Saturday 8 August 2009

August Weddings

Well, this is has thus far been an unrelievedly rainy, chilly and uneventful summer. The high spots, however, have been writing a book, getting a line on a bunch of books which made me think, and attending a couple of weddings. I'm in Montreal at the Crowne Plaza Hotel as I write this. I have been struggling with dealing with doing things in Montreal with my mom, on a "day" schedule when I can't get to sleep at night. I have my laptop and books to entertain me when I can't sleep. I reread Don Miller's Blue Like Jazz as part of that situation. Reading the introduction to N.T. Wright's Surprised By Hope caused me (while in Montreal) to need to write an extra page and a half into my book at 3am. Walking down St. Catherines street is always cool. I did it with my mom and her cousin from England. With the civilized discourse going on, and walking by scores of scantilly-clad girls, and Club Supersex outlets and peepshows, it was wierd. My mom, of course, rather than point out the unique sights, would point out anything familiar that we have near where we live ("Oh look! A Starbucks! Oh look! Mcdonalds!") One time she did say, "A peepshow!" and paused, so I said "Well, if you want to go in, I can wait for you outside..." (in case you can't speak French, "Chateau Du Sexe" means "Sex Castle." Classy.) Then, eating at le Restaurante Bellpros, we sat by a huge mural of the Dukes of Hazzard characters and cars in there as we had club sandwiches. Daisy Duke was painted, standing to one side of the car chase. A graffito pointed to her crotch and read "all hail to the toe." My mom read this aloud and looked to me to explain what I thought it might mean, so I just said "Well, that's pretty rude to put on a wall in a restaurant" and she then didn't want me to explain, which was fine until she had a trip to the washroom and read the walls in there. My sister and brother-in-law brought the kids to our hotel prior to the wedding. My 1.5 year old giant nephew delighted in running all over and trying to knock things down. He is usually active, but this is the first time I've seen him away from home and in "force of nature" mode. This is an expression of absolute glee, not tears.

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