Electric pedals

This summer, I've been exploring different parts of the city on my first e-bike. I'm not the most athletic guy, and I never would have just picked up and pedalled to random spots in the city on a regular bike, but with an e-bike I feel driven to go to new places because I can - really easily.

I take pictures here and there. Here are my latest ones.

Behind that row of trees is a canal that feeds into the Humber River.

At Evergreen Brickworks. There wasn't much going on the day I went so the most enjoyable part was the bike descent through Moore Park ravine.

Parked on the side of the main road inside High Park.

I thought this plant looked especially vivid in a tiny little natural alcove called Peace Garden near Evergreen.

Nature pics

I use Bluetooth like once a year, if that. I prefer cables. I was pretty happy when I managed to get Bluetooth to work to upload these.

I thought this tiny shrubbery thing was vibrant.

Really puts life into perspective doesn't it?

This is a falcon I saw in high park last autumn.

A neat intersect between human & wild.

My little photo exhibit wouldn't be complete without a train track picture.

Another midsummer

 I don't intend for this to be long.

I haven't gotten around to transferring my photos over and uploading them yet. But I have been thinking about it, which is something, considering how infrequently I have been updating my blog the last couple years. And now I am here, writing again. I guess it's because I feel a little lonely.

I remember when I first started my blog, I was definitely not lonely. Not one bit. I was in high school, so I was around people all day. When I came home, one of the first things I would do was log onto MSN messenger. And I'd be there for hours and hours. So it was very social, even though it wasn't strictly organic. Wow. That's all completely behind me and in the past - MSN is gone. The closest thing nowadays is something like Discord, but I barely use it.

Nostalgia is hitting pretty hard it seems. Well, although I am lonely, it's not all bad. I'm steadily employed. I'm not in a dream job or anything, but it's something. A thing.

I hang out on Twitch a lot these days. It's a weird place sometimes.

Those nature photos are comin'.

Perhaps a window into something

 I think I might start posting some pictures I've taken. I'm not posting them right now because I'm too lazy to deal with transferring them off my obsolete Windows phone. But when they do show up on here, I reckon the quality won't be too bad because they were taken on what was once a state-of-the-art camera phone.

I like taking pictures of nature because I don't have to worry about symmetry very much. Things are as they are and I like the feeling of capturing something either living or something having once lived. If I'm in nature, I'm usually in wooded areas, because Toronto is full of ravines. But the other day, I went way down to the lake, near High Park, so I captured something different for once. I guess that's what I'll post next time.

I don't use Facebook anymore, and the pandemic completely wiped out any semblance of a social life I thought I had. I haven't seen any friends in years. Feels kinda sad. I hang out with the cats a lot. I've got one snoozing next to me right now.

Summer's here.

DragonForce returns

 Similar to that Kanye/Drake concert I posted a while back, I stumbled onto another online event. This time, though, it's something way more up my alley: DragonForce, one of the earliest metal bands I ever listened to. I even went to a concert back in high school.

Yeah, Herman Li, their longtime guitarist, is also a streamer on Twitch (I spend a lot of time on there lately...) and he's streaming their concert series with opening acts Firewind, Visions of Atlantis and Seven Spires.

 I caught Firewind and VoA, and it was awesome! The stream quality is on point and you can hear the shredding really well.

 They have these 2 giant videogame arcades set up beside the stage, and now DragonForce just played a song themed after Skyrim. Pretty cool!

Anyway, I'm gonna go catch the rest of the set.

Dutiful sports viewership

 I've been watching the Raptors a lot lately. Like, every game. Pretty much since the pandemic/lockdown started, we're talking years now. I watched them in a bubble in Tampa Bay last year. I never would have expected that I would become a sports fan, and here I am genuinely enjoying watching NBA basketball. I suppose I kinda hopped on the bandwagon after the 2019 NBA championship win. Kinda bummed Kyle Lowry isn't with the team anymore.

Lately, they've been pretty good. Fred VanVleet is playing like an all-star, starting great plays for his teammates and shooting dagger 3s all day long. I admit that I am a part of the "Fred VanVleet Fan Fleet". And Siakam has been really great. And the rookie, Scottie Barnes! So fun to watch.

That's my basketball viewership in a nutshell.