I haven’t been on public transit in over a year! I had no idea that my bus ride home on December 20, 2019 would be my last for a long time.
Browsing Tag
TTC
Western University graduates Josh Stern and Russell Citron are inspiring Gen Y to pay it forward and people are listening. Their charitable initiative #FeedTheDeed discourages people from playing an online drinking game and encourages random acts of kindness.
#FeedTheDeed has sparked a huge conversation about the power of social media. Instead of producing videos of themselves chugging beer, #FeedTheDeed participants are donating blood, clothes and toys.
How It Is Promoted
In the last 2 weeks, my Facebook news feed has been filled with photos and videos of friends distributing popcorn, coffee and TTC tokens. To extend the reach of #FeedTheDeed, participants are nominating friends, family and celebrities around the world. For example, Josh Stern nominated Canadian singer-songwriter Nikki Yanofsky and then she handed out candy in Montreal on Valentine’s Day.
What I Did
I love Twitter. I like Starbucks.
When my friend Sam Pollack nominated me to #FeedTheDeed, this is what I did to support a few charities I care about:
I used Twitter to send Starbucks gift cards to Anaphylaxis Canada, Heart and Stroke Foundation and Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Non-profit employees deserve to be rewarded for their hard work and I hope they will encourage more people to continue the chain.
What You Can Do
Here are some ideas:
- Volunteer
- Pay for a stranger’s bill at a café
- Send handwritten notes or cards
- Buy a ticket to attend a charity event
- Contribute to a Kickstarter campaign
- Loan money to an entrepreneur on Kiva
For more information, follow Kindness Counts on Facebook!
Photo: Terry Fallis
On Tuesday I had a chance to connect with some industry peers and see not just any Canadian marketer, but one who’s so influential that he’s verified on Twitter! Mitch Joel, bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and president of Twist Image, was the featured speaker at the Third Tuesday meetup and he was awesome.
Surprisingly, the highlight of my evening was not the opportunity to meet people from Twitter in real life. It wasn’t Mitch’s jokes either (and there were a few). The best part of the event was the feeling I had when left. For the first time, spending two hours in a bar inspired me to be that girl sitting in the TTC’s red seats typing away. That’s why I like going to book signings – you always leave feeling inspired and last night was no exception.
Mitch made an interesting comment: “Writer’s block doesn’t exist. It’s bullshit.” From there, he went on to talk about how he likes to embrace the chance to write wherever and whenever he can, even if that means sitting on the floor at a conference.
Second City’s new show, The Meme-ing of Life, which examines technology’s impact on modern relationships, induces nostalgic feelings for a time when people spent more time talking than texting. From sifting through online dating profiles on Lavalife’s website to coping with YouTube addictions, The Meme-ing of Life essentially covers everything in today’s zeitgeist.
One wonderful sketch features a driver (Jan Caruana) intensely frustrated with a border crossing guard (Nigel Downer). The majority of Torontonians seem to have a funny story about discretely indulging in shopping sprees abroad or hiding beer in the trunk, so this is remarkably relatable material. Next time you and your partner drive to the United States and they ask if you have anything to declare, perhaps you should test out the following line as your response: “Yes, officer, our love.”
While it’s easy to bond over stories about crossing the border, few local experiences compare to encounters with sketchy people on the TTC. Another sketch effectively pokes fun at how single people can potentially find love amidst all the smelly commuters. Through interactions that gradually become flirtatious, a man’s efforts to sit in the seat a woman reserves for her purse eventually lead to a make-out session on public transit. Local newspapers are filled with stories of missed connections, so theirs is perfectly suitable for a dating story about Generation Y’s hook-up culture.
When I’m at school in London, I long for exploring Toronto’s sprawling downtown core, whether it is for shopping, dining or entertainment. Hence, when I went home I was elated to finally experience Nuit Blanche.
After returning home from a shopping excursion over the border, I refuelled with my second Starbucks pumpkin spice latte of the day, this time with an extra shot of espresso. I refused to let a lack of sleep put a damper on participating in one of Toronto’s largest cultural events.
Once my friend and I exited Dundas subway station, we were confronted with food trucks selling cotton candy and corn on the cob, which immediately brought back memories of The Ex. Though I was familiar with my surroundings, Toronto’s downtown atmosphere had been completely transformed into an artsy extravaganza. There were at least three couples square dancing in the street, friends posing for photos all over the place, and street performers galore.
Tweets from friends and overall hype about Nuit Blanche assured me that there were exciting surprises and attractions to come. More importantly, I’m thankful that I skimmed the Twitter stream on the official event website because I’m grateful to whoever recommended wearing gloves! Boy, did they come in handy. Pun intended. I wish I’d twitpic’d and captured it on camera when I walked by a convenience store with a storefront sign that read, “Ice Sold Here” because that was the last thing anyone wanted when they’d pulled out winter jackets (or hoped that they did) for the first time since March or April.
My three favourite exhibits were Honey, I’m Home, inspired by 90’s sitcoms; Observer FX, a multimedia installation that offered commentary about surveillance; and McLuhan’s Massage Parlour, inspired by Marshall McLuhan’s work.
If you’re looking for Nuit Blanche GIFs to share on your Tumblr page or forward to co-workers, The Grid has you covered. I’ll admit that as I reviewed the GIFs, a couple of the male artists closely resembled male artists I’d seen at other exhibits – it must be because they fit the Queen West [West] stereotypical hipster mould.
This techie would be an exception however; he seemed like a cool guy:
Special thanks to She Does the City and Notable for their lists of recommended exhibits! Including the location of each was much appreciated while planning my night out. Unfortunately the Nuit Blanche BlackBerry app is incompatible with my temporary loaner phone, but I managed to navigate the downtown core without difficulties. The truth is that when it’s so cold outside, you don’t want to be taking your gloves off to use your phone, so I did minimal live tweeting.