Whilst they’re taking a bit of a pause right now, this account has been one of the few bright spots in my feeds during this overall trash bag of a year.
.:.
Cover photo by Nijwam Swargiary on Unsplash
The ‘ton
It’s been nearly five months since I got the Peloton. I mentioned a week after getting it that I was worried I’d get bored of it, but I haven’t yet.
Far from it, in fact. I’m closing in on two hundred rides. My average outputs keep climbing, and I keep breaking my own personal records. I’m by no means elite level — I can usually only just crack the top decile on the toughest rides — but I can feel myself getting stronger.
I do need a padded bike seat for those 45+ minute rides though, Lord have mercy.
TIFF20
For the first time in nineteen years, I did not take part in TIFF this year. I considered doing a digital screening, but being there in person is one of the real reasons for doing it at this point. I’m hoping to restart the streak next year and put an asterisk next to 2020.
Paper wings
Not long ago a shuffle play served up an old Damien Jurado song called Paper Wings. It’s an excellent song. Listen for yourself:
I first downloaded it twenty years ago, a time when I was probably using Audiogalaxy to download MP3s, and the version I have is a demo with Jurado introducing it himself, to promote his new album. We hear his son Miles, probably sitting on his lap.
I know I should blow away the old MP3 from my library and get a clean one, but at this point — nearly twenty years after first downloading it, I feel some affection for this version. Some nostalgia. It reminds me of 2002.
.:.
Cover photo by myrealnameispete, used under Creative Commons license
We started in the Ēst
Last night, for our first dinner out since COVID hit Canada, we sat on a makeshift patio (read: the right lane of Queen Street) outside ēst restaurant. It was weird to eat with Queen Street foot traffic wandering by, and a streetcar whizzing by my head every few minutes, but still: it felt great to be out, and enjoy a nice meal.
We had sweet & sour tofu w/ fermented red pepper aioi and scallon, and a beautiful tender pork secreto with fish sauce caramel, and glasses of Lambrusco. Then came aged black angus prime rib eye w/ shishito peppers and dusted dried smoked beef heart, and smoked potato w/ confit garlic, parmesan, and truffle oil, paired with a bottle of 2011 Chateau Chantelune Margaux.
We had no room for dessert but they brought us some housemade Amaro, which was delicious.
All in all, a pretty solid re-entry to dining out again. Maybe our only outing, since all indications are that we’re headed for a second wave.
.:.
Cover photo from the restaurant’s site
Thanks Raptors
After a brutal 7-game series against Boston (who kind of had the Raps’ number all season, including in the bubble) the Raptors are out of the playoffs in the second round. They could have — should have, maybe, with 18 turnovers — won game 7, but overall the team vastly outperformed in a season where everyone wrote them off. They weren’t supposed to be this good without Kawhi Leonard. They played themselves into a 2-seed and looked poised to run deep. Despite being blown out in a couple of games the Raps had some magical moments in the series, like OG’s buzzer beating 3, and Kyle’s turnaround jumper to seal game six, so it felt like there was some still some magic. But game seven was a disaster.
Had even three of the five starters played well last night they would have gone on to play Miami in the next round. Despite Miami’s dispatch of Milwaukee, I would have like Toronto’s chances to reach the finals…and then who knows?
Anyway, it was a longer and more enjoyable season than most, including myself, would have guessed. And the fact that we had basketball at all was a gift. Thanks fellas. Can’t wait for next season.
Another redhead comes west
I’m writing this from a substandard hotel room in Oshawa. (So, saying “substandard” might have been redundant.) We’re here helping my niece move in to her new school.
After some seriously confusing airport-COVID adjustments at Pearson she found us. We sucked down some Jack Astor’s lunch and were on our way, with the Google directions lady helping us nimbly sidestep some serious traffic. Before long we were in Oshawa, pulling off an incredibly efficient (and therefore only minimally terrifying) Walmart visit before visiting her campus, doing some more shopping, hanging out on the quad (memories!), grabbing another meal at Baxter’s Landing, and finally getting her set up in her room. We let her get settled in and headed to our room for the night, getting here just in time to watch the Raptors tie the series up at 2-2.
We’ll be here a little longer today, to gather up some more things for her room and stuff her full of more food before heading back.
.:.
Cover photo by Wonderlane on Unsplash
A small big thing
It felt — it always feels — weird to focus so intently on something so inherently micro and personal to us in a week when so much is/was/isn’t happening around us all, but it still feels important to share.
We bought a house.
It’s ten minutes’ walk east of where we are now, so it’s familiar, but an exciting change at the same time. It’s narrow but high, and has a backyard, so we’ll have the space, separation, and outdoor space we’re craving during COVID. It’s a leafy street that we’ve both always wanted to live on.
It’s my first house (after owning three condos/lofts) so I’m heading into more complexity than I might have wanted pre-COVID, but we’re excited. The planning has begun with great enthusiasm. As has the design — I now have a Pinterest account, for god’s sake.
.:.
Cover photo by Erda Estremera on Unsplash
Schitt’s Creek
I kind of didn’t believe the Schitt’s Creek (imdb | rotten tomatoes) hype when I was hearing it. Despite the cast’s more senior pedigree it was a CBC show. I don’t usually pay attention to those. But then Lindsay watched it and swore I’d like it, so I started. By the middle of season one I was pretty much locked in.
Today, maybe two months after we started it, we finished the series. It definitely made me snort-laugh more than most other recent series I’ve watched, and left some all-time classic lines in my head (e.g., “Where is babay’s chamberr?”). Meanwhile Dan Levy’s reaction when Eugene Levy tries to hug him but gets caught on the seat belt is straight gold. But it was also sweet and joyous without being cloying, which is hard to do, and the final wrap-up mini-doc after the last episode made us cry quite a bit, so. Yeah. Good series. Highly recommended.
I’ve forgotten to write about them, but in recent weeks I’ve watched Run (imdb | rotten tomatoes) and, in an attempt to catch up to Lindsay, season one of Broadchurch (imdb | rotten tomatoes). We also watched Waco (imdb | rotten tomatoes) which, well, meh.
Happy Second Kramerversary
Two years ago (more or less) we adopted Kramer, our cat. Here’s how I described him at the time:
He was a feral outside cat for over a year, so he’s still pretty wary of us — we can’t touch him, or even get near him. He usually sleeps under our bottom step where we can’t reach him.
In the first year he made remarkable progress:
He hangs out with us far more often, rarely sleeping under the stairs anymore. We bought him a stand so he can stare out the window at birds and squirrels. He shows us his belly when he sleeps. He can’t quite meow, but he squeaks at us with enthusiasm. He demands to play with us on a regular basis, and will now even hang out and play when company is over vs. just hiding behind the bed.
In the past year, and especially in the five months since COVID hit here, he’s continued to warm up to us. He now lets us pet him all the time, and in fact demands it. He half-meows outside our bedroom in the morning until we come play with him. He sleeps near us most of the time. He purrs, occasionally. He’s even jumped up on the bed or couch with us, if we lure him with treats.
It’s hard to even imagine, given what he was like two years ago.
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 