Slow-Start Weekend

I suppose in the scheme of things, I wasn't so slow off the mark Saturday.  I actually was up doing a few things, but I had decided that I wanted to go swimming at the Regent Park pool, since it has the hot tub, which I thought might help break up the junk in my lungs a bit more.  I don't feel all that bad, but I am having some trouble sleeping, which then means I drag a bit throughout the rest of the day.

I ended up setting out around 11:30, but I stopped off at the library first, so I could pick up a book called Gods of Angkor.  One of the more interesting things at the Royal Alberta Museum was the main exhibit on Angkor Wat, which was recently extended through Jan. 2025.  I've seen a few smaller exhibits on Angkor Wat, but this was the most extensive I have seen in person.  I have to admit, I wasn't terribly impressed with this museum* or the Art Gallery of Alberta, though both had some nice paintings by Alex Janvier.  The story behind Blood Tears is quite sad, and I did manage to make time to sit through the video where Janvier discussed his time in Canada's residential schools.

Alex Janvier, Blood Tears, 2001

I made it to the pool just slightly after noon, and it was going to close at 1!  I managed to get about 10 laps in, and I was hoping to get in a few more, but the medium speed lane was pretty clogged up and frustrating (for me anyway), and I definitely wanted to make sure I got in the hot tub, so I gave up a bit early.  I definitely could have swum another 10 minutes, but they have removed the clock, so that doesn't help!

I wandered over to the park next to the pool, and there was some sort of First Nations gathering and art fair.  I had on a fairly innocuous Canada t-shirt, but it did feel out of place there...

I then biked over to TMU.  I didn't go into the Image Centre today, but I did stop and got a mango lassi, and then briefly stopped in a BMV but didn't buy anything.  I then biked over to Robarts.  I had one book to pick up, and I had a bit of time to read before I went off to work.  At the moment, I am reading Frederick Seigel, who has a reputation for being a somewhat boorish/brutal poet.  I probably will have to find the time to read through the full Cosmos Trilogy and see what I think.  I also read Andrea Cohen's The Sorrow Apartments.  While I was there, I was able to borrow a few other books by Andrea Cohen, though it does appear that Long Division is not in either TPL or Robarts (and is essentially OOP).  I'm going to try not to stress too much about the fact that I can't track this down, as it is an early collection.  From what I've read/skimmed so far she is a lesbian poet who often "passes" as straight and this can lead to odd situations.  I liked her "Propeller" poem but it was a bit too long for my transportation poetry anthology.  I will probably spend the most time with her collection Nightshade, and this is the one that has the highest overlap with my current pre-occupations.  I did like this short poem called "Fellow Traveler": "She went everywhere / with an empty suitcase. // You never know when / you'll need to leave // swiftly with nothing."

After this, I went down to work.  I mostly was there to do some GIS analysis, since I find it a hassle to get the VPN running from home.  Actually, I did stop in at Bau-Xi on the way there, but didn't have time to run into the AGO.

They have a relatively new artist under their wing, Laurent Chéhère.  I thought his work was droll, though I would be a lot more likely to get a poster rather than trying to acquire the original.

Laurent Chéhère, Vertigo

While I probably should have pushed on and typed up my bus playlet, I just didn't have the energy.  (I think this will be the same story tonight, sadly.)

I actually did sleep in quite late on Sunday, and finally was ready to leave the house around 11.  I went over to the gym first, and put in an almost full routine.  I have started in on Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain.  I've read a fair bit of Ellison (what there is at least) and some Richard Wright and then even some secondary figures like John A. Williams (and now Thomas's Man Gone Down), but I have not read much of Baldwin, so I hope to correct that this year.

I picked up groceries on the way home.  While it was sprinkling on the morning, it had cleared up, so I biked like mad down to the Toronto Music Garden to see a show at 4.  I actually got there with 15 minutes to spare, only to find that they had cancelled it due to "the weather."  As far as I can tell, Moneka Arabic Jazz did go on last Thurs., when it was a lot more threatening.  So this was a pretty major disappointment.  I will try to get back there two Sundays from now when there will be a  percussion group from UT performing Reich and some other pieces.  I certainly hope the weather cooperates this time around.

I biked up Spadina (not fun!) and stopped in at BMV.  They bought my copy of the Heptameron and pretty much all the CDs I had (including a few from the bargain bin at Cop's!).  I swung by Robarts and picked up another book.  It was 5, so I thought there was a decent chance the Reference Library would be open, since it doesn't open until 1:30 on Sunday.  Surely it would be open until 5:30 or 6.  Wrong!  It closes at 5, which makes absolutely no sense, particularly from a staffing perspective.  Who wants to show up for a 3.5 hour shift?  So that was quite annoying, and I'll have to find time to get over there some other time.

I basically read the rest of the evening, and tried to clean up some computer files.  I probably should try to get one more thing done for work, and then if I have the energy, perhaps I will type up my latest submission for SFYS, even though it will be going in for the Sept. edition at this point.

* The guy at the gift shop said that all the actual dinosaur bones are restricted to the Royal Tyrrell Museum just outside of Drumheller.  Sad.