Tomorrow is my first day of graduate studies. I'm a little nervous, but it will be nice to have day one finally under my belt after all this time. I've had my sights set on a Master's degree for a few years now, dating back to a period during second or third year when I would browse different university requirements at great length well into the night. I've always been a bit of a worrier.

I talked with Andrea tonight on the phone for an hour or so. In two days she'll be on the other side of the world. In her place I have a gift she left me (not to be opened until she's overseas), a picture of her guardian angel, and a stuffed Eeyore I sleep with every night.

I took the 9 AM bus back to Toronto today, picked up some school supplies, and finished Generica (I thought that despite its ingratiating syntax in parts, which was probably done on purpose given that it's a story about an editor, it was a sharp and humorous look at the publishing industry and the nature of desire). I also trimmed my beard, but not before watching the how-to video. The first thing I noticed is my error in purchasing a hair CUTTING kit instead of a shaving kit. Though I was able to successfully wing it with the electric clippers in the kit, none of the examples on the DVD provided instruction on how to shave. I do, however, now know exactly how to remove a rattail, should I grow one like this poor bastard kid:

And I also know how the ultimate tapered cut and shaven visage should appear:

Handsome man.

And that, my friends, is the end of summer 2007, once and for all. I said a lot of goodbyes this year. Lots of farewell parties, dancing, hugs and morning-after headaches. And it all led up to this, my first graduate year at the University of Toronto. Nothing ahead but 20-page papers and in-depth presentations. I'm going to need that guardian angel.

I was watching Star Wars (that's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope for anyone born after 1989) today. It's a movie I've seen many times, and I couldn't really provide you with a cohesive description of its plot, but that makes it great for repeat viewings. I paid close attention this time around to the final assault on the Death Star, and finally understood that one of the pilots who accompanies Luke is an old friend of his from Tatooine. He's one of the last three pilots including Luke, and he's the last member of the Rebellion to bite it in the film. The other pilot is of course Wedge, who is in all three films and delivers an ass-whooping time and again WITHOUT the Force and really without assistance from anyone. He evens saves Luke's ass in the final assault, when Luke's old "buddy" is SUPPOSED to, but is nowhere to be found. Now, Wedge is hit by enemy fire and has to pull out of the trench. But he's the only member of the Rebellion besides Luke, Han and Chewie to survive the attack. So why isn't he at the fucking awards ceremony with the others when the film comes to a close? What, they couldn't have moved one of the extras they hired as a token elder senator out of the frame to clear a space? I mean, it's not like he even had to walk IN with the main characters. Lucas could have placed him already standing off to the side, with a tinier, SILVER medal, just to show that he'd already been honoured for his dedication. Bottom line, Wedge saved Luke's ASS, and that grand hall would be a floating assemblage of Yavin IV bits and pieces complete with digitally added explosion halo if it weren't for him. Respect Wedge.

Anyway, I've obviously been taking it easy today. I picked up some more clothing at the Village, and started into the meat and potatoes of Whylah Falls, which is incredibly beautiful, reading as if Ondaatje had written James Baldwin in stanzas. I'm nearly halfway through Generica as well, and it's holding my interest. I also listened to the latest SModcast, continued my online Scrabble losing streak, and watched some first season X-Files (some of those really early episodes are painful to sit through; as big of a fan as I was of the show, it really didn't hit its stride until a few seasons in).

I picked up tickets to see the Hives next month, and I'm taking Matt as his birthday present. Toronto has far too many good shows going on at the same time. It's completely overwhelming. I'm almost thankful that most of the shows are out of my price range (I'm not paying $37.50 to see the Kaiser Chiefs unless they somehow morph into Catherine Wheel partway through their set).

And I started writing again, a story I had only begun scratching at a couple of weeks ago. I had an idea, opened up Word, wrote it down until it was fleshed out enough, saved it and closed it up. 333 words without driving myself crazy. It's a good sign, and I wager last night's ramble definitely helped.

I made my first foray onto the transit system today in order to meet Andrea at the downtown bus terminal. 41Keele South bus to the Keele stop on the Bloor-Danforth line, then east to the Spadina transfer to the Yonge-University-Spadina line, then south to the St. Patrick stop. Piece of cake. The only misdirection I had came from trying to WALK to the terminal after surfacing on Dundas. I don't trust my legs. Toronto looks grey and lived-in from a bus window, as if the walls of every building have peeled away ten times over. What are the buildings that line St. Clair West trying to become in their apparent acts of transformation? What's at their core?

Mike lent me this book by Will Ferguson called "Generica" and it's quite funny. It's about a guy who works for a publishing house and has a gift for simile (his manager's hair is pulled back into a ponytail - like a chihuahua's penis). Apparently he publishes a self-help book by a man named Tupac Soiree that actually works and causes the world to fall into chaos. Imagine a world without problems.

Andrea and I have otherwise been bumming around all day, watching episodes of The Office, waiting for Jim and Pam to finally get together. We drank and chilled with her friend Jenna for a bit. Tomorrow we're hooking up with Matt and Kim for some good clean literary fun courtesy of House of Anansi. More on that later.

I need a haircut drastically.