As I believe I mentioned before, I had this past week off. To follow up on that: It was just amazing! My sole complaint is that I'm almost out of energy because Bonnie and I kept doing stuff.

We kicked it off with a party, where 18 of us (if I counted right!) were up late, late, late enjoying tasty munchies and fancy beverages while dancing to a groovy playlist that Bonnie put together. While playing bartender, I mixed 11 or 12 different recipes for my friends: gin and tonic, hurricane, Long Island iced tea, mojito (I think everybody had at least one or two of those), piña colada, volcano, and even old classics like the gimlet, Manhattan, and Negroni. Those who know how much I like to mix know why I'm recounting this in such vivid detail!

Throughout the week that followed, we got up to all kinds of mischief. In no particular order . . .

Bonnie and I attended the last two classes of our first tango course together, as well as the practica that followed each one. We also arranged our next set of lessons with our teacher. As there's no second-level class at a time we can attend, we're going with private instruction. I'm only a tiny bit above "rank newbie," but a few things are coming naturally – and at least now I know why the rest is tricky for me. (Hint #1: I sure do wish that a few local friends would get into tango!)

Le Festival international de jazz de Montréal was going down, so we got out to see what we could see. We showed up to cheer on two people we know through Candyass Cabaret: Corey put on an incredible aerial silks show with his partner Anne-Marie, while Lady Hoops did everything humanly possible with hula hoops (sometimes four at a time!). We hung out with good friends at le Bistro SAQ, the plan being to grab wine and snacks . . . and then this Cajun act started playing and we discovered that our table overlooked the scene like a first-class balcony, so we ordered another bottle and stayed put. (It helped that we had the best weather so far in 2013!) Tonight we caught Amadou and Mariam doing the big closing event, which was AMAZING despite the rain; that led to 90 minutes of nonstop, high-tempo dancing. I know we saw a few other acts along the way, too.

Not all the entertainment was (a)live. We went to see World War Z, which I quite liked. It added a new element to zombie lore, which means it deserves to be taken seriously. (People who insist that all zombies must be Romero undead can shove off!).

It wouldn't be a vacation without grabbing food between destinations. We got bites to eat here, there, and everywhere. I recall some awesome ice cream at Crémerie Meu-Meu, a wicked burger at Burger Royal, and some tasty tacos (and Mexican Coke) at El Rey Del Taco. I'm not admitting to a couple of stops for pastries . . . we live far too close to several good bakeries. Oh, and I really enjoyed the cherry beer at Brasserie Reservoir. Fortunately, all the dancing and walking pretty much canceled out the effects (of the stuff I'm admitting to and/or remembering).

Not all of the walking was to and from tango lessons and festival shows and movies and restos – some of it was "just because." Specifically, because I'm normally parked at a desk all week and rarely get out to see the city in summer, I made a point of doing exactly that. My motivational "quest" was to buy bits and pieces for my aforementioned hobby/bad habit: mixing drinks. I lucked into some cheap cocktail glasses and, even better, a hand-pumped refillable aerosol for coating glasses with potent flavors like absinthe. Naturally, I had to get some absinthe to go with; we'll see what I come up with using that. (Hint #2: Friends seeking ideas for my birthday on July 27 can take inspiration from this!)

As I was feeling pretty burned out before the week started, my mission was to avoid anything like work. I wasn't utterly useless, though. For one thing, I visited a friend's place and fixed her computer. For another, I delved into something like 18 years of old files, shredded most of them, and sorted out the documents that needed keeping. That last task filled three entire recycling bags – yikes! And while it's technically games and not work (though my work is games), I caught up on recaps of my RPG campaign.

Phew! I can hardly wait for the next bit of time off, but I'll need to rest up a bit to survive it. :)

Since my last update, things have continued to go well. After Kew on Friday, we headed to the bar at Crazy Bear for drinks, then to Tsunami for Japanese-meets-everything sushi and sashimi, and finally to Floridita for a few cocktails and more salsa tunes. That was a late night.

Saturday started with a trip to the Borough Market, which involved chorizo, kangaroo burgers, and biltong. There we four of us, so strategic sharing let us all try everything. Then it was time to get to the pad of my brother-in-law, Rob, to get it ready for the party and chill. The party itself . . . well, the sky was growing light on Sunday morning when we finally crashed. Good times! I swear I mixed a hundred cocktails.

Sunday was for chilling. We grabbed a late brunch at Bistrot Bruno Loubet, and then strolled around Shoreditch and surrounds, and down to Brick Lane Market. The market involved a pit stop for salt beef on a warm bagel; Montreal should fear this competition for smoked meat. The evening saw us return to Fulham to stroll to Chelsea, where we got wonderful Indian food at Chutney Mary.

And now . . . now we're packing to get to Heathrow.

So . . . Saturday night, we had MK over for cupcakes and drinks. Tonight, we grabbed dinner at L'Express with GC, and then headed back here for drinks. What MK, GC, and I have in common is a background at the McGill University Department of Physics. Needless to say, it takes me back. A consequence of this is that my skills at making mojitos, dark n' stormies, and Cuba libres have vastly improved. Which is to say, physics = cocktails, to first order in perturbation theory.
 

The first few days of my time off have been fun. We dedicated Saturday to pure, unabashed slacking off. I don't think I did anything of note.

Sunday was marked by dinner with M. & Y. It was a fun time – Bonnie made Afghan food, Y. made a strawberry cheesecake, and I whipped up cocktails. At the same time, it was kind of sad, as M. & Y. are leaving town for months, maybe years. We'll surely miss them!

Today, Bonnie and I went out to the Beauharnois Hydroelectric Power Station with E., D., & Z. for a guided tour. That was pretty cool! I've never seen a hydro plant from the inside, much less stood inside the alternator shaft. Then tonight, we nipped downtown to catch Omar Souleyman, who played some serious dance music, Syrian-style. Good stuff!
 

This past winter and early spring were uncommonly bleah. While I suffered no major disasters, all kinds of minor stressors just got to me, among them a dead hard drive, a minor illness, a craptastic exchange rate (I live in Canada but get paid in U.S. funds), a nasty surprise with my income tax, and projects that needed a stupid amount of hand-holding and applied shoe leather at work. I've come to realize that all this small stuff felt unusually stressful in part because, though I'm a night person, I don't like my days to be short and/or grey. Which is to say, the presence of snow and the lack of sunlight rots my brain. I thought we were going to get off easy this year – it was a sunny 25°C on April 3! Then we got a snowy 1°C on April 27. Anyway, that's why none of my recent posts have had to do with anything but (1) work and (2) my RPG campaign . . . I just haven't had anything fun to write about.

However, things are finally changing. Last Friday (April 23), Bonnie and I saw our friend Narly, whom we hadn't seen since 2003. She held a party at a friend's place while she was visiting town. Despite not knowing most of the people there, I ended up drinking beer in the kitchen until 2 a.m. with a crowd that mostly spoke Turkish. It was fun just to get out, meet new people, and do something that bears no relationship to work.

The next day (April 24), Bonnie's baladi troupe had a segment in the 35th anniversary show of Cabaret Cléopâtre. This was for the most part drag, burlesque, and other slightly (but only slightly) risqué acts. The baladi act wasn't especially blue, although it was clown-themed, so it was kind of scary. Anyway, this offered another excuse to get out, have some drinks, etc. As a bonus, the DJ put on a bunch of house music afterward, so I got to dance, which I love.

And then just last Thursday (April 29), Bon's troupe had another engagement, this one a part in a show that was in essence a benefit for gay pride in Moscow. While we're straights, we both feel that it sucks that there are still places in the world where you can be beat down – by the authorities, no less – for what you do behind closed doors. I mean . . . huh? So there we were. This wasn't a big do, but it was a third chance to get out in the evening, have a few drinks, and be entertained.

So it looks like the spring thaw is here at last. Let's hope the social events keep coming!