All of this lovely sun over the past week or so has duped many a bud in the city into blossoming a fortnight early. Since our “garden” consists of an itty bitty pile of soil tossed in a corner and our household consists of one far-from-green thumb and one indoor plant enthusiast, here spring has sprung in a different way.

Late last week, we gained five new leafy, trunky, bulbous, or petal-bearing pals, bringing our total to 15 or thereabouts.

The current inventory of domestic flora is as follows:

• Tropical Monstrosity (referred to as such for excellent reasons – however surely lovely for a pretend day at the beach, piña coladas not included)
• Actually rather endearing Umbrella Tree
• Cute Little Fat House Plant in Funky Vase
• Bathroom tulips (still shy and tucked away) in sleek silver holder
• Kitchen tulips
• Vines/hanging plants (x2)
• Single white orchid (tall and lovely, behind kitchen sink)
• Three fuzzy aloe type things
• Small red and yellow leafy potted plant
• Other leafy green house plant
• Thin-leaved excited potted plant
• Mini rubber plant
• Mini wannabe Christmas tree (out-of-doors)

*Note: May not be actual scientific names.

With all the sun and all this green (minus the thumbs), it might not be May yet, but it sure feels like it.

The end of 2007 has me in the midst of an off-season “Spring Clean”. Thus far the archaeological dig of six years worth of stuff has uncovered: To-Do lists, receipts, foreign currency, programs, pamphlets, bits of hardware from a long-lost lamp, class notes and handouts, coursepacks and postcards.

In the spirit of revisiting the archives, I thought I would take advantage of my new scanner and share a few shots taken over the past six years. I don’t know yet if I’ll do another installment of thematically grouped photos, but this one at least, brings together pictures of permanent marker scrawls—words of protest for the most part—taken in T.O. and in a few other North American cities.

(And while we’re on the subject, Montreal-based Urbanphoto.net has an amazing collection of photographs of signage, graffiti and much more from cities around the world.)

“Shoot film, not heroin”– Vancouver, B.C., August 2003.

“Feminism is the radical notion that womyn are people”–TTC, Toronto, c. 2001.

“Osez vivre sans…” (Dare to live without…)–Montreal, QC, c. 2001.

“Resist, resist, with your bodies & your fist/Gender rules are not defined/Don’t let this ad pollute your mind”– College & Bathurst, Toronto, c. 2001.

“Don’t let an ad tell you what your body should look like/ This woman’s body is beautiful”– Queen’s Quay & Bathurst, Toronto, c. 2001.

“Defend America: Eat Bush”–Ann Arbor, MI, August 2006. This is the odd one out– it’s not a permanent marker scrawl, and the original message is extended rather than admonished. Still, it’s so great that it could hardly be excluded on those grounds alone…

This sign belongs to a church (actually, a temple) on College Street that I pass by regularly. I really love it—it’s so crafty and collage-y.

Rather different from the more typical sign outside another neighbourhood church a few blocks north-west. As the message changes often, this one has the virtue of creating intrigue for the passerby—What will it say this week?

Here’s what you’d have come across on a stroll along Ossington Avenue yesterday afternoon.

Autumn colours at the local florist

Victims of the Children of the Corn?

All those years bandaged up and entombed… not so good for the eyesight…