http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin The 10 most recent public blogs by the_corbin Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:03:35 -0500 Aeonity Blog v2 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/63659 yup, i lost something. http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/63659 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/52 Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:53:44 -0500 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/63594 ive been living out of suitcases for so long i feel like ive lost several important items. because the house is upside down from painters and renovators, i am also predicting that these items - whatever they may end up being - probably wont be unearthed for a great many weeks after ive left. my next prediction is that at least a small number of aforementioned important but possibly lost items will, in fact, never turn up; having been left inside drawers of units removed from the house, or given away to workers for their own abodes. my final prediction is that i will spend at least a few hours feeling physical anger and frustration toward myself once i register that these items might possibly never find their way to me, largely due to my own inability to keep things in order. i will most likely smack my own forehead with the palm of my hand a number of times. its a wonder ive gotten this far in life with about as much organisational skill as danny bonaduce in the partridge family. it often seems otherwise, but im pretty sure most of the time im faking it. http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/63594 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/51 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:58:45 -0500 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/63354 this weekend while running up brunswick avenue in toronto, i fell into a hole of wet concrete up to my thighs. i stood in place and screamed loudly. afterward i crawled out and walked about four steps before falling into the next hole of wet concrete, up to my thighs. then an anvil fell on my head. this actually happened, at least, everything but the anvil. http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/63354 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/50 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:56:20 -0500 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/62140 i found a café on the rooftop of Printemps de la Mode. i took the escalator up several floors to the roof of the store, ordered a sandwich and coffee and sat at a table facing out onto the city; a panorama including the Opéra on the left, to the Tour Eiffel on my right. Paris is busy on weekdays. The streets may be full of people, the roads filled with cars and motorbikes, but it never feels loud. http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/62140 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/49 Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:11:55 -0500 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/61779 on the bus from the town of Chaulnes to the even tinier town of Péronne. my feet couldnt reach the ground and dangled as the bus climbed and fell down hills on its route. there were two other guys on the bus with me. one was a kid wearing track pants listening to a fake ipod. the other was a skinny guy with glasses and pursed lips. i was so excited i couldnt breathe. i saw poilus all around me, miles of fields of trenches and men, covered over by grain, grass and new life. i didnt know what i would find in Péronne, but with every bump i felt my breath stop. http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/61779 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/48 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:30:06 -0500 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/61307 i walk through the fourth, third and tenth arrondissement, up through the marais and around Republique, to get from the national archives to my apartment. it took me a little over two weeks to realise the walk is probably less lengthy and definitely more pleasant than a metro ride. the "paris by arrondissement" book that maps out each of paris' neighbourhoods by page gives a poor idea of how utterly walkable most areas in town are. for the past four years, since my very first visit to paris, ive been convinced that it is impossibly huge. in fact, it isnt impossible. most neighbourhoods, contrary to my earlier impressions, do connect with one another. a walk through paris might be long, and it might be short. there is mostly always something beautiful to see. i walked home from the national archives and picked up some dinner items along the way. it was one of the first times since ive arrived that ive felt utterly at home. most of the time i feel a bit out of place, foreign. sometimes i feel like i can get lost in the crowd. when i wear a pretty dress, i am parisian. when im sitting in a café with no book, no computer and no knapsack, i am a parisian. when i take the metro and know where im going without looking at my map, i am parisian. but today, picking up groceries and house stuff, i didnt feel like a parisian. in fact, i didnt feel like anything in particular at all. i communicated in french without thinking, i walked down through republique without thinking. is that what feeling at home is like? i can be parisian and canadian, foreign and at home all at once in this city. i can do it because i love it but am terrified of it at the same time. http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/61307 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/47 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:07:36 -0500 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/59715 everyone sits on terraces in montreal when the sun peeks out after a long winter. the terraces have got to be at least twice as wide as many terraces in bloomington. people sit on monkland for the afternoon. i brought a book out onto the street today and found myself strangely pleased and annoyed at the same time. i could not concentrate nearly as well as i might have been able to elsewhere, but i was incredibly happy to be surrounded by happy people outdoors. http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/59715 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/46 Fri, 30 May 2008 15:37:08 -0500 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/57769 montreal. i think about you often, even moreso lately than usual. http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/57769 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/45 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:26:57 -0500 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/57017 there must be a word for really wanting to do something but not having the gumption to actually begin. im incredibly ready, but frozen by something i cant articulate. i need to hear some good news - or even conclusive news - before i take the plunge. http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/57017 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/44 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:25:34 -0500 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/56906 this paper is about ... i spent nearly all day constructing two working bibliographies for my colloquium papers - always my first step in writing. i was surprised it took so long, but im generally pleased with what they both look like. now i can take stock of what i have read, what i still need to read, and *visually* imagine the layout of the papers. i brought a madeleine back from a friends wine and cheese party last night. i placed it on top of my toaster oven so as not to forget about it, and made a mental note last night to save it for a cup of afternoon tea. the madeleine inevitably makes me think of Proust, and i wanted to savour it and allow my youthful memories to flood back to me as they did to Swann. but during a nervous phonecall this afternoon i found myself quickly nibbling at the sweet biscuit, and not with my tea. no memories flooded to me, and after hanging up i felt a bit cheated out of my own plan for a literary experience. http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/blog/56906 http://www.aeonity.com/the_corbin/43 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:32:25 -0500