Heads Up Players

I've moved back to the Hammer.

Tender Loving

My car gets to park in the garage this week and next as one of the other cars is gone for that time. I think Jean Grey (yes, that is my car's name) doesn't quite know what to do with herself. I hope that when she has to go back to sleeping outside she won't have developed a hateful morning complex.

New Love

Dear Harris Park,

Just so you know, we're going to be friends. I hope to see a lot of you soon.

Love and bats and geese and fireflies,

Lstew

Lunch Time Posting On Sober Realities

The past couple of days I have noticed a lot of traffic passing by my building. The traffic is people of a 'younger' nature and they are mostly on foot. Some are on bicycles. I was confused as to why there would be so many kids mucking about in the middle of the day. Then it hit me - a very sobering thought - there is a high school very close to my building and across the street from my building is a convenience store and a pizza joint - these kids are not just out for physical fitness, they're on lunch hour from...sigh... SUMMER SCHOOL. I feel so deeply for these teens. I have done the summer school thing. Once in high school and one summer course for my undergrad.

I know some of these kids have made their own beds by messing around during the regular school year and now they have to lay in them..lie in them? Whatever. But some, like just suck at certain subjects. I failed gr 11 advanced math twice and to get my gr 11 math credit, I took gr 11 general math in summer school. I actually got a great mark, somewhere in the 80s or 90s. My teacher was awesome and very straight forward. He would teach during the morning and then those who only needed a half credit or something would leave. Then he would allow the rest of us to do our homework in class for the afternoon. If we needed help, he would give it. He also told us sometimes terrible stories from his days at Trent or living in Toronto. We small town kids were deliciously scandalized! He had a great format for testing too. Every morning we would have a quiz. The quiz would consist of 10 questions picked at random from the previous day's homework. At the end of each week we would have a test and the test contained questions picked at random from each day's quizzes. Then at the end of the course the exam was questions picked at random from the tests. So if you did your homework, and kept it corrected and corrected your quizzes and tests you were fine. And I was.

That's my story.

Laura the Merciful Continues Her Reign of Mercy

You might remember this guy - my ex - Irwin. Well, I thought I was done with that mangy guy. I mean parts of the winter were hard. I could see him and his lady friend Bernice trying to brave the fierce winter storms out there on the balcony. They mostly roosted right above the door to the balcony. And sometimes my compassion would flood my once hardened heart and I would desire to invite them in to let them warm up and get out of the wind. Clearer thinking prevailed and Irwin and Bernice stayed outside for the winter. And well, as Buxtehude put it so eloquently - die vinter, die kinder...

As the weather warmed up I began to make some ventures out on to the balcony. Each time I did, there was a pigeon who would fly away as soon as I got out there. I assumed it was Irwin. This was until I went further out onto the balcony and saw one of my flower pots (complete with soil) sitting there...

Picture 1 - taken from my living room window so as not to scare off Bernice


Picture 2 - the die kinder of die vinter


I have managed not to toss the children into yonder parking lot in a fit of jealous rage. (Man I hope that phrase gets googled out of context)

Why You Should Support Organizations Like Youth for Christ

Nothing says the school day is over like sitting in a strip mall, outside Dollarama, splitting a 2L of cola with your other 13 year old friend.

The Elevator

So I've been living in this apartment building since August. I take the elevator at least twice a day to get either down to my car or up to my apartment. And I just wanted to share one of my little observances on humanity.

Nobody seems to press the elevator buttons the same way. I just walk in, press the button for the floor I need and I'm done. But this does not seem to be enough for other people. Some come in and hit the button 5 times and then stop. While others hit their floor and then as soon as someone else presses their floor number they have to go back and hit their's again. There is a variant on that one - when a floor has been reached by the elevator and someone gets off the person hits their number again, in case the elevator forgot. Just all kinds of little quirks that are second nature to their owners.

The Current Storm

There is a thunderstorm happening right now. I'm quite sure it is doing little for wedding preps.

But from the 7th floor view, this thing is magnificent. The last two thunder/lightening strikes set off car alarms. Everything really echoes up here because we are a big wall for sound to bounce off of, but also because there is another apartment building near by.

Wow.

My New Friend

So this post begins an ongoing series on urban high-rise living. It will chronicle my thoughts on living in an apartment building and my personal and very gradual transition to very urban living.

Thus we begin with Irwin.

This is Irwin.


Irwin has decided that he is going to permanently hang out on my bbq. Every time I have been out on the balcony in the past few days Irwin has been there. He is pretty quiet so I don't know he is sitting there and then bam! I see him and he scares the s-h-i-t out of me (if you look closely at the picture it seems i do the same to him!)! I have a little phobia of birds. Just a little one. But once I realize its Irwin we talk a little bit and then I go inside.

I feel that Irwy (or sometimes Erween-gah) and I have many good times ahead; eating popsicles, having deep conversation, back rubs and pooping on the ground. Awww.