Haiku by Bex
I came across this as I was sifting through the pile of papers on my kitchen table.
I remember when she said it- it was during the last federal election. We sat in my living room watching the coverage on Global? Whichever station Leslie Roberts works for. This was her comment when we noticed how glamorous the whole election seemed on television, like coverage at the Oscars or something. I was like- whoa- that's profound. So I wrote in down.
Anyways- I know this isn't a very timely post, but I just found the paper I had written it on!
Chasing the Blues Away at Sneaky Dee's
Yesterday morning I get a call at work around 10am. It was
Maria and she was in dire need of some cheering up. She suggested that we go to
Sneaky Dee's (one of my favourite places, in case you couldn't tell) for some chicken wings. I've been telling her for months that she needs to
review the wings there, because they're AWESOME. Anyways... we meet up after her
leçon Française, along with
Bex, James, Derek and Dave, for some good food and a few pitchers. Yumm!!
Instead of getting the wings, Maria chose the Burrito Grandé Beef. She didn't think the wings would fill her up! If you've ever gotten a Mexican Dinner at Sneak's, you know how much food it is... and I was shocked to see Maria pack it ALL away! Where does she put it all?!?
I finally got my Kings Crown Nachos (sans meat and jalapeños), and everyone helped me eat it up... a good thing, cause there was no way I'd be able to finish it on my own. We didn't finish anyways, with 6 people picking at it! Ahhh... I love Sneak's! Reliable, grungy, utterly cool Sneak's.
Maria, delving into my heep of nachos fit for a king.
Should I Go Camping??
May 5-6-7... I'd rent a car and drive down to
Holiday Beach Conservation Area in Amherstburg (near Windsor) to camp with Dan and Roxanne (who are becoming parents real soon!). $89 for the car. Probably another $20 for the campsite. It's doable. Maybe!
Rox blowing... into a chopstick wrapper.
Speaking of traveling, if you're fancying a trip out east and a stay in a beautiful B&B, look no further than
Gîte Toutes Saisons in New Brunswick, the establishment of Barb and Phil Thibodeau (parents of some friends of mine/sometime surrogate parents in high school). I've never been, but it looks amazingly peaceful. One day I'll go.
I Missed My Fifteen Minutes
Apparently,
Maria's blog was featured on
Breakfast Television a couple days ago, and the photos I took of her shoes (with her feet inside) were on TV!!! Not that the photos were anything special, but STILL! I wish I'd seen it.
Maria called them to get a copy of the segment, and they said they could give her a VHS tape for $50. LOLOL... that's precious. 50 bucks for a piece of plastic she can't even use- since she doesn't have a VCR! I realize that they're probably still taping the show on VHS, but come on! They've gotta have something they can offer her. I wanna see it!!
Promising Projects and Manic May
Monday night I went to the
Red Room (where I was impressed by the cuteness of all the patrons, but unimpressed by the service and food- again- but DAMN is it cheap!), and met up with some writer friends of mine... we're starting a magazine! Finally- my dream come true!! It sounds really promising, and we've got lots of great ideas. We've got our target audience in the bag, and it's going to start off as an e-zine. YAY!!!
Looking at my date book I'm realizing that May is going to be insane. From
Julia and Kevin's wedding this Saturday (which is also
The Great Indian Bus Tour and Rannie's
Toronto Squared exhibit opening), to the
Digital Imaging Festival, to all the Meetup.com events, birthdays, and ending the month of with a nice Sunday morning of inventory on the 28th. And I have to move somewhere in there!!!
I won two tickets to the Great Indian Bus Tour for April 29th... if anyone wants to go with me, let me know! I'm definitely going... I'm completely fascinated with Native Culture. I think it's going to be a great tour.
Weekend = BOOORING
I was the laziest asshole of them ALL this weekend. Not only did I fall asleep during 2001: A Space Odyssey at like 10:30 on Saturday night, I had a NAP on Sunday afternoon. I never take naps. One morning per day is enough for me, thank you very much.
I didn't do anything I planned- Earth Day activities, TPMG event, vacuuming, NOTHING.
So yeah- 2001 was the most boring movie I've ever watched. Honestly. I fast forwarded through the last 45 minutes of the film, just to get to the end. And the movie wasn't even true to the book. Meh.
How do you like the new look of the blog?!? OK? Not OK? I just wanted it to be different than Maria's
Garlicster blog, which I just recently realized is using the same template! Any feedback would be appreciated.
Another Mexican!
Or should I say, another Latina!! LOL! Anyways... last night I met up with a bunch of
Maria's blogging buddies to welcome Daniella, a family friend from Mexico. She's moving up to Toronto to go to school in the fall, so she's visiting now to find a place to live and check out U of T. We gathered at the Duke of York, I think mostly because of its proximity to the school. Maria wanted to show Daniella some of the places she could hang out when she gets here.
Highlights of the dinner were the confusion over the extensive varieties of whiskeys, the mating phones, Jen's brave order of the "Chicken Sink", and listening to the various languages being spoken around the table. With just the couple people sitting around me, there was Spanish (obviously), French, German, Dutch, a bit of Frisian, Filipino... oh, and English. It was pretty cool!
We were all disappointed that Roger, Daniella's seeing-eye dog (oh yeah, she's blind), wasn't able to make it. Dawgs are cute, but Daniella was charming on her own! She's outgoing and funny and beautiful- I think she'll do well here in Toronto... Welcome Daniella!!
Rainy Saturday Deliberations
I was going to attend some Earth Day festivities at Budapest Park, but Mother Nature had a different plan. I guess I could go for a quick bike ride, but it's raining and cooold. I'm such a wuss.
Instead, I'll vacuum the apartment, bake some banana bread, start Three Day Road, shower and then head up to Sneaky Dee's for some yummy nachos. I HAVE to convince someone to share the King's Crown with me. I NEED them. But there's no way I could eat them all. D'oh!
This morning there was a knock at my door. My first reaction was, "Neighbour, go away!" (since he's bothered me in the past about various things), but when I opened the door there were two strange men waiting. I was in the middle of breakfast, so I had egg on a bagel residue on my hands, but I shook the guy's hand anyways when the one introduced himself as my new landlord. They asked if there were any problems I wanted to discuss- I said, come on in. I showed them the TWO leaks in my bedroom ceiling, the damaged carpet, the closet doors, the windows I can't open, and I told them about the animals in the ceiling. They said they were going to address most of these issues soon, starting with the leaks.
So now- I have a decision to make... if they fix all of these problems, do I stay here? Or is the neighbourhood too shitty to bare, even in a nice apartment. My plan was to move into a large apartment with a couple friends in June, but now I don't know what to do. Much deliberation must take place! I like living on my own- most of the time. But I do like having people around me, too. Once all the problems are fixed in this place, the only thing that would bug me is the street (of which there's absolutely nothing to be done) and the fact that I have to haul my bike upstairs everyday. I've also already told my friends I was moving in... so I'm not even sure if it'd be kosher to back out on that. I'm thinking I'm just gonna make the move, but I'm not 100%... Meh... what do you think??
Crazy How Small the World Really Is...
Besides the fact that I'm currently reading 2001: A Space Odyssey (with all of it's black holes and star gates and moons of Saturn and whatnot- reminding me just how small planet Earth is in the grand scheme of things), I just got word of an old friend of mine-
Adam Matak. Apparently, he's been living in Toronto since 2002. I found him on
Torontoist- he's submitted a
piece of his art for the
Framework Foundation's Timeraiser event this year. Last I heard, he was living in Oakville, working on his animation degree at Sheridan... that was in 1996!!!
Adam and I met at a youth leadership conference back in high school- when he was living in Wallaceburg. He then hooked up with my friend Sheila in Windsor for a couple years. And now I find out that he's living in Toronto! I should try to get a hold of him... he's frickin' hilarious. And an
excellent artist, to boot.
On my magnet board, beside my desk at home, there's a yellowed, crinkly sticker in the shape of a maple leaf with a cartoon face on it- Adam gave me this back at the youth conference. I've come close to losing this little piece of paper on numerous occasions (I have moved half-a-dozen times since then), but it sticks with me! I love it, and although I see it everyday, I haven't actually thought of the maker in a long time. Thanks Torontoist! It's so good to see that Adam is doing well!
What a splendid afternoon!
After work today, I made my way up to Queen's Park to see if there were people left over from the Four Twenty Festivities, and to wait for a phone call from a friend. There were some peeps left hanging in the park, loungin' on the hill by the statue, playing the gi-tar and well... enjoying the greenery. It was nice to see everybody chattin Everyone was super cute today! You know those days, when everyone you see puts a smile on your face? Today was one of those days.
After, I headed west on College and stopped by Sneaky Dee's for a pint of Red Baron. I picked up the Now... the Green Issue. I love it. This Saturday is Earth Day, don't forget- hug a tree! More on this later...
Frustrating as All Get Out.
All I want to do is add a link to the sidebar on this page that leads you to my
photoblog. Kinda like the one that's there, but with an actual thumbnail of my latest photo. Sounds easy, eh? Well it's not. It's frustrating as hell, and I can't seem to get any help from my photoblog host. Dammit!
Also- I don't understand why I can't see my personal info (visit my profile, etc.) when viewing my blog on Internet Explorer, and sometimes the links are either missing or all the way down at the bottom of the page. What the hell??
I'd also like to know how to delete my blog title from the page, without renaming my blog "[nothing]". I want to create a new header, but I think the words "blurty blurt blurt" will show up over anything I make. BAH!!!
Shoes and Sushi... a winning combination.
The blogging theme for the week is NEW SHOES. Check out the pics I took of Maria's
new kicks.
Tonight after work
Bex and I met up for some shoe shopping. I've been talking about buying some Chuck's (
Chuck Taylor's Classic Converse Sneakers) for a couple months now, so we decided on
Get Outside- which has the widest variety of Chuck's to choose from (in my experience). There were SO many colours, but I narrowed it down to some brown slip-ons, a pink pair, and a super classic pair of off-white sneaks with a blue and red stripe. Well- the brown ones were deceiving because there are eyelets for shoelaces, but you're not
supposed to wear laces with them. I thought that was silly. The pink ones were falsely advertised because the display pair were nicely faded, and the actual shoes were bright pink- almost neon! SO- I got the off-white pair, and I'm thoroughly satisfied.
A couple stores east of Get Outside, there was a grand opening sale at one of those nameless shoe stores (it has a name, I just don't know what it is- WAIT- the receipt will tell me- Grey Stone Shoes- what a strange name...) Buy one pair, get a second pair FREE! Well- come on now. So I bought this super cute pair of copper sling backs and this embellished slipper look-alike. Both are extremely comfortable, perfect for summer, and entirely appropriate for work. Meh- I really am a grown up.
Look at the cutie-petutie in the background! Oh, and the red rug is Queenie's play toy- which is why it's covered with her fur!
Afterwards, we traveled up Spadina to Chinatown, where Bex bought another pair of shoes. That makes four new pairs of shoes for her in one shopping trip! She got a sweet pair or Royales at Get Outside, a Jem-inspired pair of hot pink pumps (truly outrageous), a funky pair of super embellished kitten heels and some sexed up red pumps. All in all- a very successful shoe shopping extravaganza!
Finally, we hit Sushi Time (which has moved BTW- but only about 10 doors east). Yummy Golf boxes filled with tempura, teriyaki, rice, goyza, salad, miso and salmon and cucumber rolls. SO good. The new restaurant looks amazing...
Internet Tips from Windsor
Johnny Mac showed me this sweet site where you can download almost any movie trailer:
http://www.movie-list.com/Chris H. told me about the
BOINC program that you can sign up to, and when you leave you're computer on standby, it lets you donate your unused computing power to scientific research projects such as
SETI (Search for Extraterrestial Intelligence),
SIMAP (Similarity Matrix of Proteins) and the
World Community Grid. It's run by Berkeley University and it's super easy- you just download the software and select which projects you want to help out!
"You can participate in more than one project, and you control how much of your computing power goes to each project. If you participate in several projects, your computer will be kept busy even when one project has no work."
Apparently, over one million computers have now contributed processing power to BOINC projects, and you're credited (partially, I'm sure) for any discovery made on your computing time. I think this is a fantastic idea- I'm going to starting working for SETI and
Climateprediction.net!
Lastly, Dan told me about this guy named Skydaddy, who composes some cool music and offers it free for download from his website. We listened to a bit of it yesterday in the car (Dan had it burned to CD), and it's pretty good- eccentric, chaotic, meaningful- everything you'd expect from a "labour of love" musician. Unfortunately, all I can find on the net is
this... which isn't much. Ah well!
Long Weekend in Windsor
Ahhhh... I'm sitting in my best friend Stacey's boyfriend's beautiful kitchen, listening to Venus by Air (and the sound of Chris vaccuuming downstairs- now THAT'S a quality bf), my belly full of yummy "Gladys inspired" breakfast casserole, checkin' out my online community on Stacey's fabulous laptop (I needs to get me one of these!). We're just getting ready to go to the go0d ole' Devonshire Mall where I'm going to buy some Chuck Taylor's (if they have some good colours to choose from).
I used to hate Windsor. It's a small, blue-collar, close-minded city of 209,000 people, but after living in Toronto for almost three years, I'm realizing it still has its charms. I miss my friends, my family. I miss the lack of homeless people (not saying there aren't any, they're just not so apparent), and how clean it is. And the rent is CHEAP.
If Henry's opens a store in Windsor, I think that I would try to get a job there. The only problem would be- I'd have to get a car. There'd be no way around it. So- that's a con, for sure. Some other cons of Windsor- the americans, the pollution, the cancer rate, the lack of culture. I can successfully avoid the first, and help the cause of the last. But I can't escape the middle two. Alas.
And here's a photo of the smushiest, cutest kitty in the world! His name is Oliver.
Here's a ghost train we saw at Memorial Park. The CP Rail train was going very slow- eerily slow. The whole park was pretty creepy, but I felt safer there than I do walking down my street in Parkdale!
Breakfast at... errr... dinner at Nestor and Tims!
The book club meeting last night was really good- thanks to new member Gabriella, some phenomenal bean burgers by Tim and entertainment provided by Baby, the fat cat with the sweetest smushiest face in the world!
The menu included
martinis (of which Holly Golightly and the narrator shared prior to 11am on the morning of her arrest),
apples (eaten by Holly at the beginning of the story) with
peanut butter (sent to Holly's brother Fred in the army),
burgers (because Holly and Mr. O'Shaughnessy always met at Burger Heaven) with
tabouleh (uh- just because it goes good with burgers- it did have
tomatoes in it- so there's the connection- Sally Tomatos are my favourite!), with
lemon meringue pie for dessert (I really don't remember the connection there... but it was yummy!)
The book discussion went well I think. The only discussion questions I could find were
here, so I skimmed through and asked the tougher ones, to keep the conversation going. I think my favourite question was, "What language is spoken in Brazil?" That sparked a whole other discussion on the words "Latino" and "Latina", and whether or not Nestor (who is Chilean) and Maria (Mexican) could be classified as such. Maria was infuriated, of course, since these aren't even real words!! Maria's so cute when she gets angry- she uses the eff word like it's a fluffy knee-high moccasin (going out of style)!
All in all, another successful book club meeting. Next month's book is my pick- FINALLY! I chose
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden. I've been wanting to read this book for a while, and when I saw that it was out in paper back already, I figured I'd suggest it!
Disconcerting...
I went to Dominion to pick up a pie for tonight's book club meeting, but then though- wait, I bet I can get a really nice one at the Market (St. Lawrence). So I headed over there, and saw some yummy fruit salads, tried to buy one only to find out that I don't have my wallet! No pie fo me!!
I really really really really really hope it's on the kitchen table at home (I switched backpacks this morning). Luckily, I have nice co-workers who lend me money for pie and TTC tokens!! Phew!
Anatomy as Art
This is pretty damn cool:
http://link.library.utoronto.ca/anatomia/application/index.cfm
If you liked the Body Worlds exhibit at the Science Centre, you'll appreciate this. Anatomia -- a collection of 4500 full page plates featuring historical renderings of the human anatomy, which are housed in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto. They range in age from 140 to almost 500 years old! I love history, and I love old books. It'd be so cool to go and see these in person, but this interactive website is pretty good.
It reminds me of this old book I used to have. It was all about human anatomy, and although it was in my collection of Golden Books and Disney stories, I have a feeling it wasn't intended for someone as young as I was when I first looked at it. What I never figured out- why there was a hole drilled right through the middle of the book. Perhaps it was my brothers old text book, and he was feeling a little destructive one day? Perhaps, like a deck of cards at the casino, it could only be read once and then had to be marked as "invalid"? Who knows.
Weekend Update with Kari...
Not too much happened this weekend. Friday I hummed and hawed about going to this Toronto photography meet up, but I ended up passing, since I wasn't going to know anybody else there.
Saturday the plan was to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's and Capote (5 points to whoever can tell me the correlation between those two- if you're in the book club you don't qualify), but I didn't feel like watching them by myself.
Maria had invited me to the Flatiron for some NTN and
Julia invited me to a house party, so I went to the houseparty with the intention of meeting up with Maria later. Well- Maria was on her way home to bed by the time I called her, so I just went home too! The houseparty was... interesting. People playing video games and making out on the couch. Not the sort of party I'm used to (not the sort of party I've been used to since I was about 17!) But it was fun hanging with Julia, Kevin and
Nestor (and I finally met Tim).
Sunday was relaxing... watched the movies (alas, by myself), went for a walk and took some photos, pigged out on Doritos and played around on the computer. The movies were both really good.
B@T's was cute, for a movie made in the 60s. I don't normally like old movies all that much, but it was definitely interesting comparing the movie to the book. The book was way better (as is always the case)- deeper and more thoughtful... the ending of the movie was
completely different! Capote was amazing. Phillip Seymor Hoffman blows my mind everytime I see him in a movie. He's the best actor out there, I think.
Anyways- that's all for now!
Breakfast Review #5... Yasi's Place
Again, I've procrastinated.
A couple of weeks ago James and I met up at Dufferin Station to find a place for breakfast. I had
Julia's wedding shower to go to in High Park at 2pm, so we decided to meet halfway between there and James' new place in Forest Hill. We headed west on Bloor, positive that we would find some hidden gem of a diner amidst the furniture wholesalers and pizza joints. But every restaurant we walked by was either closed, or for "private members only". I still don't get that...
We gave up the walking tour and called Beth, who lives in the neighbourhood. We knew she'd be able to recommend a good place, and we weren't disappointed! She told us to walk up Lansdowne 'til we got to Wallace (where we passed this
tricycle, oddly enough), hang a left, and walk 'til we saw a cute little corner shop called Yasi's Place. It didn't look like much from the outside, but as soon as we sat down at a table inside and saw the HUGE jars of spices lining one wall, I knew we were in for a great breakfast.
The place was packed tight with tables and bar stools around an old-school diner bay; we took a seat next to the window. It seems we got there at just the right time, because half an hour later the place was packed. And everyone there was, dare I say,
über cool. The staff were extremely nice (they even gave me two bandages for my blisters- I told you we took a walking tour!) The cook was tall, handsome and wearing a kerchief, apron and an
Elgin Street Diner tee (which is apparently one of the best diners in Ottawa).
The menu is full of unique vegetarian selections and reads:
"As a small community café, Yasi's Place is committed to supporting other small businesses and local farmers while trying to meet the needs of the community. While not all of the foods we serve are wholly organic, we try to purchase our goods with an awareness of our impacts on the environment and local economies."
I ordered grilled guacamole, red onion and cheese sandwich with potatoes. It had a cool, obscure name, but because I'm an idiot and dilly-dallyer, I've forgotten the name of it. It was something like Uncle Bob's Cousin. Anyways- it was amazing. And the potatoes were so tasty- there aren't even words. Mushy, curry, goodness. There- that's the best I can do!
I figured it would be expensive, since it was known for it's organic and vegan meals, but it wasn't too bad at all. The atmosphere was great, and the decor was cool. Artwork hung on the walls, the sun shone in the big storefront windows, and each of the barstools had an original seat to it.
SO- on a scale of 1 to 5. I'll give the service a
5. The food a
5. The atmosphere a
4.5. (half a point off for crampiness, but I'm learning that's a given in a good Toronto diner). Cleanliness a
5. Cost a
4. Overall-
Yasi's Place gets a
23.5 out of
25!
Plus there was the cutest dawg in the world outside, enjoying the sunshine...
EnvisionToronto... check this out!!
Mike L. reminded of this cool website. It's a (nother) photo sharing site, but this one is unique in that it's geographically based. It's a big map of the GTA, and when you post your photos a marker is added to the map! It's definitely interesting. Apparently it's for a Ryerson New Media student's thesis... a great idea! Here's the link:
http://www.envisiontoronto.com/index.php
What a Character!
I had my T-Dot Writer's Group Meet-up last night, and the assignment was to do a character profile. Here's what I wrote:
There she is. Over there. In that crowd. Behind the woman who looks exactly like her. Beside the girl who aspires to become her. And there’s the old lady who wishes she had those legs again.
Do you see her?
She’s wearing a trench, open to the wind, with a vibrant silk scarf slung hastily around her neck. A splash of colour against her pale skin.
Her power suit consists of a midnight blue fitted blazer, a short skirt of matching hue and a beige tank top. Just bland enough for the office, but showing enough skin to manipulate even the strongest conviction.
Her dark sunglasses cover her eyes, and her eyebrows, and the bags under her eyes. You can’t see where she’s looking. She could be walking with her eyes closed.
Her hair looks unkempt, but you can tell she uses the most expensive conditioners; there are no split ends in sight. You can’t tell what colour it is, the highlights glint in the sunshine and there is nothing natural about it.
Her feet are cinched into strappy sandals, most inappropriate for walking. They make her look tall, and they make her calves look skinny and muscular. But in the middle of the night she has to get up and walk around in them, so her back will stop hurting.
She carries the ugliest bag you’ve ever seen, made desirable and couth by the initials stamped onto the side. DK or CK or DG or CC; so small they’re like a secret. But you know they’re there, because the bag is so ugly.
Two steps behind her is her partner. He is tall, dark and handsome- every girl’s dream. She forgets he’s there.
This is the cosmopolitan woman. My adversary. My idol.
A paradox in heels.
Apparently my IQ is 120
I took an online IQ test. Here's the link if you want to try it:
http://web.tickle.com/invite?test=3046&type=tIt's 54 questions long, so only do it if you've got some time to kill.
A score of 120 means I'm a Visual Linguist, and that I'm smarter than 91% of all the other test takers... whoa.
"People who are Visual Linguists are highly intelligent and have many diverse talents. They have especially strong linguistic talents and are very good at interpreting visual information. They've got their feet on the ground, but their minds are capable of very complex, abstract thought. Compared to others, they are easily able to see situations from many different angles. They also understand how things work in a very practical way."
I got six questions wrong. If you want to read about how smart I am (LOL), click
here.
The Real Black Hole...
Sweetie Pie Bex went and found the pic that I wanted for the Black Hole post! It's from the Simpsons episode where Homer finds a black hole and gets lost in it (he ends up in a live-action world, it's frickin' hilarious). This totally made my day!
THANKS BEX!!!
Today I Wish...
... a black hole would open up and swallow me.
I just don't want to have to deal with anything anymore.
Meh.
Freeloaders??? I'll Freeload YOU, buddy...
I was reading the Torontoist today, and I was re-directed to this article (by National Post writer Jacob Richler, ranting about traffic tickets). My thoughts are in parentheses:"My regret is that the $2,000 or $3,000 I cough up each year to cover my parking fines before renewing my plates is just not enough ($2-3 grand on parking tickets?!? This guy must have a serious "high horse" complex if he thinks can park wherever the hell he wants, which is obviously the case). The city still needs more, but does not know where to get it. But I do. (I do too- it's called a toll for motorists who want to drive into the dowtown core.)The epiphany came to me yesterday in a blinding flash -- or actually, in an irritating thud, when there I was, driving up Yonge Street minding my own business when suddenly a cyclist ran a stop sign and cut me off. Deciding in the generous spirit of spring to hit the brakes and spare his life, I also hit the horn and was greeted by the finger and then -- as I pulled alongside -- a bang on the roof. (Don't honk your horn at cyclists, especially after the fact- it's rude, unnecessary and it scares them because it's loud- well, it scares me, anyways. Besides, the purpose of a horn is as a preventative warning, not an extension of your blithering voice.)Cyclists. (Yeah, cyclists. You wanna make something of it?)It's tempting, I know, but one should not hate them just because they are the righteous vegans of the road (stereotyping asshole), freeloaders who use roads built on the hard-working backs of motorists (if I didn't have to ride on your stinking, pot-hole pocked strip of gray matter, I wouldn't), and who get around without contributing gas taxes (I don't use any gas!!), or helping the local automotive industry(why would I want to do that?!?) or anything useful at all (except helping to decrease the amount of smog we all- including motorists- have to inhale, while getting a daily cardiovascular workout, both of which in turn help reduce health care costs). It's tempting to hate them, but we shouldn't. Instead, we should tax them (fine- tax us, but the money better go to bike routes).I was just looking over the list of fines available for application to those little monsters on two wheels (why the unnecessary hostility?), and the unreaped possibilities are astounding. When's the last time you saw a bicycle with ''improper bicycle lighting''? OK, the fine for that under the Ontario Highway Act is just $20 -- $35 when you throw in court costs and the ''victim fine surcharge.'' But when you get into ''improper brakes'' or a ''defective horn,'' we're talking $85 -- or $110 when all is said and done," (those of us who are breaking cycling laws should be fined- for their own safety, though, not because you don't like sharing the road)."
I understand why this guy is angry- one of us flipped him the bird and now his feelings are hurt- but does that really warrant space in a newspaper? I can see if he was writing in a journal... my feelings were hurt today... or say- a BLOG. But come on. Get over it.
Anyways- I've started riding my bike to work, so there are going to be lots of posts about cycling down King Street West.
Ride West
Sunday morning James, Oriana and I went to Sneaky Dee's for some breakfast (sweet, sweet guacamole), and after that I decided to go for a nice long bike ride. It started off pretty chilly, but you know how it gets- once you're moving along, you warm up pretty fast. I ended up all the way at that bridge past Sunnyside Park. I don't even know what that bridge is called. Anyways- I couldn't feel my hands or legs by the time I got back home, but it felt great to be out on my bike.
There was this guy building rock sculptures on the beach. He had probably 12 completed sculptures lined up along the breaker rocks, and he said he'd only been there for about an hour. It was pretty cool. He said it was relaxing for him and I can definitely see why. Focusing your mind on nothing but balancing one rock on top of another. Blissful simplicity.
*sigh* That's what I need right now!
... time for bed.
Another Successful Hoedown
Bex had her housewarming party this weekend, and it was super fun, just as expected! Here's a phot:
More phots can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72057594098034060/
I think my favourite part of the night was when Glenn shouted out...
"I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!!"
Priceless!And yes... I'm calling them phots on purpose. It's my new abrev.
