In 2007 I was working at Accenture, and at some point it dawned on me I worked literally across the street from the Vancouver Public Library, and it might be fun to get a library card and check out some books.
I don’t remember what else I read, but I do remember it took me about a year to go through Les misérables, on and off. Now that I think about it I finished the book after being laid off—that was in November, and i took it with me back to Ottawa over the holidays.
If you’re curious, Les mis is one of the greatest works in the entire history of literature, French or otherwise.
Incidentally, though I don’t work next door anymore, the library isn’t far out of my way. Maybe I should reactivate that card and see what else it has to offer…
August 10th (day 222) was the Vancouver Queer Film Festival’s opening gala. I’m still not blogging reviews this year… except maybe one. I do have many thoughts about the opening gala film, I Dream In Another Language / Sueño en otro idioma. We’ll see how it evolves.
Friday, a quick look up Cordova Street from the Granville walkway. I think I took a daily pic in the opposite direction at some point, but that was a while ago and I can’t be bothered to look it up.
Saturday, clouds started forming. Real, rain-bearing clouds, not this apocalyptic smoky haze. Actually, he haze was gradually clearing—by Friday you could just about see both the North Shore mountains and Burnaby Mountains from Waterfront. But this promised to instantly clear all that grime from the atmosphere.
Which, it did during the night. Starting a little before 11, I think, a fine little drizzle came down. Nothing big, but we didn’t need anymore.
In fact, the rain was exactly what we needed, not just for the smoke but for volleyball. I played in VGVA’S Sets on the Beach tournament on Sunday and really enjoyed it, way more than all the other times I played this summer. The sand was all right, cool and damp at first and never getting uncomfortably hot even after the sun came out. And though the day started out overcast the sun did come out, so I got enough eye candy. And I got a little dirty from diving and rolling. That was fun. Taking a shirtless selfie (however partial) is also kind of a big step for me.
And now outdoor vball is over for me. I think there are still beach leagues going on, but I won’t be playing in them. And next Sunday is the first round of evaluations for VGVA’s indoor league. Sigh. The summer’s almost over…