Montreal is a crazy place right now. The weather is insane, for one - this morning Ian woke me up to look out the window and there was... nothing. Just a sheet of gray, which my hazy brain soon identified as the heaviest rain I have EVER seen - it was COCO. Seriously, I've never seen (or not seen) anything like it. At this point I think I decided the morning is just too serious for me, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. Cut to three hours later, and I wake up to the sun shining right in my face. I stagger over to the window and it is DRY out there! A beautiful, slightly cloudy day with not a puddle in sight. This place is schizophrenic.

Some of the other insanity comes from the start of festival season around here. The Montreal Jazz Festival started last night - for some reason even the locals go a little *whooo* when the jazz fest is on. It's like those crabs in Cuba (or somewhere) - they spend most of the year hiding in the rocks, but when crab season hits they come teeming across the city and totally take over, stopping traffic, drinking cocktails, wearing berets, dancing to jazz in the moonlight... uh, that sort of thing. It's a crazy time to be here!

Also, tomorrow is Canada Day! Not so big here in Quebec (they celebrate Fete Nationale du Quebec - love those Separatists!) but they do still have a party, and it's always a bunch o' fun.

Above everything, though, Montreal festival season just has a smell about it. It's a feeling when you walk through the streets, like something is waiting just around the corner, like everyone in the city is either doing something awesome or on their WAY to do something awesome. The city smells spicy; like poutine, smoke and dirty blues music. It's the noise of Montreal - french and english and every other language you can imagine flying at you from the sidewalks, impatient car horns, hiphop music from a second floor balcony... it's an amazing place to be.

So tonight I'm off dancing at Cat's Corner, then hopefully heading out to soak up some jazz fest atmos. Tomorrow there's the Canada Day fireworks in Vieux (Old) Montreal, and a weekend of insanity shall ensue. Huzzah!!

You scored as Steve. You're Steve Brady! Just a typical working class New Yorker, you're friendly and don't like anything expensive or elaborate. You're a family person with an open heart that makes others feel at ease. Steve 90% Carrie 77% Mr. Big 70% Miranda 67% Samantha 53% Berger 50% Charlotte 33% Who are you in Sex and the City? created with QuizFarm.com

I'm STEVE?? Who knew I was so nice? :D

You know, the more blogs I read, the more I realise what this one lacks - daily freakin' interest. All I do is post intermittent rants about bollocks, and then nothing for weeks. The best blogs are the ones you can read back and get a good sense of your life - I think if I come back to this in ten years I'm going to think I spent this whole time bored, and then cranky, and then bored again. And to keep with the theme -

I'm sitting here in our hot little apartment feeling pretty damn shitty. Right now, across town, my friend's birthday party is in full swing. So there's a story here - Ian's out playing poker, and I have the only keys to the apartment. If I'm out too late, he'll be stuck outside for hours waiting for me to get in. My friend Seb came to pick me up for the party but he was super-late (like 12:40am!!), by which time I couldn't really leave because I was worried Ian would be home soon and forced to wait on a cold dark street corner for me to get home. So (much to his chagrin for having come all the way across town) I send Seb off to the party with a promise to catch the bus over as soon as Ian arrives (yeah, that was SO never going to happen). And here I sit, at 2:27am, and Ian still isn't home. I mean, it's totally not his fault but DAYAM, what a shame! It sucks just to be sitting here like a chump, especially when I got all purtied up for nuttin'. And I'm having a good hair day and everything!! Ap-cray. :(

The thing is, though, I'm not really that sorry. I've been totally knackered lately - I've been busting my ass exercising every day (taking a daily walk up and jog down Mount Royal). Like, I'm at the point that I can hardly get up and walk around the house. It's exhausting. The weird thing is that I've been eating well and getting decent sleep - it just never feels like enough. Bizarro.

Apart from my little jaunt up the mountain, all I did today was fool around on the internet and hang out with Ian watching the World Cup - I think it was Iran and someone, but I admit I snoozed through some of it (oh, the shame). On the sports front, I was stoked to watch the Edmonton Oilers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 in Game Six of the Stanley Cup finals tonight. The Oilers have come back from a two game defecit to take the 'Canes to Game Seven, which is awesome (for those who don't know, the finals are in a best-of-seven format). Oooh MAMA, Monday night is GO!! :D

I just called the Canadian government to check on the progress of my fat tax return (as prophesied by the mystic financial oracles at H&R Block) and for the first time took a glance at the details of my financial life in Canada thus far. After a wry giggle at the 'Total Income' line (a truly colossal $11,829.98 - so that's what killing your soul for $9/hr looks like! *snort* Homeless guys make more than that in cans!) I noticed a little discrepancy on my two tax return columns - one says 'Balance due', and the other says 'Balance owing'! Balance owing?? What the hell does that mean?! Do I owe them or do they owe me? I frantically dial H&R Block and spend the next 45 minutes on hold, waiting in abject terror for the call centre girl to tell me that I have made a $500 loss on my trip to Canada, and that I am going to have to sell a kidney in Bangkok to get myself back in the black. In the end, the lovely lady I speak to tells me in broken franglish that according to her files I most certainly AM getting a refund. I didn't quite believe her at first -

Me: I'm confused - one column says 'balance due' and the other says 'balance owing'... does this mean I owe money?
Her (in thick french accent): Non, zey are both refund.
Me: But it says 'balance owing'...
Her: It is in front of me. Not sure in English, how you say, ze smaller and bigger are both refund.
Me: Okay, but...
Her: Refund.
Me: Really??
Her: REFUND!!
Me: You. Are. Awesome!!
Her: ...refund.

Okay, so the last line was just for dramatic effect, but she was great and totally put my mind at ease. So even though (and here's the bad news for me) the cheques might not get here until after I leave, at least Ian can cash them for me and I will have money again!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!