Daymaker.

Full disclosure:  if it came down to you or cheese, probably cheese.  Balderson’s!  The scene : a complacent employee at Sobey’s on St. Clair incorrectly prices said cheese.  The honest customer brings discrepancy to the deli counter.  Slightly eccentric deli lady with way too much eye shadow says to honest customer, “What goes around comes around.  You brought it to me, enjoy the cheese”.  Normally this bad boy is around $13-15.  We hesitantly approach the cashier and the $0.08 marvel gets run through.  No guilt, pure greatness.  The stuff crystallizes like reggiano, daaaaaaaaaaamn.  The best cheddar I’ve ever had.  I gotta give gratitude to time and bacterial culture.  Cara and I had a platter of champions last night in honour of our fortune – fresh baguette crostinis with garlic rosemary butter, Lavish crackers, Bartlett pears, Ontario peaches, and a big Lindeman’s Cab Sauvignon.  No dinner required.

St. Paul’s.

Hey hey, there’s a provincial by-election in my riding September 17th.  And big surprise, news media is making it sound like this small vote will be ultimately symbolic of the country’s political attitudes.  Sidenote: I hate how news media can throw a question mark on any ridiculous sentence and it passes as a legitimate headline.

So… an exceptionally rich Toronto neighbourhood is now symbolic of Canada’s political landscape?  Maybe in the light of the new HST proposed by McGuinty people are buzzy?  Either way, I’m guessing this neighbourhood has been a Liberal stronghold for a long long time, and the retirement of former MPP Michael Bryant will simply result in a new Liberal MPP.  News ain’t truth, babies.

Lighten.

I can’t believe Coors pulled this ad because a small number of crazies were upset about it.  It’s funnnnnnny.

3 x obvious – People don’t have a sense of humour.  It’s a banner for crappy beer.  It’s funny.  Breathing helps.  Also, Coors has no spine.  British Columbians love to hate Toronto, as do Albertans and everyone else.  You made a funny banner, you should stand by the harmless jab as good marketing.

Finally, most people in big cities are cold, and Toronto has been an overly easy target for decades.  Toronto is no different than Montreal is no different than Calgary is no different than Van.  Cities are cities.  If you look at someone you don’t know in the eyes you’re considered a creep.  It’s infuriating.  How about when you’re on the subway, instead of looking everywhere but someone’s eyes, you move your eyes anywhere you want, and smile.  God forbid a small and innocent conversation.  Maybe you’ll learn something?  I do all the time.  Tough.

Smiling, eye contact, chats, harmless interaction.  Do you ever feel more confident/happy/secure/unified/just damn better when you smile at someone on the street and they smile back and may even exchange a “Good morning”?  I feel urban dwellers are continually denying many valuable human experiences every day.  When I try to assimilate to the perpetual iPod wearers, the shoe gazers, the ceiling tile aficionados – I just think it’s dumb, and I refuse to do it.  Of course I know I’m an extroverted ENFP, some people don’t want to interact with me.  More of course, we all have awkward elevator moments with strangers with little to offer each other.  Totally fair, but I know there’s a lot of you out there that can handle it.  So nice to meet you.