Auteur : Martine

I’m a bit tired and it shows.

Today was perfect weather for me (dry, 23C) but I spent the whole day inside, typing, typing, typing. I’m looking forward to more regular, 8 hour work days, with time to work out and weekends during which I can truly relax.

Soon. Very soon.

At least Spiff is doing better (thank you all for asking). Aside from the fact that he’s crankier than ever, the medicine seems to work and his appetite is good, his breathing normal and his desire to beat the crap out of the Mini still persistent. We’ll have to wait until the next x-rays to really see how things are going.

Back to work!

Sur son blogue, Patrick parle des affiches qui ont d�cor� les murs de nos chambres d’enfant.

En cherchant quelque chose sur le site de Radio-Canada, je suis tomb�e sur ce document d’archives (vid�o) qui, tout comme les posters de Patrick, m’a fait faire un grand retour en arri�re. M�me si je n’avais que 10 ans � l’�poque des Olympiques de Montr�al, je me rappelle tr�s bien de cette entrevue donn�e par Nadia Comaneci � Lisa Payette dans le cadre de son �mission Appelez-moi Lise. On avait tellement montr� cette entrevue � l’�poque que j’avais r�ussi � m�moriser la petite chanson fran�aise interpr�t�e par Nadia pendant l’�mission et je peux encore la chanter. Je m’�tais dit � l’�poque que si je ne pouvais pas �tre gymnaste comme elle, au moins je pourrais chanter comme elle!

�a fait vraiment bizarre de revoir tout �a et d’entendre les questions de Lise Payette et leur biais f�ministe un peu maladroit. « Qu’est-ce qu’elle veut faire quand elle va �tre grande? Entraineur de gymnastes. Vraiment? Elle ne veut pas faire autre chose? M�decin, avocat, ing�nieur? »

Ah, Nadia! Comme le temps a pass�

Had a meeting in the city today and I was afraid to get stuck in traffic on the bridge so I decided to have lunch on Mont-Royal and then try to work at the Biblioth�que Nationale du Qu�bec on Berri until Blork gets out of work.

I have a hard time working in cafes. It’s hard for me to work with music and when I do work with music, I’m very picky about the kind of tunes I can handle. Also, I love to watch people and listen to their conversations so I never really manage to fully concentrate on my work or even on a book. Plus, I make funny faces when I write so it can be a bit embarrassing.

I thought the library would be a better public working space for me. It’s working ok so far, but still, I feel a little weird. Most regular tables were occupied by noisy groups of students and readers so I’ve gone to a quieter area on the southern side of the library, near the entrance of the Collection Nationale (la chambre de bois). It’s a strange spot, with long tables that 5 people can share, and the tables are layered like giant stairs, leading to the upper floor of the library. (It’s kind of hard to explain – picture to come here’s a picture.)

Anyway, this layout looks like the set on Genie en Herbe (old quizz show on Quebec tv) or that giant tic-tac-toe quizz show that used to play in the U.S.. There are a lot of first time visitors slowly walking by and looking up at the layered tables where I’m sitting. I feel like every single visitor is about to ask me a quizz question. Who wrote Gone with the Wind? Who was the first prime minister of Canada? What is the fastest animal on the planet? Yikes!!!!!

I better get back to the screenplay.

Whoa! That is WEIRD! As I was reviewing this post before publishing, a woman sat next to me. I had a vague sense of recognition and then I realized that she was also sitting next to me at the restaurant where I had lunch 2 hours ago. You think she’s stalking me?

Double whoa! As I was reviewing this post once more, an old friend from Quebec City – a terminologue at the Office quebecois de la langue francaise – just walked by and we had a lovely chat. It’s one of his coworkers who came up with the term baladodiffusion for podcasting. (We whispered, of course. This is a library after all.)

I’m not sure working in a public space is such a good idea for me after all…