Pass the Catchup.doc

To begin this mid-week post, I'd like to formally announce my trip back home to Canada for 10 days. Unfortunately, if this is news to you then you might be the last one to know. The bomb was dropped over phone and facebook a few weeks ago. This is a reminder to bust out those calendars and write it down: June 27 - July 6. I'll be splitting my time between visiting my lovely family back in Thorold and friends in Toronto. I'll firm up the exact dates of each location in the coming month, but I plan to schedule a few jams and sneak in a baseball game or two. Please, any plans you may have will be welcome. Homeward bound in 36 days.

So I'm back in the world, so to speak. After two weeks of not having a computer at my apartment, I am writing this from the luxury of my own desk. Not only did I extract my old hard drive from the macbook, but I installed a new one with Michael's guidance (he is a former Mac employee). All I needed were the start up disks from home, which arrived yesterday, and now i am fully back online. After the new facelift (and five times more storage) my computer and I rekindled the romance last evening by tweaked settings and uploading all the necessary programs. It was nice to be able to use skype again and watch the season finale of Lost which I had been anticipating for a few weeks. My old hard drive will ride with me back to Canada where I'll try every possible avenue to rip my photos off the thing. I'm confident it'll work out. I've missed the glow of my macbook and the subtle ways she says I love you.

After Michael left I was nervous I wouldn't know what to do with myself! Seven days of relaxing and walking around the city got really comfortable. We had a great time. Thankfully, I had a project to jump directly into after he left. Two hours after I guided him to Centraal Station (after one final hurrah on the Sunday night) I was back in the library trying to complete my paper for the International Performance Theory class. We were requested to have an abstract or a full draft ready for Tuesday. In true Doctor style, I pumped out the 4200 word draft (see my earlier post on vomiting the ideas out). I am writing on the Performance of Citizenship as a constructed series of behaviours that define the relationship between citizen and state. I'm looking at the performance through the theories of Judith Butler and Homi Bhabha. With the draft done I can continue to work on it over the next month before it's due at the end of June. It's child's play.

Just when I thought things couldn't get worst (after two weeks of computer connection anxiety) I started my day off with a flat bike tire yesterday. When problem after problem that I can't really deal with on my own start to mount, I feel more and more like an adult (think the Simpson's montage: 'Lisa Needs Braces!'). Add to this the fact that there are no bike shops open today because it's Ascension Day. My reaction cycle took the following path: unbelieving that this has happened to me, an attempt to fix it myself, anger at having no tools at my disposal, a bit of mild sulking, an afternoon patio pint to cheer me up, eventually fixing the problem after realizing it was easy all along, and laughing at myself for being so frustrated in the moment. I bought a pump at the market for 2.50 and the tire seems to be doing fine. Both computer and bike problems in a two week span? I'm not buying a lottery ticket until my luck starts to change.

In addition to continuing to improve the essay, I have an internship report to complete and summer school in Finland to prepare for. It's hard to believe that our week long retreat in the Finnish forest is only about three weeks away. It looks like they've got a full 8am - 9pm schedule planned for us, but the resort facilities include a beach volleyball court, a sauna, and a lake. I'm hoping to play just as much as work that week. As I mentioned before, I've volunteered to be one of three members of the Student Committee to help plan all the social and student lead sessions (what can I say, I just can't say no to Student Council Work - Year 8 and counting). I don't think a professor spoof video is in the works though, sorry Queen's grads.

So, after great visits from Graham and Leslie, and Michael, the final round of May visitors arrives tonight. I welcome Emily, Bronwyn, and Cynthia for FOUR nights here in the city. In preparation for their arrival I visited the markets today where it was packed with holiday shoppers. I managed to pick up some brie, grapes, mangos, oranges, and avocados for really cheap. I also scored a 24 of Grolsch for an incredible 10 Euros at the AH (One of the things I'll miss most about Europe: cheap alcohol). We're all ready for an incredible visit. There may even be bike rentals involved.

Doc's Prescription of the Day: The computer catastrophe was a reminder to BACK UP your important files. I was able to retrieve a lot, but I'm still waiting on the photos. Also, if you don't show it often...let your computer know you appreciate all they do. That is all.