Cold dark blue October night with full(ish) moon, and I hurt hurt hurt all day. Can no longer do 4 hours straight of child-lifting. Have not had a drink in a week on the grounds that alcohol upsets the tum, but tum is upset in spite of abstinence, so I went to my old local, By The Way at Brunswick and Bloor, and had two cocktails. In spite of new decor BtW is still the BtW of old, especially when they dim the lights; jazz plays, couples chat in the half-empty restaurant (when full, the din does indeed get a bit much, but so it did pre-reno as well), Don the waiter is still there after twenty-some years, and I float gently in nostalgia and alcoholic haze. (BtW's guaranteed 2 oz per cocktail does indeed induce more floatiness than Japas' putative 3 oz per cocktail, so Japas is lying, the cows.) While here in the the past I google the Magnificent Helen and discover that "Helen enjoyed acting in a range of roles before she moved to Vancouver, British Columbia and chose to focus on school and social activism." That's my girl.
(The cafe yesterday was playing Steely Dan. 'Roll out the bones and raise up your pitcher/ Raise up your glass to Good King John.' I raise a glass to the Magnificent Helen.)
