Earache

            On Monday morning when I got up at three to pee Parkdale was lit up like an emergency Vegas with fire trucks mall along Queen Street and down Dunn Avenue. They were also blocking the passage of TTC vehicles on Queen. When I got up at 5:00 they were all gone.

I memorized another four lines of “Le bras mécanique” (The Mechanical Arm) by Serge Gainsbourg. I just have four lines left to learn, so I should have it in my head on Tuesday morning.

            I still haven’t gotten any word on how I can write my exam with no connectivity. I was thinking thought that if they allowed me to download the exam then I could write it without having to stay connected for hours and just upload it when I’m finished.

            I started getting a sharp pain in my left ear this morning. I haven’t had an earache in more than a decade. I think it is probably related to my dental problems on that side.

            I weighed 87.6 kilos in the late morning.

            I moved my wifi antenna a metre and a half further west to the edge of the ledge and closer to the café across the street. It seemed to improve the connection very slightly but that might have been coincidence.

            I fried three falafel balls and heated some frozen French fries for lunch.

            I worked on answering a few more questions in studying for next week’s Indigenous Studies exam.

            I had the rest of my ginger tofu and lima bean stew with some plantain and potato chips while watching the last two episodes of “Noggin and the Fire Cake”.  Noggin’s son Knut has gone to sleep in the lap of the giant man shaped statue that had propped itself against Noggin’s castle. While he is sleeping the giant becomes animated and carries him to roundhead valley. Knut sees the valley with x-ray eyes and sees beneath the ground where under the round heads on the surface are the bodies of sleeping stone giants. Beside them with its blade stuck in the ground is a sword, which Knut senses to be evil. The giant then gently returns Knut to the land of Nog and sits once more against the castle. Later Olaf tells Graculas that he did not destroy the fire cake formula as Noggin had ordered and he tells him where he has hidden it. Unfortunately one of Nogbad’s crows overhears him and soon they steal the formula. Graculas tracks the crows to an abandoned castle in the mountains but by the time Noggin gets there Nogbad is gone, leaving a note that says he is going after the Sorcerer’s Sword. The only one that’s heard of the Sorcerer’s Sword is Thor Nogson, who tells of a legend of giants that defeated an evil sorcerer. Some say the sword is buried at Roundhead Valley. They look to the mountains where suddenly there is an explosion. Noggin, Thor and Graculas head back to the castle where once again the stone giant is gone and so is Knut. Noggin and several of his men make their way for Roundhead Valley in the flying boat. Knut and his giant friend are already there and the giant asks Knut telepathically to make a crown of daisies for the other round Heads like he did for him before he was animated. Meanwhile Nogbad has uncovered the handle of the Sorcerer’s Sword. Noggin and his men are approaching when Nogbad finally frees the sword from the ground and uses its magic to command Noggin and his soldiers to freeze. Knut finishes making the crowns of daisies and the other stone giants begin to rise from the ground. Nogbad’s magic has no effect on them and they surround him, coming closer and closer. Knut tells Nogbad to throw the sword outside the circle. Knut’s telepathic friend tells him to smash the sword on the stone. He is reluctant to touch it but when he does pick it up he feels it’s power and is tempted to keep it but the giant gives him a stern look and Knut smashes the sword. Noggin and his men are reanimated and the giants are no longer made of stone. They leave for their ancient home in the mountains. Noggin tells Olaf to use the last of the fire cake to destroy the remaining fragments of the Sorcerer’s Sword. Noggin wonders which was more dangerous, the sword or the fire cake. He decides that the fire cake was more dangerous because the sword is gone forever but someone will invent fire cake again.