I AM THE MOST WONDERFUL THING IN ALL CREATION FOR I HAVE TRIUMPHED OVER U OF T! Specifically, I just got back my physics midterm, on which I got 74%. Uh-huh. Not only did I get what we in the profession call a "B," I also surpassed the class average by 6%.

And now that that is out of the way...
The election is on, baby.

And only two days into the campaign, there is already scandal in my riding, Etobicoke-Lakeshore. Jean Augustine, Liberal MP who has held the riding since 1993 has stepped down. In her place the Grits are running, get this, Michael Ignatieff. Ignatieff is an interesting character, descendant of Russian aristocracy, attended Upper Canada College and Trinity College at U of T. He has taught at Cambridge and Harvard. In his youth, he spent several years in Belgrade, which shaped his unorthodox views of Jugoslav politics. He has argued in favour of the war in Iraq, "Star Wars" and certain forms of torture. On the other hand, the is a renowned scholar who writes on human rights.
Shockingly, there is a Wikipedia article on him, highly up-to-date, from which I got most of this information.
The thing about Ignatieff is that he seems to me like a one-man secret society: You hear his name whispered around, but don't really know who he is or what he is about. To be fair, this is mostly because he has spent the last thirty years abroad, which is more than my entire lifetime - what could I possibly know about him? But there is something strangely mysterious and suspicious about him. Maybe once I see him speak I'll reconsider... Which may be very easily achieved, since he'll become a professor at U of T in January.

The Etobicoke-Lakeshore controversy is that Ignatieff made some unpopular comments about Ukrainian nationalism in 1993. Etobicoke-Lakeshore has a large Ukrainian population. There have already been protests against his candidacy. Furthermore, Marc Shwec, president of the Toronto branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress is trying to run as a Liberal, and the Grits are trying to prevent this from happening, saying he is not a member of the party.
You can read about this on page 8 of today's Metro.

Oh, and lest Canadian politics get too boring for you, Harper wants to un-do gay marriage is he becomes Prime Minister. That's on page 6 of the Matro.

A few moments ago I was overwhelmed by sadness. I realized that I don't exist anymore: I am a memory.
And while it may be that we are the sum of our past, it doesn't change the fact that it is past. All that remains is a fossil, white and dead.
I apologize for the vagueness, but I needed to take that thought out of my body.

Anyway...

Yesterday I saw Everything is Illuminated with Catalina. It was an awesome movie about an American looking for his Jewish family history in the Ukraine. It is touching and hilarious and thoughtful and features many delightful Eastern-Europeanisms, in which I delight.
Come to think of it, I've seen a lot of really great movies in the past few weeks: Water, Hotel Rwanda, Jarhead and now this.

Speaking of the media, only one more week until Rosenrot comes out. ::: Relief :::

On the subway ride down to the theatre yesterday, Catalina and I were talking about languages and I compared something to German. Suddenly I hear a voice say "You speak German?" I turned to find a small Indonesian guy, who went on to ask me various things abut my linguistic prowess. It was quickly discovered that we are both Rammstein fans, and we had a nice little talk for about two subway stops.

During this conversation we discussed classical versus modern music. I said that I don't really care for classical simply I find it harder to get harder to get really familiar with the music. I like knowing a song inside and out, and being able to anticipate every note.
Which got me to thinking: Is that a general statement about me? Do I prefer the tried-tested-and-true over something new? Specifically, I am thinking about people.
To answer me own question, I think it is "yes." I like to have a few good people around me, people whom I know inside and out. I like to be able to anticipate how they will behave. I believe that in life there is more than enough trauma and distress, and the last thing we need is to find yet more when we come home.