i've been doing so much in toronto that people are telling me that i'm going to run out of things to do by christmas if i don't slow it down. i think you just take for granted what you already know and vice versa with what you don't. this city offers so much and i want to see as much as i can that i seem to be on a full out sprint the majority of the time. i've settled into a routine for the most part as far as my work schedule is concerned. i've been very pleased at how many days i'm able to take mass transit to work - i am really enjoying taking the subway and have increased my reading time and novel completion number significantly (speaking of, i just finished a thousand splended suns by hosseni - it is one of the best novels i've ever read - go buy it today.). i've found that i am rarely driving in toronto and could easily make it here without a car. this is a good thing, primarily because i'm paying $4.40 per gallon in toronto. i will never, ever complain about $3/gallon gas again.
so, what have i done? well, i went to a blue jays game which was fun - it was weird, though, to not hear anyone sing the star spangled banner, but hear everyone singing the canadian anthem. check out the mean farmer sunburn, i got from sitting in the nosebleed section, too (see photo). who'd have known that the sun is actually more fierce here than in houston? i'm sure that milkshake will bring all the boys from the yard.
i went to the toronto outdoor art festival which was fantastic! i bought a piece of art from an artist from northern ontario that i really love. there was some really amazing stuff. http://www.torontooutdoorart.org/ . the taste of thailand festival was this weekend and it was cool. i watched some thai dancing, thai massage and had some fantastic thai food. (http://www.tasteofthailand.ca/) (what a serious dork! that serious dork got suckered into buying one of those parasols too....apparently, $1 from the sale of every one goes to charities in thailand so of course i had to model it. yeah right.)
i went to the distillery district. http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com/ during the 1800's, this area was the largest distillery in the british empire. the city of toronto has now turned the actual distillery into an area filled with small shops, restaurants and art galleries while leaving the majority of the distillery in tact. it has cobblestone roads throughout and has maintained it's industrial look. one of the best choclatiers in toronto is in the distillery district and being a professional sweet eater, it was really, really good. they use a lot of venezuelan chocolate - everything had a very pure chocolate taste. http://www.somachocolate.com/
i mentioned in a previous blog that i planned to attend the fringe theatre festival and after much haranguing with the tickets, i actually made it to a play at the gladstone hotel. it was WAY, WAY cool. the play took place throughout the hotel rather than with the audience just sitting in one place. there were 4 plays happening at once and the characters would interchange with the other plays going on. in other words, even though we were seeing one play, the actors were really going between plays. talk about timing! it was something i'd never seen before...they call it "convergence theatre" and i thought it was genius. (http://www.fringetoronto.com/ and http://torontoist.com/2007/07/fringeist_check.php - review of "The Gladstone Variations".
i've seen a couple of film shoots since i've been here. i wish i knew what movies they're for so i can be on the lookout for the scenes. hairspray was filmed here, along with cinderella man, chicago, and good will hunting. they call it "hollywood north" and now i know why. the white trailer business must be booming here.
i've finally found some good places to eat...i knew they were here, but just had to find them. my favorite place so far is called Toba and it's delicious! (http://www.toba.ca/) i'm also loving the crepes at cafe crepe. i think i talked about this place in a previous posting, but if not, they have the best nutella crepes EVER! pizza rustica has great panini, too. (http://www.pizzarustica.ca/)
the weather continues to be very nice - today, the high was 74 with 58% humidity and sunny skies. these people just don't know what they've got as far as weather is concerned.
lastly, you might know that the final installment of a little book that goes by the name "harry potter" comes out this week. i thought people were gonna lose their shit over this book here. if only i had tried harder in school and been clever enough to come up with the idea of "hogwarts"...who could have guessed?!
At Chapters in the Eaton Centre:
hope everyone's well,
carm
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