lemon face

my mom used to tell me, if you make that face long enough your face will stay that way.  well, she's right.

i'm often reminded of this expression when i see people who appear to have a permanent frown on their face. it makes me wonder if maybe they've had a lot of struggles.  i often see these people on the ttc.  and i promptly tighten up my face muscles because no matter what happens i don't want to be walking around looking like i'm sucking on a lemon.

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but on a more important note, the lovely and talented jessa made me a little pet.  his name is fred.

fred is a snail

jessa is creative in a lot of ways.  she has a sense of humour that sneaks up on you when you least expect it. she created fred out of piece of binding coil that crossed her.  i'm pretty sure i wouldn't want to cross her.

oh

it has been tough to blog lately.

i think a lot during the day.  i observe people and situations, and sometimes things in nature.  often i think about how i will write about it when i get home.  i phrase it and rephrase it in my head.

i listen to the radio in the morning.  i like to hear the news, and see if i missed anything while i was sleeping. i wait for the bus, listen to music, sometimes a podcast.  i often wish there was a newspaper box near the bus stop.  then i would skim the 24 or the metro on my way to work, to see if i missed anything on the radio. without a paper my options are to read a book, zone out or play a game on an electronic handheld device.  sometimes i'm pressed up against someone on the ttc and that's about all i can do.  when i get off the subway a lady hands me a paper and says "thank you have a good day" over and over and over again.  i can hear her as i walk up the steps and as i walk away.

work is work.  i work with nice people.  we listen to music while we work.  it's the only area in the office that has a music playing device, specifically a bose dock.  sometimes we talk about news, celebrity news, books and music.  today i was telling stephanie how i've been having a tough time with blogging.  she asked me a question that helped me realize part of what has been holding me back. it was something to the effect of "because you know people are reading it?"  don't get me wrong, i'm happy when people read it, but it does create a bit of pressure on something that was meant to relieve it.  well, that and i've just been a bit lazy.

then i leave work.  sometimes i leave with a co-worker, share some laughs and stories about the day.  sometimes i leave with my headphones on.  i complete (well not always complete) the crossword in the 24.  i go over a list of things i need to do, and things i don't want to forget, sometimes i write that stuff down.  and sometimes all i can do is focus on not falling over on the subway.

it seems that my thoughts revolve around people, the weather, information and entertainment.  lately the weather hasn't been great and i haven't been doing much reading or reading the paper.  maybe i'm uninspired.

days run into days and turn into weeks and months, inspiring moments happen.  when i'm touched by something i think about how i would write about it and i tuck it away.  eventually the memories pile up up and i don't know where to start.  i am grateful to have a lot of refreshing experiences, and occasionally some sour ones.  there is always something new to learn and life is good and life is interesting and i have a lot to say about it.

here is a picture of the beautiful vintage guitar mike surprised me with yesterday:

thanks mike 

here is a picture i took, enthusiastically hoping the massive pile of garbage meant that my obnoxious and somewhat frightening downstairs neighbours were moving out:

i was wrong, they're still here

here is what it looks like when you knock over a jar of buttons... why i collect buttons and don't keep a lid on the jar is one of the great mysteries of the universe.

this was fun to clean up

i see a lot of birds from my apartment window.  lately there have been two cardinals, one is primarily grey and the other is primarily red splashing around in "the junction lake" . . .i have yet to capture them on camera, but this is where they hang out:

and lastly, i stayed at a cottage this weekend.  highlights include: great people, a grand piano, trying elk, bison and wild boar meats, driving a silverado and winning a pool tournament.

altercation

as per your request verlaan...  a new tale from the ttc...

monday morning i witnessed an altercation on the subway.  as i was boarding i could see a man in his 30s (let's call him john) stand up, swear and yell in the face of a 70 year old man (let's call him bob).  i didn't see what happened leading up to this event, but for 7 long stops they continued to argue.  one thing was obvious: john was a bully, a hot head, and a little out of touch with reality.  from what i understood john was taking up two seats (which he was), and bob had asked him to free up one of the seats.  john appeared to have a problem with the way bob had approached him, and thought it was reasonable to take up two seats because of his height... and that it was appropriate to lose his shit... on an old man... during rush hour... on a monday morning.  it was a disturbing experience for everyone on that particular car.  a couple people tried to intervene and stood up for bob... which only made john more angry.  unfortunately neither of them had the strength to walk away. finally another man came toward john saying: you have no respect, you can't talk to people like that.. and continued to call him out.  john wasn't able to defend himself to someone equally as assertive and aggressive as himself.

and on a semi related topic, here is a ridiculously cute video of a puppy and a kitten fighting: