I haven’t posted much about what’s going in in my life lately. Nothing bad is happening. Lots of good things have, actually. Here’s a few highlights:

• Jason Mraz concert with Hesi. That was a lot of fun. We got there late, thinking we’d missed some of Jason Mraz’s performance, but it was just his opening acts, which were also fun. I particularly enjoyed Bushwalla, a hip hop artist who wasn’t afraid to be a bit goofy, but still made serious music.
• Renovations are slowly getting underway here, as you might have guessed from my recent entries. I purchased paint today, and got a ladder in here, so there’s really no excuse not to start painting. That’s going to begin on Wednesday. I’ve also torn up the carpet a bit to see what’s underneath, making sure the floor is in good shape for putting laminate on top. I’ve decided to pay to have someone else do the flooring, partly on the advice given in blog comments here. Thanks folks.
• I did a full weekend intensive workshop with Zach Ward from the Dirty South Improv theatre in North Carolina. It was great to get a refresher workshop on improv. I haven’t had any critique of my improv for quite a long time, and taking the workshop was a great way to get that, from someone who is hella funny and a true master of comedy. I know my improv, particularly tagout skills are improved from having taken his class.
• Big in Japan is going to Chicago at the beginning of June for the mecca of improv festivals, the aptly named Chicago Improv Festival. We’re also applying for the Del Close Marathon in NYC, which happens in August. We’ve been there for the past two years running, so there’s a good chance we’ll go again. I’m excited about the team. In the last few shows, I think we’ve done the best improv we’ve done as a group in ages. We’ve got shows every Tuesday night at the Savannah Room.
• I taught a three-hour photography workshop at a high school in Oakville today. I enjoy this kind of volunteer work. It allows me to corrupt young minds with my own particular ideas about art and photography. Muahhahaha! When I got there, the teacher was leading a drama class. She’d already told them I do improv, so they demonstrated their improv skills for me. They were so into it. I offered to come back and do an improv workshop with that group later, which would be a total blast.

That’s all I have to report for now. I suppose there’ll be more boring pictures of my renovations to come soon!

I flew into Montreal for my last weekly trip for a while. Montreal looked ghostly as I arrived. It was snowing yet again, and as the plane descended through the clouds, I saw that the entire city was cloaked in shades of white. On the tarmac, airplanes coasted silently by, swirling up powdery white wreaths behind them. The image of snow has a way of implying silence, even in noisy places.

My one year commitment at my second job ends at the end of the month, and I’m in Montreal to tie up some loose ends, and to initiate my replacement into the company. To be honest, I’ll be glad that this phase of my life is ending. To be sure, I’ve made some good friends here, and cemented old friendships too. I’ve experienced a lot, and grown a lot as a person. That being said, I’m happy that the end is within sight. With each end, there is a new beginning. That might sound like a cliché, but every cliché has roots in truth.

One of the reasons I’ll be glad to be home more or less permanently is that I won’t miss opportunities. One good example happened this week. Laura managed to score free tickets to see Paul Potts in concert in Hamilton on Thursday night. He’s someone significant to me, because he took his life from zero to superhero in about 30 seconds, realizing a lifelong dream. I must have seen it about 20 times, but I still get emotional watching that video. That’s enormously embarrassing to me because I loathe reality TV. Anyway, needless to say, I couldn’t go, because I’m here. I was in a meeting with one of my clients, and told him about it. Friday morning, he emailed me to say he heard Paul Potts was performing in Montreal that night, and that he could tell I was disappointed that I couldn’t go see the show in Hamilton, so he sent me a link to buy tickets. To me it’s amazing how little connections like that happen. I bought a ticket right away.

The concert was wonderful. It wasn’t entirely because of the music. Potts was clearly not at the top of his game. He had picked up a cold during his tour, and I could hear it in his voice. While he was talking, he was congested, and the cold was taking its toll on his singing voice too. Between songs he would sip a cup of tea, and that would restore him temporarily, but the strain of performing while ill was apparent. Somewhat disappointingly, even a lengthy standing ovation could not bring him back out to perform his signature piece, Nessun Dorma. He is living his dream, but I’m sure that he’s not used to the kind of pressure that this kind of tour creates.

What I found wonderful was watching what has been created in such a short period of time. The hall was packed with almost 3000 people, most of whom seemed to be francophone. Watching the seemingly never-ending stream of people filing into La Salle Wilfred-Pelletier at Place des Arts was truly inspiring. Knowing that this happens at every stop on his North American tour is mind-blowing. Paul Potts has become an overnight, worldwide phenomenon, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.