July 23, 2009

We left Toronto for PEI shortly after 06:00.  We picked up Moira in Kingston.

It was raining fierce in much of the Ontario stretch, but it got clearer and warmer in Quebec.  We had lunch at Burger King in St. Hyacinthe.

We've started listening to an audio CD of Marilynne Robinson's novel Gilead, which is quite remarkable.  And we heard Imperial Ambitions, a CD of interviews with Noam Chomsky. (We also listened to CDs of Gershwin, Verdi choruses and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas.  I've brought along several that I bought in recent years but didn't get around to listening to.)

We drove around the clock and made it to Edmundston! (How does Father do it?) We had dinner at Pizza Delight--I had the spaghetti supreme--and stayed at the Ritz Motel, which exists mostly for the ski trade and has a Googie-style sign!

July 22, 2009

"Any more questions, Steed, and I'll throw you out!"

"You wish you could throw me out."

--The Avengers

Groundskeeper Willie (burying a classroom gerbil in the school basement): "You're getting a better burial than my father ever got!  My father got tossed in the bog!"--The Simpsons

Besides packing for our trip, I tried to finish up with my new comics.  But the Li'l Abner strips were too many to finish reading.

They're tearing up the sidewalks all along St. Clair Avenue near our house.

Dinner was KFC.

The internet's been off all day!

Viewed two DVD episodes each of The Avengers, Get Smart and The Simpsons. (In three days I've managed to finish off four DVDs!)

July 21, 2009

Dreamed of being about to see a really scary movie and feeling such dread that I wanted to get out.

Spent most of the day going through my new comics.

Dinner was the rest of the fettucine.

July 20, 2009

Skeptic: "Why should we take your word for it?"

Gary Cooper: "Take it or leave it."

--The Westerner

"Don't spill your drink, son.  It eats away the wood"--ibid.

Had my last singing lesson before our P.E.I. trip. (I just realized that "Widnung" is actually "Widmung"!)

Got six zip.ca DVDs in the mail!

Dinner was fettucine alfredo (which I cooked). Our last milk turned out to be sour.

Saw the DVD of William Wyler's The Westerner.  It had more humour than usual for the western genre.

July 19, 2009

We performed our mass at Holy Angels Church. (John George drove me there.) There was trouble with the organ, so we did the first part a capella!

Went to a Games Meetup at the Yellow Griffin, where I played Munchkin Booty. (I would have won if I'd sold some of my weapons.)

Dinner was roast chicken.

July 18, 2009

"We've got a lot of bricks, but we still don't have the whole building"--Mad Men

"This didn't happen.  You'll be shocked how completely this didn't happen!"--ibid.

Dreamed of acquiring a letter from British-controlled Asia during World War II showing oppressive conditions; making bannock oatcakes in Scotland; trying to impress a girl by showing her how I bake bread but using a popcorn machine that didn't even work.

For today's Games Meetup, we met at Dutch Dreams and had ice cream, then went to Craig's apartment on Wychwood Avenue and played Settlers of Catan.  I had a triumphant moment when I played a monopoly card and picked up everyone else's metal cards, of which there were a dozen! (You could hear the others groan...)

Dinner was McDonald's.

Baked raisin bread overnight.

July 17, 2009

"Is the plane still crashed?"--Mad Men

"Personally, I have no objections to Negroes.  But I'm worried about our car!"--ibid.

"Stop writing for other writers"--ibid.

Last night I went to another Settlers of Catan night at the Ryerson student centre.  In the game I was in two of the four players were new to it, and one quit in the middle even though he was in the lead!

Finally got serious about going through my new comic strips.  I've been reading Steve Roper and Kerry Drake.

Dinner was lasagna.

None of the DVDs zip.ca sent yesterday arrived today, so I went to the video store and rented a DVD of the first episodes of the second season of Mad Men.  We ended up seeing all three episodes in one night!  Still brilliant.