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Hi and welcome to episode 7 of the I Walk Toronto podcast. I’m Lorrie. Thank you for listening.
Introduction
Wow, it’s been more than four months since the last episode of the podcast and I don’t know where the time has gone. Well, I have a pretty good idea. I’ve been busy. I’ve been travelling. I’ve been lazy and unmotivated. I’ve had a lot change but it also feels like nothing’s changed.
I don’t know. I guess life gets in the way sometimes. But, a few people have been bugging me for a new episode, so here we go.
Over the past number of months I’ve had the opportunity to visit a few different cities and do a lot of walking in some not-so-pleasant Spring weather.
First, Berlin. I’d been planning my trip to Berlin since mid-Autumn last year – I was depressed and needed something to look forward to, so I entered their half marathon and booked a flight and hotel. Berlin is hard to sum up in a couple of words. The weather was shit, and I can only imagine how much the city transforms when it’s sunny and warm. Seeing the parts of the Wall that are still standing was amazing. I grew up knowing of a divided Germany, never quite understanding how they could just build a wall through the centre of a city and create a completely separate country. Standing in the drizzle, reading about the history of the Wall, and the names and circumstances of those who attempted escape, both successfully and unsuccessfully, was chilling.
The city is much more spread out than I thought it would be and I’d like to say that I saw all of it, but there wasn’t a chance, especially when I spent the majority of my time walking. I did get to see a good amount of it though and I like that it isn’t as quaint as a lot of Europe is to North Americans. A lot of the architecture is modern and well done. It’s reasonably clean and isn’t in dire need of a pressure washing. And the populace is reasonably young and up for a good time.
Currywurst is totally overrated, by the way.
So I drank too much, ate too much, spent too much on socks at KaDeWe, desperately wished I’d brought my winter coat and ran a half marathon.
Yes – the half marathon. Not much to say. Course was flat, my time was fine and I would do it again. If I decide to race in the future.
All in all, if you have the chance to visit Berlin, take it.
I was back from Berlin for less than a week and I had to fly to Arlington, Virginia for five days of training for my new job. Arlington is right across the Potomac from Washington, DC, which is one of my favourite cities in which to play tourist. Plus, my favourite podcast, All Songs Considered, is recorded in DC and I was looking forward to checking out some of the venues they mention.
Tough to say much about Arlington except that it looks brand-spanking-new and it’s hilly. Since it’s my goal to run in every city I visit I walked a 10km route that took me from Arlington into Georgetown, along the Potomac to the Lincoln Memorial and then through Arlington National Cemetery back to the hotel. Not too much history then. The next day I ran it.
In May I took a 60 hour trip to Pittsburgh for work. As a Steelers fan it’s a city I’ve always wanted to go to for football, but a fortuitous meeting with a friend of a friend had me thinking that this is a town in which I could have some fun. Indeed I did. If you appreciate a working class town full of friendly people and great dive bars, then Pittsburgh is worth the trip. Yes, I drank too much beer and ate too many Primanti Brothers’ sandwiches, but it was worth it. Oh, and I got to go to a playoff hockey game, which is a strange experience when you’ve been living in Toronto for as long as I have. So yeah, go to Pittsburgh. And if you do, go to Gooski’s. You’ll be glad you did. I kept the running streak alive with a short 5km run along the waterfront. I think the highlight was stopping and going down into a submarine that was docked outside the Carnegie Science Center. Talk about claustrophobic. Oh, and I took a picture of the Mr. Rogers statue outside of Heinz Field. It was a beautiful day in the neighbourhood.
June. Ah June. This episode is starting to feel like a travelogue instead of whatever IWalkToronto is, but I’ve been trying to make the podcast a bit longer, so I’ll continue.
Mid June I budgeted some travel money in one of my jobs and ended up in New Haven, Connecticut. I figured that since it’s the home of Princeton it could be a pretty interesting town. Maybe it is during the school year, but since school is out, it’s not that exciting. I met a fellow Canadian at the pub, where we watched the Canadian women’s soccer team tie the Netherlands, and that was pretty much the most excitement that I had. New Haven is kind of a crummy place. I had what is supposedly the best pizza in the US at a place called Frank Pepe. Think Pizza Libretto, but with a better selection of toppings. Was it good? Yes. Does it replace Vesuvio or UBC Pizza in my heart? No.
I guess New Haven was good for two things. I kept up my streak of running in every new city that I go to, and I gave free ice cream to New Haven’s sizeable homeless population. Fuck it. If a bank is going to pay me to give out free ice cream, then I’d prefer to give it to the people who can’t afford it instead of the people who can.
My last trip of the year, so far, was to Montreal, to visit some friends in town from Vancouver, as well as one of my dearest friends, Josh. I knew it was going to be a great trip as soon as I booked the train. I love the train. The four and a half to five hours it takes to get to Montreal is the perfect length. You can relax. Look out the window. Read. None of the stress of air travel, just chilled out as soon as you sit down. That I was going there to see three of my favourite people and eat amazing food with them did not hurt a bit.
Montreal, as usual, didn’t disappoint. I had a lot of mixed feelings when I lived there. Living 500 kilometers from my wife was the biggest drawback, but there’s also a general lack of common sense that you don’t notice when you visit, but is evident when you’re living there. And then there’s the crumbling infrastructure. But, when it comes to quality of life, Montreal is hard to beat. The ability to buy amazing food is like a God-given right there. And the people are fun and fun-loving. Every time I go, I miss it. I need to go more often.
And that brings me to today. It’s July 15th. Two weeks ago I quit my full time job to go back freelance and I’m back at the place where I’m happiest. Life is pretty good.
What I’m listening to
I decided to buy a wristband to NXNE this year. Partially to support the festival, but mostly because I absolutely, positively had to see Deafheaven. They did not disappoint. I cannot think of a more intense show that I’ve seen. Maybe not since Soundgarden at the Commodore in Vancouver at the end of the Badmotorfinger tour. It was insane. It was cathartic. It was everything I wanted it to be, and then more. I’ve been listening to Deafheaven a lot recently, and I know that they aren’t to everyone’s taste, but something about them grabs me by the heart and the head and the balls and won’t let go. Here’s my favourite song off of 2013’s Sunbather. It’s called Dream House. You should get this immediately.
The other amazing show I saw was Kate Tempest. I grew up loving hip hop, but modern hip hop mostly sucks my will to live. Listening to catalogues of how much awesome stuff the MC has is bullshit. I’d heard Kate Tempest on NPR All Songs Considered, and I liked her, but live she just blew the roof off. I think she’s unparalleled and could be the best MC of her generation. Not best female MC. Best MC. Here is her track, Lonely Daze. Pay special attention to the first minute. ‘Pete had his heart broke once / He never fixed it’ is a line that kills and kills and kills.
Of course no podcast would be complete without some Sleater Kinney. You might have gathered that I’m kind of obsessed with breakup songs. It doesn’t matter if I’m happy or sad, a good breakup song is hard to beat. I’m pretty sure I played this on an earlier podcast, but I don’t care. I listen to this song every day and I think you should too. Here’s Sleater Kinney’s Good Things. Aside from their track, One More Hour, it doesn’t get better than this.
What I’ve been thinking about
Fuck social media. After a rough period at my safe, full time job I decided to quit for my sanity, but not before quitting Facebook and Instagram.
I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. The amount of time we spend staring into our phones is completely ridiculous. It’s like we’ve forgotten how to experience life. I would sit there at work, absolutely miserable, staring at my screen and thinking about how much better everyone else’s life is. How stupid is that? Facebook and Instagram are competitions. Look at how great things are. Look at me. Look at who I’m with. Isn’t my boyfriend pretty? Staring into screens and avoiding eye contact. Leaving our phones on the table when we’re out for drinks or dinner with friends. Turning the phone over, lest an inappropriate notification pop up and the person we’re with notices.
I was out for drinks the other night with someone and the first thing I noticed when I got back from the toilet is that she wasn’t putting her phone away. Instead, she was taking in and appreciating her surroundings. Or thinking about an art project. Or any one of a number of things that wasn’t staring at Facebook or Instagram on her phone. Or texting someone.
That’s badass. That’s appropriate behavior. That’s my people.
The other thing I’m thinking about is life in general. After what I’ve gone through over the past couple of years I was convinced that I was no longer capable of a full range of feelings. At some point, that changed. Last Monday I was walking to work up Palmerston, admiring how beautiful the street looked and I realized just how lucky and how happy I felt.
Paying attention to your mental health is important. No relationship or job is worth staying in if it turns you into something you don’t want to be. I gave up job security so I didn’t have to go back to therapy and I’ve never felt better.
IWalkToronto – the cycling podcast?
So, I write and record a podcast called IWalkToronto and this summer I decided to become a cyclist. Why? Why not?
As usual, I found myself questioning a decision I’d made at some point in the past and spent a lot of time thinking about whether that decision was still relevant to my life. Now that I’m back working at Yonge and Bloor, my walking commute is an hour each way, or a twenty minute cycle. What could I do with an extra hour and twenty minutes a day? Anything and everything is the answer. It’s summer. Yes I love walking, but I also need time for other things.
The thing I miss the most when I cycle is listening to podcasts, but I think the tradeoff is worth it. And I won’t cycle every day, especially as I continue to rehab after my first crash as a cyclist. Damned street car tracks.
Anyway, life evolves. I think this podcast will, too. I’d like to get back to a regular schedule and hope to do so.
Closing thoughts
It’s the middle of summer. Enjoy it. Life is short.
Thanks for listening. If you want to get in touch, you can send me an email to iwalktoronto@gmail.com. Or follow me on twitter @iwalktoronto. The Facebook group and Instagram accounts are still up, but I won’t be using them, nor checking them. I have a blog to host the podcast, which is iwalktoronto.ca. And you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes – search for I Walk Toronto, this time three words. If you enjoyed it, please rate the episode. If you have questions or comments, please get in touch.
Thanks again.
Bye for now, and remember, be awesome.
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