Does this outfit make me look non-essential?
The nice lady from Queen’s Park who leaves me instructional voicemails says there’s no need for me to come back to work this week AT ALL. Not tomorrow. Not the day after. Not until Monday. I feel liberated, yet at loose ends. All my amigos are back in business, whilst I get an unexpected holiday. Don’t misunderstand — this is super, and will allow me more time to prepare for my darling roommate Edward’s impending arrival on Monday. But now I feel like I should really get rolling with making merry and not just lay about fulfilling my overpowering desire to read and make endless pots of tea.
After my dreadful evening last night, I am taking the edge off today by chilling with my man Jason Little and his ‘Shutterbug Follies’. The raucous misadventures of Bee make my petty mishaps seem reassuringly… petty. Also, his colouring is spectacular. After emailing Mr. Little to determine if he had any Bee-wear for sale, he said no but encouraged me to develop my own. I’ve been contemplating this for a day or so now, and think I have a shirt design. Now, to get to a printer so I can make the dream a reality. Perhaps tomorrow.
Tonight I spent with my friend Darcy, doing a cultural exchange. First, we had a hastily thrown together pasta dinner in my kitchen, then retired to my room for a brief tutorial on comic books in preparation for his inaugural comic convention attendance this weekend. Then out on Bloor for a gelato while I droned on at length about Alan Moore and Grant Morrison.
At this point in the evening we switched lecture topics and I got my half of the cultural exchange: an extended trawl through the laboratories at Lash Millar Chemical Sciences. I got to see Dr. G’s infamous lab and ooh and aah over his dissertation, and was then allowed to ogle his laser pumps and graduated cylinders (no sexual entendres, just the facts).
I also got an excellent demonstration of light-bending chemical laser dyes, which was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. With just a tiny pinch of some insanely toxic powder, Darcy managed to transform a beaker of clear liquid into a vibrant morphing sunset that changed from yellow to orange to deep pink depending on the angle of your perspective and the amount of ambient light. It was, in the words of the great Bruce Campbell, “Groovy”.
Speaking of whom, I am scheduled to go see “Evil Dead: the Musical” this Friday at 11pm. I live in hope that it will not be at all frightening, as I am attending solo, and will have to walk myself home through the spookily wooded streets of the Annex in the wee hours of the morning. I’m such a scaredy-cat. Nobody reading this is allowed to hide behind a tree outside my house and jump out at me at 2am and go “boo!”, as I may wet myself or simply keel over dead from an overstimulated imagination.