Karma Kall

Just a note to say two things:

1. It was Steph's birthday on Friday. Happy birthday, old lady!

2. Katherine is coughing up a lung in the other room right now because she got sick this weekend.

May the universe deal with this information as it deems appropriate, namely with festive feelings for the former and white blood cells for the latter.

De Retour du Quebec

Today has been good so far. I woke up far too late (Corb Lund apparently needs to be loud to be an effective alarm) and hustled to class, then went to the gym with Mary from the cross-country group. We had a pretty good little workout, several sets of "half-lap hard, half-lap easy, half-lap hard, whole lap easy" on the bizarre and pitiful 230m square track in the fieldhouse. Then we did a few minutes of abs, and I think it's going to be painful tomorrow. Yesss. A little soreness is such a wonderful feeling. It reminds you that your body is there and that it's mad at you for making it do stuff. And then I read for environmental studies, an interesting chapter about the semiotics of place. Very cool.

Lovely weekend at the MOC house. Friday I took the bus to Montreal with Jacob and Veronica (a new Outdoors Club member) and had dinner with Jacob's hyper friend Mariette, then went to a party at her neighbours'. At the party we ran into Faye, Jacob's ex, the McGill club's VP External, and a woman of consummate fantabulousness. She won us over with promises of an alarm clock, so we slept over at her house. In the morning we rose far too early for my liking and took the bus up to the MOC house with the rest of the McGill club (about 50 people in all). Once there, we hung out and did some getting-to-know-you, name-learning types of games and a scavenger hunt. Faye and Jacob wisely took naps; Veronica and I pressed on. In the afternoon I went cross-country skiing for the first time since an aborted attempt in my early years. The trails around the town were very pretty and the day was warm, turning the snow into near-slush. I embarrassed myself by being worse at skiing than the Irish members of the group. Not a proud day for Canada. However, I'd never skiied, had had about four hours of sleep the previous night and my heels were getting blisters, so I'll excuse myself this time around. It was still quite fun and I'd try it again. In the evening we played violent games and some people did body bouldering, an impressive acrobatic pursuit involving climbing down a standing person's torso, between their legs, and up their back again without touching the ground. Quite a few of the climbers succeeded, actually, which amazed me no end. Veronica spent a lot of time talking with a Polish guy who turns out to be from the same smallish city as her grandmother. It was a pretty international group, actually, with students from France, Poland, Russia, Mexico, and Columbia as well as Canada. The proceedings were fairly restrained (nobody was trashed) and by the conversation it was clearly a party of outdoorspeople.

Sunday was brilliant: three brutal and vicious rounds of tackle capture the flag in the early afternoon. People launched themselves through the air to take down the opposing team and ran like crazy to get resurrected by getting a fresh yellow or orange armband. I got my head driven into a tree branch during a wrestling match. I stealth-attacked and was stealth-attacked. I clutched someone's foot as he dragged me for a good four paces. I fell in the snow. It was genius. Also, my team won all three rounds. Go, Team Yellow!

And then we cleaned up and took the bus back to Montreal, stopping before our Ottawa bus for incredibly dense, delicious hot chocolate. The bus took three and a half hours instead of two and a quarter because we got stuck in behind a few snowplough patrols in der Mittelkeinwo. This gave me a chance to catch up on law readings. Eventually we got home, tired and foul-smelling but happy. I walked in just in time to call the fambly and watch Grey's Anatomy. And that, I think, is a good place to stop. Au revoir!

Away I Go

Off to the McGill Outdoors Club for two days with a CUOC delegation. We're staying in Montreal for the first night after a delightful bus ride. If I have anything to say about it, I'm going to sleep most of the weekend and read for law. This is probably not going to happen, but I am bringing my textbook anyway. It should be a wicked fun time.

And now, to go visit my friendly neighbourhood Telus retailer to get my dead phone replaced/repaired. This is necessary because it currently only actually produces sound when it's on speakerphone. Maybe I'll call them first just to see what can be done. There's probably some incredibly simple step I'm missing.

Happy Burfaday

It is my Dadski's birthday! To celebrate, I got some good news: there is a concert next Friday at Ollie's to which I am so totally going. Yay fangirlosity!

I also froze at cross-country practice, the better to celebrate the day. Many happy returns, Daddy!

Everybody Loves a Winner

Yo-ho, merry sailors of the high information seas. In my first federal election voting experience, I backed a winner. Well, the winner in my riding, anyway. Federally, not so much. But it does seem like Canadians got what they wanted: a weakish non-Liberal government, which can be easily dragged out of office again at any time the populace gets too irritated. What a positive move, Canada! But really, it was pretty much what I wanted. The only thing I would have changed, had I the despotic power to create a democratically elected government, would be to have just a few more NDP MPs or Conservative MPs in office, so that the NDP would hold the balance of power.

Yesterday was sort of meh; today was good; tomorrow will probably be even better. The Vivaldi we are singing is fun to sing and should shape up a treat. This weekend ought to be a blast because I'm going out to the McGill Outdoors Club cabin again. This works out nicely, because Katherine's parents arrive Friday and I won't be in everyone's hair if she wants to do fun stuff with them instead of staying in Saturday night and moping about with me. They're here until Monday, though, so I'll see them Sunday at least. Seeing them is a Good Thing, because they are a blast. Anyway, I'm out. Time for a little more obsessing over my resume (co-op interview tomorrow, natch) and then bed!

Vote and Die Anyway

An historic day: I have just gained the right to complain about our government. Yes, that's right, I just participated in the democratic process. And the polling station was in the lobby of my building, so I could have voted in my pyjamas had I wanted to. Awright. My poli sci class is cancelled tonight so that we can all watch the results come in. I'm pretty psyched. Katherine and Emily have gone out to scrutineer at the polling station; I was going to but then didn't get my stuff together and call the Dewar office on the weekend. Oops.

Saturday I hung out with Jeanne, for she was in town. Two of her fellow Wildfire dancers came along (Nathan and Alyssa) and we tooled around downtown for a couple of hours: a groovy bead store, a peep at the vacant Parliament, dinner at Zak's Diner, and then to Chapter's to browse. A crazy French guy guided us through the selection of calendars with great concern and care, then drifted away (we agreed that the ones with the kittens on them were particularly nice). The Suicide Burger at Zak's isn't as scary as it sounds; I recommend it highly. I arrived home and went out again for dessert and coffee with my Mini-Res (Katherine, Emily, Nate). Sunday I behaved myself, staying home to do laundry, read, and make a curry for dinner.

Nobody came to cross-country practice today. Am not impressed. I ran by myself but my calf's been giving me guff the past few days, so I didn't go at all far. And now I must away to read for political economy.

I'm Just A Voice In Your Earpiece

Nearly a week without a new post! I have been full negligent. Nothing terribly exciting happened this week, though, with the exception of a spider and a healthily-sized centipede appearing as guest speakers in my public affairs lecture. There has also been bizarre weather, -25C at the beginning of the week turned into 3C or so by a day later, and there has been freezing rain, outright melt, and then today huge volumes of snow. Yesterday night was the most exciting part of my week: I explored new parts of the public transit system to go see Jeanne's Wildfire show. It was absolutely wonderful, very "we are the world" but in a good and non-cheesy way. Things that aim to inspire world change have a way of turning to bathos, but the performers were all so good that they handily avoided this problem. The hall was packed and the audience was absolutely up for it, and such a multi-religious, multi-ethnic crowd that all the talk of "Unity in Diversity" actually did make sense, because everyone was enjoying the same show and clapping along together.

When I said before that there had been no excitement this week, I lied. I spent three and a half hours manning the NDP table (or, as they put it in non-gendered language, "tabling" for them). A few choice nutters came to talk to us, but so did some very thoughtful people. I ordered Bingley from my poli sci class to come see me, so he did (Bingley because blond and genial, though certainly not all inbred like Mr. Bingley in the new Pride & Prejudice adaptation). My fellow tabler and I engaged in a friendly debate with the Liberal tablers across the room, who confirmed the existence of Liberal arrogance even in the young ones. Honestly, while I can almost believe the whole "natural governing party" shtick, actually presenting yourselves as the only way to save the country from eternal Conservative hegemony is a tad hubristic. And by "a tad", I mean "hugely". There is, after all, a third option... [cut to NDP talking points]. In this particular election, I think the Liberals need to be taken to the woodshed, enough so that I'd be OK with a Conservative minority and a strong NDP caucus. That said, I do want the Liberals to come back into power fairly soon. If they could do an internal shakeup and return humbled, and also if they could govern from the centre-left like they are supposed to, then I'd be very pleased to see them back.

The dinner party, as taken by Guilt Trip Waiter's Roommate. Mike, Kelly, me, Katherine, Notl, Yuna, Rosina, Saille, Diana, Joni, Emily, Rachael, Kayt, and Steve. Good fun was had! You will note that the guys self-segregated to one end of the table, the better to talk about planes, guns, and NASCAR. All right, I lie. Mostly they talked about makeup tips and how fat Angelina Jolie makes them feel.

Notl does some ice dancing. Break it down!

The only good photo of Emily we managed to take!

I just like Notl's parka here. The fur is blowing back and it all looks very Antarctic.

The sledding party with motley sliding devices. Kelly, Emily, Katherine, me, Joni, Notl.

Are You Guys Having A Killer Time?

This has been a good weekend so far. I've decided to compress any debauchery this semester into my birthday week, so Thursday night I popped out to the campus pub with Emily and Nate. People failed to dance, which was a little bit lame. We had fun anyway, though. Friday night I went to a movie with Jacob and Faye (Tristan and Isolde. Sadly, I cannot recommend it, because of a complete lack of chemistry between the titular characters. What's the point?). Faye was in town for dental work, sadly for her.

Saturday was a full day of fun. In the morning, I donned the Pantz Ferdinand to add to the sense of occasion, then ventured out to consign some old textbooks, buy my first Ontario booze, and spend my Chapters gift card on some Thoreau and a Tolkien wall calendar. I also went to the gym. There were no free treadmills, so I was forced into the fieldhouse to run in a square. It was so boring that I gave up after twenty-five minutes and went back home, where excitement awaited!

I had no idea what we were going to do. After I'd bundled myself up as per the instructions of Katherine and Emily, they presented me with a wicked awesome Snow Speeder. It is like those old-school disc sleds, but with padding on it. Yay! Warmly attired, we proceeded through vicious wind to the sledding hill, where three beautiful girls awaited. Yes, Kelly, Notl, and Joni had all braved the horrible weather to come sledding. Wulfric and Jordan showed up a few minutes later, bearing two black crazy carpets. The hill was incredibly icy, so it was really more like luging. The chute down to the large jump had turned into a bobsled run. At the bottom of the hill there was a ring of nearly-frozen slush, so once you'd reached the bottom of the hill you had the choice of either bailing or shooting across the slush in hopes you wouldn't break the surface. Bailing was almost always the better option, because getting across the slush dry was possible, but walking back across it dry was not. Kelly and I won a crazy carpet race against Jordan and Wulfric, but then our crazy carpet blew away and it took us a good ten minutes to find it. Wulfric and Jordan stayed at the hill after we left, and the ladies went back to the apartment for cupcakes and tea. We hung out for a bit, looked at the pictures of ourselves sliding down perilous slopes, and then headed out to the Greek place. Hot Waiter was on duty, but we got Guilt Trip Waiter's roommate instead. More people arrived, and I didn't get to talk much to all of the folks (long tables do that) but it was still a good time. Later on, Katherine and I went out to the party Jordan and Wulfric's had considerately thrown for the occasion. We picked Mal up on the way and stayed for quite a while. And this party was good: appropriate gender balance and not horribly noisy. Mum asked me if I was going to get boozy, and I did, but I was still motile and I'm not hung over, so all is well. I even made coffee this morning without wincing at the noise of the coffee grinder.

And now I shall return to my regularly scheduled programming: eating a chocolate cupcake, which tastes completely wicked despite being leftover from yesterday, and reading for environmental studies. Classes are going well (oh, yes, technically I'm here for school! Now I remember) and my law prof's first name is Obi. It is tempting to preface questions with, "this padawan seeks your knowledge about...". Of course, I would probably fail, but it would be a glorious defeat.

Awww, me puppy and the Christmas tree. How I love that little pooch.

Les folks stand about in festive mode. Note the little bag of key limes on the counter: so tiny, so cute! (From left: Diane, Becca, Tas, Lori, Laura's hair, Jeanne, Katie, Keith, slice o'Devin, Marissa (?), Rob, slice o'Dustin.)

Dad took this one with a night shot effect, on his camera. Groovy, non?

Stink-eye! It is a miracle that Lori (or Becca or someone else standing by the fridge and on the receiving end of this look) did not flee screaming.

Wow, everyone looks so happy and relaxed. (From left: Mom, Bev, Diane, Becca, Tas, Lori's hair, Katie, and half of Devin.)

Emily and Nate, on the night before our last exam. We opened presents early, bad people that we are! Nate looks a little odd here, don't know why. All tonight's posted pictures from here on in are from my trip home.

Laura in her rather spiffing basement apartment. It's all decorated very nicely, and her patio lights (indoors) are the same as mine, so we have a Decor Link. We also did some shopping before my birthday party, and it was fabulous fun.

The lovely Boopsie with the necklace she made from the pendant Auntie Alison gave her for Christmas.

All of my friends are incapable of nice faces. Here, Keith and Katie contort.

At Vanessa's on New Year's Eve: Jessica, Vanessa, Someone, Heather, Colleen, Dani, Sheldon, and Katie. This was an excellent evening.

Craig and Tawnie, reflecting on the mystery of the world. Attractive, non?

Revolution No. 19

It is my birthday! Go me. Anytime I hear "Happy Birthday" now, it reminds me of Ruth's old dog Happy. Happy got so very excited to hear her name that they had to change the lyrics of the song whenever she was around, so that it went:

Birthday to you

Birthday to you

Birthday

Birthday

Birthday to you.

There are secret plans going on for today -- Emily and Katherine have not yet told me what's going on, either for today or for this weekend. Tenterhooks!

And, oh yes, this is my first day back at school. I had an environmental studies lecture this morning and it looks like it's going to be a fun class. Now I have a six-hour break (!) before poli sci in the evening. I shall make this my running-and-library time, though no running time this particular Monday because I'm feeling a bit congested and constricted. My run Saturday felt like I was working with about two-thirds my normal lung capacity, it was very odd.

Unrelated good news: my final marks are posted for most classes, too: A- in both poli sci classes and A in law. Hooray!

Home home stretch

In twelve hours, I will be nearly two hours away from Al Birda. This makes me to be both sad and happy. My two weeks at home were most lovely, and I saw nearly all of the people (sometimes as much as twice!) and had lots of good chatting. I missed seeing Herbert and Ralph, but aside from that all was very wonderful. Even being at home with Parents Looking Over One's Shoulder isn't as bad as it is traditionally made out to be. I mean hey, they let me have a party. And it was a good one, and of a size I would hesitate to host in my apartment. My camera was having a fit because it needed its memory card formatted, so I have very few pictures of the event and indeed of my trip, but I'm sure other people will chip in with theirs (right?). Dad got a prize one of me giving Lori the stink-eye before I blew out the candles, I know. I bought far too much cheese for the party, but the pizzas we made with it went over very well indeed.

I will update more comprehensively later; right now I need to pack my carry-on. My stuff hasn't expanded too badly over Christmas. Katie gave me a cookie jar, which is delightful and, most excellently, shaped like a Christmas tree. It's big, though, so I'll just bring it with me in the fall so that I have it ready for next Christmas' cookies.

What you hear from me here is about the clearest I've been able to say anything all day. I've been more or less mute from my Christmas Cold, which was a Christmas Fever for a while (the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful). Hopefully this involuntary vow of silence/squawking will have subsided by tomorrow so as to allow me to shriek with glee when I see my Ontario friends again.