Yes, you heard it here first. This town is such a hellhole, that I have taken my MA-ridden ass into the welfare process. I don't suspect that I'll get anything, but I want them to explain to me why I am on the brink of starvation, when all I need is a damned $7 an hour table-bussing job for three months! I want them to tell me to my face that my kind isn't wanted in Cracktown, Ontario. Then, I can go downtown, with a sign, and join the other hopeless cases bumming for change with a Tim Horton's cup- a sign reading: "WILL TRANSLATE ANCIENT ARAMAIC FOR FOOD!"
I don't mean all this in jest. I really am strapped for money and ideas. I have looked everywhere, apply to about 15 jobs a week (everything for which I can possibly even fake being qualified), and have yet to actually get a call. Not even the recycling sorters will hire me!
If Paul Martin can buy votes, whom do I have to blow to get a job?
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Monday, May 30, 2005
We're back from hiatus!
Hi- I'm back, live, from Christine's living room.
There were 42 emails waiting for me (I'm so loved, eh?), so I can't dawdle.
Onward and upward!
There were 42 emails waiting for me (I'm so loved, eh?), so I can't dawdle.
Onward and upward!
Still No Job...
May 27th
Had an excellent time watching Star Wars, and went to see Episode III again yesterday at noon. Was even better the second time. Spent the day watching the original trilogy again. I can't tell if I'm at the beginning of a full-blown jag, or just finished one.
Been having a horrible time sleeping- staying up late working/reading, waking up with awful dreams, and then not being able to sleep in. A short story came to me in a dream, fully formed, though, so maybe I am willing to accept the relatively small inconvenience of the nightmare that brought it!
Had an excellent time watching Star Wars, and went to see Episode III again yesterday at noon. Was even better the second time. Spent the day watching the original trilogy again. I can't tell if I'm at the beginning of a full-blown jag, or just finished one.
Been having a horrible time sleeping- staying up late working/reading, waking up with awful dreams, and then not being able to sleep in. A short story came to me in a dream, fully formed, though, so maybe I am willing to accept the relatively small inconvenience of the nightmare that brought it!
WAKE UP! We're Being Screwed!!
Middle Class Morality is Driving Us All into Bankruptcy!
Am I the only one who hates to shell out my lifesavings on cleaning fluids?? We're the only race on the planet that steadily poisons our own selves, and PAYS $10 a bottle so to do! (I know, vinegar works- so says all the love children of Martha Steward and David Suzuki- But I don't have four hours' worth of elbow grease!)
And the worst of it is, students (the poorest of society) gets it the hardest, as we are the only strata of society that ever pays out $50 in one go on the shit. We're the only ones as dirty as we are, and the only ones who ever have the same kind of pressure placed on us by surprise (24 hour notice) inspections by landlords, parents and other strangers.
PEOPLE! UNITE! Break the shackles of our yellow-liquid oppressors. Shake off the domination of the Mr. Cleans and the Toilet Duck! Look around- We have more important problems! The earth is going to hell, and, I don't know about you, but a shiny coffee table (waxed with cancer-causing napalm) is not helping my emotional life!
There may be wizards, elves and mushroom-deodorizers all over my bathroom, but that doesn't make it a magical place from Mother Goose Land.
It just makes me broke!
Am I the only one who hates to shell out my lifesavings on cleaning fluids?? We're the only race on the planet that steadily poisons our own selves, and PAYS $10 a bottle so to do! (I know, vinegar works- so says all the love children of Martha Steward and David Suzuki- But I don't have four hours' worth of elbow grease!)
And the worst of it is, students (the poorest of society) gets it the hardest, as we are the only strata of society that ever pays out $50 in one go on the shit. We're the only ones as dirty as we are, and the only ones who ever have the same kind of pressure placed on us by surprise (24 hour notice) inspections by landlords, parents and other strangers.
PEOPLE! UNITE! Break the shackles of our yellow-liquid oppressors. Shake off the domination of the Mr. Cleans and the Toilet Duck! Look around- We have more important problems! The earth is going to hell, and, I don't know about you, but a shiny coffee table (waxed with cancer-causing napalm) is not helping my emotional life!
There may be wizards, elves and mushroom-deodorizers all over my bathroom, but that doesn't make it a magical place from Mother Goose Land.
It just makes me broke!
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
So Much Star Wars I Could Plotz!
Looking forward to a great evening tonight. Friends coming over to watch the first two episodes of Star Wars, as they will go see the new one tommorrow.
However, this poses problem. How to clean apartment fast enough to allow people to see it? Should I be avant garde and just let them see how I live? Naw, that would even gross me out... Hum, does fire, Javex or salt provide the best cleansing (spiritually AND mold-wise)? Oh well... It will still be nice to have company, just as long as the thing growing in my sink doesn't eat them. It was begging me to feed it last night, but I think I beat it into sufficient submission.
John and I had a constructive night of errands at the Union office last night- Student loan applications, three or four job applications, blog updates, a whole whack of email sent out, registration crap dealt with. Yes sir, I almost feel human again after meeting so many obligations.
The next step, I suppose, is living like a human again- off to scrub the tub! If I don't return, tell my mother I loved her.
However, this poses problem. How to clean apartment fast enough to allow people to see it? Should I be avant garde and just let them see how I live? Naw, that would even gross me out... Hum, does fire, Javex or salt provide the best cleansing (spiritually AND mold-wise)? Oh well... It will still be nice to have company, just as long as the thing growing in my sink doesn't eat them. It was begging me to feed it last night, but I think I beat it into sufficient submission.
John and I had a constructive night of errands at the Union office last night- Student loan applications, three or four job applications, blog updates, a whole whack of email sent out, registration crap dealt with. Yes sir, I almost feel human again after meeting so many obligations.
The next step, I suppose, is living like a human again- off to scrub the tub! If I don't return, tell my mother I loved her.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
My Blog: A Love/Hate Relationship
This thing and I have to come to some sort of agreement. I just put a week's worth of stuff on here, but it won't show it on the front page (you have to go to the May Archive). I realize this is probably my fault, as I am an unexperienced user, but it really burns my ass. Well, I hope this will show up and people will know to look in the archives.
Happy Now?
Hi-Ho folks! I've finally made it to a comp, and am speaking to you live from the Union office. Job hunt is on again! Yay.
Hope you enjoy the following updates on my week in isolation!
Hope you enjoy the following updates on my week in isolation!
Which Way to Go?
Monday, May 23, 2005
Queen Victoria Day
Am spending the day, and last night, trying to figure out how to map out my dissertation. I know, I know- this is a little early. However, any of you who count among the grad school refuges know, September and October bring the mysterious, hideous process known as “SSHRC and OGS applications”. That means that, as soon as your feet land in a new school, the department expects you to be able to sell your thesis or dissertation to the government (for funding), even though you may not actually have to start the thing for one or three years more! Therefore, as a result, I hope to have a rough, short proposal before September- to get a jump on it all.
The major problems rest in methodology and format. Now, if you can get the nuance here, I need to know if the horse or the cart goes first. Should I deal with a topic per chapter, giving the theory and then illustrating this with film scenes and themes, or should I deal with one or two films per chapter and then explain the social importance behind them. The former allows me to cover far more films, but the latter allows me to give proper attention to some central and interesting films (it is also closer to what book are like on similar topics). Further, on a selfish note, the latter method allows me to spend several pages per chapter just on describing the film(s), and, when faced with 300 pages, this may be a bonus for me. Any ideas?
In any case, I am giving myself an ulcer. I will send this general question to my advisor, and see what she thinks about all this. However, my teeth grit to think of what she’ll say: “We’ll talk about that when you get here.” Yippee: While I am still trying to figure out the hallways, I will be forced to figure out all these various knots- and expected to do so well enough to get funding from the government. YAY! However, she can’t say that I didn’t TRY to do it early.
Oy!
Queen Victoria Day
Am spending the day, and last night, trying to figure out how to map out my dissertation. I know, I know- this is a little early. However, any of you who count among the grad school refuges know, September and October bring the mysterious, hideous process known as “SSHRC and OGS applications”. That means that, as soon as your feet land in a new school, the department expects you to be able to sell your thesis or dissertation to the government (for funding), even though you may not actually have to start the thing for one or three years more! Therefore, as a result, I hope to have a rough, short proposal before September- to get a jump on it all.
The major problems rest in methodology and format. Now, if you can get the nuance here, I need to know if the horse or the cart goes first. Should I deal with a topic per chapter, giving the theory and then illustrating this with film scenes and themes, or should I deal with one or two films per chapter and then explain the social importance behind them. The former allows me to cover far more films, but the latter allows me to give proper attention to some central and interesting films (it is also closer to what book are like on similar topics). Further, on a selfish note, the latter method allows me to spend several pages per chapter just on describing the film(s), and, when faced with 300 pages, this may be a bonus for me. Any ideas?
In any case, I am giving myself an ulcer. I will send this general question to my advisor, and see what she thinks about all this. However, my teeth grit to think of what she’ll say: “We’ll talk about that when you get here.” Yippee: While I am still trying to figure out the hallways, I will be forced to figure out all these various knots- and expected to do so well enough to get funding from the government. YAY! However, she can’t say that I didn’t TRY to do it early.
Oy!
Notes from the Womb…
Not leaving the house. Don’t wanna. You can’t make me.
Jeesh. I need a job or, by August, I’ll be translucently pale, and oddly twitchy, and will not have seen daylight in months.
I’m going to eat some mushrooms, straight from the can, and wait for my hermit/troll brethren to come take me away from this place…
Jeesh. I need a job or, by August, I’ll be translucently pale, and oddly twitchy, and will not have seen daylight in months.
I’m going to eat some mushrooms, straight from the can, and wait for my hermit/troll brethren to come take me away from this place…
EXTRA! EXTRA! Foiled Theft at the Porn Mills!
Sunday, May 22, 2005
4pm
My partner John, who is one of the best educated porn store clerks in the city, risked life and limb to rescue a dildo from leaving the store in the jacket of a local hobo last night. Yes, he’s an authentic hero in the war against Hamilton’s noble residents! Those of you who know of our recent adventures with a neighbourhood drunk who jumped us last month on our walk home from Christine’s, know that we have had some bad luck with the special people of this town. Luckily, last night’s encounter wasn’t too bad.
John was serving an actual (and rare) paying customer when the said alleged thief walked past the counter, bold as brass, with a large sex toy poking from his coat. When he saw John (who is over six feet tall, and fairly impressive looking) coming towards him, he attempted to bolt. (Hamiltonians never take anything with good grace). John grabbed him and removed the item, refusing to give him the satisfaction of showing anger. The bum hurled abuse at John, while the earnest clerk went back to his customer. Having his impotent and witless fury unnoticed, the dork slunk out of the store. Yes, sirs, it was a great day for the fair city, and, may I say, a great weekend.
Clearly, a long weekend, even if you are unemployed (and therefore have nothing to vacation FROM) signals the right, nay the RESPONSIBILITY to be an ass for the cromags of Hamilton and area. Gangs of idiots roamed the streets, hooting for no apparent reason. Fire works were going off all night, popping stridently until at least 3 or 4am. I just hope that, come Tuesday, I get the chuckle of seeing fifty Hammies missing their fingers when down town. At least that may be some recompense for being there, but, alas, does not make it up to me for being HERE.
4pm
My partner John, who is one of the best educated porn store clerks in the city, risked life and limb to rescue a dildo from leaving the store in the jacket of a local hobo last night. Yes, he’s an authentic hero in the war against Hamilton’s noble residents! Those of you who know of our recent adventures with a neighbourhood drunk who jumped us last month on our walk home from Christine’s, know that we have had some bad luck with the special people of this town. Luckily, last night’s encounter wasn’t too bad.
John was serving an actual (and rare) paying customer when the said alleged thief walked past the counter, bold as brass, with a large sex toy poking from his coat. When he saw John (who is over six feet tall, and fairly impressive looking) coming towards him, he attempted to bolt. (Hamiltonians never take anything with good grace). John grabbed him and removed the item, refusing to give him the satisfaction of showing anger. The bum hurled abuse at John, while the earnest clerk went back to his customer. Having his impotent and witless fury unnoticed, the dork slunk out of the store. Yes, sirs, it was a great day for the fair city, and, may I say, a great weekend.
Clearly, a long weekend, even if you are unemployed (and therefore have nothing to vacation FROM) signals the right, nay the RESPONSIBILITY to be an ass for the cromags of Hamilton and area. Gangs of idiots roamed the streets, hooting for no apparent reason. Fire works were going off all night, popping stridently until at least 3 or 4am. I just hope that, come Tuesday, I get the chuckle of seeing fifty Hammies missing their fingers when down town. At least that may be some recompense for being there, but, alas, does not make it up to me for being HERE.
APB on one Charles Chaplin:
Wanted: MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY, by Charles Chaplin! Dead or alive- Hell, I’ll even take it in French!
Please be advised, all you lucky ducks that get to leave this berg for vacations, etc., this summer. I NEED a copy of Chaplin’s autobiography (My Autobiography, it’s called, oddly enough), and have had NO LUCK finding it in this town. So, if anyone goes anywhere (Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, New York, Montreal, Charlottetown, Halifax, Paris, Istanbul, wherever), please be on the look out for this book. Naturally, I will be more than happy to pay the finder for their trophy, and even let them read it.
While we’re at it, anything by Lester Friedman would also be appreciated (he writes on Jews in film). In addition, any book about Chaplin. Except, that is, for Joyce Milton’s Tramp (which I got for my birthday- YAY!), and Chaplin’s My Life in Pictures (grabbed at last year’s Library book sale for $2).
That is all.
Please be advised, all you lucky ducks that get to leave this berg for vacations, etc., this summer. I NEED a copy of Chaplin’s autobiography (My Autobiography, it’s called, oddly enough), and have had NO LUCK finding it in this town. So, if anyone goes anywhere (Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, New York, Montreal, Charlottetown, Halifax, Paris, Istanbul, wherever), please be on the look out for this book. Naturally, I will be more than happy to pay the finder for their trophy, and even let them read it.
While we’re at it, anything by Lester Friedman would also be appreciated (he writes on Jews in film). In addition, any book about Chaplin. Except, that is, for Joyce Milton’s Tramp (which I got for my birthday- YAY!), and Chaplin’s My Life in Pictures (grabbed at last year’s Library book sale for $2).
That is all.
A Buck a Bag + Home = Happy Me!
Saturday, May 21, 2005
6.20pm
Well, the spring book sale is over, and I have made out like a bandit! Today, in what appears to be their custom, the library book sale folks let people buy books by the grocery-bag-full for one dollar a bag, in order to clear up the inventory before shutting down. Thus, if one can imagine such a thing, those books that you wouldn’t buy for $2 each, you can now, with creative bag stuffing, make 20 cents each. Super! A frenzy of skinflint bibliophiles groping every where- it was a mad house. (I hear three secretaries were killed near the Danielle Steele section.) Further, as they are already bagged when you approach the staff, you don’t have to look someone in the eyes as you buy an old bio of Barbra Streisand, or some such. I spent about ten dollars down town today, and now have about 16 new books (including a brand new- never before read- copy of Conversations with Greta Garbo for about 20 cents!), and both Radio Days and Bananas on VHS (Screaming Mimi’s was also having a sale). All in all, a happy hunting excursion.
Now I am snuggly ensconced back at home, with my cat and remotes, and plan a long night of viewing. Umm, I may be unemployed, but, as long as I can afford to pay my power bill, Woody Allen won’t abandon me.
6.20pm
Well, the spring book sale is over, and I have made out like a bandit! Today, in what appears to be their custom, the library book sale folks let people buy books by the grocery-bag-full for one dollar a bag, in order to clear up the inventory before shutting down. Thus, if one can imagine such a thing, those books that you wouldn’t buy for $2 each, you can now, with creative bag stuffing, make 20 cents each. Super! A frenzy of skinflint bibliophiles groping every where- it was a mad house. (I hear three secretaries were killed near the Danielle Steele section.) Further, as they are already bagged when you approach the staff, you don’t have to look someone in the eyes as you buy an old bio of Barbra Streisand, or some such. I spent about ten dollars down town today, and now have about 16 new books (including a brand new- never before read- copy of Conversations with Greta Garbo for about 20 cents!), and both Radio Days and Bananas on VHS (Screaming Mimi’s was also having a sale). All in all, a happy hunting excursion.
Now I am snuggly ensconced back at home, with my cat and remotes, and plan a long night of viewing. Umm, I may be unemployed, but, as long as I can afford to pay my power bill, Woody Allen won’t abandon me.
Opps, I forgot to be Mindful…
May 20, 2005
By the by, I am in love! I found a new cinematic heartthrob in Star Wars, Episode III. For those of you who doubt that any good can come from George Lucas’ recent money grab (and after Episodes I and II this is almost understandable), I urge you to open your minds and see this film. Revenge of the Sith is ten times better than I and II, with many more laughs, a darker feel, and a sense of fun found in the original trilogy. (No Major Spoilers Ahead).
In truth, there are some traces of sloppy editing, and a moment or two of a “Haven’t we done this before?” feeling (I HATE Destroyer Droids). There also is some awful writing hidden around the edges of Anakin’s scenes with Padme (to be expected, I suppose). All of these weaknesses can be forgiven in light of the general quality of the film in other respects. The special effects are, in most cases, invisible, the acting quite good (even Hayden Christiansen), and the story truly engaging. As well, didn’t we all want to see Anakin’s down fall? Aren’t we all happy to see Padme getting wrinkles? (Sorry, catty moment there).
I am not the world’s most fervent Star Wars fan (I am, I admit, a Trekker for life), but this film left me excited and very happy that I went. My only real quibble was that, for utilitarian reasons, the final half-hour was telegraphed, and Lucas spent a fair length of time wrapping it up so that it would in line with A New Hope. However, this was a necessary evil, and that Frankenstein homage almost made it entirely worth it! Further, Ewan MacGregor, always a favourite with me, nearly BECOMES Alec Guiness, and, by himself, makes this film a pleasure to see.
Happy viewing, and may the force be with all of us.
By the by, I am in love! I found a new cinematic heartthrob in Star Wars, Episode III. For those of you who doubt that any good can come from George Lucas’ recent money grab (and after Episodes I and II this is almost understandable), I urge you to open your minds and see this film. Revenge of the Sith is ten times better than I and II, with many more laughs, a darker feel, and a sense of fun found in the original trilogy. (No Major Spoilers Ahead).
In truth, there are some traces of sloppy editing, and a moment or two of a “Haven’t we done this before?” feeling (I HATE Destroyer Droids). There also is some awful writing hidden around the edges of Anakin’s scenes with Padme (to be expected, I suppose). All of these weaknesses can be forgiven in light of the general quality of the film in other respects. The special effects are, in most cases, invisible, the acting quite good (even Hayden Christiansen), and the story truly engaging. As well, didn’t we all want to see Anakin’s down fall? Aren’t we all happy to see Padme getting wrinkles? (Sorry, catty moment there).
I am not the world’s most fervent Star Wars fan (I am, I admit, a Trekker for life), but this film left me excited and very happy that I went. My only real quibble was that, for utilitarian reasons, the final half-hour was telegraphed, and Lucas spent a fair length of time wrapping it up so that it would in line with A New Hope. However, this was a necessary evil, and that Frankenstein homage almost made it entirely worth it! Further, Ewan MacGregor, always a favourite with me, nearly BECOMES Alec Guiness, and, by himself, makes this film a pleasure to see.
Happy viewing, and may the force be with all of us.
Notes from a Confirmed Recluse
Friday, May 20, 2005
Writing from home today, so that I can cut and paste when next I get near a comp.
I am having a completely-indoor-day, with absolutely not one toe leaving the apartment. Every day this week, I have spent at least two hours in Hamilton’s famous down town core, so I need some time to decontaminate in my controlled, hidden and non-grungy (or at least less grungy) environment. Hamilton’s down town, for those who have not experienced this particular delight, is situated in one of the worst shopping districts known to the civilized world, replete with bums, pogey-gatherers and punks, and is completely half-way-house adjacent. All the comforts of Leavenworth, or possibly Beirut (if that were to come down in the world). It is probably the most depressing place that I have ever seen, and, I hope, I ever will be in again. Misery drips from the awnings, and floats around the streets like the clouds of stink that always hovers over this city. The real depressing thing is, so many of the people who live in Hamilton don’t even know that this is not how humans should live.
I’m not saying Hamilton should be burnt to the ground or anything, just wiped down with a strong chloride solution.
Thus, I have closeted myself away for the day, and not even the idea that My Autobiography may be lurking on a book sale table, waiting for me, can get me out of here today. I will catch up on the hours of new movies I have bought (CHEAP as dirt) in second hand places and sales over the last months, and hope for better things. When all else fails, I remind myself that, come the last day of August, I will be leaving this place that happiness forgot. I don’t even care to where I will move, as I no longer fear any location that the life of an itinerant student may take me.
Maybe next time I’ll be in a better mood. (But I wouldn’t hold my breath.)
Writing from home today, so that I can cut and paste when next I get near a comp.
I am having a completely-indoor-day, with absolutely not one toe leaving the apartment. Every day this week, I have spent at least two hours in Hamilton’s famous down town core, so I need some time to decontaminate in my controlled, hidden and non-grungy (or at least less grungy) environment. Hamilton’s down town, for those who have not experienced this particular delight, is situated in one of the worst shopping districts known to the civilized world, replete with bums, pogey-gatherers and punks, and is completely half-way-house adjacent. All the comforts of Leavenworth, or possibly Beirut (if that were to come down in the world). It is probably the most depressing place that I have ever seen, and, I hope, I ever will be in again. Misery drips from the awnings, and floats around the streets like the clouds of stink that always hovers over this city. The real depressing thing is, so many of the people who live in Hamilton don’t even know that this is not how humans should live.
I’m not saying Hamilton should be burnt to the ground or anything, just wiped down with a strong chloride solution.
Thus, I have closeted myself away for the day, and not even the idea that My Autobiography may be lurking on a book sale table, waiting for me, can get me out of here today. I will catch up on the hours of new movies I have bought (CHEAP as dirt) in second hand places and sales over the last months, and hope for better things. When all else fails, I remind myself that, come the last day of August, I will be leaving this place that happiness forgot. I don’t even care to where I will move, as I no longer fear any location that the life of an itinerant student may take me.
Maybe next time I’ll be in a better mood. (But I wouldn’t hold my breath.)
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Light Sabres and other delights
Well, birthday is over for another year, and I must say I made out like a bandit. Between three further DVD additions to my Woody Allen collection and a whole whack of packs of smokes, I did very well indeed. The highlight had to be the Chaplin bio contributed by my pal Catherine- excellence in gift picking! Mum sent me a nice, tacky card, and a Western Union money order, which I have NO IDEA how to make into money. *sigh*
I also took time to visit the library book sale and found Clare Bloom's and Kirk Douglas' autobiographies, and a bio on Jack Lemmon. Also have found two very cheap Allen movies there. Yay, book sales! (By the way, they are hurting for plastic bags down there, so if you go bring all you can spare and give them over).
We saw Merchant of Venice last night. I admit, not the best of choices for birthday celebrations, but oh well. Al and Jeremy were very fine (in fact, after I got over Al's odd Vaudeville-cum-English "Jewish" accent, I couldn't take my eyes off him), but the "I Love Lucy" shenanigans on the sidelines were a bit over long and could have been trimmed. I mean, by the time they got to the half hour ring tie-up, I was already finished with the film. I know rings=fidelity was a motif, but it could have been condensed. However, the production values were nice, and I may have enjoyed it more had I been in a better mood for the Bard. Further, I had forgotten how that play always fills me with a general depression, and probably should have stuck with City Lights, instead.
Got tickets to Episode III in my wallet, burning a whole for tomorrow evening. John is bursting with the giddies, already. I hope I like it, as I'll probably end up seeing it about five million times over the next fifty years!
Will not be in regular touch for about ten days, as Christine is traveling back to the west (and it's her comp that I use for these golden musings). Will try, however, and will certainly keep you posted on the ongoing search for work in this &*@#@ town.
I also took time to visit the library book sale and found Clare Bloom's and Kirk Douglas' autobiographies, and a bio on Jack Lemmon. Also have found two very cheap Allen movies there. Yay, book sales! (By the way, they are hurting for plastic bags down there, so if you go bring all you can spare and give them over).
We saw Merchant of Venice last night. I admit, not the best of choices for birthday celebrations, but oh well. Al and Jeremy were very fine (in fact, after I got over Al's odd Vaudeville-cum-English "Jewish" accent, I couldn't take my eyes off him), but the "I Love Lucy" shenanigans on the sidelines were a bit over long and could have been trimmed. I mean, by the time they got to the half hour ring tie-up, I was already finished with the film. I know rings=fidelity was a motif, but it could have been condensed. However, the production values were nice, and I may have enjoyed it more had I been in a better mood for the Bard. Further, I had forgotten how that play always fills me with a general depression, and probably should have stuck with City Lights, instead.
Got tickets to Episode III in my wallet, burning a whole for tomorrow evening. John is bursting with the giddies, already. I hope I like it, as I'll probably end up seeing it about five million times over the next fifty years!
Will not be in regular touch for about ten days, as Christine is traveling back to the west (and it's her comp that I use for these golden musings). Will try, however, and will certainly keep you posted on the ongoing search for work in this &*@#@ town.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Solidarity Forever!
I just got another birthday present!
We just got word. The Unit 2 Members of Local 3906 have completed their strike vote. The bargaining team for U2's new contract (representing sessional instructors and music instructors at McMaster) now has a CLEAR STRIKE MANDATE to take into the negotiations. This is very good news, as all the university was offering was a Big Screw You (0% wage increase, no benefit improvements, for three years). Now they may sing a different tune. We, as bargaining support members, must now focus on averting that strike through peaceful information demonstrations and showing that we support Mac's sessionals.
Congrats, U2, for voting against the status quo!
We just got word. The Unit 2 Members of Local 3906 have completed their strike vote. The bargaining team for U2's new contract (representing sessional instructors and music instructors at McMaster) now has a CLEAR STRIKE MANDATE to take into the negotiations. This is very good news, as all the university was offering was a Big Screw You (0% wage increase, no benefit improvements, for three years). Now they may sing a different tune. We, as bargaining support members, must now focus on averting that strike through peaceful information demonstrations and showing that we support Mac's sessionals.
Congrats, U2, for voting against the status quo!
HAPPY ALMOST BIRTHDAY, TO ME
Yes, on May 17th, 2005, I turn the big Two-Seven. Where did the time go?
Well, whenever I get the urge to ask that question, I can always look at my student loan assessment- that will tell me where the time went! At five I started elementary school, and graduated high school in 1996 at 18. I have, therefore, been in secondary school for nine years. I hope to have my PhD in 2009. That's thirteen years in public school, and thirteen years in university. Jeesh, after all that I better be qualified to do open brain surgery, or something! But, no, I'll probably be just another PhD working at the public library as a sorter with a chip on my shoulder and a huge debt load.
However, speaking of public library, and on to brighter topics, I crashed the library book sale today (on for at least six more days, I think). Got bios of Woody Allen, Humphrey Bogart, and DW Griffith, as well as a book promising to explain why the "50 Worst Movies of All Time" got that way, and an anthology of Jewish humour- all for $10. Yippppeeeee! Heaven bless cheap book sales. Plan to go every day, as they refresh continually. Unemployment has its advantages.
So, for my birthday, I have at least gotten some books. Therefore, even if my debt load (and my crow's feet) look a little worse for wear, and I have a hump from doing homework, I can at least read for a living. Heaven bless the non-essential worker!
Happy birthday to me...
Well, whenever I get the urge to ask that question, I can always look at my student loan assessment- that will tell me where the time went! At five I started elementary school, and graduated high school in 1996 at 18. I have, therefore, been in secondary school for nine years. I hope to have my PhD in 2009. That's thirteen years in public school, and thirteen years in university. Jeesh, after all that I better be qualified to do open brain surgery, or something! But, no, I'll probably be just another PhD working at the public library as a sorter with a chip on my shoulder and a huge debt load.
However, speaking of public library, and on to brighter topics, I crashed the library book sale today (on for at least six more days, I think). Got bios of Woody Allen, Humphrey Bogart, and DW Griffith, as well as a book promising to explain why the "50 Worst Movies of All Time" got that way, and an anthology of Jewish humour- all for $10. Yippppeeeee! Heaven bless cheap book sales. Plan to go every day, as they refresh continually. Unemployment has its advantages.
So, for my birthday, I have at least gotten some books. Therefore, even if my debt load (and my crow's feet) look a little worse for wear, and I have a hump from doing homework, I can at least read for a living. Heaven bless the non-essential worker!
Happy birthday to me...
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Ich bin ein Blogger!!
Yes, today I am ready to come out! I have done it! I have mastered adding links to my sidebar! Yes, my life is going to hell, I have a mysterious white patch on my belly that I am convinced is either cancer or an alien implant, and my quest to quit smoking has been blocked by my ingrained depressive impulses, but today I accomplished one insignificant short term goal! Yippee!
Oh, and if you look at these links, you'll notice that my profile is now up on the WLU PhD students site. It's official- I am now a Laurier PhD student! They can't take it back, even when they meet me.
I think that maybe you now want to know what I do. Well, as you know I don't have a job (see job bank link), but I am in between gigs as a student. I was an MA student in Ancient Jewish religion at McMaster, but I finished (good news is I got a degree, bad news is I finished my funding). Then for a year I was a TA and unionist here at Mac (see CUPE 3906 link), while I took a year to study film. Now, starting in September I will be frantically chasing a PhD in religion and culture, for which I will be studying the image of Jews in film. I know, "Jews in film?", you ask- no Jews have ever appeared in or made a film, right? Well, may be Jesus...
The reason I do this project is, first, that I'm a Jew. Second, I wanna watch movies for a living. Third, when I was a kid growing up in a little town in Nova Scotia (not a hubb of Jewish life, I assure you), all the kids I went to school with communicated with me in terms of TV or movie Jews. So, I guess, my whole teenage life was research for what I'm doing now. I just don't know what I'm gonna prove, except that SCHINDLER'S LIST was based in reality (but a freaky version of it), and that THE NANNY is not a reflection of true Jewish womanhood.
Oy!
Oh, and if you look at these links, you'll notice that my profile is now up on the WLU PhD students site. It's official- I am now a Laurier PhD student! They can't take it back, even when they meet me.
I think that maybe you now want to know what I do. Well, as you know I don't have a job (see job bank link), but I am in between gigs as a student. I was an MA student in Ancient Jewish religion at McMaster, but I finished (good news is I got a degree, bad news is I finished my funding). Then for a year I was a TA and unionist here at Mac (see CUPE 3906 link), while I took a year to study film. Now, starting in September I will be frantically chasing a PhD in religion and culture, for which I will be studying the image of Jews in film. I know, "Jews in film?", you ask- no Jews have ever appeared in or made a film, right? Well, may be Jesus...
The reason I do this project is, first, that I'm a Jew. Second, I wanna watch movies for a living. Third, when I was a kid growing up in a little town in Nova Scotia (not a hubb of Jewish life, I assure you), all the kids I went to school with communicated with me in terms of TV or movie Jews. So, I guess, my whole teenage life was research for what I'm doing now. I just don't know what I'm gonna prove, except that SCHINDLER'S LIST was based in reality (but a freaky version of it), and that THE NANNY is not a reflection of true Jewish womanhood.
Oy!
Where's MY Splendor??
Spent a depressing Sabbath by breaking the rules and watching AMERICAN SPLENDOR three times in a row. If misery loves company, then Pekar's is like Lithium for me. However, got a rather unexpected negative result... Realized I am neither creative or funny, and can't even draw stick men... Nor do I know Robert Crumb... Bad news, as there is NO splendor in my future. Would go to bed, but have the worst cold ever (turned a waxy blue colour the other night, so I take that as a bad sign). Bed only represents drainage to me now, so vertical is better. I would have feared the German Measles epidemic that is going around, but I was innoculated as a kid (I remember waiting in the room for the Annapolis Valley health nurse to give me the shot- she had a giant black bufont 'do, with a huge Leno-Skunk white stripe in front). However, a guy in London, ON, got the measles even though he was inoculated...
Great, no splendor, and a new, super-aggresive strain of measles gnawing on my system as we speak...
That's what I get for breaking the rules- G-d has eerie powers, you know.
Great, no splendor, and a new, super-aggresive strain of measles gnawing on my system as we speak...
That's what I get for breaking the rules- G-d has eerie powers, you know.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Calling all Prospective Employers!
Come and get it- fresh meat, and I'll work for cheap.
Word of advice: Never look for work with a graduate degree in a delapidated sink hole town!
One could ask, fairly, that if I am unemployed, why didn't I find the time to update this thing. That is a fair question, one that can be answered with: I didn't know how to! Oh well, now is the time to learn something new.
So, do you know anyone who has some ancient Hebrew that needs translating? How 'bout a yard raked? I'll do anything... Legal and clean, that is.
Word of advice: Never look for work with a graduate degree in a delapidated sink hole town!
One could ask, fairly, that if I am unemployed, why didn't I find the time to update this thing. That is a fair question, one that can be answered with: I didn't know how to! Oh well, now is the time to learn something new.
So, do you know anyone who has some ancient Hebrew that needs translating? How 'bout a yard raked? I'll do anything... Legal and clean, that is.
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