Thursday, October 05, 2006

Ride Off Any Horizon...

Sorry for the long (ish) absence.... it turns out that I was NOT sober enough to post from Montreal, nor did I have enough time upon my return to write anything longer than a sentence or two. (Please consult my post, The Ghost of Weekends Past, for details on my current state of overwhelmedness.)

At any rate, Montreal was just how I left it. Overcast, mysterious, simultaneously depressing and exhilaratingly wonderful, and full of old friends. After the car dropped its metal bits all over the road, I caught a bus early Monday morning and arrived in the city just in time for lunch. My dear friend Ash picked me up from the station, and we wandered down to St. Denis for some vegetarian Thai food. I had been to this particular restaurant before, but it continues to amuse me every time I go. It's vegetarian... with immaculately crafted imitation meat. So, I suppose, if you happen to be struggling with your vegetarianism, or perhaps you just like to eat food that is pretending to be something else, you can order your meat-free "duck" and be on your way. I find this interesting on several levels, but mostly for the following reason:

I, like many other people, do not eat meat because I don't really like it.

This is not rocket science. I continue to eat fish, partly because I love it and partly because it has good stuff in it that my body needs. But chicken, beef, pork, duck etc. have never been all that tasty to me. So I don't eat them. Which makes me wonder about the logic of such restaurants. But hey, I keep going, so clearly it's not all that bad. I still buy a variety of veggie burgers and I still dump veggie ground round into my chili for extra protein. But in a restaurant, eating a type of cuisine that lends itself so well to tofu, I find myself confused. I think they could stay in business purely as a result of human curiosity. Intriguing.

The rest of the trip was lovely, mostly because I got to catch up with people I rarely get to see for more than ten minutes at a time when they are passing through town. It was also lovely because I got to go to Simons and buy sweaters. Nuff said.

Loveliest of all, though, was the event I played at last night. Two of my favourite things, Bywords and the Ottawa International Writer's Festival, came together for an evening of poetry in the fine name of poet John Newlove. I was lucky enough to open and close the evening with two short sets. The audience sat and listened intently, which always makes me happy / throws me off (a sign that I have played in too many bars). But having so many people give me super kind feedback was encouraging, and I slid into the the freezing cold Ottawa night feeling pretty damn good. Then I waited at the bus stop. In the freezing cold. Still feeling good, but unable to stop shivering. Thinking fondly of my warm house. GAH. I love fall, but holy hell it can be chilly.

Tonight: Down time.

Tomorrow: ROOMMATE'S WEDDING!

If an entire day of dress-wearing, drinking and true love don't make for an interesting post, nothing will. Just don't put me in heels.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Andrea,

I agree I wouldn't want to be in heels either. I was in love once, drinking, wearing a dress, and HEELS. Then I fell off the bed on to the floor with my love on top of me and broken glass and wine all over the place... eeeaaah, bad bad bad.

hmmm, Well have a great time and keep the amazing writing coming.

Thanks

Heels Hurty

Andrea... said...

Dear heels hurty,

You win for funniest comment on my blog ever....

~Andrea