MlleVennes

Blame it on the beer, blame it on the late night, blame it on the long bus ride. I wavered on my chair, lost my breath. She was gorgeous, the perfume of crispy fries coming from her coat pocket made her seem delicious. Clearly, she'd explain all I needed to know - she had that natural expert glow about her. Maybe it was her highlighter or her flushed cheeks from the cold outside air, either way I was hooked. Breaking me out of my daydream, the manager asked if I wanted to go on my first shift straight away. Feeling light on my feet and already tired, I politely declined and we agreed to reschedule for the following day. I'd start at 5pm, meet them at their locale quite off the beaten path, and be "on call" for 6 hours. They made a few practical suggestions, told me to shave and bid me goodnight. On the way home, I wondered what I had done. I had a little crisis of conscience, where I evaluated all that could go wrong. I had heard the cautionary tales. I knew wh

  A million damning possibilities have yet to make way for silver linings and rays of sunshine.   Come to think of it, I believe it is an incredible luck that there has been so much written about courtesans and their lovers. Passages recounting trysts made me blush as I looked over my shoulder, making sure no one was noticing what I was feasting on. The details of adventures, lace and soirees intrigued me and enchanted me - getting to know a person in such an intimate way appealed greatly to me.   On the other hand, everywhere around me was this pervasive message that I was expected to act a certain way. As an adolescent I remember being told by a family relative : "Oh my dear, ladies don't apply rouge at the restaurant table." I had only finished my meal and found it foolish to shield the world from the view of me re-applying a soft pink lipstick. I turned to her and asked why that was, that this ritual should somehow be hidden. The explanation left me unsatisfied a

It's a Monday like every other But my Wix editor crashed So I'm doing this old school style Before I retire to my own pillow fort. Sweet Dreams  xxox L

My steps lead me back down Montreal's green little alleyways for the summer. The last of my furniture was in my old room, overlooking Parc Lafontaine. It felt comfortable yet foreign. I hadn't laid foot in it since over six months ago. One by one, I reunited with memories. An ice cream cone wrapper. A quirky post card. A note to myself on a public transit ticket from another city. "Don't Panic" - I was reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at the time, and used it as a bookmark. Two of my bikes were waiting, with a bunch of old running shoes and piles of books. I started packing boxes. I moved to Vancouver almost a year ago, but I don't think Montreal will ever stop feeling like home. A friend and I went to Kem CoBa for the first time this year. Their daily soft serve was a swirl of Dulce de Leche ice cream and Pear sorbet. I ate it first, and followed it with gnocchi in homemade tomato sauce sprinkled with freshly grated cheese from la Dro

A few of my favorite pictures from when I started out.

Our meetings in coffee shops lead to getting to know each other, which lead to meetings in a more discrete setting.  Once again, I remember being very nervous, and taking several precautions to ensure my safety. I remember almost getting sick to my stomach with nerves. Always a bit awkward, and this seemed like a big step. At least that was what I had heard. I grew up with an taste for adventure and had seen from early on the beauty that is present when the words drift away mid-sentence and clothes are fall to the ground, one by one like autumn leaves. My heart has always yearned for the strong shiver of shared passion.  The story went that in some quasi-magical way, I was about to step into another world. Accepting financial compensation for my time, my physical presence was one thing, but that day, I knew I would want more. I was ready to pass that threshold.  I did. What happened, of course, belongs to private memories only. Returning home, I actually did feel d