day 458 - civilized cavemen?

this carving can be found in one of the gates of the air canada centre in downtown toronto.

there is a really big disconnect in this carving. like, hello! someone was cooking on a pot? what was he cooking? french onion soup?!?

day 457 - bikes for hire

there are bikes for hire in toronto and you can find them in front of the union centre. i first saw this in montreal last year when i went there with my dearest friend lulu and i thought it was a good idea and toronto should adopt this good idea. and they did! now, if only i know how to ride a bike, i'd be renting one of these. or perhaps not, because if i know how to, i'd be buying my own bike, now wouldn't i?

day 456 - the flowers are holding up!

they're still lovely, but giving me grief with my allegies. 'tis a good thing i'm going to work and i don't have to deal with them. now the mango and tangerines, i can as well as the chocolates. post-happy mother's day to all.

day 455 - mother's day

i got a dozen of these babies for today's occasion. isn't being a mother great?

day 454 - coming out from the dead of winter

these daffodils have risen from their quiet winter repose, pushing through the dead grass of last summer.

day 453 - on a clear day

you can almost see forever, or in this case the flock of birds on the other side of the island. gloriously bright day today, blue skies nary a cloud in sight.

day 452 - more stray flowers

taken on my way to the lake front on a lovely and bright spring day.

day 451 - they're a bloomin'!

jonquils or daffodils are coming out late. in fact, everything is coming up late due to the cold. these flowers are lovely but they have a very distinctive stink!

day 450 - the car

well, i finally showed my face, and it's about time, isn't it? this morning, my sister and i were leaving carol stream to go back to toronto. and i thought i better have a picture taken with this car, a chrysler, for which i'd be paying big money just to drive it. it drives very smoothly and i liked it so much it makes me want to buy it. no, not really!

day 449 - tulips in black and white

now that we have coloured photos, why do we still want to take them in black and white, especially when the subject are flowers? a case of nostalgia, maybe? nope! i just wanted to see what my new canon can do for me, 'tis all.

day 448 - st. isidore revisited

a beautiful albeit a tad cooler spring day today. i went with the family to church but there was a lot of distractions inside so i went outside with my camera. this churchgrounds never fail to amaze me. the grass is so lush and the gardens are teeming with flowers and it pains me that i won't see them in full bloom in a few days. in any case, i really wanted to take again a photograph of this statue by the cemetery entrance using my new canon. see day 106 for my shot of the same statue last year.

day 447 - geese

early this morning, i went for a long brisk walk. i head the sounds geese make and got my little camera ready. where'd i see them? on top of houses. about half a dozen of them making all that noise. that early in the morning. i was waiting for someone to shoot at them but no such luck (after all, i am in america!). they were really noisy, though!

day 446 - on a bright sunny day

in carol stream, illinois. while my sister hears a mass, i am stalking the birds outside of corpus christi church. the birds are singing, mating and taunting me, knowing i wanted so desperately to take their pictures in flight, close up, but this is the most that they'd make me.

day 445 - yellow or orange tulip?

both! the variegated kind. just starting to bloom, by the churchyard. on a nice sunny day.

day 444 - what flower?

pretty but i don't know it's name, still i love that flower by the sill.

day 443 - going for a sunday drive

it's a beautiful sunny day and i just felt like aiming the camera at anything as we drove by. look at that bluest of the blue skies.

day 442 - a mural on queen street east

a project of the city - funding the artistic talents of its citizens, like this mural. toronto is home to a number of really talented youth artists and funding projects like this puts the kids' talent to good use.

day 441 - pot

no, not that pot. this pot!

day 440 - bakery mural

there is a large mural on the building of a bakery in etobicoke. it is not possible to take a photo of the whole mural unless you probably stand a block away from it. plus there are cars parked in front of it so you would not get a good shot unless you come early in the morning. this is part of that mural.

day 439 - fish for good friday

today, at lunch we went to Len Duckwoths Fish & Chips on the danforth. it's jampacked and i only realized why just when we were leaving. it is good friday today and maybe the patrons were mostly catholics so they were observing the "no meat" day today. oi, how many times must i explain that it's not that meat they were talking about!....

day 438 - a city scene

the fountain in the square by the flatiron building, facing east.

day 437 - ron cubay

rhum from cuba, something forbidden to the americans. but here in canada, we're a friendly lot, we do drink it.

day 436 - spring rolls

the vegetarian kind, not the meaty ones, but delicious nonetheless.

day 435 - lamp

at giorgio's, next door to my apartment, lit by the setting sun, on a gorgeous spring afternoon.

day 434 - pillars

this is the st. lawrence marketplace, or the outside part of it, with those globelights all in a row.

day 433 - mini marshmallows

at bradley's birthday party, i just kept popping these beauties in my mouth. yummy!

day 432 - this is my toronto!

the only thing spoiling this pretty picture are the cars lined up on the streets, although i must admit they lend authenticity to the scene.

day 431 - signs of spring

and the moon is there to witness the buds coming out of the trees. it's still cold, though/

day 430 - pussy willows

dying to come out but for the cold
summer will soon be here and it will be old.

day 429 - "hmmmm.... i wonder...

"...how much did i have this morning in my account after i bought my latte? maybe i have enough to buy this boat..."

that's probably what this guy was thinking as he admires those boats on display just outside the royal bank plaza.

day 428 - the old gas lamp on king street east

at one o'clock in the afternoon, under a cloudy sky, the gas lamps are burning; this is one of the few on that stretch of king street between jarvis and church.

day 427 - stray crocuses

well, they're probably not stray crocuses because they were between a church wall and the pavement. but they looked like diamonds in the rough, with their beautiful variagated colour amongst dried leaves, stray garbage and heavens whatever dogs have left around there. pretty soon they will die and the saffron they would've produced would be gone and wasted.

day 426 - "the one"

this coffee shop was quite busy this afternoon, heavy people traffic, the coffee must be good!

day 425 - flowers

a flowering plant on the window sill of a friend's apartment.

day 424 - keepsake

my good friend fiorella gave this to me a few years ago after she vacationed in jamaica. it's on my desk at the office, collecting dust, like so many other things i have, and full of pennies. i'm keeping this because of the painting of tulip as its design. and why not? it gives me joy to just look at it.

day 423 - is it really spring yet?

it is spring since two weeks ago, and yet the cold hasn't left. it doesn't matter that the sun shines so bright every time, but if the cold prevents us from enjoying it outside of the glass walls, what does it really do for us?

day 422 - on a clear spring day

after the snowstorm, the sky is so blue as reflected in the glass windows of this very nice home that i passed by this afternoon. it's cold as hell but the sun's shining brightly so that part there is nice.

day 421 - thou shall not...part 2

an ornament in the garden of the little bungalow in day 414; perhaps an attempt at reminding passers-by. so, which ones have you not heeded to today?

day 420 - thou shall not...

this is the stem part of an apple, the gala variety. i eat this usually with very old gouda cheese or old cheddar. good for the teeth, the gums and the stomach.

day 419 - let there be light

in the dining room. this is of course a really small lighting fixture but in this picture it looks like some large ballroom-y type. it still uses the regular light bulbs that eat up a portion of your hydro bill.

day 418 - chivas

a beautiful tin box keepsake - just a keepsake, the bottle had been emptied and recycled; the tin kept for posterity.

day 417 - leaving on a jetplane

well, i wish i was! to somewhere far and warm, and cheap. can't wait for november when my dearest friend and i will gallivant the streets of manila going to our planned activities to relax and destress. ahhhhh, manila here i come.

day 416 - number 26

one of the attractive doors that never made it to my 365 album. taken on a sunny but cold sunday afternoon four days after a big snowstorm pounded the city.

day 415 - 1922

this is a building on the corner of the danforth and monarch avenues. the sign at the top of the centre window says "1922" which means it was built during that year. it houses "sarah's cafe" one of our favourite restaurants because they have unique food that are prepared differently from any other restaurant. the portabello mushroom burger is to die for.

day 414 - picture pretty

going around a nice neighbourhood where the houses were large and obviously expensive, i came upon this bungalow, the only tiny one amongst the large mansions, like a david amid several goliaths. what attracted me the most was its window, quite dainty especially with the plants arranged on its sill. you gotta be there to really really appreciate it. yay for its owners!

day 413 - way past its time

a Christmas planter outside of a rexall pharmacy. obviously, even though it is still wintery, this planter is dead and should be in the recycling or composting bin by now, as it doesn't hold anymore aesthetic appeal, it being dry and withered, not to mention way past its intended season. i say get rid of the darn thing already.

day 412 - wafers

i love vanilla wafers. it's the only thing vanilla that i love. anything else is bleh!

day 411 - last money never lose!

is it obvious this photo is inverted? well, it is! in any case, this is my little grandson's loot for the day the last time he was here. but he forgot to put it in his little piggy bank so i left it where he would see it next time he comes around.

day 410 - prints

the lovely flower prints of my bed cover.

day 409 - winter, yet again

it's been snowing all day. after that beautiful, albeit cold, weekend, they give us this. you could barely even see the CN tower. of course, i am pissed with the cold because i have the flu. so bring on the cold as i am bound for bed and stay there and vegetate for the next 24 hours!