| i was rather stupefied to learn that there are other people out there who feel the thrill of exploring urban landscapes like i do – but there they are – the toronto urban exploration & adventure meetup. they are a fun and varied lot who share the joy of discovering the mundane and the obvious, and casting their observations in a new and creative light – or at least they like to get together and chat about it and socialize at hip, licensed joints under the pretense of being interested in such things – which of course is just fine with me. i’ve been to my friend brian’s alternative film meetup, so this wasn’t my first social outing in this particular context, but it was surely the most intense. it was an opening party for the TUEAM’s contact offering, and as such, many many of the most ambitious and prominent members were out to promote their really impressive offerings. the venue was the charlotte room, which is approximately 100m from the place where i work, but which is a place to which i had not yet been. it wasn’t quite as big as the billiard club back home, but it was similar in charm and style, and so i immediately felt at home there, especially after i had ordered my first martini. i arrived around 8pm – too early to be cool, but late enough not to seem too eager. brian and natalie were running later than i was, so i decided to hang back and sit at the bar and enjoy a drink or two before heading into the social fray. the crowd was a fabulous mix of people who obviously never venture too far from their homes, quirky world travellers and metrosexuals, hardcore night-owls, and seasoned pool-playing veterans so from every angle, there were stories to be told and interesting observations to be made. in addition, the bartender was the beefiest fellow i've ever seen in toronto - his arms were as big as my thighs - which is saying something IMHO. within pretty short order, i was chatting with a gorgeous and fascinating couple, scott and kimberly, and having a lovely time waiting for my other friends. kimberly is a charming, eloquent and thrillingly sexy career woman working in the financial district on bay street, resplendent in her sexy print top, perfectly fitted jeans and a blackberry to boot. her boy-toy/bff, scott, also works in the financial sector and could easily be a model or an actor or man-whore of some kind with his fresh boyish look and spiky blonde hair. we had several nice conversations, spurred on by such catalysts as kim’s efforts to find scott the perfect romantic target for the evening, my pin-striped linen trousers, the facebook problem (well, my problem with facebook, really), and the relative quantity of alcohol to be had in a beer, highball, or hardcore vodka martini. i think the highpoint of my evening was being described as very “metrosexual” by these obviously discriminating toronto citizens… i felt like i had made the grade! finally, brian and natalie showed up and i started to inspect the photos with someone to discuss the content. however, we hardly got a quarter around the showing before brian basically disintegrated into total socialization mode. apparently, he has been doing this sort of thing for a couple of years (compared to my first time) and he knew everyone and everyone loved him – which was fabulous to observe! he introduced me to some really fascinating people and we had some great conversations around culture, pool, national war-guilt (again with the german thing… war-guilt will seemingly never escape association with the german people, which is truly a shame, considering how the world has changed in the last 10-20), travel and dining! in the end, i had too much to drink (apparently, my limit for vodka martinis is lower than eight in a single evening, although i don’t THINK i did anything TOO embarassing… someone please email me if i did) and ended up taking meaningless photos of the st.george subway station on my way home. while this adventure wasn’t so much about exploring toronto as it was about exploring my own capacity for socializing. i think that i may be getting an appetite for this kind of thing at last. the biggest downside of this weekend’s reverie is that i am woefully behind on my urban-lifestyle homework – watching the complete works of “sex and the city”. - g |