A Few Quick Notes 307

-Eventually today turned into a pretty nice day. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to spend quite as much time outdoors as I would have liked, and when I was outside things were a little less than perfect. Hopefully it will be even nicer tomorrow and I will have an opportunity to head outside (maybe even to Point Pleasant Park).

-Neil and I attended the Halifax Comedy Festival event International House of Comedy last night in the Schooner Showroom at Casino Nova Scotia. Our main justification for going was to see Dave Shumka of the podcast Stop Podcasting Yourself. I was also quite interested in seeing John Wing and Reggie Watts. A number of other comedians were performing along side these three (Natalie Gray was another of those that we saw last night).

Neil and I were particularly impressed with Mr. Shumka, and generally the first half of the show. I am not sure if it was because I was tired or if the performers in the second half of the show generally weren't as good, but I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as the first half. I guess the good thing is that I have learned that I don't quite have the stamina for ten performers in a row (or maybe I was just tired).

-Moments ago I returned from the grocery store. My main justification for the trip was to pick up some chicken that was on sale. I quickly learned that they were out of the particular item that I was looking for. Given that the sale had been on all week and the store was to close in less than half an hour I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Maybe I will eventually learn not to leave things until the last minute, though I think that this is doubtful.

-We had more beans for dinner tonight, this time we went for white kidney beans. I was particularly pleased with this batch. I think that adding a half pound of bacon to the mix really helped things along.

The more we have beans the more Neil and I are of the opinion that we really don't have much reason to stray from black beans. I guess once we get through the 6 or 7 pounds of other types of beans we can stick to purchasing black beans (though I don't think that I would mind white kidney beans once in a while). I also think that we might consider trying navy beans again, for some reason I imagine them to be somewhat similar in texture and flavour to black beans (though I don't know why I might think this).

-A few days ago my sister's school, Brother Rice Junior High, was set on fire by a local arsonist. Though the damage wasn't catastrophic, it was enough to close the school for a month. Obviously they had to come up with a plan for students for the next month.

Just today the plan for the displaced students was announced. It seems that these students will be sent to another school for the coming month. The catch is that the Brother Rice students will be doing the afternoon/evening shift while the original students get the morning shift. This is going to be quite a bummer for everyone involved. I imagine that most of the Brother Rice students will be quite glad to get back to their old school as quickly as possible.

I guess what I find funny about all of this is that when I was my sister's age I can't imagine anything that I would have wanted more than for my school to catch on fire and close for some period of time. Though as my mother pointed out today, there is likely nothing that I would have disliked more than having to be bussed to a new school for a month. As luck would have it, I avoided having to face such a circumstance (though I did mange to luck out and get a multi-week teachers strike for the end of grade six).