Aug 18 - Quebec City - discovery of couchsurfing

After getting a ride up to Montreal from family friend Jerry Golland, chatting away about life, love, music etc, I got to pay a visit with my dear friend Jerome-Antoine Wednesday night, as well as hang out with my sister for a bit later on that evening. Every time I see J-A I really miss playing music with him. Of all the people I have met over time, my best chemistry has been with him. He told me once we`d have a band when we were 30. The day is coming, J-A - the time grows near....

My sister Heather has a new boyfriend, Grant, who I`ve gotten to get to know a little more now. He seems like a good guy so far. I like his sense of humour. When I first met him I made fun of his beer - Pabst Blue Ribbon. He bought me one as a special cheeky gift, so I had to drink it. According to Heather, he was touched. Ha ha ha.

While in Montreal I discovered a web-site called couchsurfing.com - this is a world-wide network of people who are willing to put travelers up for a night or two on their couch. Through it I found Catherine, the girl I stayed with in St-Hyacinthe, who turned out to be kind, fun, and accomodating. She brought a bunch of friends out to the show at Le Zaricot Cafe Acoustique, which went really well, considering the language barrier, and that I had to play twice as long as I`ve been used to for this whole tour. One precious moment was when her friend, Marie-Josee, came in and I played Bon Nuit Ma Cheri just for her, sitting on a chair right in front of the stage. Ha ha ha. Derek did a similar thing to Asta back in Vernon, but I think this was much more outlandish because I had not even said hello to her yet before I sung a very sexually explicit song to her. She took it in stride, though. The French-Canadians do not seem to have too many sexual taboos lurking in them, and their senses of humour are well-intact.

Today I am in Quebec City, staying with another couch-surfing host, Ariane. She has just gotten back from a trip to Syria, and that has opened her heart to meeting new people. She seems very nice so far, though I only chatted with her for about 20 mins before she had to run off to the Quebec Expo with her sister. So here I am, updating the blog. It is raining outside, but I think I might take a walk to a Turkish cafe she told me about, and get some groceries. This feels... almost like having a home, for a few days... how sweet.

Be well everyone. Oh, and for an updated schedule of my shows, check out www.myspace.com - backslash - TheLastTroubadour - sorry I haven`t completely figured out this french keyboard yet.