(no subject)
I HATE LIVING ALONE
Okay, I'm done.
I think. The last two weeks were basically packing, meandering through New York with my parents, eventually getting to Toronto, and then leaping headfirst into Frosh Week without really having a chance to move in.
By the way, Watkin's Glen is the most crazily awesome little state park ever. It involves this steep, narrow slate gorge with a river cutting through it, and a stone stair that winds up the twisting cliffs, under and over the waterfalls and whatnot. One of the most incredible sights I've ever seen, and we found it completely by accident, too. I have to go back and camp there sometime. It's right near Lake Seneca, which has lots of touristy things that involve screwing around on a lake and also more vineyards than your body has room for. So yeah. I have to keep that in mind for a future vacation. Though right now I'm listening to Great Big Sea and therefore can't think of anything other than 'Newfoundland Newfoundland Newfoundland I want to go to Newfoundland.'
Anyway, Frosh Week was... exhausting. I didn't have quite as much fun as last year, probably because of a) added stress due to being Cat's Eye Manager and partially responsible for all the tech needs, b) added pain, fatigue, and terrible moods due to womanly things (worst timing EVER, seriously), c) crappy weather compared to usual, and d) the not-completely-ideal levels of cooperation between the Exec, which was apparently obvious to all the Leaders but a little closer to home for me because most of them were good friends of mine. Also I felt like it didn't have quite the same atmosphere of being friends with everyone you met, at least among the Leaders. I'm not sure if this was because I was already settled in my group of friends, or because a lot of the Leaders were younger than me and more cliquey than usual, or both. I think it was both. I wasn't the only one who noticed it, at least, which is evidence against the first option. Oh well. At any rate, it's still Frosh Week, and it was therefore still amazing. Even if it did get me sick.
Maybe I have a lasting impression of amazingness because of the crowning moment of the week, for me. On the last day of Orientation Week, there's traditionally a parade where all the colleges of U of T march through the streets of Toronto, wearing their Frosh t-shirts in their college's colors and trying to drown out the other colleges with cheers. As well as other noise-making alternatives. I was always disappointed by the fact that Vic didn't have any huge oil drums or whatever like some of the other colleges. But this year, my friend Karol says to me, 'You know what I want to do? Get a snare drum, tie it around my neck, and play it during the parade.' And I said, 'That's funny, because there's a snare drum in the Cat's Eye. In fact, there are TWO snare drums in the Cat's Eye. And I have the keys to the Cat's Eye.' So we obtained snare drums, ripped up Frosh shirts to make harnesses for them going around our necks and waists, and bought drumsticks. (The Cat's Eye needed drumsticks anyway, so I can be reimbursed! Yay! Assuming I can find the receipt. Fuck.)
The funny part about all this is that neither of us knows how to drum. Karol at least has some musical training. I have none. But we kinda figured out a marching beat, and walked into the quad playing it, and everyone's jaws dropped and they started cheering. It was so epic. And the parade was amazing, my best Frosh Week parade experience by far. Even though I lost my shoes right at the beginning, and had to march through streets of Toronto barefoot. The drums really helped encourage people to cheer and keep up the beat and the energy, and I got the frosh involved too, handing them the sticks and letting them play for a little while. And by the end of the parade, I swear I'd actually gotten slightly competent at playing a snare. Sort of. It was really a trial by fire.
In retrospect, I can't believe I did that. Even in the relatively uninhibited atmosphere of Frosh Week. No matter how outgoing I might be during Frosh, something I've never been able to stand is doing something I'm not very good at in front of other people. I just can't do it. I never show anyone my art, I only share some of my writing on lj, I hate playing video games with people, and I would never try to play the bass in front of anyone. (Except my dad, apparently. He gave me a couple lessons over the summer, and I felt surprisingly comfortable with it.) And here I was, doing something I'd never done before, where literally hundreds of people could hear every single mistake I made. And I was only slightly bothered by this, not enough to get in the way of my fun. The only bad part was when we were near the Music Faculty frosh and I was embarrassed by the fact that they could surely tell I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. Anyway, yeah. It was fucking awesome, definitely my favorite part of Frosh Week.
Aaaand right now is just me being swamped with school, Cat's Eye stuff, and trying to actually move in. All my stuff is still in boxes, I don't have any furniture, I don't have time to really put my room together, it's basically a nightmare. But oh well. The weather's great right now, my classes seem pretty interesting and for once they're all super small (except the stupid second-year course I need to take to finish my new Specialist), I got to see Kathy!!!, and life goes on for some reason. But I really don't like living alone. I really, really, really don't like living alone.
Okay, I'm done.
I think. The last two weeks were basically packing, meandering through New York with my parents, eventually getting to Toronto, and then leaping headfirst into Frosh Week without really having a chance to move in.
By the way, Watkin's Glen is the most crazily awesome little state park ever. It involves this steep, narrow slate gorge with a river cutting through it, and a stone stair that winds up the twisting cliffs, under and over the waterfalls and whatnot. One of the most incredible sights I've ever seen, and we found it completely by accident, too. I have to go back and camp there sometime. It's right near Lake Seneca, which has lots of touristy things that involve screwing around on a lake and also more vineyards than your body has room for. So yeah. I have to keep that in mind for a future vacation. Though right now I'm listening to Great Big Sea and therefore can't think of anything other than 'Newfoundland Newfoundland Newfoundland I want to go to Newfoundland.'
Anyway, Frosh Week was... exhausting. I didn't have quite as much fun as last year, probably because of a) added stress due to being Cat's Eye Manager and partially responsible for all the tech needs, b) added pain, fatigue, and terrible moods due to womanly things (worst timing EVER, seriously), c) crappy weather compared to usual, and d) the not-completely-ideal levels of cooperation between the Exec, which was apparently obvious to all the Leaders but a little closer to home for me because most of them were good friends of mine. Also I felt like it didn't have quite the same atmosphere of being friends with everyone you met, at least among the Leaders. I'm not sure if this was because I was already settled in my group of friends, or because a lot of the Leaders were younger than me and more cliquey than usual, or both. I think it was both. I wasn't the only one who noticed it, at least, which is evidence against the first option. Oh well. At any rate, it's still Frosh Week, and it was therefore still amazing. Even if it did get me sick.
Maybe I have a lasting impression of amazingness because of the crowning moment of the week, for me. On the last day of Orientation Week, there's traditionally a parade where all the colleges of U of T march through the streets of Toronto, wearing their Frosh t-shirts in their college's colors and trying to drown out the other colleges with cheers. As well as other noise-making alternatives. I was always disappointed by the fact that Vic didn't have any huge oil drums or whatever like some of the other colleges. But this year, my friend Karol says to me, 'You know what I want to do? Get a snare drum, tie it around my neck, and play it during the parade.' And I said, 'That's funny, because there's a snare drum in the Cat's Eye. In fact, there are TWO snare drums in the Cat's Eye. And I have the keys to the Cat's Eye.' So we obtained snare drums, ripped up Frosh shirts to make harnesses for them going around our necks and waists, and bought drumsticks. (The Cat's Eye needed drumsticks anyway, so I can be reimbursed! Yay! Assuming I can find the receipt. Fuck.)
The funny part about all this is that neither of us knows how to drum. Karol at least has some musical training. I have none. But we kinda figured out a marching beat, and walked into the quad playing it, and everyone's jaws dropped and they started cheering. It was so epic. And the parade was amazing, my best Frosh Week parade experience by far. Even though I lost my shoes right at the beginning, and had to march through streets of Toronto barefoot. The drums really helped encourage people to cheer and keep up the beat and the energy, and I got the frosh involved too, handing them the sticks and letting them play for a little while. And by the end of the parade, I swear I'd actually gotten slightly competent at playing a snare. Sort of. It was really a trial by fire.
In retrospect, I can't believe I did that. Even in the relatively uninhibited atmosphere of Frosh Week. No matter how outgoing I might be during Frosh, something I've never been able to stand is doing something I'm not very good at in front of other people. I just can't do it. I never show anyone my art, I only share some of my writing on lj, I hate playing video games with people, and I would never try to play the bass in front of anyone. (Except my dad, apparently. He gave me a couple lessons over the summer, and I felt surprisingly comfortable with it.) And here I was, doing something I'd never done before, where literally hundreds of people could hear every single mistake I made. And I was only slightly bothered by this, not enough to get in the way of my fun. The only bad part was when we were near the Music Faculty frosh and I was embarrassed by the fact that they could surely tell I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. Anyway, yeah. It was fucking awesome, definitely my favorite part of Frosh Week.
Aaaand right now is just me being swamped with school, Cat's Eye stuff, and trying to actually move in. All my stuff is still in boxes, I don't have any furniture, I don't have time to really put my room together, it's basically a nightmare. But oh well. The weather's great right now, my classes seem pretty interesting and for once they're all super small (except the stupid second-year course I need to take to finish my new Specialist), I got to see Kathy!!!, and life goes on for some reason. But I really don't like living alone. I really, really, really don't like living alone.