Camp and burnout.

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

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

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

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

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

Weekend/Question

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

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

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

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

Chin Up.

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

Bahahaha.  I literally laughed out loud at that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shake it off.

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You've got a lot on your mind.

This post is going to be all about music.

1) Sloan - Commonwealth

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

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

And I love it.

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

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



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

2) Brill Bruisers - The New Pornographers

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





3) Dream Serenade

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

4) OH NO!

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

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

5) New Damien Rice!

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

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

Through cracks come the weeds.

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

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

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

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

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

I'm a survivor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

September falls right into place.

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



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

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

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

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

Easy come, easy go.

Summer holidays, that is.

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

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

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

I'll blog more interestingly later.

I don't care if we never come back from the night.

I've been taking it easy since I've been back from Europe.  Library trips, coffee, errands, reading, a trip to St. Ratford to get Miss Rilo from her country home, a little bit of friend time, and a Jays game.

My parents and Rilo make me laugh.  She really is happy there, and they love her, and I feel really bad taking her back home to Toronto.  She's happy in her home environment too.  I guess she's a pretty lucky cat from going from a life on the streets to having two homes.

My mother likes to point out that Rilo is extremely well behaved except for when I'm around.  As soon as I was there, she started digging her claws into the carpet, and I was informed that she only does that when I am there.  I've been told that Rilo is undisciplined before, but I guess it's just my bad influence on her.

Last night, all I felt like doing was staying in with a book.  Today was more fun: a Jays game, a trip to the mall, and then dinner/drinks with a friend. 

Now I've been chilling with the VMAs and Beyonce just hit that out of the park.  Love her.

Tomorrow is my last day until I go to school on Tuesday to start preparing for the new year.  Summer flies.

The tricky part is to come back home.

Transoceanic travel always blows my mind.

How was it just *yesterday* that I hopped on the tube to London Bridge station, where I then transferred to a National Rail train to Chislehurst to visit a friend?  A colleague from many moons ago moved to London with her husband, where since she's gotten her Master's, changed careers, and had a baby.  They have settled in a country-esque village in SW London, where she took me for walks along the horse paths, into the forest, and then to the local pub for lunch.  It was a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of London, and it was fabulous to reconnect with an old friend.

And, if that wasn't enough, it was just *yesterday* evening that Claire and I met up with Kaz, another member of bridal squad who is now a new friend of mine, for drinks at Vertigo 42, a bar at the top of one of London's taller office buildings, which gives you a great view of the city.  After that, we had dinner at Wagamama's, and then Claire and I polished off a bottle of Malbec in Leyton watching the worst of the worst TV has to offer.  It was bittersweet in the fact that it would be the last silly time I'd have in London on my trip, but I'm thankful to have had these silly times.

And then just *this* morning, after having coffee with Claire, my suitcase and I were off on the tube with the morning commuters, all the way to Heathrow, where I boarded my plane to Toronto.  And now I'm here.  I managed to take myself out for sushi and get some groceries.  I'm going to curl up in my own bed watching missed episodes of Dateline with the strange reality of the fact that I woke up in London this morning on my mind.

Brussels, and #thebadgerwedding

Hard to believe a week ago, I was meh in München. That seems like a lifetime ago. Since then, I've sped across Germany in a high speed ICE train (such fun for a train nerd like myself), taken a less impressive French train from Cologne to Brussels, and then Eurostarred it beneath the English Channel to London.

Brussels was a fun, relaxed time. A pal from work was there at the same time as I, so we met for dinner and drinks and wandered the city together. I love Belgian food, architecture, and beer, and thus had a great time.

London has been great! I've had so much fun here being part of #bridalsquad for Claire & Matthew's #thebadgerwedding. It's been so great catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, eating cake, drinking wine, celebrating, and starting up new silly inside jokes (#2legit2quit, Fish Christy, it's cultural).

I could go on, but I think I may make myself more coffee and then do some London exploring. In 48 hours, I'll be on a plans back to Canada (boo/yay). Boo because I'm having so much fun, and yay cuz I miss home and am tired of living out of a suitcase.  But I'm so happy that I've made such great memories during my summer 2014 holiday in Europe.

Meh in München

Munich was okay, I guess.

The train ride was lovely through picturesque and lovely countryside. When I arrived, it was blistering hot out, and the streets were filled with people. Luckily my hotel was right next door to the train station, so finding it and getting settled was a breeze. However, I completely failed at finding somewhere for dinner, and as I was starving, I settled for disgusting fast food.

I walked around a bit, and found a pretty garden to relax in for awhile. Then, as the sun was setting, I decide to return to my hotel as I didn't feel comfy enough for an evening walk.

The next day was pouring rain. Oh good, perfect weather for the bike tour I booked. Three other poor souls joined me. It actually wasn't that bad. I always figure once you're wet, you're wet, and just go with it. Over the tour I got to see the very deserted English Gardens, museums, the university and the old town city centre. I picked up some good tips that were useful for my afternoon, and heard some interesting stories about resistance to the Nazis during WWII.

I was soaked to the bone after the tour, grabbed a latte, and then headed back to my hotel for a hot shower and dry clothes. Then, I headed back to the city centre, where I found a covered patio where I had beer, a pretzel, and the most delicious tomato soup of my life. As I was waiting for my meal, a loud family with what seemed like 14 screaming children say beside me. Oh Munich, I thought, you really do want to be enemies with me. However, it was just a joke because the family left five minutes later, and I was in better spirits during the rest of my afternoon.

I climbed the tower of St. Peter's Church for an amazing view of the city, including the New Town Hall that is seriously one of my favourite pieces of architecture ever. Then, I stumbled across the German equivalent of Indigo, and I was happy looking at German books and stationery. It was perfect, because as I left the store, it was just in time for the 5pm carillon of the bells at New Town Hall which was very cool.

I wandered some more, and then returned to my hotel for a rest. I was planning to head out again to get night-time pictures and check out the famous tourist trap beer hall, but then I realized I didn't really feel like doing either of those things. Instead, I bought a snack and a bottle of Radler (beer plus lemonade) and read a book until I fell asleep. I know the rest of my trip is going to be jam packed, so it was good to have a chill night.

And with that, I'd better head off to catch my train to Brussels!

Oh, Austria.

My two jam-packed days in Austria were amazing, and have left me wanting more. Perhaps one day, I'll pair more time in Austria with Budapest, Croatia, and Poland.

I adored the wine bike tour I did on Friday. Tours are sometimes fun to do because you don't have to think, and you meet new people. Everyone on the tour was wonderful; there were Americans, Aussies, and a couple from Malta. The guides were Spanish and Dutch, and were super hilarious and nice. As soon I said where I was from, Rob Ford jokes abounded. At one point, a guide explained that the Danube was brown and muddy, instead of blue like the song, because it was high like the mayor of Toronto. I replied "not anymore! He went to rehab. He's a changed man!" Oh thanks Rob Ford, you've finally made Toronto a world class city that's on the tip of everyone's tongues.

We took the train from Vienna to a town called Drems, where we picked up our town bikes from a garage. We biked out of town into the Wachau Valley, where we were were treated to views of vineyards on the sides of mountains. Most of the biking terrain was flat, but it was a pretty hot day, so I'm sure I sweated out all of the toxins I've put into my body on this trip.

We stopped at three wineries in total, plus a longer stop in the lovely town of Dürnstein for lunch and an optional hike to see castle ruins on a steep hill. I swear, this hike felt like the first quarter of the Grouse Grind, but I made it! The view was lovely, so it was worth it.

After biking around 25 km in total, we returned to Drems and took the train back to Vienna. When I got to my hotel, I had the best shower ever. I was too tired to bother with dinner, so I just grabbed a banana yoghurt frappucino from Starbucks (multinational chains are a godsend when you are traveling and don't want to think about food) and drank it while watching the sunset over the river.

Saturday in Vienna city was a busy one, and a hot one. I swear, there is not a toxin remaining in my body. In the morning, I visited my first palace of the day, Schloss-Schöbrunn. It was a summer retreat for the Austrian dynasty, and is reminiscent of Versailles. Then, I headed to a The Belevedere, which houses Austria's national art gallery. I bought a ticket so I could mainly see Klimt's "The Kiss" but enjoyed much of the other work, and the spectacular gardens.

After that, I inadvertently set about exploring the many gorgeous buildings, monuments, gardens, and fountains of central Vienna by foot. Vienna is so gorgeous you almost get desensitized to the beauty. I would notice a beautiful building and decide not to take a picture, because I already have a tonne of nicer pictures.

I somehow wound up by a Viennese restaurant that I'd passed on my first night in Vienna, and was ready to eat. I had a "half" plate of schnitzel, which was enormous. This resto had free wifi, and I was tweeting some hilariousness under the influence of exhaustion, probable sunstroke, and beer, my pal Aliemalie suggested I go seek out a Sacher torte, and I did. It was delicious. Then I headed home for another great shower, and early bed. I tell you, travel me is a strange creature: up early to do as many of the things as possible, then passed out by 10pm.

Today's a chill day, as I'm currently on the train to Munich. I've planned this trip well: when I require a rest day, I get it, but as I rest, I'm moving to another location.

I only really have Monday in Munich. I've booked a bike tour to get acquainted with the city, and then I plan to wander around. On Tuesday, I am off to Brussels.

And now, for a delicious train nap.

Prague in point form

I have a few minutes to blog as I sit here in Vienna enjoying my breakfast. Even though I just got here yesterday, I'm leaving the city to do a biking wine tour of the valley. Doesn't that sound amazing?

I loved Prague. I was sad to leave it and upon arriving in Vienna, I have to admit that I held it against Vienna that it wasn't Prague. I have to walk down a very modern crowded street to get to the good part of Vienna, and upon my first walk down that street, all I could think was ugh. But then I reached the cathedral of St. Stephen, and the ornate narrow windy streets, and all I could think of was Mozart. I fell for Vienna last night.

But this post is supposed to be about Prague. I guess I felt the same way about Prague. My very nice hotel was at the edge of the city centre, and my first views of the city were also less than impressive. The first place I discovered was their central mall, the Palladium, as I waited for my room to be ready so I could shower and wash the flight off of me. However, that evening I discovered the old town and fell in love.

In point form, here is what I did in Prague:

- Visited Charles Bridge both at night and during the day to enjoy its gothic statues.

- climbed up to the castle to enjoy the city view

- walked a lot and saw most of the city by foot

- went on a river cruise

- took a day trip to the town of Kutná Hora so I could see the "bone church"

- drank a lot of cheap beer

- got one of those fish pedicures where fish eat the dead skin off your feet

- attempted Czech cuisine but abandoned it and ate French food and Italian food

There's more and I have pictures, but it'll have to wait because I have some biking to do!

Frankfurt Layover

Well, I've made it to the EU. I am sitting in the Frankfurt airportwaiting for my connecting flight to Prague. It was a smooth flight over, and so far all of the airport hoops have been easy to jump through.

I have been feeling all of the feelings in the past 24 hrs. When I left Becca T at a Starbucks this afternoon, I got a little choked up. I had a great weeklong visit w her and I will miss her. The days when she lived a couple subway stops south of me seem like forever ago.

When I was waiting for my plane in TO, I felt sad because if my mom was healthy, I bet she and I would have traveled together sometimes, leaving my hermetic dad home with the cat.

I got choked up watching the movie "Labor Day" on the plane. It was a pretty good movie; I'd read the book earlier this year, and it was a decent adaptation.

I also was destroyed while reading "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" too. What a very nice little novel; I highly recommend it to all book lovers.

However, even though I've been feeling all of the feelings, I've feeling super excited as I look through my Prague travel guide. It looks like a beautiful city and I can't wait to see it in a couple of hours.

Halfway.

As I write this post, the clock just turned to August about 27 minutes ago.  That means that my summer, the time I sometimes think of as my "real life", when I can be myself free of most responsibilities, pressure, and deadlines, is half over. 

It's been a really chill July for me.  I don't think I've taken it this easy in several years.  I've tried not to over-extend myself socially as I tend to.  I love my friends and hanging out with people, but a day or two to myself is a luxury I love.  And I've had a few of those in July which has been good.

Right now I'm sitting half-drunk on my couch with Becca T, listening to a rather awesome playlist that I cooked up on my iPod, as she plays Plants v. Zombies on her iPad, and I write this on my laptop.  Our friends Jane and Elaine came over this evening, and we drank wine followed by cider, and ate cheese crackers and veggies.  When the crackers ran out, we started to put brie on celery, which is rather delicious who knew.

Yesterday I drove Rilo to my parents' house for safe-keeping while I'm in Europe.  She is always happy to be there, although she hate the car ride. This morning as I was getting ready to go, my dad was moving the cat carrier, and Rilo thought it meant that she was getting packed up, and she made a bee-line for my bedroom to hide under the bed.  It was hilarious.  As if I would go to all the trouble of packing a cat and her accessories for an overnight trip.

I drove back today through awful traffic.  Leaving Toronto is never all that bad, but coming back sure is.  I was frustrated when I got back, so I took Becca T for sushi, then to Starbucks for coffee, then I had a nap, and I felt better.

Tomorrow I have to get some last-minute stuff done before my trip.  It's list-making time, yay!

I took you for granted when you were all that I needed.

I'm listening to the new Jenny Lewis album right now.  It makes me want to go to California, 'cuz it's totally got a laid-back, sun-soaked vibe.  So far at least.  I'm still on listen #1 because I keep getting stuck on this song:



This song stood out to me when she played it at TURF.  I love it, and I think we've all felt this way before.  Becca T and I have had some deep conversations about how messed up Facebook is, and how it makes everyone's life look awesome and sparkly and perfect, and it can bring you down when you are looking at perfect pictures of other people when you are in an emo-mood sitting in your pjs wondering WTF.  Of course, I only post the shiniest, happiest photos online to make my life look perfect too.

Oh, the internet.  It's kind of like alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.

Today was a super fun day though.  The weather is unseasonably cool for July in Toronto, which is typically hot and humid.  Becca and I went for a run together, and then I took her to see Begin Again (#2 for me) since I knew she's love it, and I was down with seeing it again.  We did some light shopping, and then met up with Mathew for sushi, and then headed back to my place for an old tradition (circa 2009): watching The Bachelorette finale.  This season has been super boring, and I haven't been paying much attention, but it was fun all of the same laughing at the show.  However, then it got rather depressing watching someone getting his heart broken.  Then, during the After The Final Rose special, things got super awkward and all I have to say is that the sexual politics on that show are messed up (unsurprisingly). 

Admittedly, I was way more into the baseball game that we turned to during commercials.  Jays: 14.  Boston: 1.  Vengeance for about a week ago when that score was flipped.

I can't believe I leave for my Europe trip in less than a week.  Amazing.

There is no blues that could sound as heartfelt as mine...

AKA what I'm into these days, where #1 is...

1) Listening to Los Campesinos! loudly on vinyl as Rilo Kitty makes this face

For a cat named after an emo-ish band, she does not tolerate my emo moods with loud music.

2) This song by Sia from her album "1000 Form of Fear".  My favourite song is "Elastic Hear" because, sigh, it describes my life.  But good album overall.



3) Rainbow Rowell - She wrote the amazing YA book "Eleanor & Park" which *everyone* should read.  Male, female, old, young, whatever.  If you have a heart, you'll love this book.  I just read one of her adult novels, "Attachments", and it was warm and fuzzy, yet not lame, and made me feel happy.  Imma gonna read every one of her books.

4) Beer - I used to love wine, but these days, I prefer beer.  What the what?  Also, I was in the LC (I prefer Manitoba lexicon folks), and a lady was asking an employee to help her find Corona Light (what that exists?), and he said they didn't carry it.  Then, she said "okay, where are your light beers, you know, beers for women?" And in my eavesdropping head, I wanted to say "wha??  All of the beers are for women!  You are just looking for the subsection of beers for lightweights, which does not include me, who is a woman."  Ugh.  Everyday sexism.

5) Becca T is here!  It's a nice day when your BFF/roomie for five years is staying in your home like it is almost university and it takes a good ten-plus years off of your age, and you stay up gossiping about boys like you are 21 years old.  Good times.  And tomorrow we will shop and watch movies.  I want to take her to see "Begin Again" which I saw last week, but is the perfect movie to see with your music-loving BFF.

Watching.

I've been watching a lot of stuff this summer.  This is great.  I feel like I'm always behind on TV/movies, and although I still am, I'm glad that I'm getting some good screen time in.  I'm also making great use of Netflix.  I love Netflix, but there are entire months that go by during the school year when I watch nothing.  Here are some of the notable things I've been watching.

TV Shows1) OITNB - Last summer, I binge-watched season 1 of Orange Is The New Black in a weekend.  I was so excited for season 2, but restrained myself when it came out in June, while I still had a tonne of marking on my plate.  I knew that if I started while I had deadlines at work, it would end up with me being called to the principal's office for not having my report cards done.  And, I made the right choice.  Season 2 is amazing; I can't believe how the plot and characters were so much more enriched than season 1.  One day I think I watched about eight episodes at once because I realized that nothing was going to get done until I got through that show.

2) Dateline - Okay, I will admit it.  One of my new weird obsessions is Dateline NBC, and it's all because of my friend Mathew, who likes the show a lot.  Personally, I liked the SNL sketches with Bill Hader that parodied Keith Morrison's creepiness, and I started watching because my friend talked about the show all of the time, and I secretly really enjoy Keith Morrison's creepiness.  Anyway, I've used the summer to catch up on episodes of this show.

It's paid off I guess, because on Friday Mathew, some friends, and I went out for drinks after the Jays' game and we had a great conversation about murder, based upon Mathew's and my Dateline obsession.  It was hilarious.

And, this is the best parody of Keith's creepiness, done by himself.  This is really why I love Dateline.  This bit is one of the highlights of my summer.



3) The Mindy Project - I just started watching this show last night on Netflix and I love it!  I can't believe I didn't start earlier.  It's nice to find a comedy that you can related to.

4) The Bachelorette - I watch this damned show every season.  This season has been rather boring (it could be because I haven't been drinking whilst watching this year), but next week is the finale, and yes, I'm going to make a night of it.  I'm not taking any social appointments that evening.

Movies

1) Chef - I saw this on Saturday and it was a really nice movie.  Highly recommended to any foodies out there.



2) Begin Again - I wanted to see this movie on Saturday, but we went with Chef again, so I took myself to see it this afternoon, because afternoon movies are a great perk of being on vacation.  I LOVED IT.  It's written/directed by the same guy who made the movie Once, and it's an indie rock musical.  Both of the lead actors (Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo) are amazing, as are the songs.  So far this is my favourite movie of the summer.




3) An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story/The Central Park Five - These are two documentaries about innocent people convicted of crimes that they didn't commit.  Basically, they are like episodes of Dateline, without the added bonus of Keith Morrison.  Both docs are very well done, and will make you very angry at the legal system, and amazed at how strong and peaceful the people who were railroaded are.  It's so tragic that in each of these cases, there ended up additional more victims of crime mainly because law enforcement just wanted convictions, and not the truth.  Both are on Netflix.

Bonus Music Find:

I've been obsessively listening to the album Strange Desire by Bleachers.  It's great summer music.  It's even got guest vocals by Grimes and Yoko Ono (!) on a couple of tracks.  I highly recommend this album.