no exams!

...but that means that I have 5 major assignments all due before the 12th. Watch me disappear. Or, watch me say that I'm going to disappear, and then watch me continue to blog, paint, cook elaborate meals, laze around discussing life in coffeeshops, attend plays, take buses to the end of their lines, rent children's movies and get into the Christmas groove far too early.

Those festivities were all packed into this weekend. And I wonder why I spend my entire Sundays at the library. It's all catching up.

A bunch of us finally made it to Victoria Park for the revered Winter Wonderland
treelighting ceremony. Surrounded by parents with bobbing children on their shoulders and pre-teens giggling in their parkas, I felt quite outnumbered. London so often feels like a town run by students that it's a bit of a shock when you're an age-group anomaly on your own turf: not a child, not yet a yuppie.

It was very pretty and cold and over-lit and jolly. I proposed the idea of my roommates and I taking turns pulling eachother to class in toboggans, but was shot down horribly. Being pulled in a a sled through fluffy snow, all puffed up in my pink jacket and red kitten balaclava and waiting for my dad to buy me a hot chocolate at the Richmond Hill winter carnival ...it doesn't get much better than that. Except it does, in a way.

I think there are still a lot of holiday festivites that remain uncorrupted by commercialization. The Winter Wonderland was free, welcoming to all and simple. I appreciate something like this more than ever when every other night's entertainment costs at least a few bucks.

Amy, who was feeling particularly inspired by the family-friendly festivities said

"Guys, usually Christmas makes me want a boyfriend but this year it makes me want a baby."

This was even more hilarious coming from a girl who hits the gym every day to prepare for her January police testing. Let me ask you, does this look like the face of a future law enforcer?



Fierce and ferocious, Amy will be the very picture of authority and vigilant law enforcement.

Aside from old spitfire mcGuire, a few other ladies were charmed by the kids as well. The idea of a communal "child pet" was even suggested. I'm not sure how much seriousness was in this statement idea, but maybe everyone just wants some child-like joy in their lives. Maybe we're getting older? Maybe it's just that pre-exam time where magic is in the air and anything goes. hmmm

belated, but still

On November 19th, Jennifer Lynn Harding Wilhelm turned 21 years old. She's one of the brightest, most serious, kind, funny (in her own way) and loyal people I have ever met. She's been busy this year: working at the library, playing in the marching band, and locking herself away with her laptop, slaving over one history paper or another. As I write this she's messaging me hfrom the library while on her laptop. Do I know that girl or what? Happy birtday, Wee. I'm as proud as a mother on the first day of kindergarten.
* * *
In other news, it's gorgeous outside. I also like how Western cheaped out and only half-wrapped their x-mas trees. Oh yeah, and it's almost December. My mom reminded me of that when she asked me what I want for christmas. My answer: socks, and lots of them.

Today Matt Larkin made a cameo in my speech about why students should participate in musical theatre. He was the "heterosexual male who broke the theatre stereotype". I applaud him for his nerve to burst into a strange classroom singing "If I were a rich man" at the top of his lungs.

I can't donate blood anymore, since I had good old malaria.

Now I gotta call my Grandma, cause it's her birthday :)

city of fires, not ice.

I wanted to write this morning, when it was still early, the wintery sun was beginning to shine over the St. Lawrence, and the wine from Saturday was still buzzing delightfully in my veins...but I was sleepy and I hit the snooze buttons a few times.


cabbage in a winter garden

I spent the weekend in Montreal, with Brian, on a pilgrimage of sorts. It was unusually warm for November, especially in the many cozy fire place-filled local haunts. I discovered a lot of things, but I'll tell you 10.

1. Montreal has a knack for creating a perfect fusion of haute couture, spectacles de sexe, classy jazz bars and 99 cent hot dog joints, somehow creating a pleasant yet edgy environment with surprises around every corner.

2.Even hippie-esque student protesters dress in ultra trendy attire.

3.Beer is even better when infused with flavours like raspberry, chocolate or (gasp) apricot at Brutopia. It's better still when enjoyed in candle-lit pubs.



4.Peel Pub still takes the cake for the cheapest food and beer I've ever seen. I'm talking a pitcher and a meal for around $10. Just try to avoid full tables of international biz bratty girls who repeatedly scream "Here's to a BA" when it's clearly November and the end is not yet in sight.


dragon fountain in chinatown

5. The East Plateau district is very cool because of its inviting cafes, multiple independent record stores and all-fruit and veggie markets. It is, however, slowly being invaded by pretentious collar-poppers and yuppies seeking a bohemian glam lifestyle.

6. Everyone in montreal wears scarves. Men, women, grannies, children, elderly gentlemen, they all insist on neck adornment.

7. You can't have french canadian culture without clowns:


and, as for my academic future:

8. McGill has some fabulous faculty members and is stunning...but I'm not sure if it's the place for me.

9. Concordia, on the other hand, was much warmer and felt pretty good.

10. There's no place like home.



Other than check out grad school options, we did a hell of a lot of walking, took the Metro, I worked on my fashion article (Check out the Gazette on Friday), we ate cheap, great food and had a few cocktails at night. I found, yet again, that my most direct competition for my boyfriend are men. Yes, the french canadian men love Brian, but he fends them off with politeness and dignity. Seriously though, those guys don't know who they're messing with.

We encountered a few crazies on the streets, mysterious metropolitan pumpkin patches and revisited opulent, underground bars.



Great city, great times.

dallas and the blustery day

The wind and rain were so so strong on my window this morning that they gave me a nightmare that included Blythe Danner, a ghost's shadow and an electrecuting door. Sheesh, you'd think my subconscious would take it easy on me, but it just had to give Gwyneth's mom a cameo. Anyways...

Still lots of leaves around here to fall in, throw, admire. Brian and I kicked a lot of them last night on the way home from Molly's. They're even starting to fall on the eternally foliage'd magnolia tree outside my house. I don't mind though. It's gotta happen and fall at Western is incomparable.

I find it ironic that I haven't posted cause anything I think about writing seems too self-indulgent and more suitable for a journal...and then I go and be a blogger with this pic.

I'm off to Montreal tomorrow. We're going for an adventure, and also for the future. That's right, I am meeting with some faculty members at Mcgill and Concordia universities to begin the process of researching, applying to grad school. And yet, it's only November of 4th year.

Auditioned for a show tonight after setting up a photo show for mit...it looks very pretty. This program is stocked with talented people, and this year especially I have noticed how surrounded I am by brilliant, savvy people. It makes a girl feel pretty lucky.

I miss Tanzania a lot. It's funny but all the gorgeous African music I was surrounded by this summer still hums in my mind. Swahili swims through my dreams and I don't forget a single face or name of a the people I was lucky enough to meet there. The first and third world are different places, as we learn in class and see on the news. I have been dipped in two extremes and I'm not sure which one I'm more comfortable with. If any of you have any chance to do any travelling, get out there.



This pic is from Halloween. I think it's best that I only include one, ambiguous photo and let that speak for the festivities. What an incredible time: from superheroes to pirates to hurricanes to hot cops, this Halloween will not be forgetten.

Have a nice, windy weekend everyone.