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Today was a bitter-sweet day. The bitter part is that Amy left this morning...she'll be gone for two and a half weeks, out west on a children's theatre tour. No Amy makes me sad. The sweet part would be sweeter if she was here. Tonight was the University of Trinity College Faculty of Divinity's Convocation. For my Yankee readers, most of whom know not the term convocation, it's a word used for the ceremonies of entering and leaving university...in other words a fancy-pants greeting and a graduation that is conducted primarily in Latin. No kidding. Latin. Cool, eh? I didn't graduate, but I did receive a prize...the Archbishop Kingston Memorial Scholarship for Highest Standing in Second Year. Yay, me. As incoming co-heads of divinity, M and I were invited to a pre-convocation dinner in the Provost's lodge. The provost is...well, I don't really know what a provost does, but she gets one heck of a nice house to do it in. Castle-like would be my first descriptor. She also has some very posh guests, which makes for an interesting evening if you happen to be non-posh like me. When the Canadian ambassador to the United States is asking you about Toronto's ethnic diversity, because he wants some figures to throw back at the Americans when they claim that Canada is a hotbed of terrorism (for the last time, none of the 9/11 hijackers came through Canada...none, nada, zip, zero, none)...where was I? Oh, yes...when the ambassador is asking you for your opinion on Canadian culture, it does throw your life into rather harsh context. "Me? Oh, I was an actor. No, that wasn't my last job. I was an usher captain at a concert hall. Yeah. So Dick Cheney lives next door to you, huh? Ever order a pizza for him and then watch from behind your blinds?" I don't know why it impressed me so. After all, out of everyone in the room I had the most claim on him. I was the only Yank. He was ambassador to me. I bet I could have negotiated one heck of a sweet deal for the last piece of apple crisp, NAFTA be damned. After convocation there was a reception. When I left the reception I went to get my coat out of my locker and found the building locked. So I asked a custodian if he could let me in. He did and I went down and got my stuff...and left the envelope containing my prize on top of the lockers. Yeah. My prize for being smart. Nice one, bone-head. |
