I'm sure this doesn't help

Tycho woke up from his evening nap today, blinked at me for a second or two, then opened his mouth in a full out screech which, when deciphered, sounded something like "I WANT BREAD PUDDING!"


So what did I do?


I've been missing some very significant pieces of London a lot, with no remedy except the sweet, sweet tummy-balm of comfort food.

Revelation: there is nothing (nothing!) like bread pudding made with fresh-from-the-boulangerie two-day-old baguette. I think I have inherited the "procrastibake" technique from Jen. Yesterday I made cookies, and now this! Here's the good news, though: Tycho and I have been going for joint walks, and having a lot of fun. Tycho puts everything he's got into those walks... he enjoys them for all they're worth.... flips around on the pavement, eats the grass, does the nose-rub cat thing on every railing of every stoop, pounces on every bug... I've learned a lot about "living in the moment" from Tycho and his super-enjoyment of our outdoor adventures. Because he moves at such a slow pace (half an hour usually gets us about twenty feet down the alley, then twenty feet back up) I bring a book with me and split my time between readng and cooing. It's a system that works pretty well for us both - UNTIL a person walks by. Tycho is so funny: a car could rumble by so close to Tycho that his fur gets greased and he won't even move an inch, but if a person ever so much as steps into view somewhere in the alley, Tycho poofs up like a blowfish and is all hiss and vinegar. And if that person pauses to offer a complement? Forget about it! Tycho looks for some eyeballs to scratch out. Or else he heads for the relative safety of our own stoop, especially if he realizes we are the full twenty feet away. Who knew that such a little cat could have such a pull on a leash! It's like having a dog! I've thought about bringing T with me to the park, but his apparent terror/rage of/for any other human being he sees in the great outdoors makes me think again...

Oh well. I'm still having that once-a-week dream about Tycho disappearing, so I have no problem with keeping him as close to the apartment as possible. It's a different scenario in every dream (last week I was fleeing some sort of war zone, and tried to double back from Tycho, but got disoriented... I think that was partly because of reading the Michael Crummey POW novel so recently). Little T! I will never let you go!

In other news, I have officially seen the entire series of Six Feet Under. Thanks to Derek's free long distance and my successfully repressed hatred of DVDO, we managed to coordinate well enough to watch the final episode of the series by proxy, and it was sooooo good. That show is some amazing. Apparently they are coming out with a boxed set of all five seasons that will look like a grave with grass growing on it. I just can't believe it's over... no more episodes... and what a series finale....... it felt like I was watching my own life, except much more tragically and cinematically and musically impressive. I want to start all over from the beginning and watch it again, now that I know how it all turns out. Is this how addiction starts? "Hello, my name is Megan, and I have a problem with HBO drama..."

This week: tutorial tomorrow (it took some hard thinking, but I found a way to relate timbits to Foucault!), then meeting with the conference planning team I'm on (Englishy types: watch for a call for papers from Concordia soon!) then a weekend of trying not to think about all the fun that's happening in Toronto without me (Mom/Bronwyn/Adam's race, D's conference). Fortunately I have a tres fantastique distraction lined up: my friend Pauline of Rouen, as in the Rouen-north-of-Paris where I went on an exchange a few years ago, is doing part of her school in Windsor right now, and is coming to see Montreal this weekend! This means great things... this means happy reunions... this means reminiscing... this means seeing Montreal through someone else's eyes.... this means actually speaking French for a significant period of time. Oh la la!

Oh la bed... I'm so tired right now... it just hit me.

One more thing... I happened to notice that someone from Newfoundland has been spending a couple of minutes here and there on Live Wire... maybe it's Joel Hynes! If yes... welcome, Joel! Shelagh was right - Down the the Dirt was fabulous. I remember I bought it a year-ish ago because I read in the Globe that it was being released in certain cities on a trial run, so I felt like helping boost the sales numbers, even just by one. I promise that when your next book shows up, I'll read it, too... and if you ever need a house sitter or something in Newfoundland, just say the word. I think I was meant to live on the east coast... just haven't made it that far yet.