Light Enough To Travel

The following video is for Becca, as she prepares to head off into a new job and new city. Congrats, my dear friend. I'm very happy for you!

Geoff Berner and Carolyn Mark

(Insert my token grouchiness about Blogger, here. Sorry for the link!)

Wanna Work In Saskatchewan?

We're hiring (another!) new librarian at SIAST.

If you're interested, or know someone who might be, here's a link to the job posting:

Awesome Job

Applications are due May 18th.

The much talked of potato chips in a box

It's no myth, people. They sell potato chips in boxes here. Now, don't misunderstand me - these chips are not free floating in the cardboard - rather, they are held within two bags inside of the box.

Of course, I had to document this minor oddity so that you could also be dazzled. (See my obvious delight in the photo above)

On Sunday, I made a return to O'Hanlon's Pub to meet up with Trudi, a fellow library school grad from Western. She's now working at Regina Public Library as a Reference/Collections Librarian. We had a lovely evening catching up on lots of news and sharing notes on our experiences here in Saskatchewan so far. Strangely, the potato chip issue did not come up.

Night out

Well, my social life is off to somewhat of a slow start here in the west, but I did manage to get out tonight and see some of the hotspots Regina has to offer.

We celebrated Betty's birthday at the Cathedral Free House with her daughter Cathy, myself, Cathy's son Sean, his girlfriend and a couple of their friends. Betty and Cathy are the kind people I'm staying with until May 7th when I get my apartment.

(Betty, Sean, Cathy)

I had the bison burger, which I've been told is one of the best in the city. As I'd never had bison meat before, it was hard to know what to compare it to. Regardless, I found it quite tasty.

After some time there, I went out with Sean and his girlfriend Tammy to a place called O'Hanlon's. Basically a pub with a bunch of neat nooks and crannies throughout. Good conversation and beer there, followed by an impromptu stop at the Regina Casino.

Next week I will be attending some sort of metal concert at a place called The Distrikt. Could be interesting. I've also been invited to go for a daytrip to Alberta sometime in the near future.

Yes, I know there are no photos of me here, but I'm sure you all realize who the photographer was. And Saskatchewan hasn't really changed my look, so no big news on that front.

Elect Taft: Inside Joke Alert

This one's for Meg and Shan, as a tribute to one of our long ago half-psychotic study sessions for Jarvis' American History exam.

http://www.apneos.com/taft_intro.html

"A lesser man might have surrendered, but with an unwavering sense of duty Taft persevered, accomplishing much during his administration."

At this time last year, I was at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and saw the dorm where President Taft lived as a student. It was quite impressive.

On another Yale-related note (there seem to be a lot of those lately), I recently learned that one of my distant relatives was a long-ago member of the Skull & Bones around the time of the Civil War. How cool/ridiculous is that?!

Sustainabilty on the Prairies?

Just in time for Earth Day, last night I attended a lecture at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, all about environmental sustainability and if it's really possible. The speaker was Dr. Bill Rees, from the University of British Columbia who is also one of the founder's of the Ecological Footprint. I have to admit that I didn't know too much (re: anything) about his work, but I was pretty desperate to get out of the house as well as to check out the museum. They opened the galleries after the talk, so I was able to wander through the exhibits. One of my favourite books as a kid was about two children who accidentally get locked inside a museum overnight, so I was kind of excited to be there after hours. Geeky but true!

Dr. Rees talked a lot about the idea of myth, and the ways we create and gather around myths in ways that support our decision making as a culture. For example, when our myth making surrounds industrial production and the "American Dream", our ideas of sustainability will continue to be directed toward maintaining that myth...ex. etheanol fuel as a "sustainable" option to keep our SUVs on the road. His argument (or hypotheses in science-speak!) was that until our cultural myths change, our reactions to scientifically proven crisis will not. I've done lots of reading about myth so I was really intrigued by the way as a scientist he mixes science with culture. Of course there was a lot more to his talk, but I'm providing you with the Coles Notes version!

One of Saskatchewan's Crown Corporations, SaskTel, is sponsoring Al Gore to speak this coming week in Regina, and I can't help but think it would be much more helpful for people to listen to Dr. Rees, rather than the more sexy side of climate change that Mr. Gore presents. Not that Dr. Rees' talk wasn't sexy. Um, anyway...that wasn't the point.

Happy Earth Day!

Animated Bayeux Tapestry

Got the head's up on this from the author of one of my favourite blogs, Got Medieval? He's a Ph.D. candidate at Yale and always has enlightening and entertaining things to say about Medieval history and language.


Someone, bless their heart, has animated the Bayeux Tapestry, which tells the story of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. You can see it on YouTube (but of course).

The animation in this is awesome; the horses trot, the castle is built, the arrows fling, King Harold keels over. Make sure to keep an ear open to the entertaining sound effects that accompany all of these events. All in all, quite a bit of fun!

"It's A Dry Cold"

You know the saying popular amongst our Western Canadian friends, "It's a dry cold?". I've come to realize over the last two weeks that they really aren't just talking about this province in its cold state, but also it's warm, rainy, snowy, and hot states. Saskatchewan is dry!!! How do I know? Because I've been applying copious amounts of moisturizer to my body morning, noon, and night and I am still a blotchy mess all over. This may have been a bit more information than you cared to know, but when people ask me what I notice to be the biggest difference from home, it has to be the dry air.

Other than that, Saskatchewan is starting to get under my skin in the best possible way. The job is going really well; lots of variety and the opportunity to be constantly learning, even when that "honeymoon" period of the new job comes to an end. What I love about the students so far is that they all have a real purpose for being there and it seems to impact the way they learn and the enthusiasm they have, even as the school year draws to a close and exhaustion sets in. This week I was able to do a lot of reference work, as well as design a session for faculty and staff about doing "advanced searching" in Google.

Today I'm headed out to the much-talked about East-End of Regina, where all of the outlet malls and bigbox stores are. I know my little heart should be shuddering, but something tells me it will remind me of Ontario and I'll feel at home!! I bought a bed and a killer red couch last week for my new apartment, so today I'm hoping to find a few other things, given that yesterday was my first paycheque since August!

I've also connected with some Regina Roughriders season ticket-holders. Do you think CFL fever will get me in its grips while I'm out here?! First I may have to take their Football 101 course!

A week on the prairies!

What a whirlwind this week has been. After a full week on the prairies, I've finally had time to catch my breath and update you all on the latest series of adventures. I arrived in Regina last Thursday night and spend two fairly nice nights at the Ramada Hotel. Ventured out on Friday morning on foot to explore Regina's downtown and found it fairly impressive. I had originally thought that I might enjoy living downtown due to its proximity to buses, etc. but then discovered I really am not a "downtown" kind of girl...I want to be that hip person who hops around in cool clothing with a sassy Mary Tyler Moore type of attitude, but I'm a bit too jittery.

I returned to the hotel on Friday to find Jason, who I went to library school with, in the lobby! He had to be downtown for a meeting so then swung by the hotel, and kindly took me on a tour around the city. It was so great to see a friendly face belonging to someone I knew, and the tour also helped me put the city into perspective because no matter how many maps you look at, it's never the same as actually getting out and exploring. We then had lunch at an awesome brewery/restaurant called Bushwackers.

I am now staying with a lady who works at SIAST, Cathy, and her adorable mom, Betty. They are lovely people and have taken such good care of me! It has been really nice to have a bit of home here, including meals:) The transition has absolutely been made easier by their company. Last night we went to the Golden Mile mall to watch The Queen at the cheap movie theatre. (Jordan, your recommendation was solid: I really enjoyed the movie!) I've been a bit homesick but nothing too horrible. I'm finding the time change (2 hours behind EST) a bit confusing in terms of making phone calls home and also going to bed at night, but I expect my body will re-adjust within the next week-or-so.

I've found an apartment to stay in as of May 4th. It is at the corner of Albert Street and College Avenue. To situate you, I am kiddie-corner to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, on the main bus line which I can take to SIAST each day, and apparently the neighbourhood is considered the "yuppie" part of town. My apartment is on the 9th floor, facing south, with an absolutely gorgeous view of Wascana Park and the Legislature Building. I can't wait til I can post you photos of the view. I'll be staying with Cathy and Betty until I can move in, which actually works out well because I'll have a couple of pay cheques by then. That way I'll be able to buy a bed!

Work has been going really well, one week in. I have an office! I've also inherited a PDA! My job is going to be a great mix of teaching, collections, reference, and liaising with faculty. I haven't had too much interaction with the students as of yet, but from what I've seen they are pretty fantastic. A real range of programs are at SIAST, including; nursing, graphic arts, apprenticeships in autobody, construction, and manufacturing, basic ed., ESL, etc. etc. I'll be attending the Saskatchewan Library Association conference at the beginning of May.

I have today (Friday) and Monday off for Easter, but I'll be working on Saturday. The library should be pretty quiet, so I'll have a chance to get caught up on reading and hang out in the stacks. I'm also going to meet up with Trudi, who is here working at Regina Public Library. How cool is that?! I'll leave it at that, but wanted to let you all know I was alive and kicking. I'm on a borrowed computer, but I'll try to check in more regularly.