Belated Posts

There are so many missing posts it is hard to even know where to begin.  I might as well start with the more recent events and go backwards.  I actually stumbled across several folders of old photos, quite a few of which need to be backed up onto a second hard drive.  Now I don't have time at the moment to upload photos from the L.A. trip (or the other museum trips), but I will see if I have some time over the weekend.

One interesting fact is that I was riding home and realized that this small food court area on Parliament (near Queen) actually had a name, which is "Hangout Street"!

I suppose this means I really will need to eat there once.  I've tried a couple of times to get tamales at Tamalmex, but one time they didn't have any tamales without meat (shades of my recent bad experience at the Cuban sandwich window), one time the woman seemed incapable of taking my order when she was talking with someone else hanging around by the stall and then one time I didn't have any cash.  But probably one day the stars will align.  I'm not really sure if this is a "permanent" food court or if it is planned to be wiped away by condo development as soon as the market comes back.

The other photos in the LACMA folder are from the Griffin poetry prize reading a few weeks back.  I have written about this at some length but only in longhand and not on the blog.  In short, it was a fairly disappointing event.  Or rather the ending of the evening really colored the overall experience in a negative way.  The main draw was that Margaret Atwood was being given a lifetime achievement award, and probably half the books for sale were by her (more on that later).  I had brought along my copy of her selected poems with the cool UK cover.  

I did, however, spring for a couple of books by Diane Seuss, who was also reading.  She was basically the only poet there I was familiar with, aside from Atwood of course.

I realized something was a bit off when Seuss made a point of saying when she removed her mask to read that this was the first time anyone had seen her mouth since the pandemic!  She was very wary of being around strangers with her presumably compromised immune system.  I suppose this was a bit of a game-time decision, but in the end she didn't come out to do any signings.  Neither did the young poet who had won for best first book.  But I found it pretty inexcusable that Atwood didn't do any signings.  They could have put some rules in place, like she'll only sign two items or whatever, but it just felt wrong to me.  To top it off, it was complete chaos for 30 minutes after the event ended, and staff could definitely have come around saying that Atwood and Seuss weren't going to be signing, so that only the people wanting the remaining poets to sign their books would have stuck around and the rest of us could leave right away.  As I said, it really spoiled what was a generally entertaining evening.  (In some ways, I am still annoyed that Sharon Olds didn't make the cut a couple of years back.  I will definitely never commit to going to the Griffin awards until I know who is on the short list!)

Start of the Fringe

It looks like a moderately busy Fringe for me this year.  I started off seeing a musical called Iris (Says Goodbye) which seems inspired by Haley McGee's Age is a Feeling in that the possible lives that Iris could take over (after being reborn) are selected by the audience, so each performance is different.  Though in this case, each night you only see 8 out of 20 or so, which means it is extremely unlikely you would see them all, even if you went three times.  I lucked out and saw all (or maybe all but one) of the Age is a Feeling episodes.  It was a good idea and generally entertaining, though the band often overpowered the singers.  I don't feel obligated to rush back and see it a second time.

Friday, I am seeing three things at Video Cabaret (the first time they have been part of the Fringe), and if things go well, I should be able to sneak out and grab Thai food between the second and third plays of the evening. 

I actually don't have anything scheduled on Sat., and I might just take the time to recharge, or I might go to the Rex.  Hard to say at the moment.  I probably should swing by the AGO, as the Joyce Wieland exhibit has opened.

Sunday, I am going with my wife to a show about Eurovision (she's quite the fan) and then I need to bike over to UT to see a comedy sketch show.

It turns out that one of the Fringe sets would have interfered with yet another TO Summer Music concert, so I guess it is just as well that I waited until nearly the last minute (though I do have pretty sucky seats to see the New Orford String Quartet...).

Anyway, I have been up way too long today, since I did indeed wake up early and got that second coat of stain on the deck between 7 am and 8:30 am when I had to break and join a webinar.  (I suppose now I just need to dedicate a few hours each week to getting the back room straightened up to the point I won't be completely embarrassed if people tromp through it on the way to the bathroom, as I am tentatively planning on having people over for a BBQ on the 22nd, assuming it doesn't rain!  I am a bit frustrated that the city didn't take away this broken Adirondack chair, so I still need to deal with that, but otherwise the outside of the house is not too bad...)

As ever, global news just pisses me off, watching how the Orange One pulls off one heist after another (and the Supreme Court comes out with something else outrageous).  I really think any decent person needs to think seriously about leaving the U.S., though I realize that is easier said than done.  Given how thoroughly those scumbags are looting the Treasury, there won't be any Social Security funds left in 20 years, so I might as well renounce my citizenship.  I've looked into it but not that seriously, but I think it is time.  However, rather than dwell on this any longer, I think it is time to call it a night.

Frustrating Weekend

I suppose many, indeed most, weekends could be categorized as frustrating, given how many terrible things continue to go on in the world while truly terrible people remain in charge.  As one home-spun philosopher put it, people are no damn good.  

But in a nutshell, I managed to get my swimming in last Sat. (even though there was a very slow swimmer that got into the fast lane and then ran into me going the wrong way(!) and then there was a super aggressive swimmer that tried to swim up the middle when there was not enough room), but that was practically the highlight of the weekend, which should be taken as a warning sign that things continued to deteriorate.  I biked all the way over to High Park in order to meet up with some Hart House mentors.  I did see the Carlton streetcar sitting in the very countrified loop, which never fails to amuse me.  It is possible that I will take it all the way to the Shakespeare in High Park performance this summer, though unfortunately this loop is not well connected to the rest of the park, so I will have to think about that carefully.

I had assumed that this event had a bit more official backing, but in fact it was a totally casual thing organized by one mentor as a bit of a get-together.  Had I known this, I definitely would not have bothered, as there was a much more interesting event happening at 401 Richmond.  Anyway, I was exhausted by the time I got there and then was more than a little annoyed at how hard it was to find anyone.  Even though the directions said it was at the High Park Outdoor Pool, it wasn't there but across the road in a large picnic area.  I called and managed to find the organizer but a few others gave up and a few people cancelled.  So it was just the two of us, but I wasn't in the mood to hang out very long or do the poetry exercise that had been discussed.  To top it off, while I was cleaning up, it appears I managed to toss my bike gloves in the trash (on top of the pair I lost at The Fox, this has been a bad season for biking gloves).  

I turned around and biked back downtown.  (I will say the southern route, via the Queensway and then finally getting back to Queen via a bunch of detours was pretty sucky, compared to coming via Dundas or College to Howard Park Ave. and then finally over to High Park.)  I made decent time, but it was still 3 by the time I showed up and the event had ended.  Darn it.

Fortunately, the artist that I was most interested in meeting, Emily Zou, was still there.  I slowly cooled down from the ride, and we chatted for a while.  It appears that she was at the Outdoor Art Fest last year, though I have to admit I don't recall seeing her booth.  It looks like the Outdoor Art Fest is coming back in about a week and a half, so I'll have to leave a bit of room in my Fringe schedule for that.  (I have (finally) booked nearly all the Fringe shows I was interested in, though Cigarettes are Good for You has apparently sold out its whole run, and I might have to try to catch it as a Patron's Pick on the 13th...)  Anyway, Emily's artworks are currently made of recycled materials and reclaimed trash, including paintings that she felt were not up to snuff.

This piece was in the show at Gagne.

This piece was sort of held back in reserve.

Anyway, I did regret missing the artists' talk, but I did have a nice time meeting Emily.  I told her that she was on the same wavelength as Athena Papadopoulos's The New Alphabet from MOCA back in 2023, though she had not managed to catch that show.

Where things really got off track after that was I decided to try this hole in the wall sandwich shop on Spadina.  I was very clear that I wanted the cheese sandwich, as it was the only vegetarian option.  I got this sandwich that was sort of sealed up like a panini.  Within a bite, I realized something was dreadfully wrong.  The jerk had given me a cubano with ham.  So I spit that out, and then went over to the office to try to throw up as much as I could.  However, my stomach was already getting quite upset.  I have yet to do it, but I plan on giving that place a one-star review.  The rest of the day spiraled downhill from there.  I did swing by the Rex, and they weren't sure if there were any cancellations for the sold-out Ghost Note show, and I didn't feel like coming back.  Maybe it is just as well.

I decided to at least try to do a bit of the outdoor side of the jazz fest.  I wasn't that taken by the Anthony D'Alessandro Quartet but I did like this steel drum led trio.  (They started off with St. Thomas (one of Sonny Rollins's features) and ended with Caravan.)  

Then I went home to take a Tums and see how I felt the next morning.

Not surprisingly, I ended up making a very late start on Sunday.  I decided maybe I ought to sand the deck, but then I had to go buy safety goggles, as I just couldn't find the pair I used last time around.  I also bought one more can of stain in case I ran out halfway through.  One minor positive is that they finally reopened the cut-through from Home Depot (and the Planet Fitness) to Jones Ave.  This will slightly increase the likelihood that I go to the gym in the evenings after work, since I won't have to take the bridge twice.

Anyway, I did manage to get through the first pass at sanding.  (I had thought about going one last time to the jazz fest for a show at 4:30, but I wasn't feeling up to it, and I also didn't want to deal with any overspill of the Pride Parade onto Bloor.)  I went back to the mall around 7.  Almost everything was closed, but Home Depot was open, and I got finer grain sanding belts and some wood filler.  (It looks like there are two boards in the middle deck that really ought to be replaced, but I am going to try to wait for one more year...)  Then I went to the gym.  So it was a moderately productive day, but not really the end of the weekend that I had planned out...

Monday, I finally finished reading The Book of Lamentations.  It had its moments, but overall I didn't care for it all that much.  I did like the last few pages where one of the servants is retelling the story of the uprising but compressing it and distorting it in weird ways.  This also happens at the end of Melville's Billy Budd and is the entire point of Mr Burn's, A Post Electric Play.  (More and more, I kind of kick myself for skipping this when it was playing in the neighbourhood, and then I also missed on a chance to see it in Raleigh...)  I ended up biking to work just after noon!  I thought it was only going to be a light rain, but on the way home I got soaked.  Needless to say, I was in no mood to go swimming that evening, so I just read for a while.

Today, I did get to the gym early.  It was fairly busy and getting even busier when I left (it was closing at 1 today).  I'm currently partway through the sanding and should be able to finish sanding and staining the deck.  If I can accomplish that, then I won't fuss too much if I don't get much else done today.  So I'm off to try to wrap that up.  Anyhow, Happy Canada Day!

Edit (9 pm): Perhaps I should have gone a bit easier on the workout this morning.  I ended up sanding for 90+ minutes, and then it was 2 1/2 hours of staining the deck.  

A quarter of the way there (counting the railing)

 

About 2/3 done

Finished for now

My left arm is a bit sore, and who knows how it will feel tomorrow.  Now the forecast is changing so there is a threat of rain, which is super frustrating, but my current plan is to let this coat set, and then try to put on a second (and final) coat Thurs. morning.  (My neighbours are probably even more relieved that there is no more sanding in the near future!)  I'd say there is a reasonable chance I can get this done in 90 minutes on Thurs., as I won't be repainting the posts or side boards, only the top of the railing and the middle deck planks.  This should keep for another year or so, though I do think there are a few boards that will probably need to be replaced next year. 

I think that was more than enough activity for one day, though I did pump up my bike tires a bit, and I'll probably trim my hair.  I haven't decided if I am just going to read more Dombey and Son (still about 4 more hours to go) or watch Almodovar's Matador.  Whatever I do, I need to keep in mind the local fireworks show that will last for almost an hour!

Summer Reading

A few posts back, I talked about "summer reading" books that were hitting the libraries and book stores.  While a few do look like they might be interesting, I don't really think any of them are going to make my list this year.

I am so close to wrapping up Dombey and Son, and then on to things I will actually enjoy.  I was going over my list of what I had read and actually enjoyed in 2025, and there wasn't that much.  The best books have been rereadings: A Month in the Country, America Fantastica and Lafcadio's Adventures (and the second and third had some fall-off in terms of my overall enjoyment from the first reading!).  I will need to reread Calvino's Invisible Cities, and that will likely also contribute to this finding that the new-to-me books just aren't cutting it right now.

I am reading (or rather rereading) Cyprian Ekwensi's People of the City (NYRB), which curiously enough has many parallels to Zhu Wen's I Love Dollars: And Other Stories of China.  They both seem to feature extremely cynical, oversexed young men, which isn't exactly what I need to read at the moment.

I am going to make a real effort to read new books I actually will enjoy, so I'm going to turn to The Leopard soon and probably Lord Vishnu's Love Handles, and maybe Azuela's The Underdogs.  If there is time beyond that I was hoping to get to short stories by Mavis Gallant and perhaps Edna O'Brien.  Then I will likely turn to Richler's St. Urbain's Horseman and Dorfman's The Last Song of Manuel Sendero, though I do worry it will have turned to fall before I crack them open.  Maybe I should take one or two on the trip out to Montreal (which indeed I should book fairly soon before my calendar completely fills up...)  Maybe I could take St. Urbain's Horseman (which has connections to Montreal, even though set in London!) and Walden, which is calling out to be read.

Sneak Peek - August at the Revue

I was a bit afraid this would happen.  Suddenly, the Revue is doing something like 8 straight days of Kurosawa films in early August, though perhaps ironically not Rhapsody in August.

Getting over there is often a chore, but I will do it for truly amazing films, and I expect I'll see most of these, though I can skip Yojimbo, having just seen it at the Revue about a month back (even though this is a better restoration).  I may or may not go out to see Ikiru.  I loved this the first time I saw it, but the second time I found the framing and over-bearing narration to really detract from the film.  Maybe third time's the charm?  I will likely go back to see High and Low, even though I did see this as the Paradise, but really liked it.

Anyway, I don't appear to have too many conflicts, so I will try to make the series.  I remember being a bit upset that I missed Seven Samurai at Carlton, but this will definitely be a better experience, aside from the travel involved.  (On a side note, seeing Ran at the Fox was a real disappointment - they don't have staggered seats and the slope of the theatre is just too flat, so there were always people's heads in the way.  I think I am just done going out to the Fox.  It really is an inferior movie-going experience.)  I just need to work out whether seeing these five or six films (plus Peter Sellars in Being There this Sunday) makes it worthwhile to splurge on a membership at the Revue, despite it being on the other side of town.  Possibly so, though I would need to go to about 17 films/year to make it worthwhile, and I am quite unlikely to take advantage of a free film on my birthday, whereas at the Paradise it is a free film in your birthday month!

I still haven't buckled down and ordered tickets to TO Summer Music Fest or to Fringe, so I need to do that tonight and tomorrow!

Edit (06/23): I ended up buying a few tickets at the Revue Box Office on Sunday, when I was there to see Being There.  I guess I won't get the membership after all.  I'm still a bit on the fence on seeing Ikiru again, but I likely will.  The trickiest decision is The Hidden Fortress on Aug. 1.  I didn't buy a ticket because I had something scribbled on the calendar.  It was a note that I had planned on going to a TO Summer Music concert that evening.  It turns out it is Mendelssohn's Octet, which I like quite a bit.  If the concert was a bit earlier (or the movie later), or even if they were playing the Octet in the first half of the concert, I would try to do both.  However, I have seen the Octet played at least twice before and perhaps more often than that.  (The decision is made just slightly easier because Jonathan Crow isn't actually performing, though I still wish I could somehow do both...)  On balance I think I should go see The Hidden Fortress, which is not screened very often at all and just hope that the Octet pops up in the next couple of years.  And while I am not a huge samurai movie buff, I definitely should see Throne of Blood, which is Kurosawa's remake of Macbeth, and probably Sanjuro as well, which would definitely be a lot of trips over to the Revue.  I just hope it doesn't rain too much in early August...

 

New Fiction

It's always hard to dip my toe back into blogging after some time away.  I actually have (hand)written out 10 or more pages of what I have been up to in the past month or so, but don't feel like typing it out, at least not right now when I still have a lot of pressing business to take care of, even on the weekends.  I used to have a pretty decent voice-to-type program called Dragon.  I am sure by now the technology is so much better than it used to be, and indeed there are probably freeware versions that would be perfectly adequate.  (But before I go too far down this road, I would have to see if I even can get the computer to recognize a pair of headphones (with a microphone!) in order to even test it.)  Something for another day, though it is awfully tempting to just read out all the many pages I have been writing these past few months, most often at the Rex. 

Indeed, I was over at the Rex last night to see Eric St-Laurent for the second time this month.  I only could stay for the first set, so I didn't get to see his "freak-out" number where they compress 15 or more hits into one super fast medley.  (I was joking with him a bit before the show that his versions were an awful lot like Alien Ant Farm's version of "Smooth Criminal," to the point that no one would know if he was riffing off the original or the cover...)  Anyway, they sounded good, though the mike on the congas was too hot, and hopefully they fixed that in the second set.  Still, I was glad to manage to catch them (and write out a few more pages of my planning epic), since I wasn't sure that would have the time.  I was meeting Andrea over at Carlton to see Midnight Cowboy, which I had never seen, even though I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen.  Still, a pretty gritty movie in lots of ways.  Glad to have seen it now (and Taxi Driver not so long ago).  I also was able to stop by Bulk Mine on Yonge and pick up some packets of Quavers for the book club meeting on Monday.  (We're reading Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, which is of course also depressing, and we agreed to try to bring British snacks...)

In terms of my reading, I am slowly making my way through Castellanos's The Song of Lamentations, and I made a big push on Dickens's Dombey and Son on Wednesday evening while out at Budweiser Stage to see Simple Minds, as well as Modern English and Soft Cell (the last one being quite boring actually, and I read during their set, aside from during "Tainted Love").  It did sprinkle on and off, particularly during Soft Cell, but it was much better than I was expecting, weather-wise, so that worked out.  However, I didn't want to bring anything aside from a poncho and my phone, so fortunately I was able to get an ebook version of Dombey and Son loaded onto the phone.  I have just over 300 pages to go, so hopefully I can wrap that up by the end of next week.  Some books are worth the extra length, but this one drags a fair bit.  (If only I had managed to get 100 more pages into it on the train ride to Ottawa, then I would really feel I was nearing the finish line.  As an aside, it looks like Via workers aren't going on strike after all.  Yea!)  Getting home from Budweiser Stage was a nightmare, and I wished I had biked there after all, though of course I wouldn't have done that, given the forecast.

 
Anyway, as if I didn't have scads and scads of unread books around the house, but I thought I would highlight just a few novels from this list in today's Guardian.  A handful of them aren't even available to reserve at the library, and if I don't write them down now, I just won't remember them.

These are the ones that are catching my eye:
The Tiger’s Share by Keshava Guha
Gunk by Saba Sams
Dream State by Eric Puchner
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
Endling by Maria Reva (might be interesting to compare to Kurkov's Grey Bees)
Spent by Alison Bechdel (should not take too long to read, as this is a graphic novel)

So perhaps a manageable summer reading list, if I didn't have so many other books I feel guilty about not reading...

 

 

Busy Week Bracketed by Beethoven

I'm not exactly sure what is going on but I have been slipping a lot on Sundays and not getting to the gym when I originally plan to go.  The good news is that I almost always force myself to go, and then it isn't so bad, but then I am running late for everything else I have planned later in the day.  So two Sundays ago, I made it over to the gym, finished packing for my various trips, then took the TTC to Hart House.  Of course, the TTC was quite unreliable as ever, including a bus that then picked up the pace while I was walking between stops.  This is so frustrating.  In the end, I would say the TTC cost me 10 minutes, and I just strolled up to Hart House at 2:35, when I had really planned to get there at 2:15 or so, though as I said I was running just a bit late and didn't set out in time.  Had I made it at 2:25 (a more reasonable target based on when I left), I probably would have gotten tickets to the Hart House Orchestra concert without too much difficulty.  But I was at the very front of the "no ticket" line, and they were trying to convince people to go upstairs to watch a closed circuit version of the concert.  That seemed pretty stupid to me, and I decided I might as well try to get inside.  Had I been much further back, I would have just left and probably tried to work for a couple of hours before my train left.  However, I just waited out and was rewarded with one of the very last wrist bands to get in.  They did Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Beethoven's 5th Symphony.  Always great to hear these live.  I actually briefly talked to my friend David who plays bass with the orchestra, though the musicians themselves (sadly) don't have access to extra tickets.  

After this, I took the subway to Queen St. and picked up some Vietnamese food to go from Ginger.  I dropped in at work and grabbed a huge stack of business cards and printed out a couple of things, including a card for my son, who I was planning on meeting in Ottawa.  Sadly, the train was about 45 minutes late, and it was a bit hard for me to concentrate on my reading while standing (uncomfortably) in line to board.  Not surprisingly, we got to Ottawa close to an hour late.  As it happens, the LRT would have been closed anyway (had we been on time), as it closes at 11 on Sunday evening.  So I took a cab to the Ottawa Hostel.  The driver was reasonably pleasant but he just put the pedal to the metal, trying to get back to the train station for a more lucrative fare.  The hostel was fine, though I really had to get ready for bed in near complete silence, as several people were already sleeping.  (I certainly ran into several people who couldn't believe I would share a room in a hostel, even at such a low, low rate -- $40.)

As it turns out, the hostel was only a block away from the CTRF conference, which was great.  I pretty much rolled out of bed, dressed in a better set of clothes, threw everything in a locker (I had remembered to bring my own lock) and walked over to the conference.  I have to agree, it really does feel a lot like the old TRB (i.e. quite academic) but considerably smaller and still fairly freight and logistics-oriented.  But I enjoyed going, and I'll see if I can go next year when it is in Halifax.  I was able to meet a couple of people from Alto (the agency that will be trying to develop a high speed rail system between Toronto and Quebec City), so that was a big mission accomplished.  My presentation (on ride-sharing systems during and after the pandemic) was in the late afternoon; I think it went well, and I was asked several questions.  Then I went over to the reception, but I had to leave early to meet my son.  We went to an Indian place in Byward Market.

Tues. was pretty much the same thing, though I didn't have as much pressure, since my presentation was over.  I actually left my bag at the hostel, then ducked out from the presentation after lunch and ran over to the Ottawa Art Gallery.  (I didn't even know such a thing existed.  It had a pretty decent exhibit on the 3rd floor of some Group of Seven paintings and some abstract expressionist works.  As it happens, this too is right around the corner from the hostel, so I grabbed my bag and went back to the conference for the workshops after lunch.  I had to skip out just a bit early (only about 15 minutes) and this time I was able to catch the LRT over to Tremblay to catch the VIA train back to Toronto.  Between VIA and TTC, I got home around midnight.

I downloaded the Lyft app on my phone and figured I might as well use it once to get a record of actually using the app, which would help me get rides in LA.  I quickly swapped out my clothes for a new set for my next trip.  I guess I got about 3 hours of sleep, then it was time to get up for my Lyft ride to Pearson.  I ended up sitting next to my boss on the flight, so we talked over some work issues.  I read a bit, but not a lot and did try to get a bit of sleep.  LAX was a bit of a mess per usual, though they were giving out free waffles and iced coffee for some unknown reason.

We then went over to the LA offices and met a few people and talked about some upcoming projects.  I was able to meet up with someone I used to work with in Chicago while at Cambridge Systematics.  We had a good chat, and then I hoofed it back to the office to meet up with a group that was going out for dinner and drinks.  They found a place that had lots of different food vendors under one roof.  While the Mexican was tempting, I ended up at a Thai place that was quite tasty.

Thurs. was mostly an overview of company strategy, though we did take a field trip on the E line out to the site of the Lucas Museum (the one that Chicago and later San Francisco turned down).  We had dinner and drinks on the top floor of the hotel, which was super convenient for those of us staying at the hotel.  Some of the juniors ended up going out to a bar, but I declined.

Friday was only a half day talking about our transportation equity practice, which was interesting and depressing in equal measure (as Trump is trying to squelch anything that even remotely looks progressive or would promote equity).  Then after lunch (which was indeed a sort of Mexican salad), I took a Lyft over to LACMA.  I'll have to circle back and post some photos of the art later.  It turns out that Lyft wouldn't work at all unless I had data roaming turned on, which is pretty annoying.  One strange thing was that they are holding off on producing a new guide to LACMA until the new wing opens (supposedly in April 2026), so I went kind of wild taking photos of almost everything on the 3rd floor.  They even had a room that was completely Picasso paintings (and a few sculptures).  I was worried that the huge David Hockney painting would be off view until the Geffen Wing opened, but it was there on the 3rd floor.

One thing that was a bit worrying was that, after I had taken hundreds of photos at LACMA, my phone battery was dangerously low, and I wasn't sure I would even be able to book (and pay!) the next Lyft driver.  I had to put it on extreme battery saver, but I just managed to make it to a restaurant in Culver City.  The maitre d' was willing to charge it up while we had dinner, which was very accommodating of him.  I was meeting a friend who lives in L.A. with her husband.  We hadn't seen each other since about 2014, when I came down to see Kronos Quartet at UCLA.  The food was fine, though the portions were too small.  I didn't ask, but they did offer to drive me to the airport, and I didn't need a lot of convincing.  I made it through security in plenty of time.  We were all taking the same red eye flight back to Toronto that evening, though this time I didn't sit near my boss.

I got a bit more reading done but mostly tried to sleep.  In the end, over both trips I only read 300 pages of Dombey and Son (though I did get to one major plot twist, which I thought happened a bit too early in the book).  I didn't actually expect to finish the book, though I had wanted to get to 400 pages or so.  I'm going to have to quickly read Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, which is a fast read so far, though of course it is pretty depressing.  Then I may sort of alternate chapters of Dombey and Son and The Book of Lamentations.

I guess between a bit of a delay, customs and then UP-Express and the TTC, I didn't actually get home until just a bit before 8 am.  I had my alarm set for 10:30, as I wanted to see the Bach's Keyboard concert, which was part of this year's Bach Fest.  At least the concert was just up on Danforth.  So I saw that, hit No Frills on the way over to the library to pick up a book, and then dropped off some dry cleaning.  I actually biked over to 401 Richmond and looked at a few exhibits there, then came home.  I was actually able to swim a full set of laps, and then I went back out to see the TSO doing a fine version of Beethoven's Symphony 3.  So it was a pretty busy day.  Sunday was not nearly as busy, though I still didn't just stay home and rest, as I surely should have done, but I will write about this week (and some upcoming events) a bit later.

Ciao.