journal features

who wears short shorts

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Toronto, 2011.06.07

The first thing I saw as I cycled away from home today was a teenage girl walking up our street. Her shorts didn't exactly, um, do the job.

I find the "styles" here in Toronto quite surprising, and apparently I'm not the only one. We count among our friends two married couples who relocated here from California. They agree that the skimpy clothing they see here in Toronto matches what they'd expect from the beach back home, not the city. Not sure when Toronto got this way. In part, creaking my way into my fifth decade on this planet, I find myself somewhat uncomfortable with the trend: Mari wants to have a daughter, after all. But the part of me that remembers being young regrets growing up in the sweater-loving 80's. Dang!

rand()m quote

On the endless saga of Rob Ford, mayor of Toronto; "It shouldn't have had to come to this. I'm so tired of getting up every morning and wondering, 'What will it be today?' I'm so tired of giving the benefit of the doubt again and again, only to be let down again and again.... Somewhere a responsible adult has to appear, draw a bright moral line, tell the truth and say unequivocally what won't be tolerated. Somebody has to do the right thing."

—Denzil Minnan-Wong