Can You Hear Me Now?

ETA: I changed the Phantoms video at the bottom, because I realized as much as I love “Target”, it doesn’t have Jerome on harmonica in it, and that’s kind of important to me!

Friday, September 14

The day began, if I recall correctly, with Gaby and Emma going out to get coffee and bagels from Tim Horton’s. (I tell ya, those two were a great help to me and I was lucky to have them there!) I think after eating and getting dressed and everything we went down to the computer area on the main floor. I was under the impression that every time we logged in with my name and room number that I was being charged $7/hour. Turns out, it was free for hotel guests!! Otherwise we would have spent more time online.

Anyway, around 1:00 Gaby and Emma wheeled me outside and we headed to Rob and Cath’s place, which was pretty darn close. They live in a great area (and in the same building as Scott and Stacey, so you can’t go wrong there!) Cath was at work, so us girl’s took over the apartment while Rob made us tea and served a variety of cheeses with rice crackers. With all of his allergies, Rob had a couple different kinds of goat cheese (I didn’t even know there was a Goat Brie!!) for himself and Emma. I ate the smelly cheese. I love EXTRA EXTRA OLD cheddar and blue cheese!

On the way over to Rob’s we had passed by the Rex, where the Hogtown Syncopators play every Friday at 4:00. I knew this, of course, because Terra is was a member and I post her show dates on her website. I had forgotten that I recently took down that particular gig because she no longer does it. So that day I was all set on us going to the Rex at 4:00 to see Terra. (At this point I figured it may be my only chance to see her while in Toronto… turns out I didn’t get to see her at all, which is too bad, because I was really looking forward to hanging with her and shopping!) Anyway, I managed to cry and whine talk Rob into heading down there with us. Once there, we realized that Terra wasn’t joining them, so we left. Which was rude (”oh? Terra’s not with you? Uh - okaybyethen”), because Rob knew the guitarist and he felt rather foolish just walking out, plus they are a great band and any other time I would love to see them. But I really was just hoping to see Terra and we didn’t have a lot of time.

So instead we wandered down to the bus depot so Rob could buy a bus ticket for Cath (or, I should say, so Emma could get it for him at her student discount rate!) where I met a man riding around on his very beat up and tattered scooter. The exact same make of scooter I have at home, but in blue. He started talking to me about scooters and health and the government (”they won’t get me a new scooter because I’m terminal”). He looked pretty beaten down by life (and alcohol).

After that, Rob walked us back to the hotel. We went up to our room to freshen up. Gaby and Emma were going for dinner with Peter at Sneaky Dees, followed by seeing Adam’s band at Mitzi’s Sister. I was heading out with my friend Anna-Marie and her boyfriend for dinner, and to see my old friend Jerome Godboo’s show at Healey’s Roadhouse for his CD release. I sooooo wish I could have been in two places at once that night!!

So the original plan was that Anna-Marie and Edwin would pick me up, and we’d head straight down to Healey’s for supper first and guarantee us a great table. However, Healey’s hasn’t completely renovated (they are in a new location) so the kitchen isn’t open yet! The first plan was to maybe stop in Wayne Gretzky’s across the street for dinner -

but instead we decided to just go into Healey’s, get a good table, order pizza from a place across the street and bring it into Healey’s to eat. The staff said that would be fine! We were also on the guest list, so I thinked that helped.

Anna-Marie and Edwin

The show was fantastic. Seeing Jerome again was fantastic. Jerome’s partner Jane is fantastic. She was handing out packages of bean seeds to everyone that bought a CD! There is a song on it called “Beans”, inspired by Jane’s work, which involves workshops and advice on organic and diversity gardening. She wrote a “Bean Keeper’s” story that teaches children why, and how to grow, rare beans. If you knew Jerome like I do, you would know that Jane is the perfect woman for him! She also used to go see the Phantoms back in the late 80’s… I told her we probably crossed paths back then!

Anyway, you can see pictures from that night in Facebook and watch this clip; I was right in front, so the sound quality didn’t come across on video very well:

Also, for anyone curious, I was very happy to find that former Phantom Big Ben Richardson uploaded a whole whack of old Phantoms videos and interviews up on You Tube! To see Jerome about 15 years ago, check out one of my favourite videos here, One Way Street (then see “more from this user” on You Tube for lots more!!)

So that was Friday! Don’t forget to see all the photos that aren’t posted here, in my Facebook album.

Okay, I am finally getting around to this! I have decided to post the public links to my Facebook pictures, because they don’t show the “tags” I gave people (with their last names) or the comments people have left (with their last names), so it is sort of private. If any of the people in the photos have a problem with that, let me know and I’ll take down the links! It’s just way easier to do that than upload all the photos here. Although, I will upload some here that never made it there.

Anyway.

My flight arrived in Toronto (Wednesday, September 12) a few minutes early, and at a different gate than was originally announced. As I waited for Rob and Emma to get me, I thought maybe they went to the wrong gate? Because… they wouldn’t be late or anything. I called Rob. “Where are you??” “We’re almost there! Uh - Emma held us up by getting arrested for drinking and causing a public disturbance.” Ahhhh, that Emma. I asked him if he knew what gate I was at, and he said “C”, which was the old gate. “No, I’m at gate B. B as in BASTARD.” Heh.

So the car pulled up, and out hopped Rob and Emma for big hugs, followed by Gaby! Gaby is a good friend of Emma’s who came with her from Montreal. Which was great and all, but… there would be 4 of us in the car… PLUS my big suitcase and WALKER… yikes! I don’t know how they managed to do it, but we all fit. Gaby had to become very intimate with my walker in the back seat, but if you recall, she was perching last year in Montreal, so she’s flexible enough!

Rob drove us all to the Sheraton Centre hotel, which would be home for the next few days. Gaby was staying at Lindy’s that night, but would be there with Emma and I the rest of the time. That’s right, I shared my hotel room with two 18 year old girls. They giggle lots. Oh, and they make awesome slaves helpers.

Once we got to the hotel, we said our goodbye’s to Rob until tomorrow, checked in and got settled. Then I needed to EAT something, (my day had consisted of a latte, a small bag of crackers, and 2 shortbread cookies) and since my wheelchair rental wasn’t being delivered until the following morning, we took a cab to Gaby and Emma’s favourite restaurant several blocks away. The Java House has great food at awesome prices and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a place to stop in while wandering around Queen Street West in Toronto (which we should all do at least 10 times in our lifetime).

Gaby had breakfast for dinner and I laughed at how she ate her eggs.

After dinner we popped into the Second Cup across the street for lattes, of course.

Mark (?) made icky, cold lattes. Some people just don’t have the touch, you know?

Then it was back to the hotel, where I crashed. I should have been wide awake, considering I was on Calgary time (2 hours earlier), but no. Long, uncomfortable day on a plane. (Could those seats be any smaller? And why stick me in bulkhead, where the arms don’t go up, and I’m wedged between two metal panels, bruising my thighs and unable to move? “Oh, we like to put our wheelchair passengers in the bulkhead for the leg room”. Well, that’s nice and all, but I need ASS ROOM!!)

Anyway. Emma and Gaby went out while I just lied in bed and rested. The beds in that room were great! Emma was back around 11:00 pm, having left Gaby to spend the night at Lindy’s house. We chatted and slept…

Thursday

After we got up and dressed, we went to explore the food court/mall level of the hotel. The Continental Breakfast at the hotel was $17/person, so we were skipping that one. We won’t even talk about room service prices, but let’s just say that did not happen. Late night pizza-ordering or hot dogs from street vendors at 2:00 am are more our style.

My rental wheelchair had arrived, so we headed downstairs. There were coffee and bagels to be had in the food court!

Where we ate breakfast. Emma texting Gaby to find out when we’d all be meeting up.

I think it was around 1:30 when Lindy and Gaby picked us up, and we went to a little place called Aunties and Uncles for brunch (Lindy’s breakfast, our lunch. He IS a musician, you know).

The rest of these pictures are in the Facebook album linked at the end. I’m only uploading ones here that aren’t in there!

Like these ones, of us driving around the city a bit after we ate. During which, Lindy played us all sorts of music… new stuff of his and Major Maker’s, old stuff he had never released… it was sooooo cool. I even guessed “that sounds like you in about 1998-99…” and I was right! Heh.

Sneaky Dees, an old hangout of mine!

We stopped at a studio where Lindy had to pick up a copy of Major Maker’s unmastered disc to Fedex to LA. I took a picture of the house next door because I WANT IT.

We ended up at the West Beaches where we spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on a patio, enjoying the view and a beer.

More pictures on Facebook

So, that was a perfect day. And it didn’t stop there! Lindy dropped us back at the hotel, and we all got ready for the big night out for Scott Cooper’s CD release show at the Supermarket. Gaby and Emma were the merchandise gals, so they headed down earlier than me to set up. Rob, being the complete and utter sweetheart and gentleman he is, called me. “Do you need a ride to the show? Because I would love to give you one”. Aw. So Rob picked me up, and I left my walker in his trunk so I would just use my cane inside. I knew it would be crowded and tight, and there would be plenty of things/people to hang onto!

Once inside, the first people I saw (and met) were my friend Gail and her boyfriend Loren. Gail and I met through this here blog, and have been emailing back and forth for many months. So it was great to finally meet in person, and we hit it off! The woman started by giving me the rest of her rich and delectable chocolate dessert that she was unable to finish, so, you know, how could I not love her? Loren got us a great table right in front, while I mingled and met a bunch of other people I’d been dying to meet… Coop’s wife Stacey, Caroline, Catherine, Colin… and of course getting big hugs from Scott, Adam, Alex (Scott’s band that night was the same one Rob had at the South Country Fair, except Rob and Scott traded places, and with the addition of Dean Drouillard on guitar. Oh, and Caroline-the-amazing-and-lovely-Brooks on vocals, who also plays with the Good Lovelies, the opening act). Got all that? Lots of people. Lots of amazing music and talent and hotness and they are all good friends with each other and it ROCKS what amazing people they all are. I was blown away. I am sooooo lucky to be able to call them all my friends, too.

Peter Katz was also there to see the show. LOVE him. And I very briefly met Adam’s girlfriend Lisa. Too briefly. And Gail (sorry, I mean her cat, Pollyanna) gave me a Sigg water bottle! And Scott gave me a shout out from the stage! The show was FANTASTIC and Scott’s new CD (”Tiny Increments“) is sooooooo good it almost makes me cry.

After the show there was much talking and hugging and picture taking. (Pictures from that night on Facebook!) We stood outside for awhile discussing the who-was-riding-with-who situation (Peter gave us a ride back) and I’m not sure if you have ever experienced Kensington Market in Toronto during the late night/early morning hours… but all kinds of memories of me wandering through Kensington at 2:00 in the morning when I was 19 came flooding back to me as the smell TOOK OVER MY BODY AND CONSUMED ME TO THE CORE. That is some GROSS garbage on the streets, there. It is truly a disgusting stench on those sidewalks, but part of Kensington’s “charm”, I guess. Ha

So that was Day One. Are you tired yet?

All my Toronto pictures are in this Facebook album. So you even get a look ahead at the coming days I haven’t written about yet! If you’re not on Facebook (or my friend on there) you can still view these, just without names and comments from others!

More to come…

Oh yes, and here is Lindy in Major Maker’s very fun and silly video for Rollercoaster!! Request it at a radio station near you and buy it on iTunes

I am HOME!! And I am TIRED! I’m going to miss everyone a lot, but I have to admit it is good to be back in my own place with my own bed and my CATS. Ohmigod, my cats!! I missed them soooo much! I didn’t realize that would happen (to the extent it did). I missed them more the 12 days I was gone than I did during the 9 weeks I was in hospitals last year! I guess because they were new to me at that time, and now that I’ve been hanging with them for well over a year, I’m so much closer to them. And that much more of a suck. Ahhh, I missed my babies!!

I also realized, the second I got off the plane and was using my walker again, that my right foot lifted up better than it did during my trip. It was like… as soon as I hit the cool, dry air in Calgary, my body responded with “YAY!”. I didn’t think the humidity out there was bad at all, and I *felt* fine, but I guess my body knows what it likes better than me. It did not like walking in Ontario and Quebec at all.

While I was in Toronto, some assholes put a debit card reader in a bank machine I used, (I’m assuming), and then went and did a bunch of stuff. Luckily, I had taken out most of my cash anyway… they stole about $100 from me before they realized I’m not rich, so they deposited a blank envelope for over $1,000 and then took out $500 (my maximum withdrawal/day. It used to be $1,000 but my bank changed it recently for this very reason!) By that point my bank realized I was in Montreal doing stuff, and the fraud was going on in Mississauga, ON on Sept. 20, so they froze my card. I realized this when I was trying to log onto my online banking to check my balance (because my last ATM withdrawal receipt looked about $100 short, so I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just my imagination). When I couldn’t log on, I called the bank and they told me. Woah, that has never happened to me before! Now I have to go to the bank and get a new card and sign forms and stuff to start the investigation.

Anyway. Today I’m taking it very easy. Going to the post office to pick up the 45365762346 things that arrived from eBay while I was gone, and to buy my soy milk so I can get back into latte-making tomorrow. I have 6 million photos and videos to go through, crop, edit, etc. before I’ll start uploading them along with all the stories of my adventures in Toronto and Montreal. I had so much fun with everyone! I met so many great people I’ve been wanting to meet!! I have the most gracious, wonderful and helpful friends on earth. I hugged so many people so many times I lost track. LOVE. (Extra hugs to Emma… miss you!)

If you’re my Facebook friend, the pictures will probably go there first (and more of them) ’cause that’s just easier.

Stay tuned for… Toronto 2007 Part One!

Pita waits for my pictures to show up on Facebook

Sending love out to all who died, their families, American friends and all affected by the tragedy of September 11, 2001.

And oh yeah, please Impeach Bush.

I am so very excited about leaving for my trip tomorrow morning, but a little peeved that so many of the items I ordered off eBay and expected to receive by now haven’t shown up. That includes the top in the picture a couple entries down… so paying extra shipping to get that here faster didn’t do me any good! I also didn’t receive all the Crocs and shoes I was planning to wear, execpt the Mary Jane Crocs. Cross border shipping is sooooo slow!! Well, it is on this end. The stuff I sent TO the U.S. is arriving in good time. It’s probably because, like every other business in this city, Canada Post is understaffed, too.

Speaking of service sucking, I ordered some food in last night. It was the third time I have ordered from this place that they forgot a little 99 cent side item. Not a big deal, but it’s a pisser offer and after a few times it starts to add up. So I called them and told them I don’t normally complain about this, but it was the third time they forgot. The customer service guy offered me a $3.00 credit towards my next order, and told me they would get one out to me “right away”. Half an hour later, when it still hadn’t arrived, I called them back and told them not to worry about it… “it’s been half an hour and I’m done eating now, there is no point”. She apologized and hung up on me.

Fast forward to 10:30 at night, and I was almost in bed. There was a buzz at my door. I thought… noooo way!… and ignored it, because you can’t have a conversation through those intercoms anyway and I wasn’t letting them in. There were two more buzzes, and then my phone rang. It was the restaurant. “We have a delivery for you?” I told them I had cancelled it a couple hours before… “oh my!” he said. Yeah.

And the thing is, there is no one to complain to, and no point, because all you get is “I’m so sorry ma’am” from an 18 year old customer service manager who doesn’t speak English and has only been with the company for 2 weeks himslf.

WHY do we live here. WHY, WHY, WHY, when there are perfectly good small towns nearby where housing is affordable and everyone gives you great service, either because they truly care, or because they know they’re going to see you at the market the next day? If Jason would let me live with him I would move to Carstairs in a heartbeat. Or to Didsbury and live with his parents. OMG that would be so fun!!! I want to be adopted by the Valleaus. (But still have my mom. I love you, mom).

There is a Fan Club for me on Facebook (courtesy of dear Emma) and there are almost 50 members. That’s right. ALMOST FIFTY. There are close to 50 people on this planet who would buy my CD should I choose to record one.

Jeremy Fisher is one of them.. Freakin’ JEREMY FISHER joined MY fan club.

I got a pedicure today, because, you know, I’m going on a trip, so I want nice toes. That being said, because MY SHOES DIDN’T SHOW UP, no one’s going to see them anyway, because the 3 pairs of shoes I will be taking are closed toe.

The past few days I finally got around to watching Season 3 of Arrested Development. Oh. My. God. SOOO funny! Better than the first two seasons combined. Awesome. I just… get that show. Just like The Office. It’s not for everyone, but when you get it, man, you literally burst at the seams from laughing.

Well, my brother is on his way over to help me pack and stuff. I’ll see you in a couple weeks, with loads of stories and pictures!!

Pepper shows off her assets.

Pita shows of hers.

Eeeeeeeee!!!!

Planning the Great Escape?

Okay, so, the past 24 hours have kinda sucked.

It started yesterday afternoon when I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few groceries. I usually use the self checkout, of which there are 4 stands. One line-up, and you just wait for the next available checkout stand. So I was ringing my things through and almost finished, when I hear the woman next in line say “excuse me ma’am, you have to go to the back of the line, it’s all one line - you don’t stand behind a specific till.” I looked over and saw the woman she was talking to. She yelled “who the hell are YOU?! You can’t tell me what to do!!” and the woman behind me got defensive and said “get to the back of the line! You can’t butt ahead, you’re no one special” and the other one said “and YOU ARE?? And YOU ARE?? Who are YOU??!!?” I then piped up and told the woman behind me I was almost done, and to come on over… and told the troublemaker “she’s right, you know, it’s one line and you need to go to the back,” to which she responded “SHUT YOUR FUCKING WHITE-ASS MOUTH, BITCH!! YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” I was done bagging my stuff so I just scootered right on out of there. It was only when I was half-way down the mall that I remembered I had used the “cash back” feature on the debit machine and requested $40. In all the commotion I totally forgot my money!! I raced back there, but too late. The cash was gone from the slot, and the woman who used the till after me was nowhere to be seen.

ARGH!!!

Today I slept in. Yeah, so, no big deal, just had a hair appointment at 1:00. So after I got dressed for that I checked my email and eBay stuff. I had left negative feedback for a woman last night who WAY overcharged me for shipping (I don’t normally care too much, because we’re not only paying the cost to ship, but for their time and materials and stuff, so a few bucks more is no biggie). But $10 over was too much, plus she advertised her Crocs as BRAND NEW and what I received had obviously been worn. Anyway, I left negative feedback so of course she left me negative feedback, saying “watch out for Canadians!! Refund offered and still left negative. Not nice.” and rebuffed my negative feedback by saying she offered a refund. SO not true. I had emailed her before I left the feedback and all I got back from her was a rude email, telling me I’m “too picky”.

So my day started out with me in a bad mood. And you know what they say in The Secret and all that, we create our world with our thoughts, and if you’re in a bitchy mood to begin your day, things just spiral. So 20 minutes before I needed to leave for my hair appointment, I lost my balance and fell backwards on my ass. Scraped my hand pretty bad:

There is a lovely bump and bruise forming there and it hurts like hell to touch!

but I think that’s all. It just shook me up. I didn’t really have time to regain my composure when I managed to get myself up; I wiped the tears from my eyes and got on my scooter to leave. I backed it up, and the walker carrier on the back of my scooter attached itself to my TV stand and DRAGGED MY TV ACROSS THE ROOM. I’ve been soooo careful when backing up not to hit my TV since I got that walker carrier, it sticks out pretty far. But I guess I was too flustered today.

Hello there, you belong in the corner. You’re also supposed to be a 52″ flat screen.

So. Yes. Great day so far, huh?

Then I got my hair done, so let’s hope things turn around now, because I think that worked out well:

I think I’m attempting a “look down like a mysterious temptress” look. Ahem.

So anyway, a couple lattes and a voice mail message from my buddy Jason later, I’m feeling better. Tonight I’m going to watch a movie and go to bed early… and hope for a better day tomorrow!!

Pepper is SO going there.

“Mmmmm…. paper…..”

Boxy but Good

We interupt regular blogging activity to advise you of the following:

I know I swore off eBay and buying more clothes, but this top?? Pretty much the most beautiful item of clothing I have ever seen. And I got it for under $25, which is a lot more expensive than other tops I’ve bought from there, but come ON! It’s still a steal. I had to fight in a bidding war to win it, and I hope to God it fits. I asked the seller to ship it Priority 5 days so I can have it for my trip. Which means it cost even more, but I DON’T CARE. Gorgeous.

You may now resume your regular activities.

My friend Russ came over on Monday night with the intent of helping me get my new computer set up and transferring files from this old thing to my new hard drive and all that stuff. Why aren’t things ever as easy as they should be?? The external hard drive my brother lent me was not the kind Russ thought it was going to be, so there was some fussing about to get that set up. Then we started copying files, and went out to the living room to watch some TV for a bit, not knowing how long it would take at that point. Russ said it actually might take several hours, so he would come back the next night after work to finish up.

About half an hour later, we went into my office to check the status, and it had stopped altogether. I forgot my computer is set up to go into stand by mode after a certain amount of time and that cut the transferring off. So he started it over, and left, because there was no sense in sitting around here waiting, it was already 9:00.

I went back into my office, and there was an error message on my screen. The external hard drive didn’t like some of the files I was transferring. In the end, I stayed up until 1:30 a.m. transferring files folder by folder, so I could catch the error messages, delete whatever file it was, and then copy the rest of that folder without having to start ALL over. This went on the next day as well… it took me most of Tuesday to finish it up.

Then I get the call from Russ… he had to work late! Damn responsibility! No worries, there is always the next day. Which was Wednesday, and Russ called me and told me he was sick… bronchitis. Which, of course, is not only contagious, but can turn into pneumonia if not taken care of!! So, now it’s Sunday, and I think Russ is over the worst of it. I haven’t heard from him yet, but I’m hoping he will be able to make it by tomorrow. In the meantime, I will have a bunch of files to transfer over again, because I’ve got another week’s worth of work and stuff I’ve been doing. I hope it’s all over and done with soon, I want to be working and playing on my new computer!!!

I received my Mary Jane style Crocs on Friday. I love them! I hope I get the other ones before I leave for Toronto and Montreal. I’m selling one pair of my Crocs on eBay, and they’re already up to $19.50 US. (I started the bidding at $10). Not bad, considering they’re used! The other shoes I’m selling have no bids on them. Crocs will always sell! The clothes I put up have sold/are selling. Everything ends by tomorrow night, and I’m hoping a couple things sell for a bit higher. One woman has bid on and is so far winning 4 of my things! She lives in Canada, which sucks for her, because shipping within Canada is way more expensive than shipping to the US.

Oh, and my latest eBay phase is Philosophy products. Yes, I am going to smell like freshly baked cinnamon buns or gingerbread or vanilla birthday cake with chocolate frosting and YOU’RE NOT! But I’m done now, I swear. No sense in ordering things that won’t arrive before I leave for vacation, right? As it is, some stuff will arrive while I’m away because the post is soooooo slow.

Pita is a BRAT. The cutest, sweetest, friendliest brat ever, but a brat nonetheless. Here’s what she did NOW. I like to keep those toys around that are a bird or mouse or feathers or something that hangs from those elastic strings, and provide hours of entertainment for everyone involved. The problem with Pita is, she MUST chew the toy off the end of the string. Which ruins everything, and leaves her with a useless toy that doesn’t do anything fun. (Except the chirping bird one Lisa got them - oh, my, when Pita finally chewed that one off, the bird still chirped when she tapped it, so both cats had a lot of fun racing around with that. But I don’t know where it ended up, haven’t seen it for weeks). Anyway, I was all out of the toys on strings, and I like to have at least one, that I keep in a drawer. I will keep Pita from chewing it off for as long as possible. I picked one up the other day, a blue fish one. It was in plastic packaging, but the fish part was loose on the outside of the package. I had it in a bag with a few other things, and when I pulled it out of my scooter basket, I put it on the sofa… to be put away whenever energy returned or I felt like it. I made sure the toy was tucked under the other stuff, and the bag was closed.

Can you guess what happened?? The next day I went out, and when I came home, there was a blue fish on the floor. The rest of the package was in another area of the apartment, on the floor. She found the toy inside the bag and chewed the damn fish right off the string before it was even out of the package!! B-RAT!!!!

It’s the Evil Eye of the B-Rat

Rob Szabo is heading out West again with Peter Katz. Yaaay!!! They’re calling this the “Lanky Wimps Tour”. I’m so lucky I get to see them in Toronto in a week and a half, and then again a month later here. I’m sooooo excited about my trip!! Do you remember, back in September ‘04 I went to Toronto, and after I had booked my flight and everything, I found out my friend Jerome Godboo was having a CD release party at Healey’s?? Yes. Well. GUESS WHAT!? I just found out the other day that Jerome is having a new CD release party at Jeff Healey’s Roadhouse on the Friday I am in Toronto. HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!?! It’s so kind of Jerome to make it a habit of releasing a CD for me when I come to Toronto.

This trip is going to be so incredible. Toronto is going to be such a whirlwind, I have so many people to see and so much to do in such a short amount of time. I’m going to have to do many entries when I get back!! Montreal will be a little more peaceful, I don’t know as many people there, so until the weekend when Scott, Caroline and Lobelia are there, the days and nights will be spent hanging out with Emma, Gaby, Noelle and Tim (the latter two I’ll finally meet in person!) and some of their other music friends! It’s going to be tons ‘o fun.

Oh yeah, I first brought up Rob and Peter goig on their Western tour because I have to get started on some promo for that. If you have any media contacts in Western Canada let me know!! Check their websites for details if you live out this way and want to check them out; they’ll be here in Calgary on October 20 at the Ironwood!!! Oh, and even if you’re not out this way, check out their websites for tour dates. You never know, they could be near! Rob will be in NYC on Sept. 28 and Johnstown, PA on Oct. 6. The man never takes a break!

And I shall leave you with Peter Katz’s video for “Forgiveness”, because it’s awesome, and has an inspiring message. Listen carefully!