Interview.

Well, I had promising interview yesterday. Instead of telling you about it, I decided to draw a comic. Enjoy!

I made another comic about my eczema. My hands have been very itchy lately! It's definitely not as red and gross looking as I made it out to be in the comic, in reality it just looks like dry skin, but that's how it feels.

When it rains it pours.

"Les Chuchoteuses" (the whisperers) by Rose-Aimée Bélanger

My mom came for a visit last week, which was wonderful. It was such a nice break from reality, and she spoiled us rotten. We visited a lot of touristy places, like the delicious Schwartz's and St. Viateur bagel, and we also discovered that the best burgers on earth are at L'Amère à Boire on St. Denis.

We also walked around old Montreal, shopping and eating poutine. We saw this lovely statue by Rose-Aimée Bélanger, had some great lattes, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

We've been really lucky, it's been warm and sunny here, a definitely plus as Adam and I don't drive. It's been warm enough for me to ride around on my cruiser, and I'm dreading the day when I have to store her for the winter.

 We had kind of a traumatic week after my mom left. Adam began having tooth pain in one of his molars, and it got to the point where he was unable to sleep or function. After going to a terrible dentist who was diagnosing him based on a price sheet without looking into his mouth at all, we decided to go to the Montreal General Hospital in the Dental department. They have students working there who are doing their practicum, so it is much more reasonably priced. They recommended that Adam either get a root canal or get his tooth pulled, and since we don't have coverage, we had to go for the latter. I felt terrible that we couldn't afford to get him the best treatment, but it was the best we could do.

I also found out that a part-time job I had decided to short-change me on my paycheque. According to my friend Chris, that isn't uncommon in Montreal. I'm obviously looking into it, and will take action to get my full earnings, but it is infuriating that I have to work so hard to get what I already worked for. With Adam's dental fiasco, and with this paycheque mishap, we're very concerned about paying our bills. (surprise, surprise)

Adam found out that he is most likely not getting time off for Christmas, so that's the icing on the cake.

When I moved to Montreal, I knew it was going to be difficult, challenging, and it would push me to step outside my comfort zone. What I didn't realize is that I wouldn't get the chance to prove myself. It is extremely competitive here for jobs, and I know that if I was given the opportunity for an interview I would impress the employer.
Unfortunately, it seems that employers here are bent on using you, the positions I really want won't give me the time of day, and once you have a bad streak of luck, it sticks to you like a parasite.

Don't Let The Darkness Eat You Up

Good news! Adam has a job. He's working at a place called Le Fromentier. It's a bakery/patisserie/cheese shop. He's making a lot of croissants, breads, and puff pastry desserts. He really likes it so far, and since it is french, he's strengthening his language skills. It's been a huge relief for us. He works Mon-Friday 11-7, so we even have weekends off together.

Since Adam is back at work, I'm at home alone all day. It's been a bit difficult for me, but I've been given a chance to be creative and to spend some time alone to reflect. Today I went for a walk in the misty rain around our neighbourhood, and had a really nice time saying goodbye to the fall. My favourite season is autumn, and we had a really beautiful one in Montreal. Everything was so colourful and vibrant. On my walk I observed that everything is now looking fairly grey and dead. I was listening to the Album Leaf, and then to Jose Gonzales, and the weather and music was really in sync with my outlook. I wasn't feeling depressed or angry or anything, but kind of realized that I've been so apathetic lately that I haven't allowed myself to feel anything at all. I've been wearing emotional armor to protect myself from job rejection, from boredom, from driving myself insane with my own thoughts. Instead of letting myself get emotionally invested in anything, I've been watching Oprah and Dr. Phil. I think it was survival instinct kicking in, preventing me from being consumed with worry over our finances and situation. I guess I was letting the darkness eat me up.

Anyway, I feel more like my old self now. I've decided that I need to keep working creatively even though I am unemployed, and I'm going to start working on a project. I've been wanting to write a book for a long time, and I have an idea for a story. Even if I don't end up finishing it, it will be good for me to start working on a project that I have complete control over. 

One song from Jose Gonzales really struck me today on my walk. I would urge you to check it out if you have a chance:

Halloween!

Halloween came and went this year with little excitement in our home. Usually we make a big deal out of it by hosting a party and dressing up. This year we didn't even dress up, and I had to work at a snooty mall for rich people where no one was dressed up at all, not even the kids!
We did go to our friend Margot's place to watch Rocky Horror and to eat some spooky treats. That was nice.
Unfortunately on the way there I was almost mugged at the Saint-Laurent metro station. A couple weeks ago a man was brutally beaten up there, and was in critical condition in the hospital afterwards. Scary. This group of young guys were hovering around outside, where I was waiting for a bus after taking the metro, and they started yelling things at me while coming towards me quickly. I started running to get inside the metro station, and they grabbed another guy who was also trying to get inside. They grabbed his coat off of his back and took it. It was very scary. I reported the incident to the metro attendant, who called the police. I hope they punish those jerks. I was so scared afterwards and will think twice about taking the bus alone at night!

I've been working at a muffin shop at a mall for weekends the past month, but I've decided I can't go back there. Working for minimum wage at a job that kills me, isn't at all in my field, and takes me an hour just to get there isn't worth it. So, I'm still on the lookout for something else...even if that means a crap job at a closer location. I've been seeing a career counselor at YES Montreal (Youth Employment Services) and he's been giving me some really good tips. I'm hoping they pay off soon. I also went to a job fair, and I think I impressed the lady at the McGill table. She said someone would be calling me soon, and we're hoping and praying this happens.

Adam has quit his job a Moishes. They wanted him to commit to at least a year, and he didn't have the heart to lie to them as he was actively looking for other work. He didn't love working there, and they didn't pay enough, so he didn't want to stay any way. We're both a bit scared that we've been here for two months and still don't have employment, and our resources are totally gone. It's a bit scary, and we're wondering if we made a huge mistake coming here. We're still trying to keep up hope, and I think things will be better once I start my French classes in January.

We're thinking we're too nice for this city. People pay you nothing and expect the world from you, and we're too nice to lie and be dishonest to employers. Adam has worked at countless restaurants for "trial runs" for free... he is sick of working and not being paid for his hard work. I'm almost wondering if employers try out new cooks on a regular basis just to have someone do the work no one else wants to do. There are certainly enough unemployed people in Montreal to exploit. How sad.

My mom is coming for a visit on Nov. 10th. I'm so excited to have her here. I know she'll be a huge encouragement, and it'll be a lot of fun.

Autumn's here

Bonjour tout mes amis!

Autumn is my favourite season, and it is so beautiful here in Montreal. The leaves are all changing colours and falling off the trees, and we've been having a lot of fun crunching the leaves as we walk through the streets. It's still nice enough to bike around, although you need mittens at night. I've been collecting red maple leaves to mail to my mom and my brother.

It turns out that Adam isn't going to be a butler/personal chef, but he is working in a restaurant making pastries. I think he's going to have a lot of freedom to come up with new recipes, so I hope he practices for me at home.


I'm still looking for work. It's a bit worrying, because I haven't really found anything in my field yet. My french isn't strong enough yet. I went to a community centre where some of my friends are taking cheap french lessons, and had an evaluation that placed me in level four. I'm glad they did evaluate me, I think I'd die if I had to start from square one. Apparently my past tense skills are good.


We went to Fairmont Bagel the other day to get ourselves a taste of Montreal. It is one of the oldest and best Montreal bagel shops, although many would say St. Viateur is better. I like Fairmont because they have the most variety, and have about a dozen different flavours, including onion, all dressed, blueberry and chocolate chip!
They were very tasty and we brought some home to put in the freezer.

This year for Thanksgiving Adam and I decided to make a roast duck instead of turkey. It was very delicious. We had our friend Theresa come over and had some wine, duck, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, salad, and a raspberry sauce Adam made instead of cranberry sauce! It was non-traditional and fun, and because we made the effort it was easier to be away from home. Our friends Margot, Rachel and Dan had a dessert potluck for all their friends away from their families on the holiday weekend as well.

They came over to learn how to make Adam's pie crust recipe a few days before, and you can see the fruits of our labour above! Adam made a peach, plum, pear pie a la Joanna Newsom (although he forgot the pear), and Margot and Rachel made mirabelle pie, pumpkin pie, raspberry cream cheese, and apple I believe. It was very good. Someone also brought gingersnaps which are my favourite.


How are the rest of you enjoying the autumn weather? Has anyone done any baking?

cuttin' onions and fashion

Why hello again,

It's a strange thing, but lately I've been having the most vivid dreams. Last night I had a dream that I was back in high school, at my current age and with a university degree, because I decided that I wasn't going to get a job in my current field and so going back to high school and taking a few calculus and physics classes was really going to help me out. Some of my high school friends were there, and I think someone stole my bike. Later, I had a dream that I was a large black woman who investigated prison conditions down South. Strange.

I invented a dance move in my sleep. A couple nights ago Adam looked over at me while I was sleeping and I had a huge grin on my face, and then suddenly my eyes opened and I had a look of glee. I told him that I was dreaming about being in a dancing competition, where I won first prize for a dance move called the onion chop/cutting onions. It involved me actually cutting onions on a cutting board with a big knife on the dance floor, crying because of the onion-eyes, and also because the dance move was so graceful. It was probably the best dream ever.

We went to a fashion show on Tuesday. It was of 6 up and coming Montreal designers. To be honest I didn't really see anything that great or revolutionary (I have my Project Runway critical eye, haha) but it was really fun to go to something like that. It's fun being in a big city where you can do stuff like that on a whim.

Tonight we're going to go see Danielson and Deerhoof. I am so excited, and have been a fan of both for a long time. Check out a Danielson vid below:

Schwartz's Smoked Meat

Heyo!

So I had a job interview today, which went well I think. I'll hear in the next few days if there is any news. Adam and I decided we wanted to go to Schwartz's to have a nice lunch and to fill up on some good ol' beef brisket. I was the first one who arrived (being in the neighbourhood due to said job interview) and I texted our friend Margot to come. I ended up sitting there for quite awhile by myself, and the server was getting a little miffed because you're not supposed to save seats there (oops!). Margot eventually showed, then her sister Rachel arrived about 10 minutes later, and then finally poor Adam--who had gotten lost--arrived.

Lunch was incredible! We ordered the smoked meat sandwich, a dill pickle (which Margot informed me was absolutely important) and a side of fries to share. The meat was so good it fell apart.

The only strange thing was that when we got our pickle plate, there were little red ants underneath it. We quickly grabbed our pickles off and passed the plate off to the waiter. Then we tried to forget it happened. If the food is that good, it's worth a little sanitation overlooking.

On the menu, there was a list of celebrities who had enjoyed their meat. It included Céline Dion, a bunch of other Quebecois, and Ken Dryden. I thought my family would like that.

Afterwards, we went to La Grande Bibliothèque (The Big Library). We got some dvds out, including the '90s highschool sitcom(?) "Square Pegs" starring Sarah Jessica Parker as a 15 year old, Twin Peaks season 2, and a documentary on band posters. We also got the debut Blonde Redhead album, George Harrison "Dark Horse, and Josh Rouse "1972". They have a three CD and DVD limit here. In Saskatoon we used to get out huge stacks of at least 20 per visit. Just another thing we miss about home!