first snow and slamming poetry

as i begin writing this post the anaesthetic from an hour and a half of dental work is beginning to wear off and the strain from keeping my mouth wide open for most of that time is making itself felt. everything's tingly and distracting, which i feel is the perfect time to begin reporting on my weekend.

and what a weekend it was!

---friday:

shortly after posting, vfmp came by with his boyfriend and we put on the avengers, pausing only to debate whether torino mousse chocolate is vegan because while the ingredients and kosher certification proclaim it so, it still contains 7mg of cholesterol... that's a heck of a lot for something that's supposed to be plant-based :S

that didn't and wouldn't stop me, but i feel i must note that eating that chocolate in the dark saw me covered in it afterwards :$

a couple of vfmp's friends (well, i guess the couple are now my friends too) joined a bit later and the guy turned out to be able to bring some pretty solid tekken. we didn't get too many games, though, because it was decided that a mission to wendy's for their baked potatoes was in order. that *is* a good baked potato.

---saturday:

before going to bed i had a chat with my mom and was pleased to hear that my uncle who's been suffering post-op psychosis for the longest time has finally been sent home and is feeling much better. i just hope he stays on top of things.

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vfmp was going to call me to join him at the gym in the morning, but he didn't and instead i lay in bed feeling good; calm and at peace for the longest time watching cartoons play on the backs of my eyelids. the beeps and bells and buzzes of my phone were like a knock at the window which i managed to ignore until i was ready to get up :)

on friday i'd invited fcmg to join me and newk'd and his girlfriend at the poetry slam finals, but by the time she'd decided to come with there were no more tickets available. it's not my fault that happened, but i feel bad for inviting her and getting her hopes up :(

i plucked up some courage and headed downtown to my first french meetup. it was incredibly intimidating, crazy awkward, deeply embarrassing... and ultimately far more successful than i'd expected! at first every time someone spoke to me i'd begin sweating profusely and get stuck on things i know, later a senegalese guy arrived who wanted to learn english and the help he gave me really boosted my confidence, so i'm happy to trade him for english lessons :)

i'll be doing that again.

there was supposed to be a free french documentary that we were all invited to and we walked a long way in the cold only to discover that it the movie itself wasn't free but the lecture beforehand was. hooray. i bailed and walked into subway for a quick bite; i would have ordered a foot long but i remembered that i still had the previous night's six inches in the fridge so i had that when i got home instead :P

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someone told me that montreal appears to suit me: i tend to agree.

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i returned home for a very short rest and protein break, then headed out for the slam finals.

i arrived at the rialto on time, it's an awesome theatre and even before they opened the doors the crowd looked groovy. newk'd and his girlfriend arrived about twenty minutes late, which gave me ample time to stand outside and enjoy the first flakes of snow of the season. it was awesome :)

it seems like canadian time and israel time aren't too far apart, as we had to wait about an hour before the night actually got started. not that we didn't keep ourselves amused during that time, but still.

---the evening opened with a native american elder speaking and singing in a mixture of french and his native tongue while beating on a drum: every word sounded like solid gold, heavy and beautiful, but what the heck was someone like me supposed to do with them?

what followed was a guest of honour with a stunning voice and perfectly performed yet pretentiously patronizing poetry, but holy words! the poetry slam itself started with a bang and managed to get progressively better. amazing!

there was a lot of incredible stuff, very little meh, but it was philosofly ftw. what he brought to the slam made this look like amateur night - i'm hoping he'll make a video of his performance or the text itself available [i just asked, he says he will].

overall the evening was utterly inspirational.

---sunday:

i got into bed knowing i'd need a good couple of hours' sleep in order to wake up early to go snowboarding. instead ninja words kept sneaking in to leave words and phrases that would keep my mind spinning all night. i felt complete for the first time in ages.

in spite of that i was up and ready to roll by 5.30am with adrenaline surging through my veins - only to discover that the "snow" weather forecast turned out to mean "slush from above". i was not impressed! i went back to bed an woke up five hours later... the current conditions and forecast were set to "snow" and that was verified by a call to saint sauveur. alright!

i finally checked out communauto and established that a car to the mountain for the day would cost about the same as the bus, so while it's cheaper for multiple travellers it would be smarter for me not to use it alone. i got my shit together and got on the bus which was practically empty. the route was longer than i'm used to but it was a comfortable ride spent reading bone and relaxing.

it was only when we hit saint jerome that i became super disappointed: it was raining. the closer we got the more it looked like the day would be a (literal) washout, and when we finally arrived at the village the driver handed me my board with a smile full of pity and the words "no snow today"... i couldn't have extended my ticket to continue to tremblant even if i'd wanted to so i was stuck there for the next three and a half hours.

having learned that the weather forecast and the updated condition reports are completely useless (and so i should only go when the temperatures are below freezing), the constant light drizzle melted my hopes for an awesome evening but i chose to walk the fifteen minutes to the mountain anyway even if only for a beer or two; i was just thinking how in spite of the unnecessary expense the little trip wasn't such a bad way to spend a sunday when i turned a corner and saw a slope not only operational but with a fair number of skiers and snowboarders on it!

i sped up a little, quickly changed when i arrived and headed out for the last runs of the evening - in spite of the weather the open route had been kept in great condition and i've now had an excellent opportunity to try out my new bindings and remind my muscles who's boss...

especially exciting was short-circuiting a massive wipeout after landing an accidental mogul launch right onto another mogul :)

not a bad day at all, i feel like i earned my aprés-ski pint ^_^

---late 90's house mixes were the perfect post-piste soundtrack! i had the biggest smile on my face on the way back to the bus. i had time to wait so i sat at mcdonald's for tea and fries (amiright?) and one of the staff and a 16 year old took an interest in my boarding... the kid was also interested in practicing his english so we traded conversation until the bus arrived. it was kinda weird giving advice to someone half my age on how to quit smoking and doing so partially in french...

both on the bus and the metro rides i was primarily occupied with my thoughts. it was quite pleasant.

i tried watching the avengers in french while i ate dinner (eh, not so helpful) and afterwards decided i was far too tired to do anything except go to bed early.

---today:

shit, i'm such an idiot! that meant that i didn't do the french homework so i had to rush it this morning.

thought for the lesson: you'd think the not-so-bright girl would at least make up for being obviously slowest in class by revising a little - it's just pathetic. is it mandatory that every language class have one of those? we had one in the classes in tel aviv...

after class i picked up the builder bars i'd ordered and tipped the rest of the boxes over on an already hard-to-reach shelf :$

i returned home, ran laundry and called bell to ask about the bill i received. not only was the guy helpful, but he also informed me that there's a promotion on and for no additional charge i can up my data plan to 2gb. alright! i'm very pleased, that means i can stop worrying about reaching the limit.

bnw called to cancel our beers this evening, which i'm kinda glad she did as my dental state wouldn't have made it much fun.

the dentist: an hour and a half? damn. i'm not sure whether i or my dentist and his assistant deserve more pity. my jaw's still tender from keeping it open for so long and at one point i couldn't stop nodding off - aside from relaxing my jaw i kept losing consciousness with a start... weird. and dangerous :(

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i just took a break to have dinner - oh gods, the new filling isn't sitting right *and* the tooth's suddenly super-sensitive :'(

and on that note, homework. i'm ready for bed again. this feels like punishment for enjoying the weekend so thoroughly :D

---linkage:

doesn't this history of israel make you want to rush over there to be a part of the story?

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lie detecting neck tattoos: anyone who understands the basics of lie detection knows that galvanic skin response is not an indication of a lie, it's an indication of interest or excitement. whoever wrote this piece is a moron or a troll, likewise whoever wrote that application.

the age of research is dead! long live the information age!

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to this day is shane koyczan doing a very special spoken word piece for ted. excellent stuff.