A Story, Some Possibilities in the Near Future. A Minor Mishmash.

I got on a bus home today from Port Elgin by myself. Mikey is staying on an extra night. I don't feel financially comfortable enough to make trips like so, but it was his mum's birthday, and also we didn't have hot water at home until this evening. Also, all of our winter warm stuff was up there, so really, there were many reasons to make a trip, even if I do worry about the cost.

I came back in time to spend a few hours around a camp fire at Christie Pits (a Toronto park) for my bestie's new beau's 30th birthday. They went sky diving this morning, which is a pretty rad way to enter your 30's. I'm more than a little jealous of the bravery there. I met a fellow there who works for Paint Nite, which I had applied to a couple years ago. It seemed really promising, but ultimately they turned me down because I don't have/can't drive a vehicle. You need to be able to pick up and drop off supplies from the storage. He seemed optimistic that I might be able to give it a whirl via transit/taxi, a little bit to my own expense. That would be amazing, but as ever, I won't hold my breath.

I didn't have time to paint today either, so I'm going to share a character introduction I drafted up for a story I'm working on. Meet, Diane, the functionally invisible woman.

Diane is in a quarterly meeting. The room is full of coworkers, murmuring quietly to each other during the powerpoint display. Pie charts and line graphs are dominating the screen.

Diane is tucking into a styrophoam container of meat-laden poutine as the boss drones on. She is at the front of the room.

Boss: So as you can see, our incentive to outsource R and D to the public sector is really starting to pay off. Next quarter, we will be moving to double our investments into same. I believe this idea originally came from Diane. Has anyone seen Diane?

Diane continues to eat her poutine without speaking. She is literally right next to the boss.

Boss: Anyone?

People are looking around, shrugging.

Diane rolls her eyes, puts down her plastic fork, wipes her mouth on a napkin, and clears her throat.

Diane: I'm right here.

Everyone jumps, surprised.

Boss: Woah! Where have you been? These meetings are mandatory, Diane.

Diane: I've been here the whole time, James.

James looks away, embarrassed.

James (the boss): Uhh... Well, let's keep it professional. I just wanted to congratulate you on your successful idea this past quarter. And then we're adjourned. So... We're adjourned. Thank you everyone, keep up the good work.

People start getting up to leave, except for Diane. One person stops and leans into Diane before leaving. He's eyeing her food with a look of mild disgust.

Coworker: You know, you are what you eat, Diane.

Diane does not look up. She takes another bite, chews, and swallows.

Diane: That might be true, Brent. But if you insist on eating assholes every day, you may as well eat mine too.

She takes another bite as he leaves, shaking his head. It wouldn't matter in a couple minutes. They would forget she was there, and she would surprise them again.

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