Daffnee

In the short space between checking on roasting chicken and trying to get reimbursement from the FCRA, I have time to posit one quick question:

When did Tony Parsons start wearing glasses?

Toronto family photos are finally up!

Is that a fab-u jacket or what?

My aunt and uncle live in this awesome 80-year-old house in Toronto that must have been used as a dormitory when first built; it's three stories, with about six bedrooms, and an old-fashioned bathtub I'm lusting after (if only because cleaning the thing must be a snap -- toss the curtains in the wash and just give the tub a good scrub). I understand now how they could have had 9 people in this house when my family visited in 1987 without us killing each other, especially since 5 of us were probably in our bratty stages at that point.

Visiting family whilst on an Asian-comprehensible "mission" -- that being the college quest -- thankfully gives relatives something to talk about. Law school isn't about me; it's a family decision. Case in point: my grandfather called this morning from Vancouver to weigh in with his vote for New York. My uncle kept a Ming Pao overview of NYU for my mother to read. My aunt -- she's wonderful, as I'm discovering -- knows her share of lawyers too. They love talking about this stuff, and I'm happy to let them keep doing it.

As for me, my gut feeling surprisingly likes Toronto. Having done the crash tour of New York, had fun with its subway system, sat in on Constitutional Law and lived in Greenwich Village, I'm sure that city can give me the education I want -- but I think Toronto will let me have the life I want. Meh, I spent half the night thinking about this (my mum snores, but please don't tell her) without coming to any strong conclusions, so I'll be making a school-by-school breakdown that will probably please those of us into stats and whatnot.

Besides, I'll have 200+ photos by the end of the trip to sort -- I need the organizational breathing space.

My mother is checking her e-mail, and I'm writing this in the New York Public Library!

This place puts Vancouver's faux-Coliseum to shame.

I made a little Google-esque Valentine's graphic, but since The Boy must be turning over a new leaf and sleeping early, I can't upload the thing because I can't remember the password to his server. In any case...

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

It's 2:30 AM, and I've already slept 6 hours today -- most of Valentine's Day was spent packing, finding walking tours of NYC, and feeling guilty about not being on hand to mock the Hallmark Holiday with Daniel. That's tru wuv Daphne-style for you: remorse over a lost opportunity to have fun at the expense of others. Valentine's Day IS supposed to be about sharing something with those you care about, right?

Hugs, Dan! And lest you think this means I'm a convert to the Valentine's Day holiday, you're absolutely right, but not for the obvious reasons. Take a look at this Globe article on Valentine's Day assaults in India. and even if you're in favour of more conservative social mores you must admit it's an interesting example of how far Western cultural influence has spread.

It's too early in the morning for more critical analysis, and I think my noggin is telling me to go back to bed. Can't wait to get to Denver.

I just have to put this up for posterity. It's part of an e-mail I received from Marisa today:

Okay, you will NEVER guess what happened yesterday. I was walking down the hall in Hennings towards Halperns lab and him and this other guy were jumping up and down in the hallway trying to look at something... I am not sure what. Anyways, they went back inside but Halpern came back out and as I was about to pass him stopped and said, "Daphne quit physics." And I wasn't really sure what he said... so I said, "excuse me?" and again he said, "Daphne quit physics." and though I understood what he said I couldn't tell if it was a question or a statement so I said, "yes she did! a while ago actually..." and so he stared at me looking quite puzzled and said he hadn't seen you around so he asked some profs what had happened to you and they told him you had quit physics! So I told him you were now doing honours english and he wanted to know if you were having fun and why you quit physics. I said, "Well, I think it was a bit stressful, and she really enjoys english! She's going to law school in September!" and to that he said, "oh... that is too bad... I mean, uh, well no... I shouldn't say that cause it's what my wife did, but you know, I mean, why would you want to go to law school if you could have gone into physics?" It was sad, he was very sorry to see you go. Anyways, it was such a random conversation and I am so surprised that he still remembers us from way back in the day! I mean, for someone who can't remember Newton's Laws that's pretty impressive!

And I got my grad photos done today too -- I still feel the need to qualify why my major is "English" every time someone asks me, and now I know why. I worship my profs. Sad, eh?

"I had to have a smeck [laugh], though, thinking of what I'd viddied [seen] once in one of these like articles on Modern Youth, about how Modern Youth would be better off if A Lively Appreciation of the Arts could be like encouraged. Great Music, it said, and Great Poetry would like quieten Modern Youth down and make Modern Youth more Civilized. Civilized my syphilised yarbles."

Alex might be an ultra-violent English droog, but as the Humble Narrator of A Clockwork Orange (by Anthony Burgess, as I need to keep reminding myself) he takes the cake even off Holden Caulfield. Especially in applying Nadsat lingo to social commentary, that is.

I'm not bringing Alex up for the usual reasons (namely that we're studying A Clockwork Orange in my 20th Century Lit class and I really dig guys that get creative with mascara), but more because That Boy and I saw Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man at the Playhouse last Saturday. After independent verification by the middle sibling, I'm still somewhat stunned that the defenders of Great Culture remain elderly, WASPish individuals who have the nerve to give That Boy nasty looks. Good thing the less-good-looking-half was hiding in the W.C. down the stairs.

The play itself was perfectly peachy, of course; I'd be hard-pressed to say anything bad about an "Irish dramatist, literary critic, socialist spokesman and leading figure in 20th century theatre," even if all the women in the play were self-absorbed and money-grubbing, the men eager to indulge this unfortunate tendency, and the show almost stolen by the three windmills put on display during set changes. I could see the Swiss guy on Fraiser and I think I'd marry him if he existed in real life, especially if I got to keep the 12 carriages and puffy pillows too.

I got up an hour earlier today and had an enormously productive day. Following this logic, getting up a further half hour earlier will improve productivity by a further 50%, and only be offset by a slightly more-miffed-than-usual Chinese Ph.D. roommate. I've also discovered that standardized tests are a fantastic way of making conversation with random guys in French class, and doing presentations on the fly invariably works out better than anything meticulously planned out.

Well, what do you know -- I actually managed to keep that resolution to make today a good day.

Does anyone else have uncles that actually use the phrase "You bring honour to the family"? I didn't think I did, either.

There are days when it's easy to forget that I was a psychopathic, Trekkie tomboy for the better part of my 20 years, and other times when I wonder if this blue duffel coat is just hiding the brutally obvious. I ran into a guy I've known on and off since Grade 10 on the way to the grocery store, and after some healthy banter about bleached hair and distinctive posture, he asked if I was going to the debate tourny this weekend.

No, says me; I have tickets to a play and am taking That Boy, seeing as I'm not really going to be around during Reading Break and hence Hallmark Day. Also, he hates all things to do with debate -- which is why said guy has never seen him.

The reply: no kidding, we wondered about that and thought you were joking about the boyfriend or something.

I made a resolution to "make each day a good day", but I'm still struggling with the conflicting ideas that I could be seeing someone and yet also be seen as thoroughly undateable. Maybe it's like The Boy says; we never did agree on a first date, and thus maybe it's all been a big mistake. In which case, it's been a terribly fun two years -- and thankfully, I don't think much will change!

Good things:
1. Reading break trip to New York and Toronto!
2. The Boy's mum's scarf.
3. $25 duffel coat.

Bad things:
1. Many impending deadlines.
2. The demise of my dream to be the Chinese-Canadian Elle Woods and work for Sally Field.