Ani Difranco- Carnegie Hall

I just got the new Ani Difranco album. It was one of those unexpected finds when I was in HMV looking for a totally different album and there it was. It's a bootleg of one of her live shows, at Carnegie Hall (hence the name). I started listening to her music when I was in grade 10, and it affects me now as much as it did then.
I LOVE the song/poem "Self-Evident"... Check it out...

Self Evident

yes, us people are just poems

we're 90 % metaphor

with a leanness of meaning

approaching hyper-distillation

and once upon a time

we were moonshine

rushingdown the throat of a giraffe

yes, rushing down the long hallway

despite what the p.a announcement says

yes, rushing down the long stairs

with the whiskey of eternity

fermented and distilled

to eighteen minutes

burning down our throats

down the hall

down the stairs

in a building so tall

that it will always be there

yes, it's part of a pair

there on the bow of noah's ark

the most prestigious couple

just kickin back parked

against a perfectly blue sky

on a morning beatific

in its indian summer breeze

on the day that america

fell to its knees

after strutting around for a century

without saying thank you

or please

and the shock was subsonic

and the smoke was deafening

between the setup and the punch line

cuz we were all on time for work that day

we all boarded that plane for it to fly

and then while the fires were raging

we all climbed up on the windowsill

and then we all held hands

and jumped into the sky

Hiking- April 22

Today Ben, Riley and I went to St. Martins, where we did part of the Fundy Trail. It was a perfect day- sunny and warm enough to wear a t-shirt. I even got a sun burn.
We took some good pictures, so here they are. There are also some random ones- there are signs posted along parts of the trail calling attention to the flora and fauna. Some of the signs point out specific plants, but some of them... frankly, I think the Fundy Trail could use a little help with it's marketing. (Note the signs that Ben photographed illustrating the exotic things you might find on the Fundy trail -such as 'the mosquito', and 'the dandilion'... We also saw signs for 'the crow' and 'the fly'. I'm not even kidding.)
Enjoy the pictures!

Narcisism

It occurs to me, as I continue to update this blog, that the very act of posting my thoughts online is a kind of narcisism. The presumption that anyone would take time to read this- my random thoughts, the day to day stuff that makes up my life- I suppose it is somewhat ego-centric. Still, it is fun.

Another indulgence I took today, was that I finally went and used up the rest of my gift certificate that Ahren and Kath gave me to the spa (Avalon) for my birthday. I will not miss much about Fredericton (aside from certain people) when I leave, but man, I will miss that spa. I went with the intent of getting a pedicure -(which I did -"Blushingham Palace" purple/pink colour -the names are as much fun as the colour), but the spa was so quiet today (it is Easter Monday after all) that I ended up getting my brows and my hair done as well. I was so relaxed by the end of it that I forgot to use the gift certificate to pay for it all!

Back to work tomorrow. I don't expect to get much done on Tuesday, as the kids will all be coming down from their chocolate bunny induced sugar-highs, but exams are coming up, so we will have to pick up the pace a bit.

Ben is entering his last week of exams. He has two to write (one on Wednesday, the other on Friday) and then he is finished. For good! It is hard to believe- we have spent so many years thinking and planning about what our lives will be like once we can finally shed the 'student' labelling, and now it is upon us. Money has played such a huge role in our relationship- making sure we can pay rent, having enough for gas, etc.... that it will be surreal to finally be able to exhale a little bit. Not that we will be living large, not by any means. But to have some stability- that will be a welcomed change.


À bientôt-

Happy Easter!

Pre-Easter events

We went to Annette and Tim's place for a BBQ last night, which was nice. They have a dog (Bailey) who reminds me of Riley when he was a puppy. Bailey is part black lab and part huskie, but has the same floppy ears as Riley does (Riley is a black lab / shepherd mix). Very cute.

It was so warm yesterday -it must have been over 20 degrees. Perfect BBQ weather, although we pretty much use ours year round. Especially this year, with the complete lack of snow. We only had to shovel the driveway once this year. (And by we, I mean Ben...)

Ben brought me an Easter plant this morning-beautiful pink tulip. I love tulips. I've never been much of an Easter lilly kind of person, but tulips are perfect. Brownie points for Ben!

I hope that everyone is having a great long weekend! :)

Our furry family members

This is Gus (left). While his cuteness is somewhat deceiving, he is a holy terror. But we love him anyway.
Riley (above) is somewhat more subdued, and puts up with all of Gus' craziness. We also have a cat named Mugs, but he is too cool to pose for a photograph.

Good Friday

I can't believe that April is already half done. Only a few months left until we finally get the heck out of New Brunswick. It has been a long time coming. There are some things that I will miss -the school I'm teaching at now, the proximity to the ocean... but it's time to get back to civilization.

Ben is in the middle of his exams -the last exams he will potentially ever have to take. He got his iron ring (in the 'calling of an Engineer' ceremony last week... for more information on this ceremony see: http://www.ironring.ca/ -it's a pretty big deal in Canada.)

Graduation is May 18th, and we will be bombarded (happily) by both sides of the family. Joanne will arrive early in the week to do part of the 'Fundy Footpath' (a back packing trip that Ben did last summer with his friend Jean-Guy) with Ben, and then Paul and my parents and Sarah will arrive on the 17th. Our rented house is quite small -really, it's very, very tiny. And so there is potential for chaos to ensue. Stay tuned.

We are about to be in a bit of a state of inequilibrium- we both need to find jobs, which is a first. This will be the first time in our relationship that neither of us have been students. It will be a welcome change to have some stability in our income.

I'm going to try to do this regularly. 'Blogging' doesn't come easy to me, but we'll see where it goes. Maybe I'll even get Ben in on it.

Later days,
Jen