Don't you want to know how we keep starting fires?

An epic King's tradition (organised this year by me) will be going down in an hour and a half's time. I'm pretty excited. But to preserve the feeling of "secrecy"* I will save my post about it for later.

I'm trying to psych myself up for said event, but I'm not in the best mood right now. Half of me is raring to go. The other half would like to sleep. I'll get my energy up soon, but right now, not so much.

My last real journalism class was today. HURRAY! No more J1001 as long as I live. Never ever again. I handed in my final copy of my major features article, I evaluated teachers, I sat through a boring lecture. And then it was over. But while it lasted, I felt really shitty. It seems I have acquired my roommate's head cold. I'm going to blame our stuff room, and ignore other factors (like the fact that I never sleep anymore, and eat little). Anyway, it's left me sore, shivery and stuff up. Ugh. Bring on the Cold and Sinus Advil.

After scarfing down something dinner-like, I ran off to the KSU General meeting which was, let me say, a bit of a shit show. However, I'm pretty sure that's how these things go. One item on the Agenda involved a proposed changed to the KSU Constitution where quorum -- the percentage of the body required for a meeting to occur -- was to be lowered. I am sensitive to the problem of how hard it is to get and keep enough people at these meetings, but you know what? That's kind of our job as councillors, to get the message out to the body that there will be a meeting and they should be there. And student body? Step up. Come on. These are things that directly affect you. We voted on how YOUR MONEY will be spent next year. That merits a couple of hours of your time.

I've been to one KSU council meeting and, now, one general meeting. I loved both events. Ok, I know, I will change my mind the longer I'm in student politics, I'm liable to become jaded, and probably the reason I like it so much so far is because I haven't put my heart into something and been rejected. But for right now, it's still a rush, and it's something I like putting my time into. Democracy can be messy, but it's important. I need to get working on knowing my Robert's Rules.


*It's a fake secret. Everyone knows about it, knows when it's happening. But we maintain our fake secrecy.

Sea Air

Peggy's Cove

My mom and my sister are here in town! Hurray. I've been eating tons of non-Sodexo food and loving every minute of it.

Yesterday (after a two-hour night's sleep... yikes) I went to Peggy's Cove to sightsee with my mom and sister. I invited Phil along as well, because he had never been and I wanted my family to hang out with him some. I think things went smashingly well.

We picked a perfect day. The sun was warm and the wind was calm, not very strong at all. We lay in the sun and soaked in Vitamin D. Then we scampered up and down the rocks and I did everything I always wanted to do when I was eight but wasn't allowed to. Peggy's Cove is quite beautiful.

The rain outside is cold and yucky.

I wish that the weather would pick -- cool and damp OR nice and sunny. Or a nice transition. Instead of this constant back and forth. (The first person to comment "welcome to a Maritime spring!" gets a smack on the head).

This week has been pretty slow; I have far more work than I've been doing. I've been goofing off a little. I need to put my nose to the grindstone (one of these days) so that I get enough work done before this crazy, crazy upcoming weekend. My mom and sister arrive on Friday for a visit, and it turns out I'm very booked up this weekend as it is. I officially won President of Alex Hall for next year (hurray! Suite! With my own bathroom!), so I have to go to the student union's changeover party on Monday night. I also just found out my friend Mark is having a birthday party on Friday night, and I have to make sure I get to that. Maybe I'll kill two birds with one stone and bring my sister along! Other weekend highlights include Peggy's Cove, the Farmer's Market, and running my first Study Snacks as President of Alex Hall.

In other news...

I really really liked this post on Megan's blog -- I thought it was right on the money. She is a pretty fine looking lady, just the kind of person who would make me think "If I looked like her, I'd be happy with my body all the time". Just goes to show, we've all been fed a skewed perception of our bodies. Hear that, brain?

The Details are Sketchy, Number 1

I turned on Caring is Creepy by the Shins today, as I sat down to work on my late paper, and I was immediately brought back to a moment in what must have been early October. The details are sketchy, but I remember green grass, warm sunshine and a spring in my step. Everything was new, I was still in Section 1 of FYP, I felt weightless. The winter has been dreary and often depressing, with many ups and downs and drama, but we’re coming out the other side. Caring is Creepy reminded of that.

What also reminded me was the incredible day yesterday was. I was (I’m pretty sure) still drunk, or very very hungover, all afternoon, and so gave up working on my paper all together. I wandered out of lunch and realized that it was a freakin’ gorgeous day. The sun was shining, I didn’t need a jacket and everything was dry. There was something in the air, a spark. A group of my friends were sitting on the library steps painting and tanning in the sun. By the time I went inside to fetch my books, more people had gathered, including Ben Caplan, of Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers, a great band from King’s. Soon the library steps filled with a huge group of students painting and writing and drawing and playing with soccer balls and Nerf guns and playing music – oh my God, the music was incredible. Everyone kept looking at one another and saying “We go to the best school ever”. I took some pictures that I’m pretty proud of and made a pastel sketch of Ben that he wants to use for a poster for his band. I breathed in an out and soaked in the sun and let the world spin slightly around me. Spring had completely sprung.

Today, it’s snowing and there’s slush everywhere. Saturday was like this distant dream we all had together. But soon the winter will be over, and we’ll come out the other side. I can see, smell, feel it coming; just the details are sketchy.

2 a.m. and I'm still awake writing a blog

I don't sleep anymore. Not enough, anyhow, and it's completely my own fault.

However, in a few short minutes I will be conking out after a long day of (some) work and two hours of Dance Fit. Mmm... my thighs just told me they want a divorce. Partially due to the workout and partially due to the Beyonce/Sasha Fierce* music. I, of course, am ignoring them.

Phil's younger sister was visiting King's these past few days and she was a lot of fun. I was excited to meet her, because Phil speaks highly of her, and I wanted to make her feel welcome -- let's face it, I'm a tour guide, I was all set to put on my "Hello Prospective Student" airs. Fortunately, Andrea turned out to be a delightful person and I enjoyed hanging out with her very much. I can count on one hand the number of people I know who are as genuinely sweet and friendly as she is, and without being boring. It was no chore at all, hanging out with her, and I wish she could have stayed longer. Another example that age doesn't matter at all in friendship.

My sister is visiting next week, and I hope her visit goes as well.



*Beyonce knows we can still tell it's her, right?

Intinerary.

There are few experiences I'd rather have less at 1:30 am than hurtling down a runway in an E1190 feeling the tires skid over ice. It was slightly improved by the fact that we weren't turning around and heading to Montreal, but only slightly.

So, Air Canada, it doesn't make sense to send me to Halifax, from Ottawa, via Toronto. That's dumb. The following is also dumb:

5:15pm - board flight to Toronto that has been delayed 20 minutes.
5:55 - wonder if maybe I should worry about making my next flight at 7pm.
6:30 - land in Toronto, realize I will easily make my next flight.
6:40 - Air Canada realizes my luggage won't easily make the next flight, and bumps me to the next flight to Halifax at 8:30 (THANKS).
7:00 - settle in at Toronto airport gate 134 to wait for my next flight.
8:05 - realize it's unlikely my flight will be leaving at 8:30 if the flight to Victoria hasn't yet left gate 134.
8:30 - the plane I'm getting on arrives at the gate. From Denver.
8:45 - the travelers to Halifax are advised that bad weather is moving into Halifax*, so they are unsure if we will be able to land there. They figure they'll give it a shot.
9:30 - Plane departs for Halifax, with me on board.

SWITCH TO HALIFAX TIME - ONE HOUR AHEAD.

10:30 - Plane departs for Halifax, with me on board.
11:00 until 12:15 - turbulence!
12:30 - Pilot informs us we're start our descent.
1:10 - it seems we've been descending for a long time.
1:14 - I glimpse the Halifax airport as the pilot pops out of the low clouds tries to land, and guns it back up.
1:15 - Pilot informs us we'll be making one more attempt to land before possibly heading to our alternate, Montreal.
1:15:30 - I realize if I'm in Montreal, I will end up only 1.5 hours away from where I started.
1:25 - we pop out of the clouds once more, and the pilot somehow manages to put the plane down.

Cue skidding.

1:26 - I point out to Whoever Is Listening Up There that I don't want to die in this stupid plane with screaming children at 1:30 am. Thanks.

3:00 - I finally make it to my bed, 4.5 hours behind schedule.




*I knew this. This is why I didn't want to be on a later flight.