People in your neighbourhood

I was writing a post yesterday afternoon, but got sidetracked by a freelance piece due today (she was happy with the draft, so no rewrites were necessary; hooray!), and then a somewhat surprising visit from A. in the evening. (I knew she was coming over, but wasn't sure when. I thought it was going to be much later.) And tonight, the hours have flown by, largely with watching Chungking Express. (Why did I think I'd seen this film before? I hadn't - and I can't figure out why because it's astounding. If you've never seen it, check out the new Criterion release of this wonderous, beautiful film. For those romantics in the crowd, be prepared to smile at the end.) But I want to jot a few words down before carting my books and magazines to the bedroom to read for an hour.

I was out with T. (joined later by A.) on Friday night, and we got to discussing "community." Namely, how I don't feel like I'm part of a community here in the city. A few years ago, he moved from Toronto to a small(ish) city in the province. He's since become a part of the artistic community there. He says it's easier to find a sense of community when the pool of interesting and intelligent people is not a large one to drawn upon.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed here in the city. I love Toronto, don't get me wrong. I like that I both live and work in wonderful parts of the city. Yet, at times I feel lost. I think I'd enjoy being part of a community outside of my circle of friends. It could be literary, it could be something else. It could even be a virtual community, something I've been a willing participant in the past with past blogs.

Anyway I'm going to explore this issue further. It's too late to give this learned discussion. Stay tuned.



Reading: "Waiting" by Amos Oz in this week's New Yorker; I'm also considering ditching House for Mr. Biswas (I'm about 200 pages in, but my head space isn't fully there to enjoy it); I also took out Malcolm Gladwell's latest, Outlier, from the library.
Listening to: Amy Millan's Honey from the Tombs, Belle and Sebastian's The Boy with the Arab Strap.
Watching: enjoyed Enchanted, loved Chunking Express, have the documentary Wordplay in the queue.