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I figured out today that there is a problem with the heating system in my apartment. I have not been heating my place to date. Fortunately a repair person is on the way to check out my unit, but unfortunately, this means I have to stay in my freezing cold place until they arrive.

Argh.

A bit of stuff....

My heating is fixed. I had to sit here freezing until about 2:00 when the handyman came over and fixed it all up. After that was done, I ran out to Stupid Store to buy a bunch of stuff for my house. Yay.

I also finished my Food Security paper and will be handing it in tomorrow. Double yay.

This week I watched the first season of Rick and Steve the happiest gay couple in all of the world . How incredibly hilarious! If you like watching gay puppets say things that are just completely wrong, I'd recommend picking this one up. There are only 6 episodes and it's two hours of your time, so it's not a big investment.

On a more serious note, I finally got to see a documentary called She's a boy I knew . I met the filmmaker when I was living in Vancouver. The film tells Gwen's story, by interviewing six major people in her life. Gwen was born a male named Steven and she transitioned to become a woman. The journey is traced by interviews with her best friend Roari, her ex-wife Malgosia, her mom, her dad and two of her sisters. Gwen was inspired to make the documentary when her mom asked her if there was anything made by the families of transpeople that would help her understand the journey that her child was going through. This is an incredible film; it's raw, personal, funny, and sad. I recommend it highly.

Gwen is good friends with my friend Jeff, and so I facebooked her ahead of time to tell her I would be at the screening. I also got to congratulate her on the film. My friend Mari accompanied me to the screening, and she enjoyed the film as well. Mari thought that the film took a thoughtful look at gender constructs and the different ways that gender affects our lives. I must admit that it was a bit strange for me to watch the film, since I recognized a lot of people in it. I worked at Chapters with Gwen's ex-wife, and recognized a lot of the locations in the film. It was both familiar and foreign to me at the same time.

After the film, the audience had a very thoughtful and thought provoking discussion with Gwen. I told Jeff that the discussion was good, and he said that sometimes the reactions have been very intense, so we were fortunate to have a positive experience.

Trying to learn about David Bowie...

For years, I never paid any attention to David Bowie because my uncle was married to a woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to Bowie. She looked A LOT like him. I wasn't the only person who thought this. I remember pointing it out to family members, and they agreed with me.

However, they are long divorced and I am feeling confident enough to learn more about Bowie. The Edmonton Public Library has an amazing collection of films and music, so I can get pretty much anything.

Where should I start?