The photograph above is entitled Toronto Subway 1 and is by Ryan at Metrix X. It is used in accordance with his Creative Commons license.
This virus simply refuses to go away. Today, every last one of us is sick in some way. I feel okay, although not up for strenuous stuff, but I still have a sore throat and a hacking cough. Vivian has no zip, and Nora’s been pretty uncomfortable through the night. It’s really frustrating, as there’s no end in sight. That’s one reason I’ve been kept from this blog, anyway.
But I did go into Toronto on Tuesday, and I wanted to thank the students and teachers at the York School for inviting me to speak to their grade eight classes about the state of public transportation in Toronto. This is the second year in a row that I’ve given this presentation, and it went pretty well, I thought. Thanks especially to David Paris for inviting me out and making me feel very welcome.
It still feels a bit odd to be speaking in the capacity of a transit “expert”, but the students were very engaged and had lots of questions which I enjoyed answering. And fortunately, my voice held up through most of the hour-long presentation. That and Halls cough drops kept me from hacking and coughing my way through it, though my throat was quite sore at the end of the day. I hope next year, if I’m invited back, I’ll be able to speak without worrying about my voice, and that I’ll have more concrete progress to report about.
I spent most of the day in and around the Yonge/St. Clair intersection. I met with my agent, and we talked about prospects for The Young City and The Night Girl, and I left that meeting feeling quite excited at the possibilities. It’s still early days, though, so keep your fingers crossed. I also had the pleasure of meeting up with one of my oldest friends, Dusko. We got caught up, and talked a lot about how shocking it is that so much time has passed. Then I caught the train home.
The illness flared up again the next day, and I’m still in recovery and not much in the mood to blog. However, I am working on a book review post, which I should have up tomorrow. I hope you like it.
But whatever the case, I enjoyed my trip into Toronto and was pleased that I was well enough to take it. It’s a great city.