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2000-11-13 || 11.50p Stuff My life is made up of hundreds of little points of light and darkness. As time goes on, more spots are added as I build up memories: Some I cherish with an almost frantic reverence, and others I relive with a red, glowering hate. I'm surprised ho the simple grey parts of my life have sort of disappeared into the background, and I wonder why we don't remember the plateaux of our lives as much as we do the peaks and chasms. I mean, when get up the courage to look back, I'm surprised at how hard-pressed I am to recall anything that didn't make a profound impact on me. Those moments -- the smooth contentment of reading a good book or petting a cat -- are thrown into obscurity by the events that shook me, made me cry for joy, or changed me forever. I' m not alone in this, I know. I know it in the way no-one ever talks about the dull parts of their past or the time they remember that nothing happened to them. Last night, Lover and I watched this week's episode of Le Canada, Un histoire populaire. Maman was watching the English version, but we don't get the English CBC without huge amounts of ghosting. I have to say that I've never seen a CBC documentary with such high production value. The episode was about the plains of Abraham and the demise of both commanders -- General Wolfe and the Marquis de Montcalm. Though the French and Canadiens later re-took the Plains, it was the battle in which Wolfe and Montcalm died that generally marked the end of the road for the French stewardship of New France. It's a bit of a sticking point for French-Canadians, those martyred few, the long-suffering who were the ONLY British subjects to be alowed to remain Catholic without going through the persecution under which British catholics lived. Oh, we were also alowed to keep French civil law, which is why so much of Qu�bec's civil legal system is so different to that of the rest of the country. But once again, we were treated to the blood-soaked stories of battle and intrigue (you would NOT believe the crap thatMr Benjamin Franklin spouted about what was on in the North. Opportunistic jerk), but very little of the grey stuff. Anyway, it reminded me of that old poem by Rimbaud called �Le dormeur du val� : C'est un trou de verdure o� chante une rivi�re Accrochent follement aux herbes des haillons D'argent ; o� le soleil, de la montagne fi�re, Luit : c'est un petit val qui mousse de rayons. Un soldat, jeune, bouche ouverte, t�te nue, Et la nuque baignant dans le frais cresson bleu, Dort ; il est �tendu dans l'herbe, sous la nue, P�le dans son lit vert o� la lumi�re pleut. Les pied dans les gla�euls, il dort. Souriant comme Sourirait un enfant malade, il fait un somme : Nature, berce-le chaudement : il a froid. Les parfums ne font pas frissoner sa narine ; Il dort dans le soleil, la main sur la poitrine Tranquille. Il a deux trous rouges au c�t� droit. ********** 6.30p So, I think that everyone's got at least one TV news personality they'd like to see naked. Mine's Patty Kim, who used to do local stuff here in Montr�al, but who's apparently now anchoring the American edition of @Discovery.ca on the US Discovery channel. Well, someone took that idea and ran with it. The result is the fairly droll Naked News Network. No Barbara Walters jokes, please. ********** 9.35p The lights in M�tro cars make everyone look a bit green. Across from me, a simply beautiful East Indian girl just spilled a bottle of water into her WASPy boyfriend's lap. She looks mortified. When I was younger, I might have laughed, but I don't think so. I seldom laughted as a boy, and especially as a teen-ager. I'm writing this entry in a stupid Mona Lisa notebook and the indian girl doesn't look so beautiful anymore. She has that stupid Anglo Montr�al accent that reeks of St-Leonard or Crescent Street. She's dressed for it, too: Tight black strechy pants that flare a bit at te bottom and platform running shoes. Which reminds me of someone I met in Ottawa. When Sister and I arrived for brunch with the grandparents, one of their neighbours was out front. Her husband's from Montr�al and she's from Chicago. She said that the first time she'd gone to Montr�al from her home town, she'd dressed up a bit to show the bumpkin Canucks how an American steps out. Apparently, she felt like such a frump on the streets of Montr�al that she'd run into a shop to buy another outfit. I guess she'd never read the statistic that Montr�alers spend a higher percentage of their paycheques on clothes than anyont else in North America. Stupid Idea, really. We don't tend to make that much :-) 'So,' quoth she,'Do the people there still dress like they've just stepped outta a Vogue magazine?' I looked down at my Mexx tee-shirt, Mexx sweater, Mexx Pants and Ecco shoes and said '...no...?' |
older
shite One last little note... - 09.21.2006 de-stressing, biking and terrorism - 06.06.2006 Mildly stressed... - 05.29.2006 More crime stupidity - 05.28.2006 Scary stuff - 05.25.2006
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