A Student of Weather

Today, inspired by the sub-artic temperatures in the office, I will continue with another Canadian book:

Elizabeth Hay's A Student of Weather

Many, many moons ago I was working at a bookstore, and this book caught my eye every time I walked by the Fiction “H” section. I should mention that I’m notorious for judging books by their covers. I’m a glutton for charming illustrations, which is why the Classics sections in used book stores are strictly off-limits for me, because I go “charming illustration” CRAZY!!! My Best Friend can vouch for this obsession, since I send her many children’s books because the illustrations are so charming. But I digress. That’s how “A Student of Weather” sucked me in…. The Allure of the Cover Art…. Take a look at it for a moment. Aren’t you intrigued? Isn’t the title drawing you in? I thought so…. Let’s continue.

“A Student of Weather” takes place in Saskatchewan during the Depression, when there was nothing but dust. No rain, no crops, just dust. I know you think “that’s all well and good”, but take a look at some of these dust-storm pictures from Alberta in the ‘30’s.

That’s a whole lotta dust, and I’d sure hate to be in the path of THAT. A little oppressive, non? The novel follows the lives of Norma Joyce and her sister Lucinda on a Saskatchewan farm in the middle of the depression. Norma Joyce is an unusual child; wildly uncooperative, strange and virtually alone amid her family since her mother’s death, while Lucinda is beautiful, busy and efficient. Maurice, a student from Ontario stumbles upon their home during a violent snow storm and throws their lives into an eternity of love-triangle turmoil.

Perhaps the most unnerving (but wonderful) thing about this book is the blunt honesty of it. The characters are reflective of the landscape… Harsh, expansive, wildly extreme as the weather. Again, the characters are in survival-mode, existing, but not living. Norma Joyce is the exception to every rule… violently alive, aware, different and alone. Hay’s greatest talent (imho) is her ability to write with such bold honestly, create characters that are so damaged and real, and yet weave in breathtaking moments of beauty. I’m again reminded of the prairie landscape with this… in the winter I see the brown frozen stubble of wheat fields, the white heavy snow clouds that go on forever, flat, like eternal hopelessness. But in Summer, when the sky goes purple with thunder clouds, with sunlight slanting in from the west over the mountains, the wheat turns to gold and my heart just soars. Hay has captured this prairie dichotomy perfectly, and her lyricism, her characters are pulled by these polar opposites. Beauty and ugliness, drought and flood, hope and despair, dead and alive.

Being the “emotional reader” that I am, this is the book I turn to when I’m feeling alone or misunderstood. This is yet another book that I give to everyone, because I think it’s brilliant, and also because I feel so connected to it. Hay’s writing sinks into me and stays with me, challenges the ways I think and see people. What else can I say? GO READ THIS BOOK ;)

Much love,
~g~

What We All Long For

I have been in the sourest of sour moods this week, for a variety of reasons with which I won’t bore you. As much as I want to post a caveat on my blog for everyone to Please Leave Me Alone Until Further Notice, I’m going to try and snap out of the sour mood by posting about something that makes me happy: BOOKS!

Mocha Momma’s recent posts on “Books I Love” have inspired me to write a little about the books *I* love, and why I love them. Sort of hard to think where to start, since the ones that have touched me are not necessarily on the banned book list (it being Banned Book Week!), but are just ones that stuck. By “stuck”, I mean they’re the books that seeped into my skin and my brain and changed me on a deep and personal level. The ones that changed the way I perceive life and people, the ones that gave me feelings I couldn’t shake for days, the ones that woke me up to something profound. The ones I can read forty times and still get something new out of them. I’m pleased to say that a lot of the authors of these books are Canadian. There seems to be something intrinsically dark in these authors, which I suspect comes from the landscape and the winters up here. I think Canadians have that ability to tap into that emotional wasteland of “winter survival mode” when it’s -30 Celcius and dark for 18 hours of the day. The “move forward, because if you stop you’ll freeze to death” attitude. Sort of like Russian authors, I suppose, but different. Somehow, Canadian, eh? ;)

Dionne Brand “What We All Long For”

I was introduced to Dionne Brand’s writing in my first year of University by my Detective Fiction prof. Brand has nothing to do with Detective Fiction, so I’m not sure how this happened? I believe the prof just recommended her to me. At any rate, upon reading a book of her poetry, “Land to Light On”, I was hooked, shaken, breathless by the end. Last year I finally had a chance to go to a reading of hers at Wordfest, and gained an even greater appreciation for her lyrical artistry. I ordered “What We All Long For” in the Spring and it arrived just in time for The Great Chicken Pox Episode of 2006. Good thing I had a week off, because I could NOT put this book down.

The book takes place in Toronto and follows the lives of four friends in their early twenties, as well as a man who was separated from his family as a young child during a flee to freedom. The characters are so rich in their flaws, so emotionally bold and so real that their experiences cut away at you. Brand’s writing is beautiful and tragic, strong, challenging, aching. One of the characters, a young artist, creates an art installment to document what people long for. The theme is rich and destitute, connecting everyone through their desires. What do you long for?

This is one of those books that I want to share with everyone (guess what you’re getting for Christmas?? Heehee) because it’s so relatable. It displays longing as one of those cross-cultural, cross-generational strings that inadvertently tie us together as “humans”, no matter how hard we strike out at each other and ourselves. At times like these, I wish I was a movie director, because I can visualize this book SO clearly, and I want people to KNOW it and read it and feel it like I did, because I think it’s that important.

More books as the week progresses,
Much Love,
~g~

Evil Monday

Okay, I've pretty much decided that everyone is evil today.
HOLY
RUDE
PEOPLE...
What one earth happened last night to turn everyone into rude, impatient lunatics?
... Condo Board Idiot specifically.

As for the rest of you....
BE NICE!!!!

~g~

Style Icons - Audrey Hepburn

The recent GAP Advertising Campaign put me in the mood to watch Funny Face (the movie from which that footage was taken.) Audrey has been one of my Style Icons for many many years, but as much as I love Audrey, I can't love the skinny black pant. It looks so terrible on most people!!! Why, GAP, WHY?

At any rate, Audrey is the picture of style and grace, (much thanks to Givenchy). Such elegance! I want to be her :) I want the dress in the balloon scene. Get on that, will you GAP? heehee. Also the wedding dress, if you can manage it ;) Why Not? There's Baby GAP, GAP Kid's, Adult GAP, even GAP Maternity... Why not GAP Formal? Think on it, lemme know.

If you haven't seen Funny Face, please see it. It's a strange little movie, and Audrey is just plain silly in some parts, but holy romantic, visual, innovative!!!

Who is your style icon? ... and please, don't say Jessica Simpson :P
~g~

More Mushy Stuff...

Just a table shot, my corsage, etc.

One of many kisses, I assure you...

Hand, ring, lovely.

another pretty rose

The wedding cake... Please note the bride and groom topper ;)
THAT'S love!

Viva La Romance!
~g~

Ladies and Gentlemen...

I'm pleased to present the Lovely Couple:

Gran (my mum) and Caspian... ROAR!!!

Bride and Groom... They only love each other a little ;)

Mmmmm, flowers.

My parents :)

More to come later!!!
~g~

Romance and Icy Wedding Guests

The air was full of love and a wintery chill this weekend, and N&S’s wedding was beautiful, perfect, lovely, romantic and all things wonderful.

The bus ride out went quite well! I was nervous about being in charge of entertainment, but I was soon all about the microphone, spouting my bad humour and foolish commentary. People laughed, but the jury is still out as to if they were laughing with or at me. Everyone liked the slideshow too, thank goodness!!! When we got up to the top of the hill, it was cold. It was snowy. I didn’t ever find galoshes, so I wore my winter boots instead (hot!!! I know, with the dress, I looked like a character from the Popeye Movie.) But people mostly dressed appropriately and even made a few snowman “guests” (too cute). The ceremony was short, but beautiful. Then there were pictures, and wine and cheese back on the toasty bus… mmmmmm, warm.

Most people slept on the bus ride home, so I gave up on entertaining them. Then dinner at the Danish Canadian Club, and speeches that made me cry. It was quite beautiful, and I think it was everything N&S hoped for. I didn’t bring my camera to the ceremony, because of all my “duties”, but many people took maaaany pictures, so I will post some as I receive them. I took some pics at the reception, although none of them are spectacular, but I will post those this week sometime.

I *DO* have to vent about one thing though: People and their inappropriate comments about me being single! One would THINK that family at a joyful occasion would display a certain sense of decorum. However, one after another, they came at me in the receiving line… Comment after comment:

“Still waiting on an invitation to YOUR wedding”
“Well, just YOU left now.”
“Still single, eh?”
“Tick Tock, ha ha ha.”

Are you KIDDING ME?!? I feel like Bridget Jones, standing there with all the Smug Married’s attacking me. No where to run. In the middle of a #^@%!*& field!!! And one after the other, they come at me with that smug look on their face, and I am STUNNED, defenseless, and completely shocked that they have to gall to say these things to my face.

Perhaps someone can shed some light as to why these people are so abrasive and vile as to attack me on my most sensitive issue, at the most inappropriate moment. What are they hoping will come out of this?
Do they think that I don’t realize that I’m single and 27 now? (27!!!!!!!)
Are they hoping that I will somehow justify my status?
Are they pleased at the prospect of making me cry on the top of a hill?
Are they hoping that I will say “Yes, I am hideous and unloved, thanks for pointing that out.”?

I’ve thought about this for two days now and I just can’t think what they’re hoping to get out of this confrontation. Perhaps even worse, my mum said that they were saying the same things about me to HER!!! So not only did I personally receive approximately 12 vile comments, my mum received countless others on my behalf (she won’t tell me how many, so that means it was a lot.) So not only were they discounting me as a hopeless, lost-cause old maid, but were accusing my mother of RAISING said hopeless, lost-cause old maid. For the love of all things holy. People need to shut the hell up. Because honestly, being the only single person at a wedding is hard enough, and commentary like that makes me want to shoot myself in the head.

*eh-hem* sorry for the rant!
Much love,

Hopeless, Lost-Cause Old Maid Formerly Known as ~g~

GALOSHES!!!!

It is one grey, grey day in Calgary today. I have to admit, I’m starting to worry about my shoes for the wedding. They are so vastly inappropriate for hiking up a hill in the FIRST place, but add precipitation to the mix and I WILL fall. I just will. And 60 people will point and laugh. And there will be photographers to document this. Two, professional photographers. SO not cool.

Can I possibly justify buying galoshes as a back-up to the Kenneth Cole Cherry Red Patent Leather Kitten Heels? Can I possibly justify wearing galoshes with a Cherry Red (with Polka-Dots) Silk Organza dress? And even if I can justify this, do I really have time to go shopping, since in all of this turmoil I have scheduled “Clean Condo” at 9pm tonight? If I don’t have time to sleep, do I have time to buy galoshes? And in my sleep-deprived (but clean condo!) state, can I be relied upon to NOT buy galoshes with lady-bugs on them AND remember to bring the rings Saturday?

Does anyone know where I can find a personal assistant for the next three days?

See, why don’t we have Target in Calgary??? These would be perfect.

And Also? Walmart? Your website is not helpful.

And also? I need more coffee, because 3 cups is NOT… ENOUGH!

Oh, and Also? Gravity Pope? I can not BELIEVE you want $100 for GALOSHES!

Alright, I think that’s all for now. I’ll keep you posted on the Galoshes situation.

~g~

Jung and Me, We Go Way Back...

This post is a little long-winded, so be prepared….
A few years ago I had to do a group presentation on Jung and Archetypal Literary Criticism
for my Literary Theory class. I think I would have loved that class were it not for the prof, who fell asleep during our presentation, and the raging arguments between our group members. Although I’m not a big fan of Literary Criticism at all, I am a fan of philosophy, and I discovered a lot of concepts which I could relate to life, if not literature. Back then I knew more than I cared to about Jung, and was more inspired by Deconstruction Theory and Jaques Derrida , and thus promptly forgot everything I ever knew about Jung immediately following the final (I had to make room for Astronomy in there somewhere.)
Fast-forward to last Friday afternoon at work: I found it nearly impossible to do anything productive, since I was SO excited about moving, and I casually started to think about personality types of the VPs at work. They are such a diverse group of fellas in a very old-fashioned-boy’s-club-mentality company, and where some are domineering, others seem truly helpless without their exec assistants. I often wonder what they go home to at night. Do the Domineering ones go home and do some more dominating there, or are they eager to give up their power to their blonde, ambitious third wives? Because personally, I have to be all perky, polite and well-groomed at work, and then I go home, put on my Lululemon yoga pants and revel in being antisocial. So I did a bit of searching online and found a link to a personality test, which just happened to be of the Jung-Myers-Briggs Archetypal persuasion. I was pretty floored at my results, because they seemed pretty bang-on… but really I had no idea.
I am considered an INFJ, with a break-down like so:
Introvert – 67%
iNtuitive – 75%
Feeling – 62%
Judgmental – 78%
I know that stressful situations bring out the worst in people, and this weekend that was proven to be true, as my quiz results were, one after another, put on display for family and friends to witness, with a prominence in Introvert and Judgemental. If only “clumsy” were in there too, it would be a perfect representation of me ;) Moment by moment, comments from my quiz result came floating back to me:
“There can sometimes be a "tug-of-war" between NF vision and idealism and the J practicality that urges compromise for the sake of achieving the highest priority goals.”
(This is when I don my Gillian The Dictator cap and start ordering people to perform tasks with very particular details as to how it should be done, until they suggest a better way, at which point I get irritated and my voice gets really squeaky.)
“The INFJ's thinking is introverted, turned toward the subject. Perhaps it is when the INFJ's thinking function is operative that he is most aloof.” (after a barrage of questions, I give up, shrug, and say “whatever. You know better than I do” And walk away because my brain hurts.)
“INFJs are true introverts, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few from among their long-term friends, family, or obvious "soul mates." While instinctively courting the personal and organizational demands continually made upon them by others, at intervals INFJs will suddenly withdraw into themselves, sometimes shutting out even their intimates.” SO TRUE! I shut myself off to everyone this weekend, not returning voicemail messages, not checking my email and ignoring my buzzing phone. I had to make everyone go away and just listen to tunes and unpack to become normal again.
None of this is very surprising, but I was shocked by my consistency in displaying this. I am regularily accused of being aloof, and I didn’t really realize how true it was until about a year ago. I’m a very shy person, very introverted, and I don’t find myself to be very quick-witted or well-spoken, so I do have a tendency to try and meld into the background. But even with friends, I’ve been known to shut myself off or stop speaking with them altogether when things get too personal or uncomfortable between us. Most of the time I don’t even realize I’m doing it, and it surprises me when people call me on it; My instant wall. Impenetrable, Just Add Emotion :P Even when I ask my BEST friends about this, they just laugh and say "you have NO idea, do you?" I guess not!!!
At any rate, if you’re looking for a little insight into your little quirks, here’s a link to the quiz. SEND ME YOUR RESULTS!!!
To completely figure me out, here is the complete description of INFJ.

Much Love,
~g~

Autumn in Calgary

Autumn has come to Calgary.

The trees have all begun to turn, at once, as though they too were giddily awaiting Labour Day to sport their Autumn fashions. They’re glowing delicious golds and reds and purples in the sunshine, and a few overly-eager ones have already spilled and sighed their dressings to the ground. The weather is hot, not like most Septembers, (keep your fingers crossed for N&S’s wedding!) and the air is rusty with smoke from forest fires somewhere. It smells wonderful and earthy, like October in Victoria. I loved the smoky air, the vivid orange pumpkin fields, the glowing banners of newly-flooded cranberry bogs, and the burgundy maple trees in Butchart Gardens and in front of the Empress Hotel. Autumn in Victoria is the most wonderful thing to see… too bad I’m in Calgary ;)

I went for a walk at lunch today and discovered a veritable treasure-trove of Mediterranean delights called “Kalamata Grocery.” Oh, the joy of it!!! Skinny little isles between shelves packed near-exploding with packages of delicious looking things with little-to-no English on the labels. Beautiful, amazing bottles of Pomegranate syrup, jars of Vanilla Preserve and bags plump with tiny pasta stars. A hundred kinds of olives in bins and jars, Feta, and stacks of sweets from marzipan to beautiful mystery boxes, all written in Greek. *sigh* I could have looked around for hours, but I limited myself to a bag of fresh Pitas, a bottle of Rose water and a tray of Anise cookies. Mmmmm, heaven.

That’s all for now! More soon…
~g~