This evening Leftwing Idiot and I met up with the people who are putting on the event I’ll be talking at on Sunday. They were all incredibly friendly and relaxed despite having so much to do behind the scenes.

We went for a delicious Italian meal before heading to the venue where the Progress Festival is happening. We’d been invited to see a show called Cine Monstro, which was performed by an amazing Portuguese actor, Enrique Diaz.

One of our hosts was keen to make sure we knew it was quite a long the piece (100 minutes with no interval). She also pointed out that she had no idea what it would be like would be like. She asked more generally if Toronto was alright from an access perspective, and if I was having a good time generally.

I let her know that I was having a great time and that I had no intention of doing a lengthy post about how much I hated being here!

We joked about the idea of writing an open letter to Canada, and my tics, always ready for just such a challenge, did the rest:

“Dear Canada, where are all the cats?”
“Dear Canada, please explain your ostrich farming policy.”
“Dear Canada, I’ve noticed that your nose is turning gold.”
“Dear Canada, imagine you were an origami goose.”
“Dear Canada, I’m disappointed by the lack of monkeys dressed as Aladdin.”
“Dear Canada, we need to work on your needlepoint.”

Whatever my tics may have to say about anything Canadian, I’m having a fantastic time here. The venue for tomorrow is excellent and I’m really looking forward to being a part of The Republic of Inclusion.