march 6, 2001. I'm keeping track of my dreams for a cumulative project in reading. I'm thinking that this should be mildly interesting, if not academically momentous. The assignment is to take the first steps in "reading the world," and record your experiences before, during and after research. At least dreams are scientific - for awhile I thought about learning to read veves. "I know karate, voodoo too!" - tom waits I have just spent three hours in video editing. Let me give you a tip, kids: never do a collaborative creative project with someone who has divergent views about the nature of creativity. I was ready to chew nails by the end of the night. My only consolation is that the next editing session was booked without consulting me; consequently I will be in class while the project is finished up. And I find that I couldn't care less about the final cut, just so long as I never have to discuss the footage ever again. The idea that I can play hooky tomorrow night makes me want to cheer. (A small yay, but a heartfelt one.) Where the fuck is this gigantic snow storm that's supposed to close the Eastern seaboard in it's icy maw? Other students have had cancelled classes; I already had tomorrow morning off so that's no good. Come on, storm. You frigging owe me. I don't think that I've ever described winter in Nova Scotia. Well, it's cold. Really, really, really cold. Last Wednesday it was so cold that my 15 minute walk left me weak and shuddery, tears overflowing from both the pain in my face and the wind in my eyes. I've heard of a girl who got Bell's Palsy from the windchill walking up & down the hill to campus. Then there's the snow. We are sooo lucky that we live in an apartment complex where our drive is shovelled and salted regularly. Otherwise we'd spend half our life clearing snow. Most drifts are as big as me, and the icicles hang off of 3-story buildings all the way to the ground. But unlike Toronto (a.k.a. Urban Sprawl Land), snow feels right here. There's enough country all around us that we never forget the supremacy of Nature, and when you're in a natural setting, the snow can't be an inconvenience. Hell, it's got just as much a right to be there as you do. So we slog on, watching the trees coat with snow and hoping against hope that we'll finally get a snow day.