Fuck..... I really don't want to be doing this. :( Just stayed up all night, and have nothing of any merit to show for it. Have half an hour or so to try to just write down *something* that is complete crap and juvenile and exactly what the prof doesn't want to see, just so that I have something to hand in. I can't not hand something in, no matter how embarassing the bullshit I've 'written' (I use the term very loosely here) is. Why am I doing this? This was even a paper I could have been semi-interested in, the articles talked about semiotics and everything. Its really bad to be this apathetic only 1 month in. I think my study skills are getting worse, not better. Fuck.

Good & Bad

There is a time and a place for sitting down and crying for no real reason that you can think of - however, just after you pull away to start a 2.5 hour drive by yourself at 9pm on a rainy Sunday night is really not it. Yet it happened (although mostly on the dark, back country roads - not much better, but not for very long at least), and I made it back safe and sound (despite the pouring rain and fog that made driving on the 401 feel like driving in a tunnel the whole way). I had a good weekend overall - got lots of city time in, and got to see several friends along the way. So why I felt so ______ (don't even know what) at the end of it, who knows. :( Still not loving London, but at least there is a social network developing, which helps.

This is not a fun week ..... an assignment due in every course, everyday this week (some big, some not). Aargh. I really don't care about cataloguing formats, or reference materials, have I mentioned that? (yes, whine whine.....I know). Surprisingly, I am actually kind of enjoying the Research Methods & Stats course (which I thought I would hate) - mainly because the prof is awesome, good at explaining things and making them interesting, and just a really cool lady overall. And as it turns out, its not that hard (yet, at least). Cataloguing, which is a very dry subject, is at least helped by also having a fun prof. The other 3....not so much. Oh well, can't win them all.

Good things about this week - Diana Gabaldon's latest book, 'A Breath of Snow and Ashes', is released TODAY - YAY! More Jamie & Claire, I can't wait! Must get through all of these essays and crap for this week first, though, so that will be my treat for the end of the week....
And ....another treat for the end of the week - I get to see Saf this weekend! (At least, I'm pretty sure...I hope so.) Two great things to look forward to, as a reward for getting through this week.

Aug 31st, 2005

Pictures taken on my last day of work in Toronto, after a lovely (and long!) lunch with some Annesley girls...Katrina & Kailey were missed, but Talibah, Hana, Saf & I had lots of fun...

I *love* this last picture. Its so much fun! :) Laughter among friends...what could be better? Awesome.

Dinner for One

Ah, cooking. Not one of my passions, I admit (although I am fond of eating, and of not having my blood sugar crash, so....). I'm big into the carbs, as the ladies of Spadina House can attest ("All you eat is...?!?!") - potatoes, pasta, bread. Mmmmm. Simple and quick. Although last year I got a bit spoiled and would sometimes share in whatever my roommates were making for dinner as well.

I have no problems with eating a baked potato for dinner. Or pasta with a bit of olive oil and whatever veggies I have chopped up in in (possibly w/ oregano and basil, and nuts if on hand). And if I can ever find a grocery store in this city that has chicken souvlaki and tatziki sauce, I'm well on my way.......

But in the meantime, I have a new dinner/snack time love - perogies! Well, not entirely new, granted - Kailey used to make them fairly often, boiled and then stirfried with onions. Mmmmmmmmm. New to me making them, at least (and while I did do the stirfry thing the first time around, I haven't bothered since then, and have just been eating them plain, out of the pot) - and what a handy gadget I have for that! The hot pot, a device I previously had never heard of, until my birthday this summer. My sisters had wanted to get me a George Foreman grill (or 'contact grill', to be politically correct) [Kleenex! Google! Hi Saf!] , and in looking for one, they found a package that included the grill, as well as a blender and a hot pot, all made for limited space/university living. Perfect! The hot pot is like an electric kettle, only you can use it to cook other things in too (like perogies! or soup), and it boils water really fast. Thumbs up.

I made use of the blender for the first time tonight, getting my calcium intake with a smoothie made with vanilla yogurt, milk, and frozen raspberries, blackberries & blueberries. Yum yum....the poor George Foreman has yet to be even slightly warmed yet, but its time with come.

(So how many people did I make hungry? Or are my eating habits/tastes that odd/diverse, that no ones appetite was tickled? :)

Didn't I tell you about...?

I keep having all these stories to tell, or ideas of things I could blog about, but I seem to have trouble with the act of sitting down and typing them out. So as a result, they just stay in my head as entries that I have every intention of writing... and sometimes I think that I have actually written them. Then I get surprised when I look at my blog and realized that I haven't posted for a month. Ooops. Ah, well, never claimed to be the brightest, did I? And with the number of people who are aware of / read this is fairly low, and I will likely write on demand if requested, or if its been noted that I have been negligent. :)

Full moons and flat tires

Its that time of month again....when the moon is full and glorious, and lights up the sky. One thing I'll say for London - less light pollution than Toronto, making it easier to see and appreciate the glory of the night sky. (Still miss Toronto, though.)

Had a fun evening out last night, with Katie & her friend Steph. We went to go see 'Just Like Heaven' (very cute, I enjoyed it!), and then (after trying to find Katie's roommate & friends at karaoke, and failing) going to Demetre's for yummy desserts. It also involved lots of backtracking and turning around in small parking lots, but what better way to learn a new city than to drive around making wrong turns at night? Unfortunately, on one of our wrong turns we must have driven over something the wrong way (the potholes in this place are horrible), and after dropping Steph off, a not very nice noise began to emanate from underneath us. It sounded to me like something had jarred loose and was dragging, so we pulled off into a Tim Horton's parking lot to take a look.

As luck would have it - a flat tire. My first one ever! Such fun. Got to use my trusty CAA membership for the first time, although by the time the CAA guy came, most of the work had already been done, thanks to the gentlemen in the Timmy's parking lot who came to our aid. Two guys, maybe 20 or so, wearing very snazzy shoes (white crocodile leather, very pointy toes), came over and insisted on helping, and pretty much did the whole thing themselves, with some older guys, probably in their 40s-50s looking on, and offering advice (and illumination, in the form of headlights). The CAA guy really just tightened the bolts. Many thanks to our Good Samaritans (although, if this is what passes for entertainment on a London Saturday night .... hanging out in parking lots and 'rescuing' random damsels in distress by providing car maintenance....*shudder*). And thank you to Katie too - I'm glad that she was there too, and has more knowledge of cars than I do - it was nice not to be alone.

So, today was much less exciting .... talked to my dad about what needs to be done with the car (get tire fixed, if possible, or get a new one), and about how my landlord blew the fuse in my stove (smart guy!). Fuse problem fixed, and I called Saf's parents tonight to get the name & number of their mechanic (thanks for the heads up on that, Saf! Although I had hoped not to need it so soon..... your mom & I had a lovely chat, in the meantime).

Oh! And although its out of chronological order with the rest of this entry, I found a new favorite site on Friday night - Overheard in New York. Hilarious stuff - now that is a city. I wanna go back!

Am admiring Spartacus's latest post (and other similar ones that I've seen)...perhaps I'll create one of my own one of these days (always an excellent procrastination tool, if nothing else!)

Its not what you thought when you first began it...

You got what you want
And you can hardly stand it, though
But now you know
Its not going to stop
'Til you wise up.
(Aimee Mann, Wise Up)

Very overwhelming first week of class ... what am I doing here again? I know, I know, its the first week, and that I really shouldn't/can't judge it from just that, but I'm really wondering about my choices, and if I'm making a big mistake. :S Much as I'd like to run away and hide from it all at the moment, I won't (yet...)....

I am enjoying having my own place, although not so much the fact that it is not in Toronto, is in fact 2.5 hours away from Toronto and all of the people and places I know there. I'm really going to miss not having a weekly outlet to bounce/flip around, who would have thought I'd be missing a gym? Or that I'd go to one steadily for a year, for that matter. ;)

Oh Toronto.... I can't wait to get back to you.

So if you care to find me, look to the Western sky...

I've been waiting to use that line for a long time. Its from 'Defying Gravity', my favorite song from the Wicked soundtrack. :)

And now it is coming true for me, in a sense - off I go. Deep breath ....

Lets see if I can fly.