Happy Halloween

This morning, with some other people, I am going to the hospital in our Halloween costumes to visit a friend we used to work with who is terminally ill with cancer. She has always loved Halloween, and they have made it a special holiday in her family for that reason. I admit I am approaching this visit with trepidation. It has been a while since I saw her last and she will undoubtedly look very changed. She recently stopped chemo, since it was making her feel terrible and sapping her of what strength she has left -- strength she wants to spend enjoying time with her husband and two boys (who are in grade 3 and kindergarten). The situation reminds me so much of the death of my cousin Susan who had breast cancer and left behind two girls, aged 5 and 2. She too was only in her mid-thirties. Our friend C. recently had her 34th birthday a few weeks ago. I find this terribly hard to write about, or even think about, to be honest. C. has the same progression of cancer (from colon to lung) that my father had, but he, at 75 is doing quite well, while at 34 she is dying. The cancer metastasizes so quickly in the young. It has been only about 13 months since she was diagnosed. It will be terribly hard to see her today, thinking as I am of what a cheery, energetic woman she was before this illness hit her.

Snow Sucks

So, I blew off going running today, because (boo hoo) it snowed. I know -- lame. And here on the prairies it may well continue to do the snow thing until April, so I'd better suck it up. I did go yesterday and managed 2.07 miles, and it was the third run last week, so I'm not doing too badly. Hey, I vacuumed today -- that counts as exercise, doesn't it? Cleaning the bathrooms must burn off a few calories, surely? Well, back to the toilets I go... (how apt).

Current reading: Terry Goodkind's Chainfire (2005).

40 Questions

40 Questions (found this on the web - thought I'd try it out)

1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
No, thank heavens.

2. Do you close your eyes on roller coasters?
No, but I scream loudly.

3. When's the last time you've been sledding?
Probably about 11 or 12 years ago when I lived near Christie Pits in Toronto.

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
Most of the time, alone, but it would depend on who was my co-sleeper of choice...

5. Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes, but not in a creepy-crawly-scary way. I think they will eventually be explained by science, but we don't as yet have the vocabulary to explain them. We don't know it all yet, as much as we might like to think we do.

6. Do you consider yourself creative?
Yes, but not always productively creative. I have an extremely active imagination.

7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
Truthfully, yes. But every dog gets their day in court and that's that.

8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie?
For what? I don't care who Brad Pitt sleeps with as long as he doesn't ask me! Yech.

9. Do you stay friends with your exes?
Not usually. Only one, who is as dear to me as a brother would be even 20 years later.

10. Do you know how to play poker?
Nope. But I'm OK at bridge and love cards generally.

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
No. I don't think I'm capable of it.

12. What's your favorite commercial?
I'm quite fond of the recent cat food commercials with adult men playing the roles of cats displeased by their owners' culinary tastes. Is it an IAMS ad? Or Friskies? You can tell I don't pay much attention...

13. What are you allergic to?
Wool against my skin (very grateful I wasn't born in the Highlands like my ancestors), various trees, particularly elms (so I live in a monoculture of the damn things), various grasses, dust mites, something for every season both indoors and outdoors really. Lucky me.

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around do you run red lights?
No. I don't assume I can see everything.

15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
Not many but probably one or two. I'm a very honest soul in most things.

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
Neither. I live in a baseball-free zone, sadly. I have a tepid hometown allegiance to the Toronto Blue Jays, but I also like the Seattle Mariners (and beautiful Safeco stadium).

17. Have you ever been Ice Skating?
I'm Canadian. Duh. I still need a wall to stop though, even after all these years.

18. How often do you remember your dreams?
Most of the time. I then tell them to my husband, whose response is invariably "You're weird."

19. When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
Possibly at the cinema watching Team America: World Police. The puppet sex scene made me laugh, cry, and have an asthma attack.

20. Can you name 5 songs by The Beatles?
"Yellow Submarine", "Norwegian Wood", "Lovely Rita Meter Maid", "Eleanor Rigby", "Michelle"

21. What's the one thing on your mind now?
Filling out the quiz. Waiting for Red Road to come out on DVD in the UK and be released in North America.

22. Do you know who Ghetto-ass barbie is?
Not really. Does she come with a group of other barbie dolls? Is she related to Drug Mule Barbie?

23. Do you always wear your seat belt?
I have occasionally forgotten to, but generally I always wear it.

24. What cell service do you use?
Sasktel.

25. Do you like Sushi?
I adore sushi. The great regret of being on the South Beach diet is that I can't have rice. Sashimi doesn't have the same appeal, sadly.

26. Have you ever narrowly avoided a fatal accident?
I don't think so.

27. What do you wear to bed?
Tonight, fabulous flannel jammies. Blue with white polar bears and snowflakes on them. They were a present from my husband a few Christmases ago -- the year he finally figured out how to buy something useful from La Senza.

28. Been caught stealing?
Don't steal, so no.

29. What shoe size do you have?
7.

30. Do you truly hate anyone?
I don't think so. There are a few people whom I dislike intensely and would never want to see again.

31. Classic Rock or Rap?
Neither really. Of the two I guess I'd prefer Classic Rock, so I can understand the lyrics, but there's only so much Creedence Clearwater Revival I can take.

32. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
Tony Curran. Tall, red-headed, blue-eyed, smart, talented and gorgeous -- with a Scottish accent. What's not to like? It would be quite nice to be putty in his hands...

33. Favorite Song?
That changes, but I do have a real soft spot for "Bobcaygeon" by The Tragically Hip. It' s on their album Phantom Power.

34. Have you ever sung in front of the mirror?
Not with a hairbrush, but yes.

35. What food do you find disgusting?
Okra.

36. Do you sing in the shower?
No, but I have long conversations with my object of lust of the moment.

37. Did you ever play, "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours"?
Not as a kid... LOL

38. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
Not often, but I frequently make fun of people I don't know well. I'm a bit of a clown. It's hard to swallow a funny line if I can manage to think one up.

39. Have you ever stood up for someone you hardly knew?
Yes. I don't think I've changed world history or anything, but I have stood up for students in various situations.

40. Have you ever been punched in the face?
No, and glad of it. I did, however, walk into a tree the other day.

Goin' to the Dance

Don't think it was exotic. Don't think I had a fabulous marital date. Nah. I was taking the sprog to the local Halloween dance (run kindly and unselfishly every year for the neighbourhood kids by the local United church). She was Princess Jasmine, and I was relieved not to have to argue with her that Princess Jasmine came from a significantly warmer climate but, had she come from Saskatchewan, she would most certainly have worn more clothes. So this Princess Jasmine wore leggings and a ballet leotard under her costume, and went to the party in her winter coat and runners. "Mummy, you have to wear a costume too!" Oh. Mummy grabs a witch costume off the rack at W******. Brings it home to discover it is a purple medievalish gown made of see-through patterned purplish-black material. With it comes a black slip dress. Uh huh. Right. I am cool being witch, since it speaks to my inner nasty mummy self. Not so cool with being a hot MILF witch...So I too wear leggings and a long sleeved shirt (black) under it, with socks and boots. We go off to the dance warm, toasty and asexual (amen!). The DD has a fab time dancing, screeching and running around with her friends from school, who have turned up in abundance. I spend the dance, frighteningly, just like I spent any high school dances I attended: sitting on a chair by the wall with the other girls (except all of us are mums now). The nostalgia is killing me. Maybe I should have worn the slip dress...

Swanning Around

Currently listening to: Camille Saint-Saens' The Best of Saint-Saens ("Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor", "Danse macabre", "Le Cygne")

Weekly weigh-in yesterday: 158

Off for a run this afternoon. Then back to cleaning the house, which is in entropy mode -- devolving rapidly, in other words -- while I've been marking. Nothing unusual about that! I apologise for the unmitigated dullness of this blog...

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

Current Reading: Terry Goodkind's Debt of Bones (1998)

This is a short novella about Goodkind's character Zedd, First Wizard, who appears in the Sword of Truth series as the grandfather of the hero, Richard. This story is about Zedd as a young man and a transforming loss that helps us understand the character a little better. Zeddicus is by far the best character in the series -- much more likeable than that ranting soapbox spouter, Richard.

Welcome to Mushybrain, Saskatchewan

Mushybrain. Actually, there is a town in Nova Scotia with the euphonic (read: laughable) name of Mushaboom. It's right near Upper Economy and its realty-challenged neighbour, Lower Economy. (Real place names.) I am currently a resident, however, of the not-so-thriving metropolis of Mushybrain. I live here during marking season four or five times a year... I have a shack, tar paper not clapboard, on the only road in and out of town. The streets are filled with the detritus that my brain no longer has room for, like well-known historical facts, Elton John's birthday, and just about every password I've ever made for myself. There is no garbage removal in Mushybrain, SK. It's constantly hunting season --- since I spend most of my time hunting for the things I have absentmindedly put down and can't find. There are no statutory holidays and lots of overtime without pay. I live in my Mushybrain shack alone, since my family can no longer find me under the stacks of student essays that consume me. In a week or so I will leave the town of Mushybrain behind (I hope) and return to my normal life. Until then, "Greetings from Mushybrain! Pop. 1"

In an effort to combat the supremacy of Mushybrain, I did go for a run today. Can't say my brain works much better, but I went 1.84 miles in 21 minutes. So I can feel virtuous, if stupid.

Weekly Weigh-in

On Wednesday I was 159. I am a victim of sitting and marking, sitting and marking, sitting and marking. This is punctuated by standing up and snarfing down Jif peanut butter which is pretty much better than sex at this point. I am addicted to peanut butter lately! I could easily shove my spoon in the jar and eat a good half-pound of the stuff, no trouble. I have a set of essays and a set of midterms to get through. Maybe I'd better go to the grocery store and stock up? Hmmm. Maybe not...

Walkies

Did a 3 and a half mile walk on the university track yesterday morning. Hips stiff afterward, but that's probably due to days of primarily sitting while I marked. My life is too dull these days for me to find much to write about.
I should add, however, that my daughter has been kidnapped by aliens and replaced by a duplicate model child who frightens me: she gets ready without being asked in the morning, does what she's told, and is a delight to be around. Be afraid, be very afraid. But grateful too!!!

Slave to the Grind

The current soundtrack to my life: the monotonous "yo ee-oo, yo-oo" of the Wicked Witch of the East's Guard in The Wizard of Oz.
Marking, marking, marking. Markity markity mark. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Yee Haw!

Ran well this afternoon: 2.18 miles, and ran 22 out of 25 minutes. I am amazed (again). Added another minute to my training, so was doing 8:1. Otherwise, had a fairly dull weekend which I wish I had back again. I'd write more but my fat cat is herding me to bed by pacing across my computer...

P.S. Yesterday's run was 1.86 miles, in 24 minutes, so not bad either. I felt disappointed when I compared it to the 1.95 I average at the university indoor track, but then I checked it against my log and found I have added about half a mile to my usual time for running in the neighbourhood (as opposed to indoors). For some reason I thought I was going further on the road. Brain fart. I am going to do more walking next week.

Craptastic Day

I awoke this morning feeling just fine. By 8:45 I felt rather like Rommel must have at El-Alamein, having lost the battle to get the DD off to school just a few minutes earlier than usual. This was a necessary thing since I have had a puncture in my tire for a few days (the one on my car, not round my middle -- I'd be quite happy if that one would deflate) and needed a few extra minutes to pump the tire up sufficiently to get to the university.

After work I was heading off to the tire shop to get the tire replaced when the tire went kapow and refused to respond to the breath of life (the tire pump). It couldn't have waited for less than 2o minutes until I could get to the tire shop, could it? So much more satisfying from the perspective of a lowly tire to FUCK UP MY ENTIRE AFTERNOON! Called CAA, who arrived promptly. Called husband and cried on the phone (PMS stands for "pretty major sobfest", I'm sure). Drove off to tire place with spare tire on, left car there, spent $15 on a cab in order to be home in time for daughter to return from school. Make a cup of tea and try to focus to get some marking done. Tea is good. Marking ... not so much. I am too frazzled to get anything done.

Daughter returns from school. Wants to invite a friend over. We call said friend. She can come tomorrow. Upon receiving this information, the DD has a slowly escalating tantrum, and is sent to her room, where she has a bigger, louder tantrum. I tell her we will talk when she can behave in a civilised manner. (I am philosophically really into the whole Amish "shunning" thing.) I hunker down for a long wait. She doesn't throw a full-bore hissy-fit too often, but, at seven and a half, when she does, it's a doozy. I am wondering if I can find some gypsies with health care who might be willing to take her. (Yeah, yeah, my husband reminds me that on the night of the Stones concert she went on her first sleepover and I was a basket case who missed her all night long...) Still, I could have had a dog... I am feeling very, very tired. The wailing upstairs finally ceases. She is either deconstructing her room, or has fallen asleep (which is probably what she needs).

I look at the chicken breasts in the fridge, wishing they could cook themselves. I have about this much (holding up thumb and index finger about a centimetre apart) interest in cooking tonight. Even Rommel had a camp cook, didn't he?

Bluenose???

Yikes! I just found out that Bluenose is a nickname for a Glasgow Rangers supporter. No way! Ick. Ptooey. Go, Celtics!

For those who don't know, the Bluenose is a famous Nova Scotian schooner (who whipped the Americans in numerous races), and is represented for posterity on the Canadian dime. Nova Scotians are called Bluenosers.

Movies I Am Looking Forward To:

Red Road
Goya's Ghosts
Ecstasy
The Good German
Waz
Pirates of the Caribbean 3
Downloading Nancy
The Fountain
The Prestige
The Golden Age
The Children of Men
The Black Dahlia
Connolly

Weekly Weigh-in

Weekly weigh-in: 158.5
(This is post-Canadian Thanksgiving -- I wasn't expecting much...)

Went for a decent run at the university track yesterday afternoon, although I don't think I go as far as fast there. Usually on the road I make over 2 and a quarter miles, but I'm around 1.95 usually at the track. The DH suggests it's because I'm not running with a visual objective (i.e., the end of this block, or around the corner to the house with the butt-ugly garage, etc) and he may be right. Feeling it in my hips and thighs today, but I'm hoping to go over the the university again for another run this morning. I have to arrange my time today between marking and getting a tire replaced so that I can be home for the DD for lunch.

I slept like a log last night -- from 9:30 to 7:15. Why don't I feel "up and at 'em"?


Later the same day...

Went for a weeny run. Nine minutes, .85 of a mile. Pffff. Whatever. At least I got up off my ever-widening ass...

The Stones Rocked Regina

Oh my God. Mick Jagger is the world's sexiest senior citizen, without a doubt. The man had more energy than I could have possibly imagined, running all over the stage like a 20-year-old for two hours. It was simply an amazing, charismatic show. The music was great (a different set list from the Friday night show that we listened to) and the stage show fantastic: fireworks, flames, a movable stage, and a gigantic screen that seemlessly weaved older footage of the Stones and special effects with the performance. Mick dominated the stage, but when Keith Richards took his turn to sing "You Got the Silver" with Ronny Wood accompanying him (spectacularly) on guitar, his subdued performance was actually riveting. Loved the ciggy, Keith! LOL. The atmosphere in the football stadium was tremendous -- 40,000 very happy people, thrilled to have the Stones in our little backwater town. I imagine it was much the same when they played Missoula, Montana, recently. The Stones got a whole lotta love from us! And there was Charlie Watts -- the world's coolest drummer, looking ultracool in the 3 degree Celsius weather. Mick changed jackets about five times -- and, man, did he look good. For me, the highlight was my favourite, "Start Me Up", closely followed by the new material from A Bigger Bang. I was keenly aware all through the concert that this wasn't just any concert, but felt more like a culturally historic moment. These guys are truly impressive -- it's no wonder they are legends. And could I just mention that they were absolute sweethearts -- no oversized egos were visible. You don't need them when you have 40,000 people in love with you.

On another note, I managed a really good run this morning, the first in quite a while. I went 3.34 miles, and ran 21 out of 34 minutes doing 7 and 1, and then 2 and 2 after I'd reached the 15 minute mark. My breathing was great and I made sure to take it at a very even pace. I was really proud of myself, especially since it had been a week since I'd had a decent run due to my asthma, and I've had a sore calf muscle for a few days. But I felt wonderful, and am looking forward to doing some serious running later this week. That run meant I actually passed the 5k mark!

The Elderly Kitty's Adventure

Normally we have Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday night, but this year my sister-in-law and I have concert planes (Go, Stones!) so we had the big blow-out meal last night. Nine for dinner, and it was a lovely time. Some of our guests were smokers, whom we heartlessly expelled to the back deck, and in the midst of the to-ing and fro-ing our elderly cat (who purports to be dying but is clearly a scam artist faking for wet food) must have slipped out. When I came down this morning to feed the cats, he was nowhere to be found. Of course I had visions of him sloping away, feeling neglected, to die somewhere, but eventually he was found in the front yard, tail very full and looking like he wasn't sure who I was. I wonder if he thought he was in trouble for his adventure or whether his cataracts made him feel freaked out and vulnerable, unable to see who was coming toward him. Anyway, he was mighty happy to be inside again. I'm glad it never got lower than 3 degrees Celsius last night, since he hasn't an ounce of fat (gram of fat? LOL) on his poor old body and I was seriously worried he mightn't survive a cold night. Our other cat hasn't left him alone since he came back in, constantly sniffing his tail: "What was it like? Was it totally cool, buddy? I wish I could have gone too! Tell me, was it totally excellent out there? C'mon, man, did you smell anything really neat?"
Anyway, all is well, and he's back inside, safe and sound. Will we be able to keep him back on the farm now that he's seen Paree?
Off to the Stones concert tonight!

Stoned on the Deck

So how cool is this? I am sitting on the deck of my brother-in-law's house with his wife, sipping wine and listening to the Rolling Stones' concert at Taylor Field, two blocks away. It is too funny! I live in Regina, a small city of less than 200,000 people, hardly the typical venue for a typical Stones' concert. I can hear Mick's cockney twang as he introduces the band and chit chats with the crowd and I am finding it hard to realise that Keith Richards and Mick Jagger are just over there, a stone's throw away (whoops -- sorry, bad pun). That's really Keith Richards' twangy guitar and those "woo ooo"s are really Mick belting it out. And Sunday night my sister-in-law and I will be watching it for real! I am so looking forward to this! In the mean time, excuse me while I kick back and sip a little more wine while Mick sings to me...

So Many Books, So Little Time

Reading: Terry Goodkind's Naked Empire (2003)
Weekly Weigh in: 159

I feel a real sense of accomplishment reading anything whose date is prefixed by 20-something. For so long I have tended to immerse myself in the literatures of the 19th and early 20th centuries that I feel like I'm really "with it" if I manage to read something published in the last 5 years. On the other hand, I still have a lot of catching up to do, so after I get caught up on the Sword of Truth series and Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe collections, back I'll go to older work.
I have been working my way through a syllabus of pre-1945 British and American fiction in a general way for the last couple of years. Given that British literature has always had more of my attention, I thought I ought to try to redress the balance by reading more American lit. When I started my studies at the University of Toronto in the early '80s, they asked English students to choose a course from one of about 10 different areas of historical or geographical interest; however, the following year, they abandoned those criteria and divided required courses merely into pre- and post-1800 categories.
I stuck to the original prescription, since it seemed to be a good plan, but cheated when it came to fulfilling the North American literature category. I could take a course in American or Canadian literature, .... OR (given the removal of any limitations) I could take another course in the Renaissance literature that I loved. Neither CanLit nor YankLit appealed to me much back then, so I opted for a wonderful course on Renaissance prose and poetry under the learned eye of Guy Hamel. I don't regret my decision for a minute, even though Dr Hamel was more of a Milton enthusiast than I will ever be, but I do find myself wishing now I had found the nationalistic spark to take a Canadian lit. course at some point. I now teach a few Canadian novels, and love nurturing an interest in them in my students, but I carry a slightly penitential feeling with me even so...
So here I am 20 years later, ploughing my way through YankLit and other writers of the first half of the 20th century -- Henry James (though I'm not sure he counts as a Yank, really) and Nathanael West and Ellen Glasgow and Theodore Dreiser. Along the way I have discovered some writers I adore, like Bernard Malamud whose The Fixer I was struck by as a teenager and whose The Assistant moved me immeasurably reading it last year. (That story of a little Brooklyn grocer will stay with me forever.) Ellen Glasgow was also a pleasant surprise, but Normal Mailer and Saul Bellow leave me cold, I discover.
So after my present spate of "fun" stuff (Goodkind and McLean), I will pick up my more serious, duty-bound thread of reading, and go back to Sinclair Lewis and Elizabeth Bowen, maybe some Graham Greene or e.e.cummings. Still a lot to get through, so I think this project will last me a good ten years! Yikes, what was I thinking?

Back on Track

Yee haw! I managed to run today and, despite three weeks of no running, and two of absolutely nothing at all, I DID IT! I was convinced I would never manage even 10 minutes, but I stuck it out. Mind you, I didn't run terribly fast. If I had done, I would have been too knackered to go on after about two minutes... I feel reassured that I can keep up to the pace I was at before the unintentional hiatus: 7:1. Ran into one of the janitorial staff at the college having a walk while I was walking the last few minutes. Had a nice chat with her. She is my age, and a breast cancer survivor. Cool woman -- my hat's off to her.

The DD is dancing around the house to Kylie Minogue. It seems appropriate that she is doing this in her bathing suit. Kylie doesn't wear much more than that, does she?

Pillars of the Vinyl Cafe

Reading: Stuart McLean's Stories from the Vinyl Cafe (1996).

I actually went for a walk today, my first purposeful exercise in two weeks. Walked less than a mile and a half, but it was a beautiful sunny day, the warmth and blue skies at odds with the crunch of dead leaves underfoot. I will try to have a run tomorrow -- a bit trepidatious about not doing very well. It's been three weeks since I went for a run.

I am thrilled to have finally finished the Terry Goodkind novel. It was OK - not bad, not great. A rather predictable ending. I am now sinking into Stuart McLean's set of short stories from 1996 rather like sinking into a warm bath. Over the next few months I will be reading both Goodkind and McLean, back and forth. I admit I have sidestepped reading the political book my husband wanted me to read. (I am slapping my wrist now, OK?)