The social week.

Nice evening Tuesday. Sandra and I headed up to North York, just a few blocks from where I used to go to high school (AISP), and we met up at the Black Sheep with Jenn. Disgusting food, but the red wine and conversation were excellent. Oddly, three poets got together and poetry was barely mentioned over the course of the evening. A sidenote: I had my job interview for my old Ministry of Transportation gig at that bar.

Wednesday, another great social time. I'm not used to all this social. Alana and I went to the Victory for white wine and, again, excellent conversation. She showed me some of her photos of Finland, including several she took from a glider (!!), which was pretty cool. I used to go to the Victory at least twice a week, especially back when it was on Bathurst, but haven't been there much lately, except for lit events. It's gotten too damn crowded. Good for the owners, bad for me.

Thursday was Going to Press, a brilliantly conceived event organized by Katharine Parrish at the school she teaches at, Marc Garneau C.I. in East York. A little thin on presses this year, but still a great time. It's not about selling stuff, but just being there to expose kids to the possibilities of writing and publishing. That said, I did sell seven items, totally $55. Should make up for the gas it took to get out there. Because when I arrived, I realized I'd forgotten the tiny chapbook, 4 Poems, I'd made especially for the event. So I drove home and then drove back.

For the first time, Katharine skedded a reading for this fair that has so far consisted of book tables and a variety of workshops. And I got the job. I ended up keeping it pretty light and hopefully sorta funny and engaging, but immediately felt remorseful afterwards, like I should have read them some heavy stuff. But the students enjoyed it, and Katharine said what I did was exactly what was needed. Phew.

The evening. My dear and generous friend Mary had tickets she couldn't use, for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, so she gave them to Dana and me. An excellent night out at the symphony for some Mozart, Bach, and Berlioz. Conducted by Andrew Davis; I'm certain I saw one of his first-ever appearances with the TSO back at Massey Hall a couple decades back. Very funny, charismatic guy. Man, he really got into it, particularly with the Berlioz. Nice to get a bit of the high-end culture once in a while.

Now it is Friday. The fun is over. I have things to do! Jobs to finish, an apartment to clean, books to read and write.

Over and out