With the unofficial Canadian summer season well under way and massive changes on the horizon, perhaps a meaty post is in order. ¶ Our year in London, Ontario is coming to a close. London is a nice Ontario city with benefits you'd be surprised to hear about (excellent restaurants, indie fast food, and shopping) and some you'd expect (the university, the second-hand books, movie, and music market, and the parks). Being here has meant lots of time alone, not just by myself but with Pauline, and it's been fun and necessary having a year to ourselves. It has provided us with the preparation time required for everything that's coming. And it's coming like the boulder in the opening minutes of Sexy Beast. ¶ On Tuesday of this week we jumped on the Greyhound and headed for Toronto. We signed two lease agreements, grabbed a coffee, and then back on the afternoon Greyhound to Londontown. The first lease was for our attractive new apartment in Little Italy. It's minutes to our favourite Y, steps to City, cafes, restaurants, markets, and people. It's also about thirty walking minutes to my new office in the garment district, just north of Queen on Spadina. That was the second lease. Expect a formal announcement in the form of a press release on Siteway regarding my office move and if you're a friend or colleague, you'll likely be receiving an e-mail announcement. ¶ Bob Newhart might say: it was quite the day, wasn't it? Both are extremely exciting prospects. I can't underestimate that sentiment. They are frightening as well. We're not just coming back, as I told a confidant on the phone the other day, we're coming to Toronto. I'm setting up my office in four weeks. We're moving into our new apartment in five! We can't wait to be back home and share our lives with all of our friends again. ¶ Pauline is accepting new clients at her new post at April Maloney Salon (647-430-5573, 178 Avenue Rd.) in Toronto. She is currently booking male and female clients for Tuesdays and Saturdays. ¶ Sailing last night was the best class so far. We gave our teacher a ride to the course from the dock as we were the last to rig our boat. This is partly due to my ineptitude, but partly also because our boat was an older model. It was Man Overboard and Capsize night. Man overboard was our teacher. We all took turns rescuing him (sailing up to him, pulling him on the boat). Capsizing was our trial by fire (capsize the boat, get soaked, right the boat, and then get back on the boat). As our teacher (a man whose ability to sail and fly a plane makes me jealous) said, "...the boat is your security, even if it has capsized. Never swim away from it to grab anything that may have fallen out. Even a bailer. Always stay close to the boat. Right it, get back on, and sail to your bail or whatever else. Never ever leave the boat."

Labels: Clear, TheOffice, Toronto

¶ 11:06 AM

Pauline celebrated what's known in my group of friends as "birthday week" (def: either as a result of a milestone and/or an imperfect placement in the week, a person in a group of friends has a week or near to a week of sanctioned birthday fun.) She had a blast. I had a blast. Myself in Toronto is on-deck, swinging two bats, and keen on the game. ¶ I was pleased with my Mike Myers illustration on the weekend, although I wonder if I could have been kinder. Ah, such is nature of reflection. It was a great layout and, and I liked how the green turned out so nice and May-like. ¶ Speaking of May-like, as I write this I can feel the warm and comforting breeze on the right side of my body and it's having a curing effect. Not that I need a cure. I've been feeling good for a few days now. The anti-Samson, I seem to gain strength from a Number 1 grade haircut as spring comes to Canada. More importantly my body seems to have finally defeated the chest cold that had overstayed its welcome.

Labels: Family, NationalPost, Toronto, Vague

¶ 11:14 PM

Two pieces of sad news followed by some saving grace, respectively. First, as most of you know by now, TORO magazine shut down last week. I was very happy to have worked with them and genuinely enjoyed the magazine. Sad. However, they got together to release a PDF version of the final issue that was never going to hit newsstands. Download here (19MB). ¶ Second, the marquee above the Revue Cinema collapsed this past Sunday at around 3am! This one hurts. But I've got to admit, the hurt is healed in part by Tanja-Tiziana's amazing photos of the remains. ¶ Two sad stories. Here's to what could have been, but doubly to what will be.

Labels: Toronto

¶ 9:39 AM

Dear Hudson's Bay Company: thank you for handling our wedding registry. You didn't mess anything up too bad for us. I also enjoyed dealing with your suit salesman at the Queen and Yonge store in downtown Toronto. Don't call me. Ever. Especially don't call it a courtesy call because that kind of non-talk is so transparent I pinch myself every time I hear it for fear of being trapped in a Kafkaesque nightmare. The bad news is, I suppose, some days Kafka was just plain-old right. ¶ Chris Bosh and the Raptors face the Nets tonight in the world's best 20,000ish capacity arena: the ACC. Can you feel it? I love snoozing in the AM while hearing the CBC sports guy deliver me more good news than I can ever remember hearing.

Labels: Open Letter, Toronto

¶ 3:52 PM

It was warm and sunny yesterday as Pauline and I walked to the train station in London. I was asked to sit on a panel in Toronto and we thought it might be fun to make an evening of it. We boarded the 3:49pm train and I immediately began to finish up my preparations. We arrived in a slightly colder Toronto around 6pm and we needed to eat and be at the event by 6:45pm. Amazingly there was, as we had hoped there would be, a great Japanese restaurant near-by! Too rushed to question our luck, we devoured our sushi and plates of complimentary appetizers. This never happens, right? But it actually was perfect. We made it on time to the event and everything went well on the panel. I had to leave early, and was able to finally say those perfect screen-written words, "I have a train to catch." This was true, of course, and Pauline and I booted out of there, made it in great time to Union, and promptly boarded the 10:10pm train to London. We ordered two cans of cold beer and enjoyed our smooth ride back home. I love the train.

Labels: Toronto, Train

¶ 11:00 AM

The fall is in full swing which is just another way of saying that winter is around the corner. I'm sometimes so influenced by old media that require months of development that I think like a fashion editor might: it's already spring 2007. It's not a bad worldview, if you understand what it means. I'm not looking forward to spring or even believing it to actually be spring as much as I am simply acknowledging the speed of life. Time appears variable despite this framework, but I sometimes reduce my anxiety by taking for granted the unnerving speed at which it can sometimes travel (especially as the seasons are concerned). ¶ I've just boarded the VIA train at Union Station in downtown Toronto and my mind is already in the clouds. What would it take for me to do something for VIA in return for unlimited travel coupons? I'd really like that. So I am going to take home my copy of VIA Destinations magazine (on the cover it says: "take me home") and start by contacting them. Failing that I'll come up with a plan B, or something. FYI: the deal with wireless on the VIA train is $8.95 for unlimited usage in one 24-hour period. They have other plans, but that was the simplest one, and the one I chose. ¶ A young man seated in front of me has just tucked into a Harvey's double-burger combination meal with fries and a bottle of Coke (plastic). The smell is actually not as overwhelming as you might imagine. Just don't get me to be so patient when somebody tucks into a couple of stinky tacos from Taco Bell in the cinema. Come on, that's too much! ¶ There's plenty of good news on the illustration front as evidenced in part by some recent work in the National Post and TORO magazine. I've also had the fortunate opportunity to work with Bloomsbury USA for an upcoming book cover, a portrait of David Carter Beane in Advocate magazine, as well as a small Toronto-based company needing some identity help. As is so often the case, I'm of two minds about my career. On the one hand, I'm very pleased that I'm working more and delivering what I think are ever-improving illustrations in a style that I still feel very good about. On the other hand, I wonder what tomorrow holds. What role will portraits play in my future work? What about my growing desire to tell stories? How will the for-hire mesh with the for-sale? I don't know the answer, and I'm not wishing I did. I'm merely posing it and I've got to be honest: it's something I'm curious about. To that end, there's considerable amount of non-freelance projects that are keeping me busy. I'm attempting to relaunch the entire family of Siteway web sites. That's Siteway (here!), Phelts, Tonicville, and a new addition, Coastalmatic. I'm also back on the Final Straw train with a new hook and clearer direction. I don't know it all means, but I've been blessed with some good opportunities and a wonderful working environment in London. I just need to focus on a few choice milestones and really take this thing to another level, the recognition of which won't be noticed until I'm dreaming up the next chapter. ¶ We're pulling into Oakville and the train ride has been so far so great. Cheers Toronto, I'll see you again soon.

Labels: Freelancing, Londontown, SitewayWorld, Toronto, Train

¶ 10:47 AM

Although I'm not able to attend, I have a piece in Midnight Snack, an art show curated by Sarah Lazarovic, at the Beaver (1192 Queen Street West). The show opening is this Saturday, September 30, 2006, at 7pm. My piece is entitled Uncle Paully wants a Sausage. It's an unframed photographic print that measures 16"x20". ¶ Recently I've been spending hours a day designing the new Siteway sites (Siteway and the family of art brands therein: Tonicville, Phelts, and a surprise...) for an all-encompassing launch in 2007. I'm obviously excited about the new sites for a number of reasons: what they mean to me, how they're designed, where they're going, and everything in between. ¶ In other Siteway news, I'm now a proud member of Alternative Pick and today I'm actually member of the day.

Labels: ArtShow, SitewayWorld, Toronto

¶ 12:02 PM

I'm stealing a few moments during the working day to write because I honestly don't know when I'll have spare time in the coming days. Most people were overjoyed; they took to their boats. ¶ When I first met Ponitac, she lived in a tiny bachelor near St. Clair West station. It's far and away my favourite TTC station. ¶ I'm selling for cheap: framed Blow poster ($30) Update: sold. And the following Siteway framed prints: George Harrison ($90), Stanley Kubrick ($90), Martin Scorsese ($90), and Aristotle ($90). Pickup only Update: all sold. ¶ Do you live in San Francisco? Know any cool art galleries? Stuff only the locals know about? Drop me a line. ¶ It's been a hectic time but also, exciting. Malista!

Labels: Flickr, Lyric, San Francisco, SitewayWorld, Toronto

¶ 4:23 PM

Some time ago Pauline suggested to me the idea of having a "big batch night". This meant, essentially, that we'd cook a stew or soup, eat, and then freeze or refrigerate the remainder. I somehow heard "chili" in my brain when she said "big batch" and I immediately agreed that it was a good idea. We decided on Monday nights. This quickly evolved into a sort of date night which we took full advantage of. On a good night we'd turn Monday evening into a Friday nite. That was rare, but it did happen. ¶ As people moved apartments and constants turned into legacies, our date night somehow became redundant, unecessary. But this was just an illusion. Tonight it was revived, and it was a treat to be grateful for! ¶ The odds were against us. Herself was still suffering from heat stroke (see yesterday's post), and the restaurant we finally decided on was completely unknown to us. But the gamble seemed to be self-guaranteeing, and I left the house with some optimism. It wasn't a complete leap: Toronto Life gave it a rave review, and the language surrounding the review made the place out to be an institution so I had history by my side. The cab ride itself was uneventful, but our driver turned out to be a philosopher. He didn't say much, but he did wonder about the root of evil in man, and he asked us about it in plain language. Strangely, I ignored him. ¶ Joso's (202 Davenport Rd., 416-925-1903) is in fact a famous Toronto seafood and fish restaurant, but neither Pauline nor I had ever heard of it. It was, naturally, the best fish I've had in the city. But it was much more than that. Our waitress was a complete pro, the restaurant itself was charmingly decorated with erotic art, surrealism, and fish paintings, and the atmosphere was ideal. We ordered the octopus, a mixed green salad, and the Arctic char. The octopus was an order of heavenly grilled protein, the salad was a tasty delight, and the char was a feast. I devoured much of the fish, but it was a big fish. Pauline had her fair share as well, but this char could have easily fed a family of four. The Gavi washed it all down and we were out of there just as the dinner rush was in full swing. We walked all the way to the Cloak for an after-dinner pint. It was a great night, and even though Pauline was not totally herself, I think she felt better than she had all day. ¶ We're moving our big batch night to Sundays in the fall. I had the idea of doing a roast every fourth Sunday (as a monthly alternative to stews or soup). Keen on the roast idea.

Labels: Cooking, Restaurants, Toronto, Wine

¶ 10:59 PM

Some time ago the seed of a plan was planted in my brain. It looked quite likely that I would be moving from Toronto, at least temporarily, and just after my freelancing career was getting started. How would this work? What was my job? Could I do what I do in another country? In a town? At a cabin? Let me back up. ¶ Four years ago I made the decision to work part-time with the agency where I was employed. Since I had paid my dues with them, and for other reasons, they agreed. I would work three days a week for a salary that I felt was more than what I needed (Sidebar: this is a very real avenue for very many people who think it is impossible. Look into it!). I would spend those other two days working exclusively on what I guess you could call investment projects—projects that didn't actually pay the rent but one day might—and life was good. The main point of that exercise was to prove to myself that it was possible to have a "real job" that didn't take over the majority of my time. I am, and have always been, disposed to anxious feelings when I feel overwhelmed by a structure from without. ¶ The first time I can remember feeling this way was in grade four. Up to that point I had always enjoyed the freedom inherent in Western schooling. My teacher in grade four, however, managed to turn school into work and work into stress and, as a result, I had my first anxiety problem. It manifested itself in a deep reluctance to get out of bed on Mondays and a feeling of despair throughout the day. I remember it lifted that spring when the prospect of travelling overseas to Cyprus presented itself. The next time it hit was in grade twelve. I went to another high school's dance and all of a sudden I felt like I popped out of my skin. Again with the despair, but along for the ride came a temporary bout of hypochondria brought on by a very real case of anxiety. Nothing except the good guidance of smart doctors (and one dumb one) helped me on my way. I decided that university would take care of itself and that worrying about honour rolls and marks was a fool's game. I still believe that, but everyone has a different take. Since high school I've had a few episodes, but we're really just talking about a fairly normal thing; I write about it because I feel this sort of thing is quite common. It's a hobby horse of mine because I've been able to gain a substantial amount of happiness by working through my shortcomings. ¶ So I moved to part-time work in part for my sanity and in part for my future. However, I knew the move was temporary. Ultimately I knew that I would work for myself but I wasn't ready. This sort of self-knowledge is easy to write about now but nearly impossible to recognize in the moment. I did, however, appreciate the aesthetic beauty of transition and decided it was a sensible (read: higher probability of success) thing to do. I'm one for not shying away from the Big Important Decisions but it's quite clear that these decisions need the help of a thousand smaller moves. ¶ In April 2005 I finally gave my notice effectively ending my employed career. Since then I've been self-employed. It's been the best year of my career (big surprise when you consider the build-up) and even though it rightly scared the youknowwhat out of my folks and herself, I had the advantage of self-knowledge (as skewed as that can get) to help me through it. For some reason the prospect of having no money just doesn't have a grip on me and that fact alone has been part of the reason why the year has worked. It's not for everyone but for everyone it's for, it's a blessing. But that's just the start! ¶ And so here I am at the Gladstone Hotel, writing my 601st post on, for the first time, a notebook computer that is poised to become my mobile canvas, workstation, and tool of my trade. I did some real work today, too, which pleases me, but the real importance of today is clearly the personal meaning it holds for me. It's the first day of quite literally a world of possibility. And for once I'm talking about this actual world.

Labels: Freelancing, Musings, Toronto

¶ 12:42 PM

Genghis Kahn, illustrated with spectacles, in today's National Post. Arts & Life section. ¶ This is my 600th blog post to Siteway! ¶ What does your Toronto include? That's what Photojunkie wants to know, and he also wants to take your picture. I'm part of Rannie's latest project, and I thought that some of my readers might be interested as well. Check it out. ¶ We had a great yard sale on the weekend. Got rid of a tonne of excess, and met some interesting folks to boot. It was the small gentleman who read the back of all my VHS films that made me smile the most. And then there was the dude on his bike with "thousands" of video tapes who wanted to know if we had "software, you know what I mean" for sale. And finally, there was a gentle lady who couldn't afford Pauline's 25 cent frames. She seemed genuinely happy when we gave them to her at the end of the day for the low low price of 0 cents.

Labels: NationalPost, SitewayWorld, Toronto, Vague

¶ 11:01 AM