random slippage

i thought yesterday's headache might be caused by dehydration, and i compensated so much that i started worrying i'd overhydrated. then i went to sleep with the headache still bothering me and it eventually got so bad i took something for it. that seemed to do the trick.

i woke up a bit woozy and with a tender forehead (still tender, wtf?), but was otherwise okay until a sudden, inexplicable neck spasm caught me and ruined my day completely. well, not completely... i guess spending the afternoon and evening on the couch wasn't the worst way to get through it. and i did get to use the neck pain as a cover for my reactions to the agonizing inability of one of the girls to perform basic pattern matching ie. learning. she's a doe in headlights, entirely passive and appears to believe that one can get through life without mental effort. i'm not being overly judgemental, am i?

on the way back home i ate a decent asian lunch, found a good-sized tin of tiger balm and found a great bookstore at the berri-uqam metro station; i was hunting for french comics and a triple-volume translation of jeff smith - bone served as an excellent value-for-money alternative to tintin or asterix. there was a fun-looking french almanac filled with riddles and puzzles that's a possible next purchase.

---i finished elana gomel - a tale of three cities.
gomel has created a simultaneously dark and colourful world populated by intriguing characters at the brink of disaster. fascinating conceits explored with excellent execution.
her characters' exploration of the nature of reality while dealing with their individual demons, the construction of mythology and religion and the constant questioning, kept me on my mental toes for most of the reading. the only detractors were typos, and even though they were relatively few at least one of them was significant enough to stall me. overall? brilliant read. and especially satisfying for one of her students :)

---i've watched wayne's world again because i couldn't find the sequel on netflix and i couldn't remember how much i enjoyed it. i followed it up with ufc 153, did the french homework and am now mentally preparing to get up stupidly early to fight with my insurance company who wouldn't accept the proof that the mortgage was paid. bastards.

---omg so much awesome stuff to link to:

the images are amazing, but watching this little piece on richard renaldi's touching strangers really puts the project in perspective

clever animated gifs of banksy's art

the paper kites - young music video is truly excellent.

i'm still wiping my eyes after reading unfortunate publishing layouts of our time