Miskatonic University Press

Room X

vagaries

I did my undergrad at Trinity College at the University of Toronto. I graduated in 1989, so it’s my thirtieth reunion this year. (Actually, I graduated in 1990, because I took five years to get a three-year degree. But at Trinity I’m 8T9.)

Because I’m a Trinity alumnus, I get the alum magazine, and the latest issue has a question and answer with Craig Kielburger, who is 0T7. (If you’re unfamiliar with Kielburger’s work, check out his Wikipedia entry or this CANADALAND podcast episode about his charity).

This is the picture that ran with the interview. I assume it’s from 2006–2007.

Copyright and attribution not known.
Copyright and attribution not known.

I thought: I know that room. That’s X! That’s my old room.

Here’s me in early 1989 in Room X in Angel’s Roost, so called because it’s the highest part of the Trinity student residence.

Copyright and attribution not known.
Copyright and attribution not known.

I’m lighting a Camel (I quit in 1998) and for some reason have dark pink paper in my Underwood manual typewriter, which I still own but haven’t used in years. The large oil painting behind me is by my grandfather, and it’s hanging on my wall at home today. The framed letter and old print in the top left are also hung. That copy of Game Theory is still on my bookshelves (and it’s in print from Dover if you want a newer edition). The Oxford World’s Classics paperback on my desk is The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, and I guess I was writing an essay about it. I don’t own it any more, but maybe I should reread it.

My desk is aligned differently than Kielburger had his—I didn’t want my back to the door—as was my bed: the TV and alarm clock in the lower left of the photo were at its foot. We both have stacks of books on our desks and photos taped to the walls. My fridge was by the door, to the right of where the photographers were standing.

I’d like to attend a reunion of people who lived in X over the years.