A Real Neighbourhood

Kristen and I gave out Halloween candy this year! Every Halloween in Ottawa my roommates and I would buy candy and try/plan to give it away to kids. However, often none would show up or very few. Old Ottawa South was a pretty family orientated neighbourhood but it still didn't feel like the type of Halloween frolicking that I had in Paris growing up. I'm sad that I only get to see my friends costumes this year over Facebook and I do miss the awesome parties we used to have in Ottawa. This year was awesome though. Kristen and I sat on our little front porch for half an hour. We lit a couple of candles from IKEA and had a bag of candy. The street was filled with families going trick-or-treating!! Kids of all ages came by and it was a lot of fun. It felt like what I remember Halloween being.

Added Perks

I don't know if this is universal across all university graduate programs, but at Ryerson the length of time you can take a book out of the university library is different dependant on the level of program you are in. At Carleton, in my undergrad, I could borrow books for around a month. As a Masters student at Ryerson, we get the whole year! I took out some books to do research for an essay proposal I had due this week and they aren't due back for two whole terms, sometime in April. Sadly, the Ryerson library is really bad for Literature texts. I found that their selection was about a tenth of what I had available for me at Carleton (and that is sad.) However, we can get student access cards to the University of Toronto libraries, including the Literature and Graduate Level specific ones! I haven't been yet but am going to check it out.

A Picture Makes It So

Kristen & I
Our First Official Roommate Picture
Photo by Teri

The Fashion Pendulum

I remember in early high school everyone had flared pants. At times during high school these flares became huge bell bottoms. However, I also remember the dreaded term 'pencil pants'. These were the awful tapered leg jeans that were fairly loose fitting at the top and tighter around the ankles, seen on moms and computer geeks everywhere. Today, I bought a pair of skinny jeans. The 15 year old in my was shouting in protest. "They are all going to make fun of you! These aren't cool, where is the flare? Or at least a boot cut?" The 26 year old had to reply, "No, no, these are trendy now, and that isn't the issue. The issue is that they make my hips look too big, something you didn't really have to deal with 15 year old self!" They are very dark and I do like them. They are from Gap, which I gather means a certain level of quality, I don't ever shop at Gap so I don't really know. They also were on sale, which is always good. So, I'm wearing tight legged jeans, looks like style has swung back to the 'pencil pants.' Skinny and straight cut jeans have been around for a while now, I am always a good quarter swing behind on the fashion pendulum.

Congrats Mark & Taylor

I'm going to be a bridesmaid for the first time ever! (I have never been in a bridal party before.) Taylor is getting married this coming July and has asked me to be a part of her big day. Kristen is her Maid Of Honour so I think that Rrunuv Bayit will become wedding central off and on over the next few months. We went wedding dress shopping last weekend and are popping out for a short trip today as well. (To a store called Jealous Bridesmaids, which I think is the best name ever.) This has been so much fun so far and it is just going to get better. (Especially since we haven't even started to look at bridesmaid dresses, which are going to beautiful and probably be either silver or purple.) The wedding is going to be so beautiful and an awesome party. I am so happy for Mark and Taylor. It was very exciting because I knew about the proposal before it happened and even more exciting to be a part of it in this way. It is going to be amazing! Congrats and best wishes, for the planning, the wedding, and a happy married life together.

Everywhere It's The Same

This was true at Carleton and it is annoyingly true at Ryerson, especially since after 6 years with Carleton I got used to the ridiculous winding pathways of its website, I'm still continually lost with Ryerson's.

Univeristy Website

From www.xkcd.com

Wrong Finger

I have started to wear my High School Ring again after finding it during my two month long unpacking into Rrunuv Bayit. (Still not done yet.) I have been wearing it on the ring finger of my right hand, and it is a little too tight. I noticed this last time I put it on. All day I kept swapping it between this finger and my two pinkys, it is a little big for the pinkys. I assumed, like the other times I have tried it on recently, that as I got older my fingers got bigger and now it doesn't fit. Then I remembered in class today that I had it fitted, when I was 19, to go on the ring finger of my left hand. Yes, where a wedding band would go. I think my reasoning was that it is always easier to wear jewelry on your non-working hand, seeing that I rarely wear any. Also that I liked the idea of being 'married to my education' and had dreams of getting university rings for the same finger. (So lame, I know.) Well, people are getting married now, married to people, and I am of the age that a ring on that finger is strange. I guess it didn't matter when I was 19, as that reality was so far away but now I would just feel weird wearing a ring on that one. It feels off limits unless it was a huge fashion ring that no one could mistake as anything. I slipped the ring on the wedding finger to check, and sure enough it fits perfectly. Stupid 19 year old self!

Famous In A TWOTS Video

Technically the acronym is WOTS, but Kristen gets a kick out of it when people screw it up this way. Anyway, while I was at The Toronto Word On The Street Festival, Taylor and I participated in a literary scavenger hunt. This was awesome for so many reasons. Firstly, because in general I just love things like that. Secondly, because we got a prize for participating which was a hard cover book. Thirdly, I just learned I was featured in their video. (Admittedly I am in the video for a total of 2 to 3 seconds but I still feel famous!) Check it out below, Taylor and I show up around 0:52. (I have also included a screen shot of us because I feel like Always Standing is just so starved for photos at the moment. I hope to get a camera for Christmas and start having more up here soon.)

DD Literary Scavenger Hunt at The Word On The Street 2010, Toronto from Diaspora Dialogues on Vimeo.

Sick

I have a cold. First cold of the season.

Filmtext

filmtext

I received the following note from one of my professors:

It is requested that you read as much of this online digital experiment as possible in preparation for class this week. The site cannot be bookmarked or stopped, so book off several hours to go through it.

I have just spent some time on the 'site' and I can't say I fully understand what is going on but the more I read about it and look through it and think about it - the more intrigued I am. So profound, so smart, so true, so beautiful, so scary, so confusing, so strange, so interesting.

A First

I went to the laundromat, which didn't take as long as I thought it would. It also didn't cost as much as I was anticipating. However, it still would be nicer to have laundry in our apartment, or even just in our building. I might get a used washer and dryer at some point, since I think there is room in the back room to install it. The other two apartments each have a set. I left a note asking if we could make arrangements (and pay) to use theirs, but no one emailed. Off to the laundromat then! I don't think I have really ever used one before. I did in Paris, France but that was different. Also in residence the laundry was in the basement of a big apartment style building, so it felt a bit like one. I'm pretty sure this was my first true laundromat experience. It felt very urban, but poor and urban. I should have done more reading but I kept getting distracted by the spinning clothes. Next time I will try to be more productive.

Not Here

Where did I go?
This isn't me!
Where am I?
I am not here yet.
Where have I been left?
When will it be the same?
Will I come back?

Where am I?!?
But more importantly, where are all of you?

Bad Luck With Lights

This weekend I was (lightly) throwing a shirt across my room and it knocked one of the lights on my ceiling fan. Now the lights don't work, all three of them. The fan, oddly, is still fine. Also, both the lights in our living room burnt out within one day of each other. The later is easier to fix, and new light bulbs have been purchased at the hardware store. (Though they were big and expensive.) However, I am going to have to call the landlord to have an electrician come and look at the light in my room. The landlord isn't the most fun person to deal with and it isn't a case of sending an email, I'm going to have to call since he doesn't own a computer. I hope getting this fixed goes smoothly and quickly.

It's A Cycle

"You think I don't take diversity seriously? Only a fool doesn't. Diversity is the engine that drives this country. We are an immigrant nation. The first generation works their fingers to the bone making things, the next generation goes to collage and innovates new ideas, the third generation snowboards and takes improve classes..." -- Jack, on 30Rock

The Third Roommate

Binx has finally come to Toronto!! I have missed her so much. When I came home for Thanksgiving she had improved by leaps and bounds. She can stand with no problem and can walk around, though she looks a tad drunk when she does. She is supposed to be resting, so I can't let her walk much but it was good to see that she could do it. She is using the litterbox and is now living in a dog crate in my room here at Rrunuv Bayit. She is on 'cage rest' for three more weeks. I'm so glad she is here.

Special?

Today is 10-10-10. I don't know if that means anything. Is it special or significant in any way? I think a thousand years ago it would have been more impressive 10-10-1010. Still, it just looks interesting, it is all in the aesthetic, like wishing at 11:11.That doesn't mean anything. Wait, I do that, every time I see it, often announcing to those around so that they can do it too. I guess 10-10-10 is no different, let's all make a wish!

Thanksgiving Sunday

I sit here in my uncle's living room. I'm looking after my young cousin, Fiona, which really just means lounging here as she reads. If she is reading (Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary) I figure I should do some for school as well (Moments of Being by Virgina Woolf). I try not be be jealous of her novel, just concentrate on the transformative prose, remember that it is groundbreaking.

From the kitchen comes the heady scent of baked pumpkin and warm chocolate, a combination that is not in the least unpleasant. I'm surprised I can even smell it with my nose this stuffed up from allergies. (The culprit being a large German Shepard mutt sleeping in the corner, head titled adorably to one side). I sit here with a crumpled kleenex in one hand, the other is rubbing my cheek bones trying to chase way the pain that is quietly shooting across my face. I have to read with my mouth slightly open to breath, this makes me look slow.

I worry that the pumpkin pie is undercooked. Fi and I baked it earlier. It wasn't cooked in my oven, their's is unfamiliar. (Only slightly more unfamiliar than my own though, so this is a weak excuse). While my mom and Fiona's parents are out I had to bake two of the three Thanksgiving desserts. Fi and I started with brownies, from a box, my own addition to the festivities. My mom keeps saying that I am making the pumpkin pie from scratch, this is because she no longer bakes and the idea of actually making pastry is foreign to her. It is not store bought, but it is still factory made. Mixing pumpkin pie filling with an egg and milk before pouring into a frozen pie shell is not baking from scratch. But, even with this simplicity in baking, I may have screwed it up. I think it is undercooked.

If the pumpkin pie fails by falling apart or turning out to be raw and if the brownies all crumble when we try to take them out of the pan, dessert will still be saved. When my mom returns she is going to make apple crisp, truly from scratch. The recipe is not even written down and she has plans to add cranberries and apricots to it for something new. This could turn out badly, and from the sounds of it there is more likelihood of the crisp failing that the brownies or pie. But my mother has years of experience on her side.

I'm hungry. The adults won't be home for hours and it will be even longer before they have finished cooking. Fi and I licked the brownie batter from the bowl over 2 hours ago. Dinner can't come soon enough.

Blocked

I have been having the hardest time coming up with things to blog about! I don't know why, new city, new program, new apartment, new friends, I should be overflowing with things to talk about. I just feel dead creatively. BLAH!!

Itchy

Hanging Temple
Datong, China
Photo by Me

I am already craving another trip. My parents are going to Cuba in December and I'm a little jealous. I have never been to an all-inclusive resort and would love a vacation. But, I would also like to go travelling again. I don't even know where it is I want to go, there is so much to see.

Remeber This Later

It isn't always about the money.

It's Britney....Bitch

Britney Pierce, the blond Cheerio on Glee was a major focus on the most recent episode. The episode itself was good but Britney was awesome!! She is one of my favourite characters on Glee. SO funny!!
Here are some choice Britney quotes:
-- Did you know that dolphins are just gay sharks?
-- I don't brush my teeth, I rinse my mouth out with soda after I eat. I was pretty sure Dr. Pepper was some sort of dentist.
-- I'm pretty sure my cat's been reading my diary.
-- When I pulled my hamstring I went to a misogynist.
These are just her one-liners, she is the most hilarious when responding to peoples questions. If you are not watching Glee, start!

And A Few More Days

Binx has been showing some slight signs of improvement. She is standing more often, which is good. She has yet to really use the litterbox, but my parents are willing to keep her in their shower and care for her until Thanksgiving. Maybe with more standing she will start using the litter like she is supposed to, just grabbing a straws here. I'm really scared that she won't start using it, and I will have to put her down. We have booked the appointment with the vet to have her put down on Saturday October 9th. I really hope that over the next week, Binx gives me a reason to cancel it!! Please keep your fingers crossed, pray, send karma etc. because I'm still hoping for a miracle.