How Amazing...

Reading week was too short. Other than that, I have no complaints. Period. So, here is a list of all the cool shit, and why today has been such a wonderful day.

Reading week started well, with a wonderful trip to Barrie. Matt's Star Wars game was by far one of the best he's ever GM'd and one of the best I've had the honour of playing. Mind you, nothing can beat Little Matt's "Eddie" or any of the Fall Out campaign, but other wise... pure awsomeness. On a more personal note, the game brought me back a few years, back to my high school days when Big Matt was in charge, we were all in my basement/room and just kicking back, hanging out with the guys. Yes, I was the only girl until Rachael came along. It was fun, it was cool, and it is why I loved high school. Even though I have moved on, and I barely speak to any of them anymore, the times I had with those guys are some of the best of my life.

Monday was quite the adventure, as I had the pleasure of going to the dentist to have some cavitives filled. Why do I have cavities? Because the teeth that were infected are up in my gums! The food some how gets there, but my tooth brush can't. It's gross, it sucks, but meh. I got knocked out for a couple hours, and I was OUT of it for the rest of the day. It's funny, I got on the bus to go to Kingston that night, a usual two-hour trip, but it seemed like it was maybe... a half hour trip? And I don't remember falling asleep. At all.

Anyways, the time in Kingston was awsome. I love it there, as I can do whatever I want, and just rejuvenate. It's my vacation spot, and it helps that my mom is the coolest mom on the planet. It was nice and peaceful.

Anyhoo, Barrie again on the weekend, the game was good, but Matt chickened out on something he was SUPPOSED to do. Ah well, I'm used to it, he's always trying to make himself look good in front of Paul. ;) Lol... for those of you who don't know, Matt is married to Rachael and Paul's his bestfriend.

Anyways, that brings me up until today. The bus was 1 hour late yesterday, so I didn't get to class, but that doesn't matter much. What matters is today, and how great today was.

It didn't start off so hot, as I just wasn't able to finish "Nights at the Circus" by Angela Carter, on which we had a mini-quiz today. Go figure. Ah well, I'm pretty sure I passed. If not, it doesn't matter because she only counts 5 of the 6 quizzes. What was cool though, was that this other woman was in our class, up with Prof. Phillips.

Now, before I continue, Prof. Phillips gave us a short story to read over the reading week. I really enjoyed it, as it brought these elements of reality and fantasy together. It was about a girl on the run, because where ever she went, she 'awakened' beasts of the new evolution. Basically, these beasts were mechanical manmade things... like park benches that became alligators. It was crazy, and beautiful I loved it. The author's name is Holly Phillips.

Yeah, I didn't get the connection until Prof. Phillips said "And this is my sister, Holly Phillips." I was shocked. A realy published author of creative fiction was standing right in front of me, someone's work which I actually enjoyed reading. I was ecstatic. So, the co-lectured on Angela Carter's "Nights at the Circus" and much fun was had. The best part was their little arguments:

Prof: I never got to go to the circus when I was a child.
Holly: I did, dad took me.
Prof: What? When was this?
Holly: I don't know, I was young.
Prof: Well I can see who the favourite is now.

Lol, well, not exactly, but along those lines. It was hilarious to see profs and writers, who one would normally hold in such high esteem, come down to a normal level for once. It was nice.

Anyways, after class I went and manned the S.I.A.D. booth. Self Injury Awareness Day is tomorrow (Oops, it's today) but Ducky (Click over there on "Freak Turbulence" to get to her blog) decided to hold this wonderful event for the entire week. A bunch of us are helping her with her "baby", and so far she's gotten a lot of good support, and CTV will be doing a story on it. Go Ducky!

It's amazing how little people realize that this stuff is happening on campus right as we speak. Some are hostile towards the event, but others share their stories, their experiences. It's inspiring, humbling, and amazing that these stories exist and are sometimes never told. It's sad. Thank you Ducky for bringing this event to light, as there are a lot of victims out there, victims of themselves.

On to a happier note though, I got a flash of brilliance (basically a character idea) and ran with it. I am now writing a novel for my magnum opus for Creative Writing. I love this class. I read a part of it tonight, and it just felt... right. It felt good. It's about werewolves, how cool is that? Anyways, I'm uber excited about it.

Instead of a full class in Creative Writing tonight though, we got to go to Holly Phillips' lecture on Fantasy and Magical Realism, and said subjects in her fiction. the lecture was interesting, as she expanded on stuff she spoke about in 20th Century Lit. I can honestly say I wish I took notes, I mean... this is that kind of course I'd love to take, how to WRITE.

She read some of her work, parts of short stories she wrote, and more importantly, a few pages from her upcoming novel. I will definatly buy the novel, as it's interesting, exciting, and I adore her writing style. Holly just embodied what I love about English: the fiction, the creative process.

Leave it to the English Profs to ruin my high though, as they're all academics, critics at heart. They asked questions about analysis. I just wish something didn't have to be analyzed for once, and just fucking read and enjoyed for what it is: art.

After the lecture, Tabs lent me $10 which got me a personalized autographed copy of Holly Phillips' short story collection In the Palace of Repose. It contains the short story I was talking about earlier, called "The New Ecology". I will treasure this always, as while she was signing it, I got up the courage to actually ask her some questions about the writing and publishing process. She was extremely helpful, and it gave me hope. I am so exstatic by the entire thing.

Anyways, what really was cool was when I was talking with Tabs. Her and I have had many conversations over the years about literature and such, but we haven't been really able to talk in the past year that much. She mentioned that she'd like to have a discussion with me about novel writing and the process. This excited me, as we grew up writing together, Outward Bound was my first real foray into writing "literature"... quotations are used because what we were writing was far from literature. Hehehe...

Either way, I can't wait until we're able to talk about this and other such things. It's been a long while since I've had a good English discussion. I think it's about due.

Well, now that you're all caught up, I'm going to bed. Today was pleasent, I'm happy with life, and S.O.S. doesn't suck people, quit blaming your problems on the club. Seriously.

Night!