As it turns out, the outage wasn’t just our building. When Bella and I got outside, you can see little clusters of people out on the sidewalks, obviously office workers from the nearby buildings. I looked up and down one of the major streets and at least 4 intersections were without functioning traffic lights, at least in the north-to-south direction. We walked a little further southeast and took an east-to-west glance and the outage went another 4 blocks. Being lunchtime, the sidewalks were slowly filling up with people, more so than usual. You could hear police and firetruck sirens, impatient car honking, and even helicopters! Probably just news crews, but all the noise, you’d think people were looting or something. If it weren’t so hot and humid outside, Bella and I would’ve just hung out in the shade somewhere. But, of course, all the good spots were already taken. We came home instead. Took a deep breath and marched back up to our 4th floor condo. We even ran into two guys moving out, carrying a mattress down the stairwell. “So, it’s just had to be today, huh?” I joked to one of them. As Bella and I squeezed passed them, I added, “At least you’re going down and not up.” “Yeah, thank God.”

It’s amazing how things come to a halt when the power goes out. Without lighting or access to computers, several businesses are forced to stop, although the restaurant patios filled up quickly. Once we got back inside, I got caught wondering what to do in the meantime. No power. No internet access. No TV. Can’t surf. Can’t play World of Warcraft. Can’t watch TV. I thought about playing a game on my iPod Touch, but the games I’m into right now all require wi-fi access. I’m really surprised at how bothered I am that I can’t tweet about what’s happening.

So before I forget this little moment in time, I opted to write my thoughts out offline and upload as soon as the power’s back. Now let’s see how far I can get on this laptop’s 79% battery power.

(UPDATE: Power came back on at 1:03pm.)

Of the films I watched, I would have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by “Perrier’s Bounty” and “The Last Days of Emma Blank“. In fact, I like the latter film so much that I felt compelled to get my ticket stub autographed by actress Annet Malherbe, who was present for a Q&A, alongside the film’s producer. The biggest surprise for me, however, was a sweet little film from Mexico, “Alamar” (To the Sea), about a little boy and his father sharing a few days together, fishing and snorkelling, before the boy is to fly off to Italy with his mother. Listed as a drama, it was shot more like a documentary, but without narration or intrusiveness. Away from city life, it’s clear that their relationship is so honest and simple. It’s a beautifully shot film that I recommend to anyone that could use a reminder as to why we should make time to get away sometimes.

Having said that, returning to my retail job tomorrow morning won’t be the same again after these last two weeks.

Day 1: Worked a big 10.5hrs shift at the fest. Spending all that time doing a not-so-interesting job this year made me miss the bustling days back when I was a Volunteer Captain. I really do miss the headset. I feel out of the loop. Didn’t see much in the way of celebs, other than local repeats like Jian Ghomeshi and George Stroumboulopoulos. Wasn’t able to watch any movies, but slept like a baby when I got home.

Day 2: Got a ticket to catch a 9:15am screening of “Like You Know It All”, a Korean flick, before working a much shorter festival shift. The movie was alright, but it’s clear that I should’ve gotten a coffee beforehand. Apparently, staying alert for two hours in a dark room, barely an hour after waking up, is a bit of a chore for me. I didn’t fall asleep, but damn, I got pretty close. My actual shift went by pretty quickly. Just five “Press & Industry” movies to worry about. As for celebs, not a single one.

So here we are, about a half-hour after getting home from my shift at Day 3. I spent the morning watching an Irish movie, “Perrier’s Bounty“, which I had to “rush”. It wasn’t a packed house by any means, so getting a seat was easy. The movie was great! For lack of a better description, it’s like an Irish version of a Guy Ritchie caper. Actors Jim Broadbent and Cillian Murphy were perfectly cast as the estranged father/son pair. On my way to meet my boyfriend for some all-day breakfast afterward, I passed actor Alexander Siddig on the sidewalk outside one of the hotels near the theatre. He’s in town promoting his movie “Cairo Time“. But of course, when I saw him, my first thought was “Hey, that was Dr. Julian Bashir!” (from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). He’s much shorter than I expected, maybe just a couple inches taller than me.

After I scarfed down some delicious Eggs Benedict, off I went to my third festival shift. It started off pretty slowly, but later in the afternoon/evening there were a couple of Public screenings that called for some red carpet action. Being stationed where we are at the Varsity, we are right next to the makeshift “green room” and paparazzi area where any of the movie talent wait it out before making an appearance and Q&A before a public screening. First, to promote their flick “Defendor“, Woody Harrelson, Elias Koteas and Kat Dennings hung out with the press for a bit, about 10 feet to our left. A couple hours later, in support of his screening of “Solitary Man“, Michael Douglas zipped through 20 mins after the scheduled showtime, so he promised the press that he would be back to answer questions and have photos taken. He’s another actor that’s a lot shorter in person. Although he isn’t in the movie, Matt Damon, hand-in-hand with his wife, also came to the screening. He was pretty much just as I expected.

I’ll admit that I do get starstruck by stars, major or minor, so it does irk me a bit that my little cell phone doesn’t have a camera on it. Grr.

The short version of my problem with them is that they wouldn’t let me bring my dog in the store or even let me carry her because they are now considered a “cafe”. Wow. Apparently, a coffee maker you bought in Wal-Mart, tucked in the corner of your shop makes you a cafe. My beef with them is that not only did no one stop me when I first walked into the store and peruse for a good 3-4 minutes (it’s not a big shop, by any means), there was also no indication anywhere on their door or front window that pets are not allowed, you know, like how other REAL businesses have them up. Also, there’s no indication on their web site either, which would’ve been nice, but granted, that’s not something you’d normally see on a website anyway.

Living in the downtown core now, finding yarn places is a bit of a bitch and without a car, it’s even more of a hassle. And without a Metropass, wasting round-trip cash (and time!) when you’re already low on funds just adds more fuel to the fire. I purposely didn’t go to The Knit Cafe (which is technically a shorter streetcar ride) because I know pets are not allowed in any store that has food. Had I known pets weren’t allowed in The Purple Purl, I would’ve left Bella at home, no hesitation, no big whoop. I only brought her because I thought she’d enjoy an outing. I could’ve left her outside for a few minutes, but it had also rained during the day and it was fairly gross and chilly to leave her there. And frankly, I would’ve done it, regardless of Bella’s whimpering, but I chose not to, just to spite them.

I was planning to spend a good chunk of money on pricier wool yarns because I got a customer request for a specific kind of doggie sweater, but I’m taking my business elsewhere.

I still have a couple more movies to catch this week and even more to try and “rush”, not to mention a couple more volunteer shifts. By the end of it all, I’m going to have to soak my sore feet and look into getting my worn-down sneakers replaced.