My heart literally stopped when I read this

Engagement

Whaaaaaaaaaaat???

Life in Large Format

Walking home in a fur coat
I pass homeless men
Hop puddles in worn down shoes
without
arch support

SPLASH

Into a puddle
Causes panoply of thoughts, unpleasant

Perturbed am I by soaking sneaker
frostbitten toe, frozen

naked

Along the way I've met my man
he helps.

We hobble up Shaw street
Korean grocery bag on one arm

We shiver while we pass
Big screen televisions
Corner store DVDs and
One thousand Christmas lights

Sunday

One more email and
It's one more Prize for Poetry.

Cash prize-deadline,
Can-you-string-those
Words together?

And I'll send it in with a full name
He doesn't go by.

Then we wait by the window for news
or a
Bird

Something about fear of death by carbon monoxide poisoning.

In my dream, in the old house, she is pacing by the window, hysterical. Each passing car she points out. Each passenger, each driver, another one who doesn't love her. I scream at her "forget it!"

I storm out. She falls apart.

From the Daily Show re: C-A-N-A-D-A

Reporting from today's Globe and Mail:

He spoke of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's move to suspend Parliament rather than face a non-confidence vote that could topple his government.

“Force him from office? You can do that?” Stewart half-whispered to the camera. “Because we've had no confidence in our guy for quite some time now. And he's taking forever to leave.”

Stewart then showed video footage of a protester yelling, “what are you afraid of, sir?” at Harper. An incredulous Stewart mocked, “Sir? You're heckling him, it's not a job interview! Do you Canadians save all your obnoxious-ness for hockey games?”

Stewart also noted that Canada's chief export “is jokes that they are the butt of.”

Swallow, swallow, swallow, sweet honey.

Bitterness is bad for the belly.

Readers Read in Bookstore Corners

Runaway
Watership Down
Lo-Li-Ta

A Quote from Elaine

"The goals that we pursue are always veiled. A girl who longs for marriage longs for something she knows nothing about. The boy who hankers after fame has no idea what fame is. The thing that gives our every move it's meaning is always totally unknown to us." - Milan Kundera

Dreamers dream

Growing up is hard to do.

It's dark outside. It's dark too much now.

C-c-c-currently Reading

The World According to Garp-

I sat down on the breakfast table and found this book lying with it's spine up open to a page about halfway through. I picked it up and looked at it, (with a tiny bit of distaste, because it's in what I'd call a "junk paperback" edition.) But then I started reading it too, from the first page. I snowballed through the first ten pages and I was a little bit hooked. I'm enjoying the world of T.S. Garp.

ALSOOOO

Runaway, by Alice Munro

I bought this in the winter time, and never opened it. Something wrong with the scroll font of the title and the antiquated illo on the cover. But months later I discovered a love of Alice Munro and have been working my way a bit feverishly through her canon.

Reading her I find, is like being told stories about relatives who died before you were born and only being able to see one or two pictures of them in stiff dress clothes as a way of proving they were really human. Maybe that doesn't make any sense.

I find there is often more details that I wish I could have about each character and their story. And that I'm haunted by their stories; usually sad ones when I'm lying in bed with my eyes closed.

I'm about three stories in.

Mysteries of Pittsburgh

I've been reading quite a bit of novels recently, bits and pieces. And a book on Human Rights in China.

The above-above named book, which has become a movie with some yucky and some nice thespians.

Also, Disgrace, which apparently is a film now as well and was at TIFF in September.

Beijing Coma I am working through slowly, but it's a bit painful in the way that it's being dragged out. And I've watched real life footage of the climax now on the BBC.

It's Oct. 31 and very spring-like outside.

Tonight there will be smoked meat, pumpkin deserts and Scottish ale.

yum,yum

Who do you think you are?

Rose spends her entire adult life trying to run from her small town upbringing, and trying to invent herself as an artistic, "cool", middle class woman. She tries out several different lifestyles and styles of morality, but seemingly always to her own detriment, ultimately creating her own unhappiness. Her constant sadness and self-doubt rings very true, and is devastating at times to read. It ends sadly, but is beautifully written. A very nice Munro.