Monday, November 24, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
As the author and intellectual trustee of a quaint but respectable collection of indulgences,
among them a warty squash delivered to the front door and a dialogue between bicycle bells,
I hereby exercise my right to editorial changes.
Effective immediately these events shall occupy the duration of a gunshot,
a juncture of simultaneous destruction and reconstitution.
each of us is entitled to a life that allows our fullest expression as a human being
Dear Toronto:
I love you. I hate you.
This sentiment is captured so well in the Great Lake Swimmers' horrible song, "I Will Never See the Sun." What a distasteful choice to enumerate, over and over, the names of four of the city's ugliest and most soulless streets. Worse, to drown them in so much reverb. But the ability of the unremarkable to be evocative is something I had never considered before arriving here. Over time I've grown enchanted with your tensions and contradictions, your homeliness, your depth, your weaknesses and insecurities. I've sought out the same qualities in other places and people (and in myself).
I remember riding my bike, triumphantly crossing a bridge towards Roncesvalles, looking down the train tracks to the smokestacks and smoggy sunset, inhaling the sweet aroma of a nearby chocolate factory.
You are hideous, and so am I. So are all of us, if we're willing to look for it. There is so much richness in that, so much excitement. And so, for now, I listen to this song incessantly.
in most ways it's been the most exciting year of my life.
self-discovery / snowsqualls / ergonomics / neoliberalism / squirly's / brisk walks at night / guinness draught / headphones / challenge and defense / the grad lab / surfer rosa / academy vs. family / positivism / my overheated apartment / risotto, stew and curry / kensington market / bluegrass night / air miles / sneaky dee's / tea in the taylor room / expectation and satisfaction / a whiteboard / sally / sufjan stevens / toffeenut / radicalism / glenfiddich / urban herbivore / the ravines / potential / climate change therapy / parking and bicycle helmets / modernism / honest ed's / housing / vegetarianism / compromise / trinity bellwoods park / opening