How do I write this post? It's sort of a crazy stream of consciousness that went through my head through the past two days so I'll lay it out like that.
Yesterday I ran the Holly Jolly Run which is where people run the Santa Claus Parade route before the parade. Then my friends and I TTCed up to Museum station to watch the parade from that area.
Back in university, which was, oh shit, going on 15 years ago, my dear friend Becca T and I would take a study break on a Sunday and go watch the parade from that very spot.
Fastforward to present-day, where I'm in the same spot, with different friends, and I see the University of Toronto Engineering Marching Band go by, and then I remember the dreaded *other* Rebecca, who was in that marching band, lived in the same building as Becca T and I, and annoyed the hell out of me. For the first few months, my Rebecca, the good one, did not like U of T, and was filling out transfer forms to go to the U of Ottawa. I remember my fear that she'd leave, and the dreaded other Rebecca would ask me to be roommates the next year. I would have to, for quite possibly the first time in my life, not be a nice person, and say no just to save my own sanity.
Luckily, and quite possibly because of its close proximity to fun things like the Santa Claus Parade, U of T finally grew on Becca and she stayed. Incidentally, the dreaded other Rebecca moved out of our residence, so I wouldn't have had to be her roommate anyway. I saw her a few times after that. I remember once going for coffee with her and some of our friends and I mentioned that my goal was to become a teacher, and she scoffed at me, as if it was an inferior career suited to the lowliest of minds. Ironically, the last time I ever saw the other Rebecca was when I got talked into joining the Faculty of Education broomball team in by BEd year. We played against the engineering team, of which she was a part. I don't remember the outcome of the game, but for the sake of narrative, let's just say it was a convincing win for the educators.
Anyhow, I left this year's parade a little bit early to walk through the part of campus where I lived for my university career (3 years in residence + 2 years in an apartment directly beside my old residence). Things have changed; there's a giant condo going up across from my res in once used to be a parking lot, the residence itself seems to have shiny new windows, and the closest convenience store is now a coffee shop.
However, the rest of the neighbourhood is the same. I can still vividly remember my first day at residence where the Residence Dean knocked on my door to tell me my new roommate, someone who I'd eventually find out is the good Rebecca, wouldn't be arriving until the next day. I felt kind of flummoxed, since everyone else was unpacking their rooms and getting to know their roommates and there I was alone.
I had not brought thumbtacks with me. Since I had extra time, I went to the mall across the street to buy some. That felt like quite the adventure, and I can still picture how big, shiny, and cosmopolitan the downtown neighbourhood felt to a small-town kid like me. And to think that was going to be my home for the next four years (at least). Holy shit.
I returned with my thumbtacks to a flurry of activity in the room. Somehow the mysterious absent roommate had arrived even though she wasn't supposed to, and her family was helping her unpack. Ahhh. I introduced myself, most likely awkwardly, and set about hanging up pictures of my favourite bands. When my roommate asked me who the bands, were, I was shocked and appalled that she didn't know, which I now tease her about all the time. Becca was worried because all she knew of rock music was there was a band where the lead singer committed suicide, and she was afraid that I liked that band, and that it was a sign that I was potentially unbalanced.
Funny to think that two people who were first so apprehensive of each other became great friends for life. And that I converted the girl who knew nothing about bands, into an awesome concert buddy. In fact, once my friend Greg commented "it's so awesome that you two were randomly put in a room together. You both love music so much!" Oh it wasn't always like that.
Just walking through the old neighbourhood brought back these memories, and then I started watching season 4 of Gilmore Girls where Rory goes to Yale, and once again, I started thinking about my fond memories. Then, I entered into the downward internet spiral of "maybe I should get my master's!" etc. etc. This all ended with me dragging my degrees out of my closest, and swearing that I should hang them up somewhere, and then digging out the silver medal I won as a graduation reward. All of this reminds me that I am indeed smart, because I don't think that my university self could have predicted that one of the side of effects of adulthood is that you feel kind of dumb a lot of the time. Weren't the degrees supposed to negate that feeling? That's why I should hang those suckers up. And the medal too.
Yesterday I texted Becca T to tell her I was in the traditional standing spot for the parade. She replied "remember the other Rebecca and the engineering band?" then proceeded to tell me how she was excited for the Twin Forks concert in Vancouver. I love how things have changed, but they're still the same.
Oh, and you might be wondering why I'm still up so late on a school night. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow (well today) because the dreaded ugly chin rash from September has reappeared. So I'll have to keep my chin up still, ha-ha.
