It is possible that this blog is a more transparent window to my moods than an accurate reflection of my opinions. In the world of things that are possible, that is one of them. I'm not going to come down either way.
But having spent the morning waiting for our new refridgerator (more on which later) and playing around on the site I posted about yesterday, I found myself giggling a little bit. Okay, so it might be a bit funny after all. I maintain that it isn't parody - of any kind really. But I'll retract a bit from my intractable stance of yesterday and say, it is pretty funny. Perhaps I had momentarily lost my sense of humour after all... I blame encroaching exam period at the library - the stress is tangible - and it's starting to smell on the upper floors where they congregate in the greatest density...
Yes, new fridge - very exciting. Of course, we're moving in two months and we've been complaining (nicely) about the fridge for the last year so, typically for our landbarons, too little too late. The seal around the fridge door has been gone since we moved in, which means it has cost us more than it should to run at all. Luckily, the new flat has a lovely new fridge as well - tho Nas was, for a second, concerned that the old fridge would turn up, poltergeist-like in the new flat to terrorize us... (insert Psycho soundbite here). Unlikely.
So there, another chapter in which our heroine pondered much, said too much, and retracted a little with grace.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
limits, on pushing
I've tried and failed to find this site funny. I had a momentary crisis of doubting my own redoubtable sense of humour. Then, I realised that it wasn't in fact, as The Guardian described it, 'a sizzling parody of middle-class liberal values'. That description is simply a product of middle-class liberal white guilt - something The Guardian has far too much of and desperately needs to pass some off to The Times in some kind of moral 'cap and share' scheme. But before I digress...
It seems to me that the catch-all excuse - it's only a laugh - is allowed far too much play. And I'm a fan of play - I'm all over that Derridean play of language and totally against the Orwellian shut-down of meaning blah blah blah. The thing is, that site isn't playful. I would draw your attention particularly to this entry, in which, surprise surprise, women get to be the brunt of the joke - how original! how cutting! how risque! My what sizzling parody!
The problem with such rapier wits is that they make themselves proof from criticism. There is no attempt to engage alternate viewpoints, no dialogue; merely juvenile sarcasm in place of 'parody'. I'm not sure who the reviewer for The Guardian is, but I can recommend some excellent texts that might begin to advance his/her understanding of parody beyond: 'it's funny cause it is (not) me' (the high-water mark of liberal white guilt and the consolatory recompensation: we laugh at ourselves - hey, it's not racist if the target's white, right?!
Oh wait, is that parody?
Or just sarcasm?
And which one is the lowest form of wit?
It seems to me that the catch-all excuse - it's only a laugh - is allowed far too much play. And I'm a fan of play - I'm all over that Derridean play of language and totally against the Orwellian shut-down of meaning blah blah blah. The thing is, that site isn't playful. I would draw your attention particularly to this entry, in which, surprise surprise, women get to be the brunt of the joke - how original! how cutting! how risque! My what sizzling parody!
The problem with such rapier wits is that they make themselves proof from criticism. There is no attempt to engage alternate viewpoints, no dialogue; merely juvenile sarcasm in place of 'parody'. I'm not sure who the reviewer for The Guardian is, but I can recommend some excellent texts that might begin to advance his/her understanding of parody beyond: 'it's funny cause it is (not) me' (the high-water mark of liberal white guilt and the consolatory recompensation: we laugh at ourselves - hey, it's not racist if the target's white, right?!
Oh wait, is that parody?
Or just sarcasm?
And which one is the lowest form of wit?
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Foundations
Yesterday saw the most glorious spring weather - the kind of afternoon that makes up for nearly a month of grey skies and rain. Everything burst into bloom - audibly. A perfect late April read-outdoors-with-a-cuppa kind of day. Crowned in every way by Nasser's successful viva. A house of two doctors we are!
It's funny - I've always explained that we're moved here to do our PhDs and now we're finished and that's not the most interesting, most compelling, or most important thing keeping us here. We live here - we've lived here longer than anywhere else. This is, in so many ways, our home. I've been thinking that I always understood 'home' as singular and felt guilty about using it to describe anywhere but Canada. But I don't think that it is a singular thing anymore - Canada will always be my home but Britain is my home too. The only thing that I continue to miss - strongly enough to return to - is my family. It's strange that we all live so far apart now. And I do feel guilty about staying here sometimes - worried that they don't know how much I miss them, or that we'll drift apart and be strangers. But I'm also not ready to leave here - I love it: our garden, our (new!) flat, our little community of ex-pats and Brits... I guess I feel like I have to say that - we aren't here anymore 'for school' - we're here by choice because this is where - for now and I don't know for how long - we live. I'm home.
***
I really must express this or it will come out in some horrible repressed and displaced fashion: I really really intensely dislike the use of ultrasounds as avatars on Facebook. Please stop. It's horrible.
It's funny - I've always explained that we're moved here to do our PhDs and now we're finished and that's not the most interesting, most compelling, or most important thing keeping us here. We live here - we've lived here longer than anywhere else. This is, in so many ways, our home. I've been thinking that I always understood 'home' as singular and felt guilty about using it to describe anywhere but Canada. But I don't think that it is a singular thing anymore - Canada will always be my home but Britain is my home too. The only thing that I continue to miss - strongly enough to return to - is my family. It's strange that we all live so far apart now. And I do feel guilty about staying here sometimes - worried that they don't know how much I miss them, or that we'll drift apart and be strangers. But I'm also not ready to leave here - I love it: our garden, our (new!) flat, our little community of ex-pats and Brits... I guess I feel like I have to say that - we aren't here anymore 'for school' - we're here by choice because this is where - for now and I don't know for how long - we live. I'm home.
***
I really must express this or it will come out in some horrible repressed and displaced fashion: I really really intensely dislike the use of ultrasounds as avatars on Facebook. Please stop. It's horrible.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Free Education
Among the stranger things I've seen while stationed at the Reception desk of the library - a student protest for free education just passed by the steps. I'm not sure if they are intending to take their protest elsewhere - they're on their way now. There were about 50 of them - hopefully they will collect stronger numbers before appearing in front of the administration.
Free education. I'd be more interested (in a selfish way) if they could work in a grandfather clause so's I could get back my tuition...
But in a universal scheme - yes, free education would be nice. Even dropping tuition fees would be a gesture in the right direction. I don't know which is worse: students who demand grades reflecting the financial investment rather than any intellectual investment in their work, or students who don't care cause it was all free. But I've just had a dreadful two hours trying to get my students to ask questions and discuss the material we've supposedly been learning for 10 weeks... So I'm possibly not in a very positive frame of mind!
Which also makes me too tired to ponder for long.
Free education. I'd be more interested (in a selfish way) if they could work in a grandfather clause so's I could get back my tuition...
But in a universal scheme - yes, free education would be nice. Even dropping tuition fees would be a gesture in the right direction. I don't know which is worse: students who demand grades reflecting the financial investment rather than any intellectual investment in their work, or students who don't care cause it was all free. But I've just had a dreadful two hours trying to get my students to ask questions and discuss the material we've supposedly been learning for 10 weeks... So I'm possibly not in a very positive frame of mind!
Which also makes me too tired to ponder for long.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Excessive laziness
I stole this meme from my friend's Facebook page...yes, that is just how lazy I am today. But I like answering questions about myself - hell, I think that might be a species-wide quality.
1. What is your natural hair colour? Brown
2. Where was your profile picture taken? This one doesn't make sense away from Facebook - What's your favourite picture of yourself? One of Nas and I taken on our wedding day - it's a candid snap and we're both laughing.
3. What's your middle name? Andrea
4. Your current relationship status? Married
5. Honestly, does your crush like you back? Um...unlikely...but I'll hold out hope on the basis that Mr Tennant's filming schedule keeps him pretty busy and we haven't actually met yet...
6. What is your current mood? Lazy
7. What color underwear are you wearing? Y'know, I wonder why all memes have something completely ridiculous in them? Let's change this one: What can you hear right now? The washing machine, the telly, and one of my cats chirping at her toys.
8. What is one thing that makes you happy? My cats.
9. Whats The Last Thing You Bought? Must be important, as all the words get a capital letter...12 tomatoes, 4 bananas, 6 eggs, 2 pints of milk...oh and some chocolate digestives.
10. If you could go back in time, and change something what would it be? Hmm...I'm too lazy to think of anything that might mean I'm not exactly where I am right now...
11. If you MUST be an animal for ONE day- what would you be? A house cat - specifically MY house cat...I don't know what they were in past lives but that is some powerful-good karma.
12. Ever had a near death experience? Likely, but you never hear the one that hits you.
13. Something you do a lot? Talk
14. What's the name of the song stuck in your head right now? honestly...damn; the Kingsmill bread jingle from telly...
15. Who did you copy and paste this from? An old friend from uni in Canada.
16. Name someone with the same birthday as you? Boring. I do know that the Diet of Worms ended with the Edict of Worms on my birthday in 1521; and that John T. Scopes was indicted for teaching evolution 52 years before I was born (1925); the Calgary Flames won the Stanley Cup for the first time on my birthday in 1989. And just to satisfy the question, I share my birthday with Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Beverley Sills. It's also the holy day of Saint Urban, Saint Bede, and Saint Augustine of Canterbury.
17. When was the last time you cried? I did get a bit choked up in last night's episode of Pushing Daisies.
18. Have you ever sung in front of a large audience? Yes.
19. If you could have one super power what would it be? I always go for flying here...yea - yea I'll stick with flying.
20. What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Depends why I'm looking at them.
21. What do you usually order from Starbucks? I don't.
22. What’s your biggest secret? Idiotic. Who makes up these things? Change it again: How do you feel about secrets? Not a big fan really. They bore me.
23. What's your favorite color? I don't have one - but I like a warm palette
24. When was the last time you lied? Last seminar I taught - I always say that I'm really excited and interested in whatever text we're studying, regardless of my actual loathing... Funny thing though, by the end of the seminar, my students' interest gets to me and I come away actually being pretty into it...
25. Do you still watch kiddy movies or TV shows? ALL THE TIME - repeatedly. I plan to watch Powerpuff Girls later this afternoon.
26. WHAT HAPPENED TO 26? Got married, moved to England, started PhD.
27. What are you eating or drinking at the moment? See above - Tetley's tea and a hobnob.
28. Do you speak any other language? I speak Academic as well as Teacher. I can understand Lancashire and Yorkshire - and depending on who I'm talking to, apparently I do speak another language. And yes, I speak enough Quebecois to order a beer, ask for the bathroom, and get back to my hotel in Montreal.
29. What's your favorite smell? Too many - a sampling: mown grass, the garden, roasting veg, coffee, the house I grew up in, my grandparent's house, fresh sawdust, Algonquin park...
30. If you could describe life in one word what would it be? If I could describe life in one word, I would be very sad indeed.
31. When was the last time you gave/received a hug? I just aggressively cuddled Logan...
32. Have you ever been kissed in the rain? I suppose.
33. What are you thinking about right now? How trivial it is whether or not I've ever been kissed in the rain! And now how long that has occupied my mind...
34. What should you be doing? Re-reading the novel I have to teach this week; working on my conference paper, working on my job applications.
35. What was the last thing that made you upset? 'Upset' like hysterical? I don't get upset - I was mildly annoyed on Saturday night because we had a lovely time out with friends, disrupted only by the presence of one of the rudest and most tactless cocks I've ever met.
37. Do you like working in the yard? Yes and wish the weather would improve so as to spend more time there.
38. If you could have any last name in the world, what would you want? Something Dickensian... or Peakean (from Mervyn Peake).
39. Name 5 things in your closet: No closets in our current place - in my wardrobe: shoes, handbags, clothes, gardening jeans, coats.
40. Do you act different around your crush? I do occasionally get a bit over-excited during Doctor Who...and was willing to forgive his less than stellar performance in Bright Young Things.
1. What is your natural hair colour? Brown
2. Where was your profile picture taken? This one doesn't make sense away from Facebook - What's your favourite picture of yourself? One of Nas and I taken on our wedding day - it's a candid snap and we're both laughing.
3. What's your middle name? Andrea
4. Your current relationship status? Married
5. Honestly, does your crush like you back? Um...unlikely...but I'll hold out hope on the basis that Mr Tennant's filming schedule keeps him pretty busy and we haven't actually met yet...
6. What is your current mood? Lazy
7. What color underwear are you wearing? Y'know, I wonder why all memes have something completely ridiculous in them? Let's change this one: What can you hear right now? The washing machine, the telly, and one of my cats chirping at her toys.
8. What is one thing that makes you happy? My cats.
9. Whats The Last Thing You Bought? Must be important, as all the words get a capital letter...12 tomatoes, 4 bananas, 6 eggs, 2 pints of milk...oh and some chocolate digestives.
10. If you could go back in time, and change something what would it be? Hmm...I'm too lazy to think of anything that might mean I'm not exactly where I am right now...
11. If you MUST be an animal for ONE day- what would you be? A house cat - specifically MY house cat...I don't know what they were in past lives but that is some powerful-good karma.
12. Ever had a near death experience? Likely, but you never hear the one that hits you.
13. Something you do a lot? Talk
14. What's the name of the song stuck in your head right now? honestly...damn; the Kingsmill bread jingle from telly...
15. Who did you copy and paste this from? An old friend from uni in Canada.
16. Name someone with the same birthday as you? Boring. I do know that the Diet of Worms ended with the Edict of Worms on my birthday in 1521; and that John T. Scopes was indicted for teaching evolution 52 years before I was born (1925); the Calgary Flames won the Stanley Cup for the first time on my birthday in 1989. And just to satisfy the question, I share my birthday with Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Beverley Sills. It's also the holy day of Saint Urban, Saint Bede, and Saint Augustine of Canterbury.
17. When was the last time you cried? I did get a bit choked up in last night's episode of Pushing Daisies.
18. Have you ever sung in front of a large audience? Yes.
19. If you could have one super power what would it be? I always go for flying here...yea - yea I'll stick with flying.
20. What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Depends why I'm looking at them.
21. What do you usually order from Starbucks? I don't.
22. What’s your biggest secret? Idiotic. Who makes up these things? Change it again: How do you feel about secrets? Not a big fan really. They bore me.
23. What's your favorite color? I don't have one - but I like a warm palette
24. When was the last time you lied? Last seminar I taught - I always say that I'm really excited and interested in whatever text we're studying, regardless of my actual loathing... Funny thing though, by the end of the seminar, my students' interest gets to me and I come away actually being pretty into it...
25. Do you still watch kiddy movies or TV shows? ALL THE TIME - repeatedly. I plan to watch Powerpuff Girls later this afternoon.
26. WHAT HAPPENED TO 26? Got married, moved to England, started PhD.
27. What are you eating or drinking at the moment? See above - Tetley's tea and a hobnob.
28. Do you speak any other language? I speak Academic as well as Teacher. I can understand Lancashire and Yorkshire - and depending on who I'm talking to, apparently I do speak another language. And yes, I speak enough Quebecois to order a beer, ask for the bathroom, and get back to my hotel in Montreal.
29. What's your favorite smell? Too many - a sampling: mown grass, the garden, roasting veg, coffee, the house I grew up in, my grandparent's house, fresh sawdust, Algonquin park...
30. If you could describe life in one word what would it be? If I could describe life in one word, I would be very sad indeed.
31. When was the last time you gave/received a hug? I just aggressively cuddled Logan...
32. Have you ever been kissed in the rain? I suppose.
33. What are you thinking about right now? How trivial it is whether or not I've ever been kissed in the rain! And now how long that has occupied my mind...
34. What should you be doing? Re-reading the novel I have to teach this week; working on my conference paper, working on my job applications.
35. What was the last thing that made you upset? 'Upset' like hysterical? I don't get upset - I was mildly annoyed on Saturday night because we had a lovely time out with friends, disrupted only by the presence of one of the rudest and most tactless cocks I've ever met.
37. Do you like working in the yard? Yes and wish the weather would improve so as to spend more time there.
38. If you could have any last name in the world, what would you want? Something Dickensian... or Peakean (from Mervyn Peake).
39. Name 5 things in your closet: No closets in our current place - in my wardrobe: shoes, handbags, clothes, gardening jeans, coats.
40. Do you act different around your crush? I do occasionally get a bit over-excited during Doctor Who...and was willing to forgive his less than stellar performance in Bright Young Things.
Monday, April 14, 2008
exorcising fear
So I saw The Exorcist on the weekend.
Perhaps it was the sheer amount of food - mostly meat - that I consumed before watching; or perhaps the company while watching; or maybe I'm just mature enough to handle it - but it wasn't very scary. Perhaps it would have been more frightening if I had been expecting something less terrifying than more - or something completely different (as when I watched Dogville, expecting a rather silly gangster flick...). Okay, some of the images are disturbing - mostly cause Linda Blair is just so angelic looking in the opening scenes. Maybe its the fairly horrendous 70s fashion Ellen Burnstyn sports - or the questionable 'attractiveness' of the men - or just the truly surreal opening scenes set in Iraq.
It's just that the extreme campiness and over-determined sequences are a bit hard to take - at least from the perspective of this weary and desensitised viewer and critic of Gothic horrors. I only stayed awake and jumping at shadows for ONE night. Ha! Se7en kept me up for weeks. Is it just the sheer novelty of the film for its time that made it so terrifying? It is, after all, one of the most popular and highly-grossing horror movies of all time - its earnings, according to Wikipedia (take as you will), $400 million worldwide. It was up for 10 Academy Awards (take that as you will as well) and won 2 (Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay) and lost the Best Picture award to The Sting. Apparently, Jon Landau of Rolling Stone called it 'nothing more than a religious porn film'.
It does rather feel empty of plot - just a voyeuristic journey into the weirdness of Catholic rituals and rites (which even the learned Father Karras distances from the modern operation of the Catholic Church) - there is no reason why Regan MacNeil is possessed and the devil doesn't really seem to have a plan. The horrific medical tests are more disturbing than the exorcism - though the priests do rather casually burn Regan-as-the-devil with holy water and the like. It's kinda like the final lines of Judas's show-stopping number in Jesus Christ Superstar: 'If you'd [Jesus] have come today, you would have reached a whole nation/Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication'. If it is the DEVIL - why appear in the body of a 12-year old girl? Shock value alone? Darryl Jones suggests that The Exorcist be understood as part of a trilogy of 'Satan' films, appearing between Rosemary's Baby and The Omen. As a question of adaptability, Satan clearly comes to grips quickly with the details of privilege in 1970s America: by The Omen, Damien (the Antichrist) ends up as no less than the president's (surrogate) son. I suppose I'd also agree with his reading of the film as a discussion of the corruption of the flesh discourse in Catholicism - the devil really goes to town for that one soul, threatening to stay until Regan's body rots (which it clearly begins to do throughout her possession) in the ground. And little wonder that the body contested is a young woman. I like the (albeit) overdetermined scene in which Regan writes 'help me' on her own body from the inside. It's tortured but certainly evocative of life in a teenaged body.
Maybe I'm dismissing the things that are actually quite important if I twist them around and look at them awry.
So Regan is 12-going-on-13 - from Chris's (her mother's) perspective, she is a potentially terrifying little bundle of possibility. The picture Regan is looking at in bed is herself with her mother - which her mother dismisses as not a very good picture, saying that Regan looks 'so mature'. The lack of plot? Well, it is the DEVIL - maybe he doesn't really go by this self-justification rationale for showing up. Maybe a 12 year old girl is a really good place to be - perhaps, given the potentials unleashed by the popular uprisings of 1968, a young girl (particularly, notice, without a father) raised by a stong single woman was something to be feared: she might grow up to be a feminist. (gasp!) The ending, with the self-sacrifice of Father Karras, is interesting - Angelheart makes it more explicit, with the flash of green energy in the beautiful baby's eyes - but Regan's innocent unknowing is more interesting. Has she really forgotten? And how then, exactly, did mommydearest explain the abrasions and lacerations on her body (bruises still visible in the last shot as they drive away).
I also do have to wonder how Burnstyn's character managed to stay in the house with Regan-as-the-devil... I mean, wow, ovaries of steel, that one has!
The long and short of it, it isn't scary - its actually pretty funny. But I can see how it is such an iconic film. And I'm glad I saw it.
Next, The Car. With steaks. Really rare steaks.
Perhaps it was the sheer amount of food - mostly meat - that I consumed before watching; or perhaps the company while watching; or maybe I'm just mature enough to handle it - but it wasn't very scary. Perhaps it would have been more frightening if I had been expecting something less terrifying than more - or something completely different (as when I watched Dogville, expecting a rather silly gangster flick...). Okay, some of the images are disturbing - mostly cause Linda Blair is just so angelic looking in the opening scenes. Maybe its the fairly horrendous 70s fashion Ellen Burnstyn sports - or the questionable 'attractiveness' of the men - or just the truly surreal opening scenes set in Iraq.
It's just that the extreme campiness and over-determined sequences are a bit hard to take - at least from the perspective of this weary and desensitised viewer and critic of Gothic horrors. I only stayed awake and jumping at shadows for ONE night. Ha! Se7en kept me up for weeks. Is it just the sheer novelty of the film for its time that made it so terrifying? It is, after all, one of the most popular and highly-grossing horror movies of all time - its earnings, according to Wikipedia (take as you will), $400 million worldwide. It was up for 10 Academy Awards (take that as you will as well) and won 2 (Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay) and lost the Best Picture award to The Sting. Apparently, Jon Landau of Rolling Stone called it 'nothing more than a religious porn film'.
It does rather feel empty of plot - just a voyeuristic journey into the weirdness of Catholic rituals and rites (which even the learned Father Karras distances from the modern operation of the Catholic Church) - there is no reason why Regan MacNeil is possessed and the devil doesn't really seem to have a plan. The horrific medical tests are more disturbing than the exorcism - though the priests do rather casually burn Regan-as-the-devil with holy water and the like. It's kinda like the final lines of Judas's show-stopping number in Jesus Christ Superstar: 'If you'd [Jesus] have come today, you would have reached a whole nation/Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication'. If it is the DEVIL - why appear in the body of a 12-year old girl? Shock value alone? Darryl Jones suggests that The Exorcist be understood as part of a trilogy of 'Satan' films, appearing between Rosemary's Baby and The Omen. As a question of adaptability, Satan clearly comes to grips quickly with the details of privilege in 1970s America: by The Omen, Damien (the Antichrist) ends up as no less than the president's (surrogate) son. I suppose I'd also agree with his reading of the film as a discussion of the corruption of the flesh discourse in Catholicism - the devil really goes to town for that one soul, threatening to stay until Regan's body rots (which it clearly begins to do throughout her possession) in the ground. And little wonder that the body contested is a young woman. I like the (albeit) overdetermined scene in which Regan writes 'help me' on her own body from the inside. It's tortured but certainly evocative of life in a teenaged body.
Maybe I'm dismissing the things that are actually quite important if I twist them around and look at them awry.
So Regan is 12-going-on-13 - from Chris's (her mother's) perspective, she is a potentially terrifying little bundle of possibility. The picture Regan is looking at in bed is herself with her mother - which her mother dismisses as not a very good picture, saying that Regan looks 'so mature'. The lack of plot? Well, it is the DEVIL - maybe he doesn't really go by this self-justification rationale for showing up. Maybe a 12 year old girl is a really good place to be - perhaps, given the potentials unleashed by the popular uprisings of 1968, a young girl (particularly, notice, without a father) raised by a stong single woman was something to be feared: she might grow up to be a feminist. (gasp!) The ending, with the self-sacrifice of Father Karras, is interesting - Angelheart makes it more explicit, with the flash of green energy in the beautiful baby's eyes - but Regan's innocent unknowing is more interesting. Has she really forgotten? And how then, exactly, did mommydearest explain the abrasions and lacerations on her body (bruises still visible in the last shot as they drive away).
I also do have to wonder how Burnstyn's character managed to stay in the house with Regan-as-the-devil... I mean, wow, ovaries of steel, that one has!
The long and short of it, it isn't scary - its actually pretty funny. But I can see how it is such an iconic film. And I'm glad I saw it.
Next, The Car. With steaks. Really rare steaks.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Migration
Maybe it's the flocks of birds returning with the spring but immigration has been in the news (read: The Guardian) quite a bit these days. I thought this was an interesting article - in that kind of snapshot way of reporting that purports to make no judgements on the information. But nonetheless, it is intriguing. I guess I am an immigrant right now. Huh. But I've never been referred to - or had cause to refer to myself as - an immigrant in this country. And I noticed that the people interviewed mostly fit the traditional, narrow construction of immigrant - though I'm interested in the comments from the Irish and Australian women. Whenever I think of immigration or even the university's apparent understanding of 'international' I remember a strange fellow I encountered while working at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor. He was American, but without identification of any sort, so we directed him to Canadian immigration. Outraged, he pointed at the substantial queue outside the immigration office - made up that particular day of an extended family immigrating from India and another from Mexico - and insisted that he wasn't from 'another country'. Upon our patient explanation that the United States was, in fact, 'another country', he became more hysterical (wearing I should add a powder-blue leisure suit) and with the air of speaking to a very young child, said that 'well, he wasn't from another country like they (pointing at the queue) were from another country'.
Huh.
The sunshine has returned - albeit only in brief moments that ensure I am perpetually grateful for it. Running has returned as a firm part of my schedule. Teaching is nearly back for the final three weeks of term. May is very nearly upon us and I will then have cause to reflect on another year. Things keep moving and shifting and changing and I don't feel that I'm 'on top' of everything - nor to I feel dragged under; I just feel like going with the flow.
Huh.
The sunshine has returned - albeit only in brief moments that ensure I am perpetually grateful for it. Running has returned as a firm part of my schedule. Teaching is nearly back for the final three weeks of term. May is very nearly upon us and I will then have cause to reflect on another year. Things keep moving and shifting and changing and I don't feel that I'm 'on top' of everything - nor to I feel dragged under; I just feel like going with the flow.
Friday, April 04, 2008
new things
We've had a 'new' week - new shoes, new flat, new bed-linens ... it's nice on the soul, if a bit painful on the paycheque! But at least I can say that nothing was an impulse buy and everything was needed - and kinda overdue. I still have buyer's remorse though - which is ridiculous. It's clearly the result of conflict between my excessively practical side and my fluttery spending side.
But I did need new shoes - my good old black boots haven't quite given up the ghost but they can't be my daily wear anymore. The seam broke on the leather so I've taken them to be restitched - again. The woman at the counter recognized me and my poor old boots. But they are comfy and otherwise okay, so I'll give them one more life: resoled, re-stitched, and cleaned up. And I bought a pair of shoes; I usually (always) wear boots but it's summer (well, will be someday) and they have rainbow stitching so I was hooked.
AND we found a new flat for July - which is so exciting that neither of us really want to stay in this place anymore... we always do that though: when we moved from our old place to here it was the same. But this new place is far far nicer. It's a lovely 2 bedroom flat with no carpets and closets - no stupid, space-wasting wardrobes - closets. And it is on an upper floor, has windows on two sides, has no smell of mold or damp, no spots on the walls... it is perfect. And has the added comedy value of the cats skidding around on the floors when they play!
Just to finish off the week as well we finally bought some new duvet covers - the cheapest we could find (yea...Ikea...which means that our bedroom now looks like everyone else's) but they are bright and colourful. They feel spring-y. And our last sheets were ready for the rubbish bin.
And still a week off of teaching - Easter break is four weeks - which works well in this instance as I still haven't finished marking...
But I did need new shoes - my good old black boots haven't quite given up the ghost but they can't be my daily wear anymore. The seam broke on the leather so I've taken them to be restitched - again. The woman at the counter recognized me and my poor old boots. But they are comfy and otherwise okay, so I'll give them one more life: resoled, re-stitched, and cleaned up. And I bought a pair of shoes; I usually (always) wear boots but it's summer (well, will be someday) and they have rainbow stitching so I was hooked.
AND we found a new flat for July - which is so exciting that neither of us really want to stay in this place anymore... we always do that though: when we moved from our old place to here it was the same. But this new place is far far nicer. It's a lovely 2 bedroom flat with no carpets and closets - no stupid, space-wasting wardrobes - closets. And it is on an upper floor, has windows on two sides, has no smell of mold or damp, no spots on the walls... it is perfect. And has the added comedy value of the cats skidding around on the floors when they play!
Just to finish off the week as well we finally bought some new duvet covers - the cheapest we could find (yea...Ikea...which means that our bedroom now looks like everyone else's) but they are bright and colourful. They feel spring-y. And our last sheets were ready for the rubbish bin.
And still a week off of teaching - Easter break is four weeks - which works well in this instance as I still haven't finished marking...
