toronto days and a coffee stained journal

i was supposed to write this from a beach but my flight got canceled and now i’m here, pretending it’s normal to hear a street artist arguing with a pigeon about color theory. the weather’s this weird 7°c thing? maybe. i just checked and it’s...there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. the city feel is like someone spilled a latte on every sidewalk.

last night, i heard that from a drunk philip in a yelp review: ‘someone told me that the subway rats taste like regret.’ i don’t know if that’s true, but i saw a rat eat a bagel this morning. tasted like burnt sugar and indifference.

!image 1

i walked past a place called therogueatmosphere on tripadvisor. supposedly good for weird stuff. i didn’t check it. too busy dodging a drone that looked like a flying toaster.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-rogue-atmosphere-toronto

someone whispered to me that the nearest neighbors are just a drive away. not kidding. if you get bored, toronto suburbs are a thing. i heard that from a woman selling handmade soap at a bus stop. her soap smelled like lavender and bad decisions.

!image 2

i tried to take a picture of the skyline but my camera died. now i’m using my phone and it looks like a crime scene. the thing about this place is it feels like a coffee snob’s nightmare. like someone microwaved espresso and called it art.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294254-d105818-Reviews-_Toronto.html

the map here? why does it show 43.06,-79.1067? i don’t know, but it’s where i am right now. i’m writing this from a park bench next to a man playing a saxophone. or maybe a kazoo. hard to tell.

today, i saw a man in a vintage jacket yelling at a squirrel. he refused to believe it was real. i asked if he was a history nerd and he said ‘i’m just here because the coffee is stereotypical.’ i told him that’s not how stereotypes work.

!image 3

someone warned me that this area smells like cheap socks and existential dread. i didn’t believe them until i walked past a laundromat and saw a bunch of people washing workout clothes. the manager said, ‘we call it the gym uniform. it’s a thing here.’

i tried to ask about the weather again. i just checked and it’s...there right now, like that. hope you like biting cold mornings and existential poetry.

ps: if you need gear, check out my instagram. i’m a digital nomad who forgot to pack. maybe you’ll find a lost sweater or a tent from 2012.

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• https://votoris.com/post/the-future-of-toluca-concrete-chaos-and-seriously-good-street-corn