day 377 - i am a hotel

this is the top floor of the king eddie hotel on king street. this part of the hotel is not open to the public, except once a year during the "doors open: toronto" event. the first time it was shown to the public, a lot of people came to see what it was like. it's like entering a haunted house in the middle of the day. this floor contains the old ballroom of the hotel and is the inspiration for leonard cohen's poem "i am a hotel".

day 376 - one more time for the frozen lake

we were having a big 'thaw' in toronto today and this was how the lake looked like in the afternoon when the temperature got to around plus 5, but with the 61 kmph winds, the water was a tad stirred that's why there is that gap in the freezing water. and until i zoomed in, i didn't realize that there were two huge barges docked right there. hah!

day 375 - an architrave

this is the facade of the metropolitan united church on queen and church streets. it's always giving me a good invite whenever i am in the area, so, why not take a few shots. it's a nice and engaging subject to photograph, all the time.

day 374 - run for the cure sunglasses

today, i received a gift from the canadian breast cancer foundation, for simply fundraising more than $300 last october during the annual run for the cure. this is a lovely pair of sunglasses from eyewear pink, something something. i'm pretty sure it will see a lot of use during the summer. and of course i shall wear it on run day in october.

day 373 - crystal heart

no, this was not a gift from yesterday's valentine celebration. i was only testing the macro ability of my new canon powershot! and boy, do you see that detail on the cameo.

day 372 - mini icicles

we had a thawing period during the weekend and then it got freezing again today. this was what's left of the melting ice from yesterday. damn! i haven't captured any real icicles yet this year. but then again, at the same time, i don't want it any more freezing cold than it is now. say, why don't we just bring in the sunshine, huh?

day 371 - a healthy breakfast

oatmeal and blueberries. not for me though, i can't eat this stuff in the morning. the oatmeal i can take, but the berries will give me a good case of gas throughout the day. but this morning, when partner was about to have it, i said, "hold! photo of the day!"

day 370 - early gift?

well, surprise! i got an early valentine's gift from the soon-to-be-ex-partner. a small box of chocolate truffles. and since i do not refuse chocolate especially that i know where he purchased it from, i suppose we are valentining. NOT! for the record i didn't get nor do i plan to get him anything. yes, it will be just me, me, and me.

day 369 - antique wine stoppers

these are hundred-year old wine stoppers that belonged to the mother of the man i call my partner but he's not going to be anymore come march 1st. why are they called wine stoppers? actually the better term is bottle stoppers. well, let's find someone who can explain. but there it is, photo of the day.

day 368 - images above seen from underneath

i have a bag that i carry with me everyday to work and i just throw it underneath my desk beside my recycling bin. looking around my desk for something to photograph, i saw the reflection of the overhead lights on my sunglasses on top of my scarf inside the bag, and voila! photo of the day.

day 367 - didn't we see this one already?

yes, but this is from a different view. taken at the corner of bay and lakeshore. i swear to you, this tower is stalking me!

day 366 - cold, cold toronto

lake ontario taking on the sunset...it is a miserably cold day today. miserable. really.

day 365 - i did it!

well, congratulations to moi! this is my 365th picture on this blog which i started last year. and to celebrate, i will eat another half a dozen of these wonderful white chocolate lavender truffles. yum yum yummy!

and just to keep me on my toes, i will perhaps continue to post photographs here and get it on to the second year. so, yeah! whooo-hooo!

actually, in january, i also joined 365 project and there, i am not so lonely because there's a lot of photography savvy people in there and there is more challenge there because people get to view the postings. if you care to join us, view my photographs at: http://365project.org/summerfield/365

day 364 - super bowl dinner

these were cooking in my oven yesterday for this "what's the big deal" super bowl event that partner and my niece were so gung-ho about. i don't care much for meat as i don't eat them myself, but the house was filled with a delicious aroma, but that is because i made myself some gambas al ajillo.

day 363 - testing the newly-found knowledge

as in newly-learned knowledge in taking photographs with two smart kids from work. we went to henry's, paid a not-so-serious sum of $75 to learn mostly what we already know, and forget the new ones just learned. bien, c'est la vie! so we hung around the Metropolitan United Church and despite the snow that had started to fall, we took some pictures.

day 362 - lake ontario after the snowcalypse

footsteps galore on the snowy embankment going down to the waters of lake ontario.

day 361 - the danforth after the "snowcalypse"

yes, it was overhyped, that big snowstorm. in the end we only got about 15 cm. of the white stuff, and this morning the sun was shirning brightly and warmed up so most of the stuff started to melt.

but look at this photograph, using my new gizmo (see day 361). one shot and i got the other side of the danforth. in my old olympus i'd get only 2/3 of the scenery. sweet!

day 360 - my new point and shoot

on sale at black's, and i couldn't resist it. this is the third camera i bought in one week, and the most expensive. there was a blue nikon coolpix i got for less than $80, and yesterday an olympus (that was supposed to be the upgrade of my present p&s) for $40. i would've also bought a kodak easyshare which was on sale for $29, and i had to pass it up because of this baby. yes! now, if i only could learn how to take better pictures.

day 359 - one more time for the CN tower

i think i've posted too many CN tower pictures but never mind, this one's an accident because the roof of the rogers centre (nee the skydome) got included in the frame. partner was driving 110 kmph when i took the picture and it still turned out well, albeit tilted, but i thought it looks kind of good that way, n'est-ce pas?

day 358 - flock of geese weathervane

against the backdrop of a partially cloudy sky but with bright sunshine peeking through every now and then, this weathervane got my attention and took probably about 20 shots before i could get a decent one. coming to the end of the year now. eight more days to go and i have to decide if i will continue.

day 357 - a flock of geese

on my drive around the city, i chanced by this rarely seen formation of Canada geese on lake ontario. it was hellish cold again today but there was no wind, thank heavens, so taking pictures around wasn't so bad, unlike yesterday morning.

day 356 - a pink van

yay! for pink vans. i wonder how the driver of this van feels everytime he sits in his pink truck. do people refer to him as "ah, you drive the pink van, don't you?" or "is that pink van yours?" but, it's a nice pink anyway. i'd be proud to drive it myself.

day 355 - the view

this is the view from one of our office floor's lounges: the full length of the CN tower with the Rogers Centre (nee the Skydome). although if i have to attend a meeting here, i probably would just want to watch the lake and everything else that i can look at.

day 354 - yellow building

one more time for gino! away from the danforth this time. this is on the corner of queen street east and church street. why was i there, you ask? looking for something different to eat. at gino's pizza? well, no, but i just kept walking and walking and walking until i realized there's really nothing unique or special around here in terms of food. the thing, 'though, is that if you eat anywhere around here and you get a tummy ache, the st. mike's is just around the corner. hooray for gino's yellow building. second time it's been featured in my projects. see my other album at http://365project.org/summerfield/

day 353 - birds

on a cold, cold day, these birds are all huddled together up the hydro wires on main street and danforth. this is just a portion of the wire i took. that wire to the left was also covered with these black birds. the alfred hitchcock movie came to mind. yowsers!

day 352 - the CN tower, again

this time on a winter day, taken from front street east, looking west, on my way to st. lawrence market. it seems like the tower is competing against the tall skyscrapers for attention. of course when you go up the tower, these buildings look like midgets. i like the juxtaposition of the lamp post and the bare branches against the tower's straight line and the structure of the buildings.

day 351 - the view from within

having lunch at the food court, i looked up and this was the view: a round building. this picture is quite interesting in that it has different shapes in its composition: squares, rectangle, triangle, arc, round, why even an oblique rectangle - you know i'm just winging this. i forgot my shapes from grade school, but that is forgivable considering i am nearing my 60th year.

day 350 - sunshine

today, it was cold! minus 21 in the morning with a windchill factor of minus 36. that's celcius. but damn! the sun shone brightly and it was lovely throughout the day. except it was very, very cold. the good news is we are heading into the warm days again, in about four more months!

day 349 - the concrete jungle

this is part of the concrete jungle that is the toronto downtown financial district. the view is from the st. lawrence theatre for the arts looking northwest. note the old style building peeking through between the two white buildings.

day 348 - we are in the deep freeze!

it's cold in toronto today. no, make that cold like hell in toronto today. this is the part of the lake at the island and you can see that the waters are icy/frozen in and around the islands. a big contrast to day 145 , isn't it?

day 347 - what is that?

the ground is covered in snow, the temperature is minus 15, all the trees are bare except for this one tree. what the...a flower or a leaf still? so i take a picture and upon closer inspection it is some plastic flower or maybe even balloons that got caught in the tree at some point during the last several weeks. eh, no, i don't need glasses yet.

day 346 - iced over, sort of

we have seen these trees at the start of fall in day 229 and day 283 . so now here they are with the snow on the ground. i just couldn't have that one chance of taking a picture during the snowstorm or just when the snow is on the branches themselves. hopefully, that would happen before winter ends. the one constant thing though is that car, isn't it?

day 345 - coke on ice (or in this case, IN ice)

someone, obviously a slob, left this can of coke on the edge of the planter in front of the building. then the snows came, on two consecutive weekends, and nobody dared touch it to discard it. i know i won't, even if the germs are all frozen and what not. but then it made photo of the day for me.

day 344 - iced over

i was waiting for partner inside the car and the windshield was covered in ice that had started to melt. what to do? he's taking a long time. ordinarily, i'd just storm out and walk, to hell if i had to walk or take the subway, i'm used to it anyway. i hate waiting. but then i took my camera out of my purse and started using the 'tulip' function of the camera (yeah, i know, it's called macro) et voila! le photo du jour.

day 343 - the shadow is back

the snow and ice on the ground at eastlyn park were so thick that people were just having a grand time toboganning on the slopes with their children. i was hoping for ice on the trees, but with the wind last night, the snow had fallen off the branches and spared the trees from being iced over. but then i noticed the shadow, remember it in post day 274 ? well, it was there, too, so i took a picture of it as it stood on the already trodden snow.

day 342 - mural on the danforth

it snowed again this morning, lots of it. on the way to the sushi restaurant to have lunch, we saw this mural and made a mental note (i know, i'm mental) to take a picture on the way back. and the mental note worked. hahahaha. the problem was taking the whole mural wasn't so good because of the support for the lampost beside the building so i had to stand really close to the mural. a part of the support is still visible on the lower left of the picture. look at the snow at the bottom which is the actual pavement, and the snow had obviously been shovelled off.

see how the window of the building blended in with the painting's background? cool huh?

day 341 - yay, duckies!

i found these duckies at my friend's desk (along with the "klutz" bottle top). so i've decided, the two smaller ones were the girls (because of their lipstick!) of the bigger duck - kinda like the pimp and his whores. gheez, where do i get analogies like this? my mind's in the gutter. they're little duckies, for heaven's sake!

day 340 - snow on track

in posts day 251 and day 293 , we've seen how the tracks looked like in october, when the colours of the leaves were changing, and in late november after the winter season's first snow dusting, respectively. this is how the tracks and the nearby area look like after that big dump of snow on the weekend and yesterday. you will note that the CN tower and the downtown skyscrapers aren't visible in this picture due to heavy clouds. i was hoping for the passing of a GO train but it wasn't possible this time.

day 339 - icing on top

i don't know what kind of tree this is but it's old and humongous as in the summer it really has a wide shade. it looks like an elephant, how you ask? the texture of its bark. i should keep an eye on this tree during the spring and summer. yes, this will be my baby for my next project.

day 338 - klutz!?!

it's 100% klutz! and it's even certified. who's the klutz then? i know i could be clumsy at times, but that doesn't mean i'm a klutz. really, who made this thing?

day 337 - prints on snowy grounds

at eastlyn park, west of woodbine avenue on the danforth, the snow is still good for toboganning. the park ground is white all over. here, a sled leaves its marks as it glides downhill.

day 336 - still there...

we passed by this bicycle yesterday at noon and it was almost covered in snow. this morning it was still there and never been touched at all. so what's the neighbours saying their bikes had been stolen when locked on to this bike rack? this bike doesn't look so bad so why the thieves have ignored it and not thieved it is a tad puzzling. or maybe the owner of this bike is the thief? hmmmm....interesting, isn't it?

day 335 - the next day...

guess, i spoke too soon. so we didn't even expect this snow overnight but we woke up to a heavy snowfall. at 7:00 o'clock this morning, this is how those planters in front of the building looked like (scroll down and compare it to yesterday's, day 334). snow is beautiful, the more of it falls down, the prettier the landscape. but try walking on it in the city or cross the street, you'd find out it's a bitch, especially if you're lugging a large and heavy bag with two young boys in tow.

day 334 - snow

it snowed yesterday and by this morning this was how the planters in front of the building looked like. and it was cold although thank goodness there was no mean wind. i was hoping it'd be slippery coming home from work, but surprisingly, it wasn't, and there's no slushy walk either. well, if winter's going to be like this all the time, i'm a-liking it.

day 333 - mural at brookfield place

a mural found on the wall by the fountain at brookfield place. i don't get it, though. is it an advertisement for men's neckties or something? maybe it's just one of those nouveau art of some very imaginative artist. at least it's not a toilet seat on the figure's head. nice ties!

day 332 - "wanna ride with me, babe?"

what if someone picks you up on a date on this sucker? i think i'd be very delighted. but i figure we'd have to make sure we leave much earlier for anything as this thingamajiggs run like 2 miles per hour? and i suppose, parking would be a problem, especially if my date would have to bring me to one of those places like the yorkdale mall. but i think it's going to be a cool ride nonetheless!

day 331 - an old building on front street

i passed by this building on my way to the lawrence market at lunch today. i was walking on the north side and that was how i noticed this building. i don't know how old this building is as i couldn't see any plaque that indicates when it was built. but it has this period appeal, i'm guessing it was built around the 60's but it could be older.

i like the looks of old buildings, especially when they have historical importance and when they are maintained well. i think they're romantic.

day 330 - "what'dya lookin' at?!"

a statue on the side of the building of the hockey hall of fame - i was trying to take pictures, i looked up and saw this statue which looks like an old man who had just came off the shower with a towel around his body and telling me, "peeper! what are you lookin' at!!!" and growling. whew! my imagination's running wild again.

day 329 - in celebration mode...still

a taro cake to celebrate the new year, my family never gets tired of this. i think in the last six weeks, we had three of this sucker. i only eat the cake part but being lactose intolerant, i can only lick remnants of the icing.

day 328 - ringing in the new year

the spread on my new year's eve dinner table - the round things are very important, but the sumptuous dishes were either in the oven or in the fridge. where i come from, tradition dictates there should be food on the table when the new year rings in so that there will be an abundance of not only food, but money and other aspects of life as well throughout the year and beyond. yes! this means i will have plenty of chocolates during the year. yay!