Old Sock Drawer

a story to tell, a novel you keep in a drawer

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#071: My quotable-loving heart skips a beat.

November 9th, 2009 by Mary Leong
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Currently listening to: “Marx and Engels” – Belle and Sebastian

Skipping and wandering through life picking up two-second snippets of seemingly haphazard conversations is a surefire way to get a quick sampler of the environment. Like flitting through a mega box of tea samplers from cinammon apple to peach to white berryblossom in merry succession, tiny tidbits of inane chatter more than successfully portray the sheer scope of conversation UBC students engage in. Presenting procrastination’s new weapon of choice, Overheard at UBC. Modelled after the absolutely brilliant Overheard in New York (hello, time waster extraordinaire!), this Facebook group gathers gems of startling insight from the erudite and scholarly expounding on topics diverse, such as…

public transit…

“Girl: what’s that? It looks like a train with wheels!
Guy: You mean that bus?”

and popular culture…

(Enthusiastic white man, to man with turban)
“Hey pal, do ya got Voldemort under there!?!”

Of course, the entertainment value rises exponentially when you’re on the recieving end of a prime quotable. Such as that day when I was simply walking – maybe even prancing a little bit – on the way to Swing en route to Political Science class, and heard the following.

“Physics is like Mathematics, except you get to search for TRUTH.”

That just about killed me.

Well, at least until the irate shouting of one man behind me in the queue at Ike’s.

“SASKATCHEWAN IS MORE LIBERAL THAN YOU THINK!”

I’ll leave that one at that- you can figure that out for yourself, aye? Out of context = exciting times for mad imaginations running wild.

Now, I must reluctantly toddle back to the riveting world of French Language and Style, but here is the challenge of the week: to come back with the most bizarre and colourful quotables you could possibly eavesdrop upon. Bonus points if your quotable has a pun. Till then, adieu!

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#070: Meet the Dean

November 2nd, 2009 by Mary Leong
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Currently listening to: keyboard-clicking, page-turning, distracted coughing, et cetera

Just a brief plug for this week’s Arts Meet the Dean session at MASS (Buchanan D-140) at noon on Wednesday, November 4! Come and engage in open dialogue with Dean Nancy Gallini and chat about the issues that affect you as an Arts student. (And as Valentina mentioned in her entry, free pizza!) Come for the conversation and debate, stay for the nibbles. Hope to see you all there!

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#069: Of precocious children and one-liners

October 24th, 2009 by Mary Leong
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Currently listening to: “Fashionable People” – Joel Plaskett Emergency

I do hate to use the excuse of life and work distracting me from updating on a semi-regular basis; alas, I must throw that out here. Amidst the steady loop of midterms (take one) and term papers and midterms (take two) and commitments to various extracurriculars, this sad blog seems to have fallen by the wayside. Mea culpa. Nevertheless, it’s nice to note that as we hurl ourselves into the neverending cyclone of paper and pen, there is much cheeriness around to be thankful for.

Such as the hilariously inquisitive comments of the young. The other night at work, the up escalator was broken (leading to much grumbling from all parts, including a slightly batty old lady – but that’s really a whole other story). This conversation between myself and a small-ish child followed.

Child: (befuddled) Why is there no up escalator?
Me: Well, it’s broken.
Child: Oh. (pause) Will it be there next time we come back?
Me: Yes. Yes, it will.

That takes me to the man behind me on the bus, who, in a startling fit of insight, provided us with the following gem.

“I wish buses could fly.”

Man, trust me, so do I. Especially if it were to be a flying double-decker bus. That would take us to new heights of flying vehicular frenzy.

In more personal news, I am now, as of yesterday morning, officially Canadian. My roommates, delightful bats they are, have been entertaining me all day with their pitch-perfect renditions of “Canadian Please“. It is kitschy, gloriously cheesy, and alarmingly catchy. The inner political geek in me does loop-de-loops and twirls of joy at the prospect of being eligible to exercise my ~voting rights~. It is all rather exciting!

With reference to my previous post, I still have yet to acquire a laundry card. The washing of clothing in the sink seems to have gone rather splendidly so far. Though I am on the verge of caving; we have some rather grotty-looking dish towels which could use a good tumble wash.

Alas, the Poli Sci paper I’m supposed to be researching beckons. Back to the murky world of the IMF and World Bank! Thank god I actually enjoy reading about this stuff. Till the next time, dear readers, I bid thee adieu.

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#068: Laundry Day

September 26th, 2009 by Mary Leong
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Currently listening to: “My Freeze Ray” – Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog

laundry day

Ah, the lavender scent of freshly hand-laundered garments, flapping and drying in the sun.

(Alternatively, the scent of disdain as I refuse to pay $5 for a laundry card. )

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#067: We all have our days.

September 25th, 2009 by Mary Leong
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Currently listening to: “Night Reconnaissance” – The Dresden Dolls

Overheard in the elevator in Gage.
Guy munching on snack: Dude, it feels like Friday.
His friend: …yeah, because it is Friday.

I think that pretty much describes how we’re all feeling. Cerebral processes halfheartedly dragging along as we wonder to ourselves, mumbling a tad crazedly beneath our collective breaths – has it really only been three weeks of classes?

With a sigh, I realize it is now Saturday morning. As my roommates spiral off in their respective midnight shenanigans, I elect to curl up contentedly with the carbohydrate goodness of freshly-made lemon and asparagus pasta (late-night cooking of real meals is always fun), and re-watch old episodes of The West Wing…and leave work to sunny daytime…

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