Well, thank you Canada for the week of gorgeous summer weather! And thanks to all the beautiful friends who came to my gigs and hung out with me in the sunshine in Kensington Market or Lawrence & Orton Park. It's been nice to be warm (even when it 's cold, you Canadians have this great idea of *heating* your homes!) and to have my clothes dried in a dryer, oh my.

Some things I've loved since being here:

1. Dead Cars in Managua by Stuart Ross. A beautiful collection of poems by one of Canada's best writers. It's also one of his most personal collections... and there are pictures!

2. Cusp of Chaos by ryli skelton. Skelton's latest chapbook of poems... he's a supertalented up and coming writer who mixes humour and loss in divine ways. And he has a delicious touch of weirdness. Get it at This Ain't the Rosedale Library.

3. Shameless Magazine. Shameless is always yummy, and the new publisher and editor are doing a great job. I especially dug publisher Stacey Mae Fowles' piece on self-harm.

4. Mutant Superpowers and Lithium Pills: Bipolar Adventure Stories. I picked this zine up at Toronto Women's Bookstore. It's by Sascha Scatter of The Icarus Project, and is an engrossing account of personal thoughts on mental health, creativity and the medical system. Also superb details about community activism and peer support.

5. Auk/Blood by Tagaq. I have to give Tagaq's latest CD a few more listens for a final verdict. But of course she is brilliant. Listening to her can never be casual (which makes it a bit hard to throw into a party shuffle!) but if you have time to sit down and really listen, this CD is gorgeous, like going to a trippy opera. Tagaq often works with a dj, and has quite a lot of different and wondrous fusions going on. The only stuff I'm really not crazy about are her collaborations with Buck 65. It feels like she's just backup for his tracks, which doesn't do her justice. Also I find Buck 65's rhymes rather simple and cliche.

I want to talk about the gigs I read at, cuz everyone was so grand, but I will save that for another post, so I can add pictures. Okay? I'll miss you Canadialand.

As for the rest of you, I'll see you on the other side of the pond soon.

xo

SA