Shakin' its fist in the air

A little more detail about my trip... not that anyone really cares.

I got to meet up with my friend Jaimie for the first time in 12 years, which was lovely. Took the subway into TO and hung out on her lunch break (and ate the bestest ice cream in the whole wide world). After I left, things got even more interesting as a suspected bomber shut down the street just half an half after I departed (all was alright... false alarm).

Had coffee with some highschool friends. I usually get together with some of these highschool people when I'm home, not always the same ones, but some. I'm usually nervous before hand (I'm a natural worrier), but it always go well. I mean, we're all very different people then we used to be, but, at least for the few hours we hang, we get together and we click. It's nice. I also got to meet my friend Sandy's daughter, who is, predicatably, very cute. She enjoyed appearing really interested in me for a time, then ignoring me for a while, then being interested in me again... which pretty much sums up my relationship with her mother. *shrug*

The Zoo with Del, my nearly 3 year old god-daughter, was fantastic. It's kind of scary how much personality she has already. When she got out of the car to say hello, she looked at me and said, "I'll say more after I go pee." I was a little taken aback by how articulate she is. The post-pee conversation was also equally interesting. After the zoo (or the pavillion and a half we went to) we headed to the Rain Forest Cafe in the Yorkdale Shopping Centre. It has these animatronic animals and looks like a rain forest. Every 20 or 30 minutes, the lights go down and rain sound effects produce the impression of a rain storm. Thankfully no actual water falls on you. Later, when we were saying out goodbyes, Del gave me a big hug and said, "I love you, Mike." It was sweet.

While killing time before I met my friend Lisa, I hung out in Oshawa Centre for about an hour, just walking back and forth. When I was younger (like 13 or 14), I used to love that mall 'cause it seemed so big. Now, whenever I return to Osahwa I find myself there, half expecting, half dreading running into people I used to know, some major player from my life - a teacher, a girl I had a crush on, a long lost friend. Today I only saw a few of my life's minor players, walk on roles really: Craig's old girlfriend (before the big closet exiting), an old co-worker, and the Bad Toupee man, who's 10 years older but his hair STILL looks the same! This trip to the mall was even more disconcerting then usual though, because of the cheerleaders.

The Oshawa Centre, as a summer feature to promote a friendly mall experience, has hired pretty young girls to dress up as cheerleaders. Let that sink in for a second: it's 2006 and a mall has cheerleaders as a promotional tool! These girls are situated throughout the mall and "will happily answer any questions you might have." That's what the sign said, though I assume that their answers are limited to things like "Where's the Gap?" and "Do you know where I can get a coffee?" and not inquires into nuclear fission. And I'd be willing to place money on the fact that this whole cheerleader idea was a guy's.

The day after I arrived home, I headed down to the UM Press, despite the fact that classes start tomorrow and I have little idea of what I'm supposed to do. I NEEDED to sign some stuff that should have been signed in June *shrugs* It's also particularly annoying (though not at all unexpected) that NOTHING has been done to clear out the store room (which will once again be my office) and that the my lovely summer office, which I "had to" get my stuff out of before I went to Ontario, is sitting there empty.