Tag Archives: september

opening week

My mom is off to France, heck, she might even be there soon, and I am done school for the term. Many of my classmates are now done school for good, which is a little weird. Weird that we don’t all finish together, I mean. I don’t have the great cathartic sighs of relief, since I’ve still got two and a third classes over the next four months. Plus doing interviews for a book we’re working on.

The good thing is that remaining a student leaves me able to work in Graduate Research Assistant positions over the next few months. I’ll hopefully be doing a bunch of video production work for one of my profs, and right now I’m doing a whack of content management stuff for SLAIS’ new MA in Children’s Literature website (which isn’t up yet).

The wonderful bit about this kind of work is that I can do it on my own with a baseball game on. The Jays have new uniforms and hey, maybe this is the year they’ll play meaningful September ball. I enjoyed the hell out of their first victory of the season yesterday, but really, I just like watching games.

I was looking at my history of being here in Vancouver and I noticed that this month till the summer classes begin is my first time I’ve really spent in Vancouver without school going on. I ran off to China and Australia at the ends of my previous semesters, so I’m going to have to remember that there isn’t any meeting with people in my classes that will just happen because I’m sitting in a chair near somewhere they are going. If I’m going to see my friends I have to contact them. Which will be difficult but I’ll do my best. It’s a time for hope.

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making something out of something

On Friday I buckled down and worked. Not on any of my work that needs doing (I get scared of my book from time to time because I suck) but on Grandma’s birthday video. It’s funny how lost I can actually get in making something. How fast time can go. This doesn’t happen to me all the time. Even when I’m dicking about on the internet I feel aware of each and every second I’m frittering away.

In the end Final Cut and I got Grandma’s movie sorted out and put on a VHS tape for her. Oh VHS, you are such an ugly horrible medium.

I don’t know exactly why my regular Saturday shift begins at 9:15 with a break at 9:45. I suppose there’s a reason for it somewhere but it’s odd. Note I didn’t say “I’m sure” because I do work for the city. Right now we’re only allowed to have three people on-desk at a time, meaning one person at least is banished into the lightless cells at any given time. This is so we don’t appear to be inefficient in our department and have our hours cut back in these “tough economic times.” Supposedly if there is to be a cutting back of hours everyone’s positions are re-posted and it is a horrible seniority-based free for all to grab something resembling your job. I hope that doesn’t happen.

Although if it did happen it might provide me a kick start. Mom and I were talking the other day about my September trip to China along with Holly’s bakery she’s opening (isn’t that awesome? A bakery!) , and Mom said something like “I keep on expecting you to run off to China again.” And I told her that if I could go without teaching I would. But until I completely lose my memory of how much I disliked teaching I probably won’t go. It’s a choice I’m going to be working with for forever probably: choosing between a job I hate with a life I enjoy vs this grey okayness of work and life. Hm. when I put it that way it seems like hardly a choice at all.

But in the greyness there are the occasional nice evenings like last night with Aileen and Alison that make me forget about the rest of the time. And next week I’m going to Calgary. That promises to be a good time.

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