Can You Hear Me Now?

We’re on… Wednesday, September 19 ~

Tim called me in the morning after his meeting, and came to pick me up. I only knew Tim from our contact on MySpace and Facebook, and we have some mutual friends; for one, he used to play drums for Lobelia before she left Montreal (Lobelia, who I became great friends with while in Montreal last year, had a very busy year having to move from Montreal because she’s American and her Visa ran out, and then meeting her new love Steve, moving to England, touring all over Europe, etc. etc… she was supposed to be with us in Toronto and Montreal but health-related reasons kept her in London a bit longer. I was sooooooooo sad to miss seeing her!) Anyway, Tim is a very handsome man and talented writer/musician and you can check him out HERE.

We drove up to the spa Noelle owns with her mother. This was also my first time meeting Noelle in person, because last year she was in Los Angeles while I was in Montreal. We have several mutual friends, as well. Anyway, because of the death of her Aunt earlier that morning, the salon was closed and Noelle and her mom were just there making phone calls and re-scheduling clients. They are Jewish, so a death in the family means several days of “Shiva” and Yom Kippur was on Saturday… so it was, once again, not the best time for Noelle and I to be able to hang out. (Although, as she said, “there is no WAY I’m missing out on Saturday night!!)

The spa Noelle and her mother own is beautiful. Although they mainly do manicures, pedicures, massage, facials, etc. they DO sell things, as well. And I bought a bracelet, which it turns out was made by the Aunt that had just passed. So that felt nice, to have chosen that without knowing.

The four of us went over to a nearby restaurant for lunch. I spared Noelle and her mom from picture taking, because they were dressed in sweats and no make-up and I know they would BOTH kill me if I had photos and posted them. They are both gorgeous women and looked great to me, but, you know Jewish women and their vanity. Heh. I wanted one of the spa’s reception area, though, so I snuck this one and blacked out Noelle’s mom.

Over lunch, Noelle told me oodles of stories (because I asked and probed and asked and probed) about her time as a young Hollywood starlet. She grew up in L.A. and did a lot of acting, And has met almost everyone! She was on Buffy, Star Trek, Ellen, Beverly Hills 90210, all kinds of stuff. She moved to Dublin, Ireland for a few years, and that is where she started getting more into playing music (and partied with Johnny Depp OHMIGOD). She is also a photographer. Her website is right here and you can read all about that stuff and see how damn gorgeous she is. I picked up her CD while I was there, too!

After lunch we grabbed coffees at Tim Horton’s and went back to the spa. Noelle and her mom had lots of planning to do, so we didn’t stay too long. Tim drove me back to the hotel, where I rested for awhile before meeting up with my friend Patricia. First, I made sure to leave a key at the hotel reception desk for Emma, because she would be coming downtown and staying in the hotel with me the rest of the time. (She lives on the West Island and goes to school there). She would be bussing it down to the hotel sometime that evening.

Anyway, Patricia and I go back about 15 years. We were both involved with Carnival Diablo when it originated in Calgary in the early 90’s (now Scott is doing quite well with that show in the Toronto area!), and then a bunch of us left that and formed Virtual Insanity. Here is a picture of us from back in 1993:

That’s Patricia on the left in the back row, and I’m the blonde fuzz in front.

Patricia had a baby in 1996, I remember her being about 8 months pregnant at my 28th birthday party, and I remember meeting her son Sage when he was about two, but then they moved to Montreal. We lost touch and reconnected on Facebook! It was perfect timing, because I found her on Facebook not too long before I was going on my trip.

Anyway, I brought my wheelchair so we could wander around after dinner, and caught a cab to meet them in Mile End at Cafe Depanneur.

We had a lovely dinner and caught up on life. Patricia is super busy, working at a studio (she’s always been involved in the Arts, Theatre), going to school and being a single mom. Sage is 11 now and GORGEOUS. What a sweetie, I fell in love with that kid! After dinner we wandered around the neighbourhood and found a cafe where I could finally get a latte. (Cafe Depanneur kept forgetting to bring me one and we just gave up and decided to go elsewhere for dessert). We ate pastry and drank coffees and took pictures:

More pictures of our meeting on Facebook

Patricia’s friend Annie was hosting a launch party for her art magazine, Les Fleurs du Mal, not too far from where we were. It was supposed to be accessible, so we wandered over there. It turned out to be inside a building with a large concrete step out front (for which Annie apologized profusely). We could have gotten me and my chair up and over it with some assistance. However, I wasn’t much in the mood for mingling and meeting new people, so I sent Patricia inside what appeared to be a very cool party with lots of interactive stuff going on, to say her hellos to friends, and I stayed outside with Sage. There were lots of people mingling outside, as well, and we were brought food! Sage was so sweet… when his mom asked me if I wanted to stay or go, I answered “I’m not really in the mood for a loud party and meeting new people and stuff, to be honest…” so when she went inside by herself, Sage told me “I feel the same way and would have said the exact same thing, if she had asked me”. Hee!

After hanging out there for awhile, we left to find a busy street where we could flag down cabs. I guess it was about 9:30 p.m. when I got back to the hotel, and experienced the favourite moment of my entire trip. As I slipped my key card in the door and opened it, Emma came RACING over to me and gave me a huge, giant hug. It was awesome.

Pictures on Facebook.