07/15/05

For a day off, today still wound up being busy. I had to go to the office to pick up my pay cheque. (We still operate in the Stone Age.) Then I had to tear off to Yuks to pick up another cheque, then off to the bank.

To get from one destination to another, I decided the train was the best option. Weird things happen to me on the train. I try to keep to myself… I really do. I don’t care for idle conversation. I like to read, or get lost in my thoughts, but somehow, there is always some freak that I accidentally make eye contact with. Apparently I haven’t mastered that glazed over look that most people have on the train. Without fail, I seem to manage to attract people who want to spread the “word” or are so mentally gone that they wish to explain the merits of Scooby Doo’s “acting” abilities. (True story… but for another time.)

Today was no exception. There was a pagan (ish) woman with a hair lip, who had managed to slather (I wish this was an exaggeration…) herself with “Mott’s Clamato” rub on tattoos. She had just left the Stampede grounds and was carrying a couple of brooms. (Irony see… life is truly filled with irony…) She wanted to chat. I wanted to read. I had just put my nose into my book (Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “The First Circle”) when she tapped me on the shoulder. (I hate… and I mean hate to be touched by complete strangers…)

Rather than attempting a conversation, I just looked at her and furled my brow. I have found over the years that there are few things as dismissive as an arched eyebrow. This however, was not a deterrent for her.

Pagan Woman: It sure is hot…

Me: (Eyebrow still arched…) um yeah…

Pagan Woman: Is that a good book?

Me: I dunno… I just started trying to READ it…

Pagan Woman: Alexander Sol… (From this point the attempt at pronunciation became painful.)

Me: Solzhenitsyn…

Pagan Woman: Never heard of him… What kind of name is that? (Because of the hair lip, you couldn’t see her lips move… It was like looking a ventriloquist without the dummy.)

Me: Russian…

Pagan Woman: What’s it about?

Me: Well that’s what I’d like to find out… So… (And I put my nose back into the book.)

Now you’d think after that, the conversation would be over… Right? Wrong!!!

Pagan Woman: So you have no idea what it’s about?

Me: Look… I just want to read my book.

Pagan Woman: oh… It sure is hot… (I just ignored her from this point on.)

Then happily she got up, (Brooms and all) and moved to a different seat.

Later on, once I finally finished my errands, I went to the Chinook Mall to fart around for a while.

I poked around in the record store; I was waiting for Erin, Maya, and Michelle to show up. We decided to go to the movies. Tonight was the opening for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” I really wanted to see it, because as a child, it was one of my favorite books. When we lived in Montreal, my dad used to read it to my sister and me. He must have read it to us 10 times. But for as much as I wanted to see it, Erin went loopy for it. I was pretty sure that she might have exploded at one point. I loved hearing her giggle throughout the Oompa Loompa scenes.

Anyway, it was really good. I thought Tim Burton managed to make it look like I had always imagined it to be. Johnny Depp made Willy Wonka fantastically quirky and awkward.

After the movie, we headed off to the bookstore so Erin and Michelle could get their copies of the new Harry Potter book. The place was packed to the gills with kids. Chapters had turned the whole thing into an event. There was face painting, and a treasure hunt. There were “stations” strategically located around the store, where the kids got read different parts of previous books. It was total madness. You couldn’t help but crash into kids. It was reminiscent of trying to navigate “Superstore” on a Saturday afternoon.

While I’m not the most patient person in the world, I managed to remain remarkably restrained. I just tried to keep to the sections that held my interest.

I found a neat book about Russia. It’s called Broken Empire. It’s about the socioeconomic changes since the collapse of communism. I think I’m going to enjoy reading it.

Anyway… It’s bedtime for me.