Head in the Game

I am trying like hell to get my head back into school mode. It's weird, I have this aversion to reading ever since I started grad school. It's like reading has become a task rather than a pleasure. I think I have to ease my way back in with a novel or something (not too heavy - suggestions???).

I know I can talk some shit about Toronto and if you've heard me do it already, stop reading 'cause you will most likely be bored by my observations. I've heard two radically different things about Toronto. Most artists and musicians that I've come across call it (and I've heard this several times) "magical." I believe that "magical" Toronto must happen when I've already gone to bed. Then there is the Toronto I've heard described as "hard" and "cold". This, of course, does not describe its inhabitants individually. Rather, there seems a collective sense that one keeps to herself, does not talk to strangers on the street, and does her best to be "polite" when encountering others. It's cultural. This is not what I am used to.

A Torontonian friend of mine recently visited New York. This was his first visit to a major US city since he was a kid. He noted that people were so warm and friendly despite New York's reputation for having rude inhabitants. It's different, for sure. And juxtaposing Toronto and Baltimore once again, so closely, I am really homesick already. I miss the warm greetings, hellos and such.

I associate all of this with school. School represents to me anxiety, competition, and insecurity encased in a cold, hard city of people who would sooner run me down than say hello. Needless to say, I have to get the fuck over it and get myself started.