I pull up the lyrics to a song that Richard Ayoade and I wrote, under the moniker The Almond Butters, so that we can figure out the words for our upcoming concert. He wants to listen to the audio first and is annoyed at my preferred method of learning the song. “It’s not like I haven’t done this a thousand times before!” he yells before he storms off. I end up going to the open mic, which is taking place in a large gymnasium, without him.
The first guy performs an original song, and he has a video already made, playing on a screen in the background. He’s surprised that we all aren’t blown away by the whole presentation. Ivan Decker is next, and right after his introduction he walks across and off the stage, doing his act while pacing down the aisle. An audience member tries to get him to go back on stage so everyone can see, but he gets chastised by everyone for making such an absurd suggestion.
I end up in my parents’s backyard. Shingles are scattered throughout the grass, but my father’s pretending that the roof is still intact. Toast keeps kicking the ⚽ really hard at my head, and while it’s hard to dodge, his strength and accuracy and determination are quite impressive. Later, in the spa-restaurant-brewery, the cashier says everyone in my group already paid, which I know isn’t true, but I don’t argue with her. Instead, I see Toast pooing next to the counter, so I yank him outside, where someone calls him a polar bear.
It turns out we’re at a ski hill, and I see Kelly and Meg working on an amazing artistic project, a colourful snowy version of dominos. I try to help but end up ruining the piece.
Jacob takes us for a ride in hyper speed on his snowmobile, and we really need to hang on during the big jumps. I hadn’t prepared for the bumps, so I’m barely hanging on and Jacob’s glasses end up under my chin. I try to hold them there but can’t, so they disappear behind me, never to be seen again.