What has me Fired Up (Part 1)

It's not that I don't find my studies interesting. I do. I'm currently preparing for my Charter exam. Let's face it, 1/3 of the Globe's National News is about one or another Charter right. Long before law school I wanted to weigh in on what should be done on these questions.

But there are things, not entirely unrelated to the law, though unexaminable, that keep me from my books. Currently, Zimbabwe is one of 3 things that take up at least an hour of my day. It's a country I've studied for years. Zimbabwe has me fired up. I visited the country to view the effects of farm resettlement, unemployment and inflation. I've watched with complete fascination as Zimbabwe has been systematically run into the ground by an arguably insane president.

South Africans like to claim that Bobby Mugabe has syphilis, which has gone to his brain.

Alas, all speculation aside, the shit is really beginning to hit the fan and Mugabe has become more defiant than ever. A recent report in the Mail and Guardian claims that Mugabe is running a secret police service that rivals the Apartheid's NIS in torture techniques (click here). The Guardian has also reported a US plot to remove Mugabe from power to restore order in the region.

The situation has grown in me an intense desire to move through my law school career at a faster pace. There must be international criminal and human rights laws that can be applied to this situation. Having to wait another 5 months to study them (or at least 0.5 until exams are done and I can do my own research) makes me feel removed from the things that I love.

But it also reminds me that while I busy myself with the study of property and contracts, there are truly wonderful aspects of the law that await me. There are answers to personally significant issues that are merely 5 exams away.

Upcoming Posts:
What has me fire up parts 2 and 3 - Access to Abortion in NB and Sexual Assault (A comparative approach b/t Canada and South Africa)

Exam Time (aka Time to Procrastinate)

Ah, good old Saskatchewan.

The Junos

The Junos are in town. You might not have heard, but those of us in s'toon have been hearing about if for months. Tonight, though I was unaware, the bars closed an hour later than usual for the occasion. As such, it's 4am and I have just arrived at home and will have to be at work in just over 4 hours. Eish!!

Alas, I met Jian Ghomeshi tonight. (Why couldn't it have been Gord??). I also celebrated Neil's 21st bday, which will be well worth a tired start tomorrow.

To the Juno nominees - welcome to town. I will think about you tomorrow afternoon when I am sleeping off a late night and an early start. :)

Spring is Here

The weather is warming up in Saskatoon. Hoorah! The snow started melting this week. The roads have evolved from ice rinks to swimming pools. Sidewalks that had been buried since October now keep me safe on my walk.

And Jack emerged from the snow.



For Halloween this year, Arif, Pam, Glen and I carved pumpkins. (Pics of pumpkin carving to follow). We placed them by the door to welcome the trick-or-treaters. When the world was suddenly blanketed in snow, one of our jack-o-lanterns disappeared, only to reemerge in our recent thaw.

Today, more than four months later, Steve and I moved Jack from beside the door to the garbage bin. (To use a Steve-ism "oh hell!" I didn't do anything but laugh hysterically and snap photos; Steve removed my pumpkin.). Thanks Steve!!


Happy Spring to Everyone!

The Final Dash

Winter. It is always winter here. Or, it has been since October. We're now into February, and by some delicious twist of fate, those of you in Southern Ontario are now sharing in my winter blues. Thankfully, in some ways, we are in the final stretches of winter. The days are getting longer (sun up at 8:38 and down after 6pm). The sun feels warmer. Talk among my colleagues is about summer jobs.

Myself, I have an "embarrassment of opportunities" (as Glen so poetically put it). I seem to be caught between two firm (and intellectual and philanthropic) offers. I also have an application form that a prof gave me last week, with the message that if I put him down as a reference, the job is mine.

A large part of me would like to walk away from all of the above (despite their clear future benefits) and work on an organic farm for the summer. When will I get the opportunity to partake in back-breaking labour under the hot Saskatoon sun ever again?

Alas, my practical upbringing will likely win out, and I will spend my summer building my resume, my intellectual capabilities and the lives of those less fortunate. If I can swing it, I will balance my two offers, working full-time for a well-known legal organization and part-time for a well-known feminist activist. I suppose my tan will just have to wait until next year.

And it will all be done in nicer weather than this: (photo of U of S campus just minutes ago)

A Chiropractor's Dream Gal

It started snowing again this afternoon while I was hiding myself away in my basement researching for my Open Memo. Feeling like I was missing key information, I bundled up and walked out into the white afternoon to seek out free internet access at the coffee shop.

It hadn't snowed in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, Saskatoon doesn't clean their streets and sidewalks to the same degree as Moncton did during my childhood. That is to say, they don't scrape most roads (EVER - isn't that shocking?!?), and sidewalks are often nothing more than trekked paths. As people drive and walk over the snow, it turns into ice. This icy mess was covered in gravel since the snow to facilitate travel.

This afternoon, I learned something new about winter. I learned that new snow polishes away all of the traction-power of gravel. I fell twice on my way to the coffee shop. Once, on the sidewalk of a major street. During rush hour. It's more embarrassing to fall in public now than it was when I was growing up in the icy NB winters. And it's more difficult to walk on ice now than it was during those NB winters.

*sigh*

Alas, the snow is pretty. And I do love the sound of snow falling on the city. Apart from the fear of breaking a limb, I'm looking forward to my walk home. I'm going to pick up some groceries, and without any class tomorrow, I will make a big pot of stew and stay cosey inside while the snow falls.

So wish me a safe journey home. Or at least that the doctor who will have to set my leg will be cute.

So Little Time

As I have so little time to actually post these days (due to a combination of too much reading, extra-curricular responsibilities, and no internet at home), I must formally explain that hence forth I will be making quick posts as the urge strikes me, paying little attention to the overall dramatic flair and grammatical reasoning of my writing.