Today is my last full day in Toronto, which, to be honest, doesn't feel as much like a city I used to visit for field trips. You spend enough time in a city and you become used to the idea that its structures and streets and parks and whatnot don't really go anywhere. And while I've been provided with some memories that will last me a lifetime, I've long since gotten used to that feeling that Toronto usually puts in me, that combination of melancholy and nostalgia and excitement and pure happiness that runs through me all at once as one experience triggers every other experience I've had here simultaneously. The city has become new to me in the way that it's become familiar.

Yesterday I handed in my essay, wandered around Value Village, came home and crashed. I woke up at sunset and went to the grocery store with the air that it would be my last trip, realizing afterwards that I'll probably have to go back to nab a box or two to pack tonight. I picked up copies of Diner and Monty Python's And Now For Something Completely Different that were on sale, plus the essentials for the 36 hours one has left to spend in a place: Pop Tarts, soup, and peanut butter chocolate granola bars. I watched Diner and tried to understand that for the first time in months I didn't have to think about school work.

Tonight I'm getting together with Matt to have a beer and say so long for the time being. I'll have to spend the greater part of the day packing, but first I have to take back the rest of my library books and pay my fines, otherwise I'm pretty sure U of T will fail me out of spite.

Last night I ordered one of the new iMacs from Future Shop. I should have it next week. It's the newest computer I've ever purchased and it's effing pretty:


Ooo. Ahh.

I'm off. Tomorrow will be my last entry.

If the stabbing pain in my back is any indication, it looks as though I've punctured another air mattress. Vying for space in the still-inflated portions of a surface is not the most comfortable way to start a day. The worst part is that I won't have time to fix it/buy a new one today. I'm pondering sleeping on the floor.

My laptop is back online. I'm thinking seriously about picking up a desktop iMac. Nice ones come fairly cheap and are usually accompanied by glowing reviews of their performance. I think Kat has one so I'm going to ask her what she thinks.

My mom was going through x-rays of her shoulder injury for her hearing (which is today) and noticed one that indicated a spot on her lung. She had new ones taken a few days ago and got the results back yesterday - negative, thankfully. It was just an area of scarring from a previous bout of pneumonia.

The Great Reorganization has come to a halt: my DVD ROM has stopped recognizing CDs. Yesterday I made the brilliant move of restoring my laptop to its factory settings because I read that it might do the trick (it didn't). I backed up my files but for some reason my wireless connection is DOA, so I'm using Jay's computer until he gets back from New York. Freaking technology. I'm going to have to pick up a new laptop when all is said and done, I just know it. And it will be a Mac.

After waiting for Race and Cinema to end I came home, talked to my mother, had some supper, watched some Simpsons and went to bed late. I have that meeting with Quayson today and then it's off to Peterborough.

It's a bit of a long road through the bush with that Moodie/Parr Traill book, though it does have some interesting information on what it meant to be a published writer midway through the 19th century. A lot of it was a correspondence game with Britain until print houses starting appearing on Canadian soil, and even then the success of a work was gauged by its reception overseas.

In between chapters I polished off the 30 Rock box set, watched some X-Files and installed Office into my computer. I'm trying to get ahold of Photoshop but the torrent is dragging.

Lots of work to do today.

Yesterday I backed up every file I could think of on disc and basically wiped my laptop's hard drive clean. It seems to have fixed the stuttering problem. Everything's running a lot smoother and faster. It's a bit of a relief because I was considering buying a new machine outright. I'm definitely the kind of guy who likes to start from scratch completely rather than salvage what's broken (though I'd like to think I've matured when the philosophy is applied to relationships).

Ren and I went to Burgundy's to eat and drink before the flick, but when we got to the box office we discovered it had sold out, so we decided to see Sweeney Todd at the Cumberland instead. We waited over a drink at Hemingway's for the film to start. One of the TV's was playing Ottawa vs. Detroit. They were tied in the third period, and Ren's a big Sens fan. Ottawa appeared to score with a couple of minutes remaining but at the split second the shot went in someone changed the channel. It was funny to see how horrified Ren got before grumbling that he hated this city and that it was the worst thing that's ever happened to him. Sweeney Todd was bizarre. I liked it just for the sheer oddness of it, though it's really not much of a story. I might have liked it more if I were comparing it with other adaptations.

I met with the Opera folks for the presentation table-read today. The material should go over well on Monday. I'm looking forward to having it done and out of the way. Tomorrow night I'm going to Adam's place to try transferring my Touch of Evil VHS to some kind of digital format that I can use for my presentation. I hope it works. At this point, I'm kind of counting on it to work.

I watched the Republican YouTube debate while throwing some vegetarian chili together. A couple of them seem like all right people but I had to shake my head at certain outlooks they bring to the table. In the audience was a retired gay officer who serve din the army for years, and the candidates actually had the nerve to feed him the lines "Thank you for your service, but," essentially, your lifestyle is immoral and damaging to the notion of America's military unit.

Fuck, America has it so astoundingly backwards sometimes that it cripples common sense. There are segments in The War devoted to how Japanese and African-Americans were treated during the Second World War, condemning America's use of detainment camps and troop segregation, yet people still believe that homosexuals can't serve as if it's a lesser breed of discrimination. They don't fit the profile. What, exactly, isn't completely fascist about that outlook? How is it any different from the principles behind a regime? Thousands of coalition force members have been killed in the last few years, not to mention the untold civilian casualties, and the American military insists on barring a solider based on sexual orientation? That's a pretty messed up rationale. God forbid democracy is brought to Iraq on the backs of homosexuals.

Anyway. Computer's still running slow, and I've downloaded yet ANOTHER virus scanner (which apparently wants me to register for its use. No chance). Guh.

My diary-keeping schedule is a bit bananas. I ended up going to sleep last night before midnight because I was so wiped from staying up until 5 AM the previous night. The last entry was written sometime yesterday afternoon, but backlogged to get me back on schedule, but then... whatever. Today I've got two entries in one.

I met with the Death in Venice folks yesterday, who I'm liking more and more, and we started putting our script together for the presentation. I've never "scripted" a presentation before. Nor have I ever donned costumes, wigs and moustaches to talk about Greek gods and psychology. Next weekend is our "dress rehearsal;" I'll have to bring my camera so that I can get across some idea of what we've been working at all semester.

Yesterday I received Visconti's film version of Death in Venice in the mail from Amazon, which I'm going to analyze for my paper. It was accompanied by a box set of Mission Hill episodes. I hadn't seen that show in a few years. I watched the first four episodes and it really took me back. I'd almost forgotten how wickedly funny it is. It's great to be able to keep parts of your life with you by having a movie or show at your disposal to call up memories.

I listened to SModcast and hit the sack early, as I said. This morning I woke up and headed to the Thomas Fisher Rare Book library, hellbent on finishing a bibliographical description assignment for tomorrow. I called up a 2nd edition copy of The Monk by Matthew Lewis dated from 1796 and spent four hours writing about its physical makeup. I found the process insanely interesting, even though I hate reading about it on my own time - it was different to actually have the book in front of me, trying to unlock its mysteries. The hands-on aspect to the assignment really appealed to me. After I finished, I logged on to a computer at Robarts and started typing up my research, when I read an email indicating that the assignment due date has been moved to NEXT Friday, so I'll be able to take a second look at the text before I finish it once and for all. Aces.

After the library I went over to the Varsity to meet Ren, and we chatted for a bit before seeing No Country For Old Men, the new Coen brothers movie. I may not be going to the movies as much as I'd like, but the last few films I've seen in Toronto have all been amazing, including this one. If you're a fan of Fargo, it will impress the hell out of you. I actually thought it was BETTER than Fargo. Javier Bardem plays the most chilling killer I've seen in a movie in years. And Josh Brolin is going to be a full-fledged movie star very, very soon. It's enjoyable as an action flick but also has a more subtle narrative level playing around with ideas of fate, expectations, war, border politics and issues of identity. I wanted to see it again right away after it was over to pay more attention to the subtext.

Now I'm home. My computer's chugging a little, so I'd better back up my files just in case it bites the dust. My next computer is going to be a Mac, as sacrilegious as that sounds.

It snowed today.