Uninhabited Spaces

There's a great cafe and bakery in our neighbourhood called School, which bases its branding and visual identity on, well, school. So the idea is that the restaurant is a schoolhouse of sorts, and they have lots of fun with riffing on the theme. On their website they have a fun section called "Yearbook" in which they ask for submissions of patrons' yearbook photos and associated quote. If you take a look on the yearbook page you just might find a familiar face.

"America, I believe we can build on the progress we’ve made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try. I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America".

It was a pleasure to be in the heart of Old Montreal on Thursday evening. After a stroll through the narrow streets amidst the tightly packed stone buildings, I decided to treat myself to a classic French dinner at the super quaint Marche de la Villette.  This bistro is a slice of the French countryside, with stone walls, comfy tables, and a genial and boisterous staff. I elected to hunker down with the assiette de la vilette , which is the house charcuterie platter, and a lovely glass of red wine.  This was just the perfect way to start the evening before the event I was hosting nearby.

I can't believe I haven't posted on my blog in a month! This is highly unlike me. I guess it's a reflection of the fact that I have been going all-out at work. Not only is my department hosting many events, we get invited to attend other OCAD U and related events to represent the University. I worked last Saturday to take part in the University's open house and this Saturday I am attending a screening of a recent grad's short-films trilogy. I then have 3 evening events this week, which make for a long day indeed. When I have been getting home it's a constant ballet of making dinner and flopping down to relax and unwind. Oh ya, and there is that need to spend time with my beloved. No complaints, mind you. It's been a great year for me at OCAD U and there is more exciting things to come at work. I am blessed with an awesome team and it's a joy to head to the office. It's just full-steam-ahead busy. Looking forward to some down-time over the hol...

The truth is out there...in Toronto! A store called Conspiracy Culture opened up in Parkdale and features books, magazines, and DVDs on a wide range of topics, including  mainstays like 9/11, aliens, ancient civilizations, the occult, cryptozoology, politics, religion, secret societies, war & terrorism.

Image Credit: Gehry International Inc Toronto is abuzz with the announcement by David Mirvish that he intends to demolish a block of his properties along King Street West, including the Princess of Wales Theatre, to erect three towers designed by Frank Gehry . The three towers would be condos with a total of 2,600 units, and they would rise from 80 to 85 stories--among the highest residential towers on the continent. The lower levels of the staggering complex would be multi-use and include retail, a 60,000 square-feet public gallery for Mirvish's art collection, as well as 25,000 square-feet dedicated to OCAD University for a new Public Learning Centre for Visual Art, Curatorial Studies, and Art History . There is a chorus of voices both in support and in objection to this proposed development. As the key players navigate the planning and approval processes it will be very interesting what comes out at the other end.

We were delighted to see an announcement in our lobby recently that our condo's pool, hot tub, and sauna were ready for use. Mark has taken advantage of our marquee amenity and has been swimming every morning. Good for him! I went down one day while he was doing laps and took a few shots of the pool area (click on images to enlarge).

We had the oldest child of longtime friends of Mark's over for dinner Sunday evening and he took this great panoramic shot of our view of the city. Thought I would share it with you...

On our way to explore the Polish Festival this past Sunday, we stumbled across a pedestrian bridge that crosses over the Gardiner Expressway and Lakeshore Boulevard and takes strollers right to the waterfront in an area of the city called Sunnyside. We had never been to this area before and we took a few photos of the boardwalk that connects into the huge waterfront trail system that crosses the entire Toronto shoreline.

Classic view of inside of the main entrance So many choices At the intersection of bagels and meats When you need the upper cut! Luba's Coffee Boutique, St. Lawrence Market Toronto's flatiron, the Gooderham Building (1892) We took advantage of the lovely, yet crisp, weather to take a trip over to St. Lawrence Market, recently ranked the #1 food market in the world by National Geographic. We enjoyed lots of samples, bought some bagels, and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of one of the great gems of Toronto.

Awesome formation over the CNE Dufferin Gate, CNE Aerial shot of Liberty Village The "tabletop" Sharp Centre for Design, OCAD U Toronto skyline with so many cranes Left to right: Shangri-La Hotel, Trump Hotel, Scotiabank Tower, First Canadian Place

Rides of the CNE, with boaters in the distance. Stacy Kelly, 2012 The Toronto skyline, growing daily. Stacy Kelly, 2012

Image Credit: Nicola Hamilton/The Grid, 2012 One of the pleasant discoveries about living in downtown Toronto has been stumbling across independent coffee shops during my walks to and from work. I was curious how many of the large corporate coffee chains were actually in the city, as it seems one is never 500 feet from at least one of them. Turns out, the awesome paper/blog The Grid had the same question a few months back. They came up with the accompanying image to the left, which nicely depicts the number of stores per company as of this past February. So, given the saturation by the big guys, it has been nice to stumble across the little guys, such as my daily favourite, Dark Horse Espresso Bar as well as my runner-up, Crema Coffee Co . Other spots that offer a great Americano plus a treat include Wagamama Pastries & Cafe , which make hands-down the best croissants in the city, Little Nicky's (known for their sinful home made donuts), as well as Nadage Patisseri...

"Ponder" no. 3/12. Reduction Woodblock. 30x37 Rose Hirano, 2009. When our friend Patrick opened up his art gallery a couple of years ago in Kingston, he featured a wonderful artist named Rose Hirano, who concentrates mostly on producing exquisite reduction woodblock prints.  We loved all of the pieces in the exhibit but one spoke to both of us so powerfully that we coveted it immediately. It was called "Ponder" and it resonated with us so profoundly.  Unfortunately, we were unable to purchase the print due to life circumstances, and we just assumed that it was lost to us. But then Patrick moved his gallery to Toronto and featured Hirano in a show in March 2012. By then we had also moved to Toronto and I went into the gallery a few days before the opening and put our names on the print.  It was a surprise purchase, meant to be given to Mark on our anniversary, August 15. Patrick kindly kept the work for us and I somehow managed to keep the secret under w...

Image Credit: Stacy Kelly, 2012. Recipe from the Chez Piggy Cookbook

Mark tackles a massive poutine near Weedon, Quebec. Image Credit: Marsha Kelly, 2012.

Image Credit: Stacy Kelly, 2012 We've returned from a week on the road visiting friends and family in Kingston, Cornwall, and East Angus (Quebec). Our hearts are full of love from seeing so many dear people. We did so many visits we piled up over 2000 kms! We joked that we should have gotten tour t-shirts made up. At left was the stunning view from our balcony after we got in Saturday afternoon.  What a striking welcome home.

Image Credit: Gardiner Museum, 2012 At lunch today I took the subway up three stops to check out the Gardiner Museum , Canada's national ceramics museum. I had never been to the Gardiner before, and I was impressed that there exists a museum devoted solely to the curatorial presentation and preservation of ceramics. The museum's collections numbers some 3,000 pieces and it also hosts special exhibitions. I was drawn to a current special exhibition called Rule Britannia!: Four Centuries of British Style, Power & Taste .  According to the show's website," Rule Britannia! celebrates the union of artistry and craft that symbolises and captures the social history, ingenuity, aspirations and sensibilities of one of the world’s greatest empires. Examining significant moments in the development of iconic British potteries, Rule Britannia! documents their emergence in the late 17th century to their domination of the world market in the 19th and early 20th cen...

This is not a vacuous self-help book with platitudes and endless lists with bold instructions on how to make your life better in 150 pages. If you are seeking such a read look elsewhere. Rather, this is a meditation on the nature of work in our times. Told using real-world stories spanning the globe, de Botton encourages deep thinking and reflection in his readers about the relationship between meaning and work as well as the meaning of our work.

Image Credit: Stacy Kelly, 2012 Freeway like a river cuts through this land Into the side of love Like a burning spear And the poison rain Brings a flood of fear Through the ghost-ranch hills Death valley waters In the towers of steel Belief goes on and on         U2, "Heartland" I snapped this photo recently while waiting for the 504 King Street streetcar to take me home. I thought the framing of the CN Tower was rather nice. It also made me think about how the city's skyline is being irrevocably changed by the never-stopping construction of high rise buildings. I had written about how Toronto is in the process erecting more high-rise buildings than any other city in North America in a posting back in November; something along the lines of 132 high-rises under construction. Admittedly, my posting was fuelled by some chest-pounding so I was taken aback by a provoking article in the July issue of Toronto Life called "Faulty Towers" tha...

Image Credit: Stacy Kelly, 2012 This past Saturday we finally made it over to Toronto's slice of paradise, The Beach . Home to a wonderful boardwalk along the Lake Ontario shoreline, opened in 1932, The Beach is also stocked full of Victorian and Edwardian era houses tightly packed along gorgeous tree-lined streets. The main street, Queen Street East, is mostly chock full of quirky independent stores. We checked out Ends , which is sort of like a version of Phase 2 for my Kingston friends, and a great store called Binz , which is completely devoted to organizing and storing things. Their motto is "Think inside the box". I rather like that! We also stopped in at Seagull Classics , a handsome furniture and lighting store. But mostly, we went to The Beach neighbourhood to take in its namesake, the long beach and inviting stroll along the waterfront on a hot and humid summer day. Image Credit: Stacy Kelly, 2012

We had the top floor apartment in the front (circa 1850) All images copyright Stacy Kelly, 2012