etc.

From the top: bud vases on the dining table; the obligatory Raindrop on Petal shot (ably captured by the mister); and the blue tea shelf in the kitchen that I’m pretty sure I blogged about a couple of months ago. Don’t worry, this is not becoming a photoblog (although the temptation is great). Just know that on those days when I can’t muster up any words, you can probably count on a picture or two to keep you company!

For those who asked, it’s a Canon Digital Rebel XTi (good specs & review here). A beautiful piece of hardware, 100% guaranteed to make you a better photographer.

This word “mojo”. Notice how it just sort of appeared in our collective vocabulary? I’m not entirely sure from where it came, nor do I care for it much. Nor am I really sure what it means. Still, I think I’ve deployed it appropriately here. You will tell me if not, yes?

I went and forgot all about the 5-year birthday (or is it anniversary?) of this blog. Not much of a surprise, considering that I have forgotten all four birthdays before it.

This is what I discovered, quite by accident, yesterday: whole wheat crackers spread with a healthy serving of cream cheese, and further spread with a thin layer of strawberry jam tastes exactly like a strawberry cheese danish. Quite delicious, and further proof that the marriage of fruit and dairy is a virtuous one. One that I am finally beginning to embrace wholeheartedly (compared to the cool brush-off, and then the tepid acknowledgment, I used to give it).

I can’t tell you how often I consider getting rid of post titles on this blog. Why? Because too often I type up a post and then stare blankly at it for minutes, trying to come up with a title that sufficiently represents its contents. Or is at least pithy and/or mildly interesting. But, you see, I’ve gotten rid of post titles before and I’ve usually regretted it and reinstated them mere days later. Post titles grate on me and make me generally indecisive.

Also, email spam must be getting better: yesterday a message of untrustworthy provenance landed in my inbox containing nothing more than an excerpt of St. Bridget of Sweden’s Revelations. Eerie, how well those spammers know me!

And, now how about this! We got into a car accident on my birthday this year! Just like we did five years ago! (That, coincidentally, was the very first post on this here blog. See how we’ve come full circle?) Actually, it wasn’t just like 5 years ago (apart from the on-my-birthday part) because we were hit from the side, rather than head-on, and this time we had a minor-ish dent, and everyone was fine, no fractured bones. Still, it does give one pause. And makes one vow to take public transit on one’s birthday. Or stay home.

To-day? Pretty much the same as yesterday. Yesterday? Cool, almost cold, and dull. In a not-bad way. I’m on vacation this week and I have no plans. No vacation-type plans, that is. I spent yesterday grading essays and tabulating final marks that were to be delivered to the faculty by day’s end (done!). To-day I’m reading a wad of documents in preparation for an all-day committee meeting tomorrow that is only loosely work-related. Tomorrow I attend said all-day meeting. Thursday through Sunday? Wide open. For vacation-type plans that are still in the hopper (and will probably amount to little more than three books and a couch).

Speaking of books, at the moment I’m reading Consolation by Michael Redhill. It’s been longlisted for the Man Booker (new word for me, that) and it is quite brilliant. Although I’m a complete pushover for novels set in Toronto so, of course, I’m biased. The other two books for the week? Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor and The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall.

Also? I’ve got sore fingers and dirt under my fingernails from weeding and watering the front garden. The dry spell around here has been a blessing only because it has foiled the weeds’ plans to overtake our front garden and front walk. We’ve got Irish moss growing between the stones on our front walk and a certain weed (I think it might be White Clover. And, look, I found a whole weed gallery for Ontario!) has been conspiring to overtake the entire walk and, most likely, kill off the moss. I usually let it get Bad before taking action because they’re tiny little buggers and standing there, looking at the lot of them all at once sends me into a spell of paralysis, but to-day I realized that focusing on tiny patches at a time gets the job done in good order. Is this how people manage their gardens? I’m never sure, I just play at gardening, you see.

Oh, and, also? While I was out there attending to the weeding and watering, our neighbour came home and asked if we heard a ruckus outside our door a couple of nights earlier. Apparently her bike was stolen right off her front step — the bike that she leaves chained to our downspout (our houses are attached; it’s all very intimate). I said we hadn’t heard anything (because we hadn’t) and we proceeded to tut-tut at the ridiculousness of someone going through the trouble of sawing through a lock to thieve a ratty old bike. And take her son’s Tonka trucks while they were at it. It made me feel fortunate that the only thing we’ve had stolen is a green bin and had me puzzling over the apparent incomprehensibility of the concept of personal property all over again. I still don’t get it.

Up next: a walk to the library to return 7 gravely-overdue books. I might never learn.

It’s a good thing I keep a running list of these (in draft, always) because the chances of me remembering even a fraction of this list? Slim to none. A quick check of the film archives reveals that this list represents all the movies we’ve seen since February of this year, although the renting pace has definitely ramped up in recent weeks. And I’m almost positive that I’ve forgotten a few. Still, plenty to choose from here including a healthy dose of DTMs (a near-favourite genre), the first 5-star rating in a while (The Departed knocked me over, blew me away, then knocked me over again), some good, old fashioned serial killer goodness, and a classic (not until recently did I watch The Godfather from start to finish; I’ve seen various bits on various occasions but the only bit that ever stayed with me was the horse head bit. Ha!). So, anyway, here you go, all starred out of a possible five, as usual.

Children of Men **
The Illusionist ***
Invincible ***
Breach **
The Prestige ***
The Departed *****
Blood Diamond ****
The Good Shepard ***
Rocky Balboa ***
Babel ****
The Last King of Scotland ****
The Queen ***
Deja Vu **
Hannibal Rising **
The Hitcher **
Saw III *
Fracture **
Vacancy *
Street Thief ***
The Good German **
The Godfather ****
Letters from Iwo Jima ****
The Guardian **
In Pot We Trust ****
Zodiac ****
The Hunt for the BTK Killer *
Disturbia **
The Bourne Ultimatum ****

If you use wordpress you know that, by default, your first post will be titled “Hello world!”. Sort of a little intro post to get you started. Sure, you can edit the post once you’ve finished your installation, but “hello world” has sort of become the de facto entrance into the blogosphere. And, sure I’ve been blogging here for 5 days short of 5 years, but it feels like a 5+ week break from blogging sort of requires a reintroduction of sorts.

So, hello world!

What have you been up to for the past 5 weeks? Me? Teaching and working, mostly. Also, reading (of course), knitting (more of these), swimming (in the campus pool), renting movies (so many!), and sneezing (thank you, summer cold). It’s been a busy & good summer (cold notwithstanding) and, frankly, I’m a little doleful that it’s already mid-August (almost). I have a week off soon and I have no idea what to do with myself (the mister isn’t off), so I’m devoting the next week to making plans. I’m good at those.

I’ve missed you, internets. I hope you’re well.