Month: March 2011

Sunny, chilly, day-offy Friday

I took the day off from work today and managed not to do a whole lot with it, beyond a little reading (Kaleidotrope slush, Steve Martin’s biography), a little television watching (this week’s touching, if not hilarious, Community), and a little faxing (some confirmation forms for my residency at the Banff Centre in September).

That last one took a little longer than anticipated, as I first thought to mail them, then ran into confusion and resistance at the post office — I FedEx stuff internationally regularly from the office; I’ve never needed a commercial invoice unless there’s something of value and weight enclosed, and certainly never for two sheets of paper. But whatever — and then went to the local Kinko’s to fax it instead. I don’t think it would be the end of the world if I faxed it from work on Monday, or even it arrived near the end of next week in the mail, but they did say “within two weeks.” So anyway.

Of course, the fax number just rang and rang, and when I tried calling the Registrar’s Office directly, I just got a recording. The two-hour time difference might have been working against me, as I was likely calling on their lunch hour. But I finally got through, and the woman at the other end confirmed the fax number, then told me she’d switch it off then on, and I should try again. And that seemed to work. I sent an e-mail following up, and now everything should be confirmed and paid for.

I think now with this, and buying my plane tickets earlier in the week, there’s no denying that I’m actually doing this quite possibly crazy thing. I still have to book my hotel stay in Calgary, but I am looking forward to it — to the week of writing, to the inspiring scenery of Banff itself, and to the chance to meet Heather in person. She’s the one who recommended the residency in the first place, and honestly no slouch as a writer herself.

And she sent me this for my birthday! The first of the books won’t arrive until early summer, unfortunately, but they look like an interesting enough mix that it will be worth the wait. Seriously very cool and thoughtful, and a nice way to ease into the fact that tomorrow — in just a few short minutes from now, actually — I will be thirty-four years old.

As little as I did with it, the day off helped with that, too.

Random 10 3-25-11

Last week’s lyrics proved surprisingly difficult (or easy to ignore). Will this week’s prove the same?

  1. “Ieee” by Tori Amos
    And there’s no sign of a parachute
  2. “Bygones” by Sara Watkins
    Since your prey has become predator
  3. “Down to the River to Pray” by Alison Krauss, guessed by Thud and Clayton
    And who shall wear the robe and crown
  4. “Quiet” by Smashing Pumpkins
    We are the fossils, the relics of our time
  5. “Measures & Scales” by Jill Barber
    And I would watch the notes fall one by one from his lips
  6. “John the Determinist” by Jeremy Messersmith
    Hoping for a ghost inside the shell
  7. “Tighten Up” by the Black Keys
    And I’m bound to fall, bound to fall
  8. “Cosmic Charlie” by the Grateful Dead
    Calamity’s waiting for a way to get to her
  9. “Labrythinian Pomp” by of Montreal
    Let’s just say you are not the destroyer
  10. “Union Song” by the Nightwatchman
    There’s a thunder cloud exploding, and I’m free at last

Good luck!

Slushy, then sunny, Thursday

I could swear it was still snowing a little this morning, and slushy in the streets on the way to the train station. And the station platform itself was, of course, neither shoveled nor salted. (For all their incessant reminders to “mind the gap,” the Long Island Railroad doesn’t seem to care if you slip and crack your head open before the gap is even in your sight.) But then something happened during the day. I don’t know what they call it in your parts, but around here, I’m pretty sure we call it the sun.

So the snow — what little there was — all but melted, and the weather warmed up considerably. March has that whole “in like a lion, out like a lamb” business going on, but you don’t usually expect to see it over the course of a single day. I woke up this morning to winter, and came back home this evening in spring.

Which is nice, and I hope it continues. I’m taking off tomorrow, not for any particular reason, but just because I thought it might be nice take a long weekend around my birthday. I have a couple of things planned, but none of them much more stressful than sleeping late and maybe doing some reading. You know, real wild and crazy stuff.