[CAT] Shakespeare, cradled and in a cone (alternate take)

One year ago, and still so missed.

[PHOTO] Towards the Earlscourt war memorial, Prospect Cemetery

[CAT] Relic, six months later

[PHOTO] Blurry selfie, with portrait of Shakespeare

Shakespeare died a month ago. (Well, a month ago yesterday.)

I am fine. It is just–well, what a month this has been.

This has been a very weird experience.

[CAT] Shakespeare, framed, from Jim

[CAT] On Shakespeare

Shakespeare passed, peacefully and quickly, at 7:20 pm at the Bloorcourt Veterinary Clinic.

I was the better for him, and I think he was the better for me. I began to miss him the moment he passed, and the world around me somehow no longer seems to fit the way it should.

Still: Shakespeare had a good death, at the end of a good day spent mostly at home in comfort with people who loved and cared for him, and he had a better life. I would like to think I was good for him, and I know he was good for me; our voyage together from September 2008 on is one I would repeat.

(One major exception to this: I would make sure this time to expose him to Caitians, including M’Ress, at an earlier date. Positive role models matter.)

I grieve him, but I celebrate his life.

I am very deeply moved by the way that you have responded, celebrating with me his life in the past and supporting me and him in this hard time. The staff at the Clinic helped make this terrible thing bearable. I would also like to thank particularly Jim for supporting me at the Clinic, and Paul for managing today’s costs, across the Atlantic even. There are so many others who helped, in private chat and comments, that I fear the SHIFT-2 combination on my laptop keyboard would give out. I am grateful to you all.

I will be thinking of a way to appropriately commemorate his life. More info will come later.

Even after this sad day, I consider myself lucky. Thank you all.

I was lucky.

[BLOG] Fifteen Toronto links

• blogTO reports that Toronto has been testing Eglinton Crosstown trains, here.
• What TTC routes might be changed by the Eglinton Crosstown? A map illustrates, over at blogTO.
• The new tower proposed for 888 Dupont, at Ossington, will even include a vertical farm. blogTO reports.
• Venerable Agincourt Mall is going to be a new condo development. blogTO reports.
• Is co-ownership actually the only way most people in Toronto will end up owning a home? blogTO considers.
• Residential tenants in a Leslieville building who complained about their landlord may end up getting evicted from a building never zoned for residents. CBC reports.
• The City of Toronto has taken over the deserted shopping arcade at Queen Street West and John. CBC reports.
• Katrina Onstad at Toronto Life tells the story of Katharine Mulherin, the Queen Street West gallery owner who changed her neighbourhood but was broken by gentrification.
• The bar Tequila Bookworm is closing, displaced by rising rents. NOW Toronto reports.
• NOW Toronto interviews night mayor Michael Thompson, here.
• Steve Munro considers the TTC’s express bus services, here.
• Terra Lumina, the nighttime cultural event at the Toronto Zoo, looks fantastic in these photos over at Toronto Life.
• Oh, what the map of Toronto subways could have been if only we planned! blogTO shares one.
• Steve Munro examines the TTC’s plan for 2020-2024, here.
• The TTC may not act to decrease overcrowding on some routes. blogTO reports on why.

[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links

• Transit Toronto celebrates the life of photographer John Bromney, here.
• blogTO explains, with photos, the cause of the subway shutdown on Line 1 Wednesday night.
• blogTO notes that the TTC wants to create five transit corridor for buses, including one on Dufferin Street.
• Toronto is apparently the top tech city in Canada. blogTO reports.
• John Lorinc at Spacing considers what affordable housing actually is, especially in the context of real-world constraints less generous than often imagined.
• The displaced residents of Gosford have seen nothing from their apartment block’s owners about housing options. Global News reports.
• The TTC plans to have even more subway closures in 2020 than in 2019. Global News reports.

[BLOG] Some Friday links

• Architectuul looks at the Portuguese architectural cooperative Ateliermob, here.
• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at how white dwarf WD J091405.30+191412.25 is literally vapourizing a planet in close orbit.
• Caitlin Kelly at the Broadside Blog explains</a< to readers why you really do not want to have to look for parking in New York City.
• Centauri Dreams looks at the slowing of the solar wind far from the Sun.
• John Holbo at Crooked Timber considers the gap between ideals and actuals in the context of conspiracies and politics.
• The Dragon’s Tales reports on how the ESA is trying to solve a problem with the parachutes of the ExoMars probe.
• Far Outliers reports on what Harry Truman thought about politicians.
• Gizmodo reports on a new method for identifying potential Earth-like worlds.
• io9 pays tribute to legendary writer, of Star Trek and much else, D.C. Fontana.
• The Island Review reports on the football team of the Chagos Islands.
• Joe. My. God. reports that gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy will compete for the United Kingdom in 2020.
• JSTOR Daily looks at how early English imperialists saw America and empire through the lens of Ireland.
• Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money does not like Pete Buttigieg.
• The LRB Blog looks at the London Bridge terrorist attack.
• The Map Room Blog shares a map of Prince William Sound, in Alaska, that is already out of date because of global warming.
• Marginal Revolution questions if Cebu, in the Philippines, is the most typical city in the world.
• The NYR Daily looks at gun violence among Arab Israelis.
• The Planetary Society Blog considers what needs to be researched next on Mars.
• Roads and Kingdoms tells the story of Sister Gracy, a Salesian nun at work in South Sudan.
• The Russian Demographics Blog shares a paper noting continued population growth expected in much of Europe, and the impact of this growth on the environment.
• Strange Maps shares a map of fried chicken restaurants in London.
• Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel explains why a 70 solar mass black hole is not unexpected.
• John Scalzi at Whatever gives</a his further thoughts on the Pixel 4.
• Window on Eurasia notes that, last year, 37 thousand Russians died of HIV/AIDS.
• Arnold Zwicky starts from a consideration of the 1948 film Kind Hearts and Coronets.

[URBAN NOTE] Six Toronto links

• NOW Toronto reports on the long-time independent weekly’s sale to a venture capital firm, here.
• The Yonge-Eglinton Centre now hosts a venue where people can nap in peace. Toronto Life has photos, here.
• The family of North York van attack victim Anne-Marie D’Amico hopes to raise one million dollars for a women’s shelter. The National Post reports.
• Toronto Community Housing, after a terrible accident, has banned its tenants from having window air conditioners. Global News reports.
• blogTO reports on the ridiculous heights to which surge pricing took ride fares on Uber and Lyft during yesterday morning’s shutdown.
• blogTO notes that the Ontario government has provided funding to study the idea of extension of the Eglinton Crosstown west to Pearson Airport.