Summer snaps

I finally dug out the camera the other day and had a look at some of the photos from this summer. I'm not good at either remembering to take pictures or at taking good pictures. These are things for my to-do list over the next year. Anyway, I thought I'd post a few images from my first summer in Calgary:


We are really lucky to live and a cool inner-burb of Calgary. Let's just hope that the local authorities realise the value of keeping it this way!


I did a lot of cooking this summer. This was the most successful crumble I made - a combination of apples from LJ's mum's garden and some blueberries from the supermarket.


A picture from the road: on the way to the US border to process my student visa. So now I can say that I've been to Montana (for five minutes!).


A day at the Inglewood bird sanctuary with my friends S & T. We had such a nice time, it's a beautiful spot in the middle of the city where you feel as though you're way out in the countryside. We didn't see any deer this time but plenty of gophers and birds.


LJ chillaxin' at the Sue, my favourite pub in Calgary. It was mid-stampede and we had friends and family in town. I think it took us about a month to recover but it was a lot of fun.
Of course there are a lot of moments that I wish I could have captured but that goes back to my being poor with the camera. It has been a lovely summer and I'm not really ready for it to be over. I am ready to get on with things at Uni and in the house though and I'm concocting a plan of attack on our back yard this weekend. LJ will probably not be happy (less WoW time for him!) but I'd like to clear up the yard and just prepare it for a long cold winter of neglect. Perhaps we'll squeeze a last barbeque in too. Bribery with steak!

Celtic Frost-over

I have a bit of a hangover today. LJ and I went out to see Celtic Frost (Swiss death-metal) last night and, I think, sealed our fate when he arrived home from work with a bottle of wine which we drank before we went to the show. It was a fun night. Unlike LJ I don't like to listen to heavy metal all the time but I do like a good show and Celtic Frost were a lot of fun. It was an interesting crowd - lots of old rockers (ourselves included), some younger peeps but I think the over 18 rule ruled the show out for the really young 'uns. It was pretty funny actually, all those guys and gals who probably got babysitters for the night so that they could rock out (Celtic Frost have been around for years and years and LJ tells me that they've been very influential in the death-metal/trash genres of music). I used to listen to a lot of rock and metal in my late teens and while I was (and still am) more into the hair-band/classic rock side of things, I always feel right at home with the metal crowd. Anyway, it was fun but I did have a drink too many and I'm feeling it today. LJ is a bit worse for wear also (but he doesn't have a three hour seminar class to go to this evening grrrr).
Uni is still good but hectic. I'm going to find a lamp for my desk so that I can have soft lighting in the windowless office rather than the headache-inducing/concentration-destroying fluorescent jobbies. I am going to start posting more about what I'm reading but I don't have the time for anything other than these life-updates at the moment.
Okay, I'm going to try to find somewhere to have a little nap I think. It's that or hit the coffee pot and I don't think that there's a blend strong enough to keep me going for the seven hours I'm going to be here.

Tired, brain hurts...

A week in and I'm floundering a bit in my new academic environment. It's a lot to take in, a lot of assignments to think about, a lot of reading to do and a lot of writing to do (in the near future), and a lot of administration things to unravel. I know how I react in situations like this (idealize the past, fret about the future) and so I'm riding this one out as the kind of culture shock I've been through before.
Tonight's class was fine though I'm never as articulate as I'd like and I had one of those moments where I was saying something and kind of lost the thread and got a bunch of blank stares and charity nods and felt foolish. Which happens, and I just have to get over myself really.
I LOVE the class I'm assisting on. I don't want to talk too much about it here but it is really the best thing about being at Uni at the moment. It's a fantastic class with an amazing prof. and a great instructor and I get to work with peer mentors and think about collaborative teaching and learning which are things I'm beginning to realise that I'm passionate about and committed to.

Five

Up remarkably early considering that we were up quite late indeed dancing to some fun rockabilly music last night. LJ has gone to give his mum a ride home from church and I'm plotting a very big breakfast when he gets back. There's this eggs and spinach and cheese sauce thing I used to do often and haven't made since last winter. Hmmmm.
Anyway, while I plot I thought I'd do a little list. Here are five things that please each of my five senses:

I like to look at:
1) Rabbits
2) The sea
3) The colours green and blue.
4) Bowls of various sizes, designs, and of various materials (though I have a weakness for coloured glass).
5) Fruit and vegetables piled high at a market.

I like to listen to:
1) The sea.
2) Birds twittering outside my bedroom window.
3) A comfy cat purring (oh to have a cat).
4) Heavy rain after the humidity has been building for days.
5) Of course music, but how to narrow it down? A little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.

I like to smell:
1) Mangoes.
2) Coffee brewing (though I rarely drink it).
3) The sea.
4) Bacon frying.
5) The countryside where my mum lives. Earthy, clean air.

I like to taste:
1) Calamari.
2) Pho.
3) A good cup of tea.
4) Fruit, but especially mangoes and papaya.
5) Cheese, Feta at the moment.

I like to feel:
1) Salt and sand on my skin and in my hair after a swim.
2) A cozy cat on my lap.
3) LJ's hand in mine (I'm keeping this list at a G (for 'grandma might read this') rating!
4) Clean sheets.
5) The thrill of a good thrift find.

What about you? Some people have told me that they can't leave comments so if you're having that problem just email me your lists. I'd love to read them.
Isn't it funny how many of my pleasures come from the sea? Especially as I'm now living about thirteen hours away (by car) from the nearest coast. We are hoping to go to Mexico for a week after Christmas in which case I will be spending a very large portion of that time in or at the sea. Okay I'm off to do something about this breakfast. All this talk of bacon has me hungry! Do write and tell me what floats your sensory boat.

A lucky escape but a sad night

Last night Storm Large was booted from the reality tv (debacle) show Rockstar: Supernova. I don't think I'll bother to watch the show anymore, Storm was pretty much the only reason I was still tuning in. I've been consoling myself with the thought that she is better off not tied to a contract with the Rockstar boys. Here's hoping that she makes it up and over to Calgary one of these days and I can hear 'Ladylike' live.

What the f*** is ladylike, if ladies like to do what the f*** they like, just like you...

Love you Storm. Rock on.

Bits & Pieces

Well the long weekend is over and today is the last (week)day I have without any appointments or classes at Uni. I'm starting to get nervous. Next week is going to be crazy - I'm covering all the tutorials for the class I'm TA'ing as the tutorial instructor is away. That's nine groups of twenty to twenty-five students. Then I have my own classes and some meetings too. After a year of make-your-own-schedule it's going to be quite intense. My day planner hasn't seen so much action for quite some time.
I'm also nervous about what will change in the house when I'm not there all day everyday anymore. I've told the guys that they will have to pitch in more and they nod and smile and say 'sure thing' but I know it's a crock. What irks me is that they seem to expect me to tell them when something needs doing. Like they don't have eyes and noses of their own and they can't actually see that the bin needs to be emptied or the lake next to the tub needs to be mopped up or the dishwasher needs to be stacked and turned on or, indeed, that their leftovers have been stinking up the fridge for a week and need to be thrown out. These are men in their 30's and I despair sometimes. I've talked to them about putting down the seat and lid of the toilet after they pee, and about trying to pee into the actual toilet and not on the floor, and about remembering to flush and I wonder what the f*** these guys are thinking about all the time that this stuff doesn't cross their minds. Grrr. Anyway, we'll see how it goes. I don't want to get into predicting the worst right away. I'll keep you posted on what happens and how I deal with it.

Steve Irwin died this weekend. I always wondered if those snakes actually liked being flung around so much, but he has done some amazing conservation work and I was quite sad to hear the news. I was sure he had been offed by a croc but, no, it was stingray that got him in the end. I just found this article online and am about half way through it, it gives a fuller picture than most write ups of the reptile-mad Aussie.

I just ordered my Storm Large and the Balls t-shirt online last week. I'm holding out for her to tell Tommy Lee where to stick his sexist little self on Rock Star Supernova. If you haven't heard her sing, do check her out (I think you can download songs off her website or just do some googling to find them). Storm is, I think, my favourite reality show contestant ever (and I watch a lot of RTV), she ROCKS! (and, yes, Storm Large is her real name).

Speaking of fantastic women, LJ and I went to the Calgary Arts and Tattoo Festival on Saturday and it was pretty cool. Plus I got to stand really close to Kat Von D and watch her tattoo someone! She is super-talented. We also listened to some good music (though a convention centre is quite possibly the worst venue for live music), looked through a lot of tattoo books and oo'ed and ahhh'ed over the beautiful cars (I dream of leopard-print interiors).

The rest of the weekend was spent painting (bedroom window frame, living room window frame (It took almost an hour just to tape and prep that baby), and bathroom trim. I just have to do the final coat on the living room window today and I'm pretty pleased with how things look. Of course, once you get started all the other frames and trim start to scream 'paint me!' and I'm already thinking about blitzing the rest of the living room next weekend. What I'm already painted is now a lovely bright white and it looks so much more fresh and clean and even cozier. Today I'm going to do some thrifting and see if I can find a new lampshade for the standing lamp in the living room.

Anyway, enough of my yakking. More later in the week when I will, no doubt, be even deeper in the pre-school panic.