7 posts tagged “holidays”

More point forms:
- I downloaded Alpha Centauri. Basically wanted that game for ~ 6 years. And then I was like, "Hey. The internet is so good for that." I also learned that I do not know anything about computers, but now I have a vague idea of what an iso is.
- I also legitimately downloaded the Creature Creator demo for Spore, which is fiiiiiinally coming out sometime soon. I really enjoy it, and will likely soon get the full version less legitimately.
- Went to the cottage. 2 days, ~ 8 episodes of rain, once when I was in the kayak. Saw "Across the Universe". I kind of wanted to hate it, but couldn't. Really, it was quite good.
- Okay seriously it rains all the time. Allll the time.
- So things with Professor are going famously! I suppose I should have provided interim updates since the last thing I said was that it was questionable, but everything seems to have smoothed out. Yayyy. I really like him. And we're going to spend my favourite holiday, aka Canada Day, together. Erm, magical...?
- Work yadda yadda. I have this week off. Gotta get my fill of Toronto before I'm off to the hinterlands come this weekend.
- Saw 2046. Not so great. Bad one, Mr Wong. (Interlude: Watched it with Professor. Putting my arm around someone makes me feel manly!)
- (Please note that Professor is but a nickname.... dating a real professor would imply a creepy age difference.)
- Free Harbourfront shows! (Nothing I like, though...)
- Okay so apparently starting a sentence with "As well," meaning also, is something we only do in Canada. I have Canadian and American neighbours: confirm? thoughts?
- I was at Sonic Boom! today (bought Milk Man and Intercontinental Champion), and some woman asked me "Excuse me, do you work here?" WHAT A COMPLIMENT!
- I finished Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, which was really good. And set in TO! This was my second excellent Cory Doctorow, so I certainly recommend him. Oh and you can get I think most of his books for free on his website sooo.
- This song:

Deerhoof - Giga Dance

Deerhoof

I got up early for class today, but now I have nothing until 7. Hours and hours to enjoy this beautiful day!! It is so nice. I went over to the library for lunch with a friend (did I mention that every building on campus seems to have an eatery), and then we just dawdled so much getting back to res... and we were enjoying it so much, we just got a bunch of people together and went for a lovely walk to the east. I was aiming for a park, but we kept drifting north and missed it. But I cared not - it's warm enough for a windbreaker over a short-sleeved shirt, even just a t-shirt without a jacket places where it isn't windy. Aaaahhhh....

And so now I'm sitting in my room trying to work.... but my window is wide open, and there's jus no way.... I can smell the hotdog stand across the street, and I'm thinking of barbecues on the back deck... And the cottage. Oh hot damn I need to get up there. Lazy buzzing days reading on the moss in the shade of the pines... Dinners outside in the late dusk light... Thunderstorms!... Kayaking, swimming.... Bonfires.... Friends and family. Oh god! I love the city, I do, but there is nothing like being up north by the water, surrounded by nature.

And it looks like I may get a vacation this summer after all. They said we wouldn't at the first job training session, but then I heard that the first week of August was off. So we may get out west to see the family, which would be awesome. I miss Gramma. And I have good memories of hiking in the coulees, down by the river in the dry prairie heat. Yikes! I am looking forward to summer. And enjoying now, too.

Too bad about exams!

Today was the Clear Brightness Festival, which is supposed to be for going outside and enjoying the spring greenery, which is exactly what I felt like doing today. Unfortunately.... the ancient Chinese didn't plan for the amount of coursework I would have, nor the wet weather we had today. Oh it's also for sweeping graves, and I didn't really feel like that.

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the rain, because I always do. I mentioned this in our Common Room, and someone said "That's because you're a plant." Which is sort of true, in that I like rain because I know it means fertility and growth. "April showers bring May flowers", as they say.

Blah blah blah and I'll be inside for all tomorrow and Sunday thanks to job training.

The St Patrick's Day parade is going past my window. Except we're not on their route - they're on their way to the route. So they're just sort of... walking past. Not parading. But at least I'm getting to see it, because I'm not going to otherwise.

It seems weird that we have this Irish holiday. Do we even have that many Irish people? Okay yeah according to Wikipedia we really do. 15.6% of Ontario. Bizarre.

So my grandmother gave me a jade plant. That means that my room is home to the following macroorganisms:
- Homo sapiens sapiens
- Dionaea muscipula
- Crassula ovata
- Kalanchoe sp.
- and sometimes, Mus musculus

It is warm out lately.

Oh and Friday night I saw "Me and You and Everyone We Know", which was amazing. Well-scored. Themes include fantasy and reaching out to strangers.

Me and You and Everyone We Know

Man sometimes life just comes at you all at once.

They always tell us, "Don't put off work to study during midterms." And that's really hard to avoid, and I did it, and I thought it'd be no problem to catch up, but it just keeps coming and coming. And if I get this job, I don't just have to catch up, I have to be ahead, because I have to throw away two weekends for training. And I need weekends for coursework.

Good events, however: Last night at the newspaper, the Politics editor wasn't going to show, so I got put in charge of the section. It was kind of a shame, though - I started off with 4 pages, then Opinion ate one, then I had to give up another because a long article I was counting on never showwwwed. Oh well, there ended up being a good collage on that page. This issue is going to be awesome.

Too bad the presses are kind of broken.

Oh, and related to a comment-conversation I was having recently, at the production night, some of the American ex-pats on staff were discussing how pot is a "big deal" in America compared with here.

Also, Americans use "AIM" instead of MSN.

Okay so that was one good thing. Another good thing... Uhh today was pi day so we ate pie. Wikipedia actually has Pi Day in its "On this day..." section, which is where they have holidays. And historical events.

Happy Family Day! Aka Happy We-Need-a-February-Holiday Day!

No seriously. That's why we have it now. First year.

But I'm on Reading Week anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

Xiu Xiu - Bog People

Xiu Xiu

Happy new year all! Congratulations and be prosperous!

Today was a good day. I was in charge of the New Year festivities for my house, and although I didn't get a whole lot together in terms of entertainment, everyone was together, which is the whole point.

I left the preparations until the last minute, of course, but I got pretty into it once I got to it. I even went to the trouble of wearing the only combination of clothes I could figure out that featured red (good luck) and no black or white (bad luck). A friend and I went down on Spadina to poke around the shops for stuff to decorate with, and for food. I always feel so much more... alive when I'm down there. More people, more colour, more smells! We went into this grocery store, and it was such a strong contrast with American grocery stores. People were bustling around, everything was vibrant, there was every sort of food imaginable (and lots of things I hadn't imagined). It was nothing like... giant stores, fluorescent lights, don't make eye contact with anyone you pass in the aisles, cereal now enriched with Vitamins A through P and with 23% less trans fat!, giant grocery stores now with photo-developing centres, clothing sections, roller coasters. No, this felt much more human. Humane. I try to avoid this kind of thinking, buy god damn, American culture really sucks the life out of you, doesn't it.

I'm glad there's still something left that's at least mostly untouched.

Anyway, it was a great experience, and the event went well. Lots of decorating, food. Friends. Which is most important.