanity of Side D because it features a throwback to one of my all-time favourite Sloan songs, Delivering Maybes.  

4) We Loved Her Dearly - Lowell I saw Lowell briefly at Field Trip this year, and liked her performance, and I was pleasantly surprised at how strong this album is.  Some songs are pure pop gems, like Cloud 69 and Summertime, whereas Words are the Wars and I Killed Sara V. are heartbreaking and beautiful.  Lowell is a young artist on Arts & Crafts, and I can't wait to hear what she releases next.

3) Second Sight - Hey Rosetta! Newfoundland's Hey Rosetta! always impresses with me with their albums, and their latest is no exception.  It's one of those albums you can just throw on, and each song stands out in its own right.  I'm really looking forward to seeing them play these songs live when I see them open for Stars twice in February.

2) No One is Lost - Stars According to my LastFM statistics, Stars is the band that I listen to the most by far.  Why? Because every two years they release a pop noir masterpiece.  The cover of their latest album has the name emblazoned in neon lights with an image of a roller-coaster, and many of the songs have a deliberate disco feel to them.  Album opener From the Night, and the title track are both fun and heartbreaking at the same time.  Stars are one of those bands that keep putting out great music album after album.

1) Darlings - Kevin Drew This album is hands down my #1 album of 2014 because I listened to it so consistently month after month.  For me, 2014 will be forever linked with songs like Body Butter, Bullshit Ballad, You Gotta Feel It and You In Your Were.  When it comes to the Broken Social Scene catalogue, I've always gravitated towards Kevin Drew's sweeping dramatic vocals, and obviously this album showcases his songwriting and musicianship.  I'm just sad that I wasn't able to catch him play this album live, and my fingers are crossed that maybe he'll do some local 2015 shows.

What were your favourite albums of the year?

2014 Reading List

For my archives...

My goal in 2014 was to read 35 books, and I read 40 in total (counting my re-read of Gone Girl).

• 39) Ugly Girls - Lindsay Hunter (excellent)
• 38) An Untamed State - Roxane Gay (excellent)
• 37) Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay (amazing)
• 36) Yes Please - Amy Poehler (amazing)
• 35) The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriarty (OK)
• 34) My Salinger Year - Joanna Rakoof (good)
• 33) Not That Kind of Girl - Lena Dunham (okay)
• 32) I'd Know You Anywhere - Laura Lippman (good)
• REREAD: Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
• 31) The Weight of Blood - Laura McHugh (quite good)
• 30) Petals on the Wind - V.C. Andrews (an epic of awful)
• 29) Trust Your Eyes - Linwood Barclay (decent thriller))
• 28) Before We Met - Lucie Whitehouse (decent thriller)
• 27) The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith (rather good)
• 26) Landline - Rainbow Rowell (not as good as her others)
• 25) The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin (amazing!)
• 24) Where She Went - Gayle Forman (good)
• 23) Attachments - Rainbow Rowell (very pleasant & sweet)
• 22) Summer Home With Swimming Pool - Herman Koch (ugh)
• 21) If I Stay - Gayle Forman (good)
• 20) Reconstructing Amelia - Kimberly McCreight (I had issues w this book)
• 19) Maya's Notebook - Isabel Allende (good)
• 18) We Were Liars - E. Lockhart (excellent summer read)
• 17) All Fall Down - Jennifer Weiner (quite good)
• 16) Flowers in the Attic - V.C. Andrews (trashy throwback)
• 15) Mr. Mercedes - Stephen King (good)
• 14) Mrs. Hemingway - Naomi Wood (very good)
• 13) Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell (excellent!)
• 12) What Kind Of Mother Are You? - Paula Daly (good)
• 11) Magnified World - Grace O'Connell (Toronto book!)
• 10) Under the Wide and Starry Sky - Nancy Horan (good)
• 9) After Her - Joyce Maynard (okay)
• 8) Return to Love - Marianne Williamson (very good)
• 7) Secret Shared - L. Marie Adeline (meh)
• 6) Labor Day - Joyce Maynard (quite good)
• 5) Crazy Town - Robyn Doolittle (page turner)
• 4) The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd (amazing)
• 3) Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alchol - Ann Dowsett Johnston (very well written)
• 2) Burial Rites - Hannah Kent (quite good)
• 1) The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion (cute)

If I had to pick my five favourite books that I read in 2014, they would be:

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd - This book is about Sarah Grimke, who becomes a feminist abolitionist in 19th century America.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - A heart-wrenching teenage love story set in the 1980s.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - A gothic YA novel with a twist.

Yes Please by Amy Poehler - If you don't already love Poehler, you will after reading her book.

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay - An excellent and thought-provoking collection of essays on feminism, race, gender, pop culture, power, and privilege by a woman who is fast becoming one of my favourite writers, tweeters, and GoodReads friend.

Did you read any standout books in 2014?

2014 Concerts

For my archives.

A lean year for me; only 14 shows, and two were actually Hawksley Workman's one-man play.  I counted them as shows, because they felt that way to me.

Every show was really awesome though.  I managed to see Twin Forks three times, The Constantines twice, Sloan twice, and The National (or part of the band) twice.  Pretty good year.

• Nov 29th - Sloan @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
• Nov. 7th - Twin Forks @ Lee's Palace
• Oct 26th - LIGHTS @ Danforth Music Hall
• Oct 25 - Dream Serenade with Hayden, Feist, The National and more @ Massey Hall
• Oct. 3rd - The Constantines @ Danforth Music Hall
• Sept 13th - The God That Comes by Hawksley Workman @ The Stratford Festival
• July 8th - Twin Forks @ The Horseshoe Tavern
• July 6th - TURF w Neutral Milk Hotel, Jenny Lewis, Twin Forks, and more @ Fort York/Garrison Commons
• June 29th - The God That Comes by Hawksley Workman @ Tarragon Theatre (This is a play, but I'm counting it.)
• June 8th - Field Trip with Broken Social Scene @ Fork York/Garrison Commons
• June 5th - Sloan @ The Art Gallery of Ontario
• May 9th - Neko Case @ Massey Hall
• April 10th - The National @ Massey Hall
• Feb 19th - Blue Rodeo @ Massey Hall

Still, pretty good year.

I'm sitting here, home, after a very nice low-key New Year's.  I went out for dinner at a yummy Thai restaurant with my friends Elaine & Vern, went to see a movie (Into the Woods), and then had some New Year's drinks.  The movie ended exactly at 12 am, which was perfect for everyone in the theatre to shout "happy new year!"

Now I've got a record on, my little Christmas tree lit up, a glass of red wine, and a candle burning.

Whenever I reflect on a year that passed by, the song "Pretty Good Year" by Tori Amos pops into my head.  I think it sums up 2014 perfectly.  (Also, I didn't listen to nearly enough Tori in 2014.)



I accomplished some cool things in 2014.  I think I'm most proud of the half marathon that I ran in May. (And the two 10Ks and three 5Ks I ran too.)  However, that victory is a double-edged sword in that I burned out in the fitness area for the last half of 2014, and I feel that I need to re-commit to my health in 2015.  I miss running and training; my goals for 2015 are to train for a decent 5K in April, a 10K in May, and be back into half marathon shape by October.

On the travel side of things, 2014 was amazing.  London/Paris, St. Louis, my awesome solo Europe train trip (Prague, Vienna, Munich and Brussels) that finished with Claire's wedding in London, Florida, and Montreal.  I especially enjoyed the challenge and freedom of traveling by myself.  It worked out perfectly too since I met up with a friend in Brussels, and was of course surrounded by friends in London.  It was a great combo of being alone and happy, meeting up with friends, and exploring new places.

When it came to friends, 2014 was definitely the year of the wedding, and allowed me to celebrate with lots of friends.  I was a bridesmaid in two weddings, both which were great experiences (wearing the same dress too).  I also got to see a lot of faraway friends this year too.  I visited with my pals Matt from Winnipeg, AlieMalie from Missouri, Wes from Vancouver, and Claire from London on *two* occasions each which were awesome.  Also, I spent a lot of time with my good old pals from home.

Another notable thing from 2014 was baseball.  My pal Mathew totally helped me rekindle my childhood love of the Jays; it was helped by the fact the team had an outstanding month of May that raised hope for the rest of the season, and the fact that we went to a lot of games thanks to our flex packs.  I sit here now actually counting the days until Opening Day.

Professionally, I end another year being thankful for my job and how I am consistently blessed with lovely classes and students that I work with on extracurricular activities.  I celebrate ten years at my school in November.  My friend Elaine, also a teacher, commented on how I'm one of the happiest, most upbeat teachers that she knows, and I'm really thankful that I work in a community where I can stay inspired in a very challenging career. 

As I write all of this, I think that heck, 2014 was indeed a pretty good year, but I do know that I felt a little bit down and blah during maybe the last four months of the year.  However, I am optimistic for 2015, and I'm pretty sure that if I can return to a consistent exercise schedule and eating better, I'll feel better in 2015.  I also want to commit to having phone/Skype/Facetime convos more often with friends in the new year because I feel that social media gives the illusion that we are connected to our friends, but I could use more actual conversations with my friends.  I think that would also help alleviate any blahs.

So goodbye 2014, you were pretty good, and hello to 2015 - I hope you're even better!  Happy 2015 to you too!

Post Christmas post.

I layed low while I was home for Christmas. I needed sleep, OJ, and movies.  I showed up for all obligatory events (group of 9 dinner, family dinner, Christmas Mass) but can't say I possessed enough energy to do much else.

I'm healthier now. I came back late last night and had a Simpsons marathon with friends today.

Now I'm up late browsing library ebooks.

I read two dark books over the holidays.  Excellent books, both of them, but dark dark subject material.  Sometimes I find there is a correlation with good writing and dark material.  I guess that's the price you pay if you are discerning about your literary fiction.

I'll write more later.  Am I descending into summer vampirism's little sister - Chrismas break vampirism?

Soft Offering (For the Oft Suffering)

This is the title of the first track of the new Hey Rosetta! album, Second Sight. I like the play on words, as I'm feeling a little oft suffering today. As soon as my holidays hit, I was hit with some sort of rattle in my lungs and fever.

Today I packed my suitcase for the holidays and dragged it to Union Station while bathed in a cold feverish sweat. I feel better now that I'm comfortablely ensconced in my seat with a Toblerone and a crappy paperback that I picked up at the train station news-stand. I actually don't think I can sleep anymore... I went to bed last night at 9 pm and slept on-and-off until 2 pm. That's how crappy I was feeling.

The last day of school was fun. The talent show went smoothly, we had a nice staff luncheon, and there was an after-hours incident with Italian moonshine that I'd really like to tell you about someday.

Before my sickness hit me, I did mange to make brunch w a friend and see the movie "Wild". Both were good. Hey: the Bier Markt has a really great brunch. For dessert you can get fresh donuts that you can dip into cappuccino creme sauce.

I did the "it's close to Christmas but no one's going to buy me a 3/4 length sleeve Tshirt with foxes on it" at Anthropologie after brunch.

Okay, time to read my shitty novel with my train coffee.

Is it Friday?

Montreal was super fun.  I had a great trip, and I even had time to relax, sleep in a little, and binge on Netflix.  The wedding was lovely, and I loved walking around snowy Montreal on Saturday evening with a group of friends that I don't see nearly often enough.  (It was an afternoon wedding.)  On Sunday, I spent the afternoon shopping, eating poutine, and exploring with my friend Gloria, and then I had a very pleasant train ride back.

This week is one of the hardest of the school year.  I'm checked out, the kids are checked out, but we still have to do work, especially with the end of the semester looming in January.  Tomorrow and Friday will be long days because I'm involved with student council who is planning the talent show.

I just can't wait until Friday and the holidays.

The sea is a good place to think of the future.

When I arrived yesterday in Florida, it was rainy and cool.  The skies were dark and gray.  It wasn't what I pictured.

There's a cold front here; but it's still warmer than it is back home, or so we told ourselves.  However, this afternoon, the Sun came out and everything felt better.  It was still cool-ish, but the sunshine makes all of the difference.  (I should have packed more sweaters; I never pack enough sweaters whenever I go somewhere where I'm convinced it will be warm - Florida, Kenya, Europe in the summertime.)

This afternoon, once I was free from conferences, I threw on my hoodie and my sandals and went down to the beach.  I had a little nap on a cabana chair, and then decided to walk up and down the beach.  The walk was lovely.  The water was cold, but after I took off my sandals and walked along the edge, I acclimatized and it started to feel warm.   I found a sand dollar and some nice seashells, saw some cool looking seabirds, and watched the sun set. 

There was a wine and cheese reception this evening, where each conference participant got two drink tickets, but because people knew/met people who didn't want their drink tickets, we ended up with many more than that.  We mad friends with some Americans, had tonnes of fun, and then went to a restaurant with a giant fish tank for dinner.

Now it's time for bed.  I hope the Sun shows up again tomorrow.

Colour me in.

This city's getting too small for me.

This all goes back to one of those shitty dating experiences that you are bound to experience if you are going through the torture that is dating in this day and age.

Back in September (the first day of school actually) I went on a really great first date with a guy with whom I had a scary amount of things in common.  Music.  Baseball.  Books.  Travel.  Lefty political leanings.  Social justice.  He'd even been to Kenya for crying out loud.

Anyway, at the end of the date, he asked me out for that weekend right away, and even texted me before I got home to reiterate that he'd had a good time.   We kept texting each other for the rest of the week.  However, come Saturday morning he texted me saying he was really sick with the flu, and could we reschedule for the next weekend.  Well, unfortunately I was out of town the following weekend, and a weeknight wouldn't work 'cuz he was out of town.

We kept texting tonnes during the interim, and finally when I was back from my weekend away, he asked me again to make plans for date #2.

Then I never heard from him again.  Yup, it went from "do you want to go out on Saturday?" to silence.

Crazy, huh?  But based upon the dating experience of other people I know, and my own, it's just a drop in the bucket.  Maybe he was a pathological liar or something, and I dodged that bullet.

Fast-forward to this Saturday when I'm waiting with my friend Sara to run a 5K race for charity.  I'd done the same race last year, and had a great time, so decided to do it again.  It's in my neighbourhood, and you get a Christmas-themed medal and a hotdog at the end.

As we're waiting, I remember that the race is for the charity that disappearing dude works for.  I tell my friend the story, with "I really hope I don't see him here," tacked onto the end.

We run the race, get our medals, and eat our hotdogs.  Before we head out, we decide we need to get our picture taken, because if you don't take a picture, it didn't happen, right?  (Ha-ha.)  We go back to the start/finish line to get our pictures taken, and ask some random guy to do the photography.  He's one of those that will take about ten pictures from different angles to ensure that you get a good shot.

After our pictures are done, I notice out of the corner of my eye that disappearing dude is at the start/finish line handing out medals. Ugh!  He could have totally given me my medal and I wouldn't have noticed.  When I get home, and look back at my pictures, he is in every single shot.  Talk about photobombing.  I spend about five good minutes cropping him out of every shot.  I'll admit, it was catharctic.

Anyway, I think that Toronto is getting too small when my bad dates show up in the background of my pictures.

***

I leave for Florida in the morning!  I'm trying to be excited but I really wish I was going with some of my close friends on this trip.  But alas, I am not.

After that, it's a weekend wedding in Montreal with my friends from university.  Even though that will be cold, I'm looking forward to the train ride (I love trains).  I haven't been to Montreal in forever, so I'm looking forward to doing some exploring.

Happy Monday to the rest of you!

Sloooooooooo-an, Christmas, Florida & Montreal

1) Sloooooooooo-an

On Saturday my friend Mathew, and some other friends by extension went to see Sloan on the final night of their Commonwealth tour.

As you all know, I am a huge Sloan fan.  I'm sure I could write hundreds of thousands of words on why I think they one of the greatest bands ever, but I won't bore you.  Let's just leave it at that I really really enjoyed their two-set show.  Yup, you read that correctly.  Sloan are so awesome that they open for themselves!

Highlights of the set for me included some gems from "Twice Removed": "I Hate My Generation" & "Worried Now".  I also loved "If It Feels Good, Do It" because that's an anthem to live by if there ever was one.

 

Bonus: I bought myself a super cute Sloan toque!  Of course, it ended up be 14 degrees today, so I couldn't really wear it.

2) Christmas Tree: I just finished putting mine up while listening to She & Him's Christmas record that I picked up in St. Louis back in May. 

3)  I'm being sent to Florida for work next week (Dec 8-11).  I'm being trained for our school's fledgling International Baccalaureate program.  I'll be in classes every day until 3:30 pm, but I'm hoping that the weather is nice so I can spend some time in the sunshine.  Then, as soon as I get back from that, I'm off to Montreal for a wedding.  Talk about crazy busy!

Tiptoe through our shiny city with our diamond slippers on.

Wow, what a fun weekend and so much random stuff to write about.  I think I'll just make a point form list.

• Visitors!  I got to spend some time with my dear pals Wes from Vancouver and Matt from Winnipeg.  There were art galleries, afternoon drinks, wedding guesting, brunches, new socks, record shopping, and a Gilmore Girls marathon involved.  So much fun.
  
• I went to my friend Katie's wedding with my faraway pals.  It was lovely and much fun.  Bring on the winter wedding season, I say.  (I have one more.)
  
• I finally found The National's "Boxer" and the Weakerthans' "Reconstruction Site" on vinyl.  At HMV of all places.
  
• Wes and I went to a Raptors' game on Monday and holy shit it was fun.  Did you know the Raptors are doing exceptionally well, and are at the top of their division?  Yes, a Toronto sports team is doing well.  Can they please not be like the Jays and actually manage to keep it going until the playoffs?  PLEASE.  I beg of you Drake, keep this going.  (Drake is the Raptors' celebrity ambassador and that's why I am beseeching him to keep the Raptors winning.  Also, I kind of like Drake.)
  
  Oh, they won too.  Raps 104, Suns 100.  Pretty close and really exciting.  I suspect this won't be my only basketball game this season.
  
• Speaking of sports, my baseball buddies (Mathew & Vic) and I have our 15-game passes ironed out for next season, and I'm going to complete the bobblehead trifecta again, I promise you all.  Great players this year are going to be passed out for free in bobblehead form: Bautista, Stroman and the new guy Martin.  Also isn't it funny how obsessions come out of nowhere and take a hold of me?  Two years ago I didn't really care about baseball, and now I'm a freak.
  
• Speaking of obsessions, Matt from Winnipeg got me hooked on what has become the most popular podcast ever: Serial (serialpodcast.org).  Go listen now and report back to me.  I would love to have an hour long conversation with someone about this podcast.
  
• I also love the new Taylor Swift album.  Yes, I know.

And that is all. :)

Nostalgia.

How do I write this post?  It's sort of a crazy stream of consciousness that went through my head through the past two days so I'll lay it out like that.

Yesterday I ran the Holly Jolly Run which is where people run the Santa Claus Parade route before the parade.  Then my friends and I TTCed up to Museum station to watch the parade from that area. 

Back in university, which was, oh shit, going on 15 years ago, my dear friend Becca T and I would take a study break on a Sunday and go watch the parade from that very spot.

Fastforward to present-day, where I'm in the same spot, with different friends, and I see the University of Toronto Engineering Marching Band go by, and then I remember the dreaded *other* Rebecca, who was in that marching band, lived in the same building as Becca T and I, and annoyed the hell out of me.  For the first few months, my Rebecca, the good one, did not like U of T, and was filling out transfer forms to go to the U of Ottawa.  I remember my fear that she'd leave, and the dreaded other Rebecca would ask me to be roommates the next year.  I would have to, for quite possibly the first time in my life, not be a nice person, and say no just to save my own sanity.

Luckily, and quite possibly because of its close proximity to fun things like the Santa Claus Parade, U of T finally grew on Becca and she stayed.  Incidentally, the dreaded other Rebecca moved out of our residence, so I wouldn't have had to be her roommate anyway.  I saw her a few times after that.  I remember once going for coffee with her and some of our friends and I mentioned that my goal was to become a teacher, and she scoffed at me, as if it was an inferior career suited to the lowliest of minds.  Ironically, the last time I ever saw the other Rebecca was when I got talked into joining the Faculty of Education broomball team in by BEd year.  We played against the engineering team, of which she was a part.  I don't remember the outcome of the game, but for the sake of narrative, let's just say it was a convincing win for the educators.

Anyhow, I left this year's parade a little bit early to walk through the part of campus where I lived for my university career (3 years in residence + 2 years in an apartment directly beside my old residence).  Things have changed; there's a giant condo going up across from my res in once used to be a parking lot, the residence itself seems to have shiny new windows, and the closest convenience store is now a coffee shop. 

However, the rest of the neighbourhood is the same. I can still vividly remember my first day at residence where the Residence Dean knocked on my door to tell me my new roommate, someone who I'd eventually find out is the good Rebecca, wouldn't be arriving until the next day.  I felt kind of flummoxed, since everyone else was unpacking their rooms and getting to know their roommates and there I was alone.

I had not brought thumbtacks with me.  Since I had extra time, I went to the mall across the street to buy some.  That felt like quite the adventure, and I can still picture how big, shiny, and cosmopolitan the downtown neighbourhood felt to a small-town kid like me.  And to think that was going to be my home for the next four years (at least).  Holy shit.

I returned with my thumbtacks to a flurry of activity in the room.  Somehow the mysterious absent roommate had arrived even though she wasn't supposed to, and her family was helping her unpack. Ahhh.  I introduced myself, most likely awkwardly, and set about hanging up pictures of my favourite bands.  When my roommate asked me who the bands, were, I was shocked and appalled that she didn't know, which I now tease her about all the time.  Becca was worried because all she knew of rock music was there was a band where the lead singer committed suicide, and she was afraid that I liked that band, and that it was a sign that I was potentially unbalanced.

Funny to think that two people who were first so apprehensive of each other became great friends for life.  And that I converted the girl who knew nothing about bands, into an awesome concert buddy.  In fact, once my friend Greg commented "it's so awesome that you two were randomly put in a room together.  You both love music so much!" Oh it wasn't always like that.

Just walking through the old neighbourhood brought back these memories, and then I started watching season 4 of Gilmore Girls where Rory goes to Yale, and once again, I started thinking about my fond memories.  Then, I entered into the downward internet spiral of "maybe I should get my master's!" etc. etc.  This all ended with me dragging my degrees out of my closest, and swearing that I should hang them up somewhere, and then digging out the silver medal I won as a graduation reward.  All of this reminds me that I am indeed smart, because I don't think that my university self could have predicted that one of the side of effects of adulthood is that you feel kind of dumb a lot of the time.  Weren't the degrees supposed to negate that feeling?  That's why I should hang those suckers up. And the medal too.

Yesterday I texted Becca T to tell her I was in the traditional standing spot for the parade.  She replied "remember the other Rebecca and the engineering band?" then proceeded to tell me how she was excited for the Twin Forks concert in Vancouver.  I love how things have changed, but they're still the same.

Oh, and you might be wondering why I'm still up so late on a school night.  I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow (well today) because the dreaded ugly chin rash from September has reappeared.  So I'll have to keep my chin up still, ha-ha.

Under Control.

Work is, at least.  I have all of the marking under control, and the planning aspect is under control thanks to the fact that I have someone else (student teacher) teaching 2/3 of my courses.  This momentary calmness will last another week, and then it will be back to normal.

I volunteered to "supervise"  boys' basketball practice on Thursday as a favour to my pal Nigel (who repaid me last Friday with the shaving cream high-five) and as a strategic move.  I figured that if I was forced to stay in the building an extra two hours every Thursday, I could dedicate that two hours to intensive marking, and hopefully stay more on top of things, and reduce the amount of homework that I have to do.  Well, since I'm on top of things, right now I'm chilling and blogging.

(Note: "supervise" refers to the fact they just need a certified teacher around.  There are very nice volunteer coaches who take care of all of the sports stuff.  I'm just sitting in an office right now.)

Anyway, it's nice to have my work life under control at the moment.  I should be using my time to start planning the new course I'm teaching next semester, or even working ahead on exams and such, but I feel that during this Thursday's forced stay at school, after blogging, I'm going to curl up with a book. 

Tomorrow is a PD day, so tonight kind of feels like Friday.  This weekend will be mostly chill I think.  I'm doing a run before the Santa Claus parade with my friend Sara.  It should be fun. 

I'm super excited because my friend Melly, from Winnipeg, told me last night she need a couch to crash on in Toronto on Monday.  I haven't seen her since she lived in Kingston two years ago.  I tell you, November is the month of faraway visitors!

Well, that's about it.  I just wanted to use my extra time to check in on the old blog.  :)

Remember to breathe.

I had a wonderful couple days with my pal AlieMalie.  We went to Swiss Chalet for Festive Specials, shopped around Yorkdale, and I took her to one of my fave Toronto restaurants: The Ace.  It was really special getting a ride to work from a far-away friend on Friday (bonus alliteration points right there), and I'm glad that she could squeeze in a visit in between work insanity.

Friday was a rather average day at school, other than the fact I got pranked.  During second period, when my student teacher was teaching, four kids & my pal Nigel came to the door, although I didn't notice Nigel at first.  Two of the kids are on student council, and they said "Miss, we have come here to thank you for all of the extra work you do for the school.  You put in a lot of time doing things extra things like student council and we really appreciate it."

"Oh, wow.  That's really nice," I said while beaming.  "You guys have really made my day."

"As a thank you, we'd like to give you an honourary high five," they continued and proceeded to give me enthusiastic high fives.  When I got a high five from Nigel, I noticed that my hand became covered in a white foamy substance.  Oh no!  I had become the victim of a shaving cream high five!

My class started to laugh at me uncontrollably, and pointed out that I had shaving cream in my hair.  It was pretty funny, and I appreciated the prank. It made my Friday morning a little more interesting.  It was also funny because I was wearing my favourite blue button down shirt with swans on it (Target fashion for the win), and about ten minutes after I thought I'd cleaned up all of the shaving cream, I noticed a big glob on my shirt.  The swans had camouflaged it.

After school was pretty fun because a few of us went out for drinks in celebration of a friend's birthday.  Then, I came home and had a nap before Friday night outing #2: Twin Forks at Lee's Palace with my friend Elaine.  The band's set started at 11:30 pm.  I tell you, going to something that starts at 11:30 pm makes me feel young!  Elaine and I met up for coffee at about 10, and then got to Lee's just in time to find a good standing spot.  This is my third time seeing Twin Forks this year.  They are the new project of Chris Carrabba, the founder of my favourite emo band Dashboard Confessional.  They put on a fun show.  My favourite moment was the encore when Chris did a solo of Dashboard's "Remember to Breathe".

The rest of the weekend has been chill.  I made a lot of progress on my favourite project these days: I'm now well into season 3 of Gilmore Girls.

I was supposed to do a trail run somewhere outside of Peterborough with my friend Rasa today, but she was hurt and she had to bail on me.  I tried to find another friend to take her place, but no one was able, and it wasn't really worth it to rent a car.

I did however sign up for a couple of Christmas-themed runs to do with another friend.  We're going to do the Jolly run that precedes the Santa Claus parade next Sunday, and the Santa Shuffle at the beginning of December.

I also booked my trip to Montreal in December to attend the wedding of one of my friends from university.  I'm looking forward to getting out of the city, enjoying a long train ride, and staying in a hotel.  It will be fun.

Do you ever rewind to the summer you knew me?

Things I like these days:

1) Walking down the residential street that leads to my work and smelling that nice autumnal smell (which is decaying leaves, I think).

2) Scented candles.  Seriously, what have I become?  Two weekends ago I bought one of those giant three-wick candles from Bath & Body Works, in Pumpkin Apple scent, and it's almost gone.

3) Being at work a little bit less.  In October, I felt that I was pulling anyway from 9-hr to 13-hr days at school almost every day (and that doesn't count weekend hours spent marking).  This week I don't have the need to stay as late, and somehow I am almost caught up on my marking.   Nice.

4) New albums.  There's a lot of stuff coming out these days, and I'm easing through it.  These days I'm listening to Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness, which is perfectly pleasant.  Then I'm going to get the new Hey Rosetta! album.  I'll follow that up with the new Damien Rice album.  (Notice how I'm doing these one-by-one... I'm not good at multitasking when it comes to new music.)

5) My purple puffy vest.  It's not that purple though.  Super dark so I can get away with it.  Vest weather is short, and must be taken advantage of.

6) Vistors. My pal AlieMalie is in Detroit for work stuff, and is going to trek to Toronto for a couple of days starting tomorrow.  And then in a couple of weeks, my pals Matt from Wpg and Wes from Vancouver are going to both be around for a mutual friend's wedding.  Yay!

Halloween and Hibernation

Halloween is always a crazy day at school.  Kids and staff in costumes, candy everywhere, and not much work getting done.  It's surprisingly draining.

This year a bunch of us dressed up a my school's computer science teacher.  This guy is a dear friend, and quite a character.  He wins the teacher costume competition every year without even trying because he is hilarious.  Anyway, we all decided to go as him.  All that was needed was a short black wig, glasses, a polo shirt, jeans, clunky shoes, and a lanyard of keys around the neck. 

It was a success.  When the kids walked into my room they would say things like "oh no! another one?  How many of you are there??" It was pretty funny.

On Halloween Eve, I was going to borrow my friend Mathew's house to hand out candy.  He's a grumpy old man (who is younger than me) who turns off his lights and does not give out candy.  I like handing out candy, but don't get to since I live in a building.  Anyway, operation candy will have to happen next year, as Mathew ended up having a party to go to that night, so I stayed in with another friend, ordered Chinese food, had some drinks, and watched Halloween episodes of the Simpsons.

The rest of the weekend was so chill.  I essentially hibernated.  I did manage to go out to get groceries but that was it.  I got a good amount of housework done, and an even larger number of episodes of the Gilmore Girls watched.

In fact, I really wish I could have another hibernation day tomorrow, but it's Monday, and it's back to the old grind.  And no more pagan holiday to justify slacking off.

Happy Halloween!

Wow, I can't believe that October is coming to a close. 

I don't have anything else of substance to say, so I'll encourage you to click here and look at these awesome Simpsons Halloween costumes.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/declancashin/cant-sleep-clown-will-eat-me

So much to blog about...

...so little time.

But my period 3s are working hard on a test, so I can point form update.

1) Dream Serenade at Massey Hall on Saturday was *AMAZING*.  Lineup was:

• Lou Canon
• Greylands
• Jason Collett
• Sarah Harmer
• Barenaked Ladies
• Hayden
• Billy Talent
• Aaron & Matt from The National
• Feist

There were all kinds of special treats like when Aaron & Matt from The National joined Hayden for the song "Dynamite Walls", when Sarah Harmer joined Billy Talent for "Surrender", and when Hayden joined The National for "I Need My Girl".  And of course, there was a group sing along at the end.

Even though I enjoyed sets by some of my very favourites (Sarah, Hayden, The National, and Feist), the highlight might have just been The Barenaked Ladies, whom I've never seen live before.  That's shocking considering they are a mainstay of Cdn music, and I'm a mainstay of Cdn music concerts.  Anyway, at the end they did a mashup of current pop songs (Roar, Wrecking Ball, etc. etc.) that had me roaring for laughter.

And this was all for a great cause.  Hayden's daughter has a developmental disability, and the funds went to the Beverley School, which is for students with developmental/physical disabilities.  As an educator who does work with some students with these disabilities, it was very close to my heart.

Good news: it was the First Annual Dream Serenade, so I look forward to going again!

2) LIGHTS at the Danforth Music Hall on Sunday night was pretty great too.  She's an excellent live performer, and it was a super fun show.  And, I was super happy to have a comfy seat up in the balcony, and it was done by 10:30 pm.  A perfect activity for both the young and old in me.

3) It's Election Time! FINALLY.  I hope our new mayor has a last name other than Ford.  I am proudly voting for Olivia Chow if you are interested.  I am not voting "strategically" because I don't want another conservative running my city.  I'm voting with both my head and my heart for the best and most progressive candidate.

4) Ugh, the Jian Ghomeshi scandal has got me down and I'm sickened.  Obviously we don't know for sure what happened, but I feel (just like I felt with Rob Ford) that where there's so much smoke, there's gotta be fire.  I always enjoyed his radio program, Q, and liked him so it really sucks that he's turned out to be an awful and abusive person.  Boo.

Cancel life.

Sometime ago, I read that every season of Gilmore Girls was going to be on Netflix, but only American Netflix. Boo for me as I haven't gotten around to figuring out the trick that allows a Canadian to access American Netflix.  This is actually OK because I spend more time on Netflix figuring out what to watch as opposed to actually watching stuff.  Therefore, I prefer having the smaller selection that Canadian Netflix offers.

Back to Gilmore Girls.  I used to watch that show sporadically back in my university days.  I believe it was on on Friday nights, and usually I'd be partying, studying, or on a train to Stratford on Friday nights. I was always in and out of that show, but I really did like it.  I was sad when I heard that it would only be on US Netflix.

But then, all sneaky-like, it appeared on Netflix this weekend!  Well, actually it might have been before that, but I didn't notice until the weekend.  My friend Wes had tweeted "The entire series of Gilmore Girls is on Netflix. Cancel life," but I'd missed that since I was like doing stuff or something as opposed to being on Twitter.

However, upon my discovery, I spent a chilly afternoon/evening indoors watching yesterday.  I got six episodes in and the show is bringing me so much joy!  Did you know Kirk had a bunch of different names at the beginning?  And it's so sweet to watch Rory connect with her grandfather at the golf club.  And the wake for Cinnamon, the cat?  I wish I lived in Stars Hollow.   I sometimes think I belong more in a quirky close-knit small town as opposed to the big city.  Surely there must be one of those out there that needs a science teacher, right?  And there's gotta be a version of Luke's Diner in that town too.

So, in summary, if you need me, I'm probably watching Gilmore Girls. 

Another life, another weekend.

This is my favourite song by a long shot these days.



Topic #1 - Signs of Aging

I'm getting older (and so are you, sorry).  I'm noticing that my willingness to put up with a lot of shit decreases as I get older.  For example: I am much more willing to fork out money for a cab these days because sometimes I can't deal when it comes to public transit.  For example, this morning I took a cab downtown to board a shuttle bus to get me to the starting line of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon 5K.  Last year, I got up at the crack of dawn, and took a bus and then another bus to get me to the shuttle buses.  It was cold, and I had to wait a long time for each TTC bus.  This year, all I could think was eff that, I'm forking out for a cab.  And I did, it was glorious not waiting out in the cold.

As I get older, I hate lines more and more.  And waiting, gawd do I hate waiting.

But I do enjoy being able to take a break every now and then and relax.  So I'm not all about the hate and the "I can't even".

Topic #2 - Cross Border Shopping Trip

Yesterday, I went on a cross border shopping to trip to "The Buffalo" with my friend Mathew.  We call Buffalo NY "The Buffalo" because Mathew is the worst when it comes to talking to border agents.  He was once asked where in the US we'd been, and he said "The Buffalo" and it's been called that ever since.

His performance coming back this time was slightly better, although he kept looking over at me when the agent asked if either of us had accepted gifts while we'd been over.  Afterwards, I ribbed him for that because I was like "Why were you looking at me?  Did you think I accepted a gift when we split up?  Or should I have declared that I got a sample of beer at the grocery store?"

We ended up having our car searched, which has never happened to me, but once they saw that it was full of cookies and yummy food from Trader Joe's they let us go quickly.

I know you might roll eyes at this, but I'm so glad that you exist.

Probably the VERY BEST song for a Canadian Thanksgiving is the one below.  Press play, please.



I love that the only thing that even approaches a love song by my favourite band is this one.  It's not cheesy, and speaks of the kind of affection and appreciation that I really hope that everyone has in their lives.  The kind that's not fleeting and fickle as romantic love can often be (and everyone write about that kind).  Although if you have romantic love that is not fleeting nor fickle, I'm so happy for you! :D

My favourite phrases from this song are:

1) "How you make me laugh so hard." --> I think one of things that I value most in life is a deep, long laugh, the type that takes your breath away a little, might make your stomach hurt a lot (or a bit), and is really hard to stop.  Little laughs are great, don't get me wrong.  But those really hard laughs make life worth living.  I'm lucky to have so many people in my life that bring me these laughs.  Like when I'm in London hanging with my dear friend Claire, and we are killing ourselves over "Fish Christy thinks vertically", Giggy, a dog on the RHOBH who is very committed to the cause of children with alopecia in Missouri, and a tonne more.  Or my pals Alex and Wes, who buckle up growlers of the world's best Pumpkin Ale* in the backseat.  Or, closer to home there's my friend Mathew who just sends me into hysterics with indecipherable texts about playoff baseball and Dateline NBC.  Or my co-workers, with whom I'm writing a sitcom script that describes everyday absurdity. 

Bascially, I'm thankful for anyone who makes me laugh so hard, is what I'm trying to say with the above rambling paragraph.

2) "And you tell me to fuck off when I need somebody to." --> This one isn't as fun as #1, but seriously friends who will tell you to fuck off when you are being stupid about something are great too.  I have the very bad habit of beating myself up over so many things; I'm my worst critic, and I think I most often need to be told to fuck off when I'm tearing myself down.  And my friends are there for me to tell me that I'm being idiotic with all of the self-deprecation.  Or, to tell me to fuck off when I'm just being annoying or whiny.  That happens sometimes too.

And I guess, on this Canadian Thanksgiving, I'm most thankful for people who make me laugh so hard and tell me to fuck off.

*If I were in St. Louis right now, I would be drinking so much of Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale.  It's probably best for my liver that I'm not.  That stuff tastes like the beer version of pumpkin pie.  Sooooo good.

It's been a hard year, and I only know.

These days I'm listening to LIGHTS' new ablum, Little Machines, on heavy rotation.  I like it.  So much so that I decided to grab a ticket to her October show at the Danforth Music Hall.  Yes, after the totally awesome me-date I had going to see the Cons at the Danforth, I've decided the Danforth's balcony is my favourite new place to hang.

I love this song.



I'm also super in love with the NPR stream of Stars' new album No One Is Lost.

You know where to find me any time you want me.

This is my favourite October song.



I can't believe that it took me until the early hours of October 8th to listen to it.

I should be sleeping but I'm not because I passed out on my couch after drinking two strong beers (Delerium Tremens!) at a work pub Pictionary event.  It was fun, and boy I can't draw.

Before the pub, I spent sometime wandering on College St running errands.  It was a nice afternoon for this, and I just missed the rain that's been falling steadily all evening.

I think I had more to write about, but I've completely forgotten.  I'm always writing brilliant (I'm sure of it) blog posts in my head while on the subway or walking around, but they disappear as soon as I sit to write.  I should take notes.

So maybe next post you'll get something a little more interesting than my favourite October song.

End of camp, new week already.

I'm still rather exhausted from three days of keeping up with 40 teenagers at camp, but it was a fun time.  Lots of laughs, beautiful autumn scenery, hikes, and late night nights.  On Friday, I returned to the city, dragged my stuff home on the TTC, changed out of my muddy jeans and sneakers, and headed off to see the Constantines at the Danforth Music Hall.  It was an excellent show, and thank goodness for balcony seats.

I've been pretty lazy for the rest of the weekend.  I finished re-reading "Gone Girl" and went with my pal Mathew to see the movie.  I thought the movie was an excellent adaptation of the novel, and I'm glad that I read the novel again, so I could really see what was changed from print to screen.  (I first read the book two years ago, so wouldn't have remembered all of the details.)

And with that, another week begins, but at least it's followed by a long weekend.

Camp and burnout.

Tomorrow I am off to supervise a leadership camp for three days for the third year in a row.  This means that I had a late night at school assembling lesson plans for when I'm away, and I still haven't packed because I am watching postseason baseball.

Teaching is a profession where it's way more work to be away than to be there.  I carefully plan all medical appointments and yeesh, I even try to plan my illnesses.  My chin rash thing has cleared up, and I really hope that it does not come back for a third time, because I really don't have time/energy to take time off to go to the doctor.

Because I do a lot of extracurricular activities at my school, I totally understand the concept of professional burnout.  It's been ten years of working at this pace.  I sort of want to give up some of the extra things that I do, but I don't have the heart to, because I know that no one else would take it over from me, or if they did, let's face it, there would be a risk that quality would decrease.  (For some strange reason, my environmental club has attracted over 50 members this year, and I know it's because they've become a family that attracts new members, but having a fun moderator who looks for opportunities for them helps.)  However, instead of cutting back, I've decided that I have no more yeses to give this year.  If someone asks me to do anything else, all I have is nos.

I always have lots of fun at this camp because the kids are great, the facilities are nice, and my fellow supervisors are fun people to hang out with.  Sadly, the guidance councilor who organizes this program is retiring this year.  The joke is she's grooming me to take over, but I don't think I could handle the organizational aspect of this program on top of a full teaching load AND all of the rest of the stuff I do.  It'd be cool to find someone to team up with, but all of my friends are like-minded educators with a lot on their plates and no more yeses to give.

Anyway, sorry for the rant.  Some days I envy lazy teachers who do nothing, but I know I wouldn't be able to handle being one of those people. I just can't believe I'm this tired into September.  Although a lot of it is because I need to exercise more, which is a topic for another post.

Weekend/Question

The past weekend was pretty good.  Beautiful weather, drinks on a patio, baking pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, dinner with a friend, Jays season closer, and a few nice naps.

I excitedly booked Constantines reunion tickets waaaaaay back in June, not thinking that it would conflict with the annual school leadership camp that I chaperone annually.  (The date always changes, and I think I thought it was in September this year.)  Anyhow, I gave away my tickets to my friend the music teacher at work, and now I'm debating picking up a ticket for the Friday show for myself.  I could get a seated balcony ticket, and just chill up there with a beer.  I'll probably be tired from staying up late to ensure teenagers don't leave their rooms and get up to no good, but I should be OK to sit at a rock show, right?

What do you guys think?  Should I spend more money and take myself on a date to the Cons?

Update: Texted my pal Matt in Winnipeg re: this issue.  His response: "Yes! You love them! You'll have earned that sit [in the balcony]."  Thanks to this enabling, I've purchased a ticket.

Chin Up.

The inspiration for this post, is a comment by my pal Kevin on my previous post, which was to keep my chin (with its ugly mysterious rash) up during yucky times.

Bahahaha.  I literally laughed out loud at that.

BUT, today we got good news that the worst of the things that was troubling me is over, and the awful thing that was happening to the best person ever is over.  Phew.  I feel so much happier now.  The rest of the stuff seems less bad now.

Today after school I finally went for a run with my friend Sara.  We'd made plans to go for a run in High Park two weeks ago, but I had to cancel to go to a funeral visitation, and then she had to cancel because of work, but we finally got out today.  And it was a lovely warm day, and it was so much fun to run through the park.  I was reminded of the awesome stress relief/mood stabilization/energy that exercise gives me, and man, I need to get back to my A+ exercise habits.

The chin rash is still there, but has gone down.  I hope it doesn't reappear, because if it does I really will need to go to the doctor, and who has time for that?

But yah, I guess I'm feeling a bit better now.  I've got my Paris-inspired candle burning, a glass of red wine, and the baseball game now.  The Jays are now mathematically out of the playoffs, but I'm happy just to enjoy the rest of the season.  They have won their last two games, so yay!

Oh good, and now Rilo is throwing up on the floor, so I guess I'll go deal with that.

Update: She didn't, but it certainly sounded it like it.  Yay!

Shake it off.

Sometimes, even when one can be an insufferable music snob, shit gets so rough that only this Taylor Swift song will do.



I've had a weird maelstrom of negatively surrounding me lately.  Most of it doesn't even have anything to do with me.  It's just people around me are struggling, and it's brought me down.  I obviously can't write about these things here, but some of them are so unbelievable that they seem more like they are out of a movie than real life.  And, some of these events are happening far away, and the updates are few and far between, so all there is to do it worry.  Blargh.  Hopefully by the time I write again things will be better.

On top of that, I'm feeling hurt and confused because there was someone who seemed super into me, and then that someone asked to make plans with me over the weekend and then *poof* disappeared, and won't even respond to my text messages.  What the what?  I don't get things. 

Oh, and I think my skin is paying the price for all of this.  Three weeks ago, I got this weird rash on my chin (it seriously makes me look like I've fallen and hit my chin).  It cleared up in time for school picture day last week, and then boom! It came back again this morning.  I haven't been using any new skin products, soaps, detergents, etc, etc so I have no idea what could be causing it other than S-T-R-E-S-S.

But, but, but, there's always a bright side right?

Instead of moping around on Saturday night, I went over to my pal Mathew's house and watched him cook one of his 52 new dishes of 2014.  I insisted on opening a bottle of wine he'd been planning on returning to the LCBO (he's weird), and then we watched Dateline NBC and I had some good laughs thanks to creepy Keith Morrison.  I swear belly laughs are the best.

And, I had some good laughs/warmed heart on Friday afternoon during my prep period when I was returning to my office after photocopying some stuff, and a few kids came running out of the chemistry room shouting "Miss, there's a gas leak!" while they were holding molecular molecules of methane.  I pretended to drop my stuff and I replied that I would alert the authorities.

They had a supply teacher, and had clearly been snooping through cupboards instead of doing chemistry.  "Did you guys make those and wait for me all this time?" I asked, and they replied yes.  I grabbed my camera and made them re-enact the scene because really, that's a good memory to look back on when I'm feeling down and have a weird rash on my chin.

On Sunday, I met up with a friend for a spontaneous brunch, dropped by Starbucks where my pal Fea was marking for some laughs, then came home for my transatlantic bad movie date with my pal Claire.  We drank red wine and watched the same awful movie while texting back and forth.  It was fun.

And lastly, it looks probable that I'm going to get a former student as a student teacher in October.  She was an exceptional former student, so I'm quite excited.

I'll leave you with one of my latest musical finds that I don't feel guilty about.  I saw Lowell play at Field Trip back in June, and she was great.  Her album "We Loved Her Dearly" came out this month on Arts & Crafts, and I adore it.

You've got a lot on your mind.

This post is going to be all about music.

1) Sloan - Commonwealth

Sloan released their new album last Tuesday, and even though they were doing a performance/signing at the HMV by the Eaton Centre, I decided to skip it and go out for dinner with friends.  (Am I getting older, more mature, and less music-obsessed?  Maybe.  But it doesn't feel right to do Sloan-stalking without my dear Becca T.)

Yesterday, I went to Sonic Boom to buy the record, but they didn't have it.  Then I headed down to HMV and Sunrise by the Eaton Centre but no luck.  I begrudgingly bought it online, because I know that I wanted it on vinyl (it retrospect, I should have just preordered the thing).  Luckily, a download came with purchase of the record, and I've been listening to it since yesterday.

And I love it.

As you may/may not know, Sloan has four distinct singer-songwriters, and this album is a double album, where each writer gets a side.  I think I like the Jay side best, but I also really adore Patrick's side and Chris' side too.  I never really like Andrew's stuff, and his side is one seventeen-minute long song, which is so Andrew. 

This song by Jay is probably the album standout for me (so far).  It really really speaks to something happening in my life right now.  Sloan, how do you know me so well?  Also who can't love a song with "p.s. I like you" as a lyric?



23 years together and this band still releases interesting and creative music.  I can't wait until they announce a Toronto show for this album.

2) Brill Bruisers - The New Pornographers

This was the one album that I did manage to pick up yesterday during my record shopping trip.  I love it.  It's jangly pop music, with a lot of Neko Case vocals.  I'm just sad that they didn't include a download code with the vinyl.  (This rarely happens!)





3) Dream Serenade

I got tickets today to this October show at Massey Hall.  It's organized by Hayden (who's pretty much my #1 crush) and will feature performances by himself, Feist, Matt & Bryce of The National, and more.  It's a fundraiser for a charity that helps kids with developmental disabilities, so that's a pretty awesome thing.

4) OH NO!

It looks like I double booked myself.  For the past two years, I have chaperoned a leadership camp for my school.  The weekend always moves around.  I thought it fell this year in September, so I didn't worry when I bought Constantines tickets for October 2nd.  I was wrong.  BOO. 

(However they are playing on the Friday and I'm tempted to buy myself a ticket for that date...)

5) New Damien Rice!

After something like nine years, he's releasing a new album.  Sadly, I didn't realized he's playing here on October 14th and it's sold out.

Anyway, that sums up music news in my world.  What are you listening to these days?

Through cracks come the weeds.

Sigh. Autumn's here, and even though it's my favourite season and I should be excited, I feel that the autumn of 2014 might be the autumn of stuff falling through the cracks.

I would write more, since I haven't been able to put together a blog post in forever, but whenever I do it sounds whiny and pointless, so I won't.

I guess it's best to find humour in things. Last night I posted an emo tweet about something that seemed good just disappearing, and a friend of mine replied asking me if I was talking about the Blue Jays. I guess I've come across as super baseball obsessed this year, huh? And for the record, they haven't been disappointing in September,. The wild card is still a possibility!

Well I should use this cool autumn weather to continue my path of getting myself back to being 5K ready in a month. I has a lazy summer and I'm paying for it fitness-wise. However, I'm not going to become a better runner by writing mopey blog posts in bed, so I should lace up my shoes.

I'm in Stratford, I should mention! I saw Hawksley's play yesterday and it was awesome yet again!

I'm a survivor.

I made it through the first week of school, and holy hell did I feel exhausted.

At my school, they usually play music for the five minutes before class time to get everyone going in the right direction.  The kids choose the music and organize it, and since it's a new school year, we have some new tunes in the rotation.  (Thank goodness... Demi Lovato's "Heart Attack" was wearing on me.)  The new Friday morning song is "Survivor" by Destiny's Child, which was a fun choice.  I hadn't heard that song in FOREVER. 

This song caused my work spouse and I, who have the same prep period this semester, to play Beyonce during our prep.  I wasn't overly focused, so I decided to tweet the student council kids from my lame school-moderator account that we had appreciated Friday's music choice, and that a Beyonce party was happening in the science office.  They retweeted it to everyone who follows the student council account, so, oh good, the whole school knows.  Oh well, I think it's hilarious and it's good for kids to know that teachers are fun too.  (Maybe lame fun, but whatevs.)

Sidenote: my work spouse's class was telling her that Rhianna sang "Survivor" and she believed them, so I told her she needs to educate this kids on Beyonce history.  What are they teaching these kids?  Rhianna.  Yeesh.

I had a chill weekend.  I purposely did nothing on Friday because I knew I'd be shattered.  My Saturday night plans got postponed, but I had a nice Saturday afternoon.  My friend Fea told me that she was taking her kids to a neighbourhood park to have a picnic, so I planned that my 5K afternoon run would end at the park and then I hung out with them.  In the evening, I may have gone to Indigo and bought the Lego special-edition 30th anniversary Ghostbusters car (including all four Ghostbusters) and built that over the course evening while drinking a nice Beaujoulais, but maybe I didn't?  Maybe I am cooler than that.

Riot Fest was this weekend at Downsview Park with about a million bands that I love and you would have thought I'd been there but I just cannot handle Downsview.  Most of the bands I end up seeing on their own at proper shows, so I decided to opt out, even though it looks like everyone who went had an amazing time.

This week looks busy other than school.  On Monday I have a Jays game, Tuesday is dinner with friends, Thursday is running with a friend, and then on Friday I am heading to Stratford for the weekend. Yay!

September falls right into place.

This line comes from a great new Stars song.  The band released it yesterday in celebration (?) of back-to-school.



Yesterday was super easy.  I enjoyed seeing the kids.  I always say that my school has, for the most part, the nicest kids anywhere, and it's good seeing them again in September.  I have quite a few "repeat customers" in my classes, so it's nice to not really have the need to pretend that I'm tough (they know the truth... which is do your work and have fun in science). 

It was great seeing my colleagues again, especially those who are my close friends.  I'm so lucky to have lots of good friends at work, and usually we make an effort to get together once or twice over the summer, but it's nice to go back to seeing each other and joking around every day.

Today was exhausting though.  The second day is the day where I spend a lot of time talking to all of my classes.  I was so exhausted when I got home.  I managed to run a couple of errands, and get an evening coffee which is rare for me.  But despite the coffee, I still had to have a nap.

I keep coming up with good ideas for blog posts during my commutes, but then I forget them by the evening.  I need to keep a record of them.

Easy come, easy go.

Summer holidays, that is.

I can't believe that it flew by.  At the beginning of July, 2 whole months seems like a luxury that will never get spent, but it does.

I had a great summer, as you know.  July was relaxing, and August was mainly spent in Europe.  The past week I did go into school for three days: one day to plan an event, one day to plan my first week of lessons, and one day to execute the aforementioned event.  This weekend was spent with friends.  I went out to Ajax to visit my friend Flora, and then saw the Jays game on Sunday.  Today, I slept in, watched a movie on Netflix, went to the Eaton Centre to buy new black flats for school, went for a run, then made food for lunches for the week.  Now I am dying my hair (just making it a little darker) because that was the last thing I wanted to do before I go back.  (I'm sitting here with the stuff on my head right now.)

After that's done I will go sleep.  As much as I can.  The back-to-school jitters are always the worst.  I think I've decided on what to wear: a black skirt and a short-sleeved sweater.  The sweater may be a little warm, but I should live.  It's an easy day after all.   I always like to wear cute new stuff during the first week back.

I'll blog more interestingly later.