The Persnickety Reader

Well, I haven’t written in this space in a while, but I have moved across the country, so that’s part of the reason. I now call Fredericton, New Brunswick home. Look for more posts soon, really, I promise this time.

I’ve been meaning to start blogging here regularly, but have stalled because I felt like I owed a deep, pensive, serious and meaningful post to make up for all the time I haven’t been regularly posting and to make a dent in my ambition. Not to mention, I bought a Mac on the last day of last year and I’ve needed some time to get used to it. Then today I realized I should just jump in a post something before the first month of the year is gone. So here is the result.

Some things to share. Starting on Jan 1, I began reading the Diary of Samuel Pepys. I’ve been reading his daily entries on the corresponding days 350 years later. I’ll be posting my impressions, observations and some quotations through the year. That was my idea, anyway. Turns out it is a fascinating book so far (I’m reading through the first volume, 1660).

Image from Wikipedia.

In less than a week, I’ll be travelling to St. Peter’s Abbey in Saskatchewan to have a 3-week writing retreat, where I hope to get a lot accomplished. Namely, some poems, a few stories and a few essays. I’ve got a bunch of notes, etc. and I’ve been on a bit of a writing roll lately, so I’m hoping my three weeks are productive.

So long, readers, if you exist. I’ll be much more regular now that I’ve got something committed in virtual ink here.

…is featured over at Branta.

Have a look around the site, too: it’s got lots of fascinating stuff.

Falafels are one of my favourite foods. Because I’m a picky eater on top of being a vegetarian, whenever I travel I always know I can count on finding a falafel. Or at least I hope to. Because I just ate a falafel for supper, here is a list of notable ones I can remember:

4. Nuuk, Greenland. The falafel was by no means mind blowing: this has more to do with the location. I spent two weeks in Greenland’s capital city as my wife attended a conference. One night we decided to go out for pizza (veggie pizza being another staple of my picky vegetarian diet). We went to a place called Drop Inn, with the subtitle, Grill, Pizza & Kabob. Sadly we discovered they could not serve us pizza that night. Apparently they have a rotating menu based on the day you visit, and the day we dropped in, pizza was not on the menu. Sigh. But thankfully they had a decent version of the falafel.

Random fact: in the supermarket there I found jars of tofu floating in water that were imported from France. Reminded me of high school science class. But the tofu was actually organic and of very high quality (I made many meals in our apartment).

3. Paris, France. I’ll always find a way to talk about my favourite city in the world. It was the day we visited the Eiffel Tower due to some weird compulsion I had to get a passerby to take a family shot of us in front of it. After that was accomplished, we wandered, which is a very enjoyable way to spend time in this city, since it is so compact and offers a lot for the casual stroller. Later we found ourselves at the Arc de Triomphe and walking down l’Avenue des Champs Elysees when I spotted a sign that promised falafels. We walked down this narrow alley and into a hole-in-the-wall place, the name of which I cannot remember. We had a tiny travel stroller (our son was 8 months old) and with great difficulty we managed to squeeze in and find seats. The falafel was good. I was so hungry that I don’t remember much about it.

Random Fact: We saw a motorcade that same morning with Canadian flags. Stephen Harper! I controlled my urge to hurl insults at him.

2. Edmonton, Alberta. I discovered a great vegetarian restaurant when I first moved to Alberta that I’ve returned to many times: simple, delicious food and funky atmosphere. It’s called Café Mosaics and it’s on Whyte Avenue. The quality of the food has gone down over the last 5 years, but it is still healthy and tasty food, with many vegan options if you are so oriented, and the walls are always adorned with new, very strange (sometimes perplexing), art.

Random Fact: it is next to a Boston Pizza, which I ate at once when I showed up on a Sunday night not realizing it was closed on Sunday night. Boo.

1. Toronto, Ontario. I hate to have anything on a list ranking anything related to Toronto as the first, but the falafel that I had in Kensington Market at a place called Firewood Grill was simply the best I’ve had to date. Everything on their menu was cooked over a wood stove and the food was delicious. The fresh-squeezed orange juice solidified the place as a must-return-to-some-day kind of restaurant. Those from TO have probably heard of it; those not from the centre of the universe (sorry for the easy joke) should check it out if you find yourself there. After you eat, Kensington Market is a delightful place to walk around.

Random fact: the Maple Leafs will not make the playoffs this year. Sorry, but you know it’s probably true.

If you ever find me in your neck of the woods, and there is a great place to eat falafels, you don’t need to ask me. Let’s go. Or please tell me about these great places in the comments!

Just came across this movement: Oxford University Press is asking you to save the words that they are presumably thinking about dropping from the dictionary. Adopt one here! I think I’ll adopt “vacivity”: such a nice way to say empitness.

And just clicking around, I found what looks to be a fascinating book about a word that is in no danger: “the F word.”

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I’ve just added a new link to the blogroll: check out Branta.

Ok, I just saw this on Bookninja: the neverending poem. Apparently this website, The Longest Poem in the World, according to its creator, “is composed by aggregating real-time public twitter updates and selecting those that rhyme. It is constantly growing at ~4000 verses / day.” All I can say is wow, and I agree with George at Bookninja: this is creepy, too.

Here is a sample from when I clicked on the site:

my neck, my back. ahh my neck and my back! no more sleeping on the floor.
I woke up with a massive headache. Dreamed about boobs and a thrift store :X
Damn, I’m spending them and they aren’t going down. . .
@individually for how long and which town?
mayne i need a bigger and better black berry
Holy f. The sky is dark and scary.
up all nite, and i cant sleep, damn…
ITS SUNNY AND COLD WHERE I AM
Daddy (and you know who you are) I miss you already!
getting a shower soon, and then getting ready.
went to a bar and drank, and rolled balls. Danced the night away
Got the hannah montana movie and candy. Great day :]
Really tired. And not just physically but with all this drama. Boys suck
Thunderstorms are the perfect time to just get in bed and fuck
back!! =) i bought witch mag where McFly appears!!!!!! xD and one of twilight! =D
Saturdays and sundays are the longest days for me.
Education is such a wonderful and precious thing…
Portland needs a better theater, and a Burger King.
figuring out what to do tonight and what to do about school
You all warned me and I didn’t listen. I’m a fucking fool.

Genius! I guess I’m going to retire now!

and buy me this: the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary. Gorgeous!

…
(image borrowed from OUP website)

I mean, how many books have the words thesaurus and dictionary in their title? But seriously, I want this!

…here! If you’ve surfed here from Desk Space, welcome!

…on Desk Space: me!

Desk Space is a cool website that features Canadian writers (mostly) and their writing spaces. It’s a neat project and I’m happy to be a part of it. Thanks to Evie, who runs the place, for contacting me about it.

Carol Ann Duffy, the recently appointed poet laureate of England (and a mighty fine choice), has commissioned war poems for our times. Here is the result, published in The Guardian.

I admire this. Enjoy!