Have you ever noticed that dropping one little letter turns a "course" into a "curse"?
That has meaning at so many levels, but I am referring in particular to the selection of these courses/curses, which is happening as we speak. My dear, dear university posted no fewer than 10 documents pertaining to selection, with over 100 classes to chose from. Luckily, my scheduling requirements are very specific, so I was able to eliminate most of them, so my choices were more limited.
I hope it all works out.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
'Fraidy Cat
I was reviewing a number of judgments late into the night last night, long past dark and long past the kids and AHC went to bed. The judgments pertained to a variety of unsavouries, including murderers and drug dealers.
The house was very quiet and very dark and I fairly expected someone to jump out and harm me as I went up to bed. I checked the doors were locked twice.
It's like watching horror movies and being too scared to sleep (which I don't do because I'm a suck). I totally managed to psyche myself out.
The house was very quiet and very dark and I fairly expected someone to jump out and harm me as I went up to bed. I checked the doors were locked twice.
It's like watching horror movies and being too scared to sleep (which I don't do because I'm a suck). I totally managed to psyche myself out.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
TCO Reads
Isabel Allende, Aphrodite. (June 2007)
Ahhhhh, food. And love. Or lust. Hot stuff. It's a book all about aphrodisiac foods. It was great. Funny and amusing. And thank God, it didn't take itself too seriously. Plus, good recipes. Or, I assume they might be good. I might even try some of them. I need to cook more to get in touch with my inner creator.
Scott Turow, One L. (June 2007)
I picked this one up at CFO's house, when AHC and I stayed there last week. The infamous law school book! I expect I would have had a different reaction had I read it before or during school. As it were, I recognized the sentiments and laughed at some of it in solidarity. But the utter confusion is passed (gone since Poa On in the first semester of contracts). And I didn't have any of those Perini-type crazy Socratics. I did have one really crappy teacher, but that is another story.
Batya Gur, Murder in Jerusalem. (June 2007)
It was alright. A murder mystery. Another pickup from the guest room up north. Passes time in the summer.
Wayne Johnston, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. (June 2007)
This was quite beautiful. I visited St. John's last year, so I could picture the places in the book, which is something I tend to love when reading a book. Plus, I remember writing an essay on Joey Smallwood in grade 8. I don't remember what I wrote at all, except that Smallwood was a personal hero of my teacher (so I imagine it was glowing). I love the humanity, foibles and weaknesses of heroes. It reminds me of my grandfather, who was a great man and loved by many (known to many in his capacity as a United Church minister), but with undeniable shortcomings in some parts of his life. And yet we love and idolize him all the same. I tend to love him more because of this humanity, by which I mean to indicate his capacity for mistake, poor judgment, weakness. Even the great men and women are touchable.
Michael Cordy, The Messiah Code. (May 2007)
Urgh. Don't read this. It was weekend reading from the guest room at my parents place. I picked it up for something to do. It was even renamed to sound like The DaVinci Code to capitalize on the popularity of that book. Which it needed, because otherwise it sucked, even worse than DaVinci Code.
Nicola Kraus and Emma McLauchlin. Citizen Girl. (May 2007)
Okay, for a summer read. But perhaps slightly depressing given its take on the job market, on women in the job market, on young women and the need to sell out in the job market, and on the feminist job market. Maybe not the way I needed to start my summer after spending the previous eight months increasing my student (and personal) debt by several thousand dollars just for the privilege of studying law. May my future not be hers, but I have at least a shadow of a doubt about that.
Ahhhhh, food. And love. Or lust. Hot stuff. It's a book all about aphrodisiac foods. It was great. Funny and amusing. And thank God, it didn't take itself too seriously. Plus, good recipes. Or, I assume they might be good. I might even try some of them. I need to cook more to get in touch with my inner creator.
Scott Turow, One L. (June 2007)
I picked this one up at CFO's house, when AHC and I stayed there last week. The infamous law school book! I expect I would have had a different reaction had I read it before or during school. As it were, I recognized the sentiments and laughed at some of it in solidarity. But the utter confusion is passed (gone since Poa On in the first semester of contracts). And I didn't have any of those Perini-type crazy Socratics. I did have one really crappy teacher, but that is another story.
Batya Gur, Murder in Jerusalem. (June 2007)
It was alright. A murder mystery. Another pickup from the guest room up north. Passes time in the summer.
Wayne Johnston, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. (June 2007)
This was quite beautiful. I visited St. John's last year, so I could picture the places in the book, which is something I tend to love when reading a book. Plus, I remember writing an essay on Joey Smallwood in grade 8. I don't remember what I wrote at all, except that Smallwood was a personal hero of my teacher (so I imagine it was glowing). I love the humanity, foibles and weaknesses of heroes. It reminds me of my grandfather, who was a great man and loved by many (known to many in his capacity as a United Church minister), but with undeniable shortcomings in some parts of his life. And yet we love and idolize him all the same. I tend to love him more because of this humanity, by which I mean to indicate his capacity for mistake, poor judgment, weakness. Even the great men and women are touchable.
Michael Cordy, The Messiah Code. (May 2007)
Urgh. Don't read this. It was weekend reading from the guest room at my parents place. I picked it up for something to do. It was even renamed to sound like The DaVinci Code to capitalize on the popularity of that book. Which it needed, because otherwise it sucked, even worse than DaVinci Code.
Nicola Kraus and Emma McLauchlin. Citizen Girl. (May 2007)
Okay, for a summer read. But perhaps slightly depressing given its take on the job market, on women in the job market, on young women and the need to sell out in the job market, and on the feminist job market. Maybe not the way I needed to start my summer after spending the previous eight months increasing my student (and personal) debt by several thousand dollars just for the privilege of studying law. May my future not be hers, but I have at least a shadow of a doubt about that.
Between the Covers
A while ago I heard or read an interview with a woman (I can't now remember who, but I think maybe it was on CBC) who kept a journal of all the books she read. This sounds like a fascinating idea to me. I used to read a lot more than I do now (other responsibilities in life have reduced my overall reading time), but I still manage to get in a lot of reading compared to some people. Anyway, I'm going to start just such a record. See the menu for the link to the list...
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Closetfill
For some inexplicable reason, I had a strong urge this weekend to clean out the closet of my childhood. And that's not a metaphor for anything. I mean the actual closet of my childhood, which has been accumulating stuff since I moved to that house in 1983. It's been cleaned out a variety of times over the years, but not so much since 1996 when I graduated from high school and moved to Europe. Since then, my room ceased to be mine, and all my stuff got boxed up and closeted...until now. I took a couple of antihistamines and dug in.
I found a lot of good/funny stuff: tons of ridiculous and hilarious stuff from old boyfriends (including a cool pair of socks from one of the Italians which I still could not part with), a picture of ACH and me on the night that began it all, a letter dated 1992 from the uncle who has had an undeniable impact on my present path, some of my old art (I hope I don't regret tossing it out, but it's not that good), and all manner of photographs from every stage of my life.
One of the most fantastic things, though, is the collection of cassette tapes accumulated over my life. The last time I was in that closet, people still listened to cassette tapes. In fact, I am listening to some of my old tapes right now. Talk about flashback. Anyway, here's my collection, because it's seriously making me laugh:
Okay, time to bust a move.
I found a lot of good/funny stuff: tons of ridiculous and hilarious stuff from old boyfriends (including a cool pair of socks from one of the Italians which I still could not part with), a picture of ACH and me on the night that began it all, a letter dated 1992 from the uncle who has had an undeniable impact on my present path, some of my old art (I hope I don't regret tossing it out, but it's not that good), and all manner of photographs from every stage of my life.
One of the most fantastic things, though, is the collection of cassette tapes accumulated over my life. The last time I was in that closet, people still listened to cassette tapes. In fact, I am listening to some of my old tapes right now. Talk about flashback. Anyway, here's my collection, because it's seriously making me laugh:
- All manner of mixed tape, including *'s Happy Fun Tape (punk tape made by my best friend from grade 11-12), my dad's Oldies but Goodies mix with the Bobby Fuller Four version of "I fought the law" which I LOVED when I was a kid (and still do), and at least a couple of boyfriend mixes (Seany's Noisy Mix comes to mind)
- A whole series of The Solid Gold Collection which was this series published by Esso or Shell in the '80s. You got them when you filled up. Gas stations never do that any more.
- Butterfly Plague and Imp, both bands with people I knew in them
- Debbie Gibson "Out of the Blue," Olivia Newton John, "Greatest Hits" (none of which I recognize), Paul Abdul "Forever Your Girl" (apparently not enough to ruin her life forever), Madonna "Like a Virgin", Salt n Pepa "Very Necessary" (not the one with "Let's Talk About Sex")
- Jimi Hendrix "The Ultimate Experience," Christopher Cross, Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way," Leonard Cohen (still a fan, but now I'm old enough to appreciate him),
- Smashing Pumpkins, the Flaming Lips, Enigma "The Cross of Changes," 54-40, Nirvana "Bleach," Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis "We Can't Dance," Snap "World Power" (?), The Beatles, Beastie Boys "Licensed to Ill" (a tape which got stuck in the the player of my LeBaron for several months one time), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Arrested Development "3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of", Nine Inch Nails (yeah, that one), USA for Africa "We Are the World" (back when MJ wasn't a total freak yet), Technotronic, Breakdance (a compilation of break dance music), and C+C Music Factory ("Everybody dance NOW..." oh, the good old days!)
- A ton of stuff from my dad's collection, including lots of classical music, Bellafonte, Liberace and the Dueling Banjos
- There's a tape labelled "Elvis Presley - LIVE (Taped in Denver-11/77-Gramps) Merry Xmas to Ricky 1977"-there's no one that I can think of in my family named "Ricky" so I'm going to have to find out who that is. Also, Elvis didn't perform after June of '77, but it definitely sounds like him on the tape...maybe it's his ghost.
- And, my personal favourite, from 1984, published by K-tel International Ltd: The Minipops "Let's Dance"!!!! I'm embarrassed by it, but Hsuan (our billeted harpsichordist from the TBSI) and I kind of got down listening to this tonight. I have to say, they do a pretty good "Our house [in the middle of our street]."
Okay, time to bust a move.
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