I'm back in Toronto for the night. My last day in Peterborough was spent checking out I Am Legend with the fam and braving my father's 401 driving skills (everyone arrived in one piece).

Tomorrow is the day. I'm catching a plane at 6:15 PM out of Pearson and at 9:55 AM local time on Saturday I'm scheduled to touch down in Berlin. I get to see and touch and feel Andrea after spending four months apart from her. The idea is exhilarating.

It's been almost ten years since I last took a plane. Tonight I sat down and threw a bunch of songs onto my iPod for the trip, ravaging my CD collection for a lot of stuff I haven't heard in awhile. I'm planning to get into Coupland's latest novel on the flight as well, which should last about eight and a half hours not including the one hour stopover in Amsterdam. I booked my seats for the flights and checked in online, printing out my boarding pass. Everything seems to be in order.

In the Fall of 2001 I decided to start putting money away for a European trip. My original plan was to save gradually for three years and take off when I was 25 for a three-month backpacking expedition. I obsessed over websites detailing people's experiences and worked out a schedule of purchases that I'd have to make in order to be properly prepared. I looked into different hostels and tours and kept money in a shoebox. Then, I decided to go back to school.

I didn't think it would take this long for me to finally see Europe, but I'm certainly glad the opportunity has finally presented itself, and that the circumstances are so terrific. I'm not counting on much sleep tonight.

I may not have access to a computer over the next week, but I'll try to get some photos online if I can. Wish me luck and good weather.

Well, I'm going to Germany. Got my ticket and everything. I'm leaving on December 28th and coming back on January 4th, so I'll be having the coolest New Year's in pretty much my entire life (though eating that bowl of vodka jello at Cam's place in my teenage years will be hard to top. Sometimes I really miss my capacity to do shit that stupid). It will be my first trip to Europe. I'll get to spend time with my lady. It's all roses.

That, however, is still three months off. In the meantime, I finally finished putting the grant for the OAC together. I received Pixie's DVD in the mail today, as well as Donna's reference letter. I spent a few hours doing some fine-tuning and printing off every last copy. It's done. On Monday I'll send it off to do its thing.

Today at school I held a 400-year-old book in my hands, as well as some really old editions of Don Quixote and old translations of Plato and Socrates. One of the Socrates works belonged to and was annotated by Northrop Frye. I wrote down one of his annotations because I thought it was endlessly funny:

Socrates: "And I ask again, What do we do when we weave? The answer is that we separate or disengage the warp from the woof."

Northrop Frye: "Huh?"

Classic. I get a good vibe from the Bibliography prof. He seems very intelligent and approachable.

I watched the film "Closer" for the first time. Just an amazingly brilliant piece of work with incredible performances by all. I want to see it again, but I think it would be a hard movie to sit through multiple times... the actors essentially take turns being the biggest living piece of shit in the film. The dialogue is overcast with emotion and eroticism without being hokey - very hard to pull off given the intensity behind each scene. It plays around so deftly with ideas of honesty and truth while at the same time using both as justifications for unconscionable behaviour. A really amazing film.

Bedtime is way overdue. Nuit Blanche tomorrow! Hopefully I'll be updating with some pictures.

Well, I figure the written part of my grant application is about 85% done. I just need Kathryn's information for the personnel list before I go over everything else with a fine tooth comb, and then I'll work on supplementary materials.

My OSAP finally kicked in today, the day after I emailed the financial aid office about its whereabouts (of course). I'm still waiting on my new driver's license, my new VISA, my Future Shop credit card statement, and Pixie's CD in the mail.

I started looking into travel fares and passport information online today. It looks like I'll be able to visit Andrea in Berlin over the winter holiday. It's definitely something to look forward to, as I miss my girlfriend, and I've never been to Europe. I've only been out of Canada once and went as far south as Manhattan. But I want to make sure I've got my cards and such in order before I start buying plane tickets. It's exciting to think about, nonetheless.

Today I watched Million Dollar Baby, another of Jay's movies I'd never seen. I have to hand it to Eastwood, Freeman and especially Hilary Swank for playing incredible roles. It's an emotional story with a seemingly very simple execution, but the way it's lit speaks volumes for what actually happens on screen. I tend to enjoy boxing movies, as it is. Boxing is a healthy metaphor, though I don't watch the sport myself. MacLennan uses it in "Each Man's Son" to great effect.

I finally finished watching my X-Files Season One boxset, and the season finale was great; it made me want to pick up the second season. All of the Mytharc episodes are solid. The series is weak early on when it deals in offshoot stories about idiot savants and Mennonite cults and woodland creatures with no effects budget.

I really need to download a copy of Touch of Evil, or find out how to rip it to my hard drive. I want to capture clips for presentations. It's embarrassing that I have a diploma in Multimedia Design and can't even rip a DVD successfully.