Thoughts from the Post-Scriptum

can i just say the new starbucks down the street from my place has an awesome new sort of swanky feel to it? i love it! i just wish i could afford one of the gorgeous condos in the building to go with it!

i'm having my parents over for dinner tonight, at first i was freaking out about what the hell i was going to make for them but now that i have my menu planned out i'm not so worried anymore... i just hope that i don't start a fire. (don't worry gillian, i checked the fire extinguisher it's ready to roll!)

yesterday at the gym my trainer did my three month fitness assessment, i was really happy with how far i've come over the course of the summer. i was nice to feel like i'm actually getting somewhere, i feel invigorated by the numbers i saw!

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure.
~Helen Keller

there are so many things to be thankful for... here is a short list.

1. my health
2. walking in the annex this afternoon with s and eating ice cream.
3. my amazing friends
4. my family, both biological and chosen
5. school
6. having money to pay for it
7. the gym
8. bad t.v.
9. good t.v.
10. the amount of wine in the house right now.
11. and so much more...

"I will be quiet, I swear, never open my mouth, nod obligingly, keep myself to myself for good and all. And yet, even as I swear it I know it's nonsense and impossible for me. I can't keep my mouth shut. I never could."

Margaret Laurence - "The Stone Angel"

something has changed within me, something is not the same. i'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. too late for second guessing, too late to go back to sleep its time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap.

it's time to try defying gravity. i think i'll try defying gravity, and you can't pull me down.

~alpheba "wicked"

i *love* listening to podcasts, mostly because it gives me something pseudo-intellectual to listen to on the subway but also because it helps to keep me informed.

until recently though i was listening to a lot of american podcasts and very few from canada... thankfully while tooling around on iTunes today i found a slew of cbc programming to fill my cancon requirements!

i'll report back in a few days with a rundown of which ones i'm keeping!

in my undergrad i often felt like i had make excuses for being smart.

don't get me wrong i don't think i am *that* smart. i mean i failed high school math... TWICE, i misuse commas constantly, and i seriously abuse the grammatical rules of the english language on a regular basis. that being said, i'd like to think i'm a sharp cookie, especially when it comes to current events, some aspects of politics and political situations and of course queer theory/sexuality studies (seeing as it is the foundation of my research, i hope i at least know a few things about it!)

my political economy class is for a large part a reminder of the last two years of my undergraduate degree, five or six of us come prepared to discuss the material and the rest don't do the reading and don't speak up in class. this turns into a very quiet room with only a few voices speaking.

a few times today i contextualized a couple of things we were talking about, or used current affairs to highlight a point. nothing major, and really it was more for my own benefit than anyone elses, working out conceptual problems and using 'real world' examples helps me contextualize theory in my head.

at one point in class one of the women in the room turns to me and says "how do you know so much?" with a definite disparaging tone in her voice. i think i turned bright red, i don't like that sort of attention and while i'm outspoken and definitely participate in discussion a lot i don't think i'm smart so much as vocal.

afterwards michelle (my awesome academic buddy) and i were outside when someone else came up to us and proclaimed (jokingly... sort of...) that he "hated us for being so smart" wtf?

why is it that i feel like i have to apologize for coming to class prepared?

a byron katie moment: you should apologize for being prepared and informed... is that true?

why does my MA feel like my BA? is this all just a bunch of BS?

in response to yesterday's posting downloaded patti labelle's "New Attitude" and on top of its catchy 80's "i'm gonna take over corporate america while wearing a smart pant suit stuffed with shoulderpads" feel it makes me feel better.

i am well aware that this is probably one of the gayest confessions i have ever made.

i feel the judgement coming in already... stop laughing sean!

i've just found george strombouloulos' blog there is nothing like finding out one of your man-crushes also exists virtually. i now have masturbatory content to last me until early december.

yes, i should probably be reading rather than surfing the web.

time for a snack.

The secret of all success is to know how to deny yourself. Prove that you can control yourself, and you are an educated man; and without this all other education is good for nothing.
~R. D. Hitchcock

this article has just ticked me off tonight.

the campaigning senator seems to think that canada's armed forces are 'not busy' and can deal with the escalating problem in north korea.

mr. senator can i remind you that our armed forces currently are cleaning up the mess that you left in afghanistan. remember? you dropped bombs there in 2001 and really pissed off the locals?

that said it's not like canadian politicians haven't bashed the u.s. before, we all remember a delightful carolyn parish being kicked out of the liberal party for making fun of good ole gwb. heck even i yankee-bash a little too often.

i try to remind myself that a good neighbour rises above it (aka talks about them behind their back allthewhile being envious of their nicer living room set.)

my productivity has finally started to kick in.

it's as though i picked up queer theory again and realized all the reasons why i came to graduate school.

it's nice not to feel slovenly.

So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.
~Senator Amidala