There's a reason why I love this town.

I'm still in Joel-Plaskett-happy-mode, and listening to him a lot. Here's a random post for you kids.

1) This weekend, Becca T and I tried to go see the Don Jail as part of Toronto Doors Open. It was full so we couldn't get in. You read it right: I can't even get into jail these days, yeesh. Anyway, it was a beautiful day, so we turned lemons into lemonade by buying some freezies and eating them in the park while enjoying this view of the city skyline from the Don Valley. Note: I can't take a straight photo to save my life.


2) Last week I can home to a cat-in-a-box which made me laugh really hard. I know small things, small minds, but I'm a happy person so who cares?

3) I was like the coolest teacher ever yesterday. My grade 11 "Science and Society" class were discussing how the evolution of technology has changed our lives, and I told them about a hilarious comedian's rant that I once saw on Youtube, and then I was able to show it to them, and they found it hilarious. Here it is below, in case you haven't seen it before yourself.


4) New albums: I bought the new Hayden album yesterday, and I've listened to it four times already and it's pretty good. I still have to listen to it in detail, but it stands up to being good music to have on in the background. I'm not so sure about the new Tori Amos album which I bought last week. It's kind of out there, as all of her stuff is. I dunno, maybe it'll grow on me.

5)Weekend plans = drinks on Friday night, shopping roadtrip to Buffalo with Becca T and Mathew on Saturday, and writing exams (blerg) on Sunday.

6) I just had a good phone conversation with a new friend about Sloan and teaching. New friend also likes Jay best, so this bodes well for the friendship, I guess.

7) Thanks to everyone for the comments on my Bachelorette post! I'm going to make it a weekly thing, I think. Next week, Becca T and I are going to watch together, while eating gluten-free pizza. So, you'll get to read random comments by me, Becca T, and even Rilo if she puts her two cents in again.

8) Things I'm going to be posting about in the future: a) Christielli's summer vacay travel plans; b) Things Christielli wants to do this summer; c) Upcoming changes in Christielli's life for next school year that she's apprehensive about. So stay tuned for posts that aren't random with actual topics! :D

I admit it. I like this season of the Bachelorette.

So last Monday, while procrastinating cleaning my apartment, I actually watched the entire premiere of The Bachelorette. The current bachelorette is Canadian, which is cool, but I have to admit that last week kind of got me hooked. And, I've found out that rawbean is also hooked, so I've decided to blog about the show, 'cuz well, blogging about useless TV is fun. Oh, and I think this season is going to be super dramatic, 'cuz it looks like from last week's previews that one guy turns out to be a lying liar with a secret girlfriend, so there's gotta be a be a special place in hell for that dude, or any dude like that.

This show is hard to watch because all of these dudes look the same. It's pretty confusing. They should wear name-tags.

Why isn't Tanner P. going on about his foot fetish again? That was the funniest part of last week's show, dammit!

This whole search for the rose is lame.

I like her red boots.

Whoa, Jake just totally went in for it! I dunno, maybe he should have waited for her to finish her sentence before planted a big wet kiss on her. Especially 'cuz she was answering a kind of "deep" question that he asked. Hear her answer, then kiss her.

Martina McBride's career must have been affected by the recession if she has to go on this show.

The Harlem Globetrotters' careers must have been affected by the recession if they have to go on this show. But hahahaha, the bachelors are so the Washington Generals.

Jillian needs to stop emitting that high-pitched squeak. It's annoying both me and Rilo. However, I do like her basketball shoes.

LOL My new dating strategy will be to have the Harlem Globetrotters pick a dude for me. It's totally true love if it's okayed by a Globetrotter.

This Wes dude is a little bit creepy. I think I don't like him, even though he is a musician.

LOL Tanner P. has let his foot fetish freak flag fly! Yes!!!

Shut up David about the "Man Code"!!! This David guy bugs me; he's judgmental toward everyone.

Oooh... The Bachelorette has turned into Survivor, and the dudes get to vote out a dude. Will she agree with them?

Nope! She's keeping the dude they dislike!

And quelle surprise, she's letting the ones go who I barely remember. Ooooh, one dude is kind of choked up. Awww. Oh, and she let go of the British guy. Last week they actually captioned him for dumb viewers. Yeesh.

And, as always, the best part of any reality show is the scenes from next week. Ooh the drama!

***

So for any non-Bachelorette watchers, my next post will be far more interesting and useful. :D

It was extraordinary.

I just checked something off my "things to do before I die" list, that I didn't even realize *was* on my list, until I did it. (Not that I actually have the list written down, but you know, there are just things that you know that you want to do.)

And that, my friends, is seeing a concert from the front row of Massey Hall.

Massey Hall is probably Toronto's most esteemed venue for a concert. I think I've seen three other shows there, but all from the balcony.

Somehow the internet ticket gods bestowed upon me these row A tickets, and I was excited, but I didn't realize how amazing it would feel until I was actually there.

And, it was especially amazing being front row for an artist that is as talented as Joel Plaskett.

He played two sets. The first was a rootsy set with his dad and two other musicians (who all play on his newest record) accompanying him. It was a really great set, and included a lot of fun older stuff, as well as new stuff. Also, Becca T was immensely happy when he randomly gave a shout-out to gluten-free pizza during a song. My personal favourite was the acoustic version of "Nothing More to Say" from Ashtray Rock.

There was a short intermission, and then the Emergency band came out for a more rock-based second set. It was extremely high-energy, and pretty much everyone was out of their seats and dancing for the second set. By the end of the show, BT and I were standing against the stage, both wowed that we got to touch such a legendary stage.

It was definitely one of the best concerts I've ever been to, and if talent was correlated to fame, Joel Plaskett would be selling records like Nickelback. But, who gets to play Massey Hall? Take that Nickelback!

After the show, BT and I debriefed the concert with a pitcher of cider, as is our tradition. We got a bit drunk and giggly, and then I walked it off as I walked home on a perfect May night.

Extraordinary.

It's a hard knock life.

The weather outside feels like *summer*, but the exhaustion in my bones lets me know it's not.

Today was an incredibly long, tiring, but awesome day. It was a typical day at school, but afterwards I had to go up to the middle of nowhere to vote in the annual elections for the local unit of my union. A colleague who I really respect was running, so I made the trip out, which I wouldn't have otherwise. Not much of a unionista am I.

After that, I went back down to the mall near my school and met up with Becca T for a little bit of shopping and dinner. I then brought her to school, where I showed off my cool science teacher skills and sacrificed a gummy bear for her, as well as lit my hand (and then hers) on fire.

The reason why we were hanging out at my school so late was that it's annual school musical time already. Becca T always likes to attend the performance with me. The drama teacher at my school (who is also a very close friend of mine) always puts on an *amazing* show, and tonight's was fantastic (guess what it is from the title of this post). A lot of my current and former students were involved, and they did such a good job. I have to admit I got a little verklempt.

On my walk back home, I thought about how much I really love my job. I am so lucky that I get paid to do something I love, and I'm blessed to be in a job where I can devote myself to other people. The last two books I've read have been about a meth addict (first written from the father's point of view, and second from his point of view). One of this dude's sponsors believes that a way to overcome a lot of one's demons is to help other people. I completely agree. I find that when I'm at work, and I'm completely immersed in helping my students, I am not absorbed in myself, and I'm at my happiest.

Anyway, I really believe that we'd be a happier society if we moved away from individualism and to collectivism. I know that I can fall into times where I am completely self-absorbed, and I'm so glad that I have a job that takes me away from that tendency.

And with that, I am also glad that tomorrow is Friday and I'll have two restful days away from said job. On Saturday, I finally get to go see Joel Plaskett play at Massey Hall and I have front row seats. Woot!

Happy weekend!

ps My hair smells like molten gummy bear.

There is a magic world parallel.

Things I need to do:

1) Do dishes, tidy my apartment, vaccuum, put away the laundry I did *last week*.

2) Go grocery shopping.

3) Go to the gym.

4) Mark, mark, mark.

5) Unpack some of my stuff from this weekend in St. Ratford.

What I'm going to do instead:

1) Have a relaxing bath while reading a new book and listening to the new Tori Amos album.

2) Drink some hot chocolate.

3) Go to bed early.

Diagnosis of a foreign frame of heart.

I stayed home sick today. Good decision. I don't think I could have gotten through the day on my own two feet.

The book launch was kind of fun. I had some wine, the bartender was cute, and they gave us free textbooks. I say we should buy our new textbooks (if we get money to do so) from this company since they clearly tried harder to earn our love.

After the launch, I headed downtown to meet up with a friend from high school and her husband. They are legally married, even though their big wedding deal isn't until July. He's American, and she's going to immigrate to the US to live with him, and it's an unbelievable process. In order for her to move to the US, they have to be legally married for 8 months or something like that, so that's why they got married before their big wedding. The reason why they were in Toronto is because she has to get a physical done for the immigration process, and there are only something like two doctors in all of Canada who are qualified to do this. Anyway, it's a crazy process, and they both told me to never marry an American.

Dinner was really fun, and we got to reminiscing about some of the silly things we did back when we were in high school. First of all, didn't you find that high school seemed like an immeasurably long period of time? Time went so slowly back then. Now it just zips by and it's been eleven years, but the same silly stories really crack me up and make me laugh really hard. You know the type of laughing where your stomach hurts and you can barely keep yourself upright? I was laughing like that during dinner, and it was great, because I don't think I've laughed like that in awhile.

Our silly stories involved things like prank-calling boys who'd done us wrong (before everyone had caller ID and you could pull that off), cameras that actually used film, and VCRs. We felt dated as we told these stories, which made us laugh harder.

On my way home from dinner, I started to feel like crap, and when I got home I passed out on my bed. Unfortunately for me, I had to set the alarm clock because I didn't have lesson plans ready for the next day. Trust me, calling in sick is a lot of work for us competent teachers. I can't stay home without having meaningful work left for my students.

Yesterday morning, my throat was scratchy and I had a headache, but I made it through the morning okay. However, in the afternoon I felt like I was going to pass out, and then I had to cover a grade 9 *drama* class for half a period. Last thing you need to do when you're feeling poorly is deal with that. After 20 minutes of me being a complete bitch, they were under control and I could relax. Then, a colleague came to ask me something and commented "you don't look well." That's when I knew my next task was to make plans for staying home today.

So yah, I slept most of last night, and slept in 'til noon today and I'm feeling better. Maybe my lunch of soup, frozen yogurt, and Fresca helped.

Now I'm going to change out of my pjs, get some caffeine, pick up a package of books and DVDs at the post office, and replenish my Kleenex supply.

And, I have one day left until the long weekend. Woot! I'll be making the trip to St. Ratford, and I look forward to a chill weekend there.

Happy long weekend everyone! (Or at least to those who have one... and if not, you could always use a sick day and make it long!)

Gadzooks, gadzooks, gadzooks. What have you got to lose?

I am blogging from work. This is the first time ever that I've done so. I'm on my prep period, but I'm all prepped for tomorrow, and I should be catching up on my marking, but I have to run off in 19 minutes to a textbook launch, so really what I can accomplish in 19 minutes?

(I'm pretty sure I've had kids use that reasoning to not work at the end of class. My answer to that question is always "lots".)

Also, I have my office all to myself today, so I don't have to worry about anyone looking over my shoulder.

They are serving wine and beer at the texbook lauch tonight. I didn't even know this when I signed up. I'm just going because I heard a rumour that they will be giving out free books. They are changing the curriculum for next year, and I doubt we'll have textbooks at the beginning, so I want to get my hands on whatever resources I can.

After the launch, I'm heading off downtown to meet up with my friend from high school and her husband for dinner. I've also warned them that I may show up tipsy from the texbook launch, ha-ha.

Oh, gadzooks is now totally my favourite word because of the song "Heavens to Purgatory" by The Most Serene Republic.

Oh and thanks to everyone for your really kind responses to my last post. My friends will attest that I don't talk about my mom's illness very much, so that was actually a big deal for me to write. But I'm glad I did.

All right, onward to the launch and hopefully lots of free goodies!

Proud, just like my mother planned it.

Happy Mother's Day! I didn't see my mom today, but I did send her flowers. Yay for the internet for making that easy. Anyway, next weekend is my mom's birthday, as well as the long weekend, so it makes more sense to travel home then.

I don't really talk about my mom as much as I do my dad, I think. Even though a lot of my friends have never met my parents, a lot of them know a lot about my dad because he's easy to tell stories about 'cuz he's a wild and crazy dude who prank calls me, reads obsessively, gardens obsessively, and acts a lot like Homer Simpson. (I could totally see him parking across three disabled spots.)

So as I was saying, because my dad's on the eccentric side, I tend to talk more about him than I do my mom. But since it is Mother's Day I'll blog about my mom.

So some background on my mom. My mom was born in Poland during World War II. During the war, her parents eventually became forced labourers on a farm in Germany. My grandparents hated talking about the war, so the family stories from these times are not overly detailed, and my grandparents are dead, so we only have what they shared. My mom told me a story about how my grandmother had three children when they were fleeing from the Germans. It was hard to run with three children in tow, and someone told my grandma to set down the baby (my mom) and come back for her later. If she survived, that is. My grandma did, but couldn't bear to leave a crying baby, and returned for her. That story amazes me, because if it happened differently, well, I wouldn't be here.

After the war, my grandparents settled in Northern Ontario, and my mother was the hardworking, bookish middle-child of the family. She became a teacher back in the day where you didn't need a university degree to get a teaching degree, but she got her BA in English at the same time she was teaching. The thought of taking university courses while teaching just made me say "holy hell" out loud. That would be so hard.

My mom taught elementary school. She started with the younger grades but somehow ended up teaching grade 8 for most of her career. I'm pretty sure it's a universally-accepted fact that grade 8 is the hardest grade to teach. I guess that's another testament to my mother's strength.

My mother's teaching career ended when I was born. The intention was that she would stay at home with me until I was ready for school, then she would return to teaching. That never happened because my mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis the year before I was born. By the time I went to school, she knew that she wouldn't be able to return to work.

My mother's MS gets progressively worse each year. She could sometimes walk with me to school (five minutes down the street) when I was in Kindergarten, but that was pretty much the only year she could do that. She could still drive when I was in high school, but she gave that up. In 2006, the year my dad had surgery, she had a pretty bad MS attack as a result of the stress of my dad being sick. She was in the hospital for quite some time, and the doctors told her that she'd might not be able to go back home, but she would not have any of that talk. She worked very hard in physiotherapy, and is now probably in better shape than she was before the attack, and made it back home despite the initial grim prognosis.

So yeah, basically my mom is an amazing person with so much strength and optimism in the face of adversity. I know that I don't tell her this enough. I think I use my mom too much as a sounding board when I'm displeased with the way things are happening in my life, and really, I clearly have nothing to complain about. Probably, the worst thing in my life has been my mom's disease, but it couldn't compare to actually having it. I am always sad about opportunities that I'll never have with my mother. I know that if she was well, we'd probably leave my dad at home, and go on trips during the summer, she'd come visit me in the city and we'd go shopping, and she'd point out that my apartment is a mess and that I really should hem my curtains and fix my dining room chairs.

However, I'll never have that, but I have been blessed with an amazingly strong mother who loves me more than anything, and is crazy-proud of me, which is far important that any of that stuff above.

Oh, here's a random picture of me and the kid who was clearly my boyfriend at the time (since he's carrying my dolls) that I have scanned on my computer. My mom took it. Pictures of her are few and far between because she was always the one taking the pictures. I think that's like everyone's mom, right? Moms of the present day will be more well-preserved because of digital cameras and self-timers.

Look up, what do you see?

I have nothing to blog about.

I'd better go do something super exciting this weekend to remedy this, but right now I don't have anything super exciting on tap. Yet. Yet is the operative word.

Or maybe I'll just hang out and watch DVDs and read books. Whatevs.

School's good though. School's always pretty good. Why can't everything else be like school? However, I think that making school good takes a lot of energy and brainpower, and by the month of May, I have little left for other things. These batteries could probably use some recharging, and soon. Next weekend is the long weekend, and I think I'll go to St. Ratford, so that should give me a little bit of a boost.

The song "E-bow the Letter" by REM just came on. It's one of my fave songs by them. Beautiful, but sad.

Did anyone watch the Office tonight? I think every workplace needs a Cafe Disco.

Maybe sparrow, you should wait.

My weekend was dull, and unproductive in the reorganizing my apartment/spring cleaning front. However, there was some productivity in the reading and marking fronts.

On the reading front, I've gotta get my ass in gear with my goal of reading 52 books this year. As you can see from my sidebar, I've finished 13 books and I'm about halfway there on my 14th. The 17th week of the year just finished, so I'm not too far off the pace. Of course, I've got summer vacay, when I will catch up and work my way ahead.

The last book I finished (The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters), was good, but it put a wrench in my reading goals. I wanted to finish it, and when I want to finish a book, I cannot start another one, or the previous will not get finished. I'm not one of those people who can effectively read two books at once. Anyway, I should have started my current book (The Time Traveller's Wife), a long time ago, but I had to finish this book first. It was a good book overall, but slow-going at times. Or maybe it was my brain that was slow-going.

The Time Traveller's Wife is the current selection for my staff book club. I've had months to read it, but I don't like to read the book 'til a couple weeks before the meeting or I'll forget everything and look stupid in front of all of those English teachers. The meeting keeps getting pushed back, and I *think* it's on Wednesday. But the end of tonight, I'll be halfway done the book, but there is no way I'll finish it before the meeting. That's okay though; I think I know enough to contribute to the conversation, and I like it enough that I'll finish it even if I find out the ending.

Pretty much the highlight of my weekend (and this is sad), was spending yesterday afternoon marking with a pal from school at a coffee shop in our neighbourhood. I find that even though I work in the same bloody building as some of my best friends, we go weeks without really seeing each other, since high schools tend to be rather compartmentalized and everyone is so effing busy all of the time. It was fun to catch up with my friend, and share some stories about the crazy people we work with and life itself. And somehow, in between all of the chatter, I got completely caught up on my marking. That's right. I don't have a single piece of work to mark right now. Of course, that will change by tomorrow, when two of my classes have assignments due, but I'll enjoy the moment.

As we were marking, my friend said "Do you mind if I run out for a second and buy a gnome?"

"Holy I'm going deaf... I thought you said you need to buy a gnome."

"No, you're not deaf, there's a gnome in that little gift store across the street that I want. He used to have a friend but someone bought the friend. I want that gnome before he's gone too."

I cracked up and told her to go for it. I marked on my own for a little bit. My friend came back sad and gnomeless. "The store is closed on Sundays."

My friend is super busy these days (she's directing the school musical), so I offered to go pick up the gnome today after school, since I live in the neighbourhood. Yes, I got to go into the store and ask them "how much is that gnome-y in the window?"

Here's a picture of the fellow who will spend the night with me 'til I bring him to school tomorrow. I like him. I kind of want to gnome-nap him and keep him for myself.



ps Gnome is totally one of my fave words ever. I'm so glad I was able to use it multiple times in a post. I'm even going to tag this post, and make it a goal to post more about gnomes in the future.

Philosophy that you can dance to.

Good stuff from the past couple of days:

1) One of my best pals at work leaves notes on my desk like "I hope you have an uneventful day" and "I like to burn things."

2) The above pal and I went on a roadtrip to North Scarborough for a workshop yesterday afternoon. On the way there, we heard the lame new Black Eyed Peas song on the radio. We both love the line "I'm so 3008, you're so two thousand and late" because we could totally use it at work. We both really really want to break out into that line when kids walk into our classes late. It's hilarious to picture how the kids would totally think we were the lamest people alive for doing that. I am so going to do it though... when the moment/mood are right.

3) Yesterday I stumbled across the new Ben Lee album online. I love Ben Lee 'cuz his music is nerdy pop music with handclaps and fingersnaps and la-la-las. It's just like candy. It makes a good soundtrack for sunny spring days.

4) Speaking of candy, I totally want to run across the street and buy some, but it's raining pretty hard... Hmmm...

5) Speaking of bad nutrition, I had leftover pizza and a bag of Kernels cheesy dill popcorn for dinner. Bad but tasty.

6) My eco-posse and I had a good day today. Our goal for this year was for our school to receive certification from an environmental education organization. In order to do so, we had to put together a huge application that summarizes all of our projects and activities for the year. This morning, a team from the organization came to visit the posse and I. My posse totally rocked, gave great answers, showed the team around the school, and totally impressed them. It warmed my heart, and I told them as much. Anyway, at the end of the visit, the organization told us that we definitely achieved certification. I'm so proud of my eco-posse. :D

7) TV tonight (Parks & Recreation/The Office/30 Rock) was totally hilarious. My fave line from the Office: "Oh, it's on like a prawn who yawns at dawn."

8) My current fave running joke on the Daily Show is about the RNC chairman Michael Steele. When he introduces Michael Steele, Jon Stewart always shows a picture of Fat Blue, the muppet who always dines at Grover's restaurant, and says "Here's Michael Steele, shown, as always, dining at his favourite restaurant." Cracks me up. Here's a youtube clip of Fat Blue and Grover, in case you forget these classic sketches. (My favourite use of youtube is to watch any sort of classic muppet stuff.)


9) This hilarious picture of Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff (from a Toronto Star review of his book), came to my attention from a couple of Fbook pals. Next time I'm feeling sad, it will make me happy.

10) It's almost the freakin' weekend! I don't have many exciting plans, but I'm looking forward to some down time and getting caught up on a bunch of stuff. Happy weekend everyone!

When I jerk away from holding hands with you...

I can’t sleep, and my iPod’s dead and yah, I really should be sleeping.

My dear friend Becca T always loves hearing my bad date stories. I thought I’d share her favourites on here because, well, I think they’re funny. Maybe you have to know me to find them funny, I dunno. Writing them down will give me something to do while I can't sleep.

1) I had a date that I was looking forward to mainly because the dude claimed to be really into music, and had a list of respectable bands that he liked. Good taste in music is oh-so-important for me, or I’ll run out of things to talk about fast. And I don’t think anyone can truly get me if they don’t like music.

This guy would title his emails to me with lines from songs and such, so I had high hopes.

At the beginning of the date, we talked about jobs, growing up, schooling, etc. Obviously the conversation flowed to our common interest. He started talking about all of the bands he likes. I asked what the best album is by a certain band.

“Oh, I don’t listen to albums. I just download maybe five to six of the most popular songs on iTunes.”

Sarcastic eyebrow raise and incredulous look from me. “You don’t listen to albums.”

I did my best to compose myself and not flip on the guy. I’m sorry. I’m a music snob. You cannot pose as a fellow music connoisseur and not listen to albums. Do you just read a few chapters of a book? Is that what you do? (Actually he didn’t read either.) How can you claim to love a band if you don’t own all of their albums?

To change the subject, I brought up the fact he was from the East Coast and listed a bunch of my fave East Coast bands. He hadn’t heard of any of them. None! Not even Sloan! What’s the point of living in a place if you don’t explore local bands, oh Mr. “I’m Really Into Music?”

Anyway, needless to say there never was a second date. Dude had many other annoying qualities as well. And he also kind of looked like Ricky Gervaise. Now, I know that for most people someone not liking albums does not a bad date make, but think of someone being a total poseur about what you love best, and you’ll know how I felt.

The only benefit of this date is that it makes a really funny story to tell other music snobs. A couple months later I had a date with a real music snob, and this story made good fodder for the date. This guy understood; one of his first questions for me was “what are three albums you like to listen to all the way through?” I went on a few guys with this guy, but despite our common music snobbery, there was no spark, so things just drifted, and it wasn’t meant to be.

2) This story of a bad date starts off with a good date. I had a really good date with a dude who was really funny, and seemed to be really into me. We had dinner at cute little Mexican restaurant in my neighbourhood, and I think I might have had a margarita too many, so maybe that’s why I found him funny.

(Aside, actually the best part of the date was when the funny little waitress who works there whispered in my ear “I’ve had too much tequila tonight!” I love little family-owned restaurants where the staff gets drunk!)

So second date: sushi at my fave sushi place. Dude meets up with me after work, and we walk over to the restaurant. He’s dressed nicely. However, it’s a windy day and I smell something strange. The smell lingers. I realize it’s him. I don’t know what to do. That smell was a complete deal-breaker for me. I wanted to run.

Dinner was okay, I guess. I couldn’t smell him in the restaurant, but the memory lingered. I managed to make it through sushi, and then I was like “I am so tired from work. I must go home.” It was true; I was tired. He was kind enough to walk me back home, and then hugged me. I pulled away and he was like “oh, are you not a huggy person?” and I was like “No, yes, I don’t know. Sometimes.” Such an awkward ending.

Anyway, those are Becca T’s fave Christielli-bad-date stories. Feel free to share any of your own.

Never turn your back on Mother Earth.

Happy Earth Day!

I'm an accidental environmentalist. I teach science, and somehow I got the reputation for being really into eco-issues (I think it's because I let Al Gore teach my class when I can). Last year some students wanted to start an eco-club, and this year I have a pretty committed bunch. A coworker of mine calls them my posse, and jokes that I am their leader, and if anyone messes me, they would have to answer to my posse.

As a result of my little club, I've now got the reputation as the staff environmentalist. People confess to me their environmental sins. I absolve them. They also come to me with absurd ideas, to which I smile and nod.

I try to be a good example. I had to make sure that I got a good reusable mug for my morning coffee. I used to drop by my principal's office for my morning environmental complaint/idea/initiative, with my paper coffee cup in my hand and then point out that I was well aware of my hypocrisy.

This I've been very busy planning Earth Week activities, finishing off our application for an award as an environmentally-conscious school, and teaching my classes that I forgot all about the Earth Day T-shirts that I got in San Fran for my favourite colleauges to wear. Luckily one of the lucky recipients reminded me of the shirt, 'cuz I totally forgot about it. Unfortch, one of the bunch is on mat leave, but four of us were wearing the shirt below:



By the end of the day the fact that four of us were wearing the same shirt was a hot topic. "Where did you guys get those shirts?" "Are you like friends or something?" "Oh, look it's another teacher in one of those shirts." "Why does Earth only have one tooth?"

Anyway, my Earth Day shirt and I are going out to a birthday party after I take some time to clean up my own environment. My apartment is a mess!!

ps My super also handed out new recycling buckets to everyone today. I don't know if it was a coincidence that it was Earth Day, but it made me super happy.

I wish I was the moon tonight.

Weekend Rundown:

Friday
Met up with Becca T for frappucinos and to lend her Neko Case CDs so she could "study" for the concert. Going for frappucinos with Becca T is one of my favourite things to do. We are both addicted to said beverages, and we grade them. These ones were A+s, which is always great.

Since it was a lovely evening, we ended up walking and drinking, and decided to go rent the movie "Twilight". It was all right. I just finished the book not too long ago. I read it so I could understand my students better since they are all in love with the series. Most of the kids hate the movie with a passion, but I liked the movie better because it was shorter (the book dragged on for me), and Robert Pattinson is pretty cute in an intense way.

Then, I stayed up far too late having a hilarious phone conversation with a new friend. I think this will officially the most bizarre circumstances under which I've gained a new friend, but I love it when truth is stranger than fiction.

Saturday
Woke up early to go visit my work spouse (who's on mat leave) with another work pal. Her baby's grown a lot since I saw her in March and is all smiley and cute.

I wandered over the Eaton Centre, but wasn't in a shopping mood so I went home. At home, I read a review about a new HBO movie with Drew Barrymore in it called "Grey Gardens". It's based on a documentary in the 1970s about some eccentric relatives of Jackie O who became destitute and lived in a crumbling mansion in the Hamptons. Anyway, I watched a bit of the 1970s documentary on Youtube and read up on the story, and it's just the kind of weird thing I like. I look forward to seeing the HBO movie once it's out on DVD. Oh, and it turns out that a song I like (Grey Gardens by Rufus Wainwright) was based on the documentary. I guess I just like coming across a good story about eccentrics every now and then.

Saturday evening was the Neko Case concert that I'd been looking forward to forever. Becca T and I went for sushi before the show, and later we found out that the dude sitting next to us was Neko's guitarist. The concert was in a church, hence we had great seats and the acoustics were amazing. The opening band, Crooked Fingers, were pretty good. Neko was amazing, of course. Her voice is so amazing live and she sang so many great songs. Her band was excellent. My favourite songs were "Your Favourite" (ironic) and "I Wish I Was the Moon".

Sunday
I had intentions to go looking at bikes today, and maybe go buy some new spring clothes, but I wasn't feeling it. So, instead I kind of lazed around home, avoided doing anything too productive, and went for a walk.

Oh wait, I did one productive thing. I contacted the artist of that print in my previous post. Turns out her studio's near my school, so I'll be getting it this week! Yay!

This coming week at work is unfortunately super and includes Parent-Teacher Interviews. However, when that's done, it means that I'm in my last quarter of the school year, and well on my way to summer!

Have a happy Monday everyone!

Not stop 'til I get to normal...

Argh. These past few nights I've had homework. Homework. Eeeew. I should be doing some now, but I've decided that tonight's order of tasks will be blogging, TV (yay Thursdays!), and then homework. Or maybe just go to be early and make sure I'm early for work. But that strategy doesn't work, I know for a fact.

Yah, so I thought I have a bunch of stuff to say, but I guess I don't.

I came across this painting by a local artist named Melinda Josie in an article. I really like it.



I think I like it 'cuz:
a) We've all felt the way that poor cat looks;
b) But the toy reminds me that there's always comfort when you need it;
c) I like red coats;
d) I like leggings too;
e) I like her Mary Jane shoes; and
f) The cat reminds me a bit the ever fantastic Rilo, who was posing for my pal Mathew again the other night. I can never get good pictures of her.



Actually, now I'm seeing that I could buy a silkscreen print of it. I'm going to email the artist post-haste I think. There was this other painting a saw in Starbucks (of all places) the other day that I really liked. It looked totally abstract, but when you looked at it closely, you could see that beneath the paint, there was a collage of a crowd at a concert. Really perfect for me, but sadly out of my price range.

Anyway, happy weekend everyone! I plan to catch up on sleep, visit with friends, see Neko Case (for the first time ever, I'm so excited), and maybe finally go buy myself a bike. Oh, and then maybe bike rides!

Deny, deny, you can't deny you let the curtain fall.

1) I hate when I can't sleep and I have school tomorrow.

2) I need to use gmail more 'cuz it's got quotes and stuff that seem to know how your day is going. Today's quote was:

“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.” Charles de Gaulle

Ironic. Although I'm sure he meant dogs AND cats but the cats were lost in translation. Because Rilo is completely lovable.

3) Actually maybe I need to use gmail less, 'cuz their ads at the side that scan your email are super creepy. Please don't use my problems to generate ad revenue.

4) Also why do I need a metaphorical brick to hit me in the head to make me wake up?

5) Four days of school 'til I get to see Neko Case next weekend!! And tomorrow I get to do paperwork for a project instead of teach. The good thing about this is that I get to call a supply in, and I called my friend CT (cute teacher). Anyway, if he doesn't love me already, my well-behaved classes and the fact that I show CBC documentaries in class will definitely seal the deal.

6) Also, I am in love with the song "Cross My Heart" by Mariana's Trench. I heard it on the radio this weekend and it turned out it was already on my iPod 'cuz it was an iTunes single of the week. After listening to it an embarrassing number of times in a row today, I've decided I know what I want for my 30th birthday: a big party where all of my friends do a choreographed dance to this song. You have 10 months and 1 day to get this together, people.

Who would you rather be: the Beatles or the Rolling Stones?

Today I saw this with some kids. It was a nice day to be outside. Sunny, no snow, less cold.



Go renewable energy!

I love the new Metric album.

It's a four-day weekend soon. I'll spend some time in Ratford. I'm looking forward to it.

Today I had dinner at my old fave Thai place that I haven't eaten at in FOREVER. Not as good as it used to be, but they still load their salad with cilantro. I love cilantro.

I came across this old (note Christmas tree in background) of Rilo that was taken by her godfather. But it was so cute I must post it.



I'm excited for new TV tomorrow night: 2 new episodes of the Office, new show with Amy Poehler, and new 30 Rock.

So, all I have to get through before evening of TV hilarity and long weekend is one more school day. Bring it.

Oh make me over; I'm all I want to be.

I probably should be in bed, but I had a whim to makeover my blog. I wasn't digging the old layout anymore. Anyway, this'll do for now. It's a little springy.

Which today's weather is not. Everyone is horrified when it snows in April, but I'm pretty sure it always happens, and you can't have spring 'til you've had the inevitable April snowfall. At least in these parts.

My own father prank called me tonight. Apparently he was watching the Jays' home-opener and fans were throwing stuff on the field. So, he picked up the phone (which he never does; I'm surprised he even knows how to use it), and called me. "Stop throwing things on the field." Click. The sad thing is, I totally got my dad's sense of humour in the genetic lottery, so I prank-called him back.

I just finished a book that takes place in a small Iowa town. Sometimes I wish that I could just pack up Rilo and all of my stuff and leave the city and move to a small town. I like the city, but sometimes it's a drag. I'm paradoxical in a lot of ways, and one of the ways is that I love the city, but I often yearn for small places.

iTunes just picked the song "Celebration Guns" by Stars for me to listen to. Good choice computer program. Good night. Sleep light. Stranger.

Stumbling through the city with the ordinary birds.

Life in point form:

- had a pretty lazy weekend overall, with the exception of a very busy Saturday road-tripping to the Buffalo area with my pal Mathew

- Becca T was supposed to come but ended up not being able to as she had left her passport and birth certificate at her parents' place in Ottawa

- was very well-behaved well shopping. I did get a new pair of Chucks at the Converse outlet store (beige with red and blue stripes on the bottom), a new watch, a green canvas purse for spring/summer, and a cool pair of colourful ballet flats. Oh, and a pile of junk food that's not available in Canada.

- met up with Jason at the mall for a bit, had dinner, and he got to go to Target with us as we flipped out over various products that we don't have here and the general lower cost of food. I hope he doesn't think Canadians are too weird.

- I'm still obsessively listening to Kensington Heights/Too Slow for Love by the Constantines. I downloaded the new Metric album, but I haven't touched it yet.

- I finished reading the book "Twilight" today. I'm sure I would have liked it more if I was still a teenager. Now I'm reading a book about a small town library cat. It's pretty fluffy, but I'm kind of enjoying it. I think that Rilo would make a good small town library cat. She's pretty friendly. And cute too.

- Anyway, it's a four day week. Thank goodness. I forgot to mark this weekend.

You do what you can do with what you got.

Wow, another busy week has flown by and it's a new month. Sometime the simple flow of time just blows my mind. It didn't used to go this fast, and I'd really like someone to slow it down.

I think if I could have any superpower, it would be to stop time at will. I would use my power entirely for good though. Actually, I think I would mostly use it as a snooze button. Oh, and I think time would be stopped for an eternity on Sundays, to give me long weekends. I'd probably fuck up the entire space-time continuum of the universe if I was had this power, so it's best that I don't.

Superpower rambling aside, I had a good week.

The Constantines/Weakerthans show was amazing, of course. First off, the Constantines did a great job of rocking my socks off. The Constantines are one of those bands where I like some songs here and there, but not really their albums in full. However, their set was amazing, despite not playing "Young Lions", which is a fave of mine since I often sing the opening line to Rilo when I come home. ("Oh, young lion, this is your kingdom.") Their version of "Nighttime/Anytime" was fucking awesome though.

Their awesome lead me to buy the new super-sized version of their latest albums on iTunes. For the low price of $5.99 you get the Kensington Heights album + Too Slow For Love, which contains all kinds of really great alternate versions. I've been listening to it constantly the last couple of days. Great stuff.

The Weakerthans were fantastic, as usual. I've lost count of how many times I've seen them. It's hard to describe. Well actually, it's easy to describe. When I see them, I'm pretty much at my happiest, and I can just feel this special smile on my face. It's corny as hell, but that's the way it is. Anyway, it was great as always to see my favourite band with my favourite friend, that being Becca T. She is my absolute favourite person to go to a concert with.

One thing that I may have to do is to start accepting applications for a new concert-going pal. Becca T is most likely going to be working in Nice, France next year (pending a visa), and I don't know who's going to be my new concert pal. My friend Mathew is pretty good for concerts, but he does not like the Weakerthans (surprising I'm still friends with him, huh), and sometimes makes poor concert-going decisions (i.e. not going to Stars with me). Anyway, Becca T and I have two more concerts lined up for the spring, and I'm sure we'll go to lots more before she leaves.

Work has tired me out for the rest of the week. I survived a trip to the Science Centre today. I didn't plan it, I was volun-forced to go. I was apprehensive about it since a) they made us take public transit; and b) I didn't know a lot of the kids. However, the kids from my school are always excellent on field trips and it was a very smooth day.

This weekend I'm going on a shopping trip to the States with Becca T and Mathew. It's gonna be fun. I kind of want new Chucks.

I'll let you know how that goes.

Happy weekend!