The house, the house, the house is on hold! And then there was Toronto.

Thanks to all who commented on my house woes. It's these little acts of support that give me strength.

I managed not to put a nail through the plumbing by the way. And I finally found just the right series of twists on the toilet connection, so it no longer leaks! Of course, I managed to unbalance the whole toilet in the process of all the fixing, so now each time someone sits on it, it sorts of rocks around and makes futile efforts to refill its full tank. Kind of fun, really. I plan to keep it that way until the seal goes and I have to call a plumber, which seems downright inevitable now. The walls, meanwhile, are a not-quite-right muted gold-ish yellow, and a not-quite-right muted goldish-yellow they will stay. No towel bar yet. I've spent all my money and can't afford the towel bar.

Is it that much better than peeling country blue wallpaper? No, my friends. No it is not.

So in other news, I just returned from Toronto where I remembered what it was to be human. Yes, I did. Chinatown, Italian town, Indian town, gaining back all the weight I lost through consumption of cheap, delicous ethnic foods, gay man town (Gay marriage is legal in Ontario, and yes, this was the rainbow street signs section of town, dominated by men), art museums, independent galleries, shopping trips to Chinese tea shops, St Lawrence Market, and Canadian mall chain stores to buy blue jeans that dyed my legs blue. Canadians, I know you're against artificial ingredients and whatnot, and I admire that. I really do. But dye setter? Is there a problem with dye setter?

I wandered into one small gallery that was showing--ay, me--a film about Texas, George Bush, the Branch Davidians, and bats flying out of caves in San Antonio. It was a Turner Prize (don't ask me) winner filmed by British artist Jeremy Deller. Yeah, I didn't know who he was either, and this website is much less informative than the gallery owner who gave me a brief and amusing/interesting history of his work. Always informative to see one's cultural/political surrounds through an outsider's lens. Come to think of it, that's how I usually feel I'm seeing them these days. So much information out there, such a fickle lens to deliver it, such strained comprehension. Mr. Deller's work was finer and more compassionate to all its participants than our media's has been for some time.

Then there was the evening of literary readings since I happened into town in the middle of the International Festival of Authors. I didn't care for most of the works of fiction that were read that evening, though I was intrigued by The Remainder and picked it up to read on the way back in the plane. Pretty interesting most of the way through, but, alas, flat at the end. I did, however, get to see a slide show by Ralph Steadman whose scattered brilliance and dry British humor cut through my mild hangover and woke me up for the long walk home. I wish I'd gotten him to sign my book instead of the Remainder guy, but Steadman was apparently somewhat belligerent about the whole process. He'd presigned a few copies which sold off even before he left, post-reading, to drink (one assumes). Of course, this made me respect him even more.

So all in all, a successful trip. I also picked up a few bottles of wine in the Canadian wine country as I drove back to Rochester, NY (conference, free plane ticket to Rochester and back, rented PT Roadster--God help me--to drive to Canada). You laugh, but there's good soil and a microclimate around Lake Ontario. The reds are still immature for most of the vineyards, but they're getting there and some of the whites have begun to garner a good reputation internationally.

Don't I sound knowledgable? Not to worry--I had to check that info through w/ a friend before I wrote it down for public consumption. The lady at the vineyard could have been BS-ing me left, right, and sideways, and I would've only caught half the misinformation. But she was good and true, as one hopes people will be. Most of the people I met in Canada were just that. Friendly, liberal, helpful. If only the winters were a tiny bit less wintery...

So enough of my good fortune. I've been back since Monday. It's Sunday and my second weekend day in the office. Most of the wine is gone, I've got slightly less than 2 more months w/ my stinky roommate and I've decided to post again instead of working. Best to spend a few moments savoring the good parts of one's life before one eases back into the crushing depression, I always feel.