October Favourites

Sudoku.com (app) - I've been obsessed with this game. I recently rediscovered my love for this puzzle. It's something I do when I'm watching or rather, listening to TV, or when I'm on the streetcar heading into work. I like the way it challenges me to think and consider all the different possibilities. It's about more than just one box.

Blood Orange concert at Danforth Music Hall - This is one of my favourite concerts. It was a beautiful evening. It was a truly beautiful concert. It felt like an otherworldly experience. It was transcendent, ethereal. Blood Orange is much better live. The music is good, but it is a different experience to hear it live. He is amazing, the instrumentals are amazing, his backup singers have the voice of angels. I felt the music vibrating on my skin, into my soul. When I heard it, I almost cried. There can be so many things we do wrong, but this - that moment - cannot be wrong. Nothing quite so beautiful can be wrong. It was so, so lovely. So, so transformative.

Westworld - I'm very late to this bandwagon, but I'm glad I joined anyway. I think it's a powerful look at where our technology is headed. It's a powerful look at how we decide to treat the world and its people. In the second season, there is a conversation between a couple of characters that I found particularly powerful. It talks about Westworld and the other AI worlds as where we go to commit our sins without fear of judgment. It is where we can be our worst selves with no repercussions. If there is God to watch us, what kind of sins will we commit? It's a truly frightening thought.

A Star is Born - It's all that it's hyped up to be. Lady Gaga is a wonderful actress just as she is a powerful singer. While this will not go in the list of my favourite films of all time, I thought the way that it treated addiction was worth commemorating. It is an honest look with no way out. It doesn't allow or provide excuses for one of the cruellest things we do to ourselves.

Imanishi Japanese Kitchen - I can't believe how long it's taken for me to visit this restaurant. It really is a true gem and now I can see why. I'm not 100% sure but I think it is in the style of Japanese home cooking. Or at least, an elevated version of that. The food is so well then. There's not much pretension to the place. It feels very homey and practical. The food is great - a lot of smaller dishes that go well with drinks. I think I want to make this into a regular spot.

Something one of my favourite yoga teachers, Krista, said in class - We think of life as something that happens to us. What if we thought about life as something that happens for us? What if instead of life happening to us, we thought of life as happening through us? What a powerful sentiment.