Bodies

We saw the Gunther Von Hagen BodyWorlds exhibit at Science World today. It was neat to see the plastinated, posed bodies that you've probably seen pictures of. Though I found myself involuntarily touching my face while viewing some as certain parts - male reproductive organs, intestines - got me a bit queasy.

Some of the poses were quite artistic, not just in the posing, but in the way the inner parts were exposed. As they say, there are many ways to skin a cat. One man had rectangular sections cut out and slightly displaced, like a chest of drawers. Another's limbs and torso had alternating rings of skin and pared-back flesh.

But even more valuable to me were smaller displays. Some were things I'd never seen before, like one's diaphragm, and another's nasal cavity, things I could only imagine previously. There were also healthy and diseased organs and cross-sections, showing the effects of smoking and obesity among others.

I was really impressed viewing the circular systems of a lamb, a rooster, and a human head. I wondered at how you'd get just the blood vessels to keep their position, but realised that if you can plastinate an entire body, doing it for just blood vessels wouldn't be much different. I was also impressed with the colouring of the tissues overall - normally when one sees real tissues in a museum, it's just greyish.

After the exhibit, at lunchtime: "So, who'd like to get some ribs?"

Fringe Festival

This year I finally attended the Vancouver Fringe Festival, partly as atonement for missing Edinburgh's while we had the chance. My gateway was yesterday's showing of Kunst Rock (Art Rock) by Die Roten Punkt. I couldn't resist a show that takes the piss out of Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, rock operas, and more, and featured a clever Pixies parody. Plus a keytar, paired with a cowbell! My friend and I laughed ourselves hoarse.

I'll be making more time for next year's festival. I need to see more theater in general. I so enjoy the spirit of live performance, especially comedy.

Anniversary

Margo and I celebrated ten years together with a night out on Friday. We got a corner suite at the Sylvia Hotel in the West End, overlooking English Bay. I'd never been before but Margo had years ago. It's very charming, and the building is a historic landmark. I enjoyed the view of the bay and the people watching from the ground floor bar, and next morning at breakfast.

We had dinner at the nearby Boathouse restaurant. I steeled myself ordering wine, knowing we were paying about three times the shop price. The highlight was the sunset, which I wasn't expecting as the day had become completely overcast by dinnertime. But bands of clouds slowly acquired deepening colours and, as we talked, each time we noticed it, it got brighter and bolder, nicely framed in the restaurant's wall of windows. For twenty minutes fellow diners were standing and taking photos.

New Job!

This week I was contacted by the department head of the Social Service Worker program at Langara College in Vancouver. She wanted to know if I was available to teach a course this fall. It seems a colleague of mine from UBC now teaches in that program and recommended me for the position. I met with the team on Thursday and was so pleased to be offered the (part-time and temporary) position. The college is very nice - small, but it seems to have a full complement of facilities and support for faculty and students. The morning I interviewed, we made the rounds of the various offices and I was provided keys, a phone number, an office, my paperwork was pushed through, slaray point established, arrangements were made for a mail box etc - all in the course of less than 3 hours. All that was outstanding by the time I left campus was my computer account and login and my parking pass.

The program is a one-year entry level program, designed to prepare students for either direct work in the field, or for further education. All of the students move through the program as a cohort and it appears that a real emphasis is placed on teaching and on supporting student achievement and success. I am excited to see what it is like to work at a teaching-focused institution and, especially, to try out my teaching skills. This really seems like a terrific opportunity - I'll start on Tuesday participating in the student orientation with the other faculty, and then my first class will be on Friday. The course is a community practice course - not my focus area when I went to school, so I expect, as was often the case when I was a TA for a new course, that there will be a lot of learning involved for me, as well as for my students.

I will also continue to work as a Teaching Assistant and as  Research Assistant at UBC, as well as work on my own research, so I anticipate a busy autumn, and probably a very busy year. I don't mind really - I am just feeling relieved at this sign that there may actually be a career out there somewhere when I finish up with all of this education!