Live from Vancouver...

... and finally awake, c'est moi!

Here in my favourite city, the temperature is currently lower than it is at home. Seems I'm missing the best weather of the spring in Alberta. Sigh. But the sky is finally clearing here and I am watching the early evening sun from the east tower in the Gage residence. The prediction for tomorrow is not very good, but then again I'm supposed to be in sessions all day so it really shouldn't matter.

But I am very lonely! Would love to have e-mail from any of you -- or find me on Facebook. That's good too.

The room I'm staying is "modest" but not quite as spartan as the U of T residence I stayed in a couple of years ago. No tv (but there is tv in the common room if I want to watch something). No bathroom -- it's down the hall and better organized than the shower situation at St Mary's. (And fortunately, here's one place where my habit of waking up in the night will be valuable -- no need to fight for a shower if you take it at 4 in the morning!) Had no internet until about 6 pm local time -- sigh sigh sigh... -- but I have it now, finally!

I have my session book at last and am now planning my attendance for the next few days. There's a great plenary tomorrow with Severn Cullis-Suzuki that I'm hoping to attend (although it's at one of the more inaccessible locations on campus). There's also a breakfast talk on Monday with a young publisher and professor from SFU -- must try to get to that.

Today I had planned to get out and explore the city, but my body had other ideas. I worked for a few hours on my computer and then fell asleep for several hours. Oh well -- there will be time for sight-seeing, etc., tomorrow and next week.

Breakfast is included with our accommodation fees -- except not today. I hope there's something I can eat...

I hope you're well. See you on Wednesday!

L

Summer days

We're going to France! We're going to France!

That's right: our summer holiday involves a quick trip to France to drive a canal boat through Burgundy.

Then we're headed to Squamish for another week of climbing, hiking, jet-boating, and other miscellaneous fun.

Between now and then, I'm going to spend a week in Vancouver, a week in Banff, and a weekend in Montreal.

Pretty fab, huh? Think I'll go rest now and get ready. Summer begins in just a few days. I can hardly wait.

L

Now reading: Dr Delicious: Memoirs of a Life in CanLit by Robert Lecker; You Know Where to Find Me by Rachel Cohn; and The Female Thing: Dirt, Sex, Envy, Vulnerability by Laura Kipnis