Thanksgiving Day 28:
Cat-Man-Dude


I met Karl at a house party in 1990 -- I was the one in the electric green sweater and he was the one with the electric blue violin.

The man can flirt and scold and tease and laugh and pout and charm ... and this just with his violin! When he opens his mouth and starts to sing the velvet bass of his voice can move you to tears or laughter, or sometimes both. He's well read and eloquent, a charming dinner companion and a genial host. He can be caustic; he can produce the "artistic temperament" at the drop of a hat; and occasionally he makes some of the most execrable puns I have ever heard! He says he looks like a biker; the oxblood electric violin is a dead giveaway, I would think. He is "built for comfort, not for speed," as one of the songs he sings attests.

But he has a heart to match his girth. He has played in the TH to help me promote Christmas concerts and Valentine's fondues, and at my South Africa fundraiser -- and then he's stuck around to help in the kitchen. He will do anything he can for his kids and for his friends. His parents know they can always turn to him.

Karl has opened my eyes to sushi and dim sum and Vietnamese food, and his own culinary forays leave nothing to be desired except for more. He sends me recipes and introduces me to tiny grocery shops with fragrant smells and magical ingredients.

And his music! A combination of jazz, swing, and "oddball treasures", woven together with his unmistakable self-deprecating patter makes for a delightful evening. But don't request a country tune whatever you do ...

I am so grateful to have met Karl all those years ago. We have talked extensively about music, politics, literature, travel, cooking, God, family, dreams. He likes my friend Jane and my Dad and he flirts shamelessly with my sisters and the safely married women in the audience at the TH!

He is one of those friends whom I have no doubt would catch me if I fell. Check out his website: http://www.karlroth.ca/ . DEMAND that he bring "Everybody Wants to be a Cat" and "Almost Behavin' " back into circulation.

Put his CD on, pour yourself your favourite beverage, curl up on the couch with the one you love, and prepare to be beguiled.