Isabelle's latest album was released back on November 24 and I'm just getting around to pimping it here because ummm I kinda forgot. I didn't forget to buy it or listen to it, but I forgot to form a real opinion about it. Of course, surprising no one, I automatically like anything Isabelle sings because her voice is incredible to my really well-shaped ears. So I guess this will be less of a review and more of a summary of the album.

First of all, the album title isn't false advertising. Almost all of the songs sound like she's singing in a winter wonderland. The music evokes the feeling of needing something hot to drink. I'm not sure if that's the reaction Isabelle was shooting for, but this damn album is making me want some Swiss Miss like never before. That last sentence wasn't meant to have innuendo, but well, there you go.

All but one song is a remake of famous French songs. Not growing up French (dammit it all to hell) I have no association to them so I can only take them on face value. And that value is fair to middling for me. The songs are slow and sleepy and some aren't all that catchy. But the saving grace is...wait for it....her voice. What? You thought I was going to surprise you? Not gonna happen. Isabelle's voice is low, smooth and calming. It's less crackly than normal, but it works well for these types of songs.

The one original song written for her is golden! It's already one of my favorites in her entire catalog and it only makes me wish the rest of the album were original songs, too. I think her stable of songwriters know her well and it's too bad they weren't utilized this time.

In the end, though, I'm happy to have a new Isabelle cd even if it doesn't have any photos of her which is ridiculous. I was estatic with Amazon Canada for having it delivered to me one day after the release even though I only paid for the 4-7 day shipping option. Anyway, she's going to put out another new album next year which will have photos. And that's all I really care about.

La réalisation d'un rêve (Le Journal de Montréal, April 17, 2008)

Isabelle Boulay rêvait depuis longtemps de chanter enceinte sur scène. Sa grossesse sera très avancée quand, au Québec, au mois de septembre, elle montera sur scène. La chanteuse en est ravie.

Isabelle Boulay has long dreamed to sing on stage while pregnant. Her pregnancy will be far along in Quebec in September when she'll take the stage. The singer is ecstatic about it.

I don't really want to overanalyze this, but I will. I can understand having dreams of singing on stage. I can understand dreams of having children and maybe even wanting to be in a state of pregnancy. Well, ok, maybe not that. But really, does anyone put their hands together and dream of singing on stage while pregnant?

I know that happens and I don't have an opinion on it because I've never thought about it before. However, now that the idea has entered my mind, I don't think it's something that's planned ; it's usually just a set of circumstances. I just find it bizarre that Isabelle had this active and ongoing desire to do so.

I know I shouldn't judge other people's... no, I just shouldn't judge. But I do so I'm making faces in her direction right now.

"Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil." - James Lane Allen

"Il faudrait pouvoir inventer un mot pour décrire la beauté de la voix d'Isabelle Boulay, avec ce grain si particulier, cette douceur un peu rauque, ce velours vocal doublé de «gravelle», quelque chose comme du miel qui ne serait pas sirupeux ni trop sucré, juste naturel, bienfaisant, adoucissant."

-- Marie-Christine Blais
La Presse, 2/28/2008

Ça, c'est parfait. Isabelle peut rire mais c'est la vérité. Qu'elle soit le miel...

Isabelle ! Pourquoi est-ce que vous vous êtes impliqué à la chanson "N'aimer que t'aimer"? Quand Didier Golemanas et Daniel Seff vous écrivez une chanson, il faut l'accepter comme ça et la chanter sans changer. C'est sublime toujours, votre voix et un piano seulement. Vous devez déjà le savoir!

Néanmoins l'album entier est vraiment agréable à écouter. Il semble qu'Isabelle fasse les chansons pour elle-même et pas pour la radio mais elle apporte ses fans n'importe où elle va. Celui-ci est surtout un album folk sauf trois ou quatre chansons. Ce que je trouve les meilleurs en ce moment:

• Ne me dis pas qu'il faut sourire - Jazzy!
• Coucouroucoucou paloma - Spanishy! Elle aurait été mieux sans instrumentation comme la première fois je l'avais écouté en concert mais c'est beau quand même.
  
• L'amour d'un homme - C'est ironique que je l'aie comme une de mes favoris, je sais...
  
• Juste une étoile - Folk!
• L'appuntamento - Italian easy listening!
• Vouloir t'aimer - C'est le coup de coeur sans doute.

En fait, toutes les chansons (sauf l'un!) sont très bonnes. Et c'est un album vite! Je veux dire que c'est fini avant que je le sache.

Pour en savoir plus, écouter les extraits et l'acheter: Nos Lendemains @ Archambault.

Nos Lendemains n'est sortie qu'au Canada aujourd'hui. Il faut que le francais attende une autre semaine mais ça fait rien, ça vaut la peine. Et Les Etats-Unis? Ha! Dans mes rêves...

Le mien va venir d'Archambault (merci, Québec!) et mon critique suivra. Ne vous attendez pas à une opinion négatif... Mais on sait jamais! Non, non, on le sait.

Congratulations, Isabelle! You deserve to stand beside that pretty blue flag.
(photo Pierre Morel)

Isabelle Boulay honorée (L'Avantage, February 19, 2008)

photo Danièle Francis

L'apaisante retenue d'Isabelle Boulay (Cyberpresse, January 21, 2008)

Dalai Lama
Who needs anger management classes if you got the DL? Not me! Yen: Compassionately-enabled since October 2007.

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." -- Dalai Lama

Technology
A new laptop and a cellphone has brought me closer to current societal standards. Aggregating RSS feeds and relearning the finer points of XSL transformations for work - fun, but it's still work.

France
I was just reminiscing about this trip the other day... and sorely missing the Chinese food from a takeout counter in Nice. Yes, inappropriate, but I get to try again this year. This first trip to the mother country was everything I hoped it would be and more: friendly, frenchy, beautiful. Wait, are we talking about the country or the women? Har har. It was less, too: chaotic, crazy, inaccessible. Sitting at the park on top of the gorge in Gourdon was one of my best moments of the year.

Maladies
A radar head and some kidney damage in the boys and a bout of bronchitis in and a hospital visit for me makes this the year of the sick.

Novel
I originally wrote my time jumping meth meets Pony Express story three years ago and I finally rewrote half of it for Nanowrimo in November. I'm actually proud of it which is difficult to admit because I find my writing extremely tedious like that.

Isabelle
First the woman releases my new favorite album of ever and all time in April - De retour de la source. Then she smiles and winks and talks to me during her concerts in Quebec. How, I ask, how can I not be insane in the membrane over her? I do have my limits, though. Obsess over her? Yes. Create a painting and selling it online for 15,000 euros?

Maybe.

Sandwiches
Po' boys, banh mis, croque monsieurs, cubans...bring it. I love you all so much I don't know how quite to express it.

I think I'll end the year on that note. See ya, 2007.

Big release of the day award goes to Celine's new English album Taking Chances. Come back tomorrow if you care to read what I think about it. (See you then, mom!)

Strange release of the day award goes to Anne Murray. On her new album Duets: Friends and Legends, you can hear in one sitting:

• Isabelle Boulay
• Celine Dion
• Indigo Girls
  

I'm more freaked out than you, if possible. It's not everyday I learn that Anne Murray is the glue that holds my universe together.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) today is only the Canadian release date. It'll be released in the U.S. in mid-January. Consider this your preemptive warning. Yes, I know that's redundant, you can never have enough caution in this type of situation.

Elle a gagné quatre Felix dont ceux de l'interprète féminine de l'année pour le sixième fois au gala de l'ADISQ dimanche soir.

J'avais deviné qu'Isabelle parle beaucoup (et lentement) pendant tout ses remerciements et mon observation était confirmé dans cet article:

Les gagnants allaient-ils respecter l’avertissement de l’ADISQ d’écourter les remerciements? « On est en compétition avec Occupation double. Eux autres, y’a jamais de longueurs, c’est toujours pertinent, toujours efficace !» a lancé Louis-José Houde, pour convaincre les futurs gagnants de faire court. Ceux-ci ont obéi, même Isabelle Boulay. Incroyable!

29e Gala de l’ADISQ : vive les remerciements courts!
(Cyberpresse, 10/29/2007)

Bravo, Isabelle. Je suis fière de vous...et pour les recompenses aussi.

Celine to go goth?

If anyone can make goth music cheesy, Celine can. Where does the talent end?

Murray set to release duets CD

Doesn't Isabelle look ginormous here? Although, the picture is life-size... Speaking of cheesy, you know Anne Murray will bring it, but Isabelle's got the goods, too. (woohoo)

I almost forgot I had this site. I've been in a busy place, which technically is in Kentucky. See my mappy proof? And not that I have much room to make fun since I come from a county that has Intercourse, Bird-in-Hand, and Blue Ball as town names, but I think I can dig deep and come up with some ability to mock the town names in this part of the bluegrass state.

I won't even draw your attention to the town names of Hardburly or Hazard (as in "Dukes of") because the awesomeness of Fisty and Typo are more than enough. Then this state, which couldn't decide if it was really North or South during the War of Northern Aggression, gets all hoity-toity with the town of Toulouse. Très bien.

Part of me going all Kentucky on y'all was setting up my new cellphone. There's so much to customize on these things that I only got around to figuring out how to make a call yesterday after having it for half a week. And success! Today, I learned how to answer a call. I know, it's hard to get anything by me.

The ringtones are actually what kept me confused for a few days. But I persevered in spite of the manual and now an Isabelle song plays when the phone "rings".

Okay, you can stop rolling your eyes now. You won't be able to focus on the far-out Isabelle wallpaper on the phone.

Is there something off about...? Does anything seem a little different...?

Nevermind, it's probably just me. I'm hopped up on three types of medicine (including one not FDA-approved - awesome) and endless cocktails of hot tea and cough drops. Yum. Yes, it IS as delicious as it sounds. So, anyways, I'm probably just seeing things.

Actually, has anyone seen my shoes? Or my cat? I wish I was seeing Isabelle. She's playing the closing set tonight at Quebec's annual summer festival, a huge musical celebration that would be cool (lit-trally!) to attend if it weren't snowing and sleeting at the moment. And hail, mustn't forget the hail.

What? No, I'm not bitter. Not at all.

La belle Isabelle lance un nouvel album country aujourd'hui.
Comme si je n'étais pas déjà tombée amoureuse...

Non, elle ne peut pas faire aucun mal.
Pourquoi est-ce que tu demandes?

Entre matane et baton rouge - La première chanson mets l'album dans le cadre parfait. Sa voix basse (en pleine forme) et la musique simple se font une très très bonne écoute. C'est une de la plus meilleure de l'album.

Un monde à refaire - C'est un reprise d'une chanson de son premier album. Cette fois-ci, c'est plus que la musique change. Sa prononciation en anglais s'améliore bien.

Adrienne - Sans doute en ce moment-ci, c'est ma chanson preferée. C'est un hommage à sa tante dont l'image a créée est un cadeau d'amour.

Simplement tout - Au plus je l'écoute au plus je l'aime.

Comme un jour sans amour - Toutes les chansons conviennent les musiques aux paroles très bien mais c'est surtout vrai ici. C'est mon autre coup de coeur.

Only a woman's heart - En anglais, Isabelle chante comme en français, avec tout son coeur et son âme. La seule chose qui la ferait meilleure serait si Emmylou Harris chantait avec elle. Comme ça, c'est magnifique.

Si j'étais perdue - Comme la chanson "You are my sunshine," la musique a l'air heureux qui se masque les paroles tristes. C'est une chanson refaite merveilleuse qui s'appelle "If I needed you" de Townes Van Zandt. C'est bien fait.

Matane, Quebec

Paroles et musique: Michel Rivard
© Éditions Sauvages

J'ai fermé ma valise sur cette photo de toi
Où t'étais de dos où tu m'voyais pas
J'ai jeté la clé

En montant dans l'auto j'ai mis la radio
Ce poste country que toi t'aimais pas.
J'ai monté le son

Quelque part sur la 20 ils ont joué ce refrain
Ça m'a fait du bien, ça m'a rappelé toi
Écoute-le bien

(Refrain)
Tu pourras courir tout c'qui bouge
Entre Matane et Baton Rouge
Y'aura personne à ton retour pour pleurer d'amour
Je s'rai plus ta mère ni ta soeur
Je suivrai la mer en douceur
Je s'rai partie comme une gitane
Entre Baton Rouge et Matane

J'ai rangé la voiture sur le bord du chemin
Les gars dans les camions m'envoyaient la main
Ça m'a fait du bien

Dans le vent la poussière sur la carte routière
J'ai glissé de doigt jusqu'à « loin de toi »
C'est là que j'irai

Au volant de ma vie devant l'infini
Sans aucun regret t'étais c'que t'étais
Je suis c'que je suis

Refrain (2x)

J'avoue d'aimer la musique folk depuis longtemps donc j'étais prête d'aimer cet album. La musique folk et la musique country ont des qualités similaires. Et alors c'est Isabelle...

Je trouve qu'Adrienne et Comme un jour sans amour (Isabelle a l'air tellement défait ce qui me brise le coeur) sont les chansons plus"folkie" et bien sûr, elles me fait beaucoup plaisir. Si j'étais perdue, c'est une chanson refaite merveilleuse ("If I needed you" de Townes Van Zandt).

Sans doute, toutes les chansons sont très belles. Mais sa vraie beauté c'est comme une oeuvre qu'on prend en somme. C'est presque parfait. C'est comme si toutes les chansons appartiennent ensemble, l'une après l'autre, comme une fleuve qui court du pays d'Isabelle à les nôtres.

Voici un lien à Archambault si l'on veut acheter De retour à la source. Pardon, je veux dire qu'il vous faut l'acheter.

We saw Patty Griffin in concert last night. This was a sad, unrequited dream of Cylinda's that was finally requited. She got to hear her favorite song, which made the ridiculous parking charge all the more worth it. As for me, I knew about 3 songs and I liked two of them. That in itself exceeded expectations.

Honestly, I enjoyed the show, if only for the reason that it started in an unbelievable way. Before the lights came down, I was running on and on about Isabelle and how I wish I was seeing her and blah blah blah. Cylinda, in her never-ending cheeriness, said, "Just pretend that she (Patty) has red hair, is short and is singing in French."

Not 30 seconds later, the short, red-headed Patty Griffin came out on stage, sat down at the piano and started singing this:

J'irai la voir un jour,
Au ciel, dans le patrie,
Oui j'irai voir Marie,
Ma joie et mon amour.

Au ciel, au ciel, au ciel,
J'irai la voir un jour.

I swear, I can't even make this up if I tried.

God help me if I ever mistake one for the other.

...smart. Usually, I care because lucky people annoy me with their luckiness and winning lottery numbers. Right now, though, they can keep their stupid lotteries and the demographics who benefit from them to themselves (senior citizens and kids trying to get an "education", I'm looking at you, you lazy leeches).

You know why? I just scored a double-double with Isabelle. Holy hell, I wish that meant something more inappropriate, but sadly (for me, not her), it doesn't. Last summer, I got two sets of tickets to see her in concert twice. One was in the third row; the other was first row dead center. Lucky, eh, for my first time seeing her?

Nope, as it turns out, it's just my awesome karma being totally awesome. This year, I (even more luckily) got two sets of tickets for two shows, both in the front row. And one pair is for the very center again. I get to swoon at Isabelle for two nights obstructed only by my sense of propriety and not by someone else's head. Ah, who am I kidding? I wouldn't let someone's else head get in the way. Heh heh heh. Mwahahaha. Ha ha...bleh.

(Look at her! Over to your left. See? She brings teh hawt in a hot, hot way.)

So, anyways, why don't I think this is smart? Because these tickets aren't cheap. And I can't stop buying them. Of course, they're all in "Canadian dollars" so I'm not even sure if that's real money.

Ah, January, the month of hope and good intentions and thinking we have enough money to do everything and go everywhere we want until the damn car breaks down in February and we have to ride public transportation with other...people.

But since it's still January, I'm still sooper-dooper excited about life. Besides planned trips to France, Quebec, and Vegas, there are the little things that make my life bearable:

March: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie Film for Theaters - Master Shake is my hero. I know that's sorta sad, but I wish I could say everything that he does. I don't want to do everything he does because he has no arms. And a straw sticking out of his head.

I was not put on this earth to listen to meat!

April: Retour à la source - Isabelle is making a country album. That's so awesome, I can't even put it in words. Don't worry, I won't try. But even awesomer is that I'll get to see her again in May.

May: D'elles - Celine's new french album consists of songs written by female Quebecoise and French authors. That's a fresh idea, I think. What's not quite as fresh (as me!) is her show which is ending in December after a five year run. I'll see her one or two more times and cry with her. Hoo hoo. But the tears will dry up soon since she's going on a world tour next year. Yes, she's taking her drama and hysterics (and butchness) on the road! Don't say I didn't warn you.

July: Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows book and The Order of the Phoenix movie - This is a good month to be JK Rowling. Holy moley, how much money will this woman make by taking in a single breath any day in July? Even more than today, that's what, and that scares me a little. But good for her! Obscene amounts of money is a great goal and/or motivator.

Isn't that the force behind The Simpsons Movie? I'm looking forward to it unless it's all about Homer. Make Bart the star because the boy's a natural STAR. Actually, he's my hero (sorry, Master Shake) because he's a petty thug and that's all I've ever wanted to be in life. It's not too late, I know, I know...

I've been watching a lot of football this season. I don't think I've missed a single game shown on the broadcast networks. That means switching back and forth between the early games, sometimes doing that for the afternoon game(s) if there's more than one on and then watching the Sunday night and Monday night games. I don't watch college very much since...I have no idea why I don't. Hmmm... Ok, that's enough exploring.

I always watch the Falcons, cause duh, but if not, I tend to root against teams since I have so many I hate. I hate many more than I like. But I do like the Colts and if the Broncos are on, I'll root for them. Why? Cause I kind of, sort of have this funny positive emotion like feeling whenever I see Champ Bailey. He's always making the big plays (dreamy) and wears his uniform nice and neat which is otherwise ridiculous to say because I find football uniforms to be unflattering on everybody.

Uhh, wait, that's Champ? Have to say, more dreamy WITH the helmet.
Ok, nevermind, back to Isabelle.

She never needs a helmet.

Oh, and the crush. Last week, my affection for the crush was amped up to an almost annoying level (almost?) after she touched my arm for 3, maybe even 4, seconds and then smiled at me with all her charm and clear, sky blue eyes. Swoon.

aldfja kd8ix'

Ow, sorry, my head fell on the keyboard. Excuse me while I dislodge the J key from my eyebrow.

In order to stave off my boredom, I think I'll try to bore you to death and list some of the more recent CDs I've bought-ened.

Strange Conversations by Kris Delmhorst - I haven't given this a fair listen because my damn thumb is unable to scroll past I on iPod. The I is for...ah nevermind. Pay attention! Anyways, the songs on this CD are based on or inspired by poems. The first track is well done, especially the whole "now that's what I call music" part. I haven't gotten much farther without falling asleep. Some of these songs are way slow and I like some pep! If I can't have pep, I'll take a caipirinha or just some sugar.


Dis-moi que tu m'aimes by Chimene Badi - This is a fun pop album by a pop star who sings pop songs. If she sang in English, I would most certainly turn up my nose, but since I'm biased and lack credibility when it comes to music choices, I'm allowed to like her.


Alys Robi soundtrack - This was a tv miniseries about the first major international singing star from Quebec in the 1930s. Oh yes, they bred more than just Celine up there. BUT WHY? Good question. Isabelle (remember her? The pretty pretty one? Pay attention, would you?) sings the Spanish-translated-to-French songs in a sexy, sexy way. There's also 4 instrumentals which I adore. I love the whole CD mostly because Isabelle's interpreting these songs which were written to woo women. That's awesome!

Please join me in congratulating me.

Congratulations! You're awesome! Wow, you're truly an inspiration to small children! But not large ones!

Thankyouthankyou. Yes, it was quite difficult, but I persevered and with a little help from my Ruskie friends, I was able to acquire all the cds that Isabelle has ever released.

Good god that there's some red hair.

It took 10 long months and...

It took you 10 months to buy NINE cds?

Yes...BUT the numbers don't tell the whole story. They were all imports. Not one single cd is available in any store in the U.S. So you can see how diffi...

Have you ever heard of Amazon.com or eBay, genius?

Yes...BUT they didn't even have some of them in stock. I had to go to a foreign country to buy two of them. And that foreign country didn't even have two others that are out of print. So I do deserve some sort of...

So how'd you get the out of print ones?

Ummmm? What's that?

Is this where the Russians come in?

May...be.

I don't believe you're quite the inspiration you think you are.

I hope to inspire myself one day...BUT, like Napoleon, je ne regrette rien! And to stop talking to myself for a moment, I'd like to recommend any of her live cds as a good introduction to the prettiness, I mean, the range of styles that Isabelle sings. In particular, Scenes D'amour has Mlle Shorty going from blues to pop to country to reggae to French traditional. For an album that's close to perfection from beginning to end, listen to Au moment d'etre a vous. C'est sublime.

I was surfing around and found a meme thingie that had...what's that? You don't know what a meme is? It's like one of those 20 question emails, but done on a blog. I don't know how to pronounce it, but that's not important, right?

Maybe it is. It could sound like mee-mee, as in, "ME! Look at ME!" Or it could be mehm, which sounds like the word for "self" in French when used along with a possessive hooseewhasit. Sorry to get all technical. For example, moi-même (myself) or toi-même (yourself). Actually, maybe it's both, a masterful play on...

Yes, that was fascinating. Anyways, I noticed this question:

And I immediately thought, I'm in love with Isabelle Boulay EVERY damn day. What I WOULD like is for her to... ah, nevermind. My point is, shouldn't the question be:

And Yen starts (read: continues) daydreaming, but will keep it herself for once. You're very welcome. But can you see how, with the question stated properly, that the whole scenario NOW becomes much more realistic?

Okay, I'm off to Canada. I don't want to miss the day that Isabelle finds me irrestible. Woo.

I've seen lots of blogs where people list the last few songs they've been listening to as an exercise in, I don't know, making lists? But I like lists. I could make a list of why I like lists...some other day. Today I want to be a copycat and make a list of the last 5 songs that my iPod shuffled for me. Of course, I'm not actually listening to these songs since I only have ears (and eyes) for Isabelle these days. I'm just looking at the title and then moving on.

1. A contretemps by Patrick Bruel - Hey, this is nice, old-timey Frenchy...ok, that's enough.
2. Au moment d'etre a vous by Isabelle Boulay! - Woohoo, my iPod jamBox knows what I like. I must listen to this all first. This is one of the prettiest songs ever in the whole history of songs. The live album is a nearly perfect body of work from beginning to end.
   
3. J'attendais by Celine Dion - Oh, Celine, I just woke up. I don't want to fall asleep again. This song comes from the album D'eux which is the biggest selling French album ever. Really, and yes, before you ask, you do look like you care.
4. Everywhere by Michelle Branch - During one period in my life, I listened to The Spirit Room non-stop in my car because...I have no good reason.
5. Why Georgia by John Mayer - Ok, I can not end on this song. I don't like his voice, but I got that song on a free (FREE!) compliation CD from Atlanta magazine a few years ago.

Let's see...no, the next song's embarassing, too. Ok, here we go:

• La Derniere Annee by Gerald DePalmas - I like his voice and his music, but after a while, it all starts to sound alike. I guess if I like the sound, that's not a tragic(al) thing.
  

And there are my totally, totally random five shuffled songs. Now back to pretty Isabelle.

I don't know who Jean Batailleur was, but he sure had a sad, sad life. The word obsessed doesn't even begin to describe my current attachment to this song. Holy hell, I almost believe he's a real person and not a figment of the songwriter Zachary Richard's cajun imagination.

I heard Isabelle Boulay sing this ballad in concert last week accompanied by Robert Dethier playing a bad-ass konga. Ok, I had to look up the word konga because bad-ass bongos sounds like weed smoking was involved. And it wasn't. Not exactly... And also because he wasn't playing bongos; he was playing a konga (or conga). There, I even linked it for you so you can see that I'm not making it up. Although, it sounds like a word I might make up...

Passe la bouteille, sers-moi un verre
Plus que je bois, plus je vois clair
Y as pas d'avenir, y'en aura pas
Y a qu'l'amertume et le tracas

Pass the bottle, give me a glass
The more I drink, the more I clearly see
There is no future, there won't be any
There is bitterness and worry

Ok, I confess. I'm obsessed mostly because I find it hot that Isabelle's singing about being an alky. That's just sick. And wrong. Very, very wrong (but hot!).

I was just in Montreal recently with my dear friend what's his name. It's on the tip of my tongue... Anyways, we had a grand time even though we had to fend off mooses and beavers. Just kidding. There were only beavers, but a whole lake of them!

We walked a damn lot around the city and up the damn mountain and stalked, I mean, saw, the prettiest woman I have ever seen in my life. What's his name would agree, except he was ogling her guitarist. I must admit, he is a beau type.

Martin Bachand

There were beaucoup amounts of attractive people in Montreal. I normally don't look but I think all the French made me notice, #1, people, and #2, people who spoke French. It was all very enlightening. And incomprensible. No, for real, I know some French. No one else in Montreal seemed to understand my "dialect" of French, though. Snobs. But really nice snobs. They were really nice and friendly people.

For more on our adventure in this very foreign city, please see these award-winning pictures on this award-winning website.

I have just seen the prettiest thing ever in my life. I must show everyone:

I feel pretty and witty and gay

I was only a few feet away for two nights and I didn't do anything illegal! Props to moi (and Isabelle's bodyguards). More to come. I know you just can't wait.

Ok, ok, short version: wow, is she pretty... Long version: Oh my god, she is soooooo pretty.

Ok, so I'm still here. We're going, we're going. THE CRUSH just has to finish her ice cream cone. I don't why it's taking her so long. I only bought a single scoop.

So, while we're waiting...did you see Paste Magazine's list of 100 best living songwriters? No? Good. You're not missing anything. Stupid list. Any list of best songwriters that doesn't include:

• Dar Williams
• Lori McKenna
  

...I will not finish this sentence because I was never taught how to swear properly nor effectively. While I'm at it, any list of international songwriters has to include:

• Jean-Jacques Goldman
• Didier Golemanas
  

I'm not familiar with Golemanas' work for himself, but the songs he's written for Isabelle Boulay, including the mortifyingly beautiful Coeur combat, are all high quality stuff. Stuff that makes grown men cry and hold purses in public. And I'm not talking about no man purses.

Isabelle, by the way, will soon become the NEW CRUSH if this current one doesn't finish her damn cone soon. It's been two hours! Even if she's not eating the ice cream, shouldn't it have melted by now? Isn't that how ice cream works?

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