Escape to a land far, far away......

Unfortunately, our trip to England is still 12 days away. At work, out of the blue, our management took away our funds for reclassification and even getting a proper job description because of the 'economic downturn.' Since my section is the lowest-rated in the entire department, and we are doing work that is higher-classed, this is a real blow. It's not the money, it's the respect, its' being treated as equals, it's the recognition that our work is valuable. So I got out of that meeting to have my husband call to say that our Governor General, who is our head of State in Canada, and the Queen's Representative, agreed to suspend our parliament. So instead of having an election called, or facing a vote that he would lose next week in the House, we have no parliament sitting at all, no work being done, no immediate reaction to the economic downturn which is finally being felt here in Canada. Most of all, it feels like our right to speak and be heard has been taken away from us, and it sets a terrible precedent for future minority governments here in Canada. We are supposed to be a democracy, but the PM refused to let the House tell him he had to act more quickly to deal with economic turmoil. They are all our elected officials, and he deserved their wrath if he couldn't come up with something to restore Canadians' confidence. I cried at work when the news broke about our government being suspended for the next 7 weeks.

Oh, and our bus transportation - which my family uses because none of us drive! - voted to go on strike next week. It's about 10 miles to my work from my house. There are times when I feel the world is about to go crazy, and this is one of them.

So I've mostly been listening to music tonight, which when all else fails and I am too disturbed or restless to settle down to read, I turn to. It soothes me and restores me. I'm finally discovering how to find my favourite songs on You Tube! Here are a couple of my favourites:

U2 Bad - various release dates One of my all-time favourite songs, one which I now know explains why I dream about Bono (he's on my side, helping me!) when I'm fighting zombies in my dreams - if you ilsten to the lyrics, he's letting go of the bad so he can be wide awake in his life.


REM "The Lifting" from the Album "Reveal" sorry, there is no live video, but this is a song I turn to over and over again. "once, you had a dream of oceans and sunken ships and memories of things you have never known, you have never known...." my anything is possible song!


Enya - the song I associate with her. Hmm, there's a theme about escaping here, isn't there?



Moby - Extreme Ways (with clips from the Bourne Trilogy) - I love this song, and my kids love to dance to it!


Nick Drake - Northern Sky. Now I'm feeling better. This is one of his happiest songs he ever wrote, and I love it. See? I'm smiling now. Thank the universe for music!

Now I can contemplate reading and talking about books, so......

Middlemarch Update: I have been reading Middlemarch when I can. I am so very much enjoying this book. I am delighted by the realism of the characters, by the different matches, the different kinds of falling in love - or fooling one's self into love - that Eliot is portraying. Most of the characters are very likeable, the exception being creepy Mr Bulstrode, the banker. I love the quiet setting of the town. This book is slowly exploring each character and their effect on one another, like ripples in a pond. One character's actions affects others, the neighbors gossip and affect Lydgate's and Rosamund's lives, people get sick, grow old, have dreams, and some come to fruition, some do not. One of the most delightful scenes is Mrs Garth teaching her children grammar in the kitchen while she is baking pies. It is intimate, a familiar setting, and utterly perfect in rendering 1829 merchant family life. Best of all? Mrs Garth's name is....Susan.
read: Page 250, Chapter 32.

Have a good night reading, everyone!