Read this disclaimer first!!
Wednesday, Jun. 12, 2002 - 12:07 a.m.
Love in Toronto

This very talented writer has picked a terrible name for his website: www.victoryshag.com. This will take a lot of reading on your part, so here goes.

Read this.

Then this. And now read the following:

Jenny,

sorry i was so short with you yesterday but i was running late and had to get out the door. when i got home there was a message from you asking where i'd gone for brunch and who with.

this, which arrived wednesday night, should explain it:

http://www.victoryshag.com/letterfromthel.html

***

so, i took them up on it, though it seemed like a recipe for disaster. as Thel said in her letter, they're a pretty close bunch and it seems like their friendship is pretty rock solid. why they'd want to risk it over something like this is beyond me but i couldn't resist finding out.

i got there about 145 or so and took a seat at the bar without them seeing me enter. i listened to them joke and talk for about 15 minutes and then made my way over. i think maybe they weren't really expecting me to show as two of them (Anna and Robin) turned redder than my shoes.

i sat between Thel and Katherine. they had ordered juices and waters and coffees but hadn't gotten around to the food yet. prior to my arriving they had decided what *i* had to order, just because, as Thel said "what meal could be more appropriately named considering your present company?" the dish in question was fresh berries and cream cheese between pieces of frosted french toast. it was called Heaven on Earth. i got a good laugh out of that.

i ordered a pineapple juice but the girls would have none of it. it was then that i noticed that they were all drinking martinis. i ordered a sour apple one and we got busy getting to know each other.

my first impression is that Thel is the most confident and the "ringleader" followed by Katherine. Robin and Anna are a little quieter. Anna and Katherine are brunettes (both brown), Robin's a blonde (very short hair) and Thel's a red head ("though i have no proof at present that it's natural," she said. they all found that very funny and for some reason Anna was the one the blushed at the information being put out there.)

they were all terrifically funny and sexy in their own ways. Thel was extremely sarcastic, Katherine seemed very coy, Robin was very shy but at the same time pretty blunt, and Anna seemed to contradict herself, but not in a bad way--in just a sorta funny way. i can't explain it.

i'm sure all their good and bad qualities are gonna come out in time. surprisingly, i wasn't that nervous--everything seemed very comfortable pretty much from the git-go. only two sorta weird things happened.

the first weird thing was this: apparently, they'd decided among themselves that i should go out with Anna on wednesday because she's leaving town on thursday morning for a convention. that's not the weird part. this is: at one point i went downstairs to make a phone call and while i was down there, Thel came down "to use the washroom." however, she didn't actually use the washroom. she watched me on the phone and then, when i was done, she said that she thought my date with Anna would probably end early (she didn't say why) and told me that i should call her when it was over and head over to her place. she gave me her number and then scooted back upstairs.

now, i don't know if "normally" i would be writing this (as they're all reading it), but over the course of the meal they dropped a few hints that they wanted to "test" me to see if i was gonna be honest in my letters or whether i was gonna end up taking sides. they're adamant that they're going to be telling each other everything that happens anyway so i thought that maybe the phone number thing was a test so here it is.

the second strange thing is that i went to use that bathroom and when i came back my once-full martini glass had been drained. there were three rather distinct lipstick traces around the rim. i asked who the party pooper was and, embarassed, Robin hid her face in her hands. Katherine said "look closer".

i picked up the glass and saw that a fourth set of lips had left their mark on the base of the glass. in an attempt to defend her action, Robin said "what?! i was the last one to get the glass and these greedy [#@!$] had already drank all your juice. what was i supposed to do?"

the funny thing is that the other three all called her on it and said she was full of [#@!$]--that she was the first one to pick up the glass. she hid her face in her hands again and they all made fun of her. Katherine called her a "ball [#@!$]" which urged them into more laughter.

anyway, it was a rather fun lunch (and free!) and i think we're gonna play it by ear and see what happens.

when we were finished they all wanted to kiss goodbye and i must say that this was the most bizarre and fascinating thing. though obviously everyone has their own way of kissing, i'd never been confronted with multiple goodbye kisses one after the other like that and the differences between their, um, techniques was accentuated by the lack of time between them.

Robin was first. she kissed me twice, both on the right cheek, and hugged me between each peck. Katherine kissed me on the lips but kept her hands at her sides. Thel was full on, mouth open, big wet kiss. she put her right hand on the back of my neck and her left on my back. Anna, who is petite, maybe 5', kissed very softly and tenderly, on the mouth, but grabbed my [#@!$], which her friends thought was hilarious and then she ended up cutting the kiss short by laughing and blushing and hurrying away to the wall. Robin was crying foul that she had to go first and then came in for another kiss, this time on the mouth and deep. she squeezed my hand and it ended up being the longest kiss of all.

they told me that they were gonna get the bill and that i should leave first. i did.

outside on bloor street there was some street festival thing going on. i sorta made myself invisible in the crowd and watched the front door for them to exit.

they came out about ten minutes later. they hugged goodbye. thel and katherine went one way. anna and robin went another. i followed anna and robin for about a block and then they split and went their separate ways.

i popped into book city and picked up a copy of Stephen Dixon's new novel. then i went home.

it was a strange and wonderful day. i have a date on wednesday. i'll keep you posted.

d.

How do you think Dobbs should handle this? Should he have agreed to meet them? Should he go on the date on Wednesday? Should he be suspicious of any or all of these women, and if so, why? For the men only, I'd love to know how you would handle this situation if you were Dobbs. My thoughts later.

The Jenny that he was talking to also has her own website, if you're interested. I have signed up to receive more from him. I enjoy his style. I suggest some of you do the same.

If I had a decent readership, I'd have a poll to determine what Dobbs should do. Since I don't, you can either contact me through the usual means (email, guestbook) or you can go to Sam's guestbook, since I got this from her. She is quite a woman, I think. I find many interesting things out on the web through her. She evens likes to pose nude. I always like that in a woman. Reminds me of someone else I know quite well.

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Tuesday, Jun. 11, 2002 - 11:42 p.m.
Saab's Shitty Day

Last night I called Saab to tell him about Nicole, but he was entertaining a neighbour. This was around eleven pm. Today he proceeded to have a shitty day. A day that started at 1 am.

At some point in the evening he opened his balcony door to let in some air. He closed it, but instead of locking the door, he merely shut it. At 1 am he sees the door slightly ajar. His cat, Vincent (say it in a French way), was gone.

So, out the door he went, as George Thorgood might say. in the rain, Saab looked for Vincent for two hours. Finally he finds him in some bushes. Vincent is too freaked out to do anything but run away from him whenever Saab got near. This goes on for about another half hour. Saab got the bright idea that he should create a makeshift ramp for Vincent should he ever figure out that it is his way back home. That didn't work, either.

It's now 4:30 am and Vincent still hasn't shown up, when he hears this terrible and loud animal scream. Running outside, Saab only sees Vincent and a similar cat tearing away up the street. Time to call in the big guns, the SPCA. They never called back. I didn't think they were on call 24-7.

6 am. He is in his den trying to stay awake to receive a call from the SPCA. Going back into the kitchen, he notices pawprints on the ramp. Vincent was home, in his room. He made it.

Now Saab only had 30 minutes until he was due to wake up. Sleeping in till 10, he called work to say that he was (obviously) late and that he would be going to take the 12:35 bus. But then he decided that he can make the 11:00 bus. A made a supreme effort to miss it by six minutes. This isn't a normal bus, either, he works very far away, in a different city completely. I can't remember the details, but there was no one there to let him in when he called from his cell phone, and he was already on the first bus there. He decided not to go in and instead said "Fuck it." He got off the bus and turned around. At this point he was going to call me about tonight's game in Verdun, but...no phone. He had left it on the bus.

He's very pissed now, so he waits around again for the next bus (1 hour). No phone. He tries calling it, but no dice. Time to suspend service on the phone. Did you know that if your phone is lost or stolen then you are still billed for everything until you tell your provider, even if you are away on vacation and someone breaks in and steals your phone?

Fuming, he gets on a bus home. An attractive woman gets on and smiles at him. She killed his anger. Smiling back, he thought to himself,"Hey, it's just a phone."

Good thinking.

And tonight, in Verdun, we won our Ultimate game. We're 2-0.

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Tuesday, Jun. 11, 2002 - 1:48 p.m.
The New Apartment

On Saturday, my roommate, D and former roommate went apartment hunting. They were looking for a 4 1/2 (Quebec lingo for 2 bedrooms, kitchen, living room and half-bathroom). They found one in Rosemont for $500 (CHEAP!!). It was fine, except that the room in the front faces St. Denis street, which is too noisy. The lady showing the apartment, Nicole, had another place, a 6 1/2, southeast of there. $700. Perfect for them. That night, D mentioned all of this to me, and said that they left the 4 1/2 for someone else. He mentioned that the ladyt was very nice. I asked to be hooked up.

Yesterday I called Nicole and made arrangements. She had checked my references by the time I called because D had called her telling her about me. It was perfect. I was to show up in Rosemont at 6:15.

Nicole is about 5'4", 44 years old with very nice legs. But she walks with a cane.

When she got there and introduced herself the first thing she said was,"Tu m'as pas dit que t'es noir. Mais �a me d�range pas," meaning, "You didn't tell me you were black. But that doesn't bother me." Hmmm...

I went there and liked the place immediately, but there are no appliances there so I have to buy my own. I was supposed to look at another place but I was getting the soft hard sell from Nicole. One of the things she said is that it must be hard to find a place to live, being black and all. This woman was starting to get on my nerves. This is my 10th year in the city, and I've never had a problem.

She is, as D puts it, easy-going, but not too easy-going. She had this no-nonsense look that wasn't intimidating exactly, but drove home the point that you don't really have a choice but to do whatever it is she wants you to. In this case, that was to take the apartment right then and there. She was showing the place to two more people that night. I had to tell her my intentions right then and there.

I, however, had no intention of making it that easy for her, especially since I wasn't sure about her or the place. Just then, D and A show up to sign the lease for the 6 1/2. I tried to get in touch with my other contact about seeing another place that night, but it was impossible. I left with D and A.

Later, I contacted Nicole to accept the place and sign the lease. She was at her mother-in-law's place. I saw pictures of Nicole on her wedding day. She looks much the same now, just with shorter hair and a little gray (and a cane).

We talked for about an hour. It was here that she told me about the cane. Nine years ago she was collecting rent from an old Greek woman, probably in her 70s. The woman let Nicole in, went away, came back and beat her senseless with a stick. Literally. Nicole was unconscious. Her second vertebra was broken. The spinal fluid was screwed up somehow. She was in a wheelchair and was told that she would probably not walk again. She did work her way out of the wheelchair into a walker, then finally the cane, which she barely used when I saw her.

The worst thing was that she lost all short-term memory, just like the guy in Memento. She would call her sister 20 times in a day because she could not remember what they had spoken about 5 minutes earlier. It was hell. It lasted from 1993 to 1997. She only remembers flashes from time to time. 4 years, gone. That would be like me not remembering university. She had a kid during this time and everything.

So I signed it, and Nicole seems okay. More than okay. She will actually allow me to break the lease if I have to have for any reason (such as a job or love opportunity). Now I just count down the days until it is time to move.

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