Homesick Snippet

the other day i was researching emotions for something that i'm working on. i was surprised yet reassured to see homesickness listed along with happiness, sadness, and the other usual suspects.

tonight i'm feeling homesick. not because i'm in vancouver. but because i just saw two, old neighbours who lived three houses away from me in toronto. i'm homesick for my house, what it once meant. for having roots that i mistakenly thought would only get deeper. for what was.

Persepolis Snippet

the persepolis perfect word: powerful. (thanks isabelle.) what a wonderful, tight, emotional, bold movie. how inspiring that the main character, who's so compelling, can also tell and draw her story. a must-see.

Bar Snippet

switching venues. from a grand, red booth to a dollar-bill-encrusted bar, which held even campari and bourbon alongside cup of noodles. then massive, majestic, yet ripped lantern above cough-syrup-coloured shots in thick, retro glasses. burns my throat before the chinese-plum leftover. friends talk. laugh. billie jean belts out from the garage-sale jukebox.

Cab Snippet

pastel georgian gingerbreads swap outside bleary windows as cab wheels fly down steep streets. soundtracked by the driver’s greatest, flutist (huh?!) hits.

Smell Snippet

when i finally got to san fran and stepped outside the airport terminal, i was struck by the smell of grass, of trees, of buds, of…growth. it was nature’s body odour, all verdant. now i want spring even more.

Orange Alert

So I'm in the Cleveland airport with time on my hands....

I've been informed every 15 minutes for the last two hours that good ole Homeland Security has increased the security level to orange. Yes, orange is where it's at. No reason as to why. Why bother with details? Trivialities. They seem essential to me.

It strikes me that we travellers aren't that far off from the poor dogs in the cages which would get occasional electric shocks, without any way to control them. Perhaps that's a tad severe of a comparison. Inevitably though, both situations are meant to cause anxiety and helplessness. It all reminds me of the great summary of what is wrong with American government by the British minister in Moore's "Sicko".

Delayed

It's official. This is my year of travel hell. Maybe it's fitting I'm at the same gate that began my 24-hour adventure to Amsterdam last summer. Now I'm waiting to fly from Toronto to San Francisco. But--the catch--I have to go to Cleveland, then Houston, and then San Francisco because of yesterday's snow and March-break overbooking.

Now I don't even feel stressed when I hear of the delays. Take today. I'm going to arrive nine hours after I was supposed to. I see it as stasis. I get to blog. I'll read. And maybe, hopefully, on one of my three flights (Many to choose from!) I'll catch up on some much-needed sleep. I fear my body is getting used to functioning on four or five hours a night after my latest batch of insomnia. More on that in another post.

Everyone around me seems to be in the same good mental place. I'm getting knitting tips from a woman who also is waiting for the Cleveland flight. Actually, I'm listening in on the lesson that she is giving this adorable girl, who's family is going to miss their cruise because of all of the delays. The cruise-family's mom and I are chatting. Oops, I'm posing as a bit of a knitting distraction. The girl can't believe how quickly I type: "Wow, three lines in five seconds." (Ha, I wish.) My laptop is intriguing. My hair too, supposedly. I just learned she has 27 Webkinz. I think I may get asked to visit the site soon. ;)

Subway-Smile Snippet

a heartfelt smile under brilliant eyes in a latte face, framed by st.-george-station green. kindness. generosity. he turned away.