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.

Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I’ve fallen WAY behind. I haven’t written my usual rambling blog for weeks, and I still owe you the details of my trip to Montreal. My bad. It’s just that I’m in another phase where I have so much work to do, I don’t want to spend time at the computer writing in here when there is Facebook and shopping on eBay to be done (our dollar is so good right now, I’m almost finished my Christmas shopping!)

Okay, so, let’s get to Montreal.

Monday, September 17

Emma, Gaby and myself get up fairly early, finish packing, check out of the Toronto hotel and cab it to the bus depot. I take a seat right in the front, Gaby and Emma sit behind me. I’m hoping the seat beside me stays empty, because that’s always nice. Then I see a woman out the window arrive at the bus with all her clothes and things in a clear plastic garbage bag. She hands her bag to the driver to load with the other baggage, apologizing “I don’t usually travel like this, but…” and climbs the stairs. Naturally, she sits next to me.

Most of the trip was uneventful, a stop at Tim Horton’s for lunch and coffee… I like to travel by bus, I have decided, the seats are way more comfortable than airplanes. The lady next to me snacks on processed cheese slices, unwrapping them and munching directly off the plastic rather than peeling the slice off with her hands. It was a sight to behold… rather, uh, dog-like. Lucky for me, she got off in Kingston, ON and the rest of the trip (another 3 hours, I think?) I had the two seats to myself.

Emma got off the bus at the first Montreal stop, because it is closer to her house. Gaby lives downtown, so she would get off at the downtown stop with me and cab to my hotel to help get me settled. It was around 7:30 pm when we arrived at the bus depot. We got a cab, got to my hotel, and I’m really thankful Gaby was there because the whole hotel-situation was not as accessible as I’d hoped it would be. From where the cab could park to the hotel doors there were several curbs we had to go up and over because of a bike path in front. Then the hotel itself… well, I had received a call saying they were not “wheelchair accessible… our doors are not wider or anything… but we are handicapped accessible”. To me, that is pretty much the same thing. To them, that means they put one bar in the shower and that’s it. Even to walk in the door of the hotel room there is a raised piece of wood to get over.

Anyway, the room was really cute otherwise… a little kitchen and everything. Full fridge, stove, microwave… but the toilet was LOW and no bar to help me get up from it. I broke the counter behind the toilet the first night by pushing down on it to get up. Oops. Gaby went home after I got settled and I went to bed!

Tuesday

Tuesday pretty much sucked. I was on my own all day, because Emma and Gaby have school, and I hadn’t made plans to meet Tim and Noelle yet, or my friend Patricia. So I made a few calls that day and left messages with people, planned to meet Tim and Patricia the following day, and decided to do a load of laundry using the coin laundry facilities I knew the hotel had. I needed clean underwear and pajamas! First I took a shower and almost fell in the bathroom because of the lack of bars/poles and SPACE. I had to have my walker in there as something to steady myself as I came out of the shower. That meant there wasn’t exactly room for me.

I rounded up my change and went down to the laundry room floor. Steaming hot down there. HUGE step with no railing to go up and over to get into the laundry room, while struggling with a heavy door. Of course I had no soap, so I purchased a little package of Tide and a Bounce sheet out of their machine. Instead of a Bounce sheet, I received a liquid fabric softener. CRAP! I don’t even know how to use liquid fabric softener! Final rinse cycle… when is that?? Heh. It meant I had to sit in that steaming hot room and wait. I was not happy, but at least while my things were in the dryer I could leave for a bit and use the computers with free internet access on another floor. A floor with air conditioning. (Oh yes, the air conditioning in my hotel room was awesome, I’ll say that!!)

After laundry and computer time, I decided to venture outside of my hotel and see if there was a store really close by where I could buy a few groceries and snacks. And get a good coffee, or even a latte if I could be so lucky. Oh, yes, this hotel kitchen had TINY tea cups for drinking your coffee out of. NO THANKS. I wanted to get a big coffee in a big cup that I could use again tomorrow!

There was a store nearby, so I headed over there, stepping over and around all kinds of construction and boards. I walked in the store and… 3 big stairs, no railing. The coffee machine was right by the door, thankfully. I did manage to get myself and my walker up the stairs (at least they were wide) but once there, I had no idea what to buy. I don’t even know what language the things in this shop were. It certainly wasn’t French. There was a deli case with meats and cheese, but I was looking for bread, peanut butter, that sort of easy food. I did see a jar of Nutella, so I bought that. No bread, so I bought what looked like round breadsticks I could dip in Nutella. I also bought some sort of what appeared to be chocolate wafer cookies. Nothing was written in any language I recognized, so I went by the pictures.

I paid for my goods and a large coffee, went to the machine to get it, and tried to follow the instructions that were in French. Luckily it was a similar machine to one they had at the Carewest place I was in last year, so I managed to get my coffee. Then I had to stumble back to my hotel over curbs, curbs, construction and more curbs without spilling said coffee. It was then (once back inside my room) that I noticed the expiry dates on everything I had bought were long gone. The chocolate wafers were stale. The breadsticks were hard as rocks. I didn’t even open the jar of Nutella that expired in 2005, but I doubt that stuff goes bad anyway. I was just so pissed off and tired that I didn’t care at that moment. I ate some stale chocolate wafers (or, wafer… it was one big slab, not cut up like cookies) and threw the rest away.

I left another message with Noelle about maybe meeting for dinner that night. I texted Gaby to see if she could come meet me, but she had too much school work to do (she sort of slacked off homework in Toronto). Emma wasn’t going to be able to come over and stay with me until the following night. So, after a certain amount of time passed and I knew I’d be on my own for dinner, I decided to treat myself to a lovely meal at what was supposed to be a “fine dining French cuisine” elegant restaurant at the base of my hotel. I wandered in and sat at a cute little table with crisp white linens. A guy in faded jeans and a sweatshirt (?) came over and asked if he could help me. I asked to see a menu. “We have no cook tonight.” Excuse me? “The cook did not show up tonight. I am the bartender, no one else is here. I can make you chicken and fries, that’s all I can do.”

**insert hysterical laughter or tears here**

So, I ordered the chicken and fries. And you know what? It was the best damn chicken and fries I’ve ever had. The chicken breast was HUGE, grilled to perfection, perfect spices, and the fries were crisp and hot. That poor bartender was on his own making and serving drinks, handling the cooking of chicken and fries for anyone who wanted it, while trying to explain to hungry irate customers that there was no cook that evening. I gave him a MASSIVE tip.

When I got back up to my room, there was a message from Noelle saying she had just come home from the hospital, as that is where they have been spending most of their time… her aunt is very sick with lung cancer. So I called her and we chatted for awhile, and I heard about the sad state of her aunt’s health, who, by the way, passed away early the following morning. In July she had been in perfect health, dancing at a wedding, looking vibrant and healthy… in August she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and then she was gone September 19. 70 years old.

Wednesday

I’ll get back to this later! I actually started doing stuff with other people on the Wednesday. I know so far it sounds like I had such an exciting time hanging out in my hotel in such a beautiful and exciting city like Montreal. Go me!

You can see all the pictures from Montreal part of my trip in my public Facebook album.

Pita checks out all the new CDs I bought from the indie artists I saw while I was away.

One of Pita’s regular hangouts is my walker… seriously she is on that thing several times/day. I have the only walker in the world losing its padded handles to claw marks.

Saturday, September 15

Our day began once again with breakfast in the mall of the hotel concourse. There is a stand with Seattle’s Best coffee down there, have I mentioned that??

I think I have the days mixed up here, because according to my photos and what I was wearing, it was Friday we went to the Bay and tried on hats and I raided the MAC counter. Yes. So what did we do Saturday? Because I wasn’t picked up until about 2:30. So I’ll say… we went to the Bay, tried on silly hats, Gaby bought a really cute one, and I raided the MAC counter, buying mascara, lipstick and lip gloss. MAC rules. But the mascara stings my eyes, just like the Estee Lauder brands, which owns MAC, so there is something in their mascaras that my eyes don’t like. But every other part of my face likes MAC make-up.

Gail and Loren picked me up in the afternoon and Loren dropped Gail and I off on Roncesvalles for the Polish Street Festival while he took off to run other errands. It was great fun, especially the parts where we had to get me in my wheelchair over all the damn streetcar tracks!! Heh. I bought a few things, surprise SURPRISE. Mainly some handmade jewelry, and some $10 sunglasses that are designer rip-offs. I had forgotten my sunglasses at home, and actually looked for a pair in the Bay, but I wasn’t about to pay $100 when I knew I would be able to get some for $10 from a street vendor at some point!

Roncesvalles Village - Polish Street Festival

We also stopped at a wonderful vendor, The Queen of Tarts, where Gail talked me into buying a bag of ginger-encrusted pecans. She says she goes out of her way once in awhile to come buy these… and, I can see why. They were delicious, AND they helped my menstrual cramps!! (Ginger is great for that, and what a tasty way to get it!) I need one bag/month! I should have bought a year’s supply or so.

After roaming the street fair (pictures in Facebook) we stopped at a cute coffee shop called Coffee and All That Jazz for lattes and pastry while waiting for Loren.

Another day, another coffee shop

Then we went back to Gail’s place so I could see her condo and meet her cat, Pollyanna.

Pretty girl! Thanks for the Sigg water bottle!

We chatted and drank some yummy chocolate liqueur… I don’t remember the brand, but it was amazing! I also called my mom from Gail’s place… I wasn’t even aware Looney call existed. YAY! You learn something new every day…

Then it was off to meet my cousin Carrie and her boyfriend Matt for dinner at Dr. G’s. It was a great choice. Gail and Loren go there a lot, and when Carrie was trying to think of a restaurant nearby her that was accessible, Dr. Generosity was near the top of her list, too. So that worked great. AND they had my beer on tap, Big Rock’s Grasshopper, which you don’t see very often East of Calgary! (Pictures inFacebook, even of my beer).

It was an early night, and I was back at the hotel and in bed by about 10:00. Gaby and Emma had gone to see a dance performance by Peter’s girlfriend Andrea, and came back later than me.

Sunday was Lazy Day. I needed the rest! I did some packing, puttered on the computer, wheeled myself around the hotel and took pictures while Gaby visited with another friend of hers and Emma did homework. Sort of.

Waterfall in our hotel lobby

Nathan Phillips Square across the street

Just a picture taken outside our hotel

While hanging outside the hotel, I ran into the Scooter Guy I had met outside the bus depot the other day. He told me more about his terminal illness (liver and kidney diseases) and that he has been living in a long-term care facility for the past year. “I used to stay in this hotel a lot - I used to be rich” he told me. Apparently he gave his money to his children when he thought he was going to die, but he ended up living longer than anyone thought he would, and now his kids don’t talk to him and he has nothing. But, he would like to take me on a date, to see a show… “I’m leaving tomorrow,” I told him. He was a little creepy, and who knows if any of his stories are true (I imagine he drank his money and life away, but I believe his kids don’t talk to him!) Also, you don’t have to be rich to stay in the Sheraton, for the record. It was the cheapest hotel downtown I could get through my travel agent (but almost twice as much as my Montreal hotel. Oh well).

Anyway, Sunday evening was a BLAST. First we met up with Emma’s friend Gillian for dinner (at the Java House, of course). I had Pad Thai mmmmmm! Then it was down to the famed Cameron House to see Kevin Quain and the Mad Bastards. Our buddy Adam plays drums with them.

We parked my wheelchair in the back room and got a table up front. The band was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and Kevin Quain is a crazy ridiculous talent. He played guitar, banjo, piano, accordian, even a SAW. I bought all 3 of his CDs immediately and asked him if he knew my old friend Scott McClelland, because his show made me think of Carnival Diablo and I figured they should be friends. Which they are, and Kevin has even done gigs with him! They are a good fit, I tell ya.

His trumpet player plays with Feist! AND gave me directions to the bathroom. While he was on stage haha The stage is so small that he actually stood on the floor, by the curtain that led to the back room. He walked back there with me and Gaby to show me where the women’s bathroom was, but due to all the stairs I said “you know, I’m just going to use the men’s…” and I did that while Gaby stood outside to make sure no men came in!

After the show, I was standing up, chatting with Adam, and then I turned to say goodnight to Kevin. I felt my right foot not land properly, and knew I was falling… the sort of stumble where if a table or something was beside me I could have stopped myself, but because nothing was there I had to let myself fall. So I landed flat on my ass and scared some people. I played it cool and asked for a chair to help me get up, and I got up okay on my own. The girls had just retrieved my wheelchair out of the back, so I held it to balance me as we walked out. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, dammit, so I didn’t talk to anyone on my way out except to say a quick goodbye to any band members we passed. Then we got outside, I sat in my chair, and let it rip! Dammit, I hate when that happens. I wasn’t really hurt, but I guess falling in front of a bunch of people is an ego bruiser. Adam was there, giving me big hugs, as I was apologizing for being a big baby. I felt like such an idiot!

Anyway, we said our goodnight’s to Adam and headed back up Queen Street to our hotel. I was still sniffling so I didn’t want to stop in the Horseshoe, as was my original plan, to say hello to an old friend (and former Phantoms guitarist) who works there on Sundays. Emma asked “don’t you want to stop in there and see him?” (It has been, after all, over 15 years). But I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it. I have a hard enough time seeing people I haven’t seen in that long, who have no idea I have MS (it’s the looks of shock and/or pity that I can’t handle!) never mind running into an old friend while in a wheelchair when I’ve just been crying… I’d lose it and start bawling like a baby and not even be able to get out a “hello”! I could have done it if I hadn’t been snivelling. Dammit!

So instead we stopped at a hot dog vendor and bought hot dogs. There is nothing like getting street meat at 2:00 in the morning! (Gaby got a veggie dog. I should point that out in case she is reading!) Apparently, Emma and Gaby don’t have that in Montreal. We have them in Calgary… isn’t everyone hungry when they roll out of the bar after it closes? It’s a necessity.

We were back at the hotel and in bed by about 2:30, I guess. The next day we checked out and caught our bus at about 1:30 pm. Next up, Montreal!!

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?

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!