« Blaster worm linked to severity of blackout | Main | First day of classes »

September 07, 2003

Too much fun for me to handle.

There's just been too much going on, to blog it all. But I can catch up on some tid bits. 1) Arun came to town on Thursday, from Montreal. I've known Arun since fall 1982, when we were in residence together. I dragged him over to Amy's, as she's working at La Hacienda west of Bathurst on Queen. Wanted to show her some pictures. Arun only had bad memories of the place when it was a nastsy punk hangout. I wasn't sure if it was any better. Luckily it was. Chatted with Amy as we ate, mostly about raising children. None of us have any, or have any plans to have any, but that didn't stop us; no doubt due to my starting to teach ECE this forthcoming monday. Arun felt better served by the establishment this time, and we left in high spirits. Made it about 6 stores along, and into ""The Algonquians: Sweet Grass Gallery"" run by a wonderful woman named Margaret Corzry. [The title for this picture on herweb site is ""Me, but not for sale.""] The store has been Ojibway owned for over 30 years. And since I've been working/living around Queen for most of the past 20 years, we got a chatting. Arun and I (for yuka) got their great t-shirts.They feature an old 19th C print of a few aboriginal folks standing around with guns. The text is what makes it work: ""Homeland Security: Fighting Terrorism Since 1492"". They're not listed on the web site, but either go down or call her and get on. After that we just went home and had an apartment picknick... wines, cheeses, breads, and chatted. And planned a trip to France. Arun starts work this week as some sort of assistant film editor for a place in Montreal, so everything is probable. 2) Yuka and I were over at Masako's house for a BBQ with her partner Vlad. Vlad's idea of BBQ is novel and unique, and somewhat successful. The process includes passing around lots of beer. Then piling all the veggies on the BBQ, covering them with chicken, and walking away. By the time the chicken is cooked, everything is. Including Vlad. I like BBQs at Masako's house. Yuka was thrilled to find that a young raccoon dropped by for some chicken, and we proceeded to fill him up and send him on his way. 2) Out for lunch with Simsim and Pazuzu. Yuka deigned to come along, which thrilled them no end. Simsim's still setting up her special online project and teaching dance. Pazuzu's become the local god of archaeology, it seems. It was her calling of course, she's digging up some aboriginal village in Richmond Hill, with strange plans in the deep south for the winter. Not having seen Pazuzu since before Christmas, I had a present I'd bought for her in japan. A small sheep backpack. She has a thing for sheep. Her final exam in my course years ago included a little prince motif replete with sheep. And she claims that her job, on the dig, includes pushing the sheep around. We were off to Transylvania Restaurant, just north of Eglinton, on Yonge. I figured that it was a great place to show them our photos from Romania. We learned an important lesson. There is no vegetarian food in Romania. Simsim ordered something without thinking that was as meat as possible. The nice owner, who was from Sibiu, one of the towns Yuka and I had travelled through, didn't charge her for her meal. The patio was sooooo nice, and we had the summer sounds of cicadas to balance off the drilling in the restaurant kitchen, as they repaired the exhaust hood. So no fried foods that day. Then off for some shopping, up town. Pazuz > shoes. Simsim and Yuka > Chockys for t-shirts. Yuka > chasing small animals. Then we found some strange medieval store... that was going out of business. I guess they'd not realized that times had changed. But very nice dresses. Pazuzu bought a heavy leather and metal cover for her archeologist's log book. It can be used for any sort of crime requiring a good dose of blunt force trauma. Then gelati (sp?), under Pazuzu's italianate watchful eye. 3) That evening, it was down to the Queen Mother Cafe with my mom, sDad Larz, and Lars' old translator (and his wife) from when Lars was teaching in China 20 years ago. Ping is now some project leader for Canada wide educational testing out of Edmonton, and his wife Eping does educational consulting. At this point, I was tired and let the evening carry me. 4) Getting home, Yuka, who had not come out for step 3, was lounging. And we watched the movie Quills until snoozing sent us to bed. Today? Finish setting up for my course tomorrow."

Posted by jason at September 7, 2003 08:52 AM