One of my friends’ sons made a top 30 Toronto Bachelors list

From the article…

Corey Mintz Age 34. Sign “Where are we, Plato’s Retreat? Astrology is a deal-breaker.” Gig “I have people over for dinner and write about it for FED, a Saturday column for The Toronto Star.” Wheels “Ten-speed blue Miele frame. But my chauffeur drives a Prius.” Dream date “Matinee of Manhattan or Big Sleep at the Bloor theatre. Scotch and popcorn in the balcony. Dinner at the Black Hoof. She picks up the cheque while I’m in the boys room.” Guilty pleasure Q-tips. Fun fact “I sneak spoons into Ethiopian restaurants.” Words to live by “This conversation needed to end one minute ago.” Why Shinan picked me “Shinan needs new glasses.”

Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2010/02/20/shinan-govani-s-worthy-30-the-men.aspx#ixzz0nkP8LFv1

Jericho was great as usual

This time it was Lowry Olafson, and he and his percussionist and accordionist were made of awesome.  Beautiful, simple songs with lots of heart and humour.  Jacques on the cajón was superlative and had folks in the audience craning their necks (what the heck is THAT that he is sitting on and sounds like a full drum kit?).  I sang Tapioca on a borrowed mando and Forty Million Lightyears, which triggered the headliner to sing a filk song! of his own composition!!! go Allegra….

Remember the time the Rover 2000 TC broke down

…. and we called a towtruck, and the towtruck got mired, and we had to call a towtruck to pull out the towtruck, and we missed Bugs Bunny?

Yeah.

Like that.

Ziva ran GREAT for about 30 seconds.  Then she lurched, shuddered, bucked and darted, quit and re-lit in a rather terrifying fashion. Prior to quitting on Highway 17, she was running great, quiet at idle and hella power.  I should have turned it around, but nope. The check engine light flashed on and off like a Christmas light and then I got home, practically in shock, and called the shop about 30 seconds before it closed, then called Paul.  He was flabbergasted that the shop had let it go twice with it being subpar, this not being his experience of the guys (three brothers) who run the place.  They will send out a towtruck tomorrow and drag it back.  The new datum is that if you pop the hood, the engine hisses like a legendary snake crossed with a mosquito – vacuum leaking somewhere.

Ah, Ziva.  How hard you make me fight for even a little kiss.  Fur and tires…..

I have other bits of news but I’ll just let it go at that right now.

Distributor

$600.

I’m going to be selling my kids at the side of the road if this keeps up.  The fixer upper dude is mortified that he didn’t catch it previously and is charging me cost for the parts plus about $100 labour.  Ziva should be ready tonight. 

I have now spent three times as much on the car to insure it and get it running than I did to purchase it.  Love is an expensive proposition, but obsession – that’s just plain crazy.

Back to work

Jeff, being a superior sort of brother, suggested schnitzel for dinner last night so we had take out and ate on the back deck in the last warmth of the day.  This was after we went to Iron Man II (I liked it but it’s slower paced than the first one and ScarJo is OSSUM) and then I dragged Keith and Paul and Jeff up the hill to the salamander pond.  The little buggers stayed in hiding, alas.  Then said hello to Tom.

It’s going to be an expensive day, I can feel it.

I had a great mother’s day and I hope the rest of you mothers did too.

That giant sucking sound you hear is car ownership

Sixteen hundred dollars poorer, she emerged.  And I still need an alignment and the car DESPERATELY needs to be detailed.  There’s a lip gloss tube EMBEDDED in the driver’s side carpet like a dinosaur bone emerging from a dig.  I also just realized that the dangly thing hanging from the rear view mirror is a beaded toy flogger, and since I don’t swing that way (pitching OR catching), I should prob’ly take it down. But it’s PURPLE.

Anyways… drove ScaryClown home with me last night and we supped on Swiss Chalet that Jeff brought home and drank beers and watched TV.  At one point Jeff said something so funny that ScaryClown and I were rendered absolutely helpless.  Unfortunately, despite its merits as humour, it is not repeatable, even by me, but please accept my assurances that it was convulsing.

Then the phone rang.  I could hear it but Jeff couldn’t (I answer the phone for a living so heard it over the tv noise which was hockeygamish at the time).  I picked up the phone, but because it was behind me & I wasn’t really paying too close attention I had the receiver upside-down.  Jeff thought I’d gone insane because – well, Jeff thinks I’ve gone insane most of the time, but he’s low-key about commenting – I was picking up the phone and saying hello hello with the receiver upside down – for no apparent reason. He said, brow furrowed, with that crystal clarity people use when talking to halfwits, “The phone is upside down,” at which point Keith and I were actually able to start communicating.  ScaryClown at this point was laughing so hard he lost control of his ketchup.  Keith said, “Ah.  Well, I was going to ask if ScaryClown was still there, but I can hear him laughing, so I’ll be there in 15.”

He and Paul came over (announcing pie and yet another six of Lion Winter, Paul found another source, and commenting that the car looks nice) and we had a very pleasant evening.  The highlight was the scary awesome Mt. St. Helens footage.  You know that this blog started with me commenting about Mt. St. Helens every other day, so I have a special fondness for it, and will stay fond of it if it stays dormant.