Out in the rain, and happy because of it (plus appendix, for Sara)

Welllll even though it rained buckets on Saturday in the old M-Town, the day itself was glorious - I met up with Pauline and two other exchange students who were travelling with her (one girl from Nice in France, another from Sweden) and together the four of us prowled the city, alternately getting soaked in the street and then drying off in cafés. My little wee umbrella that I bought in Montreal last winter with Jen turned out to be not too wee for two heads (see above)... and when the weather became too much, Montreal delivered us a warm & dry respite in the guise of underground shopping. There was a lot of Rouenening (a new verb that we coined, meaning "to talk fondly and/or wistfully of Rouen"), and a lot of slipping in and out of various languages, and a lot of giggling. It was sad to see her go at the end. Maybe one day I will be like Margaret Laurence with a "cottage abroad," only instead of England my cottage will be in Normandy, and I will eat crepes and hang out with Pauline all day long and Tycho can sun himself in the vineyard.

In the "only in Montreal" category: Friday was "car free" day in several Canadian cities, but apparently Montreal is the only city to actually shut down their entire downtown core to traffic... every street is suddenly packed with pedestrians... I actually got to walk to school along the middle of Rue Ste. Cathérine, which could never happen on a normal day. It was such a weird feeling! The whole thing felt like a fairground... you can't tell from this picture but in many areas the city had these giant carpets of grass unrolled to cover the street, with park benches and potted trees (and even a mobile mini-putt course) added for atmosphere. It was so strange just being downtown without the roar of traffic and the pain of waiting for lights to change. I wish they did this every day! It would make getting to school so much easier! Everyone seemed so happy, and the best bit was that the people who would normally be honking and speeding past each other on a regular day were stopping to say hello, stopping to play mini golf, and stopping to chill out on a bench in the middle of the Ste. C/de Maisonneuve intersection! It was a lesson in humanity as well as in environmental smarts!

So now, it being Sunday evening, I've finally finished marking the first round of papers from my darling young minds! Unfortunately, while still darling, they are not very good writers, for the most part. Ben (my co-conspirator... I mean... TA) posits that TAs are notorious for being the hardest markers of all, and now I believe him. I often caught myself furiously marking up a student's paper as a sort of long-awaited revenge for all those times in my undergrad when I saw my peers (and, admittedly, myself) getting away with things that should rightly have been slashed with big, red, premanent-marker X's. One student wrote a very good analysis of a Seamus Heaney poem, but his/her (to be deliberately vague, in case my kids find this blog) (which would be bad anyway, since I keep calling them "kids") .. anyway, his/her paper was watered down with cautionary "I think"s and "I wonder if"s and "I suppose that"s... I ended up writing a rant in my comments about how finally these kids have a chance to actually be one of the bossy, pretentious literary critics they are forced to read in their theory books, and they should not give up such a chance so easily with their cautious qualifiers and apologies! I hope I didn't come on too strongly. I remember feeling like I had to temper every argument with such trap doors, in case I turned out to be wrong and in need of a quick escape. Not any more! Now I am ready to make bold and [potenitally wrong] statements without a look back! And soon my students will be, too. (of course, now I will get the next round of papers and have to caution them against making broad and presumptuous generalizations... maybe by the third paper they'll get it right).

I celebrated being done the marking by opening some wine and eating some bacon. May not seem like much, but I'm trying to postpone grocery shopping, and bacon is one the few "celebratory" kinds of food that I had on hand. It made me think of Jen's dream, but unfortunately I didn't have a tuckey, duck, OR chicken to complete the equation. Tonight: going to Blizzarts with some fellow writerly types. Apparently some people are planning on doing some readings, but I'm skeptical. This place sounds more dance-dance than read-read. I've heard that the bartenders at this place pour with a "generous tip to the bottle" so I'm quietly thankful that I have no class until the afternoon tomorrow. I'm leaving Tycho to keep the bed warm until I get back.

Speaking of the handsome T-dot... I took a break halfway through the marking process to attempt going for a walk with him. It was a beautiful day: supremely warm, supremely gusty. There was this hot-air-vent wind blowing like crazy down our alley, and while it felt good to me, Tycho had a different opinion... I think it had to do with his relatively low body mass... the wind was so strong that as soon as we made it down from the stoop and onto the pavement, he was nearly swept away! It's a good thing I had him on a leash! Picture a Tycho-shaped kite blowing and bumbling high in the breeze and you will basically have the picture! He was not pleased. He puffed himself up - I can only assume that he hoped the wind could be intimidated into leaving him alone, but unfortunately this only crippled his aerodynamics and made him even more of a TFO (Tycho Flying Object)!!! Needless to say we came back inside before long so that he could monitor the activities of the alley from the safety, wind-free window (see below).

Must go and prepare for what lies ahead! Please direct all enquiries to Tycho for the rest of the evening!

Appendix to this post (several hours later) with special attention:

back from the bar now and I would like to say... HAPPY BIRThDAY TO MISS SARA J. CLARKE!

i hope someone (*ahem*scott*ahem*) will give her the appropriate birthday spankings. anything that happens after said spankings is not appropriate at all.

I hope you have had an awesome day... you are so special, and I miss you immeasureably! Come to Montreal!!! If I was rich, that would be my present to you, ma fille. for now I will eat some nutella in your name and just wish you were here.