Happy Un-Birthday To Me!

Someone reminded me that I posted my first blog entry a year ago today, so I felt compelled to share something about that. I started writing a blog a year ago mainly because I was angry and I wanted a public forum in which to vent. I know, that’s incredibly narcissistic of me, but I’m okay with that. I did have other motives though. For years I’d been feeling as though I’d been so well trained in academic writing that I was unable to write outside of that framework anymore. I wanted an opportunity to just write what I wanted without worrying about the format, or the soundness of my argument, or the completeness of my prose. And I’ve definitely found that in the blog. The best part is, I think it’s actually helped my academic writing. When I sat down to write my first comprehensive exam this past fall I was able to just start riffing as soon as the exam began, whereas before I would have stared at the blank screen for ages just waiting for the perfect sentence with which to start.

So to celebrate my “liberation” into non-academic writing, I’m going to do something I rarely do, and that is to share some of my creative writing. A few years ago, I went on a road trip around the UK with a few girlfriends. We were all studying for our Master’s at the University of Edinburgh and we were going to the Guardian Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. The Hay Festival is one of the premiere literary festivals in Europe and attending it was an incredible experience. But the act of actually getting there, and the combination of all the things we saw along the way, was possibly an even better experience. You can probably imagine — seven days in a van with five girls makes for some interesting stories, to say the least. Anyway, when we got back I wrote a poem for them, mainly composed of images from our trip. I had never shared it with anyone outside of that group, partly because I figured it was so esoteric that no one else would appreciate it. But I recently showed it to a friend and she really liked it, so now I’ll share it with all of you.

HAY-ON-WYE

‘Going on a pilgrimage and I’m going to bring…’
Just this one thing, I promise

‘follow the bridge’ they say
but the bridge is not there

do the tracks even reach this far afield?

instead there rests a stone cottage -
home to aging philosophers and musical children
warming their rain-soaked feet by the fire
warming their mist-laden hearts with tea -
frozen in time

dusty books on dusty shelves, treasures waiting to be found

The Old Sage strokes his beard as he listens to us talk
then ties it in a bow above his head
‘interesting…’

His words almost as wise as yours when you said
‘all roads don’t lead to Rome after all; all roads lead Here’

and a memory is rendered -
not a photograph or a souvenir spoon
but a moment grafted onto our secret selves

A Leap Year Freebie

It seems to me that people are always wishing there were more hours in the day. Well people, today we have a whole extra 24 hours! I like to think of it as a free day. It makes me feel better about having done nothing with it so far. What are you going to do with your extra time?

You Can Call Me Master

I just put my name into one of those silly online quizzes called “How will you be defined in the dictionary?”

Tara Thomson [noun]: A master blogger.

Haha!

Procrastination

You know when you put something off for such a long time that it becomes irrationally terrifying for you to even think about it?

That’s how I feel about this post.

The Random Unfolding of Events

One of my favourite things about life is the randomness of it all. I’m not much of a planner when it comes to day-to-day events so I find I end up in unexpected places and situations frequently. I’m also meeting new people all the time. It really is fantastic to be constantly surprised and entertained. I couldn’t plan my life any better.

So here is a collection of the best random moments and people that found their way into my life over the past few weeks.

I danced at the bar with someone dressed as a giant fuzzy antelope and I have no idea who it was.

I found myself drinking wine with two friends in the middle of a Sunday afternoon, making plans to leave everything behind and run away to Sweden. Why Sweden? I have no idea. But we did end up with the quote of the year: “Shit just got desperate. We have to roll out tonight.”

In Victoria’s only country bar, someone we didn’t know sat down at our table and started doing mind-boggling card tricks for us.

I made a friend who sings backup vocals for an Elvis impersonator.

A Vancouver cab driver, in reference to strip clubs, said to us “If I have to shake my ass like a monkey to raise my kids then that’s what I’ll do.”

Two of the best fortune cookies I’ve ever had: “When time permits your personal life will be exciting” and “Back away from impulsive people.” Almost ironic.

Fun Facts

My supervisorial great-grandfather is Fredric Jameson. I hope that means I’m being passed a pretty impressive torch, but all it probably really means is that my dissertation will have to be extra long.

My don’t-remember-how-many-greats-grandfather (in real life) was Jefferson Davis. So when I take my epic road trip through the Southern States, and they want to lynch me because I’m a crazy lefty, I can say, step aside, my forefathers built this land.

I am only separated from Kevin Bacon by a cool 4 degrees.

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout.

A Perfect Victoria Day

Today is one of my favourite kinds of day. The morning was a misty grey one, where it’s almost raining and everything feels peacefully quiet. And the afternoon is seeing the sunshine come out. Not enough to make me want to put down my book and get out from underneath this wool blanket, but just enough to stave off the depression that sometimes comes from too many rainy days in a row. I hope I always live in a climate like this. I could do without the spiders, but it’s otherwise the best of all worlds. There’s nothing like sitting through a West Coast morning with a cup of coffee and CBC radio to keep you warm.

Mosquito Hell

I am still not quite ready to sit down and write… especially considering I am on a crazy Czech keyboard that has switched the “z” and the “y,” and on which I cannot find the apostrophe and am thus required to not use contractions.

I did however feel the need to report that I have a mosquito bite on my leg that is so big and swollen I am starting to look like I have three knees. I can actually feel it growing with every passing minute, as if at one point it will just get so big that it will explode and thence provide me with much needed relief from the near suicide-inducing itch. For those of you who may be concerned about me, dont worry. I always react really badly to mosquito bites and it is not likely to be a giant tumour or anything problematic like that. But I am dead certain that passers-by on the street are looking at me with concern. Ahhhh Prague. You are leaving me with such wonderful memories.

The Pursuit of Efficiency

I try not to make a habit of posting links on here — I figure people can surf for themselves. But this was too good. Maybe because I spent a year in Japan I am especially entertained by it, but you’ve got to give the Japanese credit for their sales pitches. You would never see a homepage like this for a Hilton.

You probably already know what a Capsule Hotel is, but if you don’t this is how they describe it: “a unique style of accommodation in Japan, inspired by the pursuit of efficiency and functional comfort, originating from the adaptive, creative spirit of the Japanese mind.” Have a look!

Enunciate

My dictionary.com word for today is “enunciate,” defined as “to utter articulately; also, to state or set forth precisely or systematically.” Is it just me or is that definition extra tough to enunciate? It’s like a tongue twister. But never mind trying to say it ten times quickly; just try to say it once! I bet I could use this to make a case for the importance of matching form to content.