Kermess in Montreal

It was a brief weekend, but well worth it. I caught the late flight out of Washington for Montreal Friday night and was greeted by 2 of my good friends from Montreal, Perouz and Apo. Though I arrived after midnight, we still made time to go out for drinks and catch up. Apo was the face I saw every day for two years and I haven't seen him since January. Now he is running for parliament up in Quebec. My how we grow.

Anyway, it was a much needed break from the mundane life. I may have discovered a growing addiction in me to travel internationally. I have a thing for being in airports with signs in foreign languages. Might have to do with nostalgia or association with trips to Armenia. Who knows, but I dig it.

All of Saturday was spent eating. We got up and went to grab some croissants to eat at the apartment. Then we left to meet with others for crepes and hot chocolate (you read me... hot chocolate on a hot summer day). Then we met with another friend for coffee. Then we parted ways to get ready for Kermess... where we grabbed more food. I ran into some friends, old and new, local and international... some I recognized, some not at all. The furthest friend came in from LA. The oldest was someone I used to work with at the Armenian Weekly whom I barely recognized. He lost half his weight and shaved his beard... he had to tell me his name. It was a great new experience. I was slightly out of it because we had been eating all day and I wore the wrong shoes, but it was fun none the less.

The next morning was a quiet morning before I headed for the airport... and then the mess began. My flight was delayed... and delayed... and delayed... and finally cancelled, as I was scheduled to connect through New York, which was experiencing flash thunder storms. Better safe than sorry. I met a nice guy on the same flight and we decided to head back to town with my friends and enjoy another night in Montreal. We were, of course, led by our stomachs and grabbed more food. And then we caught an incredible French movie "C.R.A.Z.Y." which had me reading subtitles for 2 hours. Well worth it, what a great movie.

First flight in the morning had my name on it. Soon enough I was in DC again and rushing home to change and get to work. I tell you, this is a bad way to start a week... I NEED my Sunday wind-down time. Next week will be similar. The first System show is on Sunday night in Southern Virginia (2 hours away) and the second show is Monday night in Baltimore (1 hour away), so I'll be cranky all week. Can't wait to have a nice boring, sleep-filled weekend for once... Olympics is around the corner. Fat chance.

Anyway, more photos on the way with all the new events. Check out more photos from Kermess: www.digitalrailroad.net/Arsineh (fyi, you can't link websites from Macs. Why is that? So annoying!)