A Mood Lightener

We were in a little bidding war for a great apartment yesterday and didn't get it. Boo.

And so, I take my solace in Muppets. This video gets bonus points for its cameos with Ira Glass and Zac Galifianakis:

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What Do You Value?

WARNING: This post is loooooong (even by my standards). Do yourself a favour; go to the washroom, pour yourself a drink and then settle in. I also admit to show my bias throughout - but, hey, that's my right as a blogger and not a journalist. But please read it all the same.

During our most recent trip to Europe, I took a lot of photographs of darling old buildings and homes. I'm a sucker for history and architecture, although I don't claim to be an expert in either. I'm really more of an ignorant admirer of it all - someone who finds romantic beauty in old glass windows, wrought iron balconies and rusted, ornate door handles. I dreamily envision all the people throughout history who touched these objects and then I feel a funny, fuzzy connection to them all.

I obviously knew that Canada was a relatively new country - I never realized just how new it was (or just how ancient everything else was) until I came face-to-face with the oldness of Europe. And never was this fact brought home more than during a conversation with Gauthier, our friend and host who had all but given us his Parisian apartment during our stay (have I mentioned that Gauthier is one of my very favourite people in the world?).

We were discussing real estate - in Paris and Toronto (a city he lived in for a short period of time). We had explained that we used to rent an apartment in an old house in the Annex, loved the neighbourhood but couldn't afford to own, so we bought a not-so-new condo unit in Old Toronto instead.

With an amused look, he asked, "When was this old house you rented built?"

"Around 1905," we said.

"And this 'not-so-new' apartment. When was it built?" he inquired.

"We think 1994, or so. I mean, it's not *old* exactly, but not new compared to some of the condos in the area," I explained.

He laughed to himself and shook his head.

"My apartment," he said between a long drag of his cigarette, "is older than your country."

That shut us up. The fact is, we were staying in a home that was well over 400 years old.

"And it's nothing," he said after another drag. "There's many like it. It's just a place that I get to sleep in for a while."

That conversation from a spring day in Paris is what first came to mind when I heard about the conflict over 204 Beech Avenue. The story has been circulating around Toronto for some time, but if you're not among the Centre of the Universe Dwellers, I'll give you a recap:

Geoff and Melissa Teehan were (and are, in many regards) a lucky couple. They have two beautiful sons. Geoff had successfully launched his own digital marketing agency (yes, he's in marketing and advertising, but let's not hold that against him). The couple owned a home in the coveted Beaches area of Toronto. Life was good.

Then, one day, without warning, Melissa experienced a series of scary symptoms that led to a 911 call and a long hospital stay. She went from being an active, healthy woman to a wheelchair-bound wife and mother with Transverse Myelitis who had a whole new set of obstacles to deal with. When Melissa was finally released from the hospital, the couple quickly realized that their forever home didn't work with their new life (for example, all their washrooms were on the second floor - something impossible for someone in a wheelchair to deal with). They decided to sell and find a place in the same neighbourhood (so their kids could still go to the same school) that was more accessible-friendly. They settled on a condo but quickly discovered that the place was tight for a family of four. To which, as a condo dweller, I say, "duh."

They decided on the next best course of action - find a space in their neighbourhood that they could build an accessible home on.

Sidebar: Accessibility is actually a huge issue in this city. I firmly believe it's the major reason why we lost the Canadian Olympic bid way-back-when. Just try to maneuver our sidewalks, catch the subway (which involves getting into the subway station to being with), go to your favourite restaurant or enjoy a visit to a home in a lovely neighbourhood while a) carrying a load of groceries or b) hobbling on crutches or c) pushing a baby stroller or d) depending on a wheelchair. And if you don't have any of these completely normal issues to deal with - PRETEND. For just one day, PRETEND that you do, Torontonians. See how incredibly horrible it is for so many people.

After much searching, the Teehans found the piece of land they could live on in the neighbourhood they called home for the past 10 years. This was 204 Beech Avenue. Because it was always their intention to scrap the house (it turns out that homes built in 1910 were rarely code-friendly, let alone accessibility-friendly - and the majority of homes in the area were from around this time), the Teehans investigated whether they could, indeed, bulldoze what was there and build something new before finalizing their home purchase. You see, just because you own something, doesn't mean you can do whatever you like to it. Rather, you have to make sure, plaque or not, that your home hasn't been deemed "historically worthy" by the yuppie a-holes powers that be. So, they did their homework.

Supposedly (she said with journalistic integrity), they did three things - they researched the City of Toronto’s online registry for heritage properties, they investigated the area (their street had voted against being included in the Heritage Conservation District), and they called the city twice to confirm their findings - although the city claims to have no record of this last point. Only they and the city know for sure about that last factoid. That said, I had a job in the past where I had to work with the city to get permits. They also told me, at one point, that they had no record of my requests - this despite of the fact that they had cashed the cheque that was included in the envelope with said requests. Just saying.

With the supposed all-clear given, the Teehans formalized their home purchase in January 2010 and began the long and costly process of developing a new accessible home on the land.

Then the new trubs started.

A neighbour caught wind of the Teehans' plans and was deeply offended that the face of her beloved street would be forever marred by a home that didn't fit "the look" she had come to expect from her window. She attempted to launch a petition, but when many of her neighbours were less than outraged over a homeowner doing what he wished with his own non-heritage-designated property, she took it to her city councillor, Sandra Bussin.

Bussin then requested that the city's Preservation Service investigate the property for its heritage value. She eventually received a report back that stated:

“The building, built prior to 1910, is an important surviving example of the early development of the Balmy Beach Neighbourhood. ... This home is also representative of the local beach cottage building tradition, and speaks of the district’s beginnings as a summer retreat.”

This was apparently good enough to delay and deny the Teehans' building permits and warrant a formal request to declare the home "historic." After they purchased it, to be clear. Councillor Bussin went so far as to say that the Teehans didn't do their due diligence in buying the property, as apparently, they should have contacted her directly to find out if their home was of interest to the yuppie a-holes historical folks of the city. Um, seriously? I don't know about you, but I've had the *pleasure* of speaking with city councillors - and every one I've encountered has been a flaky, fake, egocentric d-bag who I wouldn't trust with my real estate decisions if my life depended on it. Nor would I ever, in my wildest dreams, think to contact as part of "due diligence." Please. Anyhoo - a more thorough explanation of this process is available at Beach Metro Community News.

The family is now fighting tooth and nail to retain the property rights they believe that they bought into and their right to build the accessible home they need.

And that was the recap!

If, after all that, you remember my Parisian cafe conversation with Gauthier that intro'd this blog post - bravo! In any case, it was his astute observations that our sense of history, of 'old' and sacred that really made me think and give perspective to our life in Toronto.

In Paris, what was built 100 years ago would still be considered modern. What was built 400 years ago, but not "pretty" (like Gauthier's apartment) would be historically significant by our terms, but "nothing" by his. So, I wonder, what was at 204 Beech Avenue 400 years ago, when dear Gauthier's apartment was being built? A forest? An Ojibwe village? Should those have been saved? And later, when a totally wacky home with a castle-like cone was propped up - did the neighbours complain? (History tells us that they probably did. Too gaudy!) What has been built, over time, on the land, was suited the people who lived there then. Why must we halt progress, now that we realize that people (the disabled, the aged, the with-children, and my personal cross to bear - the lazy) need accessible homes too? In neighbourhoods they like? In neighbourhoods they've called home for over a decade? In neighbourhoods their children were raised in?

If people want to conserve what's been there for 100 years - and it's been deemed "protection worthy" - the more power to them. But when it hasn't been deemed so in the decades it's been standing there? And if the new homeowners, those who are alive and thriving, don't desire it to look as people a hundred years ago thought it should? I truly don't understand the sulking. Must we save every scrap of "history" or can we please save ourselves from being featured on Hoarders?

Our friend Gauthier is more wise than I think he would ever give himself credit for. When, between sips of wine and puffs of cigarettes, he referred to his home as "nothing" and "a place that I get to sleep in for a while," he was surprisingly in tune with some of the most deep philosophical thinkers of our time.

The Tibetan monks who meticulously build the Sand Mandalas knew what Gauthier knew. Their creation, in this girl's opinion, is more beautiful, more sacred and more awe-inspiring than the "historical" home we stayed in while touring Paris - and yet, it is not forever, nor do its creators pretend it should be:



It is a thing. It is beautiful, but it is impermanent. What was in the place at 204 Beech Avenue, before the "cottage" was erected, was likely also cherished at one point. But it is gone, and life continues.

What it comes down to, is what do you value?

Do you value history, for history's sake?
Do you value beauty, even though it is in the eye of the beholder?
Do you value quality of life for those who live in your neighbourhood now?
Do you value progress?
Do you value life and happiness over bricks and memories?
Do you value property values over life values?

If you would like to support the Teehan family, you can sign their petition. If you live in the GTA, I strongly suggest that you attend this meeting that will decide if 204 Beech Avenue will be their home:

When: Wed, July 7, 9:30am
Where: Council Chamber, City Hall, 100 Queen St West, Toronto

Have thoughts? Comment them! Have compassion for this family? Support them at City Hall!

Edited to Add: The Teehans received their demolition permits two days after I wrote this blog (so, yah, you can thank ME for that, har har). They did what anyone would do in their situation and used 'em. The City Hall meeting is obviously off. Congrats, Teehan Family! Happy building!

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The Recent Stuff

While "The Wifestyle" (a modern housewife experiment) isn't officially on (but will be soon - must develop my "rules" and post them) - I have been attempting to keep two things up:

• Keeping the house semi-presentable
• Preparing more vegetarian and vegan homemade foods

As for the homemaking aspect, I haven't exactly been "50s Housewife good" with it, but the messes get knocked down a lot quicker than they did before. Our kitchen table has amazingly not yet reverted back into The Island of Misfit Mail, Purse Contents and Other Junk and the bed gets made each morning. If someone were to tell me they were coming over, I'd probably only need about 25 minutes to get the place guest-worthy (presuming I hadn't just made dinner. The kitchen seems to explode into a tremendous mess after each meal) . I think this is all pretty good considering I've been busy with freelance work for the last while. Hurray for me for finally acting like the adult I supposedly am.

When it comes to our meals, I've been a-ok about putting together a few things, although it could be better. The previous night's meal of veggie chips and candy during the True Blood premiere wasn't exactly a high point - but the rest hasn't been so bad. Some of these eats were served with a standard green / garden salad, but I really should try to keep more lettuce in the house to make it a given ...

A meal from last week included some wine from organic grapes, salad and homemade vegan / veggie pizza. Half the pizza had goat cheese and half went without. Dessert was homemade poppy seed cake (not vegan - it contained eggs) decorated lightly with icing and edible violets:

The next day, I made a vegan sweet potato and black bean breakfast burrito with homemade salsa from The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook by Dr. Neal Barnard. This cookbook features primarily low-fat vegan recipes. Patrick mowed it down but didn't go for his usual second serving - I'm guessing because it was so dense and filling (and not just because he was indulging in his secret stash of Doritos that I'm not supposed to know about). Dinner was a vegan mixed-vegetable pasta and salad. Would have liked to have used whole grain pasta but didn't have any left:


By this point, I was feeling like we were overloading on gluten, so I decided to go for a raw vegan food day (I'll explain raw vegan eating in another post, but simply, it's gluten and soy-free fruit, veg, nuts and certain grains that haven't been heated above 105 F). I mainly had fruit in the day, including my first dragon fruit. On appearances, it's very cartoonish and reminds me of something you'd imagine Mario and Luigi throwing at King Koopa. The taste is similar to kiwi but much milder. As I discovered later, our bodies don't really process those little black seeds. To share in my experience, just imagine what the lovechild of Mr. Hankey and a strawberry would look like. Did you properly visualize that? Good - on with more tasty food talk! For dinner, I made Ani Phyo's raw pad thai salad using kelp noodles. Even though I told him it was a salad, Patrick was irked by the fact that it was cold and didn't eat more than a couple bites. Oh well. I suppose getting him to eat dragon fruit (which I did by literally spoon feeding him like a suspicious baby) was enough to ask of a picky, non-adventurous eater for one day:

For the first time since before the 50s housewife experiment, we got take-out the other night. We decided to try an Indian place called Veda. They specialize in "healthier" Indian food (lower fat) and highlight the vegetarian and vegan eats on their menu. We opted to try the Saag Paneer, Chana Masala, Butter Tofu, Vegetable Basmati Rice and Naan. I won't lie - I've definitely had better. While it was flavourful and packed with spice, I really do love the full fat yumminess of Butter Chicken Tofu. However, it seemed to improve the next day as leftovers, and as you can see from a certain someone's thumbs up in the pic, Patrick enjoyed it and that's all that matters.

Then, last night, we had leftovers along with some summer rolls I made with rice paper, rice vermicelli and veggies (carrots, red pepper, snow peas, and green onion) served with a soy-vinegar-sesame oil dip. They were very tasty, but next time I make them, I'm going to omit the vermicelli and use greens to fill it up.
Going forward, I'm going to try to make meals that feature more greens and a bit less gluten. Probably attempt some more raw dishes, too. We're also going to ban chips, pop and other junk from entering the house for the next little while. Basically, I'm creating Patrick's nightmare - and you're all invited!

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It Ain't Meat, Babe

Last night I decided to cook a vegan meal for Patrick (and myself, of course). It's from The Conscious Cook - and a demo of this recipe can be seen here.

Now, I'm not totally wild about using soy products - there's a fair bit of debate on whether soy is truly good for you - so this isn't going to be standard fare 'round these parts. Plus, there's practically nothing local or fresh about this particular dish - it's actually quite processed when you think about it.

Oh, but it's pretty. And a certain someone who announced he wasn't interested in vegan food hoovered this dish down at such a rate that it gave James Dyson chills.

"Is this healthy?" Patrick asked me in those rare moments between bites.

"Umm ... well, not exactly," said the wife.

"But there's no meat in this, right?" he asked. "Or dairy or eggs or anything?"

"True - but just because something is vegan, doesn't mean it's healthy. I mean, I bet Doritos are vegan but you wouldn't ..."

"DORITOS ARE VEGAN?!?" he squealed.

Ah, crap.

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