Touch You Last

The first thing is that the E-E-E tobicoke North guy isn’t around any more. That’s the GO employee who used to operate the intercom and call out the stops on the 7:45 train. Even when I first started this commute back in 2000, that dude was old , and you always thought this has to be his last year before retirement . I guess he finally finished. He wasn’t a stutterer in general—except when it came to that first E in Etobicoke North. Every day, without fail, “E-E-E tobicoke North, next station stop. E-E tobicoke North.” The new guy who replaced him is totally aware of the legacy he’s inherited, by the way, because he skips that first E entirely. Right now, we’ve just pulled away from ‘tobicoke North. Second, and somewhat sadder than I expected this to be, I’ve seen no one I recognize on this train. I’m not talking about my actual friends here (although I’d be more than happy to ride along with them), I’m talking about the Gamer Boys and the Sad Divorcees . Have not spied any of them. E...

Apartment 613 - A blog maintained by a bunch of local folks who write about interesting goings on in the city of Ottawa. I found this while running down the directory of Ottawa bloggers listed on Ottawa Start one day, and of the twenty or so sites I got through, Apt 613 is the only one I've been frequenting. I like this site for a lot reasons: because it's updated all the time , because it's fun to see something featured (food/drink/event) that I'm familiar with, and—-most of all-—because they feature a ton of stuff I didn't have a clue about. This might come as a shock to some of you, but I'm not as hip as you think I am. /film - I've been a follower of Ain't It Cool News for as long as I can remember having internet access, and while I used to love that site it has since gone to shit. There's either nothing new, or there are fifteen people reviewing the same movie, or if you're lucky maybe it's DVD column time--with it's token r...

Teddy smiles now. Actually he’s been doing that for quite a while and I think the first laugh probably isn’t too far off. I may have written this before, but I went into parenting thinking that the first three months would be a totally thankless slog before the kid laughed, smiled, or did anything to remotely suggest he liked me and/or knew who I was. I was prepared for that slog, but I’m pretty damn happy things turned out differently. We get smiles. We also get a little conversation. He’s chattiest during and after a changing, or really any time when he’s free of the tyranny of pants. “Ngah!” he’ll say. Or “Ngoo!” Throwing in “Kkkkkkkkhhhh!” upon occasion. He’s also growing growing growing , which is crazily apparent if you haven’t seen him for a few days. Sarah and Teddy stayed on in Kingston for a little bit after Floriana passed away, and he was enormous by the time I saw him next. (He was a big hit with the family while in Kingston. The situation with Flo was pretty terrible, so ...