Torontoshima

            I was scheduled to work at 8:30 on Friday so I rushed through song practice, made some coffee, got ready, wolfed down a thick slice of ham, drank the gulped the coffee and headed out. When I got to the sign-in sheet though I saw that I was booked from 9:00. When I checked later I saw that I had just assumed it started at 8:30 and written it down that way but the email said 9:00. I’m glad I didn’t give the instructor, Rae Johnson a hard time about it like I’d thought about doing.

            Rae’s name and face seemed familiar. She told me she remembered me from when she taught at OCADU before and that she’d just started again after a long time. She said she starts at 9:00 to give her students time to set up. I'm sure they all have other classes for which they have to be ready by 8:30. Maybe Rae just doesn't want to start that early. She told me they'd only need me till 14:00, so that was good news.

            She was interested to hear that I was working on an essay comparing sexuality in the Wasteland and Howl. She commented that those were sexually different times compared to today's “Me Too” movement. I said that, especially in the Wasteland, things didn't go very well for women.

            I did two sets of two ten minute poses and then one long pose for the rest of the class, with a one-hour lunch break at noon.

            The only windows in the studio are translucent. On the ledge outside of one of them were the silhouettes of two pigeons. The male was doing his cock walk to catch the female while she would keep walking away, sometimes fly away and then return.

            I took a nap at lunchtime so I wouldn’t fall asleep in the afternoon. I only had to work for one hour after lunch. On the way home I didn’t bother to stop at Freshco, since I’d already gone the day before.

            I didn’t take a siesta after getting home that afternoon, even though I was a bit tired. I didn’t want to be awake in bed all night since I had to work on Saturday morning as well.

            I watched the last two episodes of the 21^st season of South Park.

            In number 9, the Canadian comedy team of Terrence and Philip have just been given a Netflix show, with nothing but fart humour, as usual. All the kids love it but suddenly Kyle doesn’t like it anymore. His friends tease him that he’s turning into a Jewish mother. Kyle starts a group called Millennials Against Canada and has a televised debate with the Canadian Minister of Streaming who tells Kyle that he sounds like a Jewish mother. Kyle asks President Garrison to do something about all the hate coming out of Canada and so Garrison drops an atomic bomb on Toronto.

            In the final episode we learn President Garrison’s approval rating has dropped to 3% and he’s now hiding out in the woods outside of South Park and living on rodents. His nuclear attack on Toronto killed a million people. Kyle’s adopted little brother, Ike is Canadian and wants revenge. He dresses up as a Mountie and is determined to hunt Garrison down like a dog. Kyle convinces the other kids to help him look for Ike, but the route they take has along the way landmarks that remind Heidi of everything she’s been through since she’s been in a relationship with Cartman. She also realizes that Cartman tried to kill her on Halloween. Cartman says, “Yeah baby, but that was only because I was pissed off that you made me late for the pumpkin patch!” Ike captured Garrison and drags him bound and gagged into town. Bob White helps Garrison escape. Heidi breaks up with Cartman. Cartman threatens to shoot himself, but nobody cares.