Also, here’s a short video:

There were so many people that they had to shut down College Street. The speakers were amazing, the activists walking with me were amazing and just… everything about the Slutwalk was amazing.

For more details, visit: http://www.slutwalktoronto.com/

Straight up: it looks like I lied to you guys when I said that the College post would make up for how lame the King post was. Sorry. At least this one has pictures.

That being said, my trip to College was a lot more exciting than my trip to King.

Yesterday, a couple of friends and I walked all the way over to Fran’s on Yonge and College. It was a nice day, but kind of cold, so I’m not fully decided as to whether or not I actually enjoyed the walking that far. (The subway was down though, so I guess we would have had to walk a fair bit anyway.)

None of us had ever been to Fran’s before, but had only heard really good things about it, so we figured it would be a good idea to give it a try.

So how was it?

IT

WAS

FLIPPING

AMAZING.

Fran's. OM NOM NOM.

Fran’s is an old-school style sit-down restaurant with pretty much everything you could ever want – waffles, burgers, beer, milkshakes… everything. Every dish I saw looked amazing and the dishes that we had (a burger, a waffle and a Morning Glory plate) tasted really, really good. It’s kind of like Lick’s (why is there an apostrophe in ‘Lick’s'?) except that you get served by a waiter/waitress instead of having your food fast-food style. Fran’s is also a little bit more expensive than Lick’s, which I didn’t think was possible. REGARDLESS, I WOULD TOTALLY GO AGAIN.

WHAT IS UP WITH ALL OF THESE UNNECESSARY APOSTROPHES?!

The reason I’m not posting any pictures of the area surrounding Fran’s is because, once you’ve seen pictures of one subway stop in the downtown core, you’ve basically seen what the entire downtown core looks like. There’s just no point in me stopping in the middle of the street with my Blackberry in the air, trying to take a picture, if I’ve already done it a couple of times already.

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard! There was far too much milkshake. I love it when that happens.

The really cool thing about Fran’s (and one of the main reasons I wanted to go so badly) is because Glenn Gould used to go there all the time, although he went to the St. Clair location. I still think it’s kind of cool though, because Glenn Gould is amazing.

Speaking of Glenn Gould, my friend and I went to the Bata Shoe Museum this weekend and they had his shoes there in the Juno exhibit. AND OSCAR PETERSON’S SHOES. AND JUSTIN BIEBER’S SHOES! Three of my favourite Canadians, all (kind of) in the same place. I was excited.

By the way, the Bata Shoe Museum is surprisingly not bad. We had a really good time there. I’ll post some pictures on here as soon as they’re uploaded onto my computer. (Although I know I should really just do a whole post on St. George, but that will come in time. St. George has a special place in my heart.)

My banana and chocolate chip waffle! I actually managed to eat the whole thing. Don't judge me.

Finally, the marking that a restaurant has truly succeeded in the world of restaurants… custom-made food… products.

FRAN'S HAS ITS OWN SYRUP. AND KETCHUP. AND SUGAR.

Lick’s has its Guk and Homeburgers for sale in local grocery stores… Fran’s has its own sugar and ketchup and syrup. You know you’ve made it in the restaurant/hospitality business when you have custom-made stuff. One day, my coffee shop will have custom straws or stickers or plates or something – just you wait and see.

Like every year, my hair is (sloppily) spray-dyed green, I’ve adorned myself in cheap green beads, and my eye makeup looks like a leprechaun’s vomit.

… it’s a good day.

Seriously though, it’s a good day. The weather is PERFECT, the frat house across the street is blasting Irish music, and the high school students that keep touring past my window are probably kind of freaked out.

I live for days like this.

Today, I ventured over to Runnymede to go to Nicholson’s No Frills to pick up supplies for a party we’re having. I’d never actually been to Runnymede before, although a couple of my coworkers transferred to a store in the area. I figured that instead of going to the Dufferin No Frills alone and being sketched out, I’d try a new place.

So off I went, ROLLING THIS GEM BEHIND ME.

Isn't it beautiful?!

It belongs to one of my roommates. It is, quite possibly, my most favourite thing ever.

What sucks about the TTC is that you don’t realize how completely inaccessible it is until you’re unable to walk up or down the stairs without having to get someone else to help you. I got stuck having to take the super-long way to get everywhere, because I needed escalators (which I never did end up finding). Even the stations that are said to be accessible to people wheelchairs (and people rolling grocery thingers) aren’t really.

Anyway, I got to Runnymede after ten thousand subway delays and stepped back out into the sun. I wasn’t really expecting anything special, but as soon as I saw the area, I realized that this is the Toronto I love. Not the downtown core, but this. This suburban Downtown Oakville-esque area. Actually, a lot of the stores at Runnymede were the same as the stores on Lakeshore in Oakville.

Runnymede.

It wasn’t busy. Just the opposite. It was actually PEACEFUL, which is NOT an adjective I thought I would have used to describe anywhere in Toronto. Plus, it’s not like there’s nothing there; there are tons of coffee shops, bookstores, and flower shops that I saw.

So many places had sidewalk flower sales!

I was seriously considering buying some flowers until I realized that I would have to carry them up and down 3582395 flights of stairs to get to/from the subway train.

Ugh.

But yeah. The houses in this area are nice – they’re not over-the-top-gorgeous nice, but they’re quaint.

… I don’t think I’ve ever actually used the word ‘quaint’ before. Gold star for me.

ARRGGGHHH, LOOVEEE.

If I ever live in Toronto after I’m done school, this is the kind of area I want to live in.

This is going to be a short post, seeing as I didn’t do much while I was at King. I didn’t have a lot of time to explore the area and, to be frank, there isn’t much there to explore. If you really want to know what the area looks like, check out my St. Andrew post or Google Map it because I’m probably not going to be going back to that area anytime soon.

Not that it’s a bad area. I just really have no business being there.

Except for, you know, work business. That’s my business being there.

This morning I went to Random House’s Spring Preview. Every year, they host two events (one being the Spring Preview, the other being the Fall Preview) where booksellers go and learn about all the great new things that are coming out and listen to authors talk about their new books. I’ve been meaning to go forever, but haven’t had a chance until this time. I was SUPPOSED to go to the Fall Preview, but let’s not talk about that anymore.

So, I left my place at 9 (the event started at 9:30), which should have been plenty of time for me to get there and settle in and such. HOWEVER, something is majorly wrong with the subway or something, because it stopped randomly more than it usually does. Then, when we got to Union (I did the roundabout way, because it seemed like it would be faster), this huge school of kids got on my car. I would have been fine with this, IF THEY DIDN’T THINK THAT THEY HAD LOST ONE CHILD. But no. They thought they had lost one, and the conductor was too nice of a person to left the thing before.

And the thing is, there was no lost child. The woman in charge had just miscounted them.

YOU HELD UP THE TRAIN FOR 2-5 MINUTES. I EXPECT A LOST CHILD.

In short, I was about 10 minutes late to the Preview. Leah is never late. Ever. It was fine though, I guess, so whatever. BUT STILL.

Some of the books at the Preview actually seemed like they had potential to be pretty good. Most of them aren’t out yet but, when they do come out, I’m running to work and I’m gonna buy all of them at employee prices and it will be lovely. If you wanna know what I’m gonna be reading for the next little while, here’s a list of the books I took note of at the event. Please note that not all of these are new titles – some are just being put into Trade Paperback or are being released with new covers.:

The Imperfectionists – Tom Rachman
The Snowman – Jo Nesbo
The Immortalization Commission – John Gray
A Cold Night for Alligators – Nick Crowe
What Was Lost – Catherine O’Flynn
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Rebecca Skloot
Alone in the Classroom – Elizabeth Hay
The Hypnotist – Lars Kepler
The Dukan Diet – Pierre Dukan
Touch – Alexi Zentner
Flip – Martyn Bedford
In the Garden of Beasts – Erik Larson
Noah Barleywater Runs Away – John Boyne (illustrated by Oliver Jeffers)
The Meowmophosis – Franz Kafka and Coleridge Cook (I mean… come on. There’s CAT HUMOUR.)
The Warlock – Michael Scott
On The Outside Looking Indian – Rupinder Gill
Robopocalypse – Daniel H. Wilson (And there’s a movie version of this book coming out in 2013, directed by Spielberg.)
Blood Red Road – Moira Young
Various Positions – Martha Schabas

All in all, I had a good time. A few other people from my store were also there, and that was kind of nice.

That’s pretty much all I have to say about my journey to King Station. There isn’t much there… it’s a business/office area. I’m pretty sure my mom works near there, although I’m not actually too sure. I should probably get on figuring that out.

After the Preview, my Creepy Older Brother Figure (he was also at the event) and I went for Sushi at College (which I just realized that I’ve yet to blog about) at the Sushi Shop. It was good; I’d recommend it.

I’m saving my College post for when I go to Fran’s for the first time. I’m pumped. You should be pumped too.

I apologize for the lame post. I assure you, the College one will make up for it.

The second in a weekly series on how to do odd things in an urban setting. Kitty Rodé pulls on a brown wrap-around top and tan pelt skirt. She fastens a swath of grey fur around her shoulders, dons pointed prosthetic ears and pulls a strand of chunky wooden beads around her neck. Carefully, she draws two black streaks of eyeliner from th … Read More

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SHUT UP, SHUT UP, DON’T JUDGE ME.

Plus, I wanted to make a couple of stops on the way to Bathurst.

Quick note: CAN WE PLEASE JUST ADDRESS HOW PERFECT THE WEATHER IS TOGETHER?! HOLY. CRAP. I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT.

Great, now that THAT’S out of the way…

The reason I went to Bathurst was to go to Sonic Boom, which is this amazing (and enormous) music store. A couple of weeks ago, my friend took me to see Suuns play on the stage SB has set up on the bottom floor. The bottom floor which, may I just say, IS ALL VINYL AND VHS TAPES AND CASSETTES. A 90s child’s dream. I mean, nothing screams hardcore like an Aaron Carter cassette tape.

… I have all of his cassette tapes.

Sonic Boom.

I can’t actually say why I had to go to SB in case a certain someone happens to read this, but even though I found what I was looking for in two seconds, I ended up looking around for a good twenty minutes. You can’t help  it when you’re in there. They just have absolutely everything and it’s wonderful.

On my way to SB, I stopped into a little comic book store on Bloor.

The Labyrinth.

I’ve only been there a couple of times, but the same guy is always working. He must own the place or something. Anyway, he’s very nice. If you ever want good recommendations for comics and the like, he’s always a good person to consult. Unlike the people at the Silver Snail, this guy loves talking. Not in an annoying way. In a good way.

(By the way: they also carry some art books, which is kind of cool!)

Another great thing about walking to SB is that you pass a lovely store called Wiener’s Home Hardware. One day, I want to work at Wiener’s Home Hardware, just so I can put it on my Facebook page. Is that sad?

Right across from Wiener’s (tee hee!) is Lee’s Palace.

Lee’s Palace always has so many good shows going on, but I’ve never had the chance to go to any of them. It sucks. Regardless, sometimes I like to stand across from the building and take pictures of it. Mhm, that’s my idea of a good time.

Lee's Palace.

I must look like such a tourist, pulling my (NEW!) phone out to take pictures of everything.

Anyway, after stopping by The Labyrinth and SB, I figured that, since I was in the area anyway, I may as well stop into Honest Ed’s.

Oh, Honest Ed’s.

"ALL WET!! BUT HE NEVER SOAKS YOU!!"

Here’s the thing about HE:

It has this distinct smell. I can’t quite place it, but you walk in and immediately you know that you’re in Honest Ed’s. You quickly learn that, while in the store, you must at all times breathe through your mouth if you don’t want to experience nausea.

Also, the prices aren’t that good. You’d think that they’d be amazing, considering the horrible stench you have to endure to get to the products. BUT NO. I mean, some things are decently priced, I’ll give it that, but is it really work risking your health and well being to get a dollar off? Some things are actually kind of pricey, which makes me sad.

Finally, Honest Ed’s has a tiny grocery section. I hope that I never feel the desire to buy any sort of perishable food item from Honest Ed’s. Heck, I hope that I never feel the desire to buy any sort of NON-perishable food item from Honest Ed’s. I don’t trust it. I just… don’t. It’s the same with the beauty products they sell.

No, Honest Ed’s actually isn’t that horrible. Just bring a nose plug and you can get some great school supplies, cheap clothing (which I would still wash right away, just in case) and some cool novelty things. My mom’s office once had one of the golden Elvis heads that HE is known for selling. An Elvis head is always a lovely way to spruce up your dull home.

... there was another sign that said: 'Seating for "DENTAL PATIENTS" only.' Why the quotation marks? WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO TELL US?! Maybe Honest Ed isn't so innocent after all.

Speaking of home decor, I quickly popped by the home decor section. Look at what I found:

How have I gone my whole life without having one of these beautiful pieces of art in my home?

So Honest Ed’s is actually not 100% terrible. Plus, I have a 10% off Honest Ed’s card, so I guess I can’t complain that much.

… I just wish that Honest Ed’s had maps of the store. It took me a good five minutes to find an exit.

Okay, so before I end this post, I would just like to bring up one final thing:

A couple of weeks ago, my mother mailed me this clipping from 24 News reporting that, of all the subway stations, Bathurst was supposed to be the most romantic. I’m not kidding! The article is right here beside me, posted on my whiteboard.

SO WHY DID I NOT RECEIVE ANY LOVIN’ AT BATHURST STATION?! (By the way, Bathurst station has a cafe or bakery or something underground.) WHERE WAS THE LOVE?! I DID NOT SEE/HEAR/TASTE/FEEL IT.

24 News lied to me. They lied to all of us.

… I blame Honest Ed.

He really isn’t so innocent.

I didn’t actually subway it to the Osgoode Station area. I walked. With my friend, Caitlin.

I kind of feel like I’ve cheated somehow.

BUT WHATEVER. I took pictures and have things to say about Osgoode, so I guess that makes up for the fact that I didn’t spend the $6 needed to get there and back.

It was actually a long walk – if you know where I live, you’ll know what I mean. Good thing for us that it was actually a decent day and wasn’t too cold. Lately it’s been freezing. I try not to leave my building. Ever.

ANYWAY…

The reason we went to Queen Street was to hit up the Condom Shack. I needed to pick up a little something for a friend who’s celebrating his 19th birthday in less than a week.

The Condom Shack, in all its glory.

Honestly, this place is one of the best adult stores I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to my fair share). It’s not even that they have a huge selection or anything, it’s just that their employees are amazing. They’re so open and honest, and it’s actually nice to have someone tell you the truth about certain products they’ve tried. The employee that we spoke to spoke to us for like, five minutes about silicone lube. She was a passionate woman.

If you’re ever in the area, go inside and take a look around. Unlike most adult stores, you don’t need to be 18 to go in – I went in for the first time when I  was 15 or 16 – and buy stuff.

Next to the Condom Shack is this amazing piercing and tattoo place called Adrenaline.

Adrenaline.

It’s a little pricey, but if you want your piercings (and I guess tattoos, although I’ve never gotten a tattoo there) done right, go here. The music is loud, the people are nice, and there’s a lot of cool stuff to look at at the front of the store. Every once in a while, you’ll see some guy from a scene band mosey in. Those scene kids all look the same.

By the way, here’s a picture of Caitlin:

HUPPEH.

… moving on.

Another gem of Queen Street is the Silver Snail. If you live in Toronto and have never heard of the SS… I’m sorry. We can never be friends.

I just Googled 'Comic Book Pick-Up Lines' and this came up: 'I am a superhero and I’ll patrol your block all night long.'

This place is heaven for nerds.

I mean, I’m no nerd. I just like playing Carcassonne. Like, a lot.

Seriously, if anybody gets me the Catapult expansion pack, I will love them forever. I’ve wanted it for SO LONG.

Another great thing about the Silver Snail? Their front window displays. Right now, it’s Godzilla themed:

RRRRRRRAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWRRRR!

I’ve never even seen Godzilla and I still derive great pleasure from seeing this.

The SS is two levels of amazing if you’re into comics or action figures or whatever. Caitlin is definitely nerdier than I am, so she probably appreciates this place a little more than I do, but I still like it. It’s right across from the Rivoli too, so if you’re ever going to a show there or something, you can just stop by the SS. To buy me the expansion pack. Please. And thanks.

The final place that I took a picture of was the Black Market:

Everything actually IS $10!

The Black Market is my favourite clothing store ever. Every time I go, I end up walking out with at least one amazing piece of clothing that I wear pretty much every day.

Case in point: my dog sweater. If you’ve ever met me, you probably know what I mean.

I didn’t take any pictures of what it looks like on the inside (YOU NEED TO GO IN AND SEE FOR YOURSELF), but trust me when I say that it’s glorious. I could spend hours and hours in there and not get bored (I’ve done it before). This time, I bought a t-shirt with a picture of Napoleon riding a bike on it, as well as a blue scarf. Needless to say, both items will be worn many, many times. I’m so pumped.

Fashion Crimes - Cool clothes, but I've yet to find something in there that I would actually wear on a day that isn't Halloween.

We went to some other stores in the area (Lush – I bought a lettuce face mask – and DavidsTea – I bought 50g of Dulce & Banana), and then we decided that it was time to head back to campus. Before we left though, we made sure to take some pictures of some of the street art.

As much as I say I dislike Queen Street, it has its good sides. On weekends and in the summer, it’s usually filled with 905ers on day trips (I know, I said the same thing about Kensington Market), but since we went on a Tuesday in the morning, it wasn’t busy at all. If you go during the day too, the workers are WAY nicer because they don’t have to deal with all the high school kids. We didn’t have one bad service experience today, so I’d say the trip was a success.

Also, we stopped at King’s Noodle House on our way back to campus! Caitlin bought me lunch because she owed me money. Then she bought an apple. It was huge.

IT'S SO ABNORMALLY LARGE.

Going to Queen Street was just a good way to spend a Tuesday with a good friend. Plus, I got to tried fried dough at King’s. MMMMMMMM.

Seriously, it’s ridiculous. YOU ONLY NEED ONE GLASSES STORE PER BLOCK.

Moving on.

Sherbourne is one of my favourite places in Toronto. People are usually kind of surprised to hear me say this though, because it’s not really the nicest area. I mean, there are some really gorgeous townhouses on Sherbourne Street, but there are also some really grubby ones.

I LOVE these houses.

The street parallel to Sherbourne. Sorry, I never found out what the name of it was.

If you look closely, you can see that someone hung up a Toronto Maple Leafs towel. True pride.

I think the reason I like it is because it has character. You know how New York has character? And London and Paris have character? This is like, one of the only parts of Toronto that actually has its own genuine… vibe. (I bring this up because my friend and I had a conversation about this just the other day.)

A boarded up house on Sherbourne and Howard.

There’s a Goodwill in a small shopping centre that’s just less than a block away from the station, so I always make sure to pop inside there when I’m in the area. It’s huge. Way bigger than the one in Oakville. That being said, the one in Oakville is significantly better because they play music. (‘Forever Young’ on loop. It’s glorious.) On the plus side though, the one at Sherbourne has comics! I bought issues 1-3 of Fell.

Fell! I'm pumped.

I was so tempted to buy it.

But the real reason I went to Sherbourne is to go to the No Frills. I usually go to the one at Dufferin, but it’s always so busy, so I thought I’d check this one out. It actually wasn’t bad. The cashier was being kind of rude to the woman in front of me, but I think that was because the customer was trying to return a lettuce that she had clearly dropped in the mud or something. No Frills cashier, you’re excused. I would’ve been a lot more rude if someone tried that with me.

But she WAS quite pleasant when she was serving me. I made sure to say thanks.

The weather today wasn’t particularly great. Even with my calve-high boots (I love those things), I still managed to get mud all over the back of my jeans. Plus, I had to carry the heaviest grocery bag ever. Sometimes my life can be so difficult.

Sherbourne stop is right in the south part of the Rosedale area of Toronto. Rosedale’s nice. Very nice, actually. That being said, south of Rosedale isn’t nearly as nice. I don’t know if a lot of families live there, but it just doesn’t scream “I AM A CHILD-FRIENDLY COMMUNITY!” to me.

Note to the city to Toronto - sticking a park in the middle of a doesn't-appear-to-be-a-great-neighbourhood-for-families neighbourhood won't fool anyone into thinking otherwise.

I could be wrong though. I don’t really know.

On the plus side, there is this:

I don't know what it is, but I like it.

… I feel like people do drugs in there.

Yup, child-friendly neighbourhood.

The Dundas stop.

I can honestly say that the area around the Dundas stop is my least favourite area of this whole city. I hate almost everything about it. (I briefly touched on this in my post on Wellesley.)

It’s dirty. It’s crowded. It’s just… ugh.

The shops at Yonge and Dundas. The Eaton Centre is JUST out of view.

Let me tell you about today’s very short experience at Dundas.

Almost immediately after walking up the stairs from the station, a homeless woman missing an eye asked me for money. I kept walking and she stayed where she was, but she yelled at me until I was too far away to hear her any longer. Then, as I passed the door to the Eaton Centre (Dundas is one of two stops that takes you to the Eaton Centre – that’s how big it is), a man handing out Black History Month flyers followed me for a bit. This whole time, more mentally insane homeless people are yelling at me for change.

The thing is, this whole experience wouldn’t make me hate Dundas if it didn’t happen EVERY SINGLE TIME I’M THERE. Last time, this homeless woman stopped right in front of me while I was walking, patted me on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey there, beautiful, got a couple of dollars?’ Yeah, that’s not really okay with me, thankyouverymuch.

I just hate it. I feel so uncomfortable when I’m by myself at Dundas.

That’s why as soon as I figured I had enough to write about, I left. And now I’m at a Starbucks on Bay, attempting to finish one of the million papers I have due within the next couple months.

Here are some of the pictures I took:

Dundas Square.

This is Dundas Square on the corner of Yonge and Dundas. Tons of concerts and other events are held here throughout the year. In the summer, there are little fountains all over the place and it can be gorgeous, and that’s why I don’t 100% hate everything about Dundas. Those fountains.

The World's Biggest Book Store on Edward St.

… before you say anything, I can’t help it. This store has EVERYTHING and it’s all so organized!

Ryerson University.

Hey look, it’s Ryerson University!

This university campus is SO small – it’s literally about one square block. There are like, five buildings in total, and this university is pretty much the butt of every joke made by U of T and York students. For good reason.

JUST KIDDING, THEY HAVE SOME DECENT PROGRAMS. … some.

Here’s something kind of funny I read about Ryerson a little while ago:

http://theeyeopener.com/2010/11/profs-walk-out-on-engineering-students/

WHY THE HECK WOULD YOU PAY THAT MUCH MONEY TO GO TO CLASS AND THEN FOOL AROUND THAT MUCH IN CLASS?! Good on ya, Ryerson Engineers. Watch out, world, those are the people that are going to be building your bridges four years from now.

Zanzibar.

Zanzibar is legendary, and that’s why I felt it was necessary to post a picture of it up here. “Hotter than the Yonge Street fire?” Come on, you have to give them credit – that’s pretty funny.

Well, there you go. Those are all the pictures I took of Dundas before I ditched. And, hopefully, I won’t be back for a very, very long time.