Toronto's Great Expectations

by Pa Rock
International Observer

The kids slept in this morning, but the days when I could do that seem to have long-since passed into the marshes of distant memory.  I crawled out of bed not long after daylight, checked my email, showered, and then took my current book, Great Expectations, down to the lobby where I sat and read and listened to all of the pretentious movie people talking about their "projects" and dropping names with speed and nonchalance.  

Bruce Willis is in town promoting a new movie, so his name bounced around like a tennis ball at Wimbledon.  I also heard three young men discussing Emma Watson, and it soon became clear, to me at least, that while they all maintained an air of familiarity with the young star, none of the three had actually ever met her.

Projects and deals and expensive suits accessorized with tennis shoes.  The Toronto International Film Festival is weaving its magic, enveloping the city with a sense of great expectations.

We had a late lunch today with the director of The Brass Teapot, Ramaa Mosley, and her mother, Marilyn - a pair of delightful ladies who appeared to be enthralled with my beautiful granddaughter!  

After lunch Tim went to a workshop for screenwriters and did some necessary "networking," and Erin and Baby Olive and I headed to Yonge Street where mother and daughter did some shopping, and I roamed around Dundas Square pushing an empty baby buggy.   One old fellow who looked like I always imagined Merlin the Magician, asked me what happened to my baby.  I told him that I couldn't remember where I had left her.  "Oh, no!" he shouted - but didn't call the Mounties!

So why am I reading Great Expectations?  First of all, it was required reading when I was in high school (or at least an abbreviated version), and I hadn't revisited it since.  Second, 2012 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.  Recently I saw an announcement for a book club meeting at the library on Luke Air Force Base.  They were asking people who wanted to attend to read at least one book by Dickens prior to the meeting.  I thought that sounded like an interesting endeavor and a good way to meet a few literate people, so I called for more information.  Unfortunately for me, the group meets once a month during the workday.  I decided to do the assignment anyway and be prepared just in case.

Arizona is a retirement haven, so most people do their extra-curricular stuff during the "workday."  In fact, about the only people who actually work in Arizona are me, the military, and the "illegals."  Everybody else sleeps in.

But tonight I am in Toronto and Phoenix is a million miles away!