I did two very important things this past week. No, make that three. Yes. Very important, perhaps life-altering events. Perhaps. Maybe. Depending on how you look at it, I suppose.

First, I saw Rick Mercer. Yes, the hilarious Canadian political satirist Rick Mercer. Here’s how it went down: a partner company of the company I work for had their large national conference last week. Tuesday night was the large awards ceremony dinner for the conference, and omg, Rick Mercer was the keynote speaker. When I first heard he was going to be there a few months ago, I was ecstatic. Except then we only got two tickets to attend, and so two of my coworkers who had actually BEEN at the conference that week got dibs on the tickets, obviously. Colour me disappointed. Only, at the last minute, they managed to score an extra ticket for me!! SCORE.

Let me tell you, if you think Mercer is funny on the Rick Mercer Report, or on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, well, that’s nothing compared to seeing him live. He’s much more engaging, and comes across as being so much more dynamic in person. And he is bloody hilarious. He spoke about his adventures in Canadian television – highlighting (of course) some of the “Talking to Americans” moments, shenanigans whilst interviewing Canadian politicians, and heading off to Afghanistan. And along with his talk, he also showed us numerous clips from aforementioned moments – most of which I had seen before, but all of which deserved to be seen again.

Would definitely HIGHLY recommend that anyone go see him if possible. Definitely.

Second, I saw Arthur Slade. Yes, the amazingly talented children’s/YA author Arthur Slade. The Hunchback Assignments Arthur Slade. Jolted Arthur Slade. Megiddo’s Shadow Arthur Slade. Yes, him. There was a signing at a Chapters in Brampton, so being the semi-obsessed fan that I am, I drove the hour to get there. Of course, I met up with Rachel and Kat, both of whom are as (if not more) obsessed than I am. He read the first chapter of the new Hunchback book, took some questions, and then did a signing. I have to say, I am now very much excited to read the new Hunchback book. Very much excited. There was a lot of alliteration in the first chapter that thrilled me. And Rachel said that it is a Very Good book (from what she had read at that point).

Also, bonus geek points to Arthur Slade for saying that Darth Vader is his favourite character.

Third, I saw my 29th birthday, and it was a lot more pleasant to me than I had anticipated. I had originally been planning on having a quiet weekend, but am glad that I decided to actually do something to celebrate. Was in TO for the weekend (not unusual for me these days seeing as that’s where the boyfriend lives), went out with a bunch of friends, did some geeky things, got a Shaun of the Dead action figure, read some, and ate a lot of gooooooood food.

So, all-in-all, last week was a crazy busy and yet awfully exciting and wonderful week for me. That said, I am very much looking forward to a quiet week this week where I may actually finish a book or two.