Sarah's Ramblings

So, what has Sarah been up to? Other than talking about herself in the third person, nothing much, but let's see:

Went to the library yesterday and finally got a card. They carry Interweave Knits (knitting magazine), which is just fantastic, considering it was hard to find back in Van and therefore about as accessible as cold fusion out here. No one carries knitting mags. Crochet, sure, why not? Throw a rock and you hit a darn crochet mag, but knitting . . .

Ahem.

So, yes, got my card and nearly threw my back out going home with all the books I took out. I arrived at the library too early so I went to browse at the nearby pet store. I was thinking (theoretically) about getting a pet. I say theoretically because my cousin wants a pet but my aunt doesn't, so it wouldn't really be fair to my cousin if I got a pet. But in the realms of theory, what pet would I be getting? I was thinking about getting a gloriously red Siamese fighting fish and naming her Scarlett, because wouldn't that just be perfect? (If you don't get it, watch the movie Gone With the Wind, and all will be revealed.) I'd then get an icy blue one and name him Bowie. Better characters for Siamese fighting fish I could not imagine.

But when I got to the fighting fish (or Bettas as they were called - scientific friends, is this a P.C. name or an entirely different species?), they were A) all male, and I couldn't imagine having a male Scarlett or a Bowie without a Scarlett, and B) in these tiny tiny little bowls mounted to the wall so they wouldn't all kill each other. Make a fist. That's about how big their bowls were. And I think some of them were dead. None of them looked like the feisty ferocious fish I'd seen before and imagined.

So I started looking at other fish. (Anything more than a fish is too high-maintenance for me, I think. Plus there's allergies.) And I found these hilarious little goldfish called Black Moors. Obviously his name would have to be Othello. They also had a goldfish similar to the Black Moor with the buggy eyes except it was the traditional goldfish yellow colour. He would be Admiral Akbar (and yes, I was watching Return of the Jedi tonight).

I also went to (cue heavenly chorus, shaft of light breaking through clouds) Ikea yesterday. Bought a trashcan (which I desperately needed; you don't realize how much trash you accumulate until you have to think about what to do with it) for $2.99, a 10 pack of AA batteries for $2.99 (!) and a bookcase (see picture at right). Yeah, it was only $29 - what's with all the twos and nines? - and it's the perfect size. However, after putting it together, I must say I would never buy this bookcase again. (It wasn't a Billy, but I don't love the Billy line that much either.) First off, the backing is cardboard. Yes, I knew this when I bought it. In the future I might buy some nice wood or some cheap wood and a poster (wouldn't that look cool?) and back it. But still, people - when you brag about the strength of your products, why use materials you can punch through? It was very frustrating to put together because only half of the boards had pre-drilled holes in the sides, and when you're using an Allen key, that's important. And finally, half of the shelves are secured to the bookcase by resting on those little metal rods (they always remind me of LEDs). They don't roll off because they're supposed to have these little nails driven in with really big plastic heads. In theory.

They. Just. Wouldn't. Go. In.

My aunt suggested using this adhesive felt tape in place of the nails, which I did and think it probably works better then the original would have, especially since it was much quicker.

It wasn't really as negative as it sounds. It just wasn't as positive as Ikea assembly normally is.

Then I came home and watched the CSI premiere! Loved it, as usual, but two notes:

Sara left Nick alone at the scene whyyyyyyyyy? Because it was such a positive experience last time someone did that? (I know this just a way to show him bugging out - oh ha ha, I made a terrible Grissom-esque pun - but there are better ways to do this.)

Awwwww, mawwiage. Mawwiage is a dweam, wiffin a dweam - ahem. Duh, Catherine had the hots for Warrick. Television Without Pity nailed this last season. This just felt - off. The Sara / Grissom thing was bad enough. I feel like the writers are going somewhere with this; I just hope it's up.

Favourite line? Grissom's split-second reply when Catherine accused him of being perverse.

And yes, I did a happy happy joy joy dance when we saw the team together again in the beginning.

Wow, long post . . . there's got to be something here you can comment on!

It is steaming hot today. Steaming. Sticky, humid, hot. When I stepped outside today to sky looked . . . I don't know how to describe it . . . heavy. Very ominous and looming. Hell, even the SKY was too hot to do anything.

Hence I had a crappy night of sleep, but I'm still riding on caffeine easily right now. (Effing Tim's down the street has me easily consuming twice my normal number of caffeinated beverages.) I've now had all my classes except my seminar (well, except for my poli sci discussion group, but that doesn't really count). Title of seminar: Topics in Legal Studies: Law and Literature. Woot woot. It's on in less than an hour. Wish me luck.

PS. Yogurt is a surprisingly good pick-me-up.

Hooo boy.

I'm sitting in the quad at Carleton right now. It's my def'n of perfect weather:T-shirt + jeans + shady tree = lovely. It's plenty sunny. Some group called "the garden spot" is in the middle; presumably promoting gardens. In spots. It's gotten me ta thinkin': Ottawa is so very very green. They have gardens and such everywhere. And water, too: let's not forget school's in a sort of V between a river and a canal. BUT STILL. Vancouver, for being touted as such a glorious gorgeous city, is behind Ottawa in the city planning here. Imagine this: an experimental farm (Dep. of Agro) and ornamental gardens (Dep. of Public Spaces or some such thing) IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY! And it's not even Victoria!

Still . . .

I want REAL water! Not ten feet wide of water! I'd take Centennial, which you can walk across when the tide's low. And mountains! Mountains make things so cozy and tucked-in.

Anyway, I don't really have anything to be so nervous about. I haven't been publicly humiliated at THIS school (yet). Yet my jaw hurts so bad. My aunt says she used to have this problem too, and that her dr. told her North American women carry their stress in their jaws. Ow ow ouch. Anyone have any tips on how to fix/help this?

I've only been to one class so far: Poli. Sci., which I had stress about when I was coming to school today but so far it seems heavy on theory. Interesting theory. The breakdown of marks is thus:

2 exams @ 20% each = 40%

4 ("short" - 7 to 10 pgs) essays @ 10% each = 40%

And the discussion sessions make up the remaining 20%, with 10% of that as attendance. The prof said MAYBE 5% of the students last yr got the full 10% for attendance, and even that doesn't require perfect attendance. C'mon, people!

Remainder of today: two hist. classes (Intro to Cdn Hist & Europe in the 20th C) and Intro to Film studies. Not to mention my Poli Sci disc. group which starts next week. I'm really certifiably crazy.

ANYWAY . . . comment!