just what i needed, that's what i was thinking of

our lady of seven sorrows

I read a book recently in which a character said that love is the greatest of the seven sorrows. So great, in fact, that he had forgotten the other six.

That reminded me of this.

When I was in grade nine I had two wishes.
One was to marry Daniel Johns, who was the lead singer of Silverchair, and with whom I planned to have two children, one named Neon and one named Ballroom.

The other was to be Catholic.
My friend Melissa and I often had sleepovers at her grandmother's house in Peterborough, where we would camp out in the basement and watch the videos for "Anthem for the Year 2000" and Will Smith's "Miami." One weekend while we were there, I got blue streaks dyed into my hair.



Another time, Melissa's grandmother gave me a medal of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travellers, to wear around my neck. My paternal grandfather has been travelling all his life, but he didn't like it -- papism makes him nervous. In 1969, St. Christopher started making the pope nervous. I lost the pendant sometime in 1999.

this might be a shout out

Another list/post inspired by the genius of Que Sera Sera. I have some friends with stories that basically define their personalities, or at least, the window through which I see them. The story that I'll shamelessly say "Okay, so tell me about that time that you...." over and over again. Particularly if I haven't seen them in a while, or if I'm introducing them to someone new. This includes stories for which I was present, and stories that I've heard so often that I could recite them verbatim, leading to frequent interruptions to correct minute details.

Such is the life. You're all saints, kids.

• Rachel - "That time your dad got lint on his pants and made the Zimbabwean tour guide pick it off."
• Streets - "That thing you overheard at Coffee & Co."
• Beav - "That time Ben got in a fist-fight with a turkey."
• Bale - "That time you fell in love with the heir to a tea dynasty"
• Jordon - "That time you refused to get an ashtray" OR "That one time you studied Howl and NPR at Dal."
• Barbeau - "That time it was your birthday and you had to go to the bank really quickly." OR "That time we saw MO. [in the Biblical way]"
• Tee Eff - "That time you saw Bran Van 3000 and told them they were the future of hip hop."
• Scheidt: "That time you had fleas at the apartment."
• Dorian - "That time you guys stole those boxes from Steve and he went to jail"
• Emmy - "That time the ferrets were running all over you" OR "That time we snuck in the backdoor at the Horseshoe and met the Gords."
• Carleigh - "That time you saw Chingy."
• Zeb - "The border crossing when you ran for the woods" OR "That time the car broke down in South Syracuse"
• Colin - "That time you stole the school bus"
• Meghan - "That time you bro'd down with John Tory at Little Shop of Horrors" OR "That time you wished you knew he was on ecstasy."
• Kate - "That time that guy's mom thought you were his ex-girlfriend when you were peering in his windows and started yelling 'It's okay, Sarah!' when you and your friends ran away."

Tell me more, tell me more.