Category: Community
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Capital Building: A View from Washington – Part 2
Click here for Capital Building: A View from Washington – Part 1 Having finally seen Washington, DC for myself this summer, it was great to connect with this presentation by Marcel Acosta, Executive Director of the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), the Federal Planning Agency for America’s Capital. In it he discusses how the city came to be shaped,… Read more
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Capital Building: A View from Washington – Part 1
In spite of the oppressive heat and humidity of August in Washington, D.C., I did what I like to do best: I walked around, looked at things and talked to people. This being my first trip to the capital, I focussed on the National Mall, exploring adjacent neighborhoods, and my relentless pursuit of Guastavino tile. In D.C., security is the conversational opener in the same… Read more
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Looking at Dogs (and Cats) in Windows
It’s simple. It’s brilliant. And it’s better than tv. Instead of tucking doggy daycare in the back of a building, why not put it out front? Add plate glass windows and a busy pedestrian street and you have universal entertainment and an instant joy generation machine. In the few minutes I stood there watching, a small crowd gathered… Read more
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Alex Janvier at the National Gallery of Canada
Alex Janvier is among the most important figures in the development of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada. This retrospective presents more than 150 works created from 1950 to the present day and recounts the story of a life devoted to art and the re-empowerment of Indigenous cultures. Over a prolific sixty-five-year career Janvier has produced… Read more
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Hello, This is The New York Times Calling
It’s not every day that The New York Times calls one for an interview. But I arrived home recently to find a message from Times reporter Sarah Maslin Nir. The topic? Charity house tours in New York City and the potential breach of privacy that cellphone cameras pose to homeowners. Read more
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The Pilgrimage to Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacobs was a noted urbanist, writer and activist whose book The Death and Life of Great American Cities has become the go-to tome for community planning and urban development. ********** Like the Camino de Santiago, there are prescribed stops on the pilgrimage to Jane Jacobs, including her two former residences in Toronto and New York… Read more
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Caplansky’s Delicatessen Toronto
There is nothing I like better in this world than serendipity, except, perhaps, a great smoked meat sandwich. So there we were at U of T, hungry and cold, and Husband suggested eating at Subway to which I replied with a choice expletive or two. We’re in Toronto, for God’s sake, surely we can do better… Read more
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360° of Franc van Oort (Pt. 2)
Note: There is now a Part 1 which can be found here. Don’t go looking for Part 1 of this piece because it has yet to be written. I am exercising my right to choose the cadence and order of storytelling; here the order is immaterial except for the lack of a formal introduction of artist Franc van Oort, and… Read more
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Fogo Island: Strange and Familiar
Not long after Newfoundland began to impress itself upon me through its stories, the epic story of Fogo Island and Zita Cobb emerged. Read more
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Cruising in My Neighbours’ Amphicar
It’s a car! It’s a boat! It’s a 1964 Amphicar looking for adventure on the Rideau River at Burritt’s Rapids. And it’s better than a dog for meeting people. Read more