Into the Blue Again
The Album Leaf were really good live, I wasn't really surprised. They have their own brand of minimalist saturation that just draws you in whether you're normally into electronic music or not. They played stuff pretty much exclusively off the new album, which was a bit disappointing because I'm really more of a fan of the earlier stuff, before there were a bunch of instruments and it was more of just a guy and a guitar. This of course being the 'guy and a guitar' that existed before last year or whenever it was that all those crappy sappy poppy guy-and-a-guitar acts a la John Mayer sprang out of the woodwork. Also I liked them better before he started singing. That being said, the actual sound was articulated masterfully, and they also adopted the projection show aspect of the more recent Sigur Ros tours, and synthesized them to make a sort-of multimedia presentation that made me forget that I was standing in Lee's Palace for a bit. And I bought a track suit jacket, mostly due to the fact that I love their logo. Anyway, that's all for now.

I found this nice little nook on a window ledged on the forteenth floor of Robart's. It faces southwest along Harbord, and I can see spotlights circling South. I can see down into the windows of the Athletic Centre, the Jewish Students Centre, and the Centre for Graduate Studies. The movement of the people is so stylized from up here. I think the people in the athletic centre are doing gymnastics, and on another floor basketball. I can see that it's raining down on the street. I didn't bring an umbrella. I don't own an umbrella. Today is one of those days where circumstances have been trying to pull me down, but it's almost as though they just don't fit in a way that engages me enough for me to be affected by them. I like the way the light moves in the reflection of a puddle forteen floors down. It's just like a star sparkling. Whenever I'm at any height by a window, I feel this sensation of being pulled forward. Like I'm being pulled by my core, or something's hooked onto me and pulling down. I kind of envision the air all moving around me, and my stomach goes all wonky. It's not as bad as the vertigo I had when I was younger though; then I saw everything falling down, especially the building or object I was standing on. I've always liked the japanese word Rakka, meaning a fall. The word itself rolls off the tongue so nicely. Wouldn't the sensation of falling into your body from space be fascinating? Like landing.

I want to be in Okinawa right now.

Red Right Ankle

What is blogger beta? That's confusing.... blogger's so hardcore now. I remember back in the day when there wasn't even that aweful banner thing at the top. I should be doing japanese homework right now, after all that's why I got up early. But I've been studying for a while and so am now bored.

********** The Day Later *****************************************



I'm on such a Patrick Wolf blitz. I need moooooore. Hahhaa. I wish the new album would come out. But alas, I must wait for new feist and new patrick and new bjork. I just hope this winter doesn't go too slowly. Or too quickly for that matter. I don't want school to drag the whole world down into all that slushy grey snow, but at the same time I want to enjoy that filtered light and extensive shadow a bit.



Things I love about winter:
- the slowing down of my pulse
- long shadows
- snowflakes melting on my face
- white hot chocolate
- the way sound seems to echo, or is isolated but at the same time intensified by atmosphere
- wool, scarves and long coats

I remember long walks in the winter, in Sapporo, in Maryland, and even in the river valley in Whitby. I remember fantasizing about disappearing, about meeting forest spirits, about coming upon an ethereal village that was somehow out of time and reality. There are elements that exist in winter that have a way of removing you from reality, whether it's the cold making your body numb, or the whiteness that covers everything from sight in a fresh snow. Some of the same other-worldly elements are present in fall, but I think in some ways they're intensified in winter, even if only because the coldness tends to drive more people indoors. Which is part of what makes it so nice for walks.

The other day I was walking along Yonge, heading to Bloor station to take the train over and hand in an essay, and I just watched this wall of snow sweep straight across Bloor in this insane gust of wind. My ipod was on shuffle, and just as the wind started, the bells and such on Jeremy Enigk's A New Beginning kicked in. It was quite fitting, and created another of those perfect sense-memories tied to songs that I occasionally incur.

All things considered, I'm looking forward to winter. I want a winter jacket and for Allison to finish making that shirt she started for me for last christmas. I need to start Christmas shopping.