I have been able to stick to my basic workout routine on the weekend, but not much more (aside from biking to work most days, which is still a fairly significant undertaking). Friday I had been planning on going to swim at Jimmie Simpson, but I had already gotten rained on and decided it just wasn't worth going out again.
So I went swimming in Regent Park on Sat. It was pretty crowded per usual, but I did get in 22 or 23 laps and also soaked in the spa pool area. When I went back to change, I found out my lock had been cut off, which is obviously extremely upsetting. However, everything was still there. I figured that someone had asked the staff to cut off the wrong lock and was going to ball them out. When I got to the front desk some other family had their lock cut off and their phones and pretty much everything apart from their clothes had been stolen. I really can't explain why my stuff was left alone, other than I have an extremely ratty backpack that is on its last legs and the thief decided it wasn't worth risking poking around in it. So this was extremely upsetting, and it means I need to really rethink my plans to go to and from Regent Park and work. Now it is possible to leave most of your stuff poolside (and a couple of other pools have started recommended this), but I really don't want to have a laptop in a bag on the pool deck. Clearly, things could have been much, much worse for me, but it's still upsetting, and I needed to go get another lock and memorize a new combination.
I had to bike quickly over to Hot Docs and saw this animated feature called Endless Cookie. It was basically about two half-brothers, one white, one Native (though in fact half-white) and very random observations about the way of life up north (the white brother actually lives in Toronto but kept flying back north). It really did feel endless to me, and I probably should have snuck out. Though in fact it only was 1 hour 40 minutes.
Then I wandered over to Dollarama and bought a new lock and some snacks. I then hit up BMV. I ended up getting a few poetry books, including a Galway Kinnell anthology and Lynn Crosbie's Queen Rat. I thought the Kinnell book was only $4.99, but there was another price of $14.99! But then I showed the clerk the other page, and she gave me $10 back. I do kind of regret not grabbing Howl's Moving Castle on Blu-ray when I had the chance. It's pretty unlikely that will ever turn up again.
I biked down to work, though I tried to stop by this Indian place I where I used to get samosas at the tail end of the pandemic. I was worried that because it is in the middle of the street on Adelaide, some jerk would be going too fast in the bike lane and run into me, so I stopped a bit suddenly and hopped onto the sidewalk. My momentum was just too much, and I couldn't keep my balance, and I ended up falling on my ass on the sidewalk. So dignified. I just have to be more careful, as I could have really hurt myself. Indeed, I was incredibly sore all the rest of the day and night with some lower back spasms, though they gradually went away throughout the day on Sunday and I should be more or less back to normal by Monday. It turns out they changed their menu a bit, and also their debit charger wasn't working (and they wanted cash only), so I gave up, even though I likely had enough cash on me. I don't think I'll go back, as I had another bad experience there the week before.
I stopped by work to drop something off, and then I biked home. I actually needed to turn back around after only an hour to go see GoGo Penguin at Koerner Hall. I had basically assumed I would bike over there, but I was still sore and ended up taking the TTC. It was ok, though every time I've tried to take it over the past week, I've had to wait extra long for the 72 bus, which is so annoying. The concert was good, though I think I would have preferred it if they had some kind of horn in the group. And honestly, my back was still giving me a lot of issues. I was extremely hungry by this point. After the concert, I actually took the train west to Spadina. I thought there was another Thai place right around BMV, but I didn't see anything and kept going until I hit BKK Thai. I had a particularly bad experience there on New Year's last year, but I was pretty desperate. I got pad thai, which is hard to mess up, though the noodles were a bit "gluey." I think I probably should not go back their either, and just stick to the one on Queen, which is quite good. Perhaps I should have taken the train all the way to Ossington where at least the restaurants are reliably good.
I stayed up pretty late trying to take care of a few things and then had some trouble actually leaving for the gym on time. Still, I was out the door by about 10:00, which is way better than I usually manage these days. I was able to do some stretches, even back stretches, and put together a decent workout, which was a little surprising. I grabbed a few groceries, though I didn't have the space to pick up another box of cat litter. I left the house for Walter Hall at 12:15. I made it in 30 minutes and got my name on the wait list to see Jeff Wall giving a lecture. I was actually 3rd on the list and was pretty sure I would get in. In fact, I think pretty much everyone on the wait list was eventually able to get in. I flipped through the new catalogue for the Wall show at MOCA. (I'm going to go soon, though I will likely wait until the next Free Friday. I also will take my son on his next visit over winter break.) They wanted $70 for the catalog, and it looks like the best photos are from 2007 or before (and one of his better new photos isn't even in the show!). I may end up buying it, but I think I would rather hold off until TPL orders a copy or two and put it on hold.
While I was waiting I managed to get through Matthew Walsh's Terrarium. He was one of the poets I met at Word on the Street. I am making decent progress through Orlando, limited progress through Russo's Empire Falls and no progress at all on Auto-da-Fe (though I expect I will bring this along with me next Sat. when I bus it over to Stratford to see Goblins Oedipus).
I did make it into Walter Hall. The lecture was pretty good. I learned a fair bit about what Wall thinks about photography. One interesting comment was that when possible he likes photos that are scaled to life, though of course mostly that is impossible with his detailed tableau. He said that the pictures needed to be big enough so that people could see the important details, such as facial expressions, but no bigger. What he didn't discuss, and maybe it would have been worth asking, is how he feels about reproductions in catalogues where this detail is almost always lost.
This is one of my favourite photos of his.
He said in this case, he had started from the man selling roses, and that the point of this photo was to keep adding detail until the man was more or less lost in the crowd. That was certainly an interesting way to think about coming up with this image and its composition.
He also talked about this relatively new photo (not in the show unfortunately) where it started off as a bit of a documentary but then he moved it to a new location that functioned better and was more photogenic. He had done that with other photos as well, and indeed he has certainly admitted that most of his work is "staged." He also said that since he wanted the same energy levels from all the men (looking to be hired for work), he thought black and while would work much better than colour where some clothing, particularly red shirts/jackets, would make some men stand out from the others.
Anyway, it was a pretty good talk overall. The questions from the audience were generally pretty good as well. He wasn't signing anything, which I thought was a missed opportunity, as I would have gotten the new catalogue if it was signed.
I was not too happy to realize it had started raining while I was at the talk. I had just enough time to bike down to Carlton Cinema. I watched Clue, which I haven't seen since it first hit the theatres in 1985! I asked, and they said that this version did show all three endings, which was good. It certainly isn't a great movie, but it has lots of amusing moments. I don't think she ever really became a break-out star, but Leslie Ann Warren, who played Miss Scarlett, sort of seems like a cross between Sigourney Weaver and Susan Sarandon. I honestly cannot remember which ending I saw back in 1985, though I'm pretty sure it wasn't the one where almost everyone in the cast killed off someone! One good thing about dropping in at Carlton is I was able to ask about Annie Hall, which was on their website but has vanished. They said they were having trouble getting a print in, but that they should have one in hand by Monday or Tues. and then it would go back up on the website. I hope so, as I am planning on taking my son to see Annie Hall on Wed.!
I didn't get a whole lot done the rest of Sunday, though I did manage to do a load of laundry. Mostly I keep finding that this computer is in an endless loop of trying to reinstall Windows 11, getting stuck and then asking me to free up more memory and yet nothing gets fixed. Maybe I shouldn't get too worked up over it, as I can still use the computer, but it is a total drag that I keep getting nagged over this.
So overall, it was an ok weekend with a few things that went well, but then some unpleasantness that could have been a lot worse.
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