Went out last night with Raymi the Minx. We met at the Beaver, and after some club sodas (me) and some wine (her), we went for a walk under the Dufferin underpass, which I'm basically in love with. Open only since Nov. 18, the urban development project already is changing Parkdale and Dundas West, both psychically and geographically. It integrates two of Toronto's most interesting areas, and I think the result will benefit both sides of the railway tracks. Two components of hipster Toronto have combined to form a critical mass. It's the biggest thing to happen to the area since the founding of the Drake Hotel.
After our little Dufferin underpass moment, I walked Raymi back to her place in Parkdale, and as I said goodbye I encouraged her to work on this book she has cooking. "Just get it done!" I think I said. But I wonder now whether I even should have brought it up. I really do think she's an under-recognized national treasure. She recently celebrated her 10-year anniversary, and her achievement over this last decade is ridiculous. No one comes close to her productivity, nor does anyone match the consistency of her excellence. As an art form, she has explored blogging's artistic limits. And she's still at it!
Raymi so reminds me of Dave Sim, another under-recognized national treasure who defined and explored the limits of his medium over a startlingly long period. Sim actually would have been a great person to interview Raymi, to mark her decade in business. One of the big newspapers should set that up -- an interview between the two of them, and then publish that as a retrospective for the year. Hey, Ben Errett! Get on that!
Anyway, I don't think I should have mentioned her book because I know she's been having a tough time, working on it. Our impulsive culture of the constant status update, in which she participates, reflects and defines, isn't set up for the sort of solitary, steady-as-she-goes consistent labour that eventually produces a book. Raymi has an incredible drive to create, but she is geared to a production cycle measured in hours rather than years. And she's amazing at it. So why bring up the book? Why make her feel bad about that, when perhaps what I should have been doing was celebrating her previous decade's remarkable achievements?
Raymi and a few other factors have inspired me to think more seriously about this blog—as an art form, and the role the blog plays in my life. My sister, my cousin and my wife all have suggested that I create shorter posts — they say my last entry was funny but overlong, and I tend to agree. So resolved: Create shorter posts more frequently. And do them more quickly. No more drafting and redrafting, no more working on posts for hours. Fly through the day's post in a half-hour, max, and then move on. And it's done. Done! Great. Awesome. OK, Shulgan, end here. No here. OK: Here!
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