thoughts on spadina...

This afternoon i navigated my way through the heat from union station to cbc with an ultimate destination of catching a spadina streetcar northbound. From the corner of john and wellington i believe (where the cbc and metro hall meet up), looking west, one can directly see spadina off in the distance, and more importantly see the streetcars going in both directions. In the 5-10 minutes it took me to get from john to spadina, i saw about 4 streetcars going north.
4 streetcars in 10 minutes is great for transit riders, such frequency means you never have to wait (my observation doesn't account for any streetcars short-turning at King, which at least 2 of 3 spadina streetcars do) but from an efficiency standpoint, at 2pm in the day, 4 streetcars in 10 minutes is a glaring inefficiency, the car i rode in was empty from king until dundas. To be fair by the time it arrived at spadina station there was a reasonable capacity, but the two streetcars that were literally right behind me were for the most part empty.
In a city looking to cut some fat, hopefully the powers to be have put spadina on the new workout plan.

Ironically enough, this is what was on the mind of TTC officials lately.
Thinking ahead is one thing, but i'm not how to file this one.

words for the moment...

a new black on white
with one black on black
discussions about
kicks and violence
seem commonplace
like common places
i find myself at
stepping back
and forth
with ipod in hand
and dreams of sand
in january
and stability
come april
in trying to make rent
and stay tasteful
in the eyes of my parents
im starting to think
of parenthood
and neighbourhoods
for raising
while i contemplate
black hood
or grey hood
to compliment
with my black on white
and black on blacks
battles of fact and fiction
interest and eviction
and
dedication to the diction

blackstar train...

what if we could send black kids to Africa on a "birthright" trip?
like jewish kids can...

sure, africa is a continent, with numerous countries and tribes.
i feel that could only work to the benefit. to witness the diversity of black people.
take in the good (and the bad) of locales such as johannesburg, abuja, addis ababa.

it could give the youth some appreciation of their current position, or it could compel them to help change the situation (africa and back home).
at the very least it would give exposure to different environment than they are used to and often cannot get out of.

i would go.

beyond city limits...

Take me to another place, take me to another land, make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand your plan…

Over the past couple weeks I've had a growing desire to travel, nay, to relocate. This is partly due to continual stream of friends packing their bags and finding new places to call home. But still, before the fad of travel began the in-thing amongst my peoples, the notion of getting out of the GTA, for a period of time, was a prevalent one in my mind. Montreal was the first place in my mind that I was considering post my time at Laurier. A trip to Chicago quickly put that city near the top of my list. My urban planning sensibilities put Africa or South America as places to get some international experience and exposure. Recently, NYC has been garnering some attention, with its fine institutions for graduate study. I love Toronto and have yet to uncover half of its surprises and find myself in perpetual amazement (sometimes confusion) of how this city operates, but I am of the strong belief that my love for Toronto would probably increase if it was place I made a return to. Like the song goes… I think I need a change of scenery.

can we... a reprise.

can we
go back to yesterday…
and
stand still in time
as we stood still in line
can we be olympians
in competitions
of watch throwing
and cell-phone heaving
two-thirds of a triathlon
where endurance
reigns supreme
see, supreme is that feeling
i get
leading up to
during
and
after
time spent
the one activity I long to be frivolous with
with no accounting
for credit
i give you credit
curriculum based on
chemistry
and the physics of
hand to waist
and head to chest
the best (faculty of) math
we can be.
can we.

current

its hard to stay current
and not get caught...
caught up in the
daily relay of
he say she say
or staying on pace
with the joneses
and the jetsons
or even the cashflow
so that burberry stetson
can be a possession
its hard
not to get caught
in currents that flow
to the ocean
of emotion and
commotion
they roasting you
when all you want
is a toast to you
but that slice of life
is hard to come by
when friends dont stop by
and you don't call back
or fall flat on blogging
by logging hours
on the boulevard
its soooo hard
to be relevant
and heaven sent
in every moment
current

thinker's traffic

concrete cousin
to writer's block
where thoughts jam
like rush hour
have me scribblin
and scratchin
sidepacking and drifting
thru
pedestrian movement
my movement
like this ink
is stagnant
both might not
make it to the page
lost amidst physiotherapy
and finding
motivational pastries
baked goods
instead of baked bad
searching for anything
because anything
to get the switch on
is a welcome change of
scenery
examinations of self
seem like foreign exchanges
with no forecast for a change
in the rate of interest
at the intersection
of economic & chemistry
thinker's traffic is the litmus
of supply & demand
of potential
to go from project to prospect
conflict to conquest
steps to investments
in infrastructure
from more
avenues of contact with her
to freeways built for specific destinations...
some respiration from the congestion