Feeling the love in Parkdale

Okay, it's been a while, I know. Did I mention I got a Mac? And school started again? Two posts today, in an attempt to make up for my negligence. First: Parkdale!

As part of the Queen West Art Crawl, there was a ROM-organized walking tour of historic sites in Parkdale last Sunday. It was interesting to hear about the earlier lives of some of the area's buildings and institutions: what's now a large rehab centre, for example, in the Victorian era rejoiced in the Edward Goreyesque title of The Parkdale Home for Incurables. But the buildings in Parkdale aren't nearly as fascinating as the residents. My favourite sighting was of the guy who stomped by us, grumbling, cap jammed over crazy hair, periodically stopping to replace one or the other of his filthy flip-flops, which kept falling off. The front of his T-shirt read: KISS ME. The back: I'M A PIRATE.

How cute is this car-free lane of wee Victorian cottages? I suspect they're a lot pricier now than back when they were built as cheap housing for labourers.