The Laundry List

It is already April which means that our Toronto lease is nearly up and I have to soak up as much city life as I can before I retreat to the serenity and summer vibes of the west coast.

I have been simultaneously busy and not so. I do a lot, while not doing much at all. So far I have been to a Toronto Marley's hockey game, the Art Gallery of Ontario, hip hop karaoke, a demonstration at Old City Hall protesting the proposed Harper 'tough on crime' legislation, the Allan Gardens, a volunteer event at a bike co-op in the making, a revolutionary themed fashion show and DJ event in Hamilton, a house party, a conference on Canada's murdered and missing women, a potluck, a dinner party, a Canadian hip-hop panel presentation at Ryerson, a drag show, the Downsview flea market, Kensington Market (a bunchotimes), St. Lawrence Market, True Grit at the Carleton, a roller derby-filled Saturday, and went rock climbing. On top of all this, I have started an exercise regiment now that the sun is starting to shine, opened a big boy bank account, have read three or so books, and have played lots of euchre as it is the official card game of Ontario. The next big city activity on the horizon is a taping of the George Strombolopolous show on April 7th featuring an interview with Woody Harrelson.

Toronto is actually proving itself to be a pretty easy place to spend a little time but I miss my friends back home and am looking forward to meeting more people. I have a lead on a job at a climbing gym which should be really fun if it pans out. I have applied to a bunch of other jobs but didn't get a single call back! Quelle surprise!

I have been considering life options with all of the free time on my hands, and seeing how hard it is to find work, I think I should get back in school and level up my education come September 2012. I think the important thing for me right now is to be around people I care about which makes Vancouver seem like an attractive destination after Toronto. I'll probably be looking for roommates in East Van for July if anyone else will be looking to get a place!

That is all my news for now. My next posting should be less DULL and more KAPOW. I just wanted to jot down the laundry list of activities recently completed while they were still fresh in my noodle factory. I'll keep my eye out for strange and comical stories to share next time.

Be good.

Love Dave

Lessons from the big city

It is hard to believe that I have already been living in Toronto for a whole month. In this month I have learned a number of big city lessons:


1) Don't talk to people on the subway.
Why? Well, it is likely that whomever you are attempting to speak with will ignore you, leaving you with nothing but hurt feelings. It is also quite possible that you may be thrown-up upon - depending on the particular line you are riding, and the given hour. Both of these things happened to be simultaneously two weekends ago. I was taking the subway from a dinner party in East Toronto to Bathurst and Bloor to meet Robyn and the Allys at a night club at around 1am. Sitting across from me was a little girl who couldn't have been more than 15 years old. She was passed out drunk, with her bags splayed about her. She woke up and didn't look so good. I asked if she was alright but was ignored. She then began to lurch indicating she was going to throw up. I had a plastic bag in my pocket and got up to hand it to her. Before she managed to grab it she spewed a healthy stream across the subway car. I jumped back, dodging the revealed content of her stomach, and then like a ninja leaned in and dropped the bag in her lap. She picked it up, but then proceeded to vomit all over herself, missing the bag entirely. After a few minutes, she got up and left. I felt horrible for her because I think she missed her stop when she was sleeping and most certainly has a long hard journey ahead of her. I wanted to call her a cab, but there is no cell reception underground. I thought about walking her out, but thought that may have been creepy since she was so young. Anyone with advice as to proper protocol in such situations please let me know.


2) Be careful on the streets.
Why? I have seen two fender benders, and one person hit by a car. The fender benders were pretty run of the mill, but the person being hit by the car was a little out of the ordinary. Instead of describing it as a person being hit by a car, it would be more appropriate to say that the car was hit by a person. It was late, and Robyn and I were standing on a busy corner waiting for a street car. Across the intersection from us a drunk, early 20 something guy ran in front of an oncoming street car, narrowly avoiding it, only to run into the side of a slow moving Lincoln Navigator. The Lincoln drove through the intersection and pulled over. The guy bounced up, leaving his flat brimmed hat in the middle of the road, and ran up to the passenger side of the vehicle yelling "Are you alright?" as if he could have potentially done significant damage to the vehicle's occupants. The driver of the Lincoln got out, yelling and swearing at the kid, "The light was green! You SOB. I'm going to kick your ass!". The driver looked like he was on leave from the set of the Jersey Shore. He was getting ready to fight the kid for breaking his driver side mirror which was dangling a few feet from the ground. His arm candy girlfriend jumped out of the vehicle and climbed on his back to hold him back from getting into a fist fight with this puny drunken sk8r boy. The Situation got back into his vehicle and drove away. Robyn yelled at the kid to go to the hospital, across the street from us, but he went about his business.


3) Stay away from daytime TV.
Why? Have you seen daytime TV? I haven't had TV for a couple years, but a TV came with our apartment's furnishings and we get about 6 channels. I am unemployed, and under-friended, so I have Oprah and Dr. Phil to keep me company while I scrounge the internet for potential employment. Today I learned that there is such a thing as a retro-sexual, and that I'm not supposed to wear brown shoes with a black belt.


I have more wisdom to share, but I have to be somewhere shortly so will have to keep my knowledge to myself for the time being. I am volunteering tonight at a community center doing some demolition/reconstruction work towards the end goal of a new bike co-op for street-involved populations. 


Have a safe day kids. 

Mimico, the new Kensington Market

So it begins...

In the period of just a few weeks I have gone from being a small town bumpkin to a swinging metropolitan man of intrigue, fully equipped with a new fangled mobile device (647-297-3834) and a swanky basement apartment. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my humble roots. I got the cheapest of all possible plans which gives me unlimited text messages, plus unlimited local calling between the hours of 3-6pm (if you would like to call me from afar Robyn has an unlimited plan so give me a ring at 647-774-4264 on her phone). Also, the basement apartment is hardly befitting a man of my stature and reputation. It is lacking a few of the basic amenities to which I had become accustom in Prince George.

One such amenity is headroom. The ceiling in the living room, which conveniently doubles as my bedroom, is 5 feet 9.5 inches. However, inconveniently for me I stand at just over 5 feet 10 inches tall. I have given myself a few good whacks, but with each one am that much closer to learning not to do it again. The amenities missing in the kitchen are many, but to name just a few they include: a full sized fridge (we have two mini fridges - one in the kitchen, the other in the hallway entrance), a second sink, a dishwasher, counter space, an oven, drawers (there are 2), and a stove (there are two elements built into the sink/fridge unit). Luckily if you are cooking and don't want to walk very far to the toilet in the case of an emergency, the bathroom is attached to kitchen. Luxury living at its finest.

For those of you familiar with the Toronto area, I live at the intersection of Royal York and Lakeshore Blvd. West in the suburb of New Toronto in Mimico, just west of Etobicoke.  This area has been described to me by a local Torontonian as "spiritual death" on account of its geographic isolation from anything interesting and the fact that it is too far for anyone to visit. One highlight of living where I do is that I am literally across the street from Lake Ontario. When it hasn't been too cold I have been jogging through the many parks which litter the beaches of the lake like, well, like litter on the beaches of Lake Ontario. In all honesty, it is very beautiful and getting around is as simple as it could be because the Queen St. streetcar passes in front of the house (the basement shakes every 15 minutes when it goes by), and we are only 7 minutes by bus to the TTC Bloor line.

Keep an eye on this page for other quips and musing about my shenanigans and high-jinx in the big city of Toronto. Given that I am currently unemployed, I have no excuse not to post regularly.