Random Ramblings

This entry was composed on the train returning to Toronto.

First, a few brief points of note:

( (re)inventing myself; language crossovers; who needs sleep? )

And now onto something a little more significant: the reason I came into Montreal, my grandfather's bar mitzvah.

( My impressions of the ceremony and other moving stuff behind this cut )

Right. As I said, this was composed on the train, so that I can just copy/paste it when I get back to my room. It's 11:10, I'm already tired, and suspect I won't get any less tired between now and the time I go to bed. I'm posting this and collapsing. So... g'night all!

So far today, I've written 7 pages of my first term paper, done all my readings for tomorrow, did decently in Latin class despite forgetting my translation at home, saw my brother, had a really good home-cooked dinner, and watched an episode of B5. Oh, and I discovered my PS2 memory card, which had been lost for at least 6 months. (It was in the side pocket of my backpack all along.) All in all, I'd say my day has been pretty good.

Tomorrow, the plan is to write another 3-4 pages of my paper, go to class, show my brother around Massey and Chestnut, and have another tasty home-cooked dinner. Fingers crossed.

G'night all.

I can tell I'm overwhelmed by the fact that I'm getting a late start on doing work today and I'm not stressed. I've passed beyond the point of stress and am in the "eh, frick it" stage. This is not good. It's only the second week of classes. I'm going to try to do a Latin blitz before I need to leave for class and hopefully get today's stuff translated and do the exercize. Other things to do today:

1. write a short (1-2 page) anotated bibliography entry of something I've already read (due tomorrow)
2. read at least 70 pages of Romance of the Rose (180 pages due Wednesday)
3. photocopy and read a bunch of articles for music history (due next week)

And now, to distract myself from all that, a brief update of late night.

( It's behind the cut, because this entry's already going long )

Latin Boggle was, apparently, a rousing success. If anything, it's even easier than English Boggle once you've got the vocabulary. Let's hear it for highly inflected languages. Players shifted but there tended to be 4-5 people playing at any given time. Most of them tended to be people who had passed the PhD exam, so I learned lots, too. Yay!

After a brief stop at Massey I went off to dinner with my Aunt and cousin. Yummy and filling. Then back to Massey to watch the second half of Batman Begins. Still like it, but I'd forgotten how cheesy some of it is.

Then I dealt poker. I still love doing it. People don't get why I want to deal and not play, but I do it because I can feel like part of the action without risking any money. Yay for no-risk fun.

Finally, on my walk home, I did a good deed and helped out a guy who looked like he needed it. Wherever you are, get home safely.

That's it for today. Tomorrow will have tutoring, gaming, and possibly christmas pudding. G'night all!

Good news: I had my first visitor (Uncle Steve). I had a very tasty dinner before that.
Bad news: It's much later than I wanted it to be.

G'night, everyone!

So, the last few days in a nutshell:

( Sunday )
( Monday )
( Tuesday )

Now I am home. Tomorrow will be very busy, full of tasty food, sake, and friends (who might be tasty, but I haven't checked). I appologize for the silliness of this post -- I'm just waiting for my computer's battery to charge up so I can calibrate it overnight.

All right, the requisite "what I've been doing for the last few days" post. It's fairly boring, feel free to skip over it. (I realize I ramble when I'm tired... sue me.)

( My weekend in a nutshell )

( And now for today )

That's it for now. I hereby return you to your reguarly scheduled lives, with two brief exceptions:

Kris and Nancy, I want to see you guys soon. Yan, you too -- are you going to tam-tams this weekend?

So my night at the country was great. I spent time relaxing and unwinding, talking to my uncle and my cousins, got a nifty new toy (Magnetix, I'll post the link when I'm feeling energetic enough to get out the box). We had a bonfire. Had a huge dinner last night and a huge breakfast this morning, both execellent. It was exactly what I'd been wanting for a while, so that's all good.

And then I got home. First off, I had to wait at my grandmother's house for 45 minutes waiting for her caregiver to show up. She has alsheimers. She is deteriorating. I really hate watching it, because it pains me to see this formerly independent, charming, charismatic woman become completely confused and helpless. Every thirty seconds or so she'd ask if I wanted something to eat or drink, not realizing she'd already asked me.

I also went shopping. The plan was to buy t-shirts, new sneakers, a cardigan, and a new watch. I wound up buying a skirt, two button-down shirts, and a heavy zip-up sweater. So much for plans. Nice stuff, but I'm going to have to go out again tomorrow. And, to take a now from aeramel's "dumbass of the week" awards: the cashier at Fairweather in Cote Vertu. Three cashes, and she couldn't get any of them to work or get off her ass to call over someone to help her. She held up the line for over a half-hour without serving anyone. Grr!

So I'm back to being stressed out and keyed up. So long, good effects of country! I'll go play with my Magnetix now and try to calm down.