This Afternoon

I like the way the rain makes everything feel so alive and re-connected. The sounds of running, falling water adds a vital, syncopated rhythm to the urban score. I've never heard anyone complain about the sound of rain. At the same time, watching the water drop on so much hard ground is saddening when you start to think about it. Puddles form where there is no grass, no earth, no natural water course to join. Instead of leaves and root systems to use and administer the downfall, there are rooves and sewers to move it away. And if the rain keeps falling like it is, the sewers will exceed their capacity, and overflow into the Lake. The rain finally making its way back to the water body, but bringing all of our shit along with it. It's the destruction of Lake Ontario using an ant trap method. We allow the rain to use these sewer systems that are filled with our poisons, contaminating that water and then, in turn, the body of water it eventually becomes part of.

I have a bit of head ache right now. I'm pretty sure its due to the day's weather system. Which is actually sort of comforting. It's proof of still being a true part of the natural environment. Not that I need a headache to be aware of this...but you know, it's a warning that I think a lot of us need. I wish more people in Toronto (and the rest of the province, country, world) would get more headaches. Maybe our arrogance/ingnorance levels would taper off a bit.

Lyrical

More housing developments go up, named after the things they replace; so welcome to Minnow Brook, and welcome to Shady Space.
- Modest Mouse; "Novocain Stain"

Audio News Update

The Beach has one record store. This one record store is chocked full of Top 30s Chart, soft rock, and mainstream classical. This record store is always out of stock when it comes to music that I'd like to buy. So I have go downtown. Today I ended up settling for the HMV on Yonge because I knew that what I wanted would probably be in stock there. And it was. I feel bad about hitting up HMV and not Rotate or whichever other independant store I should have gone to instead. (And to think that I was bugging Miranda about Blockbuster!)

To: The wonderfully diverse music vendors of Toronto

I am very sorry for spending money at HMV this afternoon. I could have bought from the Sam's right next door. At least Sam is Canadian. I tried, I really did. But Sam's was all out of the first two titles that I was looking for. And HMV was so conveniant. So there. So predictable.
I promise that my next music purchase will be made in cramped, locally owned quarters.

From: Kyra, the kleenex carrying, bleary eyed girl in the brown sweater

Now then. Here's what I came home with --> (1.)The Postal Service - Give Up (2.)Mirah - you think it's like this but really it's like this (3.)The Be Good Tanyas - Chinatown (4.)Ugly Cassanova - Sharpen Your Teeth

This afternoon is a lovely one in Toronto. I'm in the backyard, sitting at the patio table, wearing pyjamas, enjoying the breeze, and, most importantly, not up to my elbows in meat product. My mother is beside me, reading the list of Princess Margaret Lottery winners. . .and guess what! I still don't own a car! My dad did win a pair of binoculars though. But that is far from exciting. Maybe I'll use them to spy on the woman who won the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. I imagine she'll have to sell it; I don't think many people could afford the insurance rates that car would be subject to.
Last night, Taylor and I walked from work to Max Milk to Becker's to home because nobody seems to value the Classic Coke slushie anymore. Vanilla Coke has stolen the hearts and sensibilities of my neighbourhood's variety store owners. So we went back to my house, borrowed my parents' barge (a 1996 Buick LeSabre) and drove to the SevenEleven at Pape and Queen for our frosted treats. On the way there we picked up Miranda who, by the end of our little sojourn, was none too pleased. Poor girl just wanted her burgers and boyfriend and home.
There were three things on my agenda for today:

• sleeping late -- didn't really happen due to my burgeoning cold, and the clopping around that permeates the paper thin floor separating my basement bedroom from the kitchen, bathroom, and hallway above.
  
• CD shopping -- not sure if this will happen due to, again, my cold, and the motivation that this has sucked out of me.
  
• quit work -- ah yes, a recurring item on my to-do lists of late. . .The past few days at work have been made possible by the "Today is the last" mantra. Now with my cold (such a crutch I make of this slight malady) I feel that perhaps I will actually make the call today. Afterall, I certainly won't be able to go in tomorrow if I'm still sneezing.

Bah! Miranda just called. She wants me to go with her to hand in a resume at Blockbuster. I've told her that Blockbuster is Bad, but no, she's fine with its big boxyness and censorship. But I'll go with her because that way she'll come with me to find some CDs. First I'll call in to work to quit though. I'll tell Ernie that I'm sick and probably won't be able to come in tomorrow, and that I won't be in ever again. So that's not exactly real notice, but in this instance I'll suspend certain ethical beliefs and just be done with it. WOw. Maybe I'll actually end up two for three at the end of the day. Hur. Rah.

Audio News Update

Having temporarily put aside the mix I mentioned yesterday, my laptop has been filling the basement w/sounds by Manitoba, Múm, Neko Case, M.Ward, To Rocco Rot, Ida, and Ms. John Soda tonight. And my dad has been enjoying it. He actually said this. Usually my father would prefer that I use headphones when it comes to the music I listen to. So, hearing my 50-something year old dad compliment the work of someone like Manitoba is a pretty big thing. I'm pretty sure his penchant for the new pop classical thang won't be waning any time soon though.