I really miss Vancouver sometimes...
In Vancouver. The trip out was good. I have to say that BC Ferries has the most interesting warning signs anywhere. I now know that it is "illegal to transport bees across the American borsder" (why bees -- there are no signs warning of the dangers of transporting anything else). I have also learned that the Ferry service urges us to "not store drums" in their parking lot.
Of course, these were the same people whose slogan was "Cruise the Straits with BC Ferries" until a gay employee tipped them off.
I'm in a tiny internet cafe on Davie Street. Already visited Little Sisters' at their new location, spoke with Janine Fuller for the first time in 10 years.
My favourite cafe in the West End, The Edge, has turned into a Priape of all things! And the Gay and Lesbian Community Centre has gotten rid of their couches and coffee machine, though there are still places to sit and talk. And they run so many community organizations out of that place -- dozens of them, including support groups and community organizations of every description.
Seeing Vancouver's "village" is wonderful, and I missed it a lot, but it depresses me all the same. Montreal has nothing like it. We have a lot of queer businesses, but they're almost all bars and saunas. We only just got a tiny bookstore back. You could fit six of those bookstores in Little Sisters'. What services there are mostly run through university groups.
The community here is vibrant and alive, and large as it is in Montreal, it always feels kind of dead. If a person doesn't like clubbing, the only thing left in Montreal are university social groups -- and nothing during the holidays, or summer. Vancouver, a smaller city, really has a community, and you can feel it when you're here.
And I haven't seen a single bar or sauna in all the time I've been walking around here on this rainbow-draped street. I'm not against things like that, but it often feels that's all Montreal has to offer, and it's not stuff I'm into.
Of course, these were the same people whose slogan was "Cruise the Straits with BC Ferries" until a gay employee tipped them off.
I'm in a tiny internet cafe on Davie Street. Already visited Little Sisters' at their new location, spoke with Janine Fuller for the first time in 10 years.
My favourite cafe in the West End, The Edge, has turned into a Priape of all things! And the Gay and Lesbian Community Centre has gotten rid of their couches and coffee machine, though there are still places to sit and talk. And they run so many community organizations out of that place -- dozens of them, including support groups and community organizations of every description.
Seeing Vancouver's "village" is wonderful, and I missed it a lot, but it depresses me all the same. Montreal has nothing like it. We have a lot of queer businesses, but they're almost all bars and saunas. We only just got a tiny bookstore back. You could fit six of those bookstores in Little Sisters'. What services there are mostly run through university groups.
The community here is vibrant and alive, and large as it is in Montreal, it always feels kind of dead. If a person doesn't like clubbing, the only thing left in Montreal are university social groups -- and nothing during the holidays, or summer. Vancouver, a smaller city, really has a community, and you can feel it when you're here.
And I haven't seen a single bar or sauna in all the time I've been walking around here on this rainbow-draped street. I'm not against things like that, but it often feels that's all Montreal has to offer, and it's not stuff I'm into.