expecting the un/expected

Today I got lost while trying to take a series of metros and buses to work, but was taken under the wings of two Filipino ladies who are just learning their way around the city too. Maybe they were so nice to me because, as it turned out, they thought I was just starting high school. "You're 23? But you look just like a little child!" Meanwhile I've been thinking the recirculated air, an inconsistent skincare regime, and days on end of sitting have been rapidly aging me.

On Friday, Jennie and I were walking on Rue. St. Catherine, when a street evangelist looked me in the eye, and told us we were "going down with the demons" to the tune of a "walking in a winter wonderland". How quaint.

Last night we checked out a very cool, purely francophone bar in the east plateau, La Quincaillerie.

Cooking things I once found difficult to pull off, like crepes and butter chicken. And, leftovers combined to make butter chicken crepes. Also, Rozlyn's vegetarian pineapple curry dish. I can't wait to go home for the holidays and cook (and eat) up a storm.

The internet is a scary place for creepy, anonymous critics. I can't tell you the number of comment sections I've seen lately plagued by scathing cattiness and creepy critques. Some criticism is constructive, of course, but some of it is as debased as the posts it seeks to criticize. Gawker, for example, is full of absolute garbage in the comments sections. One of Gawker's main victims is one of my favourite bloggers, Brooke Parkhurst. First of all, the people at Gawker seem like gossip queens and kings on speed. Second of all, I wonder if commenters think their criticisms (which are sometimes intelligent, and justified) will actually cause the blogger in question to change his/her character? Self-absorbed bloggers don't appear to change their stripes, as far as I can tell thus far. Well, I guess we bloggers know what we're getting into when we put ourselves out there.

I'm going crazy from the prevalence of elitist speak in this academic world. Judith Williamson said it best when she explained that academics are no smarter than anyone else, they've simply chosen a different career path. Come on! We don't need to theorize everything, people! Sometimes, you just have to have a drink, and realize that staring at cracks in the wall, playing video games, and eating chocolate pudding are just as important.

And, Kareoke. Kareoke is always important.



more kareoke pictures