welcome to downtown coolsville

On the last day of 2008 I went for a drive with my sister and my father. She had a camera, I had a pen, and he had the wheel of the car.

It was a snowy day. We slipped when we walked.

There's a place called Cape Spear where you can stand on the rocks and look out across the ocean and see England if you squint. There was a high wind and spiders sleeping under the lighthouse, dreaming of summer. The fog was too thick to see the gulls, but we could hear a helicopter miles out to sea. It was a lonely happy sort of place, the kind of place that makes you want to jump off the rocks and turn into a bird.

When we got back into the car we smelt like salt and pollen and lights at night.

I tried to capture the feel of it when I was choosing songs to drive to. I don't know how well I did, though.

U2- Running To Stand Still
Joel Plaskett- Love This Town
The Arcade Fire- Keep The Car Running
Basia Bulat- I Was A Daughter
De Capulet- The Paradigm
The Decemberists- Engine Driver
Wintersleep- Jaws Of Life
Stars- Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
The Killers- Read My Mind
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Cheated Hearts
Death Cab For Cutie- The Sound Of Settling
Tracy Chapman- Fast Cars
The Used- On My Own
Leonard Cohen- Suzanne
The Sundays- Wild Horses
Wolf Parade- Shine A Light

Later that night Older Sister and I wandered into a sketchy bar with a man playing folk songs and "Drunk Girl" on the jukebox, where they gave us free champagne as the year changed.

Goodbye, 2008. I'm not gonna fucking miss you.

Some things that make me happy right now:

This brilliant insight in John Mayer's songwriting process. I've kind of hated John Mayer ever since that fucking "Daughters" song, but it turns out he's kind of funny! And self-deprecating! "If I can't get the girl why don't I just tell her I'm John Mayer?"

This All-American Rejects sea shanty cover of "Womanizer."

Sir Terrence of Pratchett. :}

The Making Of "America's Suitehearts." Cassadee continues to charm the bejeesus out of me.

iamsupernova's Suicide Girls picspam. (Not safe for work for reasons of boobies.)

The fact that baby platypi are called "puggles."

Also, I'm about forty pages into House of Leaves and I already want to write something just like it.

(Random question: Does anyone have any pictures of crows, especially sketches/cartoons/paintings/etc? My Google-fu is sadly lacking tonight.)

Take a picture of yourself right now.
Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... just take a picture.
Post that picture with NO editing.
Post these instructions with your picture.



I remember in my last year of high school a friend told me that he couldn't look directly at my face because my eyes were too creepy. It kind of hurt my feelings at the time, but... um... I understand now. Helloooo, creepy stalker eyes. (Of course, this was also the guy who told me that I was "like a fish, if fish were really smart." And he was one of my NON-stoner friends, too. So.)

I have less than twenty-four hours to finish an explication du texte for Protagoras, so if I'm around a lot today it's because I am adamantly refusing to do actual work. FIGHT THE POWER. OR, YOU KNOW, BE LAZY. EITHER OR.

Also, I just found a new favourite song: Marching Band- Travel In Time. I have no idea how it ended up on my computer, but I'm glad it did. ( Here are the lyrics. )

The mall at the bottom of the Grenfell Hill is pretty much deserted. There's an Eclipse in there (where even their extra larges don't fit anyone), a Tim Hortons, and a Bible Truth supply store. Sometimes I go into the Bible store, and as a result of this have read the first few chapters of Preventing Homosexuality in Children. For kicks, you understand. (Apparently I lacked male role models. Or female role models. They were a little vague on that point.)

A few weeks ago a new store opened called Mother May I. It's one of those cutesy kid's boutiques that mothers love and kids will not touch with a ten-foot pole, and ( has this sign out front. )

I damn near blew a gasket when I saw that.* What the fuck, Corner Brook? What the fuck?

My mother called me today and left a message informing me that I was "the worst puppy [she'd] ever had." I'm... not entirely sure what to make of this, but I think it's awesome.

Three songs I am currently grooving to:

Mindless Self Indulgence- Bitches
The Academy Is...- Mayonnaise
Manic Street Preachers- Love's Sweet Exile

* Please note: I have no actual idea as to what a gasket might be. I'm thinking some kind of carrying-case for pastries?