The Ja quarterly №01

At the start of the year I welcomed a new camera. I decided to name it Pink Cloud, in honor of my old friend in Berkeley. This is mostly a record of what Pink Cloud saw of the world January through March.

Since I picked it up while staying with Sarah and Young in California, I thought Pink Cloud's first images could be of Casper, and here they are:

Including Young's nightly ritual with Casper, playing him songs on the guitar. You gotta wonder what's on the little guy's mind.

On the one day I went up to Berkeley, I met Damon on Telegraph, who sells hand-made chainmail, quirky jewelry, and feeds pigeons from little bowls of grain affixed to his chainmail. We had one of those really Berkeley exchanges—off-kilter and full of heart. He told me about finding one's totem animals, and I asked him about Pink Cloud, whether he'd seen him around lately. But sadly it has been years.

Up in the hills, the sunset was as lovely as ever.

Then a day trip to Point Reyes of course, and a visit to my favorite bookstore.

Coming back to San Jose, to lots of love, home-cooked meal by Sarah, and of course more Casper.

Though it was a short visit, I was really happy to see a few friends who're still in the Bay —Anna, Truman, Mari, and Ryan. Ryan and I met at North Beach no less, where in freshman year he'd led me on the most awesome San Francisco itinerary that I didn't even fully appreciate at the time (besides introducing me to City Lights, he took me to an anarchist book fair at Golden Gate Park). This time we got our affogato at Caffe Greco, and I got a little browsing time at City Lights too.

Coming back to Toronto, I had friends over for dinner for the first time to celebrate Chinese New Year. Here are N & L being total randos. The fairer sex were on the other side.

One day, looking for features, I wound up at the Riverdale Farm and enjoyed a bit of time looking at some furry friends in the snow.

And PH came to visit me briefly before shipping off to China for his new job. We had a really lovely time, and he's very kind to help me shovel snow and all.

As part of Doug Ford's theatrics, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario pulled all American alcohol from the shelves. I felt rather melancholy standing in a row of wine before the staff dug in on them for the photo op. Afterwards I went to K's place nearby to file, where I met her adorable and indifferent cat Milo.

HY and I met in February and it's been wonderful to hang out with her more. We went to an exhibit opening at Robart's Library at UofT.

Another source of joy: A has been coming back more from Ottawa. Most recently we had a little date at Eataly, enjoying the tactile delight of having your pasta tossed in a truffled Parmesan wheel and having a little laugh about Mark Carney's dorkiness. Afterwards we went next door to Indigo and picked up Ezra Klein's new book to read together.

To be continued…