On not having enough time:

I have not, in fact, dropped off the face of the planet. I know that some people might dispute this as there has been virtually no proof of my existence at all. Let me assure you, gentle reader, that I am here, moving through life, on this very plane of existence. Now, if I look back over my schedule since returning from New York I can see that I've been very busy. While there were a couple of days off at my disposal, they were disposed of in a very tedious manner; generally speaking, at work. The work might have been more enjoyable than my other work, but still work. There was also a sick day in there, but it, too, was spent working. Include in this twelve hours of volunteering for my NDP candidate, and the other work that I did upon arriving home from, you guessed it, work, and you have a very full schedule. And a somewhat confusing paragraph.

Now, look ahead through my coming month and you will find that although my work for the candidate is finished, there are contracts that need completing (in the VERY near future), and not a single day off until the 13th of July. Sure, this coming weekend, while not actually working at the ROM, I'll be working at a tradeshow (read: Toronto Trek sci-fi convention), and that's a lot of work that requires me to be on the ball all day, every day. Okay, to be fair, one day after the tradeshow, I'll not be working, I'll be driving between Toronto and Peterborough and (you guessed it) working on contracts. Heh.

Hopefully, this explains my lack of posts and/or social activity. There is a wedding I must attend in Quebec near the end of the month so I will have a few days off (thankfully), but honestly, I have no idea when I'll get a real chance to visit my cottage this year. I hope I will before I go back to school, but there's no guarantee, considering all the schedules that need balancing this summer. I must say that it is very different working in Visitor Services than it was in Membership. In the latter, I could pretty much walk into my manager's office and say that I wanted such-and-such days off and it would be done. This job is quite a bit more 'real world' than the other was, though. I'll eventually get used to it. In the meantime, I'm trying to determine my schedule for August. It's going to have to revolve around moving house and other non-ROM-related work.

This leads me to my options surrounding my return to school. Hopefully, there will be some flexibility that will allow me to commute from Peterborough every other weekend, or so, to work, but won't require my being at the museum every Saturday and Sunday. There is precedence for this flexibility, but if not, I have the option of requesting Educational Leave. Again, there is quite a bit of precedence for this being accepted. If not, well, that is a whole different kettle of fish. Or bucket of eels. Whichever.

Lately, I've been suffering from intermittent stomach pain of the sort I have had after the food poisoning has gone but the muscles are still in spasm. The problem is, I haven't had food poisoning or even been sick in any sort of way relating to my digestive system. Sometimes it happens after I've eaten, as though my stomach's not sure it can handle the food, but sometimes it gives a twinge out of nowhere for no apparent reason. I wonder what an ulcer feels like.

Before I go to work, I have to go to Shoppers' Drug Mart to pick up my incredibly expensive medication. This will effectively clean me out. On top of this, Mom is giving me money to cover the interest on my student loan I've built up over the last few months. It's frustrating that all this comes just before my rent is due, when my next paycheque is going to be small. I had hoped to get down to Curry's (artist supply super store) to pick up some Prismacolour colour markers that are on sale for HALF price as well as some supplies for the contract I picked up for a wooden sign I'm painting. That contract isn't going to net me a ton of money, unfortunately, but it's got some cache being for the geek magician from the Renaissance Fest. If anyone wants to donate to my cause, you can purchase stuff from my store and that would be very appreciated. ;)

Also, I'll be selling some teeshirts at Toronto Trek this year. I've been screwed by the Art Show whose organisers forgot (yet again) to send me my artist package and when I enquired, I was told there was only a half-panel available for me to show my art and NO table space. Ask me if I'm impressed. I'll be working the Nocturnalia booth for Nicole, this year, since she's helping to move her parents to PEI. It's not a great loss, then that I won't have art show space, because I'll be paid for my efforts anyway. Right, but I was talking about teeshirts. I went to my friend's apartment yesterday and we screened some shirts. I'm very pleased with the results and hopefully they will sell well. I'm still not sure how much to sell them for.

Anyway, I'm sure you've had enough of my ramblings. I'm going to do a very small wash of laundry in the sink/bathtub now and hang them outside on the drying rack. This will stave off my imminent panty deficit.

I am cross-posting this from my livejournal, Me and Other Things, because it is worth mentioning twice:

I ran into an old friend on the subway. He's a musician and he used to front a band I loved with all my heart. Anyway, he looked great and we chatted a bit. He gave me his new CD, which I am now listening to (it's pretty good) and we re-aquainted ourselves and whatnot. Not that he'll be easy to reach for the next while as he is walking across Canada playing gigs at each stop to raise money for cancer research. The album is a solo project and so is the trek. Read about it here.

I was invited to his show last night, but the person who invited me left out the fact that all the money goes to raise funds... I would have actually made an effort to get Rick and myself out to the show. Anyway, he and I haven't been in touch much in the last three years, but I have to say, I'm really proud of him and what he's doing. I was concerned for him when we lost touch; living the 'rock and roll' lifestyle was beginning to take its toll. I wish him well and hopefully I will get a chance to see him perform at another time.

Good luck, Simeon !

I've been back in Toronto now for a few days and am back to my old routine. This is not a terribly interesting fact, especially since my routine is pretty boring. Rick was over last night, which was fun. I don't often miss people when I go away, or when they go away; I miss my cat and my bed, but people less so. I had one night when I really wished Rick was with me in New York, but that was it. Last night, however; I realised that a part of me had missed him quite a bit and I was very happy to spend time with him. What's happened to me?

Tonight, I'm supposed to be meeting with a potential client that was referred to me by Nicole. He's a friend of hers and he works at the Renaissance Faire among other places. Some of you might be familiar with his stage name, Zoltan the Adequate. He seems like a very fun guy and he needs a sign painted and I'm available and interested in doing it. I keep checking my email in the hopes of hammering out the details for tonight's meeting, but so far, no message. Anyway, I'm not sweating it, we'll get together eventually. There's not quite a month before he needs it.

In a similar vein, I really must start getting some stuff together for Toronto Trek. As usual, the people running the Art Show haven't gotten back to me with the control sheets, and when I spoke to my friend Maery, with whom I'm sharing a hotel room, she had her forms but couldn't actually get them to open on her computer. Yeesh. I'll be working the convention on behalf of Nicole who has to help her parents move down East. She'll be paying me to be there and on the Saturday I'll have her assistant to help out. Now that the attendees to TTrek have gotten to know me as Nicole's minion, I might actually make some sales for her.

I have big plans for this year's convention, too. Not only will I have my typical art show stuff, but I'm planning to have tee-shirts featuring my artwork ! I was planning to do it via printer transfer sheets and an iron, but I just discovered that my friend, Mel, has a silk-screener ! So now we have a date for next Thursday. I'll take a walk down to China Town on Monday to buy cheap tee-shirts and then I'll be a go. Well, that and I have to pick out which images I want to use. I am sort of thinking Nine-Fingered Frodo and maybe my creepy twins, but perhaps I'll come up with something brand new. Suggestions are appreciated.

I never did find a cyber cafe near to where I was staying in New York, though in all honesty, I didn't look terribly hard. I had a nice trip. It felt a little unstructured, which isn't a bad thing, but a lot of the things I'd expected to do with Mom didn't happen because, of course, she ended up not going. It was a very nice visit, though, and I saw people I hadn't seen for a while and went to places I hadn't been before.

On the advice of a friend at the ROM, I went down to Chelsea, and really, other than housing a significant number of aging gay men with small dogs and a fair number of interior design shops, there wasn't a whole lot going on. I suspect my friend got Chelsea confused with Soho. I didn't actually make it to Soho, even, as I found other things to do. I did more fully explore the Upper West Side and the streets near to where I was staying, this time, venturing off of Broadway in order to explore Amsterdam and Columbus. I also didn't make it out to any clubs or plays, even though me and my host had discussed the idea of going to a show. Not having any contacts my own age kind of cuts into one's desire to experiment with the clubs and whatnot.

One thing that was very neat was that I returned to my old neighbourhood, Sheepshead Bay, for the first time in twenty years. I went specifically to visit my late nana and zaida's best friends, Willy and Shirley, but also to see the streets I remember so fondly. When I climbed out of the subway, I was struck with olfactory nostalgia - the neighbourhood smells exactly how I remember it: like the ocean, a bit dirty, and full of cooking scents. I took photographs of my old house and street and was pleased to see how big the trees had become. I wandered through the park where I used to play and more than anything, it was there where I felt the most nostalgic. Willy and Shirley are old now; somehow the same even though the years have marked them. Willy is half blind but as kind as I remember and, now that I'm an adult, I realise he's perceptive, intelligent, and wise. Shirley is tiny - five foot nothing at the most - and has all the powers of persuasion a Jewish great-grandmother should have. Brooklyn pizza is still the best in the world and therefore I was to eat it ("Have another slice, Mayala, we ordered it for you...") until Shirley had deemed I'd eaten enough.

Eating was something I did a lot of. Despite my, um, zoftic curves, the prevailing attitude was that I should eat heartily at every meal. This is not how I usually eat. I tend toward one meaningful meal a day, but everyone made sure I couldn't possibly starve. And most frustratingly, no one let me pay. I managed, in a week of eating, to pay for only two, maybe three, meals. And every single one was either delivery or at a restaurant. I started to order salads simply to cut down on the heaviness and to get some decent fiber into my diet. The best food was had at three particular restaurants, excluding the awesome pizza Shirley ordered: E.J.'s Luncheonette, French Roast (my favourite by far) and, River Thai & Vietnamese.

Unfortunately, I spent the entire vacation suffering from larengitis, or something like it, so I was coughing chronically, alternating between losing my voice and sounding like I'd been smoking for forty years, and blowing god-awful stuff out of my nose. I spent the Tuesday pretty much in bed all day until dinner time when I finally got up and decided I was going to take a walk if it killed me. Alfred joined me and we walked to Riverside Park and far down the humber, pausing ocassionally to sit on a bench in the sun or wander down a pier. We found a charming waterside cafe and enjoyed a refreshing dinner as the sun sank below New Jersey before heading back up the boardwalk and home again.

On the one grossly humid day we had, I walked (yes, walked - ugh) to the American Museum of Natural History knowing full well that it would be extremely air-conditioned. This was my favourite museum when I was little and it's still pretty neat. I took in the special exhibition about the lost city of Petra, which was very interesting and made good use of both video and written information. I also got to see the model of the giant squid hanging from the ceiling in the biodiversity section - a creature that has dominated my memory of the museum for most of my life. It's not as big as it seemed when I was five, but it's still pretty impressive. I also went to the Whitney Museum with Alfred, and that was pretty interesting, though not as much fun as when we went to the Met back in October. The museum highlight was definitely the Brooklyn Museum of Art. I visited that one with my mother's friend, Suzanne, who lives very near to it, and was very impressed. It is large and spacious and houses some very fine collections of world art. Mostly, I focused on the African and Oceanic art as we lack any notworthy displays of such here in Toronto. I found it very interesting that the Brooklyn Museum has just undergone a substantial renovation that involves both glass and steel, but unlike what's going to happen at the ROM, this museum's managed to blend it perfectly with its classically inspired facade. Gorgeous.

Anyway, I could go on at some length still, but my fingers hurt. I am out of practice, or something, and I've already been typing now for about half-an-hour. Suffice it to say that I had a very nice time in New York and hope that I'll get back there in the not too distant future.

I'm leaving on the bus for New York in just over an hour. I'm actually really nervous. I usually get excited before a trip, but tonight, I'm thinking it is as much anxiety as excitement. I don't know why, I've made the trip a bizillion times before. Have a wonderful week.

"This is the end / there ain't no more" as various camps songs say, "unless I meet that..." Well, in this case it's not a bear, goat, or train - I'm talking about Eternal Egypt. Tomorrow, the fat lady will sing, so to speak, but I won't be around to see it as I'll be riding a Greyhound to New York (hooray !). I'm working in the phone dungeon in the Visitor Services office right now and mostly the phone has been ringing steadily. Not necessarily 'off the hook' at all times, but damn near it for somewhat extended periods. We're up to 200 phonecalls, which isn't a record by any stretch, but when 92% of the calls are basically the same three questions ("Are there any tickets left?" "Can I purchase my tickets on the phone with you?" "Where are you located?"), it might as well be a thousand calls.

Rick is in the museum right now, moving through the Egypt show. He never quite managed to pick a time when I'd be able to give him the tour, what with our two schedules, so he's stuck with the last minute crowds. Joane called me down here in the dungeon to tell me that she saw him and and his lovely short hair and that it looked very good. I was just telling him last night that all the ladies think he's cute now. Even Joane. *laugh* Well, it's true. Anyway, I said my goodbyes to the exhibition yesterday. It was my last day doing the tours and it was pretty melancholic. Most of the interpreters were subdued and we all moved through the show saying our private farewells to our favourite pieces. We gave our best for the groups yesterday, trying to fit in all the best information we could. The class that went through last got one of the best tours we could have given them.

On the one hand, I had become pretty tired of a lot of the students. I had grown tired of telling them to be quiet and acting like their teacher or parent, but on the other hand, there were so many great kids with so many wonderful questions, I doubt I could get tired of them. Even yesterday, I was amazed at the wonderful way that some kids express their ideas. One grade five boy, when I was explaining how the creator god, Khnum, creates two identical statues of each human, suggested that the reason for this was so that the two could 'exist in two worlds'. After a moment of encouragement, he developed this idea into a picture that I realised was meant as 'this world' and the 'next world', or the Afterlife. And he would be right. That was a nice moment to savour on the last day.

Tonight I have to head down to Queen Street in order to pick up my excellent custom shirt as done by Nicole. I'm paid up, had it fitted to me yesterday, and I'm very excited. I wanted it for New York, even if I don't get a chance to wear it. I have a lot of packing and organising to do tonight as my bus will go tomorrow in the evening. I had planned to take the earlier bus at 12:30, but honestly, that one arrives after midnight and I'd rather battle the rushhour crowds in the New York subway on Monday morning than arrive in the middle of the night. I can sleep on the bus and get most of a day's activity in on Monday providing I get a bit of a nap. Besides, Alfred, with whom I'm staying, is a morning person, not a night person. This means that I can probably manage to see Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkeban with everyone for Stew's birthday, afterall. That should make him very happy. It won't cut my time in New York short, either, as I just swapped a shift with someone at work that gives me an extra day at the end of my holiday. Yay !

My goodness, I hadn't the time for excitement previously, especially since Mom gave me the news that she wouldn't be able to come due to Real Life and I was really looking forward to travelling with her. My mother is the BEST travelling companion. We share interests in just about everything, and since she knows New York like the back of her hand, it would have been fun to poke around in her old haunts. However, I'm going to check out a couple places I've never been before, like all the galleries in Chelsea and maybe a couple of other places in Manhattan that I've never been. Also, I'm going to visit old friends of the family in Sheepshead Bay (my old neighbourhood in Brooklyn) whom we have not seen in something like two decades. That will be wild. I haven't been back to that area since I was nearly seven years old for my Zaida's funeral. Maybe I'll even take a walk down the old street.

Now, looking at my watch, I see that my day is drawing to a close so I really should post this and get on with things. Current phone tally is now over 220. Lots of people are now disappointed because we've been sold out for over half an hour. It is not my fault that they left it to the last weekend of the show. I am now looking forward to going for dinner with Rick. Oh yes, a quiet evening is most welcome.

I am pleased to announce that I have new pants. This is not a trivial matter as I am not exactly Madame Average. Unless you mean average height of a man. I am too fat for fashion, but not quite a plus size, too tall for normal women's clothing, too short for the tall shop. I spent a lot of time roaming around the Eaton Centre looking for pants that fit. As I am leaving for New York, I thought it would be a good idea to have a pair of jeans withOUT the split inseams. I finally had success at Bluenotes. I'd been told to go to Old Navy - the chain with the HORRIBLE commercials that made me swear I'd never set foot in one. Today, I did, but after about five steps, I stopped, looked around at the horrible plastic people doing their shopping, turned around and headed right out. On my journey to find pants (how middle class is that?) I met lots of very helpful salesgirls and a couple not-so-helpful salesgirls. In the end, I am pleased with my purchase and I know where to go for jeans in the future.

The Eaton Centre is under construction. I don't really know how I feel about this. The Eaton Centre is in architecture texts and they're completely rebuilding it's lovely glass facade. It's lovely EX-facade. Of course, the whole neighbourhood is undergoing renovations and has been for several years since someone thought that evicting a whole lot of little businesses and putting a hole in the ground would make Yonge Street more up-scale. So, now, every block is under siege, but rather than men in helmets, cannons and food shortages, there are men in helmets driving diggers and dozers. I was afforeded a wonderful view of the massive pit that abuts College Park. There were so many people peering through the little wholes in the barricade, everyone representing the multi-everything that is this city, all totally fascinated. The most interesting moment came when the digger was patting the bedrock down into the back of a dumptruck. This massive piece of machinery did so with such gentleness that it looked like a caress. It was so neat.

In other news, there are two more days remaining of Eternal Egypt school tours. It's getting harder to push through the spiels, I have to say, not because of boredom but rather my own desire to enjoy these last days. Sadly, yesterday I spent all too much time acting as a disciplinarian, separating badly behaved children and reprimanding their behaviour. This is not my job. Shame on the teachers and parents that accompany these groups and take no responsibility. It was a little better today, but I really hope it picks up tomorrow and Friday because I would like to go out on a high note. This has been the most rewarding job I've had since the first summer I worked for the Ontario Government. That's saying a lot. Who knows, maybe working on the OPSEU bargaining unit in the up-coming round of negotiations will be even more rewarding. Even if it's in a different sort of way. Probably not, though. All said, Eternal Egypt is exhausting, and going away to New York will be VERY refreshing; nice change of pace.