Day 159

Open Letters, style
Day 159

Spending three days at a working and learning conference, focused on Social Justice, is a great way to feel like you can counteract some of the terrible things we are seeing so much of in the news; planning for an upcoming year of inclusive, actively engaged, equity-fuelled learning and teaching is the perfect re-set for summer.   

   Checking my privilege, analyzing  the roots of power and working on my cultural proficiency: I can’t think of a better way to strengthen my impact on my students. 

Is it superficial, then, to throw in some details about my OOTD? No. My clothing is my armour, in a world where a thousand prejudgments are  made daily, I choose what image to present to the world. It makes me legible and tells my story. After all, beauty is only skin deep and the real work starts when we really engage and go below the surface. 

So I put my bravest, professional foot forward and open myself up to sharing, being vulnerable and listening.    
 

Summer to-do: day 13 get Local 

Foodie

It’s Summerlicious in the city! We ate a veritable feast of flavours at Hawker Bar. $70 for three courses and a drink, for two. So good!  

 Shrimp Laksa. 

  
Dumpling sampler. 

 Surf and turf.   
 Chicken and ribs.with an herbed pancake.    
Tempura pandan banana and vanilla bean icecream

Carrot cake.     
 

Then pick up some local brew from Bellwoods Brewery to enjoy in a hot tub on our pals’ rooftop. 

   
 

Summer to-do: day 11- 

Indulge

 

Celebrate the small stuff. It’s Friday. You bought tickets to Portugal. You’ve been happily married for 2 years, three months. Whatever the reason, don’t keep the bubbly, the good dishes or the recipe you want to try for a special occasion. 
 In honour of Friday afternoon and all the reasons above, I’m popping some Sue-Ann Staff Fancy Farmgirl sparkling rose. 

Cheers!

Summer to-do: day 10- see some live theatre

Art, Indulge

So, maybe you don’t live near Niagara on the lake. And maybe you’re thinking, ‘why is she telling me about a show that is so awesome, but so far away, that I will never see it…no matter how much I’d like to?’. 

That is exactly the point: you would like it. I left the theatre after “Master Harold and the Boys” (admittedly a title that needs some selling), with a lump in my throat and some not very well-concealed sniffles. Set in post-apartheid South Africa, this three-hander is funny and intimate, then built consistently towards its climax -the painful, wrenching altercation that closed the show so poignantly and resonated intensely in the light of current events.  As evidenced by the deep conversations following the show and an eager standing ovation, it was moving 90 minutes. Still in previews, this play is incredible already and has me super excited to hit the festival next week to see “Sweeney Todd” and “A Black Girl in her Search For God.”

The set is a 1950s cafe and with the audience on three sides, it feels so close and it’s quiet moments are kept understated.  
 And what better way to end the afternoon than at Carlotta’s Gelato, where they can hollow out the centre of your cup and laddle warm chocolate hazelnut into the mix. Seriously. 

Try it. You will fall in love.  Get out support local artists, festivals, live theatre and shops!