Category — Uncategorized

A few weeks ago, I was the only one awake, and I started Googling Canadian cities with good waterfronts. Why? I’m not sure. It just felt like a good idea at the time. I discovered that Toronto had a great waterfront, AND we could drive there in about 8 hours. That was good because it was way too late to purchase plane tickets.

Josh woke up, and I asked him if he wanted to drive to Toronto.

Then the kids got up and started making a list of things we could do in the city.

And finally, I wrote the Road Less Travelled to see if I could meet her because I knew she lived in Ontario. I then looked up which British books on my TBR were already in Canadian bookstores, even though they haven’t been released yet in the US. (There were two!) Priorities.

A few days later, we jumped in the car and drove 8 hours to Toronto, stopping in Niagara to show the kids the falls. We spent 6 days walking around the city, photographing the architecture, eating vegan food, peeking into museums, meeting Lori, and buying matching t-shirts at Roots.

Highlights:

Bata Shoe Museum: We swapped in for a different museum at the last minute, and it was fantastic.

Art Gallery of Toronto: It felt similar to Rijkmuseum, trading Dutch artists for Canadian ones.

Toronto Islands: We got there early and were still inundated with little kids, but the islands are beautiful, and the water is crystal clear.

Fresh Kitchen: We had two great meals at this low-key vegan restaurant and bought one of the cookbooks so we could recreate it at home.

Dinner with Lori: Meeting someone I have been reading for 17 years was amazing.

University of Toronto: We had a lot of fun walking around the campus.

Lowlights:

Casa Loma: It was fine. I had a good time being there with the kids and Josh, but we also could have been happy dropping it.

Kensington Market: This neighbourhood kept popping up on lists as a must-see. It might have been better if we had been there for a meal, but as it was, it was hot, crowded, and loud.

Distillery District: This felt like it was designed for Instagram posts.

Our final takeaway:

Toronto seems like a great place to live, but it’s less great to visit if you’re already from a large city. We missed the unique history and culture of a place like Montreal. Toronto felt like a blend of New York and Chicago. I’m not sure we would return, even though we had a good time while we were there.

The dek read: “What inspires someone to write more than 1,200 Yelp reviews in a year? For Robert Siu, it’s a labor of love.” I was curious — I think a lot of people write reviews because they have a very negative or very positive experience, but few people write reviews simply to pass along knowledge to people who come after you to a business or place.

Even though that would be one of the best ways to use the internet. I love it when we leave behind information for other people to use as they’re doing research and making decisions.

I love this thought: “Over the years, Siu has perfected his version of the ideal Yelp review, where brevity is paramount and anything can be deserving of feedback.”

That’s exactly it: I want to hear about someone else’s experience with everything and want it to be quick and to the point. What do I need to know so I can have a positive experience? What do I need a heads up about so I’m not disappointed because I’ve assumed something?

I especially love that this person adds businesses to Yelp: “Places that I think people would like to know about … I add the address, I add the hours they are open and information about it, and then I write a review.”

Helpful Yelp reviews (vs. the ones that you know are just people venting) are one of the nicest ways to use the internet.

The Atlantic had an article about the things lost when people give up their landline, and one of them is that we now go directly to the person we want to speak to by calling their line instead of making small talk with whoever picks up the phone.

It seems like such a small thing, but it’s true — needing to navigate parents and siblings to get to my friends gave me conversational practice that some kids could benefit from today. I say “some” because some kids pick up small talk even without the telephone situation, but others could have benefited from having to speak to random adults at a young age.

But even if it’s not small talk, kids will never get the excitement of having the family phone ring and wondering if it’s for them, or getting to talk to an older sibling on the way to a friend, or even waiting their turn for the line.

Nathan Bransford recently asked how many books people read at once, and the comment section is fascinating.

I always go for two books at once — an e-book and a print book. I tend to favour the e-book option over the print one, sometimes because the e-book is a library book and it’s time-sensitive. But other times, it is because I shifted to e-books during the pandemic, and they somehow feel like the better reading experience now.

Sometimes, I end up reading three or more books at once, but then I feel stressed out. Even if I own all of the books (so time isn’t a factor), I find that having so many things started leaves me feeling like I have to read faster and get them finished. The only thing that doesn’t count is a re-read. I take my time with those, and I may have a few books open that I jump in and out of because I know the story well.

How many books do you read at once?

Once upon a time, there were songs in books, and we had no idea how the tune went if we didn’t know the song. Sometimes, they would tell you that this was a made-up song sung to the tune of “Old MacDonald,” but more often than not, if it were an actual song, they would assume the reader would know it. For example, “Amazing Grace.” And some kids knew it, but some kids didn’t. I was one of those children who often didn’t, but because I was a good, rule-following child when I encountered a song in a book that I did not know, I guessed the tune. And then I sang the words in that tune to myself while reading.

Occasionally, one pops into my head — especially if it was in a book I re-read a lot — but now I can Google it. I first record myself singing or humming the tune so I don’t forget what I originally thought, and then I Google the song to see how far off I was. I really like my version of “Oh, You Can’t Get to Heaven” better.

Now, when I see a song, I click the title in the e-book, and it opens a Google search so I can listen to it while I’m reading. So I guess there won’t be a generation singing alternative tunes to popular songs now that people can get everything correct. And maybe it’s silly, but I think sometimes I miss out by knowing the correct tune.