Thinking

I've been having a bunch of trouble updating my blog lately. I have two theories as to why. One is that it is because I was trying to do it using Mozilla Firefox as my browser, and somehow that screwed it up. Today I'm trying using IE. I really like Firefox as a browser, by the way. You should check it out if you haven't already. Anyway. My other theory about my difficulties in posting makes less sense, admittedly. I was thinking that it was because I posted scathing reviews of the movie Robots and perhaps Blogger has some connection the studio that produced Robots. That might be taking my conspiracy theory thing too far, though. Anyway, don't see the movie Robots is the short version of my previous unpostable posts about it. It is trite, predictable and emotionally manipulative. It was the most predictable movie I've ever seen. The only highlights were Robin Williams' character and a 5 second shot of a robot doing the robot dance (hee hee hee).

Last night I rediscovered my favourite artist, Darren Waterston. Andrew and I saw an exhibition of his art in Nashville last Reading Week when we were down there visiting his parents. We actually went for the other exhibition which was all famous artists - Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet, etc. We saw the famous Renoir talked about in Amelie with the girl and the water glass. That was a highlight. However, my favourite part of the visit was when I got bored of the "classic" paintings (this happened quickly - I'm not a huge art connossieur) and wandered off by myself into another gallery. There I found Darren Waterston's paintings, and I didn't want to leave. These paintings speak to me so that I feel that I could spend the rest of my life staring at them and be perfectly content. I feel like they have an important message for me that I need to decode. Check them out at the link above and see if you like them too. The ones on the site right now are different from the ones I saw last year, and the style is a bit different. It's also harder to connect with them when they are online, but you can still get an idea. I hope to someday be able to afford at least one, when I'm rich. I don't usually respond well to art, especially sort of abstract art like this, but there is something there that gets me where it matters. Andrew didn't understand my fascination with these works, and it's not something that I can explain. Just see for yourself.

I've also rediscovered Beatles music today. I'd forgotten how much the Fab Four speak to me in that secret language. These paintings and this music make me feel understood again, because here are people creating art to express those things that I can't express myself. I guess that that's why people respond to art and music and literature and film (good film, not Robots) - because artists express those things that ordinarily we cannot. I'm on a big theorizing communication and art kick right now. I'll let you know if I come up with anything original.

Yesterday I watched the movie Kinsey. I quite enjoyed it. It made me re-evaluate my thoughts on sex, because I thought I knew what I felt about it, but certain elements of the movie either made me uncomfortable or I was OK with that I didn't expect. It's a good movie to get you thinking about sex and sex's role in society. And it's well done, entertaining, etc. Plus, you get to see Peter Sarsgaard make out with Liam Neeson - very hot. Peter Sarsgaard looks much better in this movie than he did in Garden State - much more clean cut.

I had a reflection on the coming of spring in the upostable post. Luckily, I have that part saved. Spring is here! On Saturday, I realized that the Earth had woken up and started breathing again. I could smell her, and I knew that she was alive again. Monday I saw the first crocusses peeking their heads up. There is still a bit of snow around, but it's raining now and it's supposed to rain for the next 2 or 3 days, so I don't imagine it will last. It's amazing how all the clichés are true - walking home from school in the rain Monday, I felt like I was waking up as well after a winter's hibernation. I hate having feelings like this. I feel like I'm feeling what I've been indoctrinated to feel after reading all of the nature symbolism in literature and seeing pathetic fallacy in movies, but the weather and the outside does have an effect on me. Andrew would probably applaud me for finally realising my connections to the earth, and will probably expect this to usher in a new era of non-nocturnal living, but I don't just want to accept this. And I especially don't want to give up being nocturnal until I absolutely have (read, get a "real" job). I sleep so much better in daylight than in moonlight. But, that's a whole other topic. Back to this spring thing, my parents back in Ontario said that they saw a robin in their backyard the other day. So, that means that spring is really here. I do enjoy having longer days, I will admit, and the promise of the sunshine and tanning and the energy that come with summer is a nice one.

Last night I stayed up until about 7am. I meditated, or at least had quiet time in my living room from about 6:15am on. It's amazing how doing this can make you feel so centered, so calm, and so snapped into place. Of course, the feeling doesn't last, but I suppose it would if you made a regular habit of meditation/quiet time. There is something really beautiful about mornings, if you have stayed up all night. Watching the sky lighten and hearing the birds squabble and just hearing the quiet everywhere.

Anyway. I do have to rejoin the real, outside world tomorrow, so I guess I should go make some dinner and do some reading and research. Here's your question to ponder: What are dreams? Are they just manifestations of what's going on in your subconscious, or is there more to them than that? Is there an actual separate dream world that people travel to, or is that just something weird New Agey people tell you? Discuss.

Easter weekend? More like Funster weekend!

Easter weekend has so far been a really good one for me. Not work-wise, but enjoyment-wise. I already wrote about Friday's Civ 3 extravaganza (I actually ended up playing another game on Friday night. I am now the Greeks, and in the year 1525 or something). Yesterday Chantal came over for tea and we spent the evening chatting. She ended up staying for dinner (I made her eat the vegetarian chili that I'm always talking about. She ate it all, so that must be a good sign) and then post-dinner tea and late night snacks. We are both INFJs, so we have a lot in common. It was good times. We discovered that No Name brand fudge covered chocolate mint cookie squares are sinfully delicious. These might become a staple at my apartment.

After Chantal left last night, I watched the movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It was quirky and fun. It reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite, actually, in its quirkiness, and in the way the characters didn't seem to be real but caricatures of themselves.

My plan for today is some major essay research and thinking. I think that I'm changing the topics of both of my essays, so I've got to redo some of my research. I also have a phone date this evening that I'm really looking forward to.

Ashley sent me a link to a neat quiz about religion. I took it twice. The first time I came out as a Tetralist (I don't know what that means, and a Google search didn't help) and the second time as a Liberal Quaker (I answered the questions differently the second time). Interesting results.

That is all. I must now depart for breakfast.

As Andrew says, "Civ 3 IS a good Friday"

Just a brief update today. Andrew and I, being the big, lovable geeks that we are, have spent the afternoon playing Civ 3 together. Not literally, together, of course, because he's in Ontario and I'm here, but together in that we've played separate games and discussed them with each other as we've played. It's a dorky way to get in some long-distance togetherness. I stopped playing after 3 other civs ganged up on poor little me (I was Germany). I held out pretty well for a while, but after they took Leipzig and tried for Konigsburg, I stopped.

I did indeed go that Philosophy lecture that I mentioned below. It was interesting, although I found the focus was more on proper argumentation than on anything else. I did find the comparison the professor made between theists and conspiracty theorists to be quite unexpected, but he explained it well. Basically, it was that both conspiracy theorists and theists use the absence of evidence as evidence. So, a conspiracy theorist will say that they can't prove a conspiracy for you because by its nature, a good conspiracy will leave no evidence. Meanwhile, a theist will argue that God does not need to give evidence of itself, and therefore there isn't any. I don't think that there was anything in the lecture that I can use in my thesis, but I'm still glad I went.

I don't have too many plans for the long weekend. I want to clean my apartment tonight, and hopefully get some schoolwork done, and then tomorrow I'm either having tea or going to a concert with Chantal (either one will be fun), and on Sunday I have a phone date with Suzan. I'm hoping to fill the empty spaces with movies and more schoolwork, and a little bit of spa-type pampering in my own home. I'll let you know how it goes.

My cold is pretty much gone now, so that's good. Also, my dreams have returned to their usual state of interesting but not overwhelming, which is also good. I think that's all I have for now. I hope that everyone has a fun, chocolate-filled Easter!

Tuesday, thou art vanquishéd

I've written many entries in the past about how I just can't seem to get myself together on Tuesdays to leave the apartment. Well, today it finally happened! It was because the water in my building was shut off today for maintenance from 10-4, so I spent the day at school. I got to school at 10:15am. It was painful! I was so tired. Oh well. My cold felt better today, and I've gone the whole day without medicine (not counting menthol rub). I was really tired, though, and still am, actually. Oh well. My day at school was not quite as productive as I would have liked, though I did get some photocopying and some research done, so that's good. I think that I have essay topics chosen for both of my classes. For my Medieval romance class, I want to look at the animal symbolism in Ywain and Gawain and Sir Gowther. There seems to be surprisingly little written about the lion in Y and G though, so we'll see where that ends up. For my confessional poetry class, it took me a long time to think of topics, and now I have too many. I've thought of 3 separate, interesting topics. However, the one I think I'm going with right now is looking at how childbirth and motherhood are represented in the poetry of Sharon Olds and Anne Sexton. Probably no one outside of my program cares what I'm writing my essays on, but oh well. I found a neat book with an essay in it talking about how Sharon Olds re-figures childbirth in her poetry as a heroic quest. This sounds like a really interesting thesis.

Something I came across today is that there is a group trying to ban the Comic Sans MS font. I'm not sure how seriously to take them, but they have a manifesto and propaganda flyers and a sticker campaign, and T-shirts to buy. Check it out. I agree, though, that font DOES have its own voice, and should be chosen accordingly.

Sometimes I procrastinate.

My dreams are still vivid and real. I won't bore you with any more here, but I wish that I could record them. They are more entertaining than any book or movie I've encountered lately. Last night, however, they were all sad. There was one about a family whose father had faked his own death, and I uncovered the plot, but then it ended sadly as someone drowned, and in the other one I remember, a friend of mine found out that both his ex-girlfriend and his current girlfriend died within a month of each other. Very upsetting. Ooops... I said I wasn't going to tell you about them. Sorry! Anyway, my baseboard radiators have gotten really loud lately, and sounding like babbling brooks, which probably accounts for all the water imagery in my dreams recently. I wish that I could remember my dreams more clearly and make them into novels.

I've started making phone dates with people. I need to start using my long distance minutes every month. If you would like me to call you, send me an e-mail or post a comment and I will try. Phone dates are fun. I had my first one in recent times last night with Gillian. In typical G and H fashion, we meant to have a short chat since we were both kind of sick, but ended up talking for 2 1/2 hours. It was really good times, though. She's thinking of having an English girls reunion sleepover when I'm home in April, which I think sounds like an awesome idea. Hopefully it works out.

Tomorrow I'm planning on attending a Philosophy lecture on "Theism, Conspiracy Theories and the Problem of Evil". I'm very excited, especially since my thesis will probably head in the paranoia/conspiracy theory direction when I return to it.

Oh, I told Dave that I would write an article this week for the Blueprint magazine. I need to give him a topic by tomorrow. Anyone have any ideas? Maybe I should talk about paranoia and conspiracies. No, they'd be expecting that....

Hmmmm.... I guess that's all for now. I will now return to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a decidedly difficult Middle English read. Wish me luck!

Dreaming the truth

I usually hate when people talk about their dreams, but I had a funny one this morning that I want to share with you. My dreams lately have been a more accurate than usual reflection of my thoughts, or at least they've gotten less symbolic and more straightforward. This morning I dreamt that I was at Zellers with Andrew (who was himself and yet not, in that way that it happens in dreams). Well, first of all Zellers was a hospital and I was visiting Andrew (I watched Scrubs last night before bed). He was playing Trivial Pursuit/chess with someone and I was watching. Then, it was time to go because they were closing. The Zellers/hospital employees got us to start chanting, and I realized that they had a special mind-control power over people. I was quite alarmed (to say the least) and resisted their indoctrination as best as I could. We went back the next morning, and no one believed me about the indoctrination, though it was so obvious from looking at the other shoppers' eyes. When I confronted one girl about it, she told me that the "indoctrination" was actually a ritual to cure cancer (apparently Zellers was the cancer ward - an interesting metaphor). Anyway, I grabbed Andrew (who was strangely docile - apparently from the indoctrination) and we tried to leave. They tried to stop us, of course, even though I'd bought something. We made it downstairs where there was the other exit from the mall. It was in K-Mart. We went in there and there were the same people in different outfits/disguises using a slightly modified chant on the consumers. With some struggle we were able to get free, but just as we were leaving, I said, "Why don't we look around a little before we leave?" Then I caught myself and said, "Their indoctrination is so insiduous! I don't even need anything and I want to browse and buy something! Let's go!" By this time we had picked up another cancer patient/member of the new religious movement who was following us. Andrew and the other guy, who, as cancer patients, had received more indoctrination than I had, were confused and reluctant to leave, but I made them. We stepped outside and I said something to the effect of, "Consumerism is a cult! They're indoctrinating everyone, making them think that they need things that they don't, just so that they can make money! We have to tell people and get them to stop shopping!" Truly, my sleeping mind is brilliant sometimes.

Jude Law is the cure for what ails you

So, I'm officially sick now. Tuesday I had a sore throat, but it went away for Wednesday, so I thought I'd missed it. However, I woke up this morning *ahem* this afternoon to a sinus cold. It's not too bad, though. I'm not sick enough to feel really bad (yet, knock on wood) and being sick is an excuse to stay home in my pjs (I don't usually wait for an excuse, but it's nice to have one). Right now I'm curled up in my bed with a hot water bottle (so toasty on my toes!) and a cup of hot tea. I watched Sky Captain the World of Tomorrow earlier today, and quite enjoyed it. I'm planning on watching Closer now. Jude Law has to be the sexiest person alive right now. Nothing like a good dose of sexiness (albeit onscreen sexiness) to cure what ails you.

It's funny how being sick can play with your emotions. I've felt so sad today, for no real reason. Sometimes being sad can lead to physical illness, while not feeling your best physically can lead to bad emotions. I wonder which happened first in my case? Hard to say. Anyway, being sad has been an extra reason to pamper myself today (in ways that don't require much energy - eg cookies for breakfast, a hot lavender bath, the aforementioned hot water bottle). Pampering is fun.

Not much else to say. I just realized that it had been a while since I updated so I thought that I'd post this thinly-disguised ploy for sympathy (hee hee hee... just kidding about this part). Now, back to onscreen sexiness!

It's all about the money... not even nutrition is apolitical these days

I've been noticing lately that it's harder and harder to be considered a paranoid conspiracy theorist, because most conspiracies that I come up with are actually going on. I'm thinking of changing the focus of my thesis to looking at the theme of paranoia in my postmodern novels, and at how the mode of postmodernism is especially applicable to exploring paranoia. Some days, I feel like I'm Oedipa Maas in The Crying of Lot 49. I should clarify is what I mean by paranoia. I came across an interesting definition of paranoia which stated that it is the assumption of connections between disparate objects and events. So, it's Ok to notice that event A takes place and that event B takes place, but once you start thinking that they are connected you're in trouble. However, everything IS connected these days (this is something else that I'll probably pick up on in my new and improved thesis topic). Everything is about money and power, even nutrition. Here is a link to an article in the Globe and Mail about the politics surrounding Canada's Food Guide. The food guide, for goodness' sake! But, as the article points out, this is the second most downloaded federal form (after tax forms), and the food industry is a $60 billion per year operation. There's a lot at stake. There's more I could post about this, but I'm getting sleepy. I feel so deceived, though. I thought that the food guide was supposed to help me eat the proper foods so that I could be the best and healthiest Heidi possible, but what it's really all about is supporting the flagging beef industry, and about dairy's hold on the market, and about the cola companies wanting to be reclassifed so that they are no longer considered "unhealthy". It's enough to make me want to join Andrew on his fast, just to protest.

I need a Hero... Gaaaah! That song won't get out of my head!!

I watched the movie Hero last night. I really really like this movie. Visually, it's just stunning, even when watched on my little laptop screen. It must have been breathtaking in the theatre. I love the use of colour, fantasy, and flowing fabrics in every scene.

What I was thinking about last night as I watched the movie was the character of Flying Snow. In the version of the story where she is the Eve figure, whose sexual betrayal leads to Broken Sword's downfall (the first version, the one with all of the red), she wears a lot of makeup, and her lips are painted bright red. Her hair is loose and falls over one eye, hiding her face. In subsequent versions, her hair is pulled back and her face is natural looking. I thought that it was an interesting contrast, and a very overt statement of the stereotypes of the fallen woman - ruthless, red, painted, selfish. Besides that, though, the representation of women is quite atypical. On the surface, they are considered warriors equal to (or better than) the male warriors, and it is Flying Snow whose purpose in the assassination of the king does not waver, unlike Broken Sword's. However, on the other hand, it is Broken Sword (a man) who is considered the equal in swordplay to Nameless, and while Broken Sword's purpose wavers, he has an intelligent, far-seeing reason for that. His reason makes Flying Snow's quest for blood seem petty and short-sighted. So, overall, I'm not sure what I think about the representation of women in this movie, actually. This is one of those films that I'd love to study in class.

Anyway. I made cookies last night. I think that I put in too much margarine or something, but they are still good. It should keep them soft and chewy. I like baking. I feel like I can excuse eating junk food if it's junk food I've prepared myself. The only problem is that now I have a whole batch of cookies (about 32), to eat by myself. I'll have to take some to school tomorrow to give away.

I also saw the movie Hitch yesterday. It was as good as I expected. I find that I just can't deal with love stories anymore, at least not Hollywood ones. I won't start in on that again. I've ranted enough about romantic comedies on this blog already. For all of the problems I had with Hitch though, it did make me laugh out loud a few times, which is good.

Well, enough with the movie reviews. I don't actually have much else to say. This afternoon I'm either going to a free piano concert on campus, or else to see A Very Long Engagement at the newly re-opened Wolfville Cinema. Either way, I should get myself into the shower so I'm clean for my adventures. Off I go!

I need an animator

This is how I've been feeling lately. I feel like I should be in Waking Life, because I've been thinking in images. My thoughts have been so vivid that I feel like they've been manifesting themselves as pictures around my head as I speak. My life would be a lot simpler if they were. Seriously, I can feel my thoughts jumping out of my head and making these pictures around me. It's a strange strange feeling. So far, no one else has reported seeing these pictures, though, so I'll have to keep working on it. This is why I need an animator.

Here is my favourite metaphor that I've come up with lately: Ideas are like horses. At first they are wild and powerful, and they are fun to run with, but eventually you need to break them and harness their power to drive your essay/thesis. "Breaking" the ideahorses is such an appropriate term, too, because they lose some of their own power as they bow to yours. They aren't quite so beautiful once you've tamed them, but they are infinitely more useful. Once broken, they are also ready to be displayed.

Here is another Buttercup Festival strip that makes me chuckle out loud.

That's all I have for now. Things are quiet on the Heidi front.

I've had the urge to blog lately

Sorry about the explosion of posts the past 2 days. I told myself that I wasn't going to post anything else for a while, but I took this quiz and I had to post the results:

You Belong in 1962

If you scored... 1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too.

What Year Do You Belong In?

Hee hee... how appropriate. I definitely don't belong in this millenium, this decade, or this lifetime. I was made for other times, baby. :)

When I said the wind was scary...

I meant it. Here's a story about the storm last night. Last night I learned just how terrifying the sheer force of the wind can be. Now I'm no longer simply afraid of tornadoes, but hurricanes have been added to that list as well. My power stayed on all night, besides some flickering, and one outage that only lasted a minute or less. However, the storm played havoc with our fire alarm (see below).

So much for being well-rested

As I write this, it is 4:12am. The fire alarm just stopped going off. It began before 3:30am. This is an interesting way to meet your neighbours - everyone in pjs, sleepy, deafened by the alarm, frustrated. Luckily, I was still awake when it went off. In my pjs, of course, but awake and reading my Agatha Christie novel. I don't think that many others in my building were so lucky. There is a large rain and wind storm tonight. The wind is actually quite scary. The power has been flickering a bit, and I'm guessing that this is what triggered the alarm. What's kind of funny is that no one actually went outside, at least not at the door where I was stationed. We all sat on the stairs and stared at each other with "Please, God, make it stop!" expressions on our faces. The fire alarm sounds like a recess bell from public school, and it is freaking loud. I took my book with me, and managed to read a few pages, even in all of the hullabaloo. Apparently there was something wrong with the superintendents' phone, so it took them over 30 minutes to get here and shut the darn alarm off. It also took 5 tries to get it completely shut off, so I came home and took off my shoes, then put them back on, and then took them back off 3 times. I'm going to need some more tea to soothe my frazzled nerves. The actual experience wasn't too bad, but the constant alarm sound was horrible. I should have gone outside, even in the wind and rain storm, just for the quiet.

I was thinking back, and this is the third false fire alarm since I moved in here 6 months ago. At least we know we have a fire alarm and we know (all too well, I'm afraid) what it sounds like. And it still doesn't notify the supers. It still doesn't notify the fire department. We still have to wait around awkwardly until it gets shut off. Errrgggg....

Been blogging around...

And found an interesting article about vegetarianism written by a Philosophy major at some school in the US. You can find the original article here. Be sure to also check out the response posted at the bottom by the vegan. I think that both articles present some interesting points. You can also find the author's response to the letter here. Being a lapsed vegetarian myself, with vegetarian longings, I found this discussion quite intriguing. I think that the question raised by this discussion is not whether everyone should be vegetarian (this answer is obviously yes) but rather whether we can ever find a standard set of ethics. Are ethics universal? How much importance should we lend to the idea of personal choice? What I find problematic about both arguments is the idea of ethics coming from the outside. In the original article, it is through notions of logic and the idea of there being one defensible set of morals for everyone. In the letter, there is the reliance on religion to provide a moral framework. Both of these viewpoints seem to erode the idea of personal choice. But then, I do believe that each society needs an ethical standard that everyone agrees to in order for that society to function, hence there being a legal system, which is put in place to reinforce those ethical standards. It gets confusing... where do we draw the line between public and private choices? Comments, anyone?

A victim of Tuesdays again

Every Tuesday, I have big plans to go to school, work in the library, run errands, etc. because I have no classes. Almost without fail, every Tuesday I either feel sick, tired, or just introverted and end up staying in. I really thought that today would be different. I got almost 8 hours of sleep, I was out of bed before noon, I showered and got dressed... and that's where it ended. I modified my plans to not go to school this afternoon, but to go this evening for a lecture I was interested in. However, now it's raining and windy, so I've decided to have a bath and drink some tea instead, as you're supposed to do on blustery rainy days.

At least my day indoors wasn't totally wasted. I did two loads of laundry (I have clean underwear again! That deserves a very large "Hooray!"), vacuumed, cleaned out my vacuum's filter (a dirty job), and downloaded Microsoft's new AntiSpyware (Beta) program. It found much more spyware than I was expecting. I told it to delete most of it. So far, things still seem to be working, so that's good. Now it sits on my desktop and gives me warnings when potential spyware tries to come onto my computer (for instance, I changed my homepage back to the Aliant homepage, and it made me approve the chage). This is all to the good, methinks. I still have to get rid of my Kazaa program, and then I'll be all set.

Last night I tried sewing for the first time in a couple of months. I think that it was only the second time I've done that since I moved here, actually. I have this crazy quilt that I've been working on for over 10 years. I meant to have it finished by the time I had my own place, but that obviously hasn't happened. Maybe now that I have a lull in my schoolwork I can get back to it, especially if I'm going to spend so much time watching movies. My problem lately is that my thread gets tangled a lot. I had two major tangles last night before I called it quits (major tangles being tangles that required me to cut the thread and start over). I then began thinking about tangled threads as a metaphor for life, and I began to think of sewing as a Zen sort of thing - you need a clear mind to have clear stitches. Tangled thoughts lead to tangled threads. Then I told myself to stop being so abstract and philosophical all the time - not everything has a deeper meaning; sometimes a tangled thread is just a tangled thread. And, honestly, the tangles probably have more to do with the fact that I have a lot of cheap embroidery floss than with my knotted mind. What fun is it to live in a literal world, though? Where's the magic in that?

Yay sleep!

Last night I did something new. I got close to 13 hours of sleep. I guess that I was making up for my lack of sleep last week. The last 5 hours were really due to just laziness. I could have gotten up earlier, but I didn't really want to. I meant to just have a nap when I laid down last night at 9pm, but I slept through until 12:30, decided that getting up at that time was silly, and slept through until morning again. Sleeping and dreaming can be such a spiritual experience. I feel like I learn so much from it. I honestly have no idea what sort of sleeping schedule I've gotten myself onto with that little trick. Oh well. No class tomorrow, so I'll just take it as it comes.

That's really all I had to say. Getting so much sleep was just such unique experience that I thought I'd record it.

Buttercup Festival

I came across a new webcomic last night that I really like. It's called Buttercup Festival and it's quite strange. I love the artwork, and its offbeatness (I don't know if that's a word). The comic that this links to appeals to my English major self.

There's something about this guy's artwork that really speaks to me. If you enter his site, he has a bunch of non-Buttercup Festival artwork on display, and that might give you a better idea of what I mean. The artwork of the comic is quite Edward Gorey-like, but also quite different. I have one of the earlier comics as my background right now. I might find the link to it later and post it. Anyway, check it out and tell me if you think it's neat. Oh, and the guy in the comic isn't Death... he just looks like Death.

Texas teens test law protecting unborn

Something I've started doing lately is reading the news a little more than usual. Today I came across this article: The Globe and Mail: Texas teens test law protecting unborn. I decided to post a link and see what people had to say about it. It raises an interesting issue - should the teen father be prosecuted? Should the mother? Neither? How many rights do the unborn have? I'm interested in your opinions, because I'm not sure what I think myself.

Something a little cheerier

I actually got some sleep last night and am feeling a lot better. That headache I mentioned last night developed into quite a doozie. It was probably the second-worst headache I've ever had. Oh well. 2 Advils and a nap cleared it up. I watched two movies last night while I was relaxing in bed - Finding Neverland and The Incredibles. They were both good in different ways. Kate Winslet is in Neverland. I just can't believe how beautiful she is. She is my top celebrity lesbian crush. The Incredibles lived up to all of the hype. It went exactly as you wanted it to, and was thus quite satisfying, if not overly surprising.

I've realized that I'll have to get a job for the summer if I want to eat (which I do). So, if anyone knows of anyone looking for a hard-working, responsible, good-natured English major for paid work in the Wolfville area, please let me know. I was thinking back, and I haven't actually had to look for a job for over 6 years. My last job happened because my sister was working for the company and recommended me. I've been trying to update my resume, but I don't even know what to put on it.

As I was typing this, Andrew said to me, "Why don't you work on your thesis?" I said, "What?" having just spent last week working very intensely on it. I now plan to ignore it for a month (just be happy that I don't date this way). Then Andrew said, "You're so sexy when you work on your thesis. There's nothing sexier than a girl surrounded by textbooks... rawwrrrr!" The competition of which one of us in this relationship is the geekiest continues, but I think that this conversation means that it is now advantage Andrew.

I don't know that I actually have more to say. I was planning on getting into some of the things that I've been thinking about this week, but I think that out of context they won't be as good. Sometimes I think that not sleeping is really good for me - it sets my mind on fire with ideas and connections that I otherwise can't see. I guess since I'm not sharing any of these ideas or connections with you, you'll have to take my word for it. But they are there... oh yes, they are there...

It all catches up with you in the end

So, I haven't been sleeping again lately. I'm not exactly sure what's going on with that. I guess that it's because I've had a very busy week. Last night I went to bed early, to try to get my system back on track. I was asleep by 11, which for me is insanely early. However, I woke up an hour and a half later, feeling like I'd slept all night. This was good in that it feels good to get a full night's sleep, but bad because it was 12:30am. I got up and worked on my lesson plan for today, and then went back to bed at 2am. However, working on the lesson plan gave me all sorts of ideas (that and the not sleeping) so I was just laying in bed with my mind all on fire, and I didn't know what to do about it. In the end, I did nothing, and it fizzled out sometime after 4am. I would post all of my ideas now, except that I have a horrible headache and am soon returning to bed. What I've learned about valerian is that it doesn't help to put me to sleep, but it does make the sleep I do get super-sleep, so that even a few hours feels better than a normal 8-hour night. Yay valerian!

Anyway. I'll stop the complaints there. I taught my two lessons this week on The Collector by John Fowles. I think that today's lesson went better than Wednesday's, so that's good. Only about half the class showed up, but I was assured by those who came that it wasn't because of me but because it was Friday. Either way, it was a cozy-sized class, and I felt much more coherent than previously. (For an example of Wednesday's sleepy incoherence, at one point I couldn't think of a word. I said, "What's that word that means when you make yourself innocent?" They all looked at me blankly. "Vindicated?" one person guessed. "No," I answered, "It's like exculpate but less Latin." The word was, of course, exonerate. I thought of it after the class and decided that I need to start sleeping more.) I also took today off of caffeine. With the not sleeping this week, I've been imbibing more substances than usual, which probably isn't helping anything at all. So far today I've had no coffee, caffeinated tea or chocolate, and it wasn't as hard as I expected. Of course, I have a headache right now, and the half-eaten chocolate bar sitting beside me looks very tempting, but I'm ignoring its siren call (for now, anyway).

This afternoon Ashley and I went shopping. We went first to the Home Hardware, which actually has a lot more stuff in it than I expected. I didn't buy anything, but I'm going to go back. Then we went to the natural food store in town. This is a very exciting place. I bought 4 different teas, a bag of organic chamomile, a rainforest chocolate bar (the mint chocolate flavour - I remember these being really tasty) and a locally grown thing of garlic. I'm drinking organic chamomile tea right now to ease my headache and hopefully help me to sleep. We then went to the bookstore next door, which is a lot like my favourite store in Stratford (Yesterday's Things). This store is called the Odd Book. Used books of all kinds were there... I limited myself to four purchases, but it was hard. I got an Agatha Christie novel (TV substitute), The Aristos by John Fowles (I've really gotten into him again after thinking and reading so much about The Collector this week), Shoeless Joe (this was Ashley's recommendation) and The Wind in the Willows which I remember liking when I was younger. All round, a very exciting shopping trip (for Wolfville). It's funny, because I was just thinking to myself the other day that the only reason that I can support myself financially this year is because Wolfville does not have a lot of shopping opportunities so that I spend much less money on impulse buys than I have at any other time in life. Then, today, I go out and impulse buy tea and books that I really didn't need. It's all good, though. I didn't actually spend that much, and I figure that at least I'll use these things. I'm going to make another trip back to the natural food place soon to get soap and bath products (they have Guelph Soap Co. soap here! Makes me feel like I'm back at home).

I think that's all I have for now. This is only scratching the surface of the wild chaos that has been my brain lately, but I think it will do for now. I'm going to get some rest and read some Agatha Christie until my headache goes away.