So Come Up to the Lab

In the computer lab again, writing up my chapter summary for political economy. It's freezing out today, and I decided to walk to the bookstore off-campus to acquire our new political economy textbook. (It came in last week. I KNOW.) Happily, it didn't actually cost me anything: I had enough credit with the store that I wound up getting a book and three whole dollars, which I then used to buy a delicious wrap at Mike's Place. Win! And this morning my public affairs TA, a former chef, earned the undying devotion of the entire tutorial group by bringing in walnut-and-fennel biscotti and dark chocolate truffles. So it's been a good Pancake Tuesday so far.

Last night I didn't do much. My research methods midterm was fine but the lab quiz was utterly miserable. I think the time limit seriously skeeved out some people (i.e. me). It made me want to cry a little bit, particularly the moment when I was frantically finishing (I started later than everyone else because of a computer issue) and the TA actually counted down the seconds I had left, "three... two... one." That earned him some type of nuisance award, I'm sure. Had I held onto the quiz paper, he likely would have wrenched it from my hands with snarls and hair-pulling. Anyway... the written midterm for that class, directly afterwards, was fine. I went home. Laura called me back after her fraternity meeting and we had a bit of a chat, which was very nice (she has more midterms than I do -- sympathies!), and then I stared at my political economy coursepack for a while and went to bed.

Rock the Plank

Hello all! I have returned to O-town and am currently prepping for tonight's midterm and lab quiz. I'm not terribly concerned, but we'll see how it goes. Reading Week was pretty well awesome, apart from the rough beginning: I got in 34 hours late. Sunday I went for tea with the charming Boopsie. Two Stephanies I went to school with ran into us in the tea shop (one of them works there). Monday night I watched a movie with Katie, Keith, and Katie's family, which was lovely. Katie's brothers terrify me by getting taller and taller. Katie and Keith, mercifully, have stopped getting taller, though Katie has acquired even more animal friends.

Tuesday morning I shipped out with Dad and Mum to Jasper, where we spent a half-day at the mountain and then checked in to the self-catering place that the Pratts found for us. The next two days we enjoyed some pretty good skiing/snowboarding -- the snow could have been better, but it was easy to avoid the rocks without hitting anyone else because Marmot was deserted. It was a little eerie at times, actually. Some of the runs had a sort of Twilight Zone feel, particularly on Friday, when I went by myself for the afternoon while Boopsie was fencing and Mum and Dad were watching her. It snowed like crazy at the opening ceremonies for the Winter Games. Hinton seemed to be in the middle of a snowglobe, because almost as soon as we left town the snow stopped. The Pratts were there on Thursday when we got in.

Saturday I watched Boopsie's team do rather well in the Games, winning a silver medal. Calgary's fencers took the gold, but they have several national team athletes who are scary good. Boopsie won her part of the team fencing (it is not that complicated, really, but I do not feel like explaining right now) so we are all well pleased with her. Congratulations, Five Alive! And there were a few bouts that were absolute nail-biters, so I'm very glad I went and watched! And Dad identified a fellow Corpus graduate (amusingly called a "Corpuscle" by those in the know) by his college scarf. We were all very impressed with his Cambridge-dar.

Anyhoo, Saturday Mum, Dad, and I drove back to the Bubble. It was with great sadness that I opted out of the festivities at the Games for the sake of making my flight the next morning. Apparently, partying was to go down. But it did mean I got to hang out with Tom, Kate, and Kate's cousin Phoebe Ann who knows Saille, which is beyond weird. We went for un cafe and then sat about at Tom's house giggling hysterically for a while. My flight yesterday went smoothly. It was all good.

So Much Better On Holiday

Hello, all. I write this from the other side of the country than the one I expected to write it from; my flight got delayed, so I'm missing out on a day and a half at home. We sat on the runway for four and a half hours before the airport people cancelled most outgoing flights (possibly five hours, I'm not sure because I was asleep for the first three hours and then didn't check my watch when I got off the plane). It was pretty dreadful. But, miraculously, I had an empty seat next to me and the girl in the other seat had mastered curling up in a single airplane seat and going to sleep. I was impressed.

Anyway, I'm going to type up notes for a few hours so I don't have work to do on the plane and can devote my time to reading... hmm. Possibly Guns, Germs, and Steel because I have it with me but haven't yet started it. I finished The Year of Magical Thinking last night, and it is a very curious book. Parts of it seemed to travel without my brain's permission directly to the nerves controlling my tear ducts, but there were also bits that were very logical and clinical. Strange, but also effective. And the emotional response to the book duplicates the "waves" of grief that she talks about, and that almost all who are grieving seem to experience. Clever woman. But I'm gone -- notes to type! And perhaps I'll consider getting dressed in something not fleece and some point today. Farewell, and I look forward to my imminent return to Canada's Wyoming!

Sliding On A Plank

Well, today's guilt is due to just having dropped money on a ski iron, wax, scratch filler, and scraper. But I'll never have to take Gilbert (my snowboard) to the shop to get him waxed again, so it's a saving in the long run. Plus, I didn't have time to take him to the shop before I went home, and I didn't want to be running about getting that done while I'm at home. So there we go: successful rationalization. Also, waxing snowboards is kind of fun.

I am practicing not being on MSN Messenger all the time. So far, it's improved my quality of life: sometimes, a little sustained work is a very, very good thing. That is all. Take care of yourselves, everybody. Tomorrow's getaway day!

Word of the Day: Screed

It could be a rant, or it could be a horrible screeching noise. Either way, it's pretty similar to my essay outline!

Life continues as usual. Three days till home! I'm very excited. The plans as they stand so far are...

Friday, arrive E-town circa 12:30, arvo with Boopsie, dinner with the Plenary Nuclear Fambly, and then out for a drink and a chat with Kate and Tom.

Saturday, Tawnie and I are gonna tool around Whyte in the afternoon. This should be interesting because it's going to be freezing out.

After that, I have nothing going on until Tuesday, when the family (plenary and nuclear) heads out to the Rockies for some hardcore sliding-down-hills fun. Between Saturday and then, I will probably just fall asleep like nobody's business! We're gonna need fuel to fall down that many times in a day. Also, I want to be alert for when I'm cheering Boopsie on in her fencing competition. I'm in the computer lab at school right now, just in case you were wondering, and I'm nearly done my essay outline, and I actually quite like it. It's the same colour as the shouting face of an infuriated leftist: pinko! Evelyn got a gigantic bag of candy for Valentine's from her friend Jess (not me -- not that I'm not friendly with Evelyn, because she's pretty cool) and it's sitting temptingly next to me on the desk. Most things are right with the world, except for the AIDS crisis which I am writing about. Actually, I should get back to that. I'll let you all know when I've solved the world's problems, so stay posted.

Yeah, Yeah, More Whining

So, last night: worst night's sleep ever. I'm still slightly ill, but not ill enough that I actually feel a day off school is warranted. However, this time Friday I will be back at home! And now I'm going to go finish my paper proposal. Au revoir!

Oh Noes

I seem to have chills. Uh oh. I was hoping that sleeping forever last night would nip last night's yucky-feeling in the bud, but apparently not. Teach me to actually do schoolwork.

However, I have received an exceptionally nice Valentine's Day package from Mutti and Vati. Some chocolate ought to boost the old immune system.

Of Somnolescence

Yesterday my public affairs prof remembered my name, hooray! She usually refers to me, Emily, Katherine, and Barbara interchangeably as "Katherine", though she does seem sorry whenever she does. She also confirmed to me that new public management is a little on the confusing, semi-coherent side. It's this philosophy of administration set up in opposition to the traditional bureaucratic model, so it's a little "anything you can do, I can do better" about things. "Well, we're going to give managers more discretion and power. But they're also going to be more accountable to the people they serve and possibly to the political branch as well. It's going to rock!" Such is life.

Last night was great: after a three-day schoolwork blitz, I went to bed at 9:30 p.m. and slept until 9 a.m. When I got in I was afraid I was coming down with something, too, so I took some cold medicine and some asthma meds. Interestingly, the doctor at the student health service told Katherine that she had "temporary asthma" when she had her bad cold a few weeks back. I did not know such things were possible. Anyway, my chest feels sort of full of junk this morning, but it will likely pass.

Today we are going grocery shopping; that darn Food-Condiment Horizon is creeping up again. However, we have enough perogies to live on them happily for a week or two.

And now, a rant: the New York Times' top story today is that the White House knew that the levees in New Orleans had failed on the Monday night Hurricane Katrina struck. A guy from FEMA, Marty Bahamonde, was in a helicopter over the city on Monday and saw the damage. He called Michael Brown and told him. Brown says he called the White House. The White House, however, claims not to have known about the damage until Tuesday, and "White House aides have urged administration officials not to discuss any conversations with the president or his top advisors and declined to release e-mail messages sent among Mr. Bush's senior advisors." Of course, if the White House knowing was dependent on Brown's ability to make a phone call, then it's a miracle they know now. All of this aside, of course, the response was still disgraceful from all levels of government. But why did the White House lie about that? I know the President is pretty much closed for business at 9 p.m., but you'd think on the night of a national emergency somebody would have cared enough to stay late and get the ball rolling.

Out of the Cabinet

Hello, all. Here we are with a delightfully chilly February day. I was (for once) not even a little bit late for my geography lecture, and after that I went for a run. The conditions on the canal were clear and it was absolutely beautiful out, so I went all the way down to Pretoria Bridge, in violation of my own wind-chill regulations. -17C isn't that cold, particularly not when it's only -9C without wind. Anyway, I enjoyed myself and kept a pretty good pace. I am also pleased to report that I did not fall over even once, which is better than I had been doing. My left ankle seems to have gotten really weak for some reason and is now prone to buckling and rolling on even the most slightly uneven bit of ground. It's not cool.

About an hour ago, the CBC posted their story about the Cabinet announcements. Nothing seems too shocking, except for the two appointments that are kind of shcoking. I'm pleased MacKay got Foreign Affairs instead of Stock, because Stock is, frankly, kind of an idiot and I don't want him representing me to the world, thank you very much. However, "Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Monte Solberg" is a phrase to strike fear into the heart. As long as he shows new Canadians the same consideration and courtesy he has the First Nations and Metis, I'm sure it'll be fine. But! David Emerson defected in order to become a minister, so if we do a little math this means that Jack-o-Layton could have the balance of power in this Parliament, to serve as a moderating influence on whatever craziness is apt to go down. Also, the Harper crew has got an unelected guy in Cabinet, and it doesn't look like he's going to have to run in a by-election, they'll just wait for the next federal election. How do you like them democratic reform apples?

Away I go to write my PAPM paper on market-based instruments of greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Woohoo.

Rusty is Katherine's favourite. Note also the visit to the merch table: luxury! I'm out now because I'm really tired. Saille, Hannele, Alison, Heeya, and I danced at the back of the crowd like fools during Controller.Controller's excellent set, and now I'm ready to pack it in. Since we were at the back, none of my photos of C.C are all that cool. Nor, I realize, do I have any immediately evident good ones of Dan (drummer). However, I enjoyed myself muchly anyway, and the decompression and discussion period with S&H in the O was much appreciated. Goodnight and farewell!

Tambourine Man.

Heeya, Damian (vocals/guitar) and Alison, after the show. Damian only has the two poses -- hauteur with arm raised, hauteur with arm lowered. I have further photos to prove it, but that will have to be a story for another time.

Tim (bass) with Heeya, who looks slightly terrified but who, I believe, enjoyed herself.

Heh. I kind of love this picture, just because of the "whatchoo gon' do about it?" faces. By the way, he did not look at all stoned in person; don't know what's going on there.

Bassist extraordinaire! So much funk resides in the bald, bespectacled pate of this deceptively high-voiced man.

Saille and Hannele! They made those shirts, people. Mad stencilling skills at work there.

Magical red lights!

The excitement begins! This was right before the razzer bad opening band came on. I don't even know what the rationale was for including them. Perhaps the singer's spiffy hat?

God, I love going out to concerts. And I also love taking photos of myself. So here I am, in line for a concert, taking a photo of myself. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Katherine and Emily lookin' good, Nate lookin' forbidding.

Friday, Friday

This has been a pretty quiet week. Yesterday was nice: a public affairs lecture that turned out to be much more interesting than I'd thought it would be, a few hours of schoolwork and wanderings on campus, the safe recovery of my student card (I'd left it in Athletics on Monday -- oops), a lovely crisp day for cross-country practice, and an easy-peasy geography assignment. A Glaswegian came to practice and I could not even tell what his name was because of the crazy thick accent. It turns out to be Barry, but I wasn't sure if it was some crazy Scots variant on Barry, so I pronounced it exactly the way he said it. This would have it spelled "Baidhe" or similar. And now I feel extremely silly.

After that slight embarrassment, I made moderately successful fried rice with eggy strips, tofu, and various vegetables, watched some West Wing, and read the case we have to write on for law. This case study has to be done by Wednesday, and it seems to me extraordinarily cruel not to give the assignment out until a week before it's due. Then again, we do only have to write five pages, so it's not like Professor-Wan Kenobi's asking for a lot of length. It's more the fact that we have to compress it so much that's worrying me.

This weekend I have two papers to write. Wish me luck!

Sledding fun!

Team Yellow is fearsome! Capture the flag mayhem begins. From left, Jacob, Someone, Laura? Chris? Anton, Someone French, and Someone. God, I'm good with names. Chris was all snow-prepared, note the goggles. Well done, sir.

Ricky hiding behind the world's ugliest snow warrior.

Jacob and Veronica on the bus, psyched for the trip. This is, of course, the bus ride that did not take 3.5 hours for a 2.25 hour trip.