California to Canada

Drove up the 101 from San Francisco, a road that at one point took me and my car right through the middle of a giant redwood.

I'm writing from Powell's Books in Portland, one of the book-related wonders of the world. A whole block filled with books. Last night I did a fun gig along with Jack Saturn at Reading Frenzy, for a small but very engaged audience of cool Portland readers. Thanks Jack and Emily and Chloe at Reading Frenzy. Afterwards, a group of us went for Thai food down the street (I ate at the same restaurant I ate at the last time I was in Portland for a day - this is a habit of mine; I did the same thing in Albuquerque and San Francisco.) and then Jack and Amy and I went to The Alibi, a classic Tiki lounge with dark wood walls and fruit-adorned drinks, to indulge in Jack's latest passion: karaoke.

I am soon going to get on the Interstate 5 and head north towards Canada; it's not certain yet whether I'll actually end up in Canada tonight, and if so whether it will be in Vancouver or Victoria.

But in any case, tomorrow night I'll be performing in Victoria, thanks to the good graces of Glenna Goodness, at the Solstice Cafe. Details: Tuesday, May 3, 2005, at 7:30 pm. The Solstice Cafe is located at 529 Pandora Ave, Victoria. Phone (250) 475-0477. Admission is free, but a hat will be passed around. I'm not sure whose hat, because I don't have a hat. Perhaps a hubcap. Ferries to and from Victoria are expensive. Appearing with me will be locals Matt Bigelow and Joshua James, and Glenna will be presenting. My first reading ever in Victoria; a memorable event, to be sure.

On Thursday the 5th I'll be in Vancouver at the Helen Pitt Gallery, hosted by Lance Blomgren and joined by Anne Stone and Wayde Compton. 882 Homer Street, Vancouver. (604) 681-6740. At 7 pm. Free, with a similar arrangement. This will be a particularly multimedia-heavy, performative, untravel-intensive show.

I'm looking forward to seeing some red mailboxes again and colourful money.