ACCOZZAGLIA

There really isn’t a lot I have to talk about, really, though much is happening with my life. These are generally good things, which is a welcome change from a couple of weekends ago when I lost Smug.

I’m in Toronto.

Just to say these three words is something personally significant. It was almost eight years ago since the last time I was able to say this statement. As anticipated, my experiences have been good. Solidly so.

I arrived Thursday night and met up with my friend at Pearson. I was privately giddy, though I didn’t believe I really was here. Despite getting onto the TTC airport rocket, followed by the Dundas streetcar on Roncesvalles, I still was in disbelief. Logically, I knew where I was, but I guess, given everything that has happened in these intervening years, I honestly never thought I would find myself here again — that I would have died before then.

It was when my host took me out to his patio on the ninth floor of where he lives when it really hit me the first time. I looked out and saw a clear-shot view of the Toronto skyline. It was almost as I’d remembered everything. Two things, however, stuck out as odd to me. The first was knowing that the Canada Trust tower, which used to have a “C” sideways on the tower’s spire, now had a tiny, green box illuminating the TD Canada Trust logo. But the bigger (what I’d call) violation of the skyline was the Bank of Montreal tower. I asked, “OMG. Where’s the blue? Where is it?” Apparently, this change was semi-recent. The practically trademark blue signage on the top-left corner of each side of Toronto’s tallest office skyscraper (and Canada’s, for that matter) had been replaced with Bank of Montreal’s new branding scheme. They now call themselves BMO, and the lighted signage is a rather dull and dim “BMO” with the old logo in while with red circle background. Sacrilege! Blasphemy! :P

Still, it was a sight for sore eyes.

The following day, I set up my mobile service with Fido, which is now part of Rogers. And while I was able to set up what will be my primary number for probably the next several years, I was not able to secure a 416 area code. Instead, I was given a 647 number, which is a relatively new overlay area code for the 416 (Toronto city) area. The phone is nice, and the plan isn’t expensive. All incoming call minutes are free, which is also nice. All in all, this was a major goal met.

Also on Friday, I met with a potential roommate for a place in Little Italy. That went well, and the place is in a nice house. No decision has been made, since I’ll be looking at other housing options on my list of possibilities. This would include co-op housing.

When I left, I walked east on Queen to the city hall at Bay. In the middle of the plaza, next to the peace arches, I stopped walking and found myself extremely overwhelmed with so much emotion; to think that I’d not ever see this again, that which my heart has esteemed as my home for the last nine years, got me to cry on the spot. Home is an important concept, and one which I have experienced so little of for so long. And now, I have returned, this time to stay.

Later that night, I met up with a couple of people from an IRC channel I populate for what we called Toronto Night Walk ’05, which featured a huge walk around the city centre (Bay/College to Parliament/Carlton to Parliament/Front to Bay/Front and back to Bay/College), followed by late, late night dining at the original Fran’s. As expected, the pancakes were phenomenal. They were buttery, crisp, yet melted in your mouth. They still rank in my top three places to get pancakes.

Saturday, I met with wohali for brunch. We had so much catching up to do since we last saw one another last summer in Asia. The afternoon featured a tremendous amount of talking, walking and eating. Tentatively, she and I may see one another once more before I leave on Saturday morning.

Later in the evening, my host and I went down to CKLN-FM at Ryerson University, where he works as a staff engineer for the studio. I buried myself in their very dusty, seemingly forgotten vinyl library (that which wasn’t packed up for a soon-to-be move to new studios) and found the most amusing stuff. I was cited for having a little too much fun. Once he got things done, we went to Timmies and talked through dawn, all while listening to 92.5 Jack FM. This was the third Jack-format station I’ve heard in exactly a week (the others being 96.9 Jack FM in Vancouver and 96.5 Jack FM in Seattle). I’m torn over the nature of this canned format, but it seems to be working. And I think I know why. Still, I surprised him a couple of times by identifying the song being played, often within a half-second. He’s trying to convince me to get back into DJing again. At the very least, he’d like to nominate me to take over a slot at CKLN once they move to their new studios. It might be a good little side diversion from studying and working. I’m all for it, though it’s entirely up to whether anyone will listen to the dated stuff I know best.

I had an early dinner this evening with stridingcloud, which was a lot of fun. We went to a semi-hidden little greasy spoon on Queen called Shanghai Cowgirl, which to me was like a less smoke-addled Beth’s with a back patio seating area. The food selection was far more varied, yet still greasy and even a little trashy. I <3 trashy. I ordered a pint of Amsterdan beer (a pilsner brewed locally, I think) and a grilled cheese; he ordered steak and eggs with the same beer. The two of us talked about, amongst other things, trashy-cheesy adult contemporary music of the 1970s and 1980s and old computer stuff. This was good timing, because the DMX system played Boz Scaggs, Toto and other so-uncool-it’s-cool-again stuff which amused me to no end. And considering the recent timing of my music binge for all things outre, this was a perfect soundtrack to complement the evening.

So, tomorrow is when the real core of this visit here gets underway. This is when I go up to the UofT campus for the first time and meet with various advisors and ask a lot of naive, incessant and clueless questions. Oh, this is going to be a learning experience, and I don’t mean that in the fun way, either. I’m a wee bit nervous, naturally, since this is all new territory for me. Also, I’ll have my UTORid card set up tomorrow and pick up my course catalogue. Hi, again, nervous much!

Tuesday, I’ll set up a chequing acccount here. Not sure if I’m going with RBC or Scotia or one of the credit unions locally. wohali suggested TD, but I haven’t heard the best things about them — especially post-Canada Trust buyout and TD Waterhouse in the U.S. Of course, any suggestions would be welcome.

After that, I get to set aside time with people. I am quite looking forward to this. righteousbean, if you have an hour or so for coffee, I’d like to spend some time with you. Look for me on IRC and private message me so I can give you my number. ruralrob, I have no idea whether you’ll be in Trauma this week; if you are and have a little time to spend, I’d most certainly love to see you and emjaybaxter. :) And if not, then there’s always this autumn once I’m settled in.

OK. Must get going. I think I’ll sit a bit longer on the patio in this (admittedly) smoggy, humid air and look at the skyline and wind turbine from out west here in Parkdale. I’ll make good use of this meditation time. :)