life with more cowbell

Sunday was the perfect day for the annual Toronto AIDS walk – temps in the low 20s, relatively clear sky, sunshine and a nice bit of breeze. The walk officially kicked off around 2:15 p.m. (not uncommon, as there are several pre-walk speakers, then a quick warm-up before folks get organized behind the official walk banner). I started with the pack but soon broke out, walking alongside our police cruiser pace car, then finally breaking out full-on to go at my own speed. And Mama likes to walk fast, chickens. As I booted on down Church Street, I waved at and cheered the various groups of volunteer “cheerleaders” (mostly high school students), who were positioned along the route to provide encouragement and directions.

At some point, possibly around St. Mike’s, I came upon a pacing buddy. This happens sometimes when I do the walk – I mostly do it alone – I meet up with someone who moves at a similar pace and we continue on together – along Queen and up Yonge – chatting and weaving around the extraneous pedestrian traffic together. This year, it was a young woman (originally from Nova Scotia) named Brandy. It was her first time doing the walk and she had a blast. The final leg of the route took us through Cawthra Park, where volunteers handed us red carnations, which you could place on the AIDS memorial there. I took a detour to visit my friend Tom, whose name is on the second of the 1989 plaques, and placed the carnation in a space there. When we got back down to Church and Wood, Brandy couldn’t believe we were done already. We said goodbye, and Brandy went off in search of a walk t-shirt and I headed over to Wendy’s for an Oreo Frosty Parfait.

Still had a bit of steam left, so I took the Wellesley bus to Word on the Street – and, frankly, it would have been faster to walk there. Due to street closures for Word, the bus had to detour up Bay to Bloor – and the traffic was crazy. I finally got off at Avenue Road and Bob’s your uncle. Stopped by the Tightrope tent to visit my pal Lizzie, then had a wander to see what was up. I caught the last three of four readings at the This is Not the Shakespeare Stage (a new venue for 2011 featuring a variety of genre, spoken and written word, and young adult authors). This reading was called That’s What She Said (all books by female authors, with female protagonists) and featured: Lesley Anne Cowan (Something Wicked), Alyxandra Harvey (Haunting Violet), Teresa Toten (Beyond Blonde) and Heather J. Wood (Roll With It). I got there in time to catch the end of Harvey’s reading – and these women were awesome; they gave great readings, and were good-humoured and full of positive energy. Speaking of positive energy, after the readings, I caught a Q&A with author Neil Pasricha at the Giller Bestsellers tent, hosted by CBC Radio One Q host Gian Ghomeshi. Pasricha is the author of The Book of Awesome, The Book of Even More Awesome – and coming soon: The Holiday Book of Awesome – fine examples of blogger made good in adapting his writing from one medium to another.

After about an hour, I was beat (I’d walked around for an hour before the walk itself and was carrying a loaded back-pack after getting two blank books at Staples, as well as my walker swag) – so I caught the College car home.

All in all, an amazing and invigorating day – physically, spiritually and mentally. Back soon with more t.v. jazz.