Thief of Time

Two songs I can't get enough of at the moment: Cobrastyle by Teddy Bears, and Alibi by Elvis Costello. The former because I'm a sucker for songs with clapping and the latter because it has the awesome lyric "You deserve it 'cause you're special /Alibi, alibi/Maybe Jesus wants you for a sunbeam/Alibi, alibi."

I figure I'd better get my post about my trip to Ontario out of the way. As most of you know I've been un-/underemployed for about 6 months, and now that I have gainful, full-time employment looming on my horizon (and, damn, that's going to be a hard mindset to get back into) I decided to spend three of my remaining free weeks in Ontario.

I've already kind of written about it. Deb came down from the big city to see Joel Plaskett with me. It was an awesome show. He played pretty much all the songs I'd want to hear, took requests, did a lot of talking and interaction with the audience. And, of course, we hung around afterwards and got to meet him. Did anyone miss that pic the first time around? Here it is again, just in case:

He's playing a free concert at the Dartmouth ferry terminal on Canada Day! Who wants to come with me?

My time at the cabin was a little buggy, and chilly - rightly so, given that it was late-May in northern Ontario. I spent most days within a five-foot radius of the fireplace. On nice days, I went down to the bridge and sat facing the wind (to keep away the bugs). On the worst day, the high was about 4oC, and it snowed. I've never been there for a snowstorm, so I went down to the bridge to fully experience it. I tried to take pictures, but they don't really show the snow, although they do get across the angry-looking water. I swear, there is snow in all the following pictures:

The cold and the fire made it prime conditions for copious reading. Have you ever spent an entire day reading? It's phenomenal, not something conducive to your cardio-vascular health, but such a great treat when you can get it. While at my cabin I finished Ahab's Wife (Sena Jeter Naslund), and read Little Dorrit (Charles Dickens). I had only read one Dickens before this (Great Expectations), and really didn't think much of it I think Little Dorrit has completely reversed my opinion of Dickens. I loved every page. It was one of those books that you get so immersed in that it becomes a part of your life, to the point where you almost grieve for it when it's over; you miss it that much. To get over my sadness, I started Mercy Among the Children (David Adams Richards). I finished that book after I got back to Nova Scotia. It was such a sad book, depressing, but it also filled me with anger and pity. And, yes, big surprise, it made me cry. Then, as if I wasn't sad enough, I had to go and read Columbine (Dave Cullen). My BFF loaned it to me with a disclaimer to the effect that it made her cry a lot, so I'd probably cry non-stop through the entire thing. It was such a fascinating book- everything I thought I knew about that tragedy was wrong. It made me cry, yes, but it also made me angry. I won't discuss it here - it would feel too much like gossip.

So, there you have it folks: my vacation and summer reading (so far) in one convenient post. Everyone should read those book and tell me what you think, or tell me what you're reading (I have a Comments option for a reason, people!)

Now I'm back in the land of NDP-leadership and hockey golden boys. It's good to be home!