Ceci n'est pas un chat

Welllll today I submitted my first short story for the perusal and hopeful approval of my fellow Concordian prose writers! This is the ultimate test. What will they say? Will they twirl invisible mustaches and hum and hah and remark on the weather? Will they parade me on their shoulders? Will they invite me to their dinner parties? Oh wait - they already have invited me to their dinner parties! Or, at least one. Tomorrow night. It's a potluck which is a bit of an added pressure, but nothing I can't handle. Little bit of egg whites, little bit of sugar, and you've got people eating right out of your hand (or, at the very least, your bundt pan).
Bronwyn says dinner parties are verrrry "grad school" so I'm relieved to know that I'm toeing the right line. The party is in Mile End which I found out (AFTER moving, of course) is the new "Plateau" (Plateau being my current supposedly uber-trendy neighbourhood). Today in the Concordia newspaper there was a debate between a Mile Ender and a Verdunian (Verdun: another on-the-rise studentish cool neighbourhood). Apparently people living in the Plateau are called "platard hipsters" and have opinions which really matter to people in the other neighbourhoods! That's me! I've never lived in a neighbourhood with a name before. Unless you count the Zoo as a neighbourhood (which you should, since it has a population bigger than Dundalk).

ALSO, though many may not know this, today was a historical day in Montreal. At around 2:30 pm, on the third floor of the Webster Library in Concordia's aptly-named Library Building, three brand-spanking new MA creative writing students (who were each, it should be noted, also brand spanking new Montrealeans) ran into each other quite unexpectedly but with abounding relief and happiness. Never did any of them believe the day would come when familiar faces would start appearing in the crowds! Never, they thought, would they find themselves laughing so easily and comfortably with friends in the midst of such sprawling strangeness in this enormous city! This small group paused a moment to welcome the change of feeling that this random encounter granted them; a sort of joyful peace settled over the small group, who agreed to celebrate the historical moment with a beer at the earliest opportunity.

Tycho is jealous. He, too, wants to have a beer with some new friends. Your time will come, Tycho! Hang on, little tomato!*


(*inspirational phrase courtesy of my aunt helen)