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?

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!

Okay, here we go, longest entry ever. LOTS of pictures! I had the most amazing weekend, which could have been even better if I hadn’t missed about 6 hours of hanging out with everybody because of my intolerance to heat It reached about 35°C on Sunday and that sucks for me! However, aside from that, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend or greater people to spend it with.

I arrived at the airport around noon, checked where the band’s flight was arriving from, and took a seat near that gate. I TM’d Rob to let him know I was there and where I was. He wrote back that he was in the rental car line-up and would be down to meet us as soon as he could.

I saw a bunch of people wandering by the luggage carousel, so I figured the flight had arrived and wandered to that area, pushing my wheelchair that was loaded with a couple of my bags and stuff. The first person I saw was Scott, who was peering at me as he got closer. I think I “eeeked!” or something as I gave him a hug, it was so great to finally meet in person. Next I met Alex, who is adorable, followed by Adam who is just a teddy bear of a man, and whose muscles would come in handy when pushing me in my wheelchair all over what turned out to be VERY rough terrain at the outdoor festival. (Mine was the only wheelchair there I believe, and I can understand why!)

Anyway, we all took a seat and waited for Rob. It was at this time that Scott presented me with a beautiful pair of earrings from his wife’s handmade collection - “Stacey made these for you last night”. How sweet is that?? I LOVE them:

When Stacey has an online store or something I will definitely link to it - she has photos of her jewelry on Facebook and it’s all beautiful, unique, and funky!

The line-up at the car rental place was so long, I guess Rob decided to leave and go back later, so he met up with us on the lower level. I was hoping our vehicle would be HUGE, because there was more than just my wheelchair and a couple guitars… although Alex would play a cello provided by the Fair and Adam the main stage drum kit, there was still a lot of instruments and gear. We brought everything up to the car rental place where Scott and Rob got in line and the rest of us went off to eat in the food court.

When we got back, they had just reached the service desk. Due to a mess up on the car rental agency’s end (of course), we received a free upgrade to a Volvo wagon. It sounded big enough, but once everything was loaded in, Scott, Alex and Adam still had to sit in the back seat with one of the guitar cases across their laps! I, on the other hand, got the front passenger seat. Just the first example of how wonderfully I was treated all weekend! They even let me have the air conditioning on the whole 2 hour car ride… I, too, sneeze and get headaches from A/C, but it is a necessary evil when it’s hot!

Read the rest of this entry »

I am overdue for an update. I don’t know, blame Facebook, that place is brutal.

I still haven’t looked into getting my camera or cord or whatever I need fixed (I just haven’t had TIME. Well, okay, I’ve had time, but that damn FACEBOOK…) to upload photo and video again. So I’m still tossing old stuff up here. And by “old” I mean last month, and really, the cats haven’t changed since then. I think they have reached their full growth, and I’m happy to see that they aren’t huge cats. They’re a nice size, although Pita still thinks she’s only a few inches long and continues to try to curl up in my neck or get into little places and positions she used to be able to do when she was a few weeks old… it ain’t gonna happen, sweetie, but damn, it sure is cute to watch you try.

I went for my 7th quantum release session today (the first of two freebies). This was the most exciting one so far! I feel great today, so I was in an excited and positive mood when I arrived, and I told Kevin how amazing it is that I have honestly let go of my past and all the emotional crap from over the years. That even when I try to think about shit from my past, (and as my mom says, “don’t TRY!!”) my mind immediately filters it and goes to something else. It’s neat. And wonderful. So why, I ask, am I still eating junk and not in perfect health?? Huh?

Anyway, Kevin proceeded with the session and focused on the physical. We actually talked and joked around during this one, which we don’t normally do; you’re supposed to block out all other distractions. I stopped wearing ear plugs after my 3rd session because I hate those things, but I still put a towel over my eyes. Anyway, Kevin and I were talking and he started the healing stuff and we just kept talking and joking around. He said “this is a freebie, so I can give you a hard time if I want to.” I said “Yeah, well, that will go in the book”. I told him if he heals me, I’ll write a book about it and get us on Oprah.

After the session our coversation went like this:

Kevin - Well, now that you’re rid of the emotional stuff, I can really see your core strength. All that emotional crap was covering it up before, but we broke through that. Pat (the psychic that works in the next office) said all your physical problems were emotional? That’s a load of crap.
Me - Yeah, well, she said my emotional baggage caused my health problems and are keeping them there. But obviously after so many years, there is actual physical damage too. Wait a minute, did you just say that Pat is full of CRAP?
Kevin - Well… yeah… I tell her that to her face all the time. Anyway, your health problems are physical, it’s just that the emotional stuff was so deep it was covering up the ability to see that. Now that it’s cleared out, we can work on the physical and really get some healing going.

So… yay! I walked out of there so full of hope. I truly believe I am on to something here, no matter how hocus-pocus others may think what I’m doing is. I will walk again, like normal, without a walker, without a cane. I know it.

You can put an I Can Has Cheezburger application on your Facebook page. Awesome.

The other day I was home flipping channels and watched a bit of the local News at Noon. They were giving away passes to the premiere of A Mighty Heart, so I called in and was one of the winners! The catch being, of course, you have to pick the tickets up at the TV station. Well, I wasn’t about to pay cab fare for that, or go through Access Hell for movie tickets. I called a couple people, but no one was able to grab them for me during regular business hours. I called the station and explained my situation, so the Very Nice Receptionist offered to leave the tickets for me at the security desk to be picked up after they lock the doors at 5:30. I then called AH and asked him to swing by there on his way home (it wouldn’t be out of his way) and also to come with me (it’s on Monday) because I think this movie will interest him. Anyway, he called me when he arrived at the station so that I was on the phone if he needed to prove anything to the security guys about picking up on my behalf. AH stood at the door for a couple minutes because there was no one at the security desk, (I said, “it’s already 20 minutes into their shift, they’re in the break room” haha) and then someone came and opened the door. “Who are you here for?” he asked. “I’m here to pick up movie tickets from the security desk”, answered AH. “Okay, c’mon in” said the man. Who just happened to be the nightly news anchor, which made the entire trip worthwhile for AH. “That was the guy from the news!” He was so excited. He’s never been so close to *celebrity* before. “It must have been my suit, why he let me in. I look all professional and stuff. Wow, I see him on TV every night! EEEEEEK!!!” (or something like that).

I am all booked and confirmed for my trips to Toronto and Montreal in September. It’s going to be… amazing. I’m going to see pretty much everyone I want and hope to see, I believe! Even Lobelia, who no longer lives in Montreal and has been touring mostly around the U.S. and Europe with her new beau (who lives in England, where she will eventually end up since they are getting married!) has a show in Montreal when I’ll be there. It’s going to be surreal, even better than last September, if that is at all humanly possible. One day I’m going to make a list of all the people I love that I will be seeing while I’m down there, and the people I’ve been dying to meet that I will finally meet in person, and I will freak myself out that it is actually real and going to happen.

I have been spending a lot of time on Facebook, searching for old friends. I’m finding a few, but not a ton, because I’m at the age where most of those people have families and careers (unlike me) and better things to do than hang out on Facebook (like me). However, the ones involved in the arts are usually found on there, because they like to network!

One of those old friends from 15 years back I have been communicating with, and after catching him up a bit on the changes in my life since my MS diagnosis, he sent me the following message:

Life can be such a struggle at times, but it is the struggle that makes us stronger and also more complete. I feel that if a person has an uneventful life, they haven’t lived it. You are resiliant and can roll with the punches and you have also learnt who your friends are.

Keep enjoying all that you have and also what you love the most. Life is a great gift!

I love that message.

I forgot to link to this in my last entry… a long time ago I posted a song on here by a hilarious New Zealand folk/comedy duo called Flight of the Conchords. They now have their own show on HBO, and the entire first episode is online. It is about the funniest thing I have ever seen, and I sure wish I had HBO!! This will be another series to buy on DVD when it comes out. You can watch it here, and I can’t recommend it enough!! Make sure you have 27 spare minutes to laugh your ass off.

I didn’t make it to a Quantum release session this past week, but I should get my last two in next week. I don’t know if I will continue after that or not… I do FEEL great, mentally, but I sure don’t physically, and that’s really bugging me. I dunno. I said I’d give it 6 sessions, so I will, and decide after that. According to my practitioner, my last two sessions released a LOT of emotional crap. The last one he said was like a bunch of GI Joe figures (or Barbies, or whatever) mashed together and exploding out of me like a cannon. Basically representing the release of people that have hurt me in the past. Like I said, I do feel better emotionally so maybe I am getting something out of it subconsciously. Time will tell if there is any long term effects.

I have decided I am going on a vacation in September, whether I can really afford it or not. Where there is a will, there is a way. I will be going to Toronto for about 6 days, and then off to Montreal for 5 more. Hit two birds with one stone! Emma will be in Toronto at the same time, so I will bus it back to Montreal with her. This trip will involve seeing/meeting soooo many wonderful people and some of my favourite musicians (of course!) so I can’t wait! The only condition is, in order to go to Montreal as well, I need to be able to do the stairs in Emma’s house (and to get on the bus in the first place), which I wouldn’t be able to do right now. So that means I have just over 3 months to exercise and get my legs working better so I can go. So that is my goal, and since I’ll be booking my flights soon, I will HAVE to be able to do it. No backing out. Exercise every day or no trip!!!