I fired up my old desktop computer yesterday after not having turned it on for about a year to see if I could salvage anything from it - journals, songs, a drawing of the tattoo I want. It's pretty much a lost cause, and I'm willing to accept it after finding a CD I'd burned that contained the journals I wanted to keep, stuff from a website I had running from July 2000 until January 2002, which covered my last days in Oshawa and my first days in Ottawa. I'm so glad I have them back. I think there's a month's worth of entries missing, but from what I remember I had lost those some time before my computer blew up.

Moving is always a liberating experience, moving into your own place even more so. There's a unique pleasure that comes along with putting everything exactly where you want it, clearing floor space bit by bit as the things you take out of boxes find a home. I had been thinking about investigating that computer for over a year, one of those "I'll get around to it after the move" things. Now I have, and now I can abandon the thought and move on. I'm not simply clearing out one space and setting up in the next; I'm clearing out my mind of useless junk that's been hanging out for too long and opening it for something new.

I started reading Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and forgot how hard he is to understand. I haven't read a Faulkner novel since first year University. He's a modernist who loves to write in the moment, and clarity only comes when one lets the words relate with each other. He writes about people and events without writing about them directly, only offering revelations by inference, indicating trauma and tragedy through the repetition of seemingly insignificant details. It's haunting stuff. Joe recommended I check Faulkner out in order to get a better idea of how to write multiple perspectives, and I'm beginning to see what he means. I sat down a couple days ago and wrote 1200 words on an exercise from Writing Fiction: write about an extraordinary event by describing it in great detail. Another beginning to a story I at least now have the opportunity to finish.

Lots to do today.

The long weekend is here, aside from the people who have to work, of whom I wish I were one. I hope I get to see folks this weekend. I could probably stand to be a little more proactive in that department. I feel as though I'm still getting settled in to a certain extent, still getting used to Andrea's schedule, starting to plan out what I want and have to do over the summer. It's a bit difficult when a few things are still in limbo, but I need to start making some plans. Priority number one: sex. Having it often and well.

I moved more of my CD's onto Lacie yesterday, including most of my Nirvana material. Andrea came over and we made dinner - penne pasta with vegetarian bolognese sauce and ground round. We watched Office Space, which I hadn't seen in forever and still found hilarious. There are certain movies I've seen so many times that I don't think I'd immediately benefit from another viewing, but sometimes they surprise you.

The hangover has passed. Andrea came over last night and we watched Contact. This morning we got up and went to her place for a delicious lunch before her class.

I finally have the iMac I wanted. Last night my brother said he wouldn't have the computer shipped to my place until I sent him a cheque and it cleared in his account. It was kind of a dickhead move on his part, some bullshit ego thing that allows him to exert authority. I wouldn't have minded so much if he hadn't stated it from the beginning. He KNEW I wanted the computer as soon as possible. I kept bugging him about it. But fuck him. I paid the extra $160 and I have it today.

The monitor is huge. It's almost TOO big. I'm looking up at it like the monolith in 2001. I love new toys. We'll see what this baby can do.

It looks like I won't be starting the job until closer to the end of the month, until my security clearance takes effect and the Senate is back in session. I should take the opportunity to get started on some web work I've been intending to do.

Last night Andrea engaged in a 15 minute conversation with the 97 driver on our way back to my place about being a bus driver, London vs. Ottawa, and competitive salaries. She asked him what his name was so that she could submit positive comments about him to OC Transpo and he gave his identification number. My girl.

I have a few semi-leads on the job front. A placement agency called Randstad gave me a call after I submitted my resume to a position advertised on Monster. At this point I'd like to avoid a placement agency if I can get an in somewhere else. I'll give it a few days.

On the computer front, my brother got back to me with a quote on an iMac and it sounds as though he can save me a couple hundred dollars. Hopefully he'll get back to me with a final price soon so that I know it's been shipped. I'm the kind of person who likes to get things done immediately. "Patience is a virtue" used to be a mantra of mine but the Internet and wireless communication in general has pretty much obliterated patience as a character trait.