I came across the word in the title when fact checking for the term "Renaissance man". I think this is what I strive and will strive to be all my life (no, not a man but a woman).
In our college language, I think the term is "well-rounded". I hope to become a mildly successful linguist, journalist, editor, wolfer, composer, writer, and cyclist.
I study subjects that are very integrative (haha get it?) and broad, or so I want them to be. Although I'm weak at forming ideas of my own, I do have my own opinions on things. I just can't debate them--I must write it down.
I am not just a ________. I am a Renaissance (wo)man. I want to live in the Renaissance.
vendredi 13 juillet 2007
Am I Actually Studying Anthropology?
According to the wiki, both geography and linguistics falls under the broad field of anthropology. When I took an intro course to anthro/socio/psyche in grade 11, I hated anthropology with a passion. I did not want to look at fossils (one reason why I won’t study geology or paleo-anything), did not care about the found remains of some broad way back when, and did not care about the Mayans like everybody else did. Imagine my disdain after reading that, but I cannot deny it.
I just got offered an interview for a PAID position in downtown Toronto with the Ontario government. The person contacting me said my resume was “impressive”, but I think he should tell that to all the other people that never contacted me. I know LC would love this position as it deals with archaeology (yet another branch of stupid anthro). I would also love this position because it pays and also because I can finally add some real GIS experience to my resume. I figure if I’m going to work in any of the fields I study, it’ll be either strictly academic for linguistics or working with GIS for geography—either an analyst or a technician. Unfortunately, I’m already at a “job” that I love/like, although it’s unpaid and it straddles many favourable boundaries such as time, money, and location. I’m mostly fact checking and researching, but since I’m working at a magazine that deals with geography I’m fascinated by every single article that gets handed to me. Right now, and after this, I will just try to get my name in print in any other sources. Then I think I will try to go for a (paid) internship at a famous publication. If I got the job with Heritage and Libraries, I’d be looking at…archaeological sites. Whoopee. Now there are two forks in the row, the one heading straight to the future or the one that loops back into itself and along the way has posts marked with the words “regret”, “shoulda”, “lost opportunity” and the like. My regret as I had to sadly put the interview down was very great. I wanted to quit Ottawa right away, go back to Toronto and scream, “I’m all yours!” But after about three hours of contemplation, I’ve decided to shelve this missed opportunity as just another. I thought about where that opportunity could’ve led me to, and where this one is currently leading me. Both expose me to professional worlds, one in archaeology/GIS, the other in journalism/geography. I could go into journalism. I really like it—I love interviewing people you would not talk to in any other job and learning about their experiences, their fields of expertise, and feeling so much more informed. I could do research with linguistics. I could work in GIS. Any which way, I’m an information junkie, says jobfutures.ca, so just give me facts or a chance to research and I will be addicted.
I just got offered an interview for a PAID position in downtown Toronto with the Ontario government. The person contacting me said my resume was “impressive”, but I think he should tell that to all the other people that never contacted me. I know LC would love this position as it deals with archaeology (yet another branch of stupid anthro). I would also love this position because it pays and also because I can finally add some real GIS experience to my resume. I figure if I’m going to work in any of the fields I study, it’ll be either strictly academic for linguistics or working with GIS for geography—either an analyst or a technician. Unfortunately, I’m already at a “job” that I love/like, although it’s unpaid and it straddles many favourable boundaries such as time, money, and location. I’m mostly fact checking and researching, but since I’m working at a magazine that deals with geography I’m fascinated by every single article that gets handed to me. Right now, and after this, I will just try to get my name in print in any other sources. Then I think I will try to go for a (paid) internship at a famous publication. If I got the job with Heritage and Libraries, I’d be looking at…archaeological sites. Whoopee. Now there are two forks in the row, the one heading straight to the future or the one that loops back into itself and along the way has posts marked with the words “regret”, “shoulda”, “lost opportunity” and the like. My regret as I had to sadly put the interview down was very great. I wanted to quit Ottawa right away, go back to Toronto and scream, “I’m all yours!” But after about three hours of contemplation, I’ve decided to shelve this missed opportunity as just another. I thought about where that opportunity could’ve led me to, and where this one is currently leading me. Both expose me to professional worlds, one in archaeology/GIS, the other in journalism/geography. I could go into journalism. I really like it—I love interviewing people you would not talk to in any other job and learning about their experiences, their fields of expertise, and feeling so much more informed. I could do research with linguistics. I could work in GIS. Any which way, I’m an information junkie, says jobfutures.ca, so just give me facts or a chance to research and I will be addicted.
jeudi 12 juillet 2007
Oh, Ottawa!
July 9, 2007
Here I am! In Ottawa, and it’s freakin’ noisy. In my room, that is. Since the house backs on to a major nightclubbing street and at 1 in the morning I hear drunken girls shrieking and then a sudden huge chorus of “Happy Birthday to You” and since it is used as a throughway for loud loud loud buses and trucks, I can never get decent sleep. Sure, I fall asleep eventually due to exhaustion but I never sleep through those critical hours. Damn. It’s going to be like that for 10 more months. Get used to it, Jenn! Oh, and it’s hot. Humid, sticky, hot. I forgot to bring a fan, and now that I know how noisy it is I don’t want to open the window. My covers are still the ones left over to prepare for Ottawa winters so I don’t even know why I’m covering up. As for the uncleanliness, I guess I was prepared for what I’ve seen so far because it’s not any dirtier or cleaner than I expected. There is one dead bug in the washroom, the living room is full of dirt, the kitchen reeks, and my room has bits and pieces of every tidbit possible.
Yesterday was just setting up and getting used to the whole thing, but today I went out and did some errands, aka prep work. I heard the news, I saw the cloudy sky, and still I stepped outside just at the time when it was beginning to pour like helk. I had my windbreaker/best raingear ever on and I had my umbrella overtop of my head, but with every stride I took the bottom portion of my pants became more and more soaked. Besides, wearing my windbreaker was hot because as I said, even though it was raining, it was raining for a reason: the humidity. I was sweating from within and without. Of course the torrent had to stop 10 minutes into the walk so that I could admonish myself on why I had to leave 10 minutes early, but so goes my coincidental life.
Back in downtown Toronto I came by a post office and went inside, looking at some Official First Day Covers (OFDCs), which I collect. I asked if they had the FIFA U-20 World Cup ones and they said they were sold out, so I thought I’d wait until I came to Ottawa to get it. Part of my errands was to get this thing worth less than $2 but seemed to me to be worth hundreds of dollars. I go into the in the Rideau Centre and the clerk says they sold out, “But you might want to try the office on Sparks and Elgin. They might have some left,” she adds. Despite that I start freaking out. I’ve never collected any OFDCs that sold out before! This thing must be huge (or Canada Post just didn’t have a large print so that it seems as if it’s popular)! I go to Sparks and Elgin because it’s on my way to the Ministry of Health office. I go into this building that looks like what a real post office should look like. Instead of having to ask for OFDCs stored behind the counter, they are in browseable racks! And there’s countertops for you to write your mail! And the architecture is this sort of grandiose thing you would come to expect in a post office! I’m sure coming here more often—better than in a Shopper’s Drug Mart or some scrubby little mall’s basement. And of course they have the FIFA thing (which I’m excited to go to on Sunday, if all goes according to plan)!
So about my going to Environment Canada—it’s really stupid. For a week now I have inflamed lungs so that I can’t breathe when night falls. Ever since my family physician who I’ve seen once and who I personally think sucked, I don’t really have a family doctor and I was going to see one in Richmond Hill for my problem but I called in late too late (she was away on the day I called and she was, of course, fully booked for the next day, and the day after that was yesterday in which I left for Ottawa). I get to Ottawa yesterday thinking I can go in a walk-in clinic and have my breathing/not dying fixed. I go to my campus clinic and they’re closed. I go into a public clinic and give them my OHIP card, then wait. 15 minutes later they say my card is invalid, it’s probably stolen, if I want to see a doctor I’d have to pay $58 or wait until tomorrow to go to the OHIP office to get a new card since it’s closed today. Umm, no. Last time I checked, it worked and it’s a real card with everything on it correct. Just one teensy-weensy problem: When signing forms for the campus clinic, I wrote down my dorm address and they had sent me a new health card, which I had cheerfully cut up and thrown away, knowing that they knew that my real permanent address was my Richmond Hill one. Well, it so happens that once you get a new government-issued card you must throw away the other. Duh. I don’t find that out for 4 months. Off I go, my lungs still weak and palpitating, wheezing, to the office. Fortunately the people there were really helpful and nice. They say that the university’s mistake is a common one. I love when anyone working with the public show that they actually care.
That also applies to the doctor I saw today for my failing lungs, and the pharmacist who gave me my medicine. They explained to me thoroughly what everything was for, what was happening with me, and why and how. People who work in these professions can’t just love medicine—they must love working with and caring for people above all.
This is the first time in my life that I’ve had to think of what to eat for all three meals, and have the process of buying, sorting, cooking and cleaning just to eat is tedious. I’m always so tempted to go to a resto or order take-out but I know I’m very tight on a budget and I just can’t afford it. I’m having quite crappy meals right now, comprised of minimal amounts of cooking (boiling rice, frying eggs) and consisting of a maximum of two ingredients (e.g. rice and nori). I’ve been looking at simple recipes for meals I would be happy to sit down to eat, but just looking at needing to buy ingredients then having stuff left over makes my head spin. I guess I’ll try, but I’ve got to watch my budget.
And finally finally I have a room with my own TV in it! It sounds disgusting, and I plan to live in a place in the future where my bedroom consists of nothing but a bed and a nightstand, but for now this is great! No more having to be embarrassed about what you watch (Metropia, anyone?) or what you don’t, or when.
July 10, 2007
My first day on the job. I rode the bus there, but I walked back and it took me a little under half an hour so I guess I’m going to walk from now on. The office is very neat. The people are nice and professional, and I got assigned my own cubicle, e-mail and extension number. It’s like getting a real job, except with no $$$$$$$$$$! People came to me asking to get tasks done and I completed them, knowing that my work contributes to the outcome of the magazine. I took a 10-minute lunch because I felt uncomfortable hanging around in the kitchen and I stayed even after everyone had said goodbye because no one dismissed me, so after half an hour of silence I sort of dismissed myself. So this is what I’ll be doing full-time for a month or so. Towards the end of the day my eyes were really tired but I’m still on the computer now so I guess I’m okay.
Here I am! In Ottawa, and it’s freakin’ noisy. In my room, that is. Since the house backs on to a major nightclubbing street and at 1 in the morning I hear drunken girls shrieking and then a sudden huge chorus of “Happy Birthday to You” and since it is used as a throughway for loud loud loud buses and trucks, I can never get decent sleep. Sure, I fall asleep eventually due to exhaustion but I never sleep through those critical hours. Damn. It’s going to be like that for 10 more months. Get used to it, Jenn! Oh, and it’s hot. Humid, sticky, hot. I forgot to bring a fan, and now that I know how noisy it is I don’t want to open the window. My covers are still the ones left over to prepare for Ottawa winters so I don’t even know why I’m covering up. As for the uncleanliness, I guess I was prepared for what I’ve seen so far because it’s not any dirtier or cleaner than I expected. There is one dead bug in the washroom, the living room is full of dirt, the kitchen reeks, and my room has bits and pieces of every tidbit possible.
Yesterday was just setting up and getting used to the whole thing, but today I went out and did some errands, aka prep work. I heard the news, I saw the cloudy sky, and still I stepped outside just at the time when it was beginning to pour like helk. I had my windbreaker/best raingear ever on and I had my umbrella overtop of my head, but with every stride I took the bottom portion of my pants became more and more soaked. Besides, wearing my windbreaker was hot because as I said, even though it was raining, it was raining for a reason: the humidity. I was sweating from within and without. Of course the torrent had to stop 10 minutes into the walk so that I could admonish myself on why I had to leave 10 minutes early, but so goes my coincidental life.
Back in downtown Toronto I came by a post office and went inside, looking at some Official First Day Covers (OFDCs), which I collect. I asked if they had the FIFA U-20 World Cup ones and they said they were sold out, so I thought I’d wait until I came to Ottawa to get it. Part of my errands was to get this thing worth less than $2 but seemed to me to be worth hundreds of dollars. I go into the in the Rideau Centre and the clerk says they sold out, “But you might want to try the office on Sparks and Elgin. They might have some left,” she adds. Despite that I start freaking out. I’ve never collected any OFDCs that sold out before! This thing must be huge (or Canada Post just didn’t have a large print so that it seems as if it’s popular)! I go to Sparks and Elgin because it’s on my way to the Ministry of Health office. I go into this building that looks like what a real post office should look like. Instead of having to ask for OFDCs stored behind the counter, they are in browseable racks! And there’s countertops for you to write your mail! And the architecture is this sort of grandiose thing you would come to expect in a post office! I’m sure coming here more often—better than in a Shopper’s Drug Mart or some scrubby little mall’s basement. And of course they have the FIFA thing (which I’m excited to go to on Sunday, if all goes according to plan)!
So about my going to Environment Canada—it’s really stupid. For a week now I have inflamed lungs so that I can’t breathe when night falls. Ever since my family physician who I’ve seen once and who I personally think sucked, I don’t really have a family doctor and I was going to see one in Richmond Hill for my problem but I called in late too late (she was away on the day I called and she was, of course, fully booked for the next day, and the day after that was yesterday in which I left for Ottawa). I get to Ottawa yesterday thinking I can go in a walk-in clinic and have my breathing/not dying fixed. I go to my campus clinic and they’re closed. I go into a public clinic and give them my OHIP card, then wait. 15 minutes later they say my card is invalid, it’s probably stolen, if I want to see a doctor I’d have to pay $58 or wait until tomorrow to go to the OHIP office to get a new card since it’s closed today. Umm, no. Last time I checked, it worked and it’s a real card with everything on it correct. Just one teensy-weensy problem: When signing forms for the campus clinic, I wrote down my dorm address and they had sent me a new health card, which I had cheerfully cut up and thrown away, knowing that they knew that my real permanent address was my Richmond Hill one. Well, it so happens that once you get a new government-issued card you must throw away the other. Duh. I don’t find that out for 4 months. Off I go, my lungs still weak and palpitating, wheezing, to the office. Fortunately the people there were really helpful and nice. They say that the university’s mistake is a common one. I love when anyone working with the public show that they actually care.
That also applies to the doctor I saw today for my failing lungs, and the pharmacist who gave me my medicine. They explained to me thoroughly what everything was for, what was happening with me, and why and how. People who work in these professions can’t just love medicine—they must love working with and caring for people above all.
This is the first time in my life that I’ve had to think of what to eat for all three meals, and have the process of buying, sorting, cooking and cleaning just to eat is tedious. I’m always so tempted to go to a resto or order take-out but I know I’m very tight on a budget and I just can’t afford it. I’m having quite crappy meals right now, comprised of minimal amounts of cooking (boiling rice, frying eggs) and consisting of a maximum of two ingredients (e.g. rice and nori). I’ve been looking at simple recipes for meals I would be happy to sit down to eat, but just looking at needing to buy ingredients then having stuff left over makes my head spin. I guess I’ll try, but I’ve got to watch my budget.
And finally finally I have a room with my own TV in it! It sounds disgusting, and I plan to live in a place in the future where my bedroom consists of nothing but a bed and a nightstand, but for now this is great! No more having to be embarrassed about what you watch (Metropia, anyone?) or what you don’t, or when.
July 10, 2007
My first day on the job. I rode the bus there, but I walked back and it took me a little under half an hour so I guess I’m going to walk from now on. The office is very neat. The people are nice and professional, and I got assigned my own cubicle, e-mail and extension number. It’s like getting a real job, except with no $$$$$$$$$$! People came to me asking to get tasks done and I completed them, knowing that my work contributes to the outcome of the magazine. I took a 10-minute lunch because I felt uncomfortable hanging around in the kitchen and I stayed even after everyone had said goodbye because no one dismissed me, so after half an hour of silence I sort of dismissed myself. So this is what I’ll be doing full-time for a month or so. Towards the end of the day my eyes were really tired but I’m still on the computer now so I guess I’m okay.
jeudi 5 juillet 2007
What did I Get Myself Into?
So I'm going back to my School City to do an internship.
I'll be staying at the house I'll be renting for the school year.
At first I thought going back was such a good idea. I'd be living by myself, downtown, going wherever I wanted, meeting up with friends after work where I'll be getting experience and my name in print.
Instead, I'm looking at two extra months where I'll have absolutely no income and full-blown living expenses.
I'll have to buy groceries, set up Internet AND phone AND cable (which, you'll see, will take me weeks) and pay all those bills, get furniture for the house, and every time I go out I'll have to pay for everything. This kind of lifestyle means needing a reliable source of income but I'll have to work a full-time job without pay, a.k.a. non-paid internship.
I was thinking of getting a part-time job for weekends but as I've found out jobs aren't all that easy to come by.
So what am I doing, so excited to be getting away from my parents where meals, Internet, cable, and local phones (at least even having a phone in my room)...is free?
Not to mention I have all the essentials here, like Kleenex, for one thing, lots of my clothes.
In School City, it'd be okay to not go out if I had Internet/TV/phone/newspaper subscription but I don't so I have to go out or I'd be literally staring at four blank walls. But I can't go out because I don't have money. I'm just hoping my internship doesn't drain so much of my energy and time that I can't go to look for a job.
This really sucks, I'm sorry but it does. I'm going to cry. For these last few days at home, I've had my wireless-enabled laptop beside me just surfing away while the TV is blasting right in front of me and the phone is at my ear.
I'll be staying at the house I'll be renting for the school year.
At first I thought going back was such a good idea. I'd be living by myself, downtown, going wherever I wanted, meeting up with friends after work where I'll be getting experience and my name in print.
Instead, I'm looking at two extra months where I'll have absolutely no income and full-blown living expenses.
I'll have to buy groceries, set up Internet AND phone AND cable (which, you'll see, will take me weeks) and pay all those bills, get furniture for the house, and every time I go out I'll have to pay for everything. This kind of lifestyle means needing a reliable source of income but I'll have to work a full-time job without pay, a.k.a. non-paid internship.
I was thinking of getting a part-time job for weekends but as I've found out jobs aren't all that easy to come by.
So what am I doing, so excited to be getting away from my parents where meals, Internet, cable, and local phones (at least even having a phone in my room)...is free?
Not to mention I have all the essentials here, like Kleenex, for one thing, lots of my clothes.
In School City, it'd be okay to not go out if I had Internet/TV/phone/newspaper subscription but I don't so I have to go out or I'd be literally staring at four blank walls. But I can't go out because I don't have money. I'm just hoping my internship doesn't drain so much of my energy and time that I can't go to look for a job.
This really sucks, I'm sorry but it does. I'm going to cry. For these last few days at home, I've had my wireless-enabled laptop beside me just surfing away while the TV is blasting right in front of me and the phone is at my ear.
mercredi 4 juillet 2007
All in the Same Day
Today, it is raining. Yesterday, the day was good. It was more than good. It was perfect, but wild, wondrous, coincidental, and surprisingly not that exhausting.
First, I closely followed Dessert By Candy's Toronto West Walking Tour knowing that I won't complete all of it. She said it took 6 hours, but I most of it, walking all the way to Spadina, in three hours.
I had never visited this part of Toronto before, so west, and I was excited. Of course I picked up a huge amount of business cards along the way. I missed many galleries along the way since I didn't want to keep on crisscrossing the streets right when I saw another potential for a great card (note: you can spot them by the design of their shops and signs), something I was already doing constantly. As I collected more and more cards along the way, my puny bag was bursting to the brim with cards and I was so afraid it would drop or burst and scatter all the cards everywhere right at the moment when I would be asking a shop for a business card. I blushed just thinking about the results of that disaster-to-be.
In following a tour I had printed out on paper in someone else's words, I kept on walking past stores I was supposed to go in on the tour since I was so caught up in collecting business cards. I'd realize that I was at store 703 already and I passed 956 three blocks ago.
On Queen West near the Dollarama I saw a random poem by Michael Roberts posted on a window. I wanted to take a picture but didn't have my camera with me.
I've heard about Terroni's before and I walked in thinking I could get just a slice of their $14 pizzas. No such thing. Dang. I was so full (and broke) from the desserts, I didn't know what to do. I mentally planned on coming straight down to Terroni's another time and this time just settled for their business card.
When I reached walked past Fressen and saw Augusta leading into Kensington Market, it made me think of Joyce and I decided to call her to see whether or not she'd like to meet up with me later. I asked where she was and told her I was at Augusta. "I'm at Augusta too!" she said. I looked across the street and there she was! That was the weirdest thing. She just had lunch so she couldn't go anywhere with me and had to go back to work. I still had Le Gourmand of my tour to complete and she got off work in 2.5 hours, so I thought I could spend that much time in Queen West. Well, I had overestimated my patience. My leg was killing me, first my knee on my right foot and then my thigh of the left. I had to sit down. I killed 40 minutes at Le Gourmand but after that I became restless and headed off again...to where, though? I wandered around. This part of town isn't extremely new to me so I didn't want to go around killing my leg exploring that much. Luckily, I came across the store Criminal Records. I've been past this place many times whenever I come to Queen St. but I never got a chance to go inside until yesterday. It is AMAZING! It was my dream one-shop-for-rock store. I was always wondering where I could buy band t-shirts without having to a) have gone to a concert or b) endure the shipping and handling charges through online vendors. Well, here is the solution. I browsed the shirts but since I have little money right now I placed some orders for CDs instead. I was going to buy these CDs on Amazon anyway but I felt like supporting local shops. I always feel guilty when I buy something for very cheap on Amazon. It reminds me of going to a virtual Wal-Mart.
After that my right knee felt like it was (happily) tearing itself apart from my leg, and my stomach had nothing to eat but desserts all day. I quickly bought some Tums from a convenience store and chewed, hoping to speed up the process. After a few more minutes I hurried into a random restaurant and asked meekly if I could use their washroom.
This was at Spadina and Adelaide. As I walked back, I thought about dinner options for my sister and I. I've been craving Fresh for a while so I was happy to see one on Richmond so close by, but I knew J would hate me if I "dragged" her to another vegetarian place again so I thought of Terroni's just in case, although I didn't want to mess up my evening plans for Terroni's.
By this time I arrived on the southwest corner of Spadina and Queen and I just had to sit down for a bit. I rested on the steps of the bank and looked southeast. There was the CN Tower looming so very close, midday sun in the sky, streetcars and cars zooming past. I just had to take a picture so I used my camera phone. Funny, my camera phone is filled with all these pictures of downtown Toronto. Last year I did a whirlwind tour of all the sites (for free! because of the reciprocal program at Canada's Wonderland) and also didn't have a phone with me.
After a little more impatience and grumbling and tired legs and wasted time, I met J after work and coincidentally she had purchased a day pass! She gave it to me and bought tickets instead, since we had to go back and forth to her place. I discussed the Terroni's/Fresh thing with her and she decided she felt like pizza. I thought the Queen St. location of Terroni's was too far (and would therefore mess up my night plans) so I checked my business card, which took me forever to find and dig out since it was at the bottom of my massive pile, to see if there were closer locations. There was one on Victoria and though J claimed it was nearby we couldn't find it when we were heading east to her place. We were all the way in Regent Park and we took the bus down Parliament, then was heading for the Queen St. location by streetcar when it stopped right at Victoria. Taking a gamble, I looked closely at the street sign to see if we were at all close to 106 Victoria, which is where the restaurant is. The sign said we were right at 106 so we quickly got off the streetcar.
We ordered Gigarnelli pasta and Peppino pizza, and I ended up liking the pasta more than the pizza, although I loved both. I tend to usually do a bad thing and give better tips when the food is better so I felt guilty giving a small tip but I was completely broke. Well, not completely because we then headed to the Eaton Centre where I had hoped there was a Jacob Connexion so that I could buy the tank top I've been wanting. That's where I spent my last $10.
I then said goodbye to J as she headed off to H&M and I went up to...Dundas Square!
It so happened that Yonge-Dundas Square was going to show a public screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey (must I do the italics? I think not) outside, in public, amongst so many other people, in the heart of T.O, in the heart of a miniature NYTimesSqaure wannabe, and the movie was on my "To Watch" list!
I tried watching this movie when I was still too young and VCRs were still the main type of home video entertainment recording/watching device. I had barely watched any movies older than me, so I thought I'd get through this old, boring, classical music-infused thing of a doowopper by fast-forwarding through most of it. By the time I got to the part where the monkey started smashing the bones I was laughing uncontrollably and fast forwarded some more. I then got to the space apparatus and Blue Danube part and I started falling asleep, and once I saw people actually inside the spaceship it freaked me out and I gave up on watching it.
Jump to about 6 years later and I must admit, in public, under the stars, six years after the actual 2001, aircraft flying overhead with their red lights flashing, it was much more interesting than before.
I got there way too early for fear I would sit in the very back. I got a nice seat in the middle, but the only problem was everybody else was with somebody else and I was completely alone, nobody sitting beside me. Then a couple came and they sat beside me. This made me feel very depressed, actually, because the antics of the guy reminded me of those of MP. Anyway, right before the movie started this girl sat beside me. She was alone! She was from Mississauga and had seen the "Creatures" theme of the YDSquare screenings from last year (next year's theme is "Date Movies"). Before the movie was an episode of Flash Gordon, an extremely campy version of sci-fi movies and I lost interest in it quickly.
When the theme song for 2001 finally came on, I felt a chill up my spine, and it wasn't just because of the cold although it was getting dark and I was, in fact already quite cold at the time. It was because the sound was so frickin' loud! That would turn out to be a problem later on in the movie when the there were shrieks of high-pitchedness that would cause rock concert-goers to wince. I figured I'd probably be deaf by the time I hit 30 anyway, so I sort of shrugged it off, once, twice, the third time I plugged my ears.
When the monkey part was getting near, the MP-behave-alike half of the couple got up. The girl whipped out her camera and I was thinking, "I was going to take a picture too. Maybe I'll do that later." Suddenly this creature donning a hairy ape mask ran in front of the screen making monkey sounds and the girl was laughing, filming the whole thing. I wonder if it's on YouTube now.
Some notes on the actual film:
The fetus-in-space scared and amazed me at the same time, and as it floated into space, the music signalling the beginning of the end of the movie started and I was so entranced by it that when something touched my thigh I jumped right out of my seat. I had my cellphone in my pant pocket on to vibrate during the movie, just in case going home arrangements would be changed. My dad called to say he'd pick me up at the subway station, but at that time I thought it was the baby actually floating towards me and touching me or something. I was surprised that I didn't scream.
Well, that was that, I got back on the subway and went home although by that time I was dying for McDonald's fries because I saw everybody having Mickey D's for dinner (even though I had excellent Terroni's leftovers in my hands). The first time I went downtown by myself I remember by the time I got onto the subway to go back north I was exhausted, my eyes barely awake, leaning against the window, looking out, just wanting to sleep. I passed the station going from Davisville to Eglinton and I remember I felt as if the lighted condos were castles and I was floating in the sky. It was a magical moment only a city could give me and ever since I've come to Toronto I always wanted to experience it again. This time it was dark enough to see the lights come on, but way too dark so that the other side of the metro was reflected in the glass and I couldn't see anything else. Next time, I guess. I knew I couldn't have that much of a perfect day, but it was close. There were so many coincidences that I wonder if it wasn't the day made for me--I always had the exact amount of money, timing, and weather for me to go anywhere and do everything I wanted to on that day.
National Post's weekendly Toronto Magazine had in its previous edition "84 reasons to not leave Toronto for the summer". I've done a lot of them in a day, and so I guess I can say goodbye to Toronto for these hot days ahead. Hello Ottawa, next week!
First, I closely followed Dessert By Candy's Toronto West Walking Tour knowing that I won't complete all of it. She said it took 6 hours, but I most of it, walking all the way to Spadina, in three hours.
I had never visited this part of Toronto before, so west, and I was excited. Of course I picked up a huge amount of business cards along the way. I missed many galleries along the way since I didn't want to keep on crisscrossing the streets right when I saw another potential for a great card (note: you can spot them by the design of their shops and signs), something I was already doing constantly. As I collected more and more cards along the way, my puny bag was bursting to the brim with cards and I was so afraid it would drop or burst and scatter all the cards everywhere right at the moment when I would be asking a shop for a business card. I blushed just thinking about the results of that disaster-to-be.
In following a tour I had printed out on paper in someone else's words, I kept on walking past stores I was supposed to go in on the tour since I was so caught up in collecting business cards. I'd realize that I was at store 703 already and I passed 956 three blocks ago.
On Queen West near the Dollarama I saw a random poem by Michael Roberts posted on a window. I wanted to take a picture but didn't have my camera with me.
I've heard about Terroni's before and I walked in thinking I could get just a slice of their $14 pizzas. No such thing. Dang. I was so full (and broke) from the desserts, I didn't know what to do. I mentally planned on coming straight down to Terroni's another time and this time just settled for their business card.
When I reached walked past Fressen and saw Augusta leading into Kensington Market, it made me think of Joyce and I decided to call her to see whether or not she'd like to meet up with me later. I asked where she was and told her I was at Augusta. "I'm at Augusta too!" she said. I looked across the street and there she was! That was the weirdest thing. She just had lunch so she couldn't go anywhere with me and had to go back to work. I still had Le Gourmand of my tour to complete and she got off work in 2.5 hours, so I thought I could spend that much time in Queen West. Well, I had overestimated my patience. My leg was killing me, first my knee on my right foot and then my thigh of the left. I had to sit down. I killed 40 minutes at Le Gourmand but after that I became restless and headed off again...to where, though? I wandered around. This part of town isn't extremely new to me so I didn't want to go around killing my leg exploring that much. Luckily, I came across the store Criminal Records. I've been past this place many times whenever I come to Queen St. but I never got a chance to go inside until yesterday. It is AMAZING! It was my dream one-shop-for-rock store. I was always wondering where I could buy band t-shirts without having to a) have gone to a concert or b) endure the shipping and handling charges through online vendors. Well, here is the solution. I browsed the shirts but since I have little money right now I placed some orders for CDs instead. I was going to buy these CDs on Amazon anyway but I felt like supporting local shops. I always feel guilty when I buy something for very cheap on Amazon. It reminds me of going to a virtual Wal-Mart.
After that my right knee felt like it was (happily) tearing itself apart from my leg, and my stomach had nothing to eat but desserts all day. I quickly bought some Tums from a convenience store and chewed, hoping to speed up the process. After a few more minutes I hurried into a random restaurant and asked meekly if I could use their washroom.
This was at Spadina and Adelaide. As I walked back, I thought about dinner options for my sister and I. I've been craving Fresh for a while so I was happy to see one on Richmond so close by, but I knew J would hate me if I "dragged" her to another vegetarian place again so I thought of Terroni's just in case, although I didn't want to mess up my evening plans for Terroni's.
By this time I arrived on the southwest corner of Spadina and Queen and I just had to sit down for a bit. I rested on the steps of the bank and looked southeast. There was the CN Tower looming so very close, midday sun in the sky, streetcars and cars zooming past. I just had to take a picture so I used my camera phone. Funny, my camera phone is filled with all these pictures of downtown Toronto. Last year I did a whirlwind tour of all the sites (for free! because of the reciprocal program at Canada's Wonderland) and also didn't have a phone with me.
After a little more impatience and grumbling and tired legs and wasted time, I met J after work and coincidentally she had purchased a day pass! She gave it to me and bought tickets instead, since we had to go back and forth to her place. I discussed the Terroni's/Fresh thing with her and she decided she felt like pizza. I thought the Queen St. location of Terroni's was too far (and would therefore mess up my night plans) so I checked my business card, which took me forever to find and dig out since it was at the bottom of my massive pile, to see if there were closer locations. There was one on Victoria and though J claimed it was nearby we couldn't find it when we were heading east to her place. We were all the way in Regent Park and we took the bus down Parliament, then was heading for the Queen St. location by streetcar when it stopped right at Victoria. Taking a gamble, I looked closely at the street sign to see if we were at all close to 106 Victoria, which is where the restaurant is. The sign said we were right at 106 so we quickly got off the streetcar.
We ordered Gigarnelli pasta and Peppino pizza, and I ended up liking the pasta more than the pizza, although I loved both. I tend to usually do a bad thing and give better tips when the food is better so I felt guilty giving a small tip but I was completely broke. Well, not completely because we then headed to the Eaton Centre where I had hoped there was a Jacob Connexion so that I could buy the tank top I've been wanting. That's where I spent my last $10.
I then said goodbye to J as she headed off to H&M and I went up to...Dundas Square!
It so happened that Yonge-Dundas Square was going to show a public screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey (must I do the italics? I think not) outside, in public, amongst so many other people, in the heart of T.O, in the heart of a miniature NYTimesSqaure wannabe, and the movie was on my "To Watch" list!
I tried watching this movie when I was still too young and VCRs were still the main type of home video entertainment recording/watching device. I had barely watched any movies older than me, so I thought I'd get through this old, boring, classical music-infused thing of a doowopper by fast-forwarding through most of it. By the time I got to the part where the monkey started smashing the bones I was laughing uncontrollably and fast forwarded some more. I then got to the space apparatus and Blue Danube part and I started falling asleep, and once I saw people actually inside the spaceship it freaked me out and I gave up on watching it.
Jump to about 6 years later and I must admit, in public, under the stars, six years after the actual 2001, aircraft flying overhead with their red lights flashing, it was much more interesting than before.
I got there way too early for fear I would sit in the very back. I got a nice seat in the middle, but the only problem was everybody else was with somebody else and I was completely alone, nobody sitting beside me. Then a couple came and they sat beside me. This made me feel very depressed, actually, because the antics of the guy reminded me of those of MP. Anyway, right before the movie started this girl sat beside me. She was alone! She was from Mississauga and had seen the "Creatures" theme of the YDSquare screenings from last year (next year's theme is "Date Movies"). Before the movie was an episode of Flash Gordon, an extremely campy version of sci-fi movies and I lost interest in it quickly.
When the theme song for 2001 finally came on, I felt a chill up my spine, and it wasn't just because of the cold although it was getting dark and I was, in fact already quite cold at the time. It was because the sound was so frickin' loud! That would turn out to be a problem later on in the movie when the there were shrieks of high-pitchedness that would cause rock concert-goers to wince. I figured I'd probably be deaf by the time I hit 30 anyway, so I sort of shrugged it off, once, twice, the third time I plugged my ears.
When the monkey part was getting near, the MP-behave-alike half of the couple got up. The girl whipped out her camera and I was thinking, "I was going to take a picture too. Maybe I'll do that later." Suddenly this creature donning a hairy ape mask ran in front of the screen making monkey sounds and the girl was laughing, filming the whole thing. I wonder if it's on YouTube now.
Some notes on the actual film:
- I don't really know who the actor is (Keir Dullea) or what other films he's been in, but he looked a lot like Daniel Bruhl.
- IBM is from every letter next to HAL in the alphabet
The fetus-in-space scared and amazed me at the same time, and as it floated into space, the music signalling the beginning of the end of the movie started and I was so entranced by it that when something touched my thigh I jumped right out of my seat. I had my cellphone in my pant pocket on to vibrate during the movie, just in case going home arrangements would be changed. My dad called to say he'd pick me up at the subway station, but at that time I thought it was the baby actually floating towards me and touching me or something. I was surprised that I didn't scream.
Well, that was that, I got back on the subway and went home although by that time I was dying for McDonald's fries because I saw everybody having Mickey D's for dinner (even though I had excellent Terroni's leftovers in my hands). The first time I went downtown by myself I remember by the time I got onto the subway to go back north I was exhausted, my eyes barely awake, leaning against the window, looking out, just wanting to sleep. I passed the station going from Davisville to Eglinton and I remember I felt as if the lighted condos were castles and I was floating in the sky. It was a magical moment only a city could give me and ever since I've come to Toronto I always wanted to experience it again. This time it was dark enough to see the lights come on, but way too dark so that the other side of the metro was reflected in the glass and I couldn't see anything else. Next time, I guess. I knew I couldn't have that much of a perfect day, but it was close. There were so many coincidences that I wonder if it wasn't the day made for me--I always had the exact amount of money, timing, and weather for me to go anywhere and do everything I wanted to on that day.
National Post's weekendly Toronto Magazine had in its previous edition "84 reasons to not leave Toronto for the summer". I've done a lot of them in a day, and so I guess I can say goodbye to Toronto for these hot days ahead. Hello Ottawa, next week!
jeudi 28 juin 2007
Rich Man's Hill, Poor Man's Burden
I was just about to go to bed but I'm so angry that I'm writing this first.
Richmond Hill sucks. It was announced that it's building a Performing Arts Centre, and I was sort of happy about that until I stopped to think about it and then asked myself, "Ever since its incorporation in 1873 (compliments of Wikipedia), how come they waited this long to build an arts centre? With a population of 165 000, shouldn't they have built one long ago?"
I ride my bicycle through Yonge Street, the "downtown" portion of the town consisting of a narrow street and a very small space with a few shops, and the streets are deserted.
I hate to compare, but Oakville, Ontario has a similar population and...let's see...an established Performing Arts Centre, a vibrant downtown experience, an orchestra, a ballet company...
There are 4 libraries. The wiki didn't tell me the actual area of this God-forsaken place, but considering it is quite long length-wise I don't think 4 branches helps at all.
The more I researched into this place, hoping to find some sort of redemption, the more I wanted to pack my bags and leave immediately, dragging my family with me out of this suburban-soaked peepeehole.
It's not just the arts, either. In the 2006 Welcome Guide, the Town of Richmond Hill lists its attractions as follows: a wave pool, a couple of parks, and a community centre. I was laughing my head off after that.
RH is sucky because there's no sense of residential identity. Who cares what being a Canadian means--what does being a Richmond Hillian mean? The bigger towns nearby--Vaughan and Markham--soak up all the business opportunities that RH could ever have. It's a place that is the example that is all that is bad about suburbs. One can absolutely not get anywhere without a car, unless you're going next door (but since you have no sense of community who cares about that, right?). You need to drive for miles to go to work, school, play, shop, eat. In fact, it's not just miles. You must drive out of town to go to work, school, play, shop, eat. There's literally nothing here for you. "Hey! I've got an idea! Let's move to RH but not really live there!" Whoever came up with that is a prodigal moron who despises the thought of a comm-un-i-ty.
I told my mom this and she reasoned, "It's just been starting to develop very recently. Prior to that, it was more of a farming town. Maybe there's so many close things nearby that the municipality plans to make money on housing taxes alone."
Ugh. I don't have much more to say. I don't think I can really put this into words, and even pictures won't do--you have to actually be here and live the experience to see what I'm talking about.
Richmond Hill sucks. It was announced that it's building a Performing Arts Centre, and I was sort of happy about that until I stopped to think about it and then asked myself, "Ever since its incorporation in 1873 (compliments of Wikipedia), how come they waited this long to build an arts centre? With a population of 165 000, shouldn't they have built one long ago?"
I ride my bicycle through Yonge Street, the "downtown" portion of the town consisting of a narrow street and a very small space with a few shops, and the streets are deserted.
I hate to compare, but Oakville, Ontario has a similar population and...let's see...an established Performing Arts Centre, a vibrant downtown experience, an orchestra, a ballet company...
There are 4 libraries. The wiki didn't tell me the actual area of this God-forsaken place, but considering it is quite long length-wise I don't think 4 branches helps at all.
The more I researched into this place, hoping to find some sort of redemption, the more I wanted to pack my bags and leave immediately, dragging my family with me out of this suburban-soaked peepeehole.
It's not just the arts, either. In the 2006 Welcome Guide, the Town of Richmond Hill lists its attractions as follows: a wave pool, a couple of parks, and a community centre. I was laughing my head off after that.
RH is sucky because there's no sense of residential identity. Who cares what being a Canadian means--what does being a Richmond Hillian mean? The bigger towns nearby--Vaughan and Markham--soak up all the business opportunities that RH could ever have. It's a place that is the example that is all that is bad about suburbs. One can absolutely not get anywhere without a car, unless you're going next door (but since you have no sense of community who cares about that, right?). You need to drive for miles to go to work, school, play, shop, eat. In fact, it's not just miles. You must drive out of town to go to work, school, play, shop, eat. There's literally nothing here for you. "Hey! I've got an idea! Let's move to RH but not really live there!" Whoever came up with that is a prodigal moron who despises the thought of a comm-un-i-ty.
I told my mom this and she reasoned, "It's just been starting to develop very recently. Prior to that, it was more of a farming town. Maybe there's so many close things nearby that the municipality plans to make money on housing taxes alone."
Ugh. I don't have much more to say. I don't think I can really put this into words, and even pictures won't do--you have to actually be here and live the experience to see what I'm talking about.
mercredi 27 juin 2007
"Hey, you wanna go to a movie?"
The suburbs has always occured to me to be such a cookie-cutter place. The houses, the food chains, the supermarkets, the cars, the whole lifestyle is so same. It hides under the facade of a wealth of choices when in fact it's just a repundant place over and over again.
I grew up in the epitome of Suburbia in Southwestern Ontario, aka the GTA and I still live in the suburbs. There is nothing but houses and car-park garages with little kiddy families for 15 minutes biking. After that, there's a plaza: rebundant with the likes of a Loblaws, a McDonald's, Roger's Video, Blockbuster, Country Style, Second Cup, William's Coffee Pub, Tim Horton's, Ho-Lee-Chow, Swiss Chalet. There's a (I hope) privately owned pizza shop and Chinese restaurant but that's about it. It's like living in the countryside without the scenery nor the serenity. But wait...what's that tucked into the corner? Empire Theatres!
Yes, the cookie cutting has not stopped at theatres! Yesterday I took an hour of my precious time out of my day to do some statistical analysis of the GTA's movie theatres. I saw a whole page of the newspaper dedicated to film/theatre listings so I just based it on those. Here are my results:
- GTA has 52 theatres owned by 5 companies (Cineplex, Rainbow Cinemas, Alliance Atlantis, AMC, Empire Theatres)
- Cineplex has the most theatres--37
- a small number of movies dominate a large number of theatres
- 12 movies are shown in ~40 of the theatres
- of those, 7 are of a series (Fantastic Four, Shrek 3, Ocean's 13, POTC 3, Live Free or Die Hard, Spiderman 3, Evan Almighty sort of)
- 38 other movies are shown in ~1-2 theatres
- for all of the GTA, 50 movies are screened
- there are 537 screens in total
- that goes to say that a total of 50 movies are shown on 537 screens! Why isn't this number higher? Why in the world can't there be 537 movies showing across the GTA?
The facade of the suburban movie-going experience ridiculous and shameful. I know downtown has other screenings and has indie films and stuff, but then again I worship downtown and it has everything. I don't get why people today, myself included, are so brainwashed to vomit $10 to see this kind of crap. The box-office numbers are in the millions and budgets for Hollywood movies are in millions, billions.
Meanwhile, at the local library, I saw a great collection of foreign language movies.
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