Blue Velvet Sectional

Ah, tattoos.  They're just everywhere now, aren't they?  I know a lot of my friends have them. If you love 'em, go ahead and cover your body with 'em, just know that there's at least one person on the planet who won't be joining you. Yeah, that'd be me. I grew up with a tattoo in the house- my dad had a cool one of his ship, the HMCS Kootenay , on his arm.  That's still my favourite;  if you have a ship on your arm that you got at some exotic port, or from some gruff fella on board, I'm all in.  I wish I could find a picture of my dad's tattoo... I'll keep looking.  For a man who hated suits, he's wearing them in a hell of a lot of old pictures I've found... Not actually my dad, but close! I guess I don't like things that mess with the beautiful symmetry of the human body.  Also- what do you really want on your body forever ?  I have a few male friends who drunkenly had Canadian flags tattooed on their butts before o

Last weekend, I spent a busy 60 hours in Miami. My expectations were not high , but I had an open mind; anywhere with palm trees is instantly impressive to a Canadian.  Turns out, I really liked it! We were there on a mission, but we carved out time to drive to South Beach Sunday morning, and go for a few walks; the only other thing we did was eat.  I am, after all, me. We stayed at a place called Sonesta Coconut Grove , to be out of the main tourist area.  The lobby is extremely boutique hotel chic; my room was, well, meh .  Small, with no refrigerator or terrace, though it looked like most other rooms had them.  The furniture was hotel standard, and a bit beat up, but I am really not complaining, since the bed was comfortable and the pillows were great!  It's so rare for a side/stomach sleeper like me to find suitable pillows in hotels.  So often, all you get are the big fat ones where I wake up feeling like I have a broken neck.  Despite the lack of terrace, the

Back from Miami; more details soon, but for tonight, please enjoy this ridiculous item for sale at The Shops at Bal Harbour.  If you're, I don't know, a recent lottery winner who loves motorcycles and impressionist paintings, it may be right up your alley: It's almost 200 grand.  As the kids say, I literally can't even with this. Seems like something Donald Trump would like, though, doesn't it?  À bientôt.

This weekend: I'm headed to God's Waiting Room.  This will be my first time in Florida, for some furniture shopping and off-season, thunderstorm-soaked fun.  Let's see if this state is as crazy as it seems . "I'm not a state, I'm a monster!" Wish I was going to be in Toronto this weekend, to cheer on the Jays as they fight the Yankees for first place in the AL East, though if I see another  hilarious "1 BJ beats 9 Yanks" shirt, I am going to scream.  Aside from that, the whole city lights up when the Jays play well; it's been a really fun summer so far, and I look forward to some games in October, boys! This article  in The Atlantic makes some important points about how we learn, and the concept of "trigger warnings".  Are we North Americans really so fragile?  If you're feeling happy, and want to shed the feeling immediately, read this  in the New York Times.  Then again, you should read it regardless.  The LEAST we

My favourite thing about The Cove, Eleuthera  used to be that Lenny Kravitz  supposedly lives nearby.  I first had dinner there in 2010, and the place was, to put it mildly, dated.  The food was good, the views were lovely, but the restaurant had that Golden Girls vibe  that used to permeate southern interior design.  It was a bit run down, too.  No one had shown it any love for years. When it closed for renovations, I had high hopes, but wondered what sort of commitment the new owners would make to the island.  Big developments had a way of falling through in the Bahamas. See  Baha Mar  as the most recent example.  So, when the Cove reopened, I was excited to see what an amazing job the new owner did. Still, I worry, because the man who did the renovations has already  sold  it.  I can only hope the quality is maintained by the new owners.  The island deserves it. The whole complex was completely transformed.  You notice this right away, as there is a gated entrance, and a securit

Once, years ago, I had an intense craving for Spaghetti Caruso .  I saw it in a cookbook, and for some reason, I thought it would be amazing.  In case you aren't familiar with the dish, it's spaghetti with chicken livers (and brandy, at least the recipe we had- I can't seem to find one online that includes it.) The cookbook I saw it in was written by a man you've probably never heard of, unless you're from southern Ontario and over 30- Pasquale Carpino .  He was this singing Italian chef with a TV show in Toronto in the late 70s through to the 90s, but the early years on cable access were the best, because you'd tune in and think what the hell? He had a thick accent, a giant chef hat, and he spent the entire show drinking wine and breaking into song.  Yes, the Italian chef sang opera to the food.  It was, well, odd.  He was the first Pasquale I had ever heard of, too. I'm from a place that  The Kids in the Hall  know well- a world full of Daves. Pas

I used to have a blog called called Spends2Much.  That's actually still my username in some parts of the Interweb.  I liked shopping, though I wasn't all that proud of it, and I was genuinely spending far too much.  I intended to track what I spent in a public forum, but ultimately, I gave up before I learned anything about my shopping habits. Not fast fashion, but real fashion. Part of the reason I abandoned that blog was that I no longer identified with the name, or at least I was no longer comfortable being identified with it.  Yes, I still spend too much, but lately I've been thinking a lot about where I spend, and who ends up with my money. Last weekend, I finally saw the  documentary  The True Cost, which is about the pitiable existences of the people who make our clothes.  It tells a story I guess I already knew, but it hits harder when you actually see the workers, and they're no longer some abstraction represented by the "Made in Bangladesh" l