Elinor Donahue

            On Saturday morning I ran through “A la pêche des coeurs" (Fishing for Hearts) by Boris Vian. I still have to do it in English before uploading it to Christian’s Translations. 

            I worked out the chords for the chorus of “Lucette et Lucie” by Serge Gainsbourg. I don’t think there's much left. I had trouble getting started on it because it took twenty minutes to tune my guitar.                  Song practice was a little easier this time. I was able to get through a whole set and get back in tune fairly quickly but it went out of tune again pretty much from the beginning of each song and I just played it anyway. 

            Around noon when I was about to get ready to go to the supermarket I realized that I’d forgotten to eat breakfast. I had cinnamon-raisin toast and granola clusters with chocolate and raspberries before heading out just after noon. 

            Sitting outside the building in the cold were my second floor neighbours Benji and Shankar. Shankar said he hears me playing in the morning on his way to work and some of my songs remind him of twangy Tamil songs he knows. I told them I still remember a couple of Sanskrit songs that we sang when I was at the Sivananda yoga ashram in 1975. I sang them and Shankar knew them. 

            I asked if they wanted anything at No Frills but they didn’t so I headed out. There were no grapes for the first time in months or maybe ever so I bought a crate of mandarins. I got a pack of three chicken legs and some mouthwash and couldn’t find anything else I wanted. 

            I was in a line-up for the cash behind four people when the manager asked if anyone was paying cash only because cash two was open. Nobody ahead moved so I stepped forward and was out of there sooner than expected. 

            When I got back Benji and Shankar were still there. The cops were arresting a guy who seemed to be mentally ill and talking to himself. I said to Shankar, “It was you! Why are they arresting him?" He said, "I guess they don't like me!” I joked, "They always arrest the white guy!" 

            I had Triscuits and cheddar for lunch. 

            I sent an email to Accessibility Services at U of T about my slow typing issue with the upcoming exam. There’s nothing on their list of disabilities that fits mine.

            I wrote my final tutorial question for British Literature: 

            Aphra Behn’s description of the prince on page 1238 of Oronooko, and how he was, “admirable turned from head to foot ... Nothing in nature more beautiful, agreeable and handsome ... His hair came down to his shoulders ...” reads like an ad for a slave owner’s escort service. This seems especially the case when topped off by the first paragraph on page 1239, describing Oroonoko’s capability of passion. She takes great trouble to stress that certain of his beautiful features such as his mouth was “the finest shaped that could be seen” but not like that of an African and “his nose was rising and Roman instead of African and flat.” Is she mentally breeding out certain African characteristics to create a European slave owner’s sexual fantasy of the “perfect" black man? As some slaves were bred like animals to create desired features or abilities to make their children command a higher price in auction, did Behn write copy for such breeding services? 

            I worked on my Canadian Literature essay, which is due on Monday at midnight but I think there is a week extension for all of the assignments in this course. I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish this in 48 hours, but I’ll give it a shot and if I don’t make it I’ll take the extension. I really want to get everything done as soon as possible though in order to start my holiday. I still have another British Literature paper to expand and resubmit. 

            That thing that I thought I was coming down with a few days ago and that I’d discerned as the beginnings of a cold, kind of drifted away by the end of Friday. 

            I heated up the fish balls that I’d had in the freezer for a few months, along with some oven fries. I had them with a beer while watching The Andy Griffith Show. 

            In this story Andy takes Aunt Bea to the drug store only to find it closed because Fred the druggist is sick. Andy opens up the store with the key hidden over the door and they begin shopping. But Ellie, Fred’s new in town pharmacist niece is managing the store and thinks it’s being robbed. She tells Barney and he comes in with his gun drawn. Ellie is at first cool and businesslike but Andy makes her smile and it looks like there is a mutual attraction. But then Emma comes in asking for her pills for which usually pays a dime. Ellie asks her for a prescription but she doesn’t have one and so she doesn’t get her pills. She begins to look sick and Andy is mad at Ellie for not helping Emma out. Finally, not wanting to become the town villain, Ellie gives Emma her pills and charges her a dime. When Andy talks with Ellie about her change of heart she reveals that Emma’s pills have always been only sugar pills and have only psychological value. 

            Ellie was played by Elinor Donahue, who was singing on the radio and dancing in vaudeville when she was still a toddler. She signed with Universal at the age of five. Before Andy Griffith she’d already been a TV star as Princess on Father Knows Best. Later she played Felix’s girlfriend on The Odd Couple. Her son Peter, when he said the Lord’s Prayer at night would mispronounce “Hallowed” and say “Our father, Hollywood be thy name.”