Queen Street

2011-06-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

There's something about Queen Street West that just irks me. I can't quite figure out what it is. Great shopping, fabulous food and old architecture give it its character.. a character which I, and many others, appreciate. When I first set foot on this strange land as someone who had only been in Toronto for a month, I was dazzled. However, this dazzlement teetered off into an unenthusiastic "oh wow" somewhere along the way. Anyway though, there's this attitude there that I just don't enjoy. It's not so much the people roaming the streets that give this off, but the people who work along the street that seem to radiate this "reluctantly hip" vibe. They love Queen Street, they love that they're there all the time, and they love what it means for their.. I don't know status? social status? Whatever, but whenever someone threatens the luxury and brilliance of that status that's really only an illusion, they're insulted for being criticized as too "Queen Street." They fancy themselves as the reluctant hero of some worn out fable, but really they love the position they're put in working on Queen St. everyday. They love how differently they dress, think, act, drink, and they especially love that when they go down to Queen St, it's not different at all, they're all the same.

It's just like the heaps of Torontonian hipsters (well most of the Queen Streeters actually are hipsters) that seem to be multiplying and taking over the city, or at the very least U of T. They absolutely relish the thought of being so offbeat and different, but in reality THEY ARE ALL THE SAME. I can't stand the idea that rebellion is so "in" when rebellion implies GOING AGAINST EVERYONE ELSE. In this time, right now among the 'young adult' generation, it is more rebellious to conform than not to. I am indeed implying that now conformity equals rebellion and vice versa. James Dean is spinning in his grave. I am so sick of people trying so hard. And among the people who try the hardest is the Queen Street bunch. I cannot stand feeling belittled by these people who are unintelligent, boozed up all the time and can't even add(!) just because my makeup isn't always perfect or because I don't dress a certain way. Fuck them. (Perhaps it is clear now that I actually work on Queen Street as well and am not exactly relishing the location or job as much as I would have hoped). The "them" in the above mentioned curse only applies to those I work with and not those who I don't know. Still though, I can't really imagine that I would get along any better with any of those other people. I mean... a store called "So Hip It Hurts?" Really?? I get that it's supposed to be ironic in some way, but that makes it even worse. I don't know.. This has turned into a rant, but I just don't understand why people flock so mindlessly into becoming one of these hipsters thinking that it is the answer to all of their problems. And who are they flocking from anyway? We're not in high school anymore... are the average masses of people really so bad that they need to join a regulated sub-culture in order to feel rebellious and accepted all at the same time?

The other part of me just thinks.. "Okay fine, who cares? Let them look ridiculous and stand on values that aren't at all valuable." All I can do is not be that way and be happy as a result.

Helloo

2011-06-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Toronto in the springtime is much more pleasant than I had anticipated. Seeing the city only in the fall and winter has done nothing for my opinion of it. While I appreciate the beauty of a freshly snowed-upon landscape, the cold is just too depressing to handle. I think everyone suffers from seasonal affective disorder after the holidays. Walking through the U of T campus today, I noticed how different and beautiful everything looked with leaves on the trees and a dearth of suicidal students roaming around in tired, zombie-like states. Though instead of the "undead" I call them the "unasleep".

My favorite thing that this time of year brings is appropriate cycling weather. I refuse to buy those spiked wheels just so I can become a human popsicle riding along St. George St in the dead of winter. I love zooming down Beverly St. and taking in the sights while singing some ridiculously outdated song in my head like "It's Not Unusual". I don't enjoy almost getting hit by cars everyday, but really, who can have it all? What I cannot bear, however, is the pretentious assholes who suit up in their latex cycling gear, hop on their expensive skinny road bikes, and even manage to signal with an air of superiority. My twenty-year-old Raleigh sighs every time they pass us and considers anorexia... or well it would if it could think. When I get on the road I feel like it's me and every other cyclist against cars and pedestrians, so when did all of the cyclists turn on each other? There are the super-into-it cyclists that I have mentioned above, the hipster cyclists with their banana seats and large makeshift baskets who try painfully hard to look... what's the word? hip? when they ride around town. I feel like a different breed of cyclist: the awkward in-between girl with a shitty bike and an even shittier idea of how not to die on the roads. Part of me wants to look less awkward riding a bike than when I do just in everyday life, but the other part of me wants to stick it out for all the other people out there who have no category, who just ride along to get where they're going. People who like to see instead of being seen. So whenever I dismount my bike and rip my leggings on my metal back-side basket or stumble as I get off, I'll raise a black panther-like fist to all of my other awkward cycling Torontonians out there.

I am a student at U of T. I am starting a blog. This is it. Enjoy.

An American Girl in Canada

Queen Street

Helloo