okay so it looks like my computer might be working for the time being, so I thought that i would try to post the events of the past week ... this is going to be a long one ... i am warning you! hehehe i have been doing a lot of living lately, which is fantastic ... i am having a great time ...

when the power went out, i was sitting at my desk, working. at first i thought that i'd blown the breaker in the office, and i was the only one there, so i didn't know what to do about it. by the time one of my co-workers had called in to let me know that the power was out where he was -- at Queen and Bathurst -- i was pretty clued in that this wasn't just a local phenomenon. one of the good things about working in computers is that ... well ... no power pretty much means no work. i was sketching some storyboards for about an hour after the power went out, but figured out pretty quickly that it wasn't coming on any time soon, and left work.

the walk home was cool ... everyone was out on the streets, and in a fine mood. i just kind of strolled home, soaking it all in, how much the city had changed, how the sidewalks were just flooded with people. crossing the street was a bit of an issue, with crosswalks out and lights, and people on the road pretty much just thinking about getting their own asses home, but there were some good people out there willing to stop and let the pedestrians through.

at home, i pulled my rocking chair up to the window and grabbed my book and started reading, thinking that the blackout wasn't going to last that long -- in my mind I was like this is a big city! we can't go that long without power, right??? -- but two hours later i was starting to clue in that things were a little more dramatic than i'd originally had thought.

my cell phone was out for the count. not only was it on it's last legs of charge before the power went out, but i couldn't make any out-going calls. it would ring, and i could get the call display number, but when i'd answer it there would be nothing but silence. while i could, i jotted down all the phone numbers of my close friends and family and shut it off to conserve battery in case of emergency, and jumped onto my land line and started dialing.

called corona, who was on her way with scabby to the airport to go to england that night -- as you can imagine, that didn't happen -- and my mom, my grandmother, and other friends. everyone that i could get a hold of seemed to be doing all right, which was good. i, on the other hand, was getting antsy. the sun was starting to go down, and i was alone. i started to kind of freak out. i had to find someone to spend the evening with. my night vision isn't the greatest, so i knew i wasn't going to be able to see the pages of my book for very much longer, candles or no candles.

after getting in touch with rocketbride, who was in brampton, she referred me to her friend scott, who, unfortunately, lives up on the other end of the city from me. he kindly offered to bike down and hang out with me, but this was after my mother had offered to try and come and pick me up. i turned him down, and opted to spend the evening in the safe, comfyness of my mom's apartment.

this, unfortunately, was not in the cards. after walking down ten flights of stairs to her underground garage, and discovering that somehow after she'd gotten in there the doors had shut and weren't opening any time soon, and then trekking BACK up ten flights of stairs she called and said that she couldn't come. by that point, i was to embarassed to call scott back and say "hey! i know i ditched you for my mom, but she can't come get me! wanna still hang out??" so i started down my phone list once more.

... hahahah this is a long story! damn!

*gasp*

SO ... i finally get a hold of my friends graeme and todd, who live together. after much bribing -- "i have beer! i have weed! i have music! i have a gas stove, so i can make you food!" -- they told me that i didn't have to beg (i'm pathetic, by the way hahaha) that they would be over shortly. they packed up some candles, smokes, and beers, and got in the car and faced the chaos of the No Traffic Light streets to come and see me at my little apartment.

we had an excellent night ... we drank a little, talked, strained to all hear MOJO radio on my headphones (to which i had affixed a cone of paper to amplify their sound ... i called it my Ghetto Ghetto) we decided that since the candles -- and the fact that it was just wicked hot outside -- was making my apartment into an oven that we would go out into the night and have an adventure. i live right next to the beach, and since for the first time because of the lack of light polution from the city we could actually see STARS (i'd gotten accustomed to them just really not existing, that's how long it'd been since i'd seen them) we thought that this would be an excellent local. we rolled a joint, packed a backpack full of beers (and a water bottle that i'd mixed vodka and OJ in) leashed up the doggie and headed out into the night.

the city was amazing. people were having parties, their yards speckled with glittering tea candles and the light from tiki lamps. everyone was friendly that we passed on the street, saying hey ... i'd even met my new neighbours, a young couple who's names -- just like everyone else's names that i just meet -- went out of my head as soon as they went in. the bridge over the Gardner was awesome, and it gave us a view of just how wide-spread the blackness was. by the time we hit the sand, we knew we'd made a great decision. violet -- who LOVES the sand -- started rolling in it and snorting. the sky was just PLASTERED with stars ... you could see mars, and the milky way, and it was just amazing. other people had the same idea as us, there were folks set up all along the beach in lawn chairs, some playing music on guitars and bongo drums, others lighting bonfires. at one point, a group of people just down from us started lighting off fireworks. it was like nothing i'd ever experienced in this city before in my lifetime.

we shot the shit, drank the beers and smoked the weed. there was a meteor shower at the time, so we counted shooting stars, and talked about life in such a profound way that you only can when you're high. we buried our feet in the sand, and gazed at the moon, which was so full and bright that it cast blue shadows all around us. the water was so glassy still that it was almost like there were two moons in the sky. at one point i got lost in peering over at one of the tall condos in the west, and how i could see the speckling of dim candle-lit apartments.

.. did i mention that i had an amazing time?

at one point, a huge meteor shot across the sky, and it scared me. i actually thought it was a plane at first, sparking and streaking across the stars, leaving a huge trail of smoke behind it, but graeme says it was moving too fast. NO ONE else i know had seen this, except the other people that were with us on the beach. no one talked about it the next day. i guess everyone had bigger fish to fry.

we really wanted to just watch the sun come up over the water, but we all had the horrible dreadful feeling that the power would come back on in the middle of the night and we'd all have to go to work in the morning. so at about 3 a.m. the boys left me, and i headed to bed.

i set up the radio beside my head in hopes that it would help me get to sleep, but the silence in my apartment had started working on my mind ... i kept thinking about people breaking into my apartment, and how i wouldn't be able to get any help. so i lay in bed eyes wide open, until the power whirred back to life at 5:30 in the morning, and it's been on ever since.

... see ...? i told you i had a great time!