Graffiti in the City

The other morning we heard a kerfuffle going on outside. Looking out the window, we saw our neighbour who was obviously very angry about his fence having been tagged with graffiti overnight. The damage was some illegible scrawl covering the entire length of the wooden fence, that was going to be difficult to clean up. His fence, as it formerly was, was essentially ruined and I felt for the guy.

I'm not sure how graffiti is dealt with in other cities, but here in Toronto, it is up to the property owner to clean it up, or face possible penalties. If they don't comply with a clean-up order and the city has to come and take care of it, the property owner will receive a bill for the work.

That happens when the graffiti is determined to be unsightly vandalism, as opposed to art. Thankfully, the city's policy is lenient with regards to the artistic merit of some graffiti, and reads as so, "The City of Toronto's Graffiti Management Plan seeks to support graffiti art and other street art that adds vibrancy and artistry to our streets while balancing the need to eliminate graffiti vandalism which can have a detrimental impact on property owners and neighbourhoods."

As we watched our neighbour rage over the defacement of his property, Nick told me about a news story he had recently read, about a commercial landlord who had just finished bringing his 1900-era brick building back to its former glory. I know the building he meant and remember how long it was behind scaffolding while the refurbishment went on. Anyway, days after the the 'new/old' facade was revealed, a tagger came along with a power paint-sprayer and sprayed his name on the wall in letters that must have been 20 feet tall. The story went on to say that the landlord was nearly in tears when he saw this had happened to his beautiful building.

I imagine this destructive behaviour is looked down upon by the true artists out there who choose to paint on walls, as some do really beautiful work, and it's probably frustrating to be put in the same boat as the vandals.

These shots were taken last month, in an alleyway running just south of Queen Street West, between Niagara and Tecumseth Streets (near the Queen and Bathurst intersection).

This is an area where artists are welcomed by the property owners to create. A walk along there is to experience an urban outdoor gallery that is jam packed with details to discover. It should be said that this is a fairly short stretch, so the profusion of images and colours is quite stunning to behold. These photos represent only some of all that is there. Even so, I know this is a lot for one post, so I hope I didn't blow your computer gasket.

There was also a fair share of gratuitous tagging along there as well, which is unattractive, to my eye at least. I'd venture to say that the only people who like that are the taggers themselves. And while I understand that it is an agreement amoungst graffiti people, that you don't deface someone else's art, it seems that this is rather loosely adhered to.

The shots are arranged in order, beginning from the west and going eastward ...

Recent Thrift Store Finds

A quick trip to Value Village recently reaped these goodies. You might be surprised to find that the takings only included one item from my favourite section of the store, kitchen wares.

There was another lovely item in that area, that I left behind because it had a chip in it, but I took a picture of it and have posted it at the bottom of the post.

So let's start with the kitchen item. It's a tempered glass pitcher, made by Arcoroc. We lost one of our favourite Pyrex vintage ones (this one with orange slices pictured on it) this summer, after it broke while being washed. I heard it smash and dreaded the sound, having an awful feeling it was that pitcher. But hey, what can you do. Worst things can certainly happen.

I thought this one was vintage (like its sister, also found at the thrift store, shown here) but apparently they still make this same style. However, the $3.99 I paid is a lot less than retail and it seemed to have never been used.

It has already been put into regular rotation by Nick, who uses it to make my favourite winter drink, which he calls Sinners' Tea. I know I've mentioned this wonderful concoction before, and I promise, a recipe is coming up soon.

A Walk Along Bloor Street between Yonge Street and University Avenue

I've been getting around. Ok, not in the way the urban dictionary translates the term, but in the sense that I have been getting to parts of town that I haven't been to in a while.


First, let's talk about my reason for being there. I had lunch with a very important person in our lives, Alison. She's the one who first introduced me and Nick, setting us up on a blind date. At the time, she was persistent, telling me about her friend from university, who she had recently run into at an event, and with whom she was sure I'd get along. I didn't jump at the chance right away, due to circumstance. So she waited a couple of months and called me about him again. "Really, you have to meet my friend Nick. I'm going to email both of you right now and get you connected."

He and I were married a year after that blind date and have just happily celebrated our 15th anniversary, so you know this lady is very highly regarded in our home.

She and her husband recently celebrated their 15th too (they were married two months before us), so I wasn't able to pay her back for the good deed by introducing her to a man. However I was able to hook her up with something pretty good nonetheless, a job that she has enjoyed for 10 years and counting. This was the place I worked until I left on very good terms, to pursue other interests 3 years ago. So for a while we worked together too. (Not to muddy the story but she and I had also worked together before at another job. We first met at work during our first adult jobs.)

I met Alison on Thursday, at a place called Lola's Kitchen. It's a great place, evident in how busy it is every time I've been. This was the first time that the crowd overflowed the main floor causing us to be seated in a room upstairs though. There was a fireplace up there hung with Christmas stockings, that was really cute.

We both went with vegetarian burgers, Alison selecting the Black Bean Burger and I going with the Curried Chickpea Burger. All very good.

Looking for Healthier Cookies? Oatmeal, Fruit, Nut and Chocolate!

I developed this recipe with my mother in mind, after she told her Facebook friends about a recipe she had just followed for some healthier cookies.  She likened the results to eating sawdust! Apparently they were very dry and tasteless, and deemed to have been a total waste of time and ingredients.

So for my parents and anyone else wanting to bake cookies that are as good-for-you as a cookie can be, while still tasting like a treat, here is a recipe.  They are oatmeal based and include fruit, nuts and dark chocolate chips. The fats used are Coconut and Peanut Oils (though melted unsalted butter would work too but won't be as healthy).  For an extra kick of fibre, the flour used is whole wheat and there's also some oat bran in there.

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