As I continue to increasingly turn this site into a weather blog, I'm ending my series of "yes, its still winter" posts with a "it's finally spring" one. Despite the above photo of Parc LaFontaine this afternoon (soon to be Lac LaFontaine), it was 15 degrees in Montreal today. And its remarkable the energy it put in the air. I swear every person I saw was smiling or laughing, many overdoing the mild temperatures by wearing tank tops or shorts. Terraces were packed, and a whole city seemed to unite to celebrate their survival of five whole months of white terror.

It was nice to see the city in such spirits again, as my days here are numbered and I'd like to enjoy them for all they're worth. Tomorrow begins this site's transformation into a "travel blog," with essentially consecutive film festival journeys to Atlanta, Hot Docs, Tribeca and Cannes. After that, I have a month or two to finish up all things thesis (which will remain, somehow, a substantial hell in my life even as I travel), and then my time as a lingual minority in the land de Quebecois will come to an end.