Off I go! The wondrous palace of Host Who Prefers Anonymity in drizzly Montréal awaits! I will get my fill of poutine, bagels, and Boréale and then I will return.

I will write a mopy bloggie or two about the good ol' days, and then I will begin to write again about my cat, my large, gorgeous, sunny, downtown Toronto apartment, some cute guys maybe, my wonderful multi-faceted Toronto friends, and maybe even a job interview or two *knock on wood*

And to that silly person who asked me why I don't move back to Montreal if I love it so much (what is this, 1950s McCarthy-terrorized USA?), I promise to write something nice about Toronto when I get back. Geez! Lighten up and enjoy the comedy!

Toronto has two big chips on its shoulder: 1) not being perceived as A Real World Class City, 2) ex-Montrealers who still love Montreal even though they don't want to live there anymore.

Montreal has one big chip on its shoulder: Toronto (although it is lightening up at a rapid pace on that one). And, despite what people may think, language issues are not shoulder chips for Montrealers; they are a way of life.

And for fun, just use the words "small", "provincial", "sleepy", "boring" about that other great Canadian metropolis I know well and love, Winnipeg, and watch the dander fly! You'll hear all about ballet, music, art, two big lakes named after the city, various festivals, and the Crash Test Dummies. In fact, I went to the very high school from which Neil Young had been expelled a couple of decades earlier. Am I now not so much cooler in your eyes?

I'm just goofing around. I wrote a chapter in the novel I'm working on comparing the provinces to teen-aged siblings with Ottawa as the bumbling, ineffective single parent. This imagery could just as easily be expanded to intercity relations as well. I eventually took the chapter out because it didn't fit well with what was around it, but I've kept it on my hard drive, waiting for a rainy day. Maybe I'll post it here one day if I expand the scope of this blog and of Snobby's persona. What do you think?

All packed, almost fully caffeinated, and in full guilt mode for leaving kitty alone (worry not! Cigar And Leather Sex Man will be coming to feed him) for a few days. I'm sorry cute kitty!

Bonne fin de semaine à tous!