another check-off

montreal. this place makes sense. i am happy. it is good to be alive. to LIVE. i have no regrets about the shit of july. i have no regrets about any of the long-time-coming decisions i've made over the past few months in particular, actually. * this is in cimetiere de notre dame des neiges. i was all alone there. i first noticed the sound whilst taking the muddy-path, steep way up mont royal (in a skirt and sandals, thank you). i thought the path was lined with faulty streetlamps, but there were no streetlamps... just this raucous, then abating, buzzing noise from the trees. i saw no flying insects. what the fuck was it? it was in the cemetery trees, then vanished when i got to rue st laurent. excellent street art abounds. apparently i unconsciously travel to places with amazing shit everywhere. it took closer scrutiny to realize that this is an advertisement for shoes.
i'm on my 3rd book in 3 days. i first picked up "cockroach" by rawi hage at the university bookstore, because i'd read all the houellebecq on their shelf, but i ended up getting "the rum diary" instead. so i found it today here, at a fantastic used bookstore on ave laurier, for less than what it cost in seattle. at one point he's staring out the window at a wintry montreal and fogging up the cold glass. "my own breath was obstructing my view of the world!" i like that. it hit a nerve.