I can has Our Lady Peace concert every night?

Because I want to continue living in the beauty that was last night, I'll rock a blog post about the concert. The illusion will be forced off within an hour and a half, when I get to put on my hot uniform and go to work. Rest assured, this entry bracelet ain't coming off for a few days.

The MUN Students' Union, as a part of orientation, brought OLP to St. John's. The band is not currently touring, per se...they did mention being in Sydney, NS the night before, but I'm not sure what that's about. So, last night I saw what I am once again comfortable in calling my 'favourite band ever' in concert for the fourth time in nine years. Zack beat that with five times in ten years. (I say beat now, because it's unlikely I'll catch them in the next year while still on the east coast.)
Despite being an event theoretically catered to the frosh set, the band did not disappoint the people over 18 years of age. They opened with Naveed and Superman's Dead, and, for their encore, did 4 a.m., Supersatellite, and Starseed. The whole "Raine gets into the crowd and lets the audience sing most of 4 a.m." thing doesn't ever get old. The energy is fucking incredible, and if the entire crowd is going to know every fucking word to one song, I'm okay with 4 a.m. being that song.
Now for a little bitching, because it's me. Not bitching about the band - I don't think I could say anything bad about the performance. But, yeah. Holy fucking teenyboppers, Batman! Firstly, I don't understand people who pay $40-$50 for a concert ticket, only to spend the whole time competely focused on getting more beer. Secondly, why why why were there so many stupid girls wearing tit shirts, stilettos, and big purses down on the floor up by the stage? They were distracting, with their constant schtick of "ooh, take a picture of us posing like this!" You can do that at Lottie's, sweetie, and that way you don't have to risk me taking you out by kicking you in the back of the knees. Also, stupid cunts constantly weeding through the crowd - just stop, stand, and rock the fuck out. If you're that focused on your placement in relation to the stage or the bar or your ugly girlfriend, then you're not getting the experience. You all have newfuckingfangled cellphones. If you lose them, call them after the show.
I have never felt as old as I did last night. Or simply intelligent. Not sure. I went for a rock show. I think most of the people there went for something different to do on a Friday night. (Again, just go back to Lottie's.)
Despite the idiots around me (I did get in a punch for some guy elbowing me in the neck while waving furiously to his friend), it was still a goddamn wicked show. My boys haven't disappointed me yet. Also, Raine Maida has hit his attractiveness prime (and if this isn't his prime, I won't be able to handle it when it comes along). There is no part of that man I would not lick. Oh, my. Must.go.distract.self.

I am rarely as satisfied with my life as I am after I have spent time conversing and drinking with fellow English nerds. We had our second reading group tonight, and I am so fulfilled after discussing anything and everything with people who share my passion(s).

Sunny Inspiration

I had no idea how long it had been since I last posted. Since then, I have survived (albeit barely) another exam period...complete with a renewed caffeine addiction that I am now fighting (two weeks and two days "clean"). The weather today was almost as nice as it seemed to be the last two days when I was stuck inside at work, slinging Greek food. The temperatures are supposed to drop again starting tomorrow, which is depressing, but I'm trying to be patient.
This afternoon I went to The Sprout with Jonny, Lacey, and Connor, and then the crowd minus Connor headed up Pleasant Street to grab Hannah's bike for Lacey. As was predicted/feared, the bike is not there. Plan B is now being brainstormed.
Two weeks from today, my fabulous Mama will be in St. John's. I cannot express my excitement, as she is one of my favourite people ever and I look forward to showing her how well I am doing here. Right now, all we have planned is India Gate lunch buffet on the Friday, as per her request. Hopefully the weather cooperates for some adventuring.
While she's here, she's going to help me pick paint colours for my apartment (she is truly the master). Now that I'm going to be staying here for a bit, I want to perk the place up. It is currently painted the most heinous colour of pale pink known to humankind. I'm trying to keep the new colour fairly tame (so I don't have to repaint when I move out), despite my love for intensity (my bedroom in her house is deep blue), so I'm thinking a funky, but not too bright, green. Today I had the idea to paint the window and door frames bright orange. That way, if my landlord has a spaz attack and wants me to repaint them, it's a smaller job than all of the walls. I think I'm also going to repaint my countertop (it's chipped and shitty anyway) because it's forest green...and forest green is just ugly.
I've been pretty geezerly lately (it's hard not to give in to the coffee), but I'm hoping more energy will come with more sunshine. This weekend should be nice...I'm hoping to hit up a show tomorrow night, and on Saturday, Lockett's having a bunch of us over to celebrate having graduated...apparently, I am a graduate by association! I predict (and hope for) a circus-like evening.
Last weekend, I went to see the Sex and the City movie with a few of my girlyfriends. We drank wine beforehand and participated in the stampede into the theatre. (The latter experience would have been disturbing if not for the laughter as everyone realized how silly we are.) The five of us really enjoyed the movie...it's getting shit reviews, but I'm not sure what people go in expecting. It's a fun, often somewhat intelligent look at womanhood. It's full of cliches, but so is life...if I walk out of it feeling okay about being a woman (and a single one, at that!), then I've gotten my money's worth. I also purchased Vogue for the first time in my life because of the super hot photo shoot of Chris Noth and Sarah Jessica Parker. (I now want a Chris Noth/Mr. Big of my very own...I'm just saying, he looks damn good without a shirt for a guy his age.)
I ordered ELEVEN new books from Chapters last week, and all but one of them have arrived. I'm hoping that it's still coming and that it wasn't stolen off of my doorstep. I need to start On The Road first, because our reading group is discussing it in a week and a half...but after that, I have plenty more to enjoy!
Now, I think it's time for a snack of strawberries and chocolate dip.

Easter Sunday Enlightenment

Because of the chokehold Christianity holds on my part of the world (and because of the less-than-inspiring weather), I am basically stuck inside today. This is just fine on one hand, as Sundays are usually fairly laid back for me, but on the other hand, my body is crying for veggies and I have nowhere to get them. Alas, I have made do with frozen stirfry mix and applesauce until tomorrow. I've spent the day bumming around, with breaks for showering and dishwashing (the second time in four days...I think I'm possessed). So as I listened/sang loudly along to my new-ish Nada Surf cd (check it out, 'tis good pop music), I had a number of thoughts/minor epiphanies/new goals enter my mind. One of my favourite things about busy work is the opportunity it gives me to ponder anything I want. I used to seek this thinking time through shovelling and mowing the lawn, when I still lived with my Mom. Well, the lawn-mowing ended long before I no longer had a lawn to mow because my arachnophobia took over full force and nature and I, no matter if it was my Mom's yard in the middle of the suburbs, parted ways. Shovelling was still safe, but I now live right on the sidewalk...so not a lot of that happens either these days. I now find this time through intensive cleaning (which I do quite infrequently), or mindless tasks like dishes (something I'm trying to attack *more* frequently).
I hate the idea of resolutions for the sake of themselves. New Year's resolutions are a crock of shit to me, and while I chalk this up somewhat to the fact that I'm a student and thus fresh starts, if they are to happen at all, happen in September, but also because trying to find something "wrong" with your life and then arbitrarily trying to attack it is pretty much destined to fail. However, if you just happen upon something you'd like to improve through lots of thought or certain situations you find yourself in, go for it. So, on that note, here are my epiphanies of the afternoon:

Since I've already brought up the arachnophobia thing, I'll begin with it. I really need to get over it. No, for those of you not afraid of spiders to this degree, it's not as easy as remembering that the ones we encounter in these parts are not dangerous. My fear has no rational basis. I shit you not; I personally think this is a past life thing. That's how random this fear is. Now, I don't enjoy playing with any bugs nor do I enjoy living with them, but the spider thing is on a whole other level. I find woodbugs (mostly dead ones, due to the poison sprayed around my doors) on daily basis in my apartment, and while walking on their crunchy carcasses makes me puke in my mouth a little, I don't have breakdowns the way I do when I encounter a spider the size of a crumb. (I had a full-on panic attack complete with crying after watching a tarantula crawl on a person's hand on my 13 inch tv from across the room. Yeah.) I'm getting pretty worked up even thinking about this stuff, but I really do need to figure it out. I find myself imagining things I want to do and then concluding that I could never actually do them because there's a likelihood or even just a chance I would have to deal with spiders. By the way, if anyone has any tips to give me about this dilemma, feel free to share them...all I've come up with is hypnosis.

Now, getting past the spider rant and moving on...I need to eat better. I have a few minor health issues that make it very easy for me to feel like absolute hell if I'm not careful. Also, I don't want to end up with scurvy. I have gotten away from eating even a minimal amount of fruits and veggies, basically living off of carbs, and it's not flying anymore. I find fruit a tricky thing because the sugar content fucks me up a little, but I have a crazy fondness for certain veggies (oh, spinach...)and I need to attack them hardcore. I want to find wicked veggie recipes (I generally don't eat meat at home)...the more curry, the better. Summer weather also brings on the craving for veggies, so that could show up anytime too.

I want to ride my bike this summer. I have a freakin' wicked, bright red, really decent bike and it has spent the last year and a half (with the exception of ONE outing) in my puny little hallway outside my bathroom. That first escapade led to numerous scratches and dents on both my furniture *and* me from trying to get it out the door, and it was fairly discouraging. So, whenever the weather gets agreeable enough that I don't have to have my furniture arranged around my heater, I will be taking the bicycle into account and finding a place to leave it in the main part of the room. No more excuses.

I'm going to start assessing which of my possessions I want to have with me all the time, which ones I really don't need at all, and which ones I need to just store somewhere (as in sentimental whathaveyous that you never ever use or look at, but don't want to get rid of totally). This is becoming more of a thought as I ponder what my next adventure will be. I'll be finished my degree at MUN by next Christmas and the current options include England and Vancouver. I really need to lighten the load.

I'm going to (TRY to) stop just wasting away days procrastinating. Sometimes schoolwork just isn't going to happen, but I have to recognize that and do something else with the day. This thought has been developing gradually lately, and I fully embraced it on Thursday when I didn't open one book, but instead cleaned my whole apartment AND started my shift two hours early. If I'm not feeling the schoolwork (as long as I don't have something extremely pressing), I should do other things around my apartment, go for a walk, run errands, meet up with friends, etc.

There was more in my head, but my fingers are getting a little tired (my Mom *tried* to teach me how to type properly...). This post is epic anyway, but I had to make up for two and a half months of blogging inactivity! Hopefully I can get better at this too. :)

Winding down...

So I would really like to go to bed, but my body is not accustomed to sleep before one o'clock, if not later, so I'll blow some time on here.
Today was the first day of the winter semester, and the beginning of my eighth university semester (not counting intersession last spring when I took only one course). I'm a little freaked that if it were not for my penchant to drop a class or two and refusal to take five courses at once, I would be finished my degree at the end of this term. As things actually are, I should be done by next Christmas. This is also fucked.
I am taking this term three classes on campus and one of two I am currently registered for by distance. We have English 4080, Postmodern British Literature (!!!); Classics 1121, Elementary Latin II; English 4251, American Literature to 1880; and either Religious Studies 2350, Religious Institutions; or Religious Studies 2610, Introduction to Religious Ethics. The distance education thing seems very complex to me and I don't have the energy to figure it out yet. The on-campus courses seem promising...slash necessary. I'm hoping my enthusiasm for Latin comes back...it's been seven months since I even looked at this crap and it's all a little fuzzy. The English courses should be all kinds of wicked. 4080 is the second part of a course I took in the fall (the modernist literature one). This course last term was what changed my mind about fourth year seminars. I have completed all I need for my major, but this class was so rewarding I decided to take another one for kicks. It's the same prof, same format...I know exactly what to expect. There are four or so of us who took the other one, and we're considered wise. 4251 is going to be an insane amount of work, but mercifully does not require any presentations. I also get to experience the legend that is Andrew Loman before I leave MUN. I already had a very good impression of him from the two weeks I spent in Graphic Novels (the dropping of that course had nothing to do with HIS teaching...), and after today's class, my opinion remains positive. I really can't say enough good things about the majority of the English department at MUN. I transferred to MUN focusing more on the History offerings, and it's nice that despite the fact that the History department has disappointed me over and over again, the English department has really come through. It was worth the move to this crazy island just to get something fulfilling out of the second half of my degree.
I'm actually kind of sleepy now, so I'm going to go with it and move to the right into my wonderful bed.

A new coat, a new blog.

I have been pondering creating a new blog for some time but, like a new email address, it took me awhile to get at it. As my livejournal account that I started roughly two years ago is named "paddington_coat" for my lovely red winter coat, I figured that the acquisition of a new coat last week was the exact push I needed to get at this. Mind you, I don't have much to say at this moment. Hopefully this will come with actually leaving the house and rejoining the outside world over the next few days.