superflea

Hey, guys and dolls... here's the skinny:

The gf eventually arrived home, delayed a good six hours and a little shaken up by the ordeal (thank you again, you miserable fucking pricks at American Airlines). She seemed fine after she got some sleep and I hooked up her shiny new pink (sakura, to those in the know) Japanese PS2. We spent last night having an almost surreal relationship talk. It always circles around the same core point: 'there are a lot of good reasons to consider maybe exploring our options and seeing if we'd be happier in another situation, but there are a lot of good reasons to stick it out and stay together'. To be, or not to be?

Bowie is tomorrow night, followed by revelry with friends and family into the weekend as I haven't been out that way in quite a while.

And yes, that means I probably will not be attending the Toronto Prom. No, I'm not really thrilled about it (the not going, that is). But first and foremost, I haven't a thing to wear. And even though I can already hear Photogrrl and Sorcha in a salacious chorus of "So?", I have to bounce any friend's-wedding-related suit purchases to my next paycheque, and I honestly don't have any formal wear at all. Besides, I've endured Toronto summers. I was never exactly sure what the dress code for this deal was, but if expectations go beyond a t-shirt and some cutoffs, then that's just not in the cards for moi. Hell, do you guys remember the blast furnace summer there two years ago? It's starting again.

Secondly, and this is the real kicker - I don't have a place to stay. Just as I can't swing a new suit this week, I can't swing a hotel room, either. Unfortunately, my brother (who lives right downtown) is very seldom eager to offer me space on his futon for the night. And all my other TO friends have cats. That doesn't jive so well with the allergies. Dammit.

Thirdly, I never actually wiggled through enough of the SGCanada East boards to figure out all the specifics. I'm not clear on the when and where, and I don't know if it's ticketed in advance or a cover at the door, or anything. As photogrrl can attest, I'm absolutely awful at making any kind of plans.

Now, this leaves me pretty disappointed. For whatever reason, the prospect of hanging out with Dogslife and Ginny has the same enchanting allure as a reunion with old university buddies, and I'm certain we'd have an outstanding time getting to know each other in realtime. I've had plans with Photogrrl fall through before, and the thought of them falling through a second time is almost unbearable - particularly given the fact that she'll have all-around hipster, snazzy guy, and site-wide Top 5 "I gotta get drunk with that guy" candidate ticktockticktock in tow. And dholokhov, with all the endangering of life and limb you undertook to keep me entertained while the girl was out on her Pacific Rimjob, I figure the least I can do is buy you a beer. I don't know if you're planning on hitting this shindig, but I'd hate the idea of not getting the chance to say howdy in person, too. And last, but certainly not least - a weekend without an in-the-country Sorcha seems positively tragic, because (and I don't think anybody would contest this) she is simply the most awesome person on the site and I adore her.

That said, all is not lost. There is a tiny possibility that I can swing this if we do wind up leaving London Saturday afternoon. I can drop the girl off here and drive up to Toronto, and if I don't drink anything harder than pepsi, then I can just hang out and drive back home at the end of the night. So... if somebody can just succinctly give me the when and where (and if any locals can let me know of any decent parking in the area, ideally with armed guards who will shoot anybody who so much as looks at my car), and if I can just give some coin to the doorman when I wander on in, then I just might show up.

I don't want to make any promises I can't keep, though, and I am going out to see my favourite artist in the world, hang with my best friend who I probably haven't seen in the better part of a year, go and visit my favourite aunt (who was an absolute saint when I was living in that city and whose cooking kept me alive), as well as my cousin and his family (other side of the family tree) who so generously helped me out so many times when I was going through college. Plus, I get to go visit the old stomping grounds again. I hope at least a prof or two from my College days is putting in a couple of hours over the summer, because I'd love to let them know that I've got a great gig in the industry and am making lots of friends on porn sites.

So it could be a full weekend.

In the event that I don't make it out, I want you to pretend that an amusingly crabby bald guy is sitting in the corner complaining that the music is too loud, proposing rounds of Jagermeister whenever there's a lull in the conversation, and flirting shamelessly with all the girls. (Especially Cathedra.) Not actually me, but an incredible simulation.

Also, I will make it out to Toronto a couple of times over the summer (I'll be back in two weeks for the wedding) and I'll make it a point to throw down with the locals properly.

That's all, kiddos. I'll tell Bowie you said hi.