The Canadian Military is mocked by many for its amazing lack of, well, equipment, for one. It isn't the military's fault, but it can be somewhat embarrassing. That said, there is nothing - NOTHING - less likely to inspire awe than a soldier in full cammo carrying an enviro-hemp totebag. You know the kind, the "green" bags that were popular ten years ago that are now only carried by those who shop at health food stores.

Okay, had he been wearing fuzzy bunny slippers, that would have been less inspiring, but still, whatever effect the uniform had on anyone was completely tempered by the silliness of his overstuffed totebag.

Where did I see this fine specimen? At the Canadian Government building up near Yonge and Sheppard. There were plenty of army types walking about, as well as customs officials (there's a passport office there), and none of them really impressed me. And I like uniforms. Anyway, I was there with my mother who was dropping off her passport papers to have ready before she flies to New York. As far as I know, you don't require an up-to-date passport to cross into the USA from Canada, but it can't help to have one. I, personally, am thinking of applying for a US passport, too, for ease of travel.

Speaking of travel, I've been sending out inquiring emails to all sorts of museums here and there. Mostly, I've had either no response, or lame response. My plan was simple, get an internship in New York City. How's that working out? Well, that's the thing, it isn't working out very well at all. One museum in NY has responded, and in all honesty, the form response wasn't a good start and not having my question answered helped even less. So, I've pretty much crossed that institution off my list.

The museum that has been most excited by the prospect of my interning with it, is... in Winnipeg. I have nothing wrong with The 'Peg, as it's sometimes called. In fact, I've never even been there so I have no point of comparison. What I do know about Winnipeg is that it is a pretty funky city and has a strong arts community. It isn't very big, and its other nickname is "Winterpeg", but they have a well-known museum there, the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, and that museum's education/interpretation department seems to want me.

For the next little while, I'll use polite stalling tactics while I wait and cross my fingers for the Brooklyn Museum or MOMA to return my email, but I may have to get used to the idea of finding a place to live in Winnipeg. It's quite a bit farther away than New York, but it could be a lot of fun. We shall see.
In other news, utterly unrelated to school, passports, or the Military, Rick and I went to Canoe last night. This is a very high rated restaurant and one we would not normally visit (considering the price of food, etc.), but Rick had won some gift certificates through his work and we decided to use them. So, it was the most expensive dinner I've ever had (I think) and completely worth it. Every penny of it !

So, what did we eat? This:

• Lobster and cuttlefish salad (me)
• Oysters (Rick)
• Seared bluefin Tuna (me)
• Rack of lamb (Rick)
• Side of King mushrooms (shared)
• Sticky Toffee something or other (me)
• The most incredible butter tart (Rick)
• Capuccino (me)
• Coffee (Rick)
• Two glasses of white, each - Reisling for Rick, Chardonay for me
• Late harvest wine (one glass each)

Final bill, with tip? $310. Half of that was paid with gift certificates and the other half we're calling an early anniversary dinner in celebration of five years together. You know what one of the most pleasant parts of the meal was? It was wonderful to be treated as though every single thing we said, ordered, or ate, was a pleasure for the staff. Our waiter really gave us the feeling that he was delighted to serve us and that we were the most special of guests.

And the food was mind-bogglingly good.

I am a lucky woman.

I want to sleep. That's really all I want to do. I'm not depressed, just very, very worn out. This coming week is reading week and it can't come soon enough. Even though it will be jammed full of activities, I still look forward to a week without school. Even the knowledge that my last test score was 98% isn't enough to bouy me up. Chocolate, nice and dark, would definitely help, but I don't think we have any. If I make it to the gym tonight, maybe I'll feel envigourated. We'll see.

Yes, I promised more to come last post, but I just can't right now. There is my bed, empty of me, waiting for me to lie in it. Close my eyes and just... sleep. Mmmmm.

First of all, I would like to wish someone, who shall remain anonymous, a very happy 30th anniversary ! You know who you are ! Congratulations on this special day, and may you see another thirty years, one day at a time. *love*

Last night, I got to see something people haven't really had a chance to see in Peterborough, at least not in the last fifty years, or something. I went to the Opera ! Yes, the Petes now boasts Lyric Stage, a brand new opera company spearheaded by Canadian singer, Eleanor James, and a merry band of the musically inclined. For their first performance, they played Cupid and Death an early Baroque opera that contains all the necessary elements to make theatre-goers blush, and has probably been doing so for three hundred years. The synopsis has Cupid and Death spending a night at an inn where a vindictive servant (spurned in love and afraid to die) switches their arrows (or, in this version, guns). What ensues is chaos as young lovers are struck dead in the midst of wooing and the ailing tear off their bandages and fall hopelessly in love. There's hetro-, bi-, homo-, transexual love and there's even a dose of bestiality. It is quite the romp ! The aging couple sitting beside me became quite uncomfortable as the "Old Men Dancing" troupe all began fondling each other. Most everyone else, mind you, laughed so hard that tears streamed down their faces.

I have to say, I haven't laughed so hard in a while. I was supposed to leave at the intermission to catch my bus into Toronto, but I was feeling pretty unsteady (thanks to a certain monthly visitor) and had the feeling that I really should see the second half of the performance. I called Rick and rearranged my plans. I don't think he was thrilled, but he still gets to see me later, so he'll live. The opera was fairly well acted and generally well sung, with the exception of a couple soloists who probably only got the parts because of family connexions, and the leads were quite good. It was a success, by my account, and a great first showing for this new little company. I look forward to their future shows.

More news to come.

Happy Canadian Flag Day !

I can't remember if I mentioned my not-so-old printer dying or not, so forgive me if I have, but I'm going to do so now. My printer, an HP deskjet 960c, started out rather well, but sometime in the fall, approaching Christmas, it started to make a grinding sound. This began to happen after I refilled the ink cartridges, but this isn't what caused it, because I'd been refilling them for several months. In fact, I really doubt that refilled ink cartridges could be responsible for what actually happened. One of the little plastic flappy things that raise when the paper starts to come out physically came unattached and an itty-bitty little coiled spring bounced out. I tried to fix it, but all I got were grinding noises and then the paper stopped feeding through entirely. My initial plan was to take it into a shop and have it repaired, but as time wore on, I started to realise that it probably wasn't worth the price to do so.

Three months later, fliers from Staples started to arrive at the house and they had tantalising offers in them, although, not really what I was looking for. Then, a little more than a week ago, a big green flier arrived, addressed to us and it offered much more interesting and useful deals. Here began the hmming and hawing. I looked through the flier, front to back to front again; in the washroom, in my bedroom, on the couch, in the kitchen. Receiving my OSAP funding, finally, after months of problems, suddenly gave me just enough finiancial freedom to buy a new printer, but which one? Three days ago, or so, with the flier sale running out of time, I started my consumer research in earnest.

I visited several websites, including a few that were really excellent, if not necessarily helpful. The problem with many sites was the lack of reviews. There could be twenty for one printer, and none for another, which wasn't helpful at all when the missing printers were the ones I was searching for. I engaged Rick in the research as well, and between the two of us, I did end up with a number of useful reviews. Finally, I settled on the one I purchased, the Canon PIXMA iP4000. It's not the latest model in the PIXMA line, but it was available, within my price range, and had just about all the bells and whistles I needed or wanted. With knowledge in my brain, I was able to make what I think was an informed decision and ordered it on-line.

The truth is, I am very disappointed with my HP. Up until now, all my best printing experience has been with HP equipment. I was aware that my mother's Lexmark, a machine a year older than my old printer, actually did a better, more reliable job than what I was using and that was frustrating. Now, I have my Canon and I hope that it lives for years and years. Computer appliances shouldn't be disposable, and it really pained me to have to spend more money so soon after the last one was purchased. That said, maybe be able to donate the HP to a computer charity or something.

And, in the meantime, I have one Hell of a sexy printer !

Appologies, I'm having a nerd moment. :) Hey, I'm allowed.


Andalusian. You're Graceful and Beautiful. You like
the way you are and you love to impress. You're
sweet and caring, but you can get a little show
offy. You have lots of friends and the elders
respect you. You've made a good spot out there
for yourself. Good Job!


What Breed of Horse Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

A lot has happened over the last little while and for much of it, I didn’t feel comfortable posting in such an open forum as this. Normally, I would not extol the virtues of LiveJournal over this, my long enduring weblog, but for the ability to post entries privately. There was an unfortunate event between myself and a member of my school faculty and I’ll simply leave the subject with a summation: It was a lack of communication that led to hurtful allegations and a jumping to conclusions that does not befit a pair of adults. I spoke to all parties involved and resolved the situation to the best of my ability and we’re all the wiser for it.

Not that long ago, perhaps four years ago or there about, I would have let it go. I would have simply shrugged and taken the hit. My marks would have begun to slide and I wouldn’t have cared. I like to think that things are different now for two reasons. Firstly, I’m older now, and from where I stand here, I know I am also more mature. Secondly, I really want to be in this programme and do not wish to waste my time and money with a course that I won’t apply in my career path. I’m where I want to be, damn it, and I refuse to allow the actions of a few people to turn me away.

In the meantime, I’m still waiting for letters of reference from other faculty for my application to the Metropolitan Museum. I kind of feel like I’m doomed never to get in because my academic referees keep screwing up. It really is annoying. I realise that people have their own responsibilities that may prevent them from getting to what they deem less important, but sometimes, I wish they’d just think about how it could be affecting someone else.

Changing the subject to more current events, I went with a few friends from class, to “Fetish Night” at Peterborough’s Trasheteria. It was pretty much as I expected: a good night out at a club, but a pretty tame fetish night overall. There were some people really into the scene, but in all, it was vanilla – and that’s coming from someone (me) who’s really not all that kinky ! The entertainment acts were so-so, though I think that the “Wet-lipped Pussycats” really would have been better off at a strip joint. I think they want to be kinky burlesque, but they look like they’ve taken all their pointers from second-rate strip clubs. They don’t even win points for being terribly risqué since they didn’t even know how to use the floggers and whips they wielded. It was kind of like a highschool senior play with pasties.

The second act, some circus geek type act (“Sadistic Cupid” or something like that) did not suck, but I have no idea what the lead guy was saying since the DJ seemed incapable of turning down the music. Anyway, it involved some guy with pins in his chest in the shape of a heart, which was kind of fascinating in its own way, but wasn’t really my thing. Yes, okay, the girls took the pins out and there was blood, but honestly, I just don’t enjoy bloodsports. I was pleased to see everyone donned rubber gloves for that, too, and at the end of the act, the stage was thoroughly disinfected. I’m such a hygiene nerd. Really, although the pin-guy did eat fire, since he wasn’t eating it off anyone, it wasn’t that exciting.

Yesterday, Mom and I drove out to Dundas for an engagement party. Held in honour of my dear friend Juliane and her fiancé, Sean, it was quite unlike any engagement party I’ve ever attended. It was fully catered from one o’clock in the afternoon until well passed supper, and there were probably close to one hundred people in attendance. The oldest of grandparents mingled with excited toddlers and everything in between. It was an amazing affair and a very good way for everyone to meet the wedding party and various parents, friends, and whatnot. Juli’s parents were a-buzz, especially her mother, who loves to entertain – she was in her element ! There were also trips out to the barn to visit the horses, including one mare with five weeks to go. The cats were all set up in the basement with chairs, food, water, and litter all arranged for their comfort and Terry, the standard poodle, was trembling all around the house, half paralised with fear for all the strangers.

Around half-passed four, the bridesmaids all piled into some cars and headed to “Heirlooms” a bridal shop in Dundas to look at gowns. This was something of an experience and, yet again, did nothing to bolster my opinion of bridal shop owners or the gown industry at all. The owners were quite displease to have us there so close to closing time and offered us next to no assistance when we asked for their opinions about different gown shapes on certain body types. Juliane has five bridesmaids and three are long and lean and two are uber-curvy. A little help would have been appreciated. Anyway, we narrowed our field of choice to about two dresses, both very different from what we’d initially pictured, and now we’re going to try to find them at other shops since we’d really like to NOT deal with this store again. If you can believe it, the owner actually turned the lights off while we were still getting out of the gowns and getting our boots on to leave. I mean, never mind that we could have conceivably dropped a thousand bucks right then and there. Anyway, the search will continue.

Oh, and the colour? Heh, light purple, again. Le sigh.

So, this art contest I mentioned in my last post, is this "women in art" competition where the winners will be selected for a book. It is being held by a reputable publishing company, known for fantasy type illustration books, and the judges are some of the best in the field. I don't think that the submissions have to be fantasy, though. Sadly, there's a somewhat heafty entry fee of $20 per submission, but it's not actually out of line with many of the other competition entry fees I've seen. I'd post a link, but I don't have the website handy here at the museum. In a similar vein, I've also gotten my Ad-Astra art competition entry forms, so now I have to think about what I've got to hang. See, the problem is, I haven't had all that much time to get any art done.

School is going alright. I wish I were as enthusiastic this semester as I was last, but sadly, certain things have happened that have made me kind of uncomfortable. Namely, being sick for a week and having an instructor renege on the promise of a letter of reference for the reason of absences... Ya, and she did this via email while I was sitting three chairs away from her in the same room. Needless to say, I have dealing with that to greet me at the start of this week. Oh boy.

Other than that, things have been kind of quiet. Nick came and visited, made the guest bed smelly (Nick, you really should bathe more), and I got sick. Oh, and I did a TON of school work. Despite being sick, I managed to attend nearly every group meeting I had got my work in on time. You know how I did this? With my awesome-super powers, inherited from my mother. Still, I can't help feeling I have missed something in the bustle, hustle, and bed-rest.

I finally got my OSAP funding - for the autumn term. How timely. Thank you, Canada Student Loans, for being so disfunctional that my money was held up for four months. It's a damn good thing I didn't need it desperately, you know, because it wouldn't have been there to help. As it stands, I'm saving it up for my glorious unpaid internship in the future. Whee? I'm going through various job-posting websites and hitting pages belonging to specific museums looking at my options. I'm still very much focused on doing my internship in New York, but I'm almost certain I won't be able to begin it until the fall.
Also, I keep dreaming about cars and last night I dreamt of a corpse stuffed under a grate and in a pipe (yes, she was in two pieces) in what looked like the basement of my old house on Avenue Road. It wasn't that creepy, though it was a bit disturbing. I guess I'm watching too much CSI.