Not a mistake, by a lake

"Paul is the best name ever! After Jesus."

As the volcanic mist clears and the world takes another step towards to it's inevitable doom, I watch Fight Club, eat a Mars Bar and write another monthly update from the "true north strong and free" (I'm still not sure about this one, I mean, it is *A* north, but Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Liverpool, Newcastle, *cough* Manchester *cough* is still the "true" north to me, Ee by gum). I haven't got a great deal to report this month, but I feel oddly guilty and creatively bereft if I don't update this little speck of internet filth every so often. So here's another post of bullshit.

So, April. Work is still taking up the majority of my time unsurprisingly, and everything is well.. y'know.. work. I'm still surrounded by beautiful people who make my first proper full time job (ok, hold the "proper) bearable and also still by the very strange Canadian public who say some very strange things. For example, how are you expect to answer when some bloke built like a brick shit house asks you if you think his girlfriend is cute? Do you say "of course" and risk pain for even looking at his girlfriend or say otherwise and risk him getting offended for not finding his girlfriend attractive? It's a total lose lose situation. It's doubly hard when you can never be sure if someone is dead serious or not and then also totally embarrassing when someone thinks you're a moron because you didn't play along with their joke. In conclusion... THE GUEST IS WHY!?!?? *shudder* Anyway, I recently got put in charge of changing posters, which has given me ambitions of quitting the job and just selling all the posters of films that aren't even out yet that we take down and selling them on Ebay. Not really. Maybe.

It's currently under two weeks until my mate Lev coming over and me, him and Cam go on our little jaunt around Lake Ontario, which I'm extremely excited about, although it still hasn't sunk in that I'm going anywhere after not travelling more than a few miles since October (which feels VERY weird). At home, I was always making full use of my Young Persons Railcard (REPRESENT) to go and see someone somewhere, but when you live in such a big place like Toronto, the variety is at your doorstep. Having said that, I'm massively excited about going to America for the first time (n00b) and catching up with an old friend... tourism. Oh and Lev. I just hope that the ruddy smoking mound thing shuts up so his aeroplane can get here. In regards to funding it, things at the cinema have been pretty quiet recently with a lack of blockbuster movies, but I've just about managed to violently steal enough shifts from co-workers to survive and save.

Toronto is pretty warm and sunny at the moment (if it was daytime), but still confuses me with it's sudden change in weather. However, barbecues have already been had and it's not even May yet, which is a total triumph innit?! Everyone wears baseball caps and sunglasses in this city all year round, and finely they're justified. More outdoorsy stuff is certainly on the horizon, probably including being part of the lowest attendance crowds for the Toronto Blue Jays ever. There's talk of camping afoot which would be cool and I hope to finally show off my prowess on the footy pitch again.

There's been even more leaving parties at work and for the English in the past month, which is always sad but blurry. It's times like that they make me kind of nervous that I have to go home in less than four months now, especially since I don't really have much of a plan when I do go back, other than being locked in my room for at least a week penetrating my Xbox. On the flip side, there is certain things (I really crave a proper takeaway curry and a scotch egg sometimes) and of course people I miss at home, but I don't quite know how long it'll be before I'm bored and home and want to break free again. My sketchy plan at the moment involves going home, learning to drive and then trying to get a vague career job and moving out - if that doesn't work out within a year or something, get another Visa and returning to the other side of this wonderful country or going somewhere else. But I'll leave that up to the month of September to decide. Cheers September.

Anyway, oddly enough, films (and a strange Pokemon relapse) are filling the 360 void at the moment, hot tip of the month is definitely Kick Ass, which features a helluva lot of Toronto. It was a total mindfuck for everyone at the staff screening to see their own theatre on a film that was showing at that theatre, and I certainly thought the world was going to explode, I dunno about anyone else. Someone also told me the other day they're going to show World Cup games at work, which would be kind of weird, but once again made me go a bit silly over the upcoming tournament which will make me so patriotic I think I might accidentally beat up a minority. Y'know, or not. Which leads me to the election which I'm probably gonna miss. Do the right thing UK and don't vote Diddy Cameron please? And since when have the Liberal Democrats been serious contenders?! Blimey. If I sort my proxy vote in time I'll be voting big wussy yellow, hurrah!

That's all for now, next blog will tell all of my travels in May, potential plans for summer and my reaction to both Leeds United's moment of glory/total ridiculous embarrassing failure and more than two lines about the election.

Love you,
Paul

Thanks to andreiphotos.blogspot.com who I stole the Tim Hortons photo off without asking. For the uninformed, Tim Hortons is a popular coffee place in Canada, frequented by the homeless and staffed by the non-English speaking, but hey, the donuts are well cheap. In conclusion, you see lots of those cups everywhere.