I don't think Mr. Chalumet's remarks have changed the number of people passionate about ballet and opera at all, but I don't think I've ever seen so many people expressing their passion about those art forms in such a vigorous way!

Coming up in ten days - my friends Kenyon, Ivan, and Alex, fellow choristers under Raymond Trapp will be performing at Plymouth Church.
Sunday, March 15th at 2 pm - don't miss it!!

Whatcha readin' this week? I'm still catching up on books I finished a while ago that I haven't had a chance to talk about. This week, it's "Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr.

#WhatchaReading #WhatchaReadingWednesday #ReadingChallenge #ReadingBooks #ReadingRainbow #AnthonyDoerr #CloudCuckooLand

My friend Anh Phung on flute with Palladium, doing the music of Wayne Shorter at Roulette last night. It was a fantastic show!

Just released today - the Winter Challenge, by The Aluminati. The Aluminati met thru the Modes I and Modes II courses taught by Trey Gunn. We participate regularly in these collective musical challenges. Have a listen and see what you think!
aluminati.bandcamp.com/track/winter...

Books I finished reading in February, 2026 -

Feb. 4, M. R. Carey, “Outlaw Planet”
Feb. 14, Guy Gavriel Kay, “A Brightness Long Ago”
Feb. 16, Cory Doctorow, “Enshittification”
Feb. 23, Terry Pratchett, “Jingo”
Feb. 26, Genevieve Barlow and William N. Stivers, “Historias de España”

Whatcha Readin' this week? Allow me to talk about "Feet of Clay", "Hogfather", and "Jingo", part of my Terry Pratchett reading project.

#WhatchaReading #WhatchaReadingWednesday #ReadingChallenge #ReadingBooks #ReadingRainbow #TerryPratchett #FeetOfClay #Hogfather #Jingo

Photos of Carmansville Park, Trinity cemetery, and Audubon Terrace from my walk to the gym this morning.

...which was closed!

Still, I'm hoping the penguin walk there and back counts for something!

I have my mum's old 'Presto' pressure cooker, and I'm using it more and more often.

My mum used it for really tough cuts of meat - being vegetarian, I don't need it for that. It is, however, incredibly useful to cut down the cooking time on high-fibre grains like brown rice and barley!

I had a lovely lunch with longtime friends Rebecca Hass and Mike Lenz - Rebecca's piece "The Song Blanket" opens tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 20th at 7:30 pm at Symphony Space in NYC, so she's really busy, but we couldn't all be in the same city at the same time and not see each other!

Whatcha readin' this week? Well, I just finished this book, and it's recommended reading for all of my friends! The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.

#WhatchaReading #WhatchaReadingWednesday #ReadingChallenge #ReadingBooks #ReadingRainbow #CoryDoctorow #Enshittification

Okay, coming up next month - I'll be performing with Chroi for four shows surrounding Saint Padraig's Day.

March 14 - Oshawa, ON
March 15 - Mississauga, ON
March 21 - Orangeville, ON
March 22 - Burlington, ON

Looking forward to playing with Chroí again, and hoping to see you at one of our shows!

Whatcha readin'? Well, this week, I want to talk about "Lies my Teacher Told Me – Everything your American History Textbook got Wrong" by James W. Loewen.

A well-written and highly recommended book, and a suitable companion to Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States".

NYC friends! Next Friday, Feb. 20, my long-time friend and frequent colleague Rebecca Hass will be performing "The Song Blanket"!

More information and tickets at
www.sparksandwirycries.org/sparkslive-2...

Let this Gordie Howe bridge fiasco remind all Canadians to keep your elbows up!!

...because the universe has a strange sense of humour.

It's -11 in NYC, with winds gusting up to 44 km/h, and most New Yorkers are finding it cold. They call this weather system an "Alberta Clipper".

And I'm thinking, for all those US Republicans trying to annex Alberta by bankrolling treason - if you can't handle this, then keep your hands off it!!

If Mr. Trump's racist post was not 'wrong', then why did he take it down? And if his racist post was wrong (which it was), why will he not apologize? You can't have it both ways!!

Books I finished in January, 2026
Jan. 8, Ariana Franklin, “Mistress of the Art of Death”
Jan. 10, Karen Walrond, “In Defense of Dabbling”
Jan. 16, James W. Loewen, “Lies my Teacher Told Me"
Jan. 22, Ben Aaronovitch, “Midnight Riot”
Jan. 30, Terry Pratchett, “Hogfather”

I'm seeing how many tributes to Catherine O'Hara stress her kindness. And I think to myself "Not all of us have her talent, but we all get opportunities to develop our kindness, over and over again."
Maybe the easiest way to leave a legacy of kindness is just to be kind, every chance you get.

I found an image of the person who accepted that Craigslist offer of $50.00 to sit through the Melania film...

Yoga class cancelled this evening, so I thought I'd put that tortilla press that I got for Christmas to good use. Nothing like spicy food on a chilly evening!

And I once again have to thank Carlos Coronado for inspiring me to make my own tortillas from scratch!!

Whatcha Readin' this week? Rarely for me, I'm reading these two books while listening to the album that each chapter talks about. I never listen to music and read at the same time!
#WhatchaReading #WhatchaReadingWednesday #ReadingChallenge #ReadingBooks #ReadingRainbow #DerekShulman #TomWaits

With all the crap going on in the world right now, I thought everybody could use a 20 second video of a purring cat. It's amazing how therapeutic it is to pet a cat until it purrs...

(This is William Riker, a neighbour's cat whom I'm looking after for a couple of days.)

Philosophy and Terry Pratchett – Jacob M. Held and James B. South, editors

Whatcha Readin’ this week? I got this book by accident – I thought I'd put Terry Pratchett’s ‘Maskerade’ on hold, and this showed up a couple of days later. Oh, well, I took it home, and am I ever glad that I did.

A practice I've adopted in the last few days - gǎn'ēn: 感恩 is the Chinese expression for 'Gratitude'.

As a kid, I said grace before every meal. I'm now saying grace after a meal, as a way of expressing my gratitude. I also mindfully check in "Did you get enough?", which helps to avoid snacking.

Important information for all of my US friends - the link on the QR code will take you to the No Kings website, where you can find a guide to your rights. And the other side of the card is a guide to how to deal with enforcement officials.

Stand up, but keep yourselves safe.

www.nokings.org/kyr

And putting them into political office?

Whatcha Readin’ this week? This week’s book is "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" by Michael Chabon.

#WhatchaReading #WhatchaReadingWednesday #ReadingChallenge #ReadingBooks #ReadingRainbow
@metropolitanopera.bsky.social #MichaelChabon #TheAmazingAdventuresOfKavalierAndClay

The day started off wonderfully - woke up and worked out while listening to Dave Bainbridge's lovely album "On the Edge (of what could be)". The lyrics couldn't have been more appropriate, (“Standing on the edge of what could be/When wonder makes us fall down to our knee.”)!