rambling

Now I'm just procrastinating...

It's unfortunate that I adore research and reading, making plans, following arguments, realising connections - I love it all. I hate writing.

No that's untrue - when it is good, it is very very good; when it is bad...it's rotten.

Actually, this isn't rotten at all. I've just been sitting here slogging it out for too long and I'm determined to get it done.

We bought Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen on Ebay last week and watched Munchausen tonight. It's brilliant. I haven't seen it in ages. I'm not sure why we're on a Terry Gilliam kick but it could be worse. I could have decided to watch every episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer...or Firefly. Or Lost. No, I'm glad it was Munchausen - I needed some magic realism to strengthen me for my return to Vindication of the Rights of Woman!

Logan's favourite ever place to sit is directly in front of me when I'm working: curled up and purring away until I try to use the mouse or type. Then he lives up to his name and it's all teeth and claws and indignant cat being pushed off the desk. The pic is Logan ignoring me after being pushed off...

Found out today that my friend has gotten a one-year lectureship here at Leeds for this coming year - the dream is possible!

jammy news

My jam wasn't there.

I don't know what has become of it - likely the skip behind The Restaurant. Which is a shame as I was looking forward to a nice lunch of chili jam, brie, and melba toast. Ah well. I'll have to plant peppers next year in the garden and make my own, I suppose.

Left The Restaurant for the last time just now. I went up with a friend to say goodbye to everyone and enjoy one last bottle of white wine. I will miss the people I work with - but then, I've met lovely, creative, wonderful people that I can call for a drink or chat without the soul-sogging routine of The Restaurant to mediate the experience.

My friend and I mostly chatted about Our Final Year as it approaches - slouches towards us. I think I'll be fine - I put a lot of faith in my supervisor and I know she will tell me, in no uncertain terms, if I am in trouble. Until then I shall plug away. I've recently reread the chapters I've written and been suprised by some of it - disappointed by others - but I think I might actually know what the hell I'm talking about most of the time!

In other news, London beckons in September - helping a friend move over and find a place to live. I can't say I love London - I don't have much experience of these capital cities that make Toronto look like a trapping outpost. I do adore Barcelona - would really like to spend longer in Amsterdam - and Stockholm is a warm and fuzzy place in my heart because of my little bro. Last time I was in London - nearly a year ago - I ended up with horrendous allergies aggravated by the dryness of the air in the hotel room. I ended up in the bathroom with the shower running at full heat just to get some relief! But this time, we know where to go, how to use the underground, and best of all, have lovely wonderful friends to catch up with while we're there.

Then we get to go on a road trip - British style - with some friends. This will mean little to y'all in Canada but we're going to Longleat!!! Google it, you'll be impressed - and you'll instantly see why I'm so excited. Elizabethean manor house, Tudor hedge mazes, and...safari park!!! It's also the place where they film one of my favourite telly programs - 'Animal Park'. So I already know all the animals names - like visiting old friends! It's in Wiltshire very close to Salisbury and Bath - neither of which Nasser has seen. A side trip to Stonehenge has been mooted and supported. I went there with the Dad back in 1993 - yikes, was it that long ago?! - and I love it. We were there on a gorgeous day - a bus tour out from London to Bath and Salisbury. I remember the cathedral as stunning and Bath as equally gorgeous. And, for some reason, I remember the late afternoon sunshine on the cottages around Salisbury. Now, with all my research into the 18th century, I should be...incredibly annoying to my fellow travellers... I will try to restrain the facts and historical snippets that come springing to my lips but it will be difficult!

Well, working all day tomorrow at the library down the road and all night tomorrow on my chapter...so good night sweet ladies good night good night

every time i think i'm out...they pull me back in

The Restaurant cannot stand, apparently, without me.

I'm working at The Restaurant tonight - there's simply no-one else to do it. but i'm pretty sure i've alienated the owners enough to keep them from pushing their luck much further with me.

met a Fellow whose job at the moment is to go to bars and write down what music is being played over the stereo. the data he accumulates goes into a big pool, and from that, they determine royalties for the bands. nice job if you can get it.

this Fellow had a unique ability though - i've never been asked so many questions in so short a time. in three minutes flat, he had all kinds of information about me (age, marital status, educational history, why i was quitting The Restaurant, favorite bands, the color of my socks...)

i'm kind of a private person (but who doesn't think that about themselves?), but this Fellow's method created a really interesting situation - suddenly we were all sharing information and learning all sorts of things about each other. i remember my grade 4 teacher writing on my report card 'keep asking questions, nas! it's the only way to learn.'

thank you strange Fellow, for reminding me.

kaley had a disappointing morning. she left a jar of chili jam (made for her by a man with a holy holy name) at The Restaurant - one of those 'i thought YOU picked it up' scenarios. We pray that the jam is still there when we get to work.

i don't want to wish my time away, but lord, let tonight's end come quickly.

(kaley would like to share a photo with you all - more scenes from an allotment in leeds)

the final countdown

it's a bit odd, leaving The Restaurant. I get attached to places (not easily, but over time), and everywhere i've lived, i've had a place like The Restaurant as a kind of sanctuary. A place that runs on its own chaotic rhythms - where you can get a breakfast before anyone else is out of bed or a drink long after the bar has closed - and where you're almost never alone. in the best places it is the promise of pure welcome. in the worst case, you come in smiling and have to deal with a co-worker who is even more surly than the customers.

which isn't exactly a trial, either.

i've been at The Restaurant for almost two and a half years. i've been in england for nearly three. my life here, to a significant degree, has been conditioned by my crappy schedule, the whims of the owners, whether or not the punters were feeling generous and actually left a tip that weekend, whatever bootleg dvds are going around, and a million other minor events in and around The Restaurant. k and i have done some good work, met some real jerks and made some very close friends. and even though it is clearly time to move on, i'm going to miss it.

but not on sundays.

change is better than a rest

today represented the absolute last day that anyone could ever call me in to cover a shift at The Restaurant. and as fate would have it, the night manager's lovely wife has come down with a cold, leaving the poor fellow with three babies under three years old and a sickly wife at home.

so he called me.

and i, characteristically, said 'OK'

and kaley got really mad at me for a while.

but, on the plus side, this is the absolute last night ever in my life that anyone can call me in to work for them. from here on in, i'm calling the shots.

we've been moving our living room around today, and this post represents an excuse to type something at our newly re-designed, ultra ergonomic, super comfy desk/work station. i have a feeling we are going to fight over the privilege to work at this wondrous, economical, aesthetic expression of form and function.

it's time to tackle the bedroom next! but for now, i must shower and shave and get all fragrant for the poor poor customers who must endure my wrath this fine summer's eve (if they step out of line, that is).

nas

inane updates

It's hard to believe that it is nearly the end of August. Harder still to fully realise that we've been living here for three years - which means I am nearly finished my PhD. That is, I have one more year to finish it. Scary. Really.

Our good friend was here this morning for a farewell pancake breakfast. He's a fellow Canadian and has been a fixture in our lives (and hearts) since we moved here. I'm not good with change. We'll miss him hugely. Luckily for us, his lovely partner lives in London so it's not adieu, just au revoir. I had a wonderful English teacher in my final year of high school who struggled to teach us the basics of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. I've never forgotten understanding the finality of 'adieu' as a farewell. I haven't had to say it yet. I hope I don't have to for a long time.

Bank holiday weekend - the last of the summer - and our last weekend working at The Restaurant! New things new things new things await...

Rice and lentils await for now - and corn-on-the-cob. It ain't peaches and cream and didn't come from a dusty stand on Hwy 24 but it'll suffice. Ah...Joan Baez blarring through the wall from crazy, God-fearing neighbour...

new home

okay, so this is our new blog space as we are just too techno-tarded to figure out vox. Plus my sis and her fella have one of these here blogspots and i like the format better.

All of a sudden it's beautiful summer in England again - after about two weeks of rain. There is hope for my huge crop of green tomatoes after all. And nas has been teasing me with a road trip to Longleat...the site of my favourite TV show 'animal park' (a far cry from 'south park'). Luckily our friend with the car feels the same. I will keep you posted.

this posting sucks.

This is a picture of my sunflower, billy bob.