It's Kinda Like Waking Up...Or Rather, Finally Being Able To Sleep...

It's done. I got through my first term in grad school and submitted my applications to Concordia - one to the Interdisciplinary Humanities PhD in Society and Culture, and one to the Communications PhD.

Three reference letters (x2), two official transcripts (x2), two long application forms, proof of citizenship, 500 word statement of purpose, and over 20 pages of proposed research...

Olivier and I drove to Montreal yesterday to drop of the application by 7pm at the student services office. I finished the 1o pages of compiled writing samples in the car, and I had to find a copy place to print it off before I submitted it.

I was horribly nauseous in the car the whole way there - I hadn't eaten yet, after all.

We stopped at a Tim Horton's/Esso, and I swear it's never taken so long to get a couple of bagels, a coffee and a tea. The lady was way too relaxed, her lackadaisical manner was like a personal affront ...I developed a bit of a facial tick watching her fiddle around with the coffee lids and take her sweet ass time spreading the cream cheese just so...

On the congested highway to Montreal, we were in the only lane that was at a standstill.

We got to downtown Montreal at 6:30.

By 6:45, I was at the student services office with my cherished applications, quadruple checked before sealing the envelopes, and handing them over to the guy. I asked if there was anything in particular I should write on the envelopes: "grad studies, just so we know what pile to throw them in." Ok then.

And that was that. No fireworks, no balloon-drop, no gong to bang on the way out.
I hate the anti-climactic-ness of this process. Nonetheless, I began to smile involuntarily as we walked down the icy sidewalk. And that was pretty cool.

We passed by all kinds of places I remembered from visiting Sarah there in the summer of 2007, and it was cool to have a sense of familiarity with the city I hope to live in for at least the next 5 years of my life...

So now, I can watch HGTV (Oli has cable!) without the crushing guilt of shirking responsibilities; I can take longer-than-absolutely-necessary baths (Oli has a bathtub!); I can make an actual meal instead of just assembling ingredients, and maybe even use the stove or oven instead of the microwave; and above all, I can sleep as long as I damn well please.
Sweeeet.

Now that I've resurfaced, I'll be calling you back and answering your emails soon enough... after my nap.

I'm Finished! Oh, But Wait... There's More...

Winter! At least now I don't have to feel too bad about staying inside all day... reading and writing... all day...

But at least I get a pretty view - I call this "Winter Scene...With Cat (and counterforce security stickers)"


I am now officially finished the term. The three papers I wrote in the last two weeks:

- The Intersectionality of Diasporic Consciousness: Language and Symbolic Violence in Dionne Brand's "Dialectics"

- Fake News, Real Journalism: Political Satire and the Challenge to Mainstream News Media

- Rendering Horror: Visual Capture and the Anxieties of the Real in "The Ring"

The only thing I have left to do (yeah, it's not over yet) is finish the two proposals for my PhD application, write two statements of purpose and drop off my applications in Montreal on Monday- now that is going to be fun. Hello Montreal!

There have been fun times in the midst of all this insanity though - in place of the last class with Giroux, he invited us to his home for a party! We had a bunch of amazing snacks and drank 'grad student' wine (i.e. surprisingly cheap for how good it is).


Abigail (who makes wicked folksy-mellow music) and Amanda


Shekufeh, Katherine and Vinh


Jenny, Amanda's guy and Amanda

The intrepid Henry Giroux



And the group - not everyone could make it but we'll be getting together again next term, periodically, for an informal reading course on biopolitics, which is gonna be wicked!

For now, more work (so close!) but after Tuesday it's uber-relaxation time...