I remembered the thing!

Guess what guess what guess what? I remembered the thing that I forgot when I was writing the last posting here. Considering the topic now, it's not that important, but may as well put it out there anyways. The thing that came to mind was...

EATING ON THE TTC. Or really any mass transit, other than places where food is served, like trains and planes. Now, this is a personal thing, and if you eat on transit, more power to you. I will confess that I have eaten on the Greyhound from time to time, and often have something to drink, even an open container like a coffee on the bus, but eating something from your hands, like a sandwich, and then touching the TTC, and then eating again? Or whipping out something with a fork and going at it? Really? Transit is a dirty, dirty place. And no, a few germs won't kill you, they'll probably make you stronger, but what if they don't? Also, it can be bad enough dealing with people's personal smells and noises, let's not add food smells and chewing to the mix. Let's just not.

Forgetfulness

Well, this morning on the bus I thought of what I thought was a pretty nifty hook for a new blog post. And would you believe, that after two hours of work, which were almost exclusively reading and writing and therefore should have kept me on the ball, I've completely forgotten what it was? It's true.

I do think that the mind is a funny thing. You forget things you'd like to remember, and embarrassing memories or negative associations seem to hang around forever. Of the following situations, what's worse, do you think?

Option 1: You know something significant is happening, and you forget it anyway
Option 2: You realize later that something significant happened, but you forget what it was

There are probably other combinations of significance and memory inspiration, but those are the two I've got today. Deal with it, okay? The good thing about being the author of this blog is that I can totally change my mind. And my legions of fans will have no idea.

So, now I'm trying to remember if there's anything else that I forgot today. The high irony of this blog is killing me. Happy Holidays, everyone. Don't forget stuff.

Procrastination and Other Drugs

Well, it's been an almost obscenely long time since I've written here. Again. Oops. In my defense I do spend an awful lot of time on the computer, so maybe the subconscious doesn't want to do this too? That's pretty weak.

What's even weaker is the reason for this post. You're seeing this now because I'd rather do almost anything else than what I have to do, which is finish an assignment. Silly, right? Especially given that the assignment is totally self-directed, I made up the question, I did the research and now all that remains is that I have to write it up. Blah.

Enough of that. Let's comment on life. I still work at the Zoo although not for much longer. Time has sped by, which is usually the case when we're having a good time, isn't it? I've seen so many cool things that I never thought I would have experienced if you'd asked me a year ago. Yesterday I saw a baby marmoset, for pete's sake. They are pretty cute. About the size of a chipmunk, but a fully formed primate. Which brings me to the subject of primates in general. I have decided that they may be among my least favourite animal classes. They're so much like us, it can be off-putting. I don't know if I like seeing so much of myself in an animal.

Now, this could be construed as a comment on zoos in general, which it really isn't. I have no problem with the ethical curation of living collections, combined with a safe environment, excellent health care and nutrition, and responsible breeding, research, and conservation efforts. This is how animals are treated here and it is done very well. And given the other activities of humans, habitat destruction, pollution, poaching and other irresponsible behaviours, this is the only way we're going to be able to preserve some of these species until human attitudes change. For example I heard today that there may now be more tigers in captivity than in the wild. If we don't want to destroy the species, we're going to have to keep them here. Some might say that we're interfering with the logical progression of nature, but since we caused the problem, it is for us to do what we can to solve it.

I don't know if that was very articulate, or even had much of a point, but at least it's a post. And now it's done. And I have to work on the paper. That is it. Goodbye.

Ta-Dah!

Otherwise known as the best way to introduce a dramatic entrance, if you weren't aware. I actually practiced some entrances a couple of weeks ago, and I sense that the internet is just dying to hear allllll about them.

We went to Nuit Blanche in Toronto, all night arts festival. A few interesting things happened, and there were certainly things to look at. Highlights: Royal Conservatory of Music (even though there was a line, it was nowhere near as long as they led one to believe it would be), the floating filmstrip, a van with thousands of holes in it, really late-night fried rice, City Hall - especially glowing cube and ball of elastics, and photographs at Bau-Xi Photo. Lowlights: CRAZY people on the bus, kind of disappointing Holt Renfrew facade thing, equally or perhaps more disappointing ROM facade thing, and 40 minute round trip to discover that the "secret" installation was no big secret and then hitting my head on it.

What does this have to do with entrances? Well, I arrived in line for the RCM thing with a certain amount of panache, and then proceeded to celebrate winning a small argument with more enthusiasm than I generally display in public. This I think set the tone.

Enough about that, let's talk about the Zoo! Where I work! For free! Because the city bus is capricious at best - malicious at worst - I often arrive with some drama here as well. The days are blending together a bit, but it's a rare week when I arrive on time more than three times in a row. It seems self-evident to me that if a city/province wants people to use mass transit, that city/province should guarantee service. I'm not asking for expansions or improvements, at least at this time, all I want is the bus to show up within 3-5 minutes of the posted time, not 30-40. Yes, that's really all.

Having completed the rant, here's an animal picture for you. My favourite pavilion at the Zoo is the smallest one, Malayan Woods. It has free range butterflies, a couple of cool bugs, a giant fish, birds, snakes and the clouded leopard, one of the world's cutest cats. So, a bit of everything, a fun rainforest climate, and less than five minutes from my desk! I may make a surreptitiously dramatic entrance there at the end of the day. Would not want to frighten the animals.

Homelessness is no joke. Fortunately for you, I'm funny.

Well, the lease is up on the fabulous downtown apartment. Oh for the day that I can actually afford a downtown Toronto condo. Although when that day comes, it will be in a building that has windows that open and possibly even balconies.

The housing situation was stressful and dicey for a while, but now it is more or less resolved, at least for the short term. It is very very very close to work, which I think is in the end the most serious consideration at least at this time.

And what is work, you may ask? Well, it's Zoo! Unfortunately, it does not look like I'll be getting keys to all the animal enclosures, but I do get to go there for several weeks! Yay! No real idea yet as to what the work might be, but I have a little desk, and a kind of lame nametag, and things so far are good. Except my feet. I really need new walking shoes, and six hours hiking in the ones I wore today is leading to some blistering. Boo.

Interesting facts about my desk: it is full of apparently meaningless files, as my supervisor just pushed them aside and removed stuff at random to make a place for my purse. It also has an open bag of elbow macaroni in the top drawer. Said supervisor also suggested I could make myself at home there and that I was "...free to bring your own macaroni if you want to..." I think that may be an exact quote, and the intent is certainly the same. What, may I ask, would I be needing macaroni for? I'm pretty sure they're having me work on training manuals.

Finally, I got a souvenir today! Bird droppings on my head! And I don't even mind! Because animal stuff doesn't freak me out, except naked mole rats (ugly, ugly, ugly, even if they do have names, like 'Kevin'), and imagining the giant cockroaches anywhere else but in their case. I also don't particularly want to be there when the big cats are given their weekly whole or half beef heads as nourishing toys. It's kind of like giving a Kong toy to a domestic pet, I guess, but it's the head of a cow. Ewww. Better find out when those feedings are just in case I happen to be in the Nutrition Centre that day for some reason.

So, this post ended up not being about housing, really, but that should be okay. Tune in for more stories.

Phase II

The archives job is over. Sad violins play softly in the background. It has been really cool, and I think that the 1500 scans are an impressive feat. It's also been really nice to have a routine. I know that I always say that my ideal career has me not doing the same thing every day, and that's still true, but there is something to be said for keeping regular hours.

I should have drawn a picture, or something, to commemorate the achievement, but I have recently been introduced to the work of Demetri Martin, and I now know that I'm just sort of funny. That guy is hilarious. Situational humour, observational even, which is the kind of funny that I like to think that I am, but way, way more. So probably no more drawings from me unless I come up with something really good.

Some of you, who are familiar with the pseudo-asthma that inspired the title of this blog, will be happy to know that I had another dramatic moment on Saturday. Luckily, with a little coaching, I was able to calm down and not suffocate. So, in the future, if it happens again, it can be cured by forcing me to breathe more slowly - in on count 1, out on count 2. Helpful trick!

I wonder if Thursday can come to my next apartment (the cat). There is one here, but she lacks personality and looks, and is currently out in the common room making the most odd and pathetic noises. She has resisted most attempts at friendliness and now it is over. But a furry friend would be nice. If you have a dog you're not using, let me know.

More blogging when the occasion warrants, I promise!

Sticky Back Velcro*

*Or, "Things that sound like a good idea but actually aren't"

So, as may be apparent, the focus of this post will be my recent experiences with stick-on Velcro circles, squares, tabs, tape or whatever. It does have some uses, and this is in no way an indictment of the people that make the stuff (3M maybe?), but of its misguided application. It is EXTREMELY hard to remove. Each tiny tab must be sawed off the back of the photo with the letter opener, and then the adhesive residue removed with a combination of fingernails and white vinyl eraser. (The "white vinyl" qualifier is for the MMCs. Because you care.) This makes my fingers sore. I have done five and a half of the nine prints in the set and it's getting pretty grim. Don't put sticky Velcro on a photo. Unless you're going to want to throw that one out.

Fine then. Change the subject, why don't you? Something happy, like baseball on the radio. I love baseball on the radio. It's nostalgic, even if it's nostalgia for another time. It also reminds me of my dad, who is pretty great, and also likes baseball on the radio. I love the obscurity of the stats, the voices of the announcers, and the really retro advertisers that can afford to sponsor baseball on AM radio, like local hardware stores. Makes me feel like I live in the 1940s.

I'm going to go home and put on a dress, and a snazzy hat, some pearls, gloves, and spectator pumps. Never mind that I don't have most of that stuff, it's the thought that counts!

Milestones

Sooo. Halfway through Week 7 at the Archives (imagine that to the tune of "Midnight at the Oasis". You're doing it now, aren't you.) I can't believe how the time has flown. I wish I could stay longer! But the Zoo will also be majorly cool. So there is that.

Today, I made my supervisor a little drawing to commemorate a special milestone that has been reached. Although it is now clear that I will not complete the photo collection, because no one could, it is equally clear that I will be able to exceed the expected number of entries by about 25%. Excellent. Here's the drawing:

Besides the awesome drawing skills, make sure you take note of the superior scanning techniques: nice, even colouration, straight edges, yeah, I do this for a living.

Don't worry. My 4x6 colour prints are better. Much, much, better. And described with an equal amount of panache.

So, celebrate! I will be getting some extra sleep in order to mark the occasion.

I like to be a leader.

Well, mostly I just like people to follow me. In my head, I prefer to maintain that I popularized a certain late-90s hairstyle at my high school. I know it's not really true, but I do happen to know that it really suited me, and no one else wore it quite so often. Although they did wear it, after I did.

That's something I really miss. Leadership. Being a joiner, I have had lots of training, and now it seems increasingly irrelevant. This is probably a sign that some sort of organization should be joined, in order that I can eventually rule it. The current workplace is pretty cooperative, and I think I'll be at the bottom of the heap at the next one, so work is likely out. That is one thing about small town vs. big city. It's easier to find groups you'd like to be in, or groups that you may as well be in, in the small town, where you already know what's going on. Hmmmm.

I guess I did spearhead a small project yesterday. I mean minuscule, but every little thing counts. I read that in this institution we have what is called a Labyrinth. Now, before you get excited, David Bowie and creepy children are not involved. Instead, the Labyrinth is a clever maze made out of carpeting, upon which you are supposed to walk. After traversing the entire path and arriving at the centre, you will have had time to meditate, concentrate, leave all your problems behind, and heal yourself. So I decided we should go see it. In the tradition of last week's field trip to see the Queen at the Legislature building. It was not as big as I was hoping it would be, and it was possibly even colder in the room than it is in our office (20.4 degrees on a good day), but it was a pleasing purple colour.

Remind me to head back up there if I get a cold. Or something worse. I believe that faith healing works if the one that needs the healing believes, but that's as far as I'm willing to go.

And that will do for now. Follow me!

Blogging and the use of the word "I"

Looking back over previous posts, because yes, you should read your own blog (especially if you instruct other people to do so), it is impossible not to notice how often the first-person singular pronoun comes up. (Grammar check? Right term? Think so.) It should also be apparent how difficult it is to avoid, even just from the first few sentences in this post. Eeeek.


Will persevere. Was reading a "professional" blog Sunday. Apparently, the author has been able to commercialize her thoughts enough, and link to enough products and ads that her blog now supports her, her husband AND their assistant, who just does all the little things she's too impossibly busy to do for herself. The California life must be so hard. Will never read that blog again in order to passive-aggressively protest the commercialization of the forum. Will also not buy Suave hair products (biggest ad, probably). Would not have done that anyway.


Whew. Nothing like talking around the point. But it keeps going! Love a challenge. Kind of like teaching myself to speak Welsh. Only know a few words and phrases, but it's like nothing else on earth. It will be very handy on my retirement trip to Wales. In 40 years. Extra eeeek.


Does it count when other first person singular pronouns are used? Like "me" and "my"? Doesn't look quite as bad as all the one-word ones littering previous posts, but it is probaby cheating. And dropping pronouns does give sentences a sort of immediate, modern, text-message-like feel. If that's what we're going for these days.


Hmmm. The computer does not seem to care for the spelling of "eeeek" with more than two "e"s. Not willing to let it have that one. Will continue to use at least four. Should not spellcheck blog anyways. Any spelling errors would just be personal expressions, but there weren't any at any rate, so self-confidence also needs work.

Enough for now!

You should read this blog.

Because why wouldn't you? Especially since in this post, I will attempt to share something of meaning, along with the random musings. Soooo. What did I learn today? Not a whole lot in terms of concrete facts, I'm afraid. I did scan and enter over sixty photographs into the database, so there is at least a concrete number. Wheeee!

I also made a really great list of things to take for the upcoming weekend, which is Norah's birthday in Niagara-on-the-Lake. From the looks of it, I'll be taking a U-Haul. Must streamline. Comments would be welcome on how best to do this. And no, just not taking any clothes will not work for me, or any of my nine fellow guests.

This would probably be the time to comment on the G20 and its aftermath. I was away from my apartment for most of the time, and I understand that all the setting alight of police cars and so on happened some blocks from here, but it was pretty wild when we were more or less evacuated yesterday from work because of a planned protest at a city agency on the same street. (Trying to be cryptic here. I have no idea if my workplace Googles itself, but if it did, it would probably hit on its name here. And then Emily would have to do a media clipping just like she does for legitimate news. And then I would scan it, and we would database it, and that would be just crazy.)

I am really looking forward to meeting someone from a protest group, so I can get perspective on the issues from different standpoints. Then I will add that to my novel, along with context and statistical analysis.

Okay. Enough thoughts. Fact time. I was very excited to learn that a conservator that I respect is starting to recommend a broader range of acceptable rH levels for collections storage and management. If this means nothing to you, think of it in terms of the environment. If we can have as much as 5-10% higher humidity, that means wayyy less air conditioning, and then everybody wins!

There's nothing funny about armaggedon

No, there really isn't. Should that have a capital "A"? I'm not talking about the awesome film, I'm talking about the real end of days. Tornado, earthquake and thunderstorm? Uh-oh. Super creamy coffee, though, like the one I'm having right now? There IS something funny about that and not necessarily funny in a good way. I'll have to be more careful with the self-serve system at the cafeteria here.

Back to the disasters. Despite all of it, I think we're still going to be okay. I've seen nothing regarding the G-20 except security and preparation, and while you can't plan for natural disasters, there is some comfort in having every police officer in the country within a six-block radius of one's home. Well, probably not EVERY one of them, but there are a lot.

Enough about that. However, I don't know what else to talk about. It's on everyone's mind and it's all we do talk about. So archives it is.

I am still working on photo scanning, and I hope I'm doing a good job. When there are no plans to use the databases anywhere but internally there is some latitude, I think, in the way things are described. That being said, I am trying to be consistent. And it's funny, because I'm starting to recognize people whom I've never met, and aren't even still alive in most cases. Oooooo. My boss says that she thinks I have a photographic memory, but I just proved that wasn't true, because I was wondering what the real term was for that (eidetic) and I had to look it up. And if I had an eidetic memory, I wouldn't have had to.

Drat. There goes all the mystery and intrigue.

Week Two at the archives.

Sooo. What's going on this week? We have stuff on the go, but I hope we get more visitors as the summer goes on, because I really enjoy the detective work of tracking something down. It's sort of happening with the photo collection, because as I get more familiar with people and events over the history of the institution, it does get easier to place things in context. And I suppose, in the grander scheme of things, context is what really matters.

That will be the focus of my novel. Heh.

Either that or statistical analysis.

To provide some context, as it were, for that last comment, I should explain that on Monday we are having a visitor from the office of the local MP, and I am going to show her around. We really don't know what their concern is regarding this facility, but I want to be ready if I can for any questions. So I hope that she asks about visitor statistics, because that's what I'm preparing for.

Wow. This blog isn't funny at all. I guess I'll post, but if in retrospect it is awful, away it goes!

Perhaps something good will happen on the weekend!

Yes. I live in a museum.

Welllllll. It has occurred to me that if I expect other people to blog (you know who you are) I would be wise to set an example. Let's see.

So I've got a new job. It's all around great. So awesome to be back in the heritage field for real!

Met two Queen's alumnae today, one actually from my class although I don't think we knew each other. We were in some of the same first year classes, but so were a couple hundred other people, and I think I look different now.

I've got to get going and get some culture. I went to church on Sunday at Metropolitan and was less than impressed with most parts of it, although the brass band was a charming surprise. I want to go back there to hear the organ, but maybe in a concert setting. It's supposed to be one of the best in Canada, and is apparently also the largest. Coupled with the Gothic Revival cathedral, it was like being at the Presbyterian church in Stratford. About the same size of congregation too, which was a little shocking. In a depressing way.

So. Anyone want to hear a charming story from my childhood/family life? Dave, I'm talking about you here. Although I have mostly sisters, and we're not really into fishing, we have rituals too. One of the best is a really recent one, but I think it's going to catch on. Bear with me, it takes a little setting up.

My parents have always resisted naming the farm - Mum especially thinks that they tend to be clichéd, particularly if they have "acres" in them or anything is "rolling" or located in a "glen", "croft" or otherwise. However, we think we may have come up with something. One night, my sister Laurel was clearing up after another one of our giant family bunfights, and she dropped a pile of silverware, causing her to moan "oohhhh entropy!"

Now, entropy, as you know, is the term from particle physics that describes the tendency of all matter to want to return to chaos. We think that this is an excellent description, because large families can be a little nuts. It is especially appealing to Iain, who loves particle physics. I'm not kidding. He loves it when I remind him that he's not actually here, he's just more likely to be here than to be spread at random thoroughout the universe. So stay tuned for more from Entropy Acres.

And of course we'll be leaving off the acres part.

Lawnmowers

I think that we can all agree that there are a finite number of houses within earshot of my house here in Peterbourough. Therefore, there are also a finite number of lawns. However, there seem to be an infinite number of lawnmowers. They're everywhere.

And when they're not mowing the lawn, they're roaring up and down the alley on their silly atv. Who does that? And then there's the circular saw/other shop equipment. Grrrr. I hate noise. Spoiled by growing up in the country. Even the annoying coo of a mourning dove or the tiresome hum of the cicadas would be preferable to this mechanical noise pollution.

Anyway, that should be enough complaining for now. Time to say positive things. Like, I just had a really tasty mocha cappuccino that I made myself. The weather and flowers have been beautiful. I walked up to Laura's recently, and really loved the smell of the lilacs on the way. As an aside, I think I'd like to start an informal poll. Should it be pronounced "li-lock" or "li-lack"? I prefer "lock" and am quite annoyed by "lack" but I'm willing to entertain other points of view...

Hmmm. I think that's all. Have to save some of it for my novel. Ha.

Trivial Pursuit, handi-clapping and cheating

Well, I really love laughing, so it's a good thing that Laura invited us over for a fun evening. There was pie. There were jokes. There was enough lame-ness to last a long, long time. And it was great. I think that when Laura and I have enough in our change jars for our trip to Philadelphia, we should take out some and buy an up to date version of TP, one that has pink questions for films that we might conceivably have seen. Like they were released in our lifetimes.
But it was awesome, and I got the satisfaction of winning, sorely missed after the Easter debacle. I know I can be a know-it-all, and none of it is very practical knowledge, but I hope that people can put up with me anyways. Now all there is to do is find the names of Laura, Norah and Dave's blogs, so I can start following them. This is only going to work if we all stalk each other!

Beginning to Blog

So, the last couple of days, my friend Norah has been saying "blog you later" quite a bit. I found that inspiring. Not sure if there's much that I need to say in this forum, but it's worth a try!