August 4, 2020 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Purple in the Title

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Purple is my favourite colour, so all of the books on today’s list will feature the word purple or a synonym of it.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker book cover. Image on cover is of a drawing of two african american women. Their lips are drawn but not their eyes , noses or eyebrows

1. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Harold and the Purple Crayon (Harold, #1) by Crockett Johnson book cover. image on cover is drawing of toddler drawing with a purple crayon on a black wall.

2. Harold and the Purple Crayon (Harold, #1) by Crockett Johnson

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie book cover. Image on cover is abstract red and brown painting.

3. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Prince- Purple Reign by Mick Wall book cover. Image on cover is of Prince playing a guitar and singing.

4. Prince: Purple Reign by Mick Wall

The Lavender Screen- The Gay and Lesbian Films--Their Stars, Makers, Characters, and Critics by Boze Hadleigh book cover. Image on cover is of two queer women cuddling up and looking at the viewer

5. The Lavender Screen: The Gay and Lesbian Films–Their Stars, Makers, Characters, and Critics
by Boze Hadleigh

The Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton- A True Story of Conjoined Twins by Dean Jensen book cover. Image on cover is of Daisy and Violet playing instruments on a stage.

6. The Lives and Loves of Daisy and Violet Hilton: A True Story of Conjoined Twins  by Dean Jensen

The Green and Purple Skin of the World by Paulo da Costa book cover. image on cover is of a clear glass container filled with a murky liquid.

7. The Green and Purple Skin of the World  by Paulo da Costa

When the Plums Are Ripe by Patrice Nganang book cover. image on cover is a black-and-white photo of people walking on a dusty road

8. When the Plums Are Ripe by Patrice Nganang

The Sugarless Plum- A Ballerina's Triumph Over Diabetes by Zippora Karz book cover. Image on cover is of a ballerina dancing.

9. The Sugarless Plum: A Ballerina’s Triumph Over Diabetes by Zippora Karz

Purple Dandelion- A Muslim Woman's Struggle Against Violence and Oppression by Farida Sultana book cover. Image on cover is of a photo of the author's face.

10. Purple Dandelion: A Muslim Woman’s Struggle Against Violence and Oppression  by Farida Sultana

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August 3, 2020 · 1:00 am

3 Mindfulness Exercises for a Bad Mood

An old dandelion that has lost all but one of its seed heads. The final seed head is holding onto the dandelion tenaciously. As I mentioned here, the idea for today’s post came from numerous hits my site has gotten over the last year or so about mindfulness exercises for bad moods.

I purposefully narrowed down this list to a a few exercises that are quick and easy to do because that’s exactly what I need when I’m down in the dumps. Complicated instructions and lengthy lists are best saved for more cheerful days, I think.

If you know of other quick and easy exercises like these, do jump into the comment section below and share. There are many other visualization techniques out there, and they range from simple ones like I’m about to share to much more complex routines.

 

A Gratitude Challenge

Time commitment: 1 minute

Best for: Reframing your thoughts

Step 1 – Close your eyes

Step 2 – Make a list of three things you’re genuinely grateful for. Literally anything counts, and there are no wrong answers. Sometimes I count the friendly pigeons who live in front of my building as one of my answers. They’re also so curious to see what the humans are up to when we wander by.

Step 3 – Open your eyes

 

white and red balloons floating away in the skyThe Balloon Game 

Time commitment: 1-5 minutes

Best for: Letting go and interrupting rumination

Step 1: Close your eyes and make a list of the things that are currently bothering you. They could be anything: unresolved conflicts, regrets, old conversations that keep replaying in your mind, and anything else that can’t be fixed right now or ever.

Step 2: Visualize as many balloons as you need for your list. I like to spend at least a minute picturing their colours and shapes in detail before imagining my problems listed on them.

Step 3: Imagine releasing each balloon into the sky on a windy day. (I once lost a balloon this way as a kid. They escape so quickly you can never chase them down again!) If or when that thought pops up again, remind yourself that it’s been blown away now. There’s no way to chase it down again.

 

Big Deep Breaths 

Time commitment: As long or as short as you want it to be.

Best for: Living in the moment and calming racing thoughts. 

Step 1: Search for breathe calming gifs like this one. You’ll want to keep your eyes open for this exercise.

A mindfulness gif of a box being expanded and contracted.

Step 2: Synchronize your breathing so that you inhale when the image expands and exhale when it contracts. Some of these gifs are specifically designed to slow down the breathing cycle a little for users. That in and of itself can distract you from thoughts that stubbornly stick around.

Step 3: Repeat as many times as necessary.

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July 30, 2020 · 1:00 am

A Photo Essay of Toronto in July

marigolds growing by lush, green plantsEach month I share photos from one of the parks in Toronto to show my readers what our landscape looks like throughout the year. This is the sixth instalment of this series.

Click on February, March, April, May, and June to read the earlier posts. It was a blissful 27 Celsius (81 Fahrenheit) and sunny on this morning visit.

July was an incredibly hot month, so I jumped on the chance to show up earlier in the day and snap some photos before the temperatures soared to 35 C (95 F) or more again.

Let me be honest with all of you. The photos for this month, August, and maybe even September are going to be pretty similar to June’s photos. Everything is green, lush, and growing furiously.

The true difference between June and the rest of the summer has to do with the temperature. June still has mild, pleasant days, but that becomes a rare treat between now until October most years.

A World War I memorial surrounded by green, lush trees in a park.

Welcome to the park in July. If you were actually walking here with me, I would have recommended you bring a water bottle and put on some sunscreen. The sun is quite powerful at this time of the year, and I wouldn’t want any of you to get burned or dehydrated.

A close-up photo of the World War I memories. It's green

Anyone who comes here later in the day might see the air shimmering in the heat. For now, it’s warm but still pretty comfortable in the shade. Some of the weeds are starting to take over the steps on this monument. I suspect this is due to city workers not having as many resources for park maintenance as usual.

A dusty running trail at a park. The trail is lined with large, healthy trees.

The running trail is firm and dustier than usual due to our dry summer so far.  It’s heavily used in the morning and evening, probably because running in 40 C (104 F) heat at midday is at best miserable and at worst a recipe for heat stroke.

I love seeing all of the walkers and joggers out and about early in the morning or after the sun begins to set and the weather is less hot. (Even if you choose to jog at 3 am, you probably won’t find overnight temperatures lower than 28 C (82 F) or so for the next couple of months).  Everyone seems to be incredibly polite and kind even when the trail is overflowing with users which makes me proud of my city.

Large, green branches of a tree against a bright blue sky

You all knew this shot was coming! I love the bright blue skies of this time of year. We won’t see much of that in the autumn and winter when I return.

A skyward shot of many overlapping tree branches filled with leaves. They're so lush you can only see a tiny sliver of the blue sky.

But now it’s less common to see blue sky between the branches of nearby trees. They’ve grown so much that they block out a refreshing amount of heat and light.

A sun-dappled park. The grass is heavily shaded by the leaves of the enormous trees growing there.

Here’s another example of what that looks like. Most people who visit the park now flock to these shady areas. Sitting in direct sunlight for longer periods of time is simply too hot, especially with the high humidity we tend to have now.

A tree that had half of its branches shorn off last winter. It is green and thriving now.

Our tree friend that lost half its branches last winter is thriving from what I can tell.

A tree that lost about a third of its branches in a storm last winter. It is green and thriving now.

And so is our bigger tree friend that lost about a third of its branches. I’m still amazed at how well they heal.

A sapling growing in a park.

The saplings that were planted last month seem to be doing really well, too. A heavily shaded stone path in a park

I am seeing a decrease in visitors to the park like I expected last month. Given the steamy weather and the increasing number of places in Ontario that are reopening as our numbers of Covid-19 cases continue to decrease, this is completely understandable.

And that’s all until August!

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July 29, 2020 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Stuff on My Bucket List

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

Some of topics over the last several weeks have been tricky ones, but this one is easy.

Red sandstone cliffs and red beach at Prince Edward Island.

By Fundamentaldan – Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1550270

One of the biggest things still on my bucket list is visiting Prince Edward Island. My curiosity about this province began when I first read the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery.

Someday I want to see their red roads, rocks, and beaches for myself.

Visiting the various real-life places that Montgomery fictionalized for her stories would also be amazing.

The interesting thing about this goal is that I rarely yearn to travel much in general! I usually prefer to stick close to home due to how easily I feel motion sickness on various forms of transportation.

I’d love to go back to school someday and get a Masters degree. My Bachelors degree was in Psychology, so maybe something related to that? I once dreamed of working as a therapist and still think that would be a rewarding line of work.

Learning how to enjoy jogging is something I’d also like to accomplish. I’ve tried several times and have never felt that runner’s high that some athletic people talk about. Maybe one day it will happen.

Becoming fluent in Spanish is the final big thing on my bucket list for the time being. Learning to speak a second language is a lot of work, so I dip in and out of practicing it as my time and energy levels allow for. I’d bet I could become fluent if I were more diligent about practicing. Can anyone recommend some good Spanish music or TV shows?

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July 28, 2020 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Photos

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

My pick for this week’s freebie theme is a simple one. Let’s look at some interesting bookish stock photos! Tell me which one is your favourite in the comment section below. I’m including brief descriptions of them for anyone who needs captions or who can’t see the photos.

Sad girl holding a book while standing outside near a forest

Sad girl holding a book while standing outside near a forest.

 

Black and white drawing of an astronaut floating through outer space. A book is attached to their helmet with a cord. 

 

Drawing of a skull sitting on top of an antique book. An extinguished candle and empty hourglass are flanking it.

 

Two children standing in a forest reading books.

Two children standing in a forest reading books.

 

A cat wearing a pair of oversized glasses

A cat wearing a pair of oversized glasses

 

A cup of tea and a few chocolate chip cookies on two fancy saucers

 

A cardboard robot standing on two stacked books while stirring a cup of coffee with a teaspoon

A cardboard robot standing on two stacked books while stirring a cup of coffee with a teaspoon

 

Two women balancing books on their heads while reading and laughing

Two women balancing books on their heads while reading and laughing

 

Man floating in a body of water while reading and wearing a pair of sunglasses

Man floating in a body of water while reading and wearing a pair of sunglasses

 

woman reading a book to her dog

Woman reading a book to her dog

 

Senior woman sitting on chair while reading a book to a young girl

Senior woman sitting on chair while reading a book to a young girl

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July 27, 2020 · 1:00 am

I’ll Show You My Drafts Folder If You’ll Show Me Yours

Woman working in home officeWhy, yes, I did write the same sort of post last summer! It was such a smashing success that I’ve decided to do it again.

Last year’s peek at upcoming posts has since been edited to include links to everything that I ended up writing.

Some of the stuff listed below are ideas from last year that I didn’t end up writing then but plan or hope to change this time around.

Once again, I’ll edit this post to include links to the posts of anyone else who decides to write about this same topic. I love getting sneak peeks of what all of you are working on!

 

Title: Mindfulness Exercises for a Bad Mood

Publication Date: August 3

Why: This is something I talked about writing last year. My research into the topic has finally culminated in enough knowledge to share what I’ve learned.

Film poster for The Others. Image on poster is of Nicole Kidman looking scared.

Title: A Review of The Others

Publication Date: August 20

Why: The 2001 film The Others is my all-time favourite haunted house story. I’ve been raving about it here for years and finally found space in my editorial calendar to officially review it.  If you haven’t seen it yet, this is your chance to go rent it so we can gush about it together.

 

Title:Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favourite Things to Do in the Autumn

Publication Date: September 23

Why: Autumn in Toronto is gorgeous and filled with amazing things to do, many of which are outdoors and therefore will hopefully not be affected by Covid-19. Fingers crossed.

 

Film poster for Us. Image on cover is of protagonist crying while holding a mask that looks identical to her face.

Title: Dodging Doppelgängers: A Review of Us 

Publication Date: October 15

Why: Am I the last person on Earth to see Us? Possibly.  It was still a great deal of fun to watch, though, and is perfect for Halloween, my favourite holiday.

 

Title: Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Funniest Things That Have Happened To Me

Publication Date: November 18

Why: These stories would otherwise never fit into the theme of this site. Their topics range from alternative uses for adamantium (the fictional alloy used to coat Wolverine’s bones in the Marvel universe) to what it’s like when acquaintences get so confused about certain facts about your life like your racial identity that they argue with you about how everything really must work.

 

Title: Stained Property: A Review of The Red Lodge (Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories)

Publication Date: December 3

Why: Did you all know that telling Christmas ghost stories was a tradition in England in the 1800s and early 1900s? Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories is a series of those tales. I’ve written reviews of all of them and will publish them in December 2020 and December 2021. This is something I’m really excited to share with you all as some of them aren’t well known at all in our era. And what’s better than shining light on excellent stories from the past? 

Person standing on snowy mountain while looking at aurora borealis at night

Title: Fitness and the Holidays

Publication Date: December 7

Why: Like a lot of folks, my healthy habits tend to slip up a bit over the holidays. I’ve been meaning to talk about this topic for years and decided to finally bite the bullet in 2020.

 

Title: My 20 Most Popular Posts of 2020

Publication Date: December 28

Why: One, I enjoy sharing the posts that resonated with all of you the most. Two, seeing how the trends change over time helps me figure out what to focus on in the coming year.

The number 2020 cut out of white paper and surrounded by confetti

Title: Search Engine Questions from 2020

Publication Date: December 31

Why: The pure frivolity of it all. Some of these search engine questions are hilarious but don’t make enough room to be expanded into a 500-1000 word post. So why not let them shine in a few sentences instead?

 

Title: What I Read in 2020

Publication Date: January 4, 2021

Why: This is something I’ve written about annually for a long time. It’s always fun to take a look back at how many books you’ve finished!

 

Woman reading book while sitting on a stone bench in a forest

Title: Modern Classics Series (tentative title)

Publication Date: Unknown.

Why: Eventually, I hope to start recommending science fiction and fantasy books written in the last 20 years that I believe will be considered classics in the future. I still need to do a lot more reading before beginning this series, though!

 

Title: How to Find Your Way Home in Minecraft

Publication Date: Unknown

Why: I stopped playing Minecraft. Someday when I regain my interest in it I hope to write this post.

 

Rolled up yoga mats

Title: 3 Benefits of Taking a Yoga Class

Publication Date: Unknown.

Why: Even if fitness classes were open here at the moment, Covid-19 and what we know about how it spreads makes this stuff far too high risk for me to take that gamble.

 

Title: Health and Fitness at the Library

Publication Date: Unknown.

Why: *Me glaring at Covid-19 for shutting down all of the cool library programs I was going to promote here*

 

Title: 5 Places You Should Visit on a Trip to Ontario for Canada Day

Publication Date: Unknown.

Why:  Damn you, Covid-19!

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July 23, 2020 · 1:00 am

A Review of Terror Beneath Cactus Flats

Book cover for Seth Tucker's Terror Beneath Cactus Flats. Image on cover is of a desert with mountains in the backgroundTitle: Terror Beneath Cactus Flats (A Weird Western)

Author: Seth Tucker

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: January 25, 2013

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Western

Length: 43 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Jed, the fresh faced deputy Marshall of Cactus Flats, finds himself put to the test as an unknown evil besieges the small town. In order to save the townsfolk, Jed will have to venture into the old abandoned mines and confront the evil awaiting within.

Content warning: Blood. I will not be discussing this in my review.

Some tags were left off of this post for spoiler reasons.

The west isn’t always as simple as it may seem to be.

There are so many things I want to say about the evil lurking in the abandoned mines, but I really need to leave those details up to you to discover for yourselves as brand new readers of this tale. This device works best when someone has no idea what Jed’s about to find or why it’s so dangerous. Honestly, that’s one of my favourite types of horror. There’s something even scarier than usual about wandering into a storyline with no idea of what is to come in it.

I would have liked to see more time spent on the world building. Mr. Tucker introduced some fascinating concepts, but they weren’t fleshed out like they could have been. Obviously, I wouldn’t expect a short story to include as much world building as a full-length novel, but there was a lot of room here to explain everything more clearly.

Jed was such a likeable guy. He was from a time and place that had strict rules governing everyone’s roles in society. Sometimes those roles poked through the plot in ways that were important to the plot but might also go against the sensibilities of some readers. Seeing how he reacted to them made a great deal of sense. Of course the culture he grew up in affected the way he thought about others, but I also sensed a great deal of compassion and courage in him that had a big impact on how I interpreted those scenes.

If you love big plot twists, Terror Beneath Cactus Flats might be right up your alley!

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July 22, 2020 · 1:00 am

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Character Names in a Book I Can’t Pronounce

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

A knight kneeling in front of a woman who is wearing a medieval dress.Raise your hand if you read the fantasy genre!

There are countless things I love about these sorts of stories, but I have to admit that some of the names in them are pretty hard to get rolling off of my tongue.

There are often massive linguistic differences between names from real-life cultures I may not be well-acquainted with and names that were made up by the authors themselves.

The former have pronunciations that make sense once you understand a little bit about the language they came from and how vowels and consonants can and can’t be joined up together in it.

This isn’t always the case for the latter unless you have an author like J.R.R. Tolkien who creates entire languages for his worlds. While I definitely don’t judge anyone who skips that step when creating a fantasy world, it can make pronouncing the names of the characters in it trickier.

So I tried to keep this list pared down to names that trip me up due to them not being formed by strict rules of pronunciation.

  • Daenerys
  • Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander
  • Tekilashan
  • Numuhukumakiaki’aialunamor
  • Kylarral-ten
  • Tvlakv
  • Drizzt Daermon N’a’shezbaernon.
  • Zoenen Hoogstandjes

I found most of these names in this Reddit thread if anyone is interested in reading more.

 

 

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July 21, 2020 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Canadian Book Festivals I’d Love to Go to Someday

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Map of the provinces and territories of CanadaI chose Canadian literary events for this week’s prompt because most of the bookish event and festival lists out there are heavily slanted towards the United States.

I think there’s something to be said for shining the spotlight on other parts of the world, too.

Word on the Street, the first entry on this list, is something I’ve attended on numerous occasions in the past. It’s a great deal of fun, and I can’t recommend it highly enough to all of you no matter which genres you enjoy.

Everything else is still on my bucket list!

See the map at the beginning of this post if you need a refresher on Canadian geography as you read about all of these wonderful festivals. The provinces will be highlighted in red in the photos below for the festivals that always occur in the same provinces.

Ontario highlighted on a map

Photo credit: TUBS.

1. Word on the Street

Location: Toronto,Ontario

Target Audience: Everyone

Why I Love It: It includes such a wonderful variety of books and authors for every age, genre, style, and demographic group you can imagine and maybe even a few you’ve never encountered before. The food there is incredible, too!

 

2. The Festival of Literary Diversity 

Location: Brampton, Ontario

Target Audience: Diverse authors and storytellers (and anyone who wants to read diverse books!)

Why I Want to Visit It: What’s not to love about celebrating diversity in the bookish community? I really need to rent a car or hop on a train and take a road trip to this festival after we have a vaccine for Covid-19.

 

Quebec highlighted on a map

Photo credit: TUBS.

3. Atwater Poetry Project

Location: Montreal, Quebec

Target Audience: Poets and anyone who loves poetry

Why I Want to Visit It: A well-written poem makes my heart sing.

 

4. Bloody Words

Location: Various Canadian cities (the location changes every year)

Target Audience: Mystery writers and readers

Why I Want to Visit It: I occasionally read mysteries and think it would be cool to learn more about this genre.

 

The Northwest Territories highlighted on a map

Photo credit: TUBS

 

5. NorthWords Writers Festival Society

Location: Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Target Audience: Aboriginal writers and anyone who is interested in reading their work

Why I Want to Visit It: Canada has an amazing literary community in general, and it includes many talented Aboriginal and First Nations authors. I’d be thrilled to attend a whole festival dedicated to their work.

 

Yukon territory highlighted on a map

Photo credit: TUBS

 

6. Yukon Writers’ Festival

Location: The Yukon Territory

Target Audience: Anyone who is part of Canadian literary scene in the Yukon or who wants to learn more about it.

Why I Want to Visit It: I must confess to not knowing a lot about the culture of the Yukon or what the literary scene is like up there. That’s something I’d love to change someday.

 

Nova Scotia highlighted on a map

Photo credit: TUBS

 

7. Read by the Sea

Location: River John, Nova Scotia

Target Audience: Everyone who wants to read Canadian works

Why I Want to Visit It: It sounds like an all-Canadian version of Word on the Street. If that’s true, this festival must be amazing!

 

Newfoundland highlighted on a map

Photo credit: TUBS

 

8. Writers at Woody Point

Location: Newfoundland

Target Audience: Anyone who writes or reads stories set in this province

Why I Want to Visit It: I only know a little bit about the culture of or literary scene in Newfoundland and would like to change that.

 

British Columbia highlighted on a map

Photo credit: TUBS

 

9. Vancouver Writers Fest

Location: Vancouver, British Columbia

Target Audience: Anyone who writes or reads stories set in Vancouver

Why I Want to Visit It: I used to live in Vancouver. It’s a beautiful, bookish city, and reading about it makes me feel like I’m back there.

 

Saskatchewan highlighted on a map

Photo credit: TUBS

 

10. Saskatchewan Festival Of Words

Location: Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Target Audience: Everyone who enjoys Canadian literature

Why I Want to Visit It: This festival lasts for four whole days! That alone is enough to make me eager to check it out.

Do any of you have other Canadian literary festivals to add to this list? I’d sure like to hear about them.

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July 20, 2020 · 1:00 am

A Summer Without Tourists

Toronto, Canada skyline. The famous CN Tower is one of the buildings in this shot. The foreground is of part of Lake Ontario There are a few things about Canadian and, more specifically, Torontonian culture that I should explain here for anyone who isn’t already familiar with them before diving into the meat of this post.

I am speaking in broad generalities here and this is a large, diverse country, so please make friendly allowances for that if your Canadian cousin/acquaintance/coworker etc. has had other experiences. There are no secret Canadian meetings where we come to a consensus on this stuff, and it’s just about impossible to get 38 million folks to agree on everything anyways.

With that being said, people make less small talk here there than do in my birth country, the United States. It’s good manners to nod and say hello to neighbours and other folks you’ve seen around before, but you generally don’t talk to strangers unless you have an excellent reason to do so.

At least in large cities here, sidewalks are serious business. Locals walk briskly and single file unless the sidewalk is large enough for larger groups to walk side-by-side. Loitering should only be done in places where you won’t slow down the flow of traffic, especially at lunchtime and in the early evening when the sidewalks are filled with nonstop crowds.

Tourists are the exceptions to these rules. If a stranger asks you for directions or advice on visiting your neighbourhood, you always stop and help them to the best of your ability. Sometimes a large group of tourists will walk slowly down the middle of the sidewalk while trying to figure out where to eat dinner or which attraction to visit next . This, too, is okay. Guests should always be treated with respect and kindness. Just turn the corner and take another street if you’re truly in a rush. If not, slow down and savour the moment.

Now that you know a little bit about how things normally function in urban Canada, let’s continue.

Toronto was eerily quiet in March and April when the Covid-19 lockdowns began. It’s slowly grown more active again as our public health agencies have given our premier permission to reopen certain businesses and relax the quarantine and physical distancing rules.

Yet this still isn’t like any July I’ve known in all my years here. Just like everywhere else, there are no tourists here.

The sidewalks by the busiest roads are beginning to fill up again, but they’re much quieter than they should be. Some streets are still completely empty even at what should be the busiest portions of the weekend.

No one has asked me about good local restaurants and whether the trendy, expensive ones are worth the money. (Some are, but most aren’t in my opinion unless you’re a diehard foodie and Instagrammer. Let me direct you to an awesome hole-in-the-wall down the street instead if what you really want is a full, happy belly).

Nobody wants to know whether they should visit the Toronto Zoo or the Royal Ontario Museum. (They’re both fun, but save the zoo for a day with nice weather when you’re not planning to do much else at all. It’s 90% outdoors, requires hours of walking to see it all, and really isn’t close to any other major attractions at all).

People don’t approach each other much at all these days. We generally keep our distance whenever possible for disease prevention reasons. With the exception of the occasional person asking for spare change, I can’t remember the last time I spoke to a stranger.

In short, it’s quiet here.

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