nice to meet you

Way back in 2000 a couple of geeks on a web forum started flirting. They were allowed. The thread they were flirting in was called The Flirting Thread.

Neither of them thought too much about it. Flirting is harmless, especially when everyone is doing it. But…

They might go weeks without a word but they would always come back. And for three years that’s how it went. Then tokitikki decided she wanted to talk to djdigit33 in real time and she got herself an MSN IM account:

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| Session Start: 31 March 2003 |
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[09:48:00] mischiff ];P: Woohoo!
[09:48:05] tokitikki@y..: hi honey!
[09:48:15] mischiff ];P: now it’s a Happy Monday
[09:48:17] tokitikki@y..: omg omg omg! it’s you!
[09:48:24] tokitikki@y..: awww, yes I totally agree :)

Two years later they decided it was time to stop dicking around and actually meet. They were both single. They were both inclined to think they might have something here. So they did it. Toki got herself on a plane and came to Canadialand.

Turns out they were right. They have something here.

I went over to Van a couple Thursdays ago to meet Maigen at the airport. We’d exchanged lots of pictures over the years but you never really know what someone looks like until you’ve seen their face actually move. I say Thursday but she wasn’t due in until Friday night at 10:30. I’ve never been that early for anything. No, seriously. I was even at the airport by 8 so I could make sure I knew where I was supposed to be.

The week leading up to the trip was a blur. I just couldn’t be brought down to Earth, between you & me. I cleaned the house, did all the laundry, vacuumed, scrubbed the tub and vacuumed again. Work blew past. Time had that surreal quality that surrounds momentous events.

The promised hang-out time with Jen – the old roomate from Elnido – turned out to be an hour and a ride to the ferry. Just enough time to really wish we had more time to hang. There’s a girl that needs a blog. I guarantee it would never cease to entertain. Crazy bird. And I’ll definitely buy her first white-girl-rap-band album for sheer comedy’s sake. Thanks for the ride, Jen. Come back soon or I may take you up on that visit to Toronto.

I spent the Thursday evening hanging out with Migs at one of the post production studios he uses. When you’re hanging out in a $750,000 studio you really do watch where you put your beer. He had to work all day Friday to finish up the mix for a movie so he’d be clear to take off for Montreal and his next contract. A very lucrative contract. A horror-suspense dealio starring Dustin Hoffman and a bunch of other names.

So Friday I was on my own. I wandered. I took pictures. I wondered about this Maigen person I was about to meet. And eventually I set out for the airport.

I’m tempted to write about the wait, so you can get all wrapped up in the agony like I was. But I won’t. You’re welcome. It wasn’t so bad, of course. We had text. Text messaging has changed the world fundamentally. Even when she was passing through customs we were still bouncing messages back & forth. I actually got to steal the first look as she was getting my last message.

I was right. She’s beautiful. Warm & full of life & love. She caught my eye and we both lit up with stupid grins. And we had our first hug. It was good. Even with the backpack. She in her “I like you” t-shirt and me in my “ditto” t-shirt.

We hugged a lot. Giggled a lot. I’m sure we nauseated more than a few grumpy travelers. And we firmly landmarked the location of where we didn’t have our first kiss. True story.

After dropping her gear at the hotel we went to the Roxy Burger so she could sample her first Canadian Beer. And yes, she had a Canadian. Then she switched to 1516 and was much happier. It may have been all the traveling and the jet lag but she soon discovered what every American discovers about Canadian beer – American beer is goat piss.

Saturday we jumped on a ferry so we could make it back in time for Grant’s b-day shindig. We didn’t get there til 9 or 9:30 but Lola greeted us at the door with a tray of shooters anyway. Love. Maigen was introduced all around and immediately absorbed, which gave me a chance to mix some shooters as well, say happy b-day to Grant and fracture a rib laughing with Jason over a pet calendar.

By the time I caught up to Maigen again she had fit right in, as I knew she would. For the rest of the week she would spontaneously burst out with, “I love your friends.” It was Grant’s birthday, but I hope he’ll understand if I persist in thinking I got the best present. After a brief cameo at Hush the party returned to the house and soon after Maigen was asleep on the couch. What’s more shocking is that I was not far behind her. We hitched a ride home with Stephen with the sun already sleepy warm overhead. Sunday was spent dozing, and then we rallied just in time for A Night Of Improv.

Here’s where Maigen starts blushing furiously.

By strange coincidence we had front row tickets right on the aisle. This, as anyone knows, is asking to be dragged on stage. I guess I was more psychologically prepared then, when Greg Proops and Brad Sherwood came looking for “volunteers”.

You know all these guys. Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, Greg Proops, Jeff Davis, Chip Esten and Brad Sherwood. The same crew from last year- and I have to say if they come back next year I will be there. SUCH a good time.

Anyway, up on stage Maigen and mischiff were summoned. The game was “sound effects”.

As I said, I may have been more prepared for this than she was.

Brad explained the game to the audience and used the classic door opening as demonstration. Maigen, mic in shaky hand, managed a tiny, quiet, giggling squeeky door. The audience loved it and there was much applause. Greg held up his imaginary can of beer and I gave him a solid and extremely refreshing-sounding explosion of frothy goodness. The audience cheered, Greg looked happy, and Brad tried to switch places with him. Chip, meanwhile, was instantly up and offering to take his place working with Maigen. I gotta admit, I would have done the same.

The game more or less went like that. Maigen’s tree-topping hand saw was decidedly unthreatening while my chainsaw rumbled the rafters. Her shotgun went off with a badly aimed “uh… bang?” while my Celine Dion cd rang out in diva-esque tones of… well, I admit I did a great rendition of a very badly scratched and mangled cd. I do sound effects, people, not opera.

I can’t imagine a better game. She was awesome. They loved her. She and I were perfect foils. And the guys on stage loved her enough to bug her several more times throughout the show. She buried her face in my shoulder but she couldn’t stop laughing.

Talk about a kick-ass first date. After the show, though, we were both just wrung out. Too much action. We hung around outside for a few minutes but when we didn’t see the rest of the crew we weren’t too disappointed to head for home and snoozing.

That’s a good a place as any to wrap up part one of this particular adventure in the continuing saga of toki & mischiff. The pics are here with more to come soon.