Erin Balser | My Toronto Life

What I Read This Week: July 30

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Erin

Toronto has come of the best beaches (and best-monitored beaches) in North America, yet they get a bad rap for being polluted, smelly and gross. The Globe and Mail’s Marcus Gee set out to change that by swimming in our cities eight best beaches in a single day. I wish I had a job like that.

The Toronto Public Library is in trouble. Maybe. I’m not sure. Doug Ford made an inane comment (as he usually does) and the Library Workers Union jumped to conclusions and started a campaign to stop the privatization of the library. This bothers me for two reasons: 1) the union is clearly out to protect their jobs, and while this is completely a-okay in my books, it’s not entirely obvious in the campaign rhetoric and 2) privatization is probably not on the table. Do you know what it? Cuts. Deep, harmful cuts. And I’m concerned that the rhetoric being offered up means these deep cuts don’t look so because because the library is still public! In short, the clever and well-done Our Public Library campaign could completely backfire. Matt Elliott, who writes For for Toronto (and, disclaimer: is my partner. He buys me things and I clean up after him. Team work.) outlines the problem far better than I ever could. Read it.

I ran the Beaches Jazz 10k race with my pal Kendal. She ran the 5k and recapped her race here, if you can’t get enough of reading about crazy people trying to run faster.

Kristyn Wong-Tam, the councillor from Ward 27, consistently impresses me with her vision, tenacity and leadership skills. Matthew Kupfer’s profile of Wong-Tam for the Toronto Standard is a must-read.

If you didn’t at least try to stay up for the epic executive committee meeting where 168 citizens spoke passionately about Toronto for the longest-ever city hall meeting on Thursday night, at least read the Torontoist live blog of the entire thing and Edward Keenan’s fantastic recap for The Grid. While it’s difficult to imagine Ford and co. adopting any of the suggestions put forth, it feels like something is happening here.

A hot pink kitchen wall? Yes please.

Jennifer Egan wrote a short story for the Guardian in the form of a to-do list and it is amazing.

The 50 most looked-up words on the New York Times’ website makes me feel very, very smart and very, very stupid at the same time. [via Book Bench]

Truman Capote hated a lot of people. Play this fun game to discover exactly how much he hated who. [via Book Bench]

Arnold’s apartment is totally the best TV apartment of all time (and fourteen other not-so-bad small screen digs).

I cycle this city. Every single day. And I’m proud to call myself a cyclist. But every cyclist should read this and remember to follow the rules. We don’t need to give drivers and pedestrians and politicians reasons to hate us. [via Torontoist]

It’s Books in 140 Seconds week! Watch Jen Knoch and myself talk Box Office Poison.

The Paris Review ran an excerpt from Misha Glouberman and Sheila Heti’s The Chairs are Where the People Go about Glouberman’s experience as a Canadian who went to Harvard and it’s really, really good. Anyone who wishes they had an Ivy League education over whatever educational experience they had here in Canada is a sucker.

I spent an entire afternoon this week scouring the Runner’s World suggested playlists for new running music. So many great suggestions from running rock stars! What do you listen to when you work out?

Posted in Read | Tags: Links | No Comments

Before and after: Ikea breadbox

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Erin

I love old, wooden things, It’s a sickness. And if I can’t find what I’m looking for in the old and wooden variety, well, just plain wooden will do! So when we moved into the new house and there was a perfect space for a breadbox, I instantly wanted, no, needed a breadbox. During those hectic first days, we grabbed one(this one!) on one of our endless Ikea trips. And for the past year, it has stored bread just fine.

(I forgot to take a before picture. Sorry!)

I do want an antique breadbox at some point, but it’s way, way way down on the list of things to buy. Like, at the bottom next to more television sets. But I wanted to do something. So I headed to Sherwin Williams, chose the girliest non-pink colour they had and voila:

The colour is Wisteria, by the way.

Not bad for a quick fix!

Posted in Live, Make | Tags: DIY, Home Decor | No Comments

Etsy Finds: A rug and a rugged sign

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Erin

A little over a year ago (a year on July 16, to be exact), Matt and I bought a house. The first six months were all about the essentials: painting and priming and fixing what was broken. (If you missed that exciting adventure, you can relive it all on Matt’s house blog, Moving Around Toronto.) The next six months were about bank account recovery. Now, we are finally in my personal favourite phase: the frills. I now get to spend hours trolling Craigslist, Etsy and Kijiji, dwaddle my way through the antique stores on Queen East and, in general, spend exorbitant amounts of money on things I could have found in my grandmother’s house ten years ago. Oh, if I only had the foresight.

(Yes, there are still 8 billion things we need to do, like rip out the carpet, re-do the bathroom and find a kitchen table that has four function legs, but that will come. I swear.)

Today, I bit the bullet and bought two things on Etsy I’ve been searching for for quite some time: a cute homemade sign to hang above our kitchen shelves and a ’70s style crochet blanket that is the exact replica of one my grandmother had. (She was a great grandmother. I think that’s why I’m so desperate to have my house replicate hers as closely as possible — with a modern hipster edit, of course).

The sign:

This upcycled sign is courtesy LifeUnscripted. I love the blue colour and how it looks a little worn and loved.

I almost purchased this extremely similar “vegan” sign, but since Matt is a hardcore meat-lover, I didn’t think it would be appropriate to have a life lesson staring him down every time he was in the kitchen.

If you’re interested, you can snag the “Vegan” sign yourself from The Vegan Dish Esty shop.

The second find was this lovely crochet blanket from This Vintage Girl. I’m sure if I had hunted a little harder or for a little longer, I could have found one exactly like this in Toronto, but I’m impatient. I can’t wait to put this on the loveseat in the living room and have my mother say things like “You paid how much for that? Your grandma had one just like it!”

Because that’s entirely the point, mother.

Still on the hunt for a quirky clock for above the fridge, a gold-framed mirror for the living room, and a better coffee table. Oh, and I need to finally make those curtains I keep putting off. Should be good times.

Posted in Live | Tags: Home Decor | No Comments

A CanLit primer for Doug Ford

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Erin

“Good luck to Margaret Atwood. I don’t even know her, she could walk by me, I wouldn’t have a clue who she is. But she’s not down here, she’s not dealing the problem. If she did, tell her to go run in the next election, and get democratically elected. And we’d be more than happy to sit down and listen to Margaret Atwood.”

Oh, Doug Ford. Here he goes, putting his foot in his mouth yet again. This time, he insults the very face of Canadian literature, the iconic Margaret Atwood.

I feel sad for Doug Ford. It looks like his CanLit education has been overlooked. Perhaps he spent a little too much time on the football field in high school. Perhaps he felt that the myths surrounding Canadian literature are true. That he, a business-savvy, “big time social liberal” with fondness for pigskin and police officers couldn’t connect with sweeping 500-page epics about surviving the Canadian wilderness.

Regardless of whether it was an inferior education or willful ignorance that allowed Ford to elude the influence of Atwood his entire life, I know it’s never too late to learn. Below, you’ll find a CanLit primer that should be right up Doug and his brother Rob’s alley. There isn’t an Atwood-penned, Prairie-set, multigenerational family saga to be found. Instead, I offer eight reads that should get the Ford stamp of approval.

Or at least a misunderstood middle finger.

The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier & King Leary by Paul Quarrington

Perhaps Ford is adverse to Atwood’s high-concept borderline-science fiction literary fiction. Well, not all of CanLit has to be this way. Let’s start with something we know the Fords love: sports! Sadly, a classic CanLit novel about football has yet to be written, but there is not one, but two, pretty damn good books about hockey the Ford should pick up. The gorgeously illustrated children’s classic The Hockey Sweater should earn bonus points for the family-first Fords. A read worthy of the entire family.

The Scott Pilgrim series by Bryan Lee O’Malley
This book series has pictures! Pictures of Toronto! And, like the Fords, Pilgrim is an endearingly dim-witted Torontonian who thinks he can solve problems with extra lives and magic. It worked for Scott. Will it work for the Fords? Only time will tell.

No Coins, Please by Gordon Korman
Artie Geller’s get-rich-schemes should be right up he Fords’ alley: harebrained ill-advised projects designed to make money fast without weighing any consequences, long or short term. A great introduction to one of Canada’s most beloved children’s writers.

Dead Politician Society by Robin Spano
A whodunit taking place in Toronto City Hall? A dead mayor? Sometimes people threaten your life when you make controversial decisions, but Spano’s noir novel takes it one step further. Ford will be able to connect with those on the other side of this murder mystery — those that are being targeted and can take comfort in the fact that the real-life opponents haven’t taken it this far. Yet.

The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
When you’re a politician, sometimes it doesn’t mater what you say or what you do, someone is out to get you, to push you down, to see that your vision isn’t realized. Angus McLintock is that very politician: a man who puts the people before his popularity, and speaks his mind, no matter what. In fact, he may be the very politician Doug wishes he was, just move a little (okay, a lot) to the right and throw in a few short-sighted factually incorrect statements. Oh, and add a beard. But still. The similarities can’t be missed.

The Lost Treasure of Casa Loma by Eric Wilson
Canada’s favourite YA mystery writer can do double-duty for the busy Fords: let them brush up on Canadian literature and get some valuable history and geography lessons in there too. After all, you aren’t really Canadian until you’ve tried to join the Eric Wilson fan club.

Barney’s Version by Mordecai Richler
Barney Panoksky is a man who sees the world only one way: his way. He’s wealthy, obsessed with hockey, can insult anyone under the sun, has been accused of everything from wife-beating to intellectual fraud and will take large liberties when it comes to the truth. Does this sound at all familiar? It does to me. Maybe it will to Doug as well.

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
Okay, this pick is a stretch. First, it’s not a novel. Second, Jacobs is an American who made her home in Toronto. Third, I’m pretty sure the Fords would consider Jacobs the devil incarnate. But this book is here because it has defined urban development over the past several decades and while the Fords probably still lament the death of the Spadina expressway, reading this will at least allow them to better understand their enemies. After all, they say keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

There you go, Mr. Ford. I hope each and every one of these books offers new insight into the wide world of Canadian literature. It has a little bit of everything, and should demonstrate that there’s something for everyone in CanLit.

Except Margaret Atwood, of course. Because who needs her?

Posted in Read | Tags: CanLit, Doug Ford, Rob Ford | No Comments

Run Recap: Beaches Jazz Tune-Up 10k

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Erin

I have been a “runner” (I still have trouble with this word, but every book and article I read on the subject says anyone who ever runs, at any pace, for whatever reason, is a runner, so I’ll go for it) for about eight months now. While I still have extremely conflicted and complicated feelings about the actual act of running, after 2 10k races and a half-marathon, I can say that I enjoy racing. I enjoy the night-before ritual of laying out the racing gear and putting together a pre-race meal, wondering if I should stick with the tried-and-true classics, or mix it up and go for a fancy carb-heavy Runner’s World-approved entree. I enjoy waking up at a ridiculous hour and heading to the race, coffee in hand, while the rest city is sleeping soundly.

It takes me back to the many, many years of playing basketball, where camaraderie was found in the craziness of skipping the late-night parties, the grueling workouts and the early morning wake-up calls, all to push your body to the limit for no other reason than you love the game.

Saturday, July 24 was the date of my second-ever 10k race: the Beaches Jazz Tune-Up. I was nervous, as the sweltering Toronto weather has meant I’ve skipped more training runs than I’ll admit, but thanks to the rain the night before, the morning was cool (in comparison) with a nice breeze off the water. It was still humid, but nothing unmanageable.

I was also nervous because my friend Sarah’s wedding was the day before. (Congrats Sarah & Craig!) It was a morning wedding, but if you put me in front of an open bar….well, let’s just remind everyone that I was born in the land of Alexander Keith and leave it at that. Thank goodness it was a morning wedding, otherwise this 10k race wouldn’t have happened.

The Beaches Jazz Tune-Up (5k, 10k, 20k) is an out-and-back, starting at the Kew Gardens and winding along the Martin Goodman Trail. Other than the scenic Start/Finish the course is boring. The 10k route takes you long Lakeshore, into an industrial wasteland and just when you start to hit a woodsy trail, you turn around and come back again. Oh well. I didn’t choose this race for the views.

My race plan was to push hard for the first half, assess how I felt and where I was, then go easy for the third 2.5 and push hard for the final 2.5k. There were water stations at the 2.5 intervals, so I hoped to hit each station under 15 minutes, walk through each station quickly, and wind up with a time around the 58 minute mark.

The first half of the race went exactly like that. I found a tall blonde running about 5:45 pace and kept her in my sight. (Anyone who is taller than me is my automatic enemy.) The first water station came up at 14:20, exactly where I wanted to be. I rounded the 5k mark at 28:00 even, a tad tired, but feeling pretty good. It helped that a large biking group, decked out in expensive gear and crazy-looking bikes, was on the road next to us, ringing their bells and cheering us on. I love spectators. I slowed down, as I was exactly on pace and was worried about burning out. The last few kilometres in my previous 10k (Sporting Life in May) were brutal, so I wanted to play it safe here.

Around the 7k mark, my left hip started to burn a bit. This has never happened before, but it wasn’t too intense. I decided to keep an eye on it, but not freak out. I slipped through the final water station at 42:00 and decided to take a bit of a break. I upped the 30 second walk time to 2 minutes to let the hip ease up and catch my breath. I was ahead of schedule, so all was good. I then picked it up, until I saw the final km marker. A hard push to the end, dancing around parents picking up kids to run across the finish line with them, a few exhausted runners, and others giving the final push. 58:01. Not bad. A second slower than my goal time, but since this race wasn’t chip-timed, I can always blame it on my watch, right?

Afterword, I felt decent. Overall, it was a much better experience than my first 10k, where my pacing was erratic and I was completely spent for the rest of the day. This race, in comparison, was a consistent solid effort (except for the short window at the final water station) and I felt accomplished at the end. The time was slower (57:15 compared to 58:01), but chalk that up the the heat and the flat course (Sporting Life was downhill, Beaches is completely flat), but it was a better race.

Then we had brunch. Brunch always makes me feel like a winner.

Next up: A Mid-Summer’s Night Run on August 20th.

Posted in Move | Tags: Move, Races, Running | No Comments

Music Monday: Eleanor Friedberger’s “My Mistakes”

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Erin

Obsessed. It’s catchy and she has great hair. (Ha!)

Posted in Hear | Tags: Hear, Music | No Comments

A banging new haircut

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Erin

About a month ago, I got bangs. And I got bangs solely for this reason:

I had been debating bangs for years and years, and as someone with haircut-phobia (I blame my teenage years, many which I spent looking like a boy. You try being a 5’10″ 12-year-old named Erin/Aaron with a pageboy. It scars you.), six years of debate nearly wasn’t enough. But after seeing Zooey in The New Girl Trailer — in which she already has my hair and glasses — I figured it was time to fully embrace my Deschanel-wannabe-ism and get the bangs.

So it is done. It is weird. It makes me more Toronto-twenty-something hipster than I ever intended to be.

And I love it.

Going red a la Kate Walsh is next.

In, perhaps, a decade or two.

Posted in Wear | Tags: Haircut, TV, Wear | No Comments