Crosswords hidden in the landscape...

I feel that I am falling behind in everything. Schoolwork, reading for book clubs, Christmas cards, Christmas shopping, cleaning, socializing, everything. I have a to-do list that seems to grow daily.

So what have I been doing?

Knitting while watching music videos.

Yesterday, the fates decided that I was going to make giant strides forward in realizing one of my life-long goals: learning to knit mittens.

I had decided that after work, I'd stop by the Starbucks in Indigo, treat myself to a biscotti and latte, and start the book that I should have read by Saturday. I read for a bit, then decided that I'd browse around the store. On the bargain book table, I came across a book on knitting. I skimmed through it and noticed a pattern for mittens. I looked over it, and realized that it required skills that I didn't have. But, said skills were explained elsewhere in the book and looked possible. I got excited, bought the book, and proceeded to the craft store and acquired the new needles that I needed to knit mittens. Whenever I start a new project, I always have to buy some new yarn, so I got some fun blue yarn.

I raced home in the cold, and kerplunked on the couch with my new supplies and book. I started to teach myself how to knit in the round on double-pointed needles, and by the end of the evening, I had almost a whole cuff completed. I also listened to a good portion of MuchMusic's list of top 100 videos. I can't believe they were actually showing videos. I thought they'd abandoned those.

This evening I got a lot more of my first mitten finished while watching Ugly Betty, the Office, and more music videos. Here's a picture of my progress.



So, in summary, maybe I am behind in all of the everyday trivialities of life, but in the meantime, I am in the process of checking off a thing on my lifelong to-do list, so I guess that puts me ahead of things after all.

Turn off your headlights and go slowly, I don't want it to let up.

Quick post.

Montreal was lots of fun. I like the city. I got my Starbucks mug. I ate great food (mmmm poutine!), did some shopping (got some super cute shoes), and bonded with my coworkers/friends. It was a great weekend.

This week was busy, hence lack of posting. Parent-teacher interviews, professional development, and the like. We also got our first snow storm.

This weekend, my friend Wendy from high school is visiting and we're starting our Christmas shopping.

Will write a better post and catch up on blog-reading in the near future.

Oh great intentions, I've got the best of interventions.

I was just sitting on my couch, crocheting a red and white candy cane striped scarf for myself, when I realized that I haven't posted in quite awhile. I've been busy with quite a few ventures, like learning how to crochet, so the old blog has been neglected. This neglection (not a word, but I'll use it) has been furthered by the fact that it is report card season, so much of this evening prior to crocheting was spent marking and typing in comments.

This weekend I'm travelling to Montreal with some coworkers, so it promises to be a fun time. I'll be in the middle of packing madness tomorrow night oh what will I wear?) since we will be leaving at the bell, so I realized that there definitely would not be time to update the old blog then.

I'm looking forward to my trip. The odd thing, and there always is an odd thing with me, is that right now the only part of this trip I've really thought about is that fact that I must get to Starbucks to get a Starbucks Montreal mug to add to my collection.

Proud and strange and so hopelessly hopeful.

Le sigh. What an amazing show last night. Not that I ever suspected anything less.

The show I'm referring to, of course, was the Weakerthans with Jenn Grant and *Christine Fellows* at the Phoenix. It's been over 2 years since I last saw the Weakerthans play in Toronto, and I'm glad that long spell is over. After chatting with various people, and reading reviews of the show, it seems to be the general consensus that the Weakerthans have really developed into such a dynamic live band with a high energy show. I totally concur, which makes me ponder how awesome is the existence of a band with such strong songwriting and a great live show.

Anyhow, my dear friend Becca T was able to go to the show with me, even though there was a early scare that she wouldn't be able to attend because of a work-related commitment. Thankfully she was able to get out of that. We met up early for a sushi dinner (quelle surprise) and discussion of what merchandise we were going to buy, what songs we wanted to hear, and how psyched we were that another favourite artist of ours, Christine Fellows, was opening.

We got to the show sufficiently early enough to purchase some stuff (a curling-related Weakerthans t-shirt and the new Christine Fellows CD for me), and stake out a really good spot very close to the stage. Our spot afforded us such a great view; there have been times I've been at the Phoenix and haven't been able to see very well at all, but last night was great.

Christine Fellows came on first (I owe Becca T a coffee because I did not recognize her with a different hair colour). She only played new stuff. It was all highly enjoyable and well performed, but I was really hoping to hear "Souvenirs" live. But, no worries, because she has a December 14th show here that Becca T and I will definitely attend.

The second opening act, Jenn Grant, was perfectly cromulent. Ron Sexsmith made a guest appearance during one number. Of course, I must admit that I was too excited for my favourite band of all-time to play to really fully pay attention.

I felt like that Weakerthans have entered a new phase of their evolution with this show. They now have lights and don't have to set up their own equipment like the old days. Jim Bryson also played with them. They opened with Psalm for the Elks' Lodge Last Call. The entire set was amazing. I even enjoyed the song "History for the Defeated" which is my least favourite Weakerthans song. The song opens with the line "There's blood in the sink, he's plunging his wrists in." I find this line so graphic and disturbing that I cannot listen to it comfortably. For this reason, I don't even have that song on my iPod. Anyhow, it was the first time I have seen it live, I think, and it was well-performed, of course, but it won't be making its way on to my iPod anytime in the near future.

I was very psyched that they played my very favourite song of all time, "Reconstruction Site", because they hadn't played it when I saw them in Hamilton in June. Another highlight for me was "Manifest" because I like the trumpet in that song. I enjoyed "Benediction" as well, because Christine Fellows came on to sing the Sarah Harmer vocals. Highly enjoyable. My only *slight* disappointment was that they didn't play "Reunion Tour" which is my favourite song from the new album.

I didn't bring my camera to the show because it takes crappy live pictures, and I get distracted when I try to take picture and I'm happier without it. Below is a picture of John K Samson from the Chart Magazine review of the show.


Anyhow, yay for concerts and I'm so excited to see them again in Toronto sometime soon.

A shadow of me in the moon, well, I was in a movie in my head...

I feel like I haven't had a quiet night at home like I'm having right now in awhile. I had thought that I had plans to watch Heroes with Becca T, but she has to work, so I'm taping it and saving it to watch it later. It's much more fun to watch Heroes with my Heroes buddy.

Since I'd thought I'd be busy tonight, I didn't bother bringing any work home (I'll pay for that tomorrow), so I've been sitting around, drinking tea, listening to music, and reading. I think I may finally finish my first book since September. I've started about 5 or 6, but I keep losing interest fast.

I had quite a nice weekend. I spent Friday night helping Claire say goodbye to Toronto. We went out for drinks on Queen St. and had quite a good time. She was kind enough to bring me a copy of this week's Eye Magazine, which she had noticed had my beloved Weakerthans on the cover. I get to see them this Thursday!! And, from the article, I learned that *Christine Fellows* will be opening for them and she is also coming out with a new album tomorrow (it was reviewed well). I am very excited to purchase it tomorrow so that I can listen to it in preparation for this week's show. Oh, and I'm expanding my spending allowance to one Weakerthans Tshirt and perhaps a Christine Fellows' Tshirt too. Woo-hoo!

I had to wake up quite early the next morning because I was catching a ride home with a friend. I spent a quite weekend in Stratford; my only social activity was going out for a beverage with a couple of friends.

I also spent some time hanging out with my parents. We watched "Reign Over Me" (a serious Adam Sandler movie), which I enjoyed overall. I also skunked my dad in a game of cribbage, which always makes me happy.

Tomorrow I start my crochet course, which makes me happy. I like being crafty. Then, I'll just be in count-down to Weakerthans mode for a couple of days. Expect a review post soon after the show!

Thought it was a good solution hanging with the raisin girls...

Wow, it's been a busy week since my last blog post. First of all, I met up with three fellow bloggers (Claire, AlieMalie, and Scott) on Friday night for a tri-nation blogger summit (or so I decided to christen it). It was super fun. AlieMalie and Claire were both visiting Toronto at the same time, so they met up with me at the Portuguese bakery near my work, where I so smoothly ordered a lovely pastry that tasted like ice cream by saying "can I have the round chocolate thing?"

Following pastries, AlieMalie bravely drove us across the city to my place which something I won't even do, as you probably know that I'm an infamously nervous city driver as other bloggers will confirm. Then after a quick stop at my place to drop off stuff, we proceeded to tour Toronto via TTC and foot during which we stopped for drinks and food and some of my fave haunts.

Anyhow, it was totally fun meeting some bloggers in real-life. I'm pretty new to the whole meeting bloggers in real-life thing, but from the four I've now met, I've found that they end up being very close to what you'd expect from their blogs. And, I think, I end up being the way I seem here. So, I guess blogs are pretty good representations of people, or at least the people whose blogs I read.

On Sunday, I met up with my some of my university friends with whom I have a book club which has been on hiatus for about a year. We picked our next selection (Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen) and purchased it since we met at Indigo. So now I have that to read, in addition to Love in the Time of Cholera for my staff book club. Hopefully, I'll get back into reading mode, because I have not been able to finish a book since I finished Middlesex in September. I've started many, but I seem to have the attention span of a goldfish these days.

I'm quite excited for Halloween tomorrow. Typically, I never get myself organized enough to dress up for the occasion, but last night I picked up the necessities for a good witch costume, including black nail polish (which I'm wearing now - I feel so goth!), and sparkly fake eyelashes. I'm sure the kids will take me seriously in that getup while I'm trying to teach. If I have to get anyone in trouble, I'll probably feel a bit like Michael from the Office firing someone on Halloween.

Anyhow, things to look forward to in the coming week or so include going out for drinks with my coworkers while we're still decked out in our costumes, going to St. Ratford for part of this weekend since I can score a free ride one way, starting a crochet class with one of my coworkers (I'm branching out from knitting!), and, most importantly, the Weakerthans' concert next Thursday. :D

Like a good book I can't put this day back.

An awesome night on a school night is a great way to put work and life into perspective, and to highlight the importance of a good meal, a good friend, and a good concert to one's mental health and spirit.

Last night I went to see Tori Amos with my friend Eric, with whom I always go to Tori Amos concerts. We both left our jobs earlier than usual so that we could have a nice leisurely dinner before the concert and catch up and chat. My friend Eric is someone who always knows the best restaurants, so we went to a French Bistro that was new to me; where I had a great meal and where we shared a bottle of wine.

The concert itself was amazing. I really like the Hummingbird Centre as a venue. It's been re-christened as the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, but I always like calling places by their pre-corporate sponsorship names. Anyhow, the opening artist was quite good, but I didn't catch his name, and he mentioned that he doesn't have material available in North America anyhow. I'm sure that will change and I'll do some detective work to find out who he was so I can get some of his work.

Tori was amazing, as always. She had a full band with her for most of the concert which I love. She's great with a just a piano, but I tend to like any artist better with a band because I just love the extra energy and sound. For the first part of the concert she was dressed up as Pip, one of her American Doll Posse alter-egos. For the rest of the concert she returned as Tori, and played just with her piano for a few songs. Highlights for me were the songs Bliss, Waitress, Space Dog, Spark, Winter, A Sorta Fairytale, and Precious Things. Okay, so really practically every song was a highlight. Oh, and I also really enjoyed her improvised song which was about her realizing that her 7-year daughter might be smarter than she is while they were in Indigo looking at books. Another highlight was seeing my quite-refined friend Eric hollering like a beer-hoister during the concert and then teasing him afterwards.

I managed to not spend a lot of money on merchandise, as per my new spending diet. I did pick up a set of buttons, but I figure that's negligible. I did avoid buying the fun "I believe in peace bitch" canvas bag, since I do already own a Tori bag, and I couldn't carry that one to school, could I?

Perhaps what I love the most about Tori's current tour is that she is selling bootlegs of her concerts online mere hours after the shows. I just downloaded last night's show tonight, and I'm listening to it and enjoying it so much. What an awesome idea. The album also comes with pictures and CD artwork. How incredibly cool. This is one of the times that I love love love technology.



Anyhow, now that that exciting event is over, I'm next looking forward to blog-related visitors this weekend. Woo-hoo!

Maybe heart and fist and human voice might be the better way...

Musings from this weekend:

1) I am going on a spending diet. I've hereby decided that I am buying no non-essentials (ie random CDs/albums, books, clothes, DVDs, jewelery, shoes, etc.) for the next month. The only purchases I'm allowed, besides food and essential toiletries (which do not include sparkley eyeshadows, lipglosses, etc. since I have a bajillion of them), are some tights so I can wear skirts in colder weather and a Weakerthans Tshirt at the upcoming concert. That's it.

This spending diet was spurred by the fact that I ended up buying several random items in the past few days. On Thursday, I was at a different school for a day of workshops and I decided to walk home from that school which meant I had to walk down Yonge from Lawrence to Eglinton. This is a dangerous stretch of Yonge for me because there are a lot of nifty stores and one had a cute hoodie on sale that had birds on it. I love birds and had to have it.

On Friday, a coworker invited me to drop by the Eaton Centre with her after work and I ended up with new jeans, a new Tshirt, and new earrings.

Today, I had to go back to the above mall so I could exchange the Tshirt 'cuz I bought the wrong size. (You would think that someone who shops as much as I do would be capable of buying something in the right size.) This ended up with me wandering around the mall and coming out with a brand new sweater that I rationalized was necessary for work.

Anyhow, no more of this nonsense. No shopping 'til my November trip to Montreal!

(Note: I do notice that as my pile of dirty laundry increases as does my notion that I have nothing to wear. Right now I really badly need to do laundry and I'm shopping a lot. Coincidence, I think not!)

2) I have decided to not resubscribe to Chart magazine when my current subscription is up (not 'til next Sept so there's still awhile). This is the Canadian music magazine that I have been reading forever, but they have thrice offended me in the past few months. The offences were:

a) a bitter review of the new Matt Good album.

b) an even more bitter review of the new Weakerthans album. It offended me so much to my inner soul that I've blocked most of it out of my memory but I do believe the words "lazy" and "cobbled-together" were used in said review. In reference to MY favourite band. Oh no, they didn't. But they did.

c) A cheap shot at Hawksley Workman in the review of Bend Sinister's latest. The reviewer said, and I paraphrase, that Bend Sinister sounds like how Hawksley used to sound before he got wussy after his first album. This makes me angry for a reason besides the fact that the reviewer insulted my dear Hawksley. I think the reviewer thinks that Lover/Fighter was Hawksley's first album (it was his third), and he got "wussy" with Treeful of Starling. But, in fact, (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves is Hawksley's second album, and I don't how anyone in their right mind can accuse that album of being wussy.

So, from these three offenses, I've learned that this magazine is becoming more irrelevant to me and that the writers must not have a good handle on the musical catalogues of certain artists that I consider important. I think I'm going to rely on Now Magazine and Eye Weekly (which are free, and weekly) for my music needs. They gave the new Weakerthans stellar reviews, which shows good taste.

3) I love Toronto in the fall.

4) Becca T and I finished season 1 of Heroes and are now catchy up on the episodes of season 2 that I've taped. I do enjoy that Peter Petrelli.

5) I'm so excited for visitors next weekend!

6) I love when I solve a problem that's been bugging me. More than a month ago, my friend with an SUV took me to Ikea to get some furniture (most of which is still unassembled... shh...). There was a loveseat I wanted, but they were out of stock of the cushions, so I decided to pick up the frame and get the cushions at a later time, since I could just bring them home in a car. Well, they've been out of the cushions forever. Today, I got the bright idea of maybe I could order them over the phone, and I did, so I should have my cushions via Canada Post in 6-10 days, and then maybe that will spur me to assemble the rest of the furniture. Anyhow, I felt very happy when I got this issue solved.

7) I was so well-behaved tonight and finished all of the work that I brought home over the weekend. That hasn't happened since, well, never?

8) I really suck at Scrabble. There's a new Facebook application called Scrabulous, and I'm currently playing 4 scrabble games on there and losing all of them. I have a good vocabulary, I'm good at word puzzles, and I'm pretty logically-minded, but I just don't have the patience with Scrabble. I think of a couple options and just plunk the best one on the board. Maybe it's just that my tiles (in all four games) are really really really sucking. Yah, that's it. It's the tiles.

So, this upcoming week promises to be fun. I've got my Tori Amos concert on Tuesday, a PD day on Friday, and fun visitors arriving. Woo-hoo! Enjoy your weeks!

Roll down the windows let the cold air come in, yeah.

I have a group of friends from high school, who have managed to stay in contact since high school days, which will be officially 10 years ago as of June. There are 9 of us; and we've started up our own Facebook group, which has been a totally fun thing, because it almost seems like a virtual version of our table in the cafeteria back in the old days.

Anyhow, one of the latest discussions that has come up is creating a time capsule; i.e. all of writing where we want to be 10 years from now. Right now I think I'm at a strange point in my life; professionally, I'm where I'd like to be. It's strange not having that next degree to obtain, or job to get. I'm really happy with where I am, and I doubt that job-related change is in my near future. Personally, it's a different story. I feel like I'm in a bit of a rut, and maybe need to focus on getting out more, meeting more people, etc. This past year, I've been focussing on getting into better shape; and it feels like that's been eating up a lot of time and energy, and perhaps I don't feel as socially connected as I used to. Or, perhaps this is a side effect of living on my own now. I miss impromptu social occasions with my old roommate.

I guess this is what went through my mind as I composed my time capsule post, and it seemed naturally just like the type of thing I'd also like to include on my blog. So here it is...

In ten years:

I will be married to the right person, if such a person exists. If not, I will not be fretting about why I’m not married but just happy about where I am.
If I am married to the right person, I will have a child/children if it’s something that we are ready for. (I seriously question if parenthood is for me, so I’m unsure about it, but maybe I’d like a kid/kids… I think it all depends on what the other person is like.)
I will have a cat.
I will live in Toronto; not the suburbs.
I will no longer be renting.
I will teach at a school where I am just as happy, or more, as I am now. (Perhaps maybe still my school, but things change so I may have to change.)
I will have seen more of the world than I have now; hopefully France, Italy, Greece, and more of Europe.
I will be able to run 5Ks.
I will be well-read.
I will be environmentally friendly.
I will have re-visited some places I love: mainly Ireland and London.
I will still go to lots of concerts.
I will surround myself with positive people.
I will still have all of my close friends.
I will be happy.

It's weird thinking about 10 years down the line. It seems so far away; yet close in a way considering how fast the past 10 years flew.

Baby I'm a Lost Cause.

Right now I'm sitting here blurry-eyed from spending only three hours with the pile of marking I wanted to have finished by the end of the weekend; but that didn't happen because I went on a crazy-cross border shopping trip on Saturday, and I had to spend most of today recovering from said trip.

This weekend much money was spent. First, on Friday night I hauled myself out to Ikea because they were having a no-tax sale. I bought a loveseat from them in September, but they were out of the cushions for the loveseat, so I haven't put the darned thing together yet. Well, there were still no cushions there on Friday, so I spent $123 on other stuff. *sigh* Anyhow, I'm going to become more proactive concerning these cushions; I'm going to keep calling them, and as soon as they're in, I'm there.

Yesterday, my friend Flora drove myself and Becca T to Niagara Falls New York where we went to the Outlet Mall, Target, and then drove to Amherst to another mall. I'm all ready for winter y'all; I bought a new winter coat and boots. Plus, I spent a bunch of money on junk at Target (why is it so tempting to buy silly stuff when you're in a different country?) and some other odds and ends you can't get here. Also, with our healthy dollar right now, some price differences are crazy. For example, a pair of pants that I own is $20 less at the US Gap, so I just had to buy myself a pair there in a different colour.

We also had dinner at Chili's. I was in "remember the episode of the Office when?" heaven. I so wanted to order an Awesome Blossom extra awesome, but I don't care for onions.

The US Starbucks has a tasty toasted marshmallow mocha latte that I have not seen here. It's too bad. However, the US stores have free bookmarks to commemorate this fall drink, so I'll always have that memory.

With crazy border wait-times and customs to go through, I didn't get home 'til 2 am. I woke up when it was still morning at least, but I spent my afternoon falling asleep to episodes of the Office. I at least went for a delightful fall walk in the cemetery and then spent a couple of hours procrastinating.

All in all it was a good weekend but far too short. My apartment is a mess; I'm behind in work, so I swear I'm going to make myself a strict schedule for next week. Sigh. I'm already looking forward to Christmas break.

Have a good week.

Maybe if I was in demand, you would be mine...

I realize it's been a week since my last post. I'm totally not over blogging, I still love it to death, but I feel that the business of life is consuming me right now. I have a bajillion things to do, and I don't feel like I have time to accomplish everything, plus get my requisite levels of relaxing/downtime in.

Anyhow, I feel like compiling a random list of things I've thought in the past while.

1) Tonight I was in a gloomy mood, and I had a craving for the Matthew Good Band song "Suburbia" which lead me to listening to the Beautiful Midnight album on shuffle while going for a walk through crunchy autumn leaves on a cool autumn night. I felt better, and also appreciated how much I like that album.

2) I *may* have finagled a way to see Matt Good in Guelph, since I am missing out on the show here. I'll keep you posted.

3) I ate way too much Portuguese food tonight.

4) I might be doing double Weakerthans in November. I bought tickets to the first show right away, and then it turned out that Becca T has a work commitment that night, so I'll be taking my back-up Weakerthans pal from work, and poor Becca T was a bit melancholy about the situation. Anyhow, I just found out that a second show was added, and if Becca T wants to go to that one, I'll do two Weakerthans shows. Will it be so much enjoyability that my head will explode or implode?? I'll let you know when/if it happens.

5) I had a great long weekend. On Saturday night, I kind of sort of drank too much wine and did not eat enough food which was not a good idea. I still had fun though, but when I came home to my parents house, I ended up passing out on the couch downstairs and making it up to bed at 6:30 am. Of course my dad, being the early riser, was awake then, and when I woke up properly at 11 am, this all caused him to ask me how my kidneys were doing and he told me that I should take care of them because he may need one one day. However, next time I'm in St. Ratford, I'm writing on my hand to be sure to eating while beveraging.

6) I think I'm going on a road trip to Montreal in November. Yay!

7) I have some work-related training to do tomorrow, so it's almost like a day off since I'll be away for the day. This week is going to seem super, super short.

8) It was crazy warm here this weekend. Cooking a turkey during 30-degree weather is a little ridiculous.

9) All right, I should go and facebook now. I'm way behind on super-poking people.

I lost the chiming ring of keys to everything.

I can't believe that I am three short school days away from the first long weekend of the year. It's October now! What happened to September? Where does the time go?

I'm quite excited for the long weekend. I'll be taking the late train to St. Ratford on Friday night (it's $10 cheaper, plus eliminates the need of me rushing home from work), and then spending a good three days there. I'm super excited for Saturday night, because my group of friends from high school is having a social gathering, and each and every one of us has RSVPed via Facebook with a yes. Drinks will be consumed. Plus, one of St. Ratford's infamous crappy bars has re-opened with a new name, and maybe, just maybe, a few of us will have enough alcohol in our bloodstreams to venture there. It'll be sketchy, but I'm in the mood for some St. Ratford-style sketch.

This weekend I lay pretty low. I went to the annual Word on the Street book festival, and frequented the same tents that I always do. I went to the magazine that sells subway station buttons, and bought a new button, since I live at a new station. I also informed the dudes at this tent that they really need to listen to the song "I Will Never See The Sun" by Great Lake Swimmers since it mentions four subway stops. I chatted a little bit with an author of a book I really like at another tent. I bought a few dirt-cheap books, including one for my dad who is back to reading lots after he had a cataract surgery.

I've got lots of fun stuff coming up in October though. I have a Tori Amos concert, probably a shopping trip to the States (yay Loonie!), and two very special blog-related visitors who are venturing to the big TO.

Did anyone see the Colbert Report where he complained about the Canadian dollar being higher than the US dollar? He called the loon on the loonie a duck, which made me laugh really hard and still is making me smile.

I bought the new Dashboard Confessional CD today and I'm so in love with the first three songs that I haven't been able to get to track 4 yet. Can we all say emo-licious?

Now I have to go finish a book for my work book club. It's Simon Winchester's "The Professor and the Madman". Anyone read it? I'm having a tough time getting through it. I started it in the summer, but kept getting distracted by other books and shiny objects.

The pause feels like an extra year of high school.

Today was one of those odd days where you end up doing a bunch of different things, and having a bunch of different emotions and feelings and experiences, so that the day feels more eventful than some entire weeks you've had in the past.

It was just busy because we had a special day at school, during which I ended up bonding with a classroom of grade 10 boys over Feist's 1234 of all things, then I had an activity-filled rest of the day, then I went out for a yummy dinner to celebrate a colleague's birthday, and finally I ended up having a couple of friends over to watch the season premiere of The Office.

On the way home from dinner, a couple of my colleagues and I got into a total Oprah conversation where we discussed insecurities and things in our lives that have messed us up, and ways to cope with life, emotions, and feelings. You know, definitely very Oprah-y stuff. It was weird because I actually opened up to them about some things that I very rarely talk about, even to my closest friends who I've know for a long long time. In fact, I think it would give some of friends quite a surprise to hear me talking about these things so matter-of-factly. I'm lucky because I realize that I do have colleagues that I totally do consider friends, and it's neat to have people at work that you like spending time with and consider friends on a personal level. Anyhow, as I was having my Oprah moment, one of my colleagues commented that I sounded like I'd come to terms with a lot of this stuff, which I really had thought that I'd more or less bottled away, but maybe I'm coming to grips with things.

Enough Oprah talk. The Office was hilarious. Oh, it was nice to see my old friends again. I love that show. :D

And... of course you know I've been obsessively listening to the new Weakerthans CD and, of course, I am in love with it. My current favourite song is "Reunion Tour", which didn't stand out to me at the beginning, but after a couple of listens, its instrumentation converted me to loving it.

Well, tomorrow is Friday, so happy weekend!

I know I know it's the sky that makes the ocean blue.

It's late Saturday, technically Sunday morning, and again I'm amazed at how quickly weekend days fly by. I wish I could slow time at will.

I recently bought season 1 of Heroes on DVD and my pal Becca T and I have been working on watching it together. We're almost done. On Friday night, we got take out sushi, and watched a bunch of episodes during which we consumed a bottle of wine. We've just started disc 6 out 7, so we've almost reached our goal. The season premiere is on Monday. We won't be done in time for it, but I'll tape it and I'm sure we'll be caught up. I really like the show. I figured that a good Monday night show would be a good addition to my week. I love having TV to look forward to.

Today I slept in and lazed around my place using the fact that I'm trying to get rid of the last vestiges of my cold as a reason for my sloth. I read a bit and watched the 1998 movie Elizabeth. In the late afternoon, I tackled my dishes and brought down the large pile of recycling that I'd been avoiding for weeks, so I don't feel that the day was wholly unproductive.

This evening I went to a party at Becca T's. It was pretty fun. I got to see a couple of friends that I hadn't seen in a long time, plus my dear friends Jon & Ali showed up unexpectedly and we had fun.

It's crazy how fast time flies. I'm still amazed that people I met in university, who I consider my "new" friends, have actually known me for almost 10 years now. It's weird talking to new people and realizing that this is my fifth year teaching.

I guess it all makes me wish that I could bend space and time just like Hiro on Hereos.

ps The new Ben Lee CD is super fun. I recommend it if you like fun poppy music that you can sing along with.

I was kissing Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream.

You know it's Monday when:

a) You put on outfit #1 for work and then turn on the TV to find that the weather will be too cold for outfit #1. You change into outfit #2, and realize that the shirt just isn't doing it for you, so you make do with outfit #3.

b) You arrive to work early so that you have time to well, familiarize yourself with what it is that you do for a living, and find that your office is cold. As in Antarctic cold, and there you are without your parka, snowpants, mittens, and winter boots. You forgot them at home, since it still is technically the season of summer.

c) Every time you make the trip from your office on the cold cold cold third floor (Hey isn't hot air supposed to rise? What happened to that?) to the main office downstairs, you realize that you forgot things upstairs and have to make the jog back up. At least the physical activity is warming you slightly.

d) Your "clients", as I'll call them, are super energetic after having a weekend to rest up, and you are exactly in the opposite state of energy since you feel a cold coming on.

e) You go downstairs to make *one* photocopy and the damned machine jams, and you can't fix it even though you spend 10 minutes of your precious time trying to fix it, and you know very well that it's not actually jammed, but in fact it just wants you to fiddle with its knobs. So, your only recourse is to ask the secretary who scares you for help.

And that's how you know it's Monday.

Note: I actually had an all right day at work today, and despite all this, I enjoyed myself overall, as I frequently do. I was just inspired to write a bitter post.

Also, Tuesday's gonna be good because there is a new Ben Lee CD coming out, and I'm going to buy it at the record store where the cute boy works, and it will be warm enough tomorrow to wear outfit #1, which is super cute, and I'm glad that I didn't waste it today. ;)

So find a sweater, and you'll be better.

My old pink-and-black-and fun template randomly stopped working, so I had to quickly change to a new run-of-the-mill readily-available blogger template. Maybe someday I'll have the time to find something better, but 'til then, this nice green template will have to suffice.

I've survived week 2 of being back to work, and it's going well. Knock-on-wood of course, but even though it's still the honeymoon period, my classes are giving the vibe that they'll be pleasant for the long term.

I had a crazy-busy weekend last weekend, so I'm really excited not to have any big plans for this weekend. Last night I went for some post-work drinks with colleagues, then ended up having to run home quickly as opposed to wandering around some stores to avoid being caught in a thunderstorm. After dinner, I passed out on my couch watching a movie and woke up there this morning. I think that I just may have be tired.

Today was a crisp cool fall day, which reminded me how much I love love love autumn. I went for a walk this afternoon while listening to my iPod and noticed how a lot of my favourite artists like Christine Fellows, Death Cab for Cutie, Hawksley Workman, The Weakerthans, and Neko Case actually sound a little bit better when the weather gets cooler.

Yay for fall!

My book, my book's gonna make you look.

I survived the first week of school. In a way I'm glad to be back; I honestly do miss the little urchins during vacation. I see a lot of them in the halls, and when they say hello, I remember "Oh yeah, I really enjoy this person!" Anyway, my classes are great so far; I love the September honeymoon period. I hope it can last all year.

I'm also not mourning summer too much because I'm not letting myself get so caught up with work that I neglect my social life. On the evening of the first day of school, I went out for drinks with a couple of dear friends, and that was such a remedy for the back-to-school blues. I had one of those moments when I felt that all was right in my life. I realized I had enjoyable friends, a great apartment, a job that I love, and I had a really yummy caramel apple martini in me.

A friend of mine from home came to stay with me this weekend. Friday night was filled drinking and some trouble-making at the pub across the street from my place. On Saturday, we went across the border to Niagara Falls NY to do some heavy duty shopping. It totally felt like I was back on summer vacation what with going on a mini-road trip and the sunny warm weather.

Tonight was another fabulous night. I met up with my dear former roommmate whom I haven't seen since her wedding in BC. It was great meeting up for dinner, which was followed by seeing Damien Rice in concert. And oh, was it a great concert. If you are not familiar with Damien Rice, you should: a) familiarize yourself right now; and b) make it a life's goal to see him life. He started by playing my three favourite songs (Rootless Tree, Amie, and Eskimo). Actually, it's hard to call three my favourite songs since they're all so good, but I do really like those three. My favourite concert moment was when he held a long note during the song Eskimo. As he did, the lights became all star-like and it was just very cool. His band is amazing. It was honestly one of the best concerts I've ever been to. I think it made my top ten. Hmmm, one day I should sit and ponder what my top ten concerts are. That would be interesting to quantify.

Anyhow, I guess as an update to my current life, I can summarize by saying everything right now is fabulous, and the forecast calls for fabulousity remaining throughout the fall for sure. :)

Then labour day came and went, and we shed what was left of our summer skin.

I've got my lunch made, my newly-purchased school supplies all packed up, and my outfit for tomorrow picked out. It's 8:10 pm and I'm ready to go for the inevitability of going back to work tomorrow. Am I glad? Sure, it'll be good to go back to the normalcy of having a routine. Sometimes, one can get a little bored of summer vacation, but I really haven't had time for that this year. Between taking a course, packing, moving, unpacking, travelling, a visit to St. Ratford, and various social activities, I haven't had much time to get bored yet. So, in that respect I could use some more time, but I guess I can go back to real life tomorrow. Since they're forcing me. Actually I could really use a paycheque right about now too.

Anyway, I've gone for a couple of long walks this weekend, and during these walks I've reflected on the summer that was. However, since my iPod was on, I spent more time thinking about the songs that will always be associated with the summer.

Summer of 2007 Soundtrack:
1) When it Flows - Great Lake Swimmers
2) Moving Pictures Silent Films - Great Lake Swimmers
3) Imitosis - Andrew Bird
4) Heretics - Andrew Bird
5) The Night Starts Here - Stars
6) Take Me to the Riot - Stars
7) Window Bird - Stars
8) The Con - Tegan & Sara
9) Call it Off - Tegan & Sara
10) 1234 (Van She Technological Remix) - Feist
11) Born Losers - Matthew Good
12) She's in it for the Money - Matthew Good
13) The Devil's in your Details - Matthew Good
14) Young Leaves - Attack in Black
15) Northern Towns - Attack in Black
16) Time Won't Let Me Go - The Bravery
17) Walls Fall Down - Bedouin Soundclash
18) Eyes - Rogue Wave
19) Civil Twilight - The Weakerthans
20) Night Windows - The Weakerthans

I started the summer listening to a lot of Great Lake Swimmers. Then I picked up the new Andrew Bird CD which had a song with the word mitosis in it, which made my inner science geek happy. The new Stars CD was then released solely on iTunes and that dominated the old iPod for awhile. I'd been really looking forward to the new Tegan & Sarah album, and I listened to that a lot during the summer.

At the end of July I was off on my trip, but not before I bought the new Matthew Good CD from iTunes so I could listen to it during my trip. I spent long train rides and walks down the beach in White Rock listening to Hopsital Music. On a whim, I picked up the Attack in Black album "Marriage" since I'd seen them open for the Weakerthans in June and it was only $10. That turned out to be a great decision since I ended up listening to it the entire time I had my rental car. It's a really good road trip album by the way.

When I got back from my trip, I went to visit the 'rents. A visit to my 'rents usually involves me driving a lot and listening to the radio. The two radio songs that I picked up on and actually enjoyed were "Time Won't Let Me Go" by the Bravery and "Walls Fall Down" by Bedouin Soundclash.

I recently purchased the first season of Heroes, and Becca T and I have been watching it together with the goal of having it done by the time the second season starts. (I wanted to have a new TV show, and I'd heard good things about it.) I heard the song "Eyes" by Rogue Wave on one episode and made a point of getting it.

My summer has ended with the relentless playing of two songs from the upcoming new Weakerthans album. I love both of them, and I am so excited for the new disc which comes out on Sept. 25th. If these two songs are any indication whatsoever of the quality of the new album, it'll be pretty swell.

Tonight I have to try to get my night owl-self retrained to going to sleep at a decent time so I can be up at 6-ish. Yuck. I'm currently read a fabulous history book called "Sex with the Queen" that is about the royal affairs of queens/princesses through history. It's great; it's like really juicy celebrity gossip, yet educational at the same time. Anyhow, I'm going to do a bit of reading, then hopefully fall asleep at a decent time. Happy back to school.

Wake me up when September ends. Seriously.

Saturday turned out to be one of my most enjoyable days of the summer. After an unexpected awesome concert discovery, I was able to spend the afternoon hanging out with my university crowd of friends. I love my university crowd of friends. There always seems to be a rotation of who's in Toronto, and who is not, and now there are a bunch of kids in the mix, but it's always a great time.

Becca T and I actually ended up being the first to leave the party (that never happens) so that we could catch Sloan at the Ex. It had been raining, actually pouring, for most of the day, but it all cleared up just in time for Sloan. It had actually cooled down too, which lead to Ms. It-will-never-get-cold-enough-to-require-a-sweater (aka me) getting a bit chilled, but once Sloan was on, I forgot about my goosebumps. They are such a great live band. I love seeing them for free (OK - I had to pay $14 admission to the Ex, but it was totally worth it). They played a lot of my favourites, and they were stellar as usual. Did you know that they are my second favourite band? Best song was a super-fast version of HFXNSHC.

After the encore, we decided that we wanted to go on a couple of rides. We spent $10 each on tickets, or credits as they are now called, and that will buy you 2 rides. I tell ya, when I was a kid and went to the fair, you got a heck of a lot more than 2 rides for $10... Anyway, we decided on the Ferris Wheel and the Scrambler, or the Sizzler as it is now called. Lucky for us, the guys at the Sizzler let us on for free, so we got a bonus ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl. Man, I forgot how much that thing whirled.

After that really good day, I've been kicking around in Toronto working on my back-to-school wardrobe. I think I've got it completed now. Let the madness begin!

I am also sadly aware that my stellar wardrobe isn't really going to teach the kids about atoms, ions, and how to balance a chemical equation. That meant that I had to drag myself into the school today. I got some photocopying done, so I feel much better about the whole having to teach next Tuesday thing. Photocopies are my security blanket. I kid you not, but each summer I do have a nightmare about going back to school and standing in front of the class completely unprepared with no photocopies. This year I had it in July. Anyhow, at least I don't have to worry about that becoming reality.

I typically get a little anxious before a new school year. I think it is partially because I worry that my classes will be bunches of hellions, and that I kind of forget how to teach over the summer. I still am not sure how I am able to fill three 75-minute classes a day with learning. Amazingly, I seem to figure it out each year, and I'm sure this year will be no different.

Even though I've been slowly accepting the inevitability of fall, I was able to rebel a bit today. When I went to Starbucks for a well-deserved frappucino, I resisted the new Pumpkin Spice Frappucino and went with my summer Orange Mocha deliciousness. It's so not time for fall frappucinos yet!

When the walls fall down on your old town...

I've been neglecting the old blog as of late. For the past week, I've been visiting the 'rents in St. Ratford, and spending a lot of time running around and visiting people, so my dial-up internet forays have been limited to mainly email and facebook. So here is a long overdue post.

I spent an enjoyable week back home. First of all, I scored free rides there and back (woo-hoo!). I visited with quite a few friends too; I even got to catch up with a fellow colleague from my days teaching in Northern Ontario. I was quite pleased with the social aspect of my trip. I spent some time with my parents and watched some movies with them. Also, my uncle and his family from Ottawa were visiting so I got to see them too.

I caught my free ride back to Toronto yesterday, and I have an awesome day planned for today. There is a going-away party for a couple of my friends from university, since they are going to teach in Korea for a year. The party was going to be on Centre Island, but since the weather is really crappy and rainy, it's been moved to a house. Which is actually okay, because I'm feeling lazy and don't feel like taking the ferry.

This morning I got a pleasant surprise as I read the Toronto Star online with my breakfast. Sloan is playing tonight at The Ex (a really big fair that goes on for the last two weeks of summer - I hate when it starts because then I know summer's really coming to an end), and seeing them is free with admission. Woo-hoo! So, Becca T and I are going to go there after the party, catch the show, and then wander around the midway. I haven't seen Sloan since, oh goodness I can't remember - it may have been 2 years, so it's time. I really hope they play some of my faves from the new album. :)

Perhaps later in the week, I'll publish some deep thoughts or at least something more substantial. I have to admit that I'm getting a bit mopey. I'm going to have to go to school next week and start prepping for the new school year, which means using my brain, and my brain has been protesting muchly. It's much happier just reading fluffy novels, thinking about music, and staying up late to watch the Daily Show.