cookin’

I love fruits and vegetables more than almost anything. Seriously.

Last week my friend Bruce holidayed in my hometown and, since my parents still live there, I asked if he could collect a package of stuff from my mom. Thankfully he's a peach and coordinated with her. I got the smallish box/bag yesterday; my mother is the master of packing boxes. So much stuff, including:
- 5 ears of corn
- 15 tomatoes
- 2 green peppers
- 3 cukes
- a bag of green and wax beans
- 10 enormous nectarines
- a bag of prune plums
- an enormous zucchini (probably around 7 cups worth, shredded!)
- 3 ziplocs of walnuts

Most of it is from my parents' garden, including the walnuts. Tonight I made the green tomatoes she packed using a fried green tomatoes recipe from Simply Recipes and they were tasty! I still have a couple of the firmer slices left, so will try them cold in the morning. As soon as I get a baguette and a little parmesan, I will work on the tomato bread pudding from Culinary in the Country.

This might be a good time to figure out what I can make and freeze. I froze a few cups of grated zucchini last week for fritters and/or muffins, but now... so much zucchini to work with. I always have a few bags of walnuts in the freezer, just in case, so have a pretty good stash now and probably should try to figure out how to use large amounts of them at once. (My parents have a ridiculous amount of walnuts, so I'm really doing them a favour by taking them.) The corn and nectarines can easily be frozen (I've done up a few nectarines already and will do more if they get much more ripe). If I make the plums into my mom's plum cake, that can be frozen. Most, if not all, of the tomatoes will be used up by the end of the week. Just need to shove myself full of the rest of it.

Today I also picked up some apricot beer from the booze shop. It's pretty tasty, though not as sweet as some other fruity beers. I almost got a bottle of blackberry porter as well, but then decided against it this time around.

Oh, some fantastic news: dear friends Rachel and Nathan have a baby girl! Lily Ann popped out yesterday morning (a week-and-a-half early) around 9:30am, and is already home. Pretty excited to meet her soon. Being a fake auntie sort of kicks ass.

Currently reading :
Can I Freeze It?: How to Use the Most Versatile Appliance in Your Kitchen
By Susie Theodorou
Release date: 30 January, 2007

segoku natsukashii

I shouldn't watch "Lost in Translation" anymore because it always makes me wistful and sad. I miss Japan in a lot of ways and usually it's fine and I can talk myself out of feeling natsukashi about it because I was miserable for a lot of the time I was there. But lately...

It might be because I remember how I felt when I was there, and I always blamed those feelings on being so isolated for so long. But lately I've realised that those feelings weren't just because I was in Japan; I can feel miserable anywhere.

I'm really thinking about leaving town. For good. Vancouver has been unkind in a lot of ways, and if I don't want to be the spinster friend that everyone invites over to balance out the dinner table, I have to get the hell away from here. But I'm such a chickenshit. I'm hoping I'm due for something to work out the way I want it to.

Maybe the weather is getting me down. How quickly I forget how much better I feel when the sun is out. It's probably my brain turning to mush on the line while the City tries to fuck women over in a new way.

Last evening I watched "Pan's Labyrinth" with my sister and Glenn. It has left me a bit out of sorts. Or maybe it's because Glenn encountered a skunk outside my door and I'm worried about being driven out by Pepe Le Puu.

Next weekend I'm heading out of town for a couple of days, so I'm hoping it makes me feel a bit more normal. How great would it be if two days away can fix everything? If not, I get a solid visit from Darcy to amuse me the first week of September. It's nice to have visitors to break up the monotony of the everyday.

Soon, soon I hope to feel like me. Wait for it.

Currently watching :
Lost in Translation
Release date: 03 February, 2004

on air

Just saw a Target commercial that had an old Apples in Stereo song. Minutes before that there was an Architecture in Helsinki song on some sort of computer commercial. The AIH song was also on a Canada Post commercial around Christmas last (you may remember that posting), so that doesn't feel as weird as the AIS one. It's been a number of years since I was excited about Elephant6 bands, so I'm sorta surprised I remember that Apples in Stereo song, but it is a good one.

That bands I own records from are now featured in commercials for places... does that make the business cool or me lame for liking such bands? I don't feel lame and those businesses don't seem that much cooler. I do like hearing the songs on TV, though.

One thing I used to love about commercials in Japan was that they listed the band and the song. A lot of the songs in commercials wound up in the singles section of Bunshindo, the closest record store-type place to my J-house. I was a sucker for music from commercials and got some stuff that still sounds fantastic to me: Sentimental Bus, Charcoal Filter, Gigliola Cinquetti, Roboshop Mania. I still lament that commercials in North America don't have the band and song listed; record companies are stupid for not pushing for that as the norm.

Despite the love of music from commercials, I am still unexplicably against the purchase of most soundtracks. I can't explain this.

Currently listening :
Tone Soul Evolution
By The Apples In Stereo
Release date: 10 February, 1998

bits and pieces

Things of note in recent days:

1) Yesterday I was put on the emergency baby list. If Rachel goes into labour before her parents come in two weeks, and if no one else is available, I am tending to my little buddy Augie while his baby sister screams her way into the world. I'm not sure how high I am on said list, but I'm on there and that's what counts. It's a good thing Augie likes me enough to fart on me and steal my corn. I can just pack him full of cookies and cupcakes, and we'll be best friends. Until the sugar crash, at which point he may loathe me.

2) Of all the times I've gone to Blim, I've only ever sat on a chair once. I always get the pink velvet couch, and Friday night's screening of "Hausu" afforded the same. It was hilarious to watch with a crowd and I'm not sure I totally understand why everyone had to die, but it was fun. Ken T. and Glinn wanted drinks, so we went to SoMa for a smidge and talked about boy things. It felt like working at the Gateway.

3) I think I might have been hit on by a J-boy at a party I was at last night, but can't be sure. Someone interrupted him to talk about landscaping right around the time he told me he likes white girls and asked if I dated J-boys when I lived in Gunma. A lot of people talked about landscaping last night; I never realised it was such a popular party topic. On the upside, a number of people avoided eye contact with me. Oh, wait, that's a bad thing. I really tried to be sociable with strangers, but a number of them would not be socialised. And I'm pretty sure the boy who invited me doesn't like me, which is unfortunate because I would rather he did. Sigh.

4) My phone rang at 7am this morning for a key drop-off. I think I'm supposed to check on my friends' apartment while they're away, but I might just set up a porn website and host the site from there. I do have to pay tuition in a couple of weeks.......

5) Today I had gelato for possibly the last time this summer. Thankfully it was sunny while Eileen, Lynn and I sat out; still, it wasn't a skirt day. I can't believe the summer is nearly over. Tangiene and I also met up for a wander and a bite at a Chinese restaurant that I'd heard was good. I realised partway through that the place was filled with whiteys, and vowed never to return. It was still fun to hang out with TP.

6) Might be going to another baseball game on Tuesday night (Dog Day at the Park), which will almost definitely be the last one of the year. The Canadians won't be in the playoffs (they're second last in the league) and have just a week-and-a-half of games left. Good times.

7) Today I salted my cast iron pan for the first time ever, and it was much more satisfying than trying to clean it without dunking it in soapy water. This is what my life has become: I'm excited that salting a pan works.

If you want to see me before I go mental with work and school, you've got two weeks to organise with me. After that, I can't guarantee anything, unless you're also going to Spoon and/or Justice.

Currently listening :
Magic and Medicine
By The Coral
Release date: 10 February, 2004

now that summer’s over

I've taken to double-sleeping these mornings. When I have nothing set in bronze that has to be done, I try to go back to sleep after the initial 5/6am against-my-will wake-up. Some mornings there's nothing that will put me back to sleep. Other days, like this morning, I manage to get a little extra sleep that I must need but never get.

This morning during my first awake time, I looked at food blogs to add to my growing list. When the morning is quiet, it's a perfect time to find nourishment, and I secretly hoped I would find a recipe that would turn yogurt into bacon. (I did not.) One of the blogs had some interesting recipes, but also references to weddings. I am not a fan of weddings; there's something heartbreaking about seeing people so in love that they pledge their lives to one another, knowing it's going to end someday one way or another. Still, the blogger is a pro writer and was engaging. I scrolled to the writing about her wedding and I cried for the duration.

By all accounts, it was a sweet story. At 40, she married the only man she will ever need to marry. The wedding part of it was nice and sounded like a touching, amusing affair (they had whoopie cushions for the guests to sit on after they were pronounced husband and wife). The parts that made me weep were her description of her life before her husband, and it rang a little too close to mine for comfort. Having decided I am not the marrying type, it made my heart hurt that I might be wrong.

I'm not sure I was actually asleep this morning when the alarm went off. I wanted to make sure I was up in time to organise myself for a noon walk, so set the alarm late in anticipation of maybe sleeping more than 6 hours. The radio played a song midway through about how much summer romances suck. It was sweet and sad, and it's the first time in a long time I've actually searched out something on Radio 2.

So today I'm going to try to be hopeful.

where the chips fall

I'm beat this morning.

Last night was poker night at mine and I was up until a few minutes before we stopped. I got fucked on KK; my coach had pocket 6s and flopped a set. Bigger pre-flop re-raise, bigger pre-flop re-raise; must stop min raising. Still, I was only down $1 by the end of the night; my coach, on the other hand, despite that fucking set, wound up $9 down. But it still pisses me off that I would have won that hand if I hadn't been freaked out to push harder pre-flop. I also folded a draw when I had a big stack that would have hit had I called the piddly raise, but it was the correct fold. Guh.

On Monday night I went to the Canadians' game at Nat Bailey with Julia and Chris. Vancouver isn't doing so well this season (they're last in their division), so wasn't sure what to expect. The Eugene Emeralds were the worst team that night, dropping balls and striking out like crazy. One guy got all the runs, hitting two homeruns (the second with a walker on base). Still, it was an exciting game, with lots of hits and some sliding action. The 5th inning was pretty eventful, with the Canadians hitting in 4 runs. I love watching baseball games on a sunny summer's night: just sitting back and taking it all in, and yelling a little if you feel like it because the ump is expecting it. And it's always a special treat to see Julia because she's so rad. (Have a good trip back!)

Monday afternoon I hung out with Rachel and Augusten, and that was fantastically fun. Gusto is much more interesting now that he can communicate and does not lie around like a little lump of poo (as most infants tend to do naturally... probably the lack of muscle tone). After a buffet of fruit, we went to the park and had some good times on the swings and the slides. Rachel is full-up of baby and I can't believe it's just 3 weeks (give or take) until she's due with Baby 2! I'm excited to see them again soon; every minute pre-"Baby Girl" is precious since they'll be engaged in much more important matters than listening to my boy problems.

This is the last week of my class, so I'm scrambling to get stuff done a couple days early so I can have a few days off. I also realised I'm supposed to have a progress report written for tomorrow for the CBC thing. And I'm thinking about applying for a job at the university (for the school year) that may or may not be relevant to anything I might be employable for post-grad school, but that sounds interesting. It feels like the summer is slipping away and I haven't been able to take full advantage of it yet. Must cram all good times into these next couple of weeks before the madness starts again.

Currently listening :
Want One
By Rufus Wainwright
Release date: 23 September, 2003

unseasonally dull

I've been finding it hard to write lately. Stuff is going on; I've got plenty I could tell you. I just don't feel like it. This is an unfortunate development in blogdom. But I will try to amuse you. Dance, monkey!

A summary:

- Friday: went to Glinn's to watch movies and drink all his booze, which was too much for my pathetic liver to break down, leaving me a sickened mess in the morning. I drank water! I took a pain killer! After my barfing episode (just to feel better...), I ate a fatty breakfast! Hangovers are unfair to everyone, but especially me.

- Saturday: was my only day off last week. I nursed the hangover, slept for half the day (shocking, I realise), then went out to UBC (crappin' hell, why the frick am I going to that school? It's so far away) to drop off some books, and to the grocery store for supplies. I decided that I wanted to bake, so baked like a mofo: cornbread muffins, chocolate chip & walnut cookies, and lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese icing. Jill came over for decaf tea and we tried everything. It was all good, but I was pleased with the lemon icing. I cut back on the sugar and added more lemon juice, and it was the perfect amount of tartness. The cupcakes themselves, while extremely lemony, were a little drier than I would like, and a little heavy, but it could be because I refrigerated them (because of the icing).

(As an aside, I saw a recipe for marmalade and, I have to say, I'm pretty tempted to make some. Did you know the seeds have pectin?! I can make marmalade without buying that creepy stuff that regular jams need; it's all in the oranges! Well, except for the water and the sugar that is also required. Now I just have to figure out which blog had it...)

- Sunday (today): went to Floata with my sister for dim sum. It wound up being so ridiculously cheap (less than $14 between the two of us) and I was full though not uncomfortably so (thank goodness the trolley pushers ignored us, resulting in less food going into our bellies). We walked to the library so I could picket for the afternoon, which was, let's face it, a joy. I met Glinn for Japa-dogs, and we sat on the wall at the theatre across the street, me enjoying the Teri-Mayo without nori and Glinn trying the Miso-Mayo, though I just realised I forgot to ask him if it was good. On my way to the bus, a woman came out of the alley with her pants falling down, yelling her head off at a clean-cut guy who was following her, him saying she should just put the money down. She stole $250 from his restaurant and was tripping out on something. I thought that it was a trick gone bad, but realised while walking behind them (I can't help it that they were walking in my direction) that she had stolen money. She tried to get on my bus, but the bus driver had had altercations with her before and said he would call the police to deal with this, which made her run off the bus screaming. It was bizarre and terribly sad. No one wins in that sort of situation.

Tomorrow I'm excited to see some of my favourite people. Hopefully the weather is fine so I can go to the park with Rachel and Gussy in the afternoon (after another day on the line... woohoo [*I hate the city]), and I have plans to go to the Canadians game in the evening, which will include fireworks at the commencement of the baseball game. Should be fun.

*You want to know why? Because they wasted tax-payers' money for 6 (six) days by at least 25 of them eating out at restaurants three times a day and renting hotel rooms that they never bothered going to (the unions were at the negotiating table the whole time), taking at least time-and-a-half for the time (up to 16 hours a day, even though they didn't talk to any of the unions for more than 5 hours total), despite having NO intention of negotiating. Tax-payers should be outraged. It has been leaked out that, as decided at council meetings, the NPA and Sullivan have no plans to even begin to negotiate until sometime in September because they want time to poach employees from the unions in the suburbs and want to make the civic workers in Vancouver suffer as much as possible on strike pay, while all of them make huge amounts of money by working overtime. But, of course, it's the unions' fault... How can less than 10% of the people employed by the city make more than 30% of the wages?

fit with technology

At some point last week my cell phone stopped charging. To me, that implies it's dead.

It's not like I used it that much; I use a landline almost exclusively. And I have some fear of (contractual) commitment. But there are a few friends who don't understand why people don't want to be available by phone at all times of the day or night. The friend who gave me the thing made me take it, one of those ancient, enormous ones that probably originally came with a carrying strap that went over the shoulder. It has been satisfactory for sporadic phone calling for almost 5 years.

Admitedly, it has felt a little weird not being reachable when away from my house. I realise how much easier it is to organise at the last minute with a cell. Yesterday I was supposed to meet my friend in the mall (if you can call Kingsgate a mall), but he wasn't in either of the places we were supposed to look for each other. Had I the phone, I would have known that he figured I would just meet him at his house, since we had originally planned that anyway.

Cell phones prevent extra walking.

Today after picket duty, a few of us had to run some superfluous errands downtown, so went on a field trip. I figured I would just see if I could replace the adaptor (since that seemed to be the problem). The phone is 10 years old. What do you think they said? So the next option was, of course, to replace the phone. I am now the owner of a basic flip phone, made sometime this century. I feel so current, so now. And being reachable again is a little smothering.

Still tired from last evening. After poker class, we all played Zombies!!!, a game in which you either try to kill 25 zombies without dying or get to the heli-pad to fly away like a scaredy cat. The other three ganged up on me early and for the duration of the game; I guess I was too good at killing zombies, getting to about 18 because my strategy was to go into the crowd of them and kill them instead of waiting for the heli-pad to come up. (Is there a name for groups of zombies? A pod? A herd?) The one who hid in corners and didn't battle any zombies wound up winning in a most unimpressive way in Hour 3 (around 1am). Dissatisfied with the result, my friend asked if I wanted to stay and play another game after the other two left. So we wound up playing until the wee hours of the morning; I won by both reaching the heli-pad and killing my 25th zombie on the winning square. Victory is sweet, but it was so fricking hard to get onto the picket line by 9am. And I still hate zombies.

Currently listening :
Losing Money & Losing Friends
By Various Artists
Release date: 29 October, 1998

le soleil est plus mal

As a pasty-skinned person who lacks melanin, I generally hate the sun. Like a vampire at dawn, I generally do everything I can to stay away from direct sunlight because the reflection of sun against my skin is blinding to bystanders, but also causes more trouble than it's worth. If I'm not white, I'm red and vice versa.

Yesterday I was at the beach for half the day, sitting in direct sunlight with, I've come to realise now, not enough sunscreen on. Usually it's my hair part or leftside neck that comes away with a burn, but yesterday it was just the tops of my arms. It isn't a painful one, but I'm still annoyed that I didn't spray down enough to prevent this kind of trouble. I've come to like my consistently white colour.

But being at the beach was kind of lovely. We ate fruit (cherries, raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes) and hydrated with water, and awaited the arrival of the promised cupcakes for Tangiene's birthday party. It's surprising what some people will wear to the beach; one of the peripheral hipsters wore head-to-toe black (shoes & socks included) and looked nervously at his locked-up fixed gear as though someone was going to steal it. Amusing.

After arriving back home to a barrage of instructions from my group regarding our assignment, I set back to the homework, but only until an invitation for drinks came in. I wound up being a little late anyway, despite SoMa being so ridiculously close, because of additional last-minute changes to the assignment. (I kind of hate group assignments; no in-person group functions solely by wiki and email, leaving all sorts of weird lag time and miscommunications by those who cannot express what they want in writing.) I decided it could wait for a couple of hours.

The combination of sun all day, no dinner (I ate all afternoon!), and the low-level stress I general run on resulted in the first pint going straight to my head. The second was just for good measure. Still, I found out that C'est La Vie on Main often has fantastically cute dresses, thanks to our always lovely barmaiden Gemma's advice, and that the other barkeep whom we adore has recently started seeing someone, which is sad news, indeed. (Again, no single boys in the 'hood.) I was still home early enough to comb through citations for what seemed like hours before our midnight deadline.

Today is a short shift on strike duty, smack dab in the middle of the day. Since both sides are (finally!) back at the table, it's possible (though not likely) we may be back to work by week's end. So I guess I've got to make the most of the time away from the desk, which means visits with girlfriends I haven't seen much of lately and a trip to Commercial for some attractive and flavourful tomatoes. (I found a recipe for tomato bread pudding that I really want to try ASAP. It will also mean a trip to that little shop that you have to buzz to get in, but I adore the shopkeep owner, so it's worth the effort.)

Here comes the sun.

Currently listening :
Trailer Park Hip Hop
By Hip Club Groove

great outdoors (or so i hear)

Geez, I wish I could have skipped town this weekend. I think I'm getting cabin fever. Is that possible when the weather is fine? I'm not sure what to call it.

"The Great Outdoors" was on TV tonight. I only watched a smidge, but it reminded me of how much I used to love Chris Young. Looking at him now, I can't remember why. The pouty lips? The gentle wavy blond hair? I'm pretty sure it wasn't his acting skills because he didn't really have any. Oh, Teen Beat, how could I let you trick me into believing he was worth a crush?

This afternoon I gave up trying to finish my homework (it's mostly done) and walked over to Cambie with Tangiene. At Jill's birthday dinner last Monday, we all of us (everyone did time in Edmonton) discussed organising a field trip to Dadeo. Tangiene couldn't wait. I'm never going to turn down a chance to have po'boys. I really hope they stay in business for the duration of the train extension construction; where else can you get blackened catfish? And I really think Dadeo is a million times better than Tomato, so I can't be sad that Dadeo took over the space. Gosh, I love that place. Please frequent it so it stays open. Anytime any of yous want to go, I'm in.

Tomorrow I'm going to the beach for Tangiene's birthday party. Picnics on the beach are all kinds of rad. It seems sort of funny that I'd spend the afternoon in the sun when I spent most of last week cursing the exact same thing. What can I say? I'm inconsistent.

Currently listening :
Howls, Raps & Roars
By Various Artists
Release date: 29 June, 1993

the calm before or during, which would make it the eye, i guess

I can do this. I can.

Yesterday I finally finished my assignment around 8pm, after working on it all morning, afternoon and evening. It was the reading that killed me; waiting until the last minute to read books isn't a good idea. And my little emotional breakdown about a/v materials was just a blip on the screen of having it together/not losing it. It's my own fault that it wasn't a very good finished product. But I'm finding it hard to care about stuff (school-related especially) that isn't really of interest; I hate jumping through hoops for the sake of jumping (welcome to grad school). And I just like to complain.

To reward myself for finishing, I wandered over to Jill & Mark's place to hang out on their deck, drinking ginger ale and lemonade to their red wine. They have a box of wine (!!!) leftover from their bookclub and now try to push it on anyone who comes through their door, which seems to mostly be me. How can literary discussers NOT drink heavily? Isn't that a requirement among the literary, being a raging alcoholic?

Boxed wine reminds me of my youth, when Mom would buy a big box of white wine over the Christmas holidays, kept in the cold room downstairs, to liquor up visitors at the drop of a hat. My sister (a certified wino) and I (still don't drink wine at dinner when I visit my parents) would position our heads under the nozzle and get a couple of gulps in when annoying people who squeezed our cheeks would visit. We never got drunk or tipsy. Mom didn't really care if we drank it, as long as there was still wine left for the visitors. She's European, so drinking was never a big deal.

We spoke about a local drug dealer who has a dog named Vegas. It was agreed that the refusal to talk to someone who deals drugs and has a dog named Vegas is a good decision. I envision said dealer also wears black button-up shirts with orange flames on the bottom hem, the shirt unbuttoned, with dirty cut-off jeans and high tops without laces nor socks.

I always have a lovely time with them. Jill rubbed my brain while Mark told me about his newfound interest in tax-related calculations and the impending coursework related to it. I'm excited for him; he said he just can't seem to stay out of school. It looks like there's a distinct likelihood we may bump into each other on campus starting in September. Fresh blood to the campus. They sent me home with a brick of vanilla ice cream and a CD of music.

Today I have to write about 600 words related to GLBTQ issues in a library setting, but have yet to get into it. It's not due until midnight tomorrow, but I'm hoping to be done before I go to Tangiene's birthday party. Since I'm in writing mode anyway, it's just a bit of time searching for "facts" and forming a coherent combination of words that will just get me through this class. I'm more afraid of my groupmates than the prof; I already know the prof isn't fond of me. This is the last class for one of my groupmates, so I think she's operating at a higher level than the rest of us. Or just me. Which is fine. (She's the reason I have to be done this a week ahead of time. It isn't due until Friday.)

Yesterday I got an email from a guy who has the same mentor from university as I, though I've never met nor seen him. While I was in Japan we emailed regularly, as he and his wife were planning to start JET and wanted some info. I haven't heard from him in about 7 years, so it was surprising to get the email, especially since the email address used is relatively new. I used to tell him weird, often funny stories and after one particularly questionable one (related to squatty potties) I never heard from him again. But that's the story he wants me to relay again because it was so funny. I just wish I could remember what I said.

Still considering going to the Odd Ball at WISE Hall tomorrow night. Guess it will depend on my abilities to slack off. Anyone interested in coming with?

Currently listening :
Forever
By Gus Gus
Release date: 05 March, 2007

last minute worries

At the start of this degree, I did a really good job of not procrastinating nor leaving things until the last minute. It just meant organising my time a little bit, working 12-14 hour days (between work work and school work) though no later than 9pm, and regularly drinking moderately heavy with a boy who distracted me for most of the semester. All assignments were handed in or completed no later than a day ahead of their due dates.

How did I get to this point, then?

Tomorrow I have an assignment due that is worth 35% of my mark and I haven't really even started writing it. It's pretty dull: I have to read books and explain why they should be added to a library's collection, find some websites and review them for content with a pro/con listing, and somehow find A/V materials to review and recommend. I can blame this on the strike, since I had to hunt down materials outside of Vancouver or at UBC (which feels like outside of Vancouver) instead of picking stuff out on a break or after work. Really, the assignment is pretty vague and leaves a lot of room to really fuck up. And I'm just not as keen or excited about homework as those studying to be children's librarians.

So I'm pulling an all-nighter for the first time in.... a long time. I will get this done, because I have to and because the hardest part is reading entire books in a few hours, but with enough time to go out for drinks with Jill and Mark tomorrow night. I will. I will. I will.

My group project is also due this weekend, but only because one of the people is super A type and decided she wants to make a website, so we have to have our content in 5 days before the thing is due. Yea. But it's only a little bit of research and two 250-word submissions, plus a couple of annotations for non-fiction materials (which I have and should be pretty easy). I should be able to get it done in a couple of hours, once I finish this one due tomorrow.

What frustrates me about this whole thing is this class isn't even hard. It's just time consuming. And apparently I've forgotten how to motivate myself to get stuff done.

But I'm still going to do stuff this weekend. Powell Street Festival is on and I'm hoping to meet up with someone awesome for that. And Tangiene's birthday picnic on the beach is on for Sunday afternoon, so that should be a blast. And then I think I should probably picket for a few hours on Monday, even though it's a holiday. Need to show my support.

(Uh oh, here comes the soapbox.)

Seriously, if you live in Vancouver, you should be calling the Mayor's office to tell him what a fucking prat he is. His negotiators have stalled negotiations AGAIN for more than a week (apparently unhappy citizens of this city aren't much of an incentive to settle civic worker unrest) after my union gave them a revised proposal, mainly (I suspect) to try to break the spirits and bank accounts of the workers for as long as he can and to try to make the media forget that there are no city services (there's a media blackout in effect as long as there are negotiations planned). This jackass should never work in this city again.

It shouldn't take a week to make a counter-offer; they've had at least two solid weeks to come up with ANYTHING to start negotiating from, but have been too busy trying to meddle in other cities' negotiations (have you heard one of the Vancouver negotiators called up and asked Richmond to slow down so they wouldn't make Vancouver look bad? Nice) and to spin the media. You know why almost all other municipalities have tentative agreements? Because they actually negotiated. On consecutive days. Until an agreement was met. But not in Vancouver. No, they've got other things to do. Like... stuff.

I'm off to read books about amputations and car accidents. Fitting, n'est pas?

Currently reading :
Peeling the Onion
By Wendy Orr
Release date: 09 February, 1999