CANADA, OH CANADA

crossing the border, in a nutshell:
the dude was straight-faced and so serious it made my mouth dry and my hands shake!
he of course told us to pull over, where this burly dude with a crew-cut opened the back door, eyed our stuff and told us to get out of the car. i think the thought of searching our van, packed full of crap, right before lunch was too much for him to handle.
we were told to go inside.
andy had to pee, so he went to the bathroom.
the woman that took care of us was NOT pleased.
"why did he go to the bathroom? you were told to come straight to me."
answer number one: um, he had to pee??
answer number two: we were told no such thing
answer number three (jess' answer): why are there bathrooms right inside the door, accessible, if you don't want people going in there?
we all got really nervous for a few seconds. i thought for sure we weren't getting in.
she took our passports and paperwork and disappeared for about 10 minutes.
she was sweet as pie when she came back out.
we were in.

toronto - 5/4 to 5/6
rolled into the drake hotel and were handed the keys to the artist apartment, which, by the way, was tagged with renn's name, short one n.
FREE two night stay at the drake for playing a show.
gee, life is hard.
ok, the apartment was kinda sorta dirty. like you can throw beverages over your shoulder, chevy chase style, and not worry about it (cheadle).
but the linens were sparkling white and very clean and we had internet and beds.
jeff, the dude i set the show up with, told us of existing youtube footage from the apartment. he recommended we not watch it until we had checked out.
apparently the spank rock dj did some serious damage there.
i'm too afraid to watch it.
we sound checked, bought beers and hung out upstairs until the show.
renn's friend maria brought some people in, which was cool.
we both played good shows, but i was still feeling nervous and shy.
we were done by 10:30 and loaded out, trying to avoid the 20 huge bouncers with headsets and the hundreds of people showing up for various events at the hotel.
where we had played only 15 minutes ago turned into a huge dance party where they played nothing but golden-era hip hop.
some damn good stuff.
we went across the street for a few drinks and ended up back at the hotel, shaking our booties until 2am, at which time jeff showed back up and came to the apartment with us to throw back some beers.
we all slept until one or so and walked to wolf down some amazing breakfast burritos.
we then took the streetcar to meet maria and her beau jay in the kensington part of town, which reminded us all of different cities: venice beach, new orleans, san francisco, brooklyn...
they took us to this little place to get pupusas. oh my god, i got the bean and cheese and it nearly made me weep. i could have eaten 20 of them. i ate it slowly and savored every bite.
we walked around, parted ways, met back up for some amazing italian food and wine.
spent the rest of the night back at the apartment, having some beers, taking photos and hanging out, just the five of us.
i woke up hungover for the first time on the trip, which didn't make for a pleasant six hour drive to montreal.
reminder to self: wine and beer don't mix.
reminder to self: when checkout is at 11, checkout is at 11.
jeff, dude, you showed us a really good time. thank you for everything, especially the chance to grace the stage at the drake.
maria, i'll be waiting for the billie line.

PS. i have been seriously slacking on my photo taking. there is just too much going on, in my head and otherwise, to think about my camera like i usually do.