As promised, the first chapter of My Beating Teenage Heart is finally up! You can read it right here.
I was in Montreal last week and as usual the camera came along for the trip while my laptop stayed home. There were some signs of spring around the place (like the flowers in the below snap of old Montreal) but for the most part it was pretty chilly and overcast. One day we even had snow but fortunately there are plenty of great places to pop into to keep warm and dry
like the tropical rainforest section of the Biodome where I fell in love with the impossibly adorable capybaras.
I'm not sure whether you can get an accurate idea of their size from these photos but the capybara is the world's largest rodent (who knew?) and can grow up to 4.3 feet (130 centimetres) in height and weigh up to 140 lbs (65 kg).
There were plenty of other cool animals to discover at the Biodome ranging from colourful macaws to monkeys, a caiman, a lynx, four different types of penguins and poisonous frogs.
I was already in love with Archambault's flagship store (which carries books, CDs, DVDs, videogames, musical instruments and an extensive collection of sheet music) from previous visits but am also more than a little jealous that we don't have anything to match it in Toronto.
Behold the impressive sheet music floor of Archambault:
videostores (doesn't this one look cozy),
and bookstore Renaud-Bray which is always doing something new and cool with this nook near the graphic novel section:
Speaking of bookshops, I stopped into the Paragraph bookstore across from McGill University where I visited with Courtney Summers' hauntingly grief drenched book Fall for Anything (if you want to read my thoughts on the novel, you can check them out in this December blog entry).
Some other Plateau area sights:
Even the Easter bunnies in Ogilvy's were getting in on the Habs mania last week.
Hanging out at the Musée des beaux-arts (Museum of Fine Arts), outside
and in.
Some commentary scrawled on this Bloc Quebecois campaign poster:
And finally, I can't resist taking a picture of Le Château Apartments on Sherbrooke Street each and every time I visit Montreal. Built in the 1920's, it's one of the most gorgeous buildings I've ever laid eyes on.
I was in Montreal last week and as usual the camera came along for the trip while my laptop stayed home. There were some signs of spring around the place (like the flowers in the below snap of old Montreal) but for the most part it was pretty chilly and overcast. One day we even had snow but fortunately there are plenty of great places to pop into to keep warm and dry
like the tropical rainforest section of the Biodome where I fell in love with the impossibly adorable capybaras.
I'm not sure whether you can get an accurate idea of their size from these photos but the capybara is the world's largest rodent (who knew?) and can grow up to 4.3 feet (130 centimetres) in height and weigh up to 140 lbs (65 kg).
There were plenty of other cool animals to discover at the Biodome ranging from colourful macaws to monkeys, a caiman, a lynx, four different types of penguins and poisonous frogs.
I was already in love with Archambault's flagship store (which carries books, CDs, DVDs, videogames, musical instruments and an extensive collection of sheet music) from previous visits but am also more than a little jealous that we don't have anything to match it in Toronto.
Behold the impressive sheet music floor of Archambault:
I picked up some vinyl in Primitive Records on St. Denis too
and had a look in several other Plateau area record stores,
videostores (doesn't this one look cozy),
and bookstore Renaud-Bray which is always doing something new and cool with this nook near the graphic novel section:
Speaking of bookshops, I stopped into the Paragraph bookstore across from McGill University where I visited with Courtney Summers' hauntingly grief drenched book Fall for Anything (if you want to read my thoughts on the novel, you can check them out in this December blog entry).
Some other Plateau area sights:
Even the Easter bunnies in Ogilvy's were getting in on the Habs mania last week.
Hanging out at the Musée des beaux-arts (Museum of Fine Arts), outside
and in.
Old Montreal statues and monuments:
Downtown Montreal:
Some commentary scrawled on this Bloc Quebecois campaign poster:
And finally, I can't resist taking a picture of Le Château Apartments on Sherbrooke Street each and every time I visit Montreal. Built in the 1920's, it's one of the most gorgeous buildings I've ever laid eyes on.
