Cycles

It was an extremely unpackful weekend -- I spent pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday handling every single thing I own, paperclip by paperclip. The place is looking really good -- I got the clothes sorted and put away (and a total of 3 big plastic bags to donate), the kitchen is done (including the fancy wine glasses that were still at B's), my office is 90% there (still some files to sort through). The books are still in boxes, and most of the files are, because Barbara still has to paint, but that should be done this week. (And why do I still own a lot of classical LPs? What does one DO with those?? And anyone want a copy of the Parachute Club's first album?)

I really need a rug -- now that the box detritus is mostly cleared, my living room furniture is sort of floating in space. I need something to define the area and I need to figure out the best away to arrange the jetson-y chairs and sofa.

It feels good, though I still feel muffled by the boxes and having been inside the whole weekend. I realize I'm going to have to make a concerted effort to get outside more, having no balcony -- the courtyard is lovely, but it requires planning.

One other thing I'm noticing is that I'm not sleeping very well yet -- noises (like unexpectly loud voices when people arrive home at night outside my door) and something about the openness of the space means that my bed isn't feeling all that cocoony yet. Once the painting is done and the windows that will mark off my bedroom area, I think things will be better. I also may need to resort to earplugs or a white noise machine or something. It's generally *very* quiet, but then when the noises happen, they're jarring.

There were a few fun things about the weekend... Friday night, my friend Lee made a dinner party for the people she knows who are wonky academics "and don't have anyone to talk to about it." (The partners of the phd-ers made "Street smart/book smart" jokes). I had to get to the wilds of Etobicoke, which felt like an adventure. It was fun. I hadn't seen G's sister in years, nor met her partner, who just finished her doctorate in Education from OISE -- I liked her, a lot, and it was nice to reconnect with Allison. Also good to meet Lee's other toiling-doc friend T, and to talk about her partner's life as an electrical transformer maintainer, and her venturing out on the top of the CN Tower "because the guys there let her." She's the only person who had concrete suggestions about why my cordless phone goes SQUEEE.

The other nifty thing was that I used freecycle for the first time. There's quite a little entry process -- you have to reassure them that you are properly green, not looking to make money or spam people or be all "Gimme Free Stuff" about it. But then I posted a bunch of stuff and almost immediately, people started emailing. In the end, a 30 something "starving artist student" boy showed up on his bike in the pouring rain for the antique silverplate cream and sugar set, an earnest young man who'd been given a mac showed up for the old blue USB keyboard and mouse, and a cook-happy woman claimed the powerbars, a paella pan (which I brought back from Spain in 1998 and have never used) and some other dishes. I have two more boxes of dishes waiting for a woman named "moose" and my grandmother's faux fur coat awaits the careful care of a woman named Rachel. I love the freeflowing looseness of this, and the different people who show up. Fits the neighbourhood completely.

Apart from being a little too chatty in the corridor at night, my neighbours are very friendly and I'm getting all sorts of accolades for the SmartCar. One woman wants to know if I can share my parking spot with her vespa; another man gave me an earnest "we need more people like you" chat, other people are just generally chatty and apparently very happy to be here. The place is feeling like a permeable community, and like there are people who fit me. This is a good good thing.

There are some strange coincidences happening, though -- this woman I've been chatting with online? Her therapist lives right next door to me. (A lovely woman). How bizarre is that? We have a date on Friday. Fingers crossed that the connections will keep bearing out.