It’s officially summer (at least from the weather app, which predicts multiple sunny days above 80ºF), and this is a reminder that you can 100% work from a park. In fact, I’m writing this blog post from a park picnic table right now. For most people, parks come from a sense of wanting to connect with nature. We use parks to play tennis, stroll around, shoot hoops, and up until 2024 I would use the swing sets (I now get really nauseous 😔). But why silo public spaces for specific uses?
Instead of trying to fit nature into specific blocks of time, working from a park provides an invaluable opportunity to immerse yourself into nature. It has been proven by me that spending a day out in a park is 100% better than staying in your room that overheats because it’s on the second floor of your house which is mildly under insulated and to save money on electricity bills you have your thermostat set to 74º even though it’s definitely past 80º in the room (anyone else?)
Anyways, I hope this post serves as your reminder to get outside and enjoy what life has to offer outside of air conditioning. If this self-described chronic sweater can do it, so can you!
While I’m on hold with Rogers, I’d like to take this time to reflect on a whole year of writing quips on here!
I initially started this blog because I chose to make my site a WordPress site. WordPress is probably best known for the fact that it’s used as a blogging site, so I decided to just add a blog onto here. Later on, I realized that I wanted to improve my writing skills as well. I wouldn’t call myself a proficient writer, and my goal was to make my writing more effective. I tend to use a lot of filler words in my every day writing, which really hasn’t changed much after a year of writing. So not sure how effective that has been going!
This blog was also a great way for me to deep-dive into my interests. One of my first posts was finding out why Muni transfers were free from Daly City BART, and I’ve written more over the year! Please check them out if you haven’t done so.
Finally, I wanted to use this place to get more real with my friends. You know how people joke about being “closed off” but people don’t really ever ask them questions? In my case, people do ask me questions but I never give straight answers. I wanted to use the blog as a introspective space for my thoughts. Hopefully I was more open! I am really aware though that I have at most two readers, since I don’t advertise this website out to most people.
That’s all I really have on a whole year of blogging. I did fall off the metaphorical wagon a bit because of the statement of purposes I wrote for graduate school applications, but I am getting back on that horse now that I am re-invigorated and all applications have gotten back to me. Stay tuned for more content (probably all about transit).
In a world full of weenies, I’m a Benson Booner. I love Benson Boone because he can do backflips and he lives life. IDK why y’all are hating when you don’t even have the arm strength or flexibility to do a back flip. Get back to me when you come up with a incredible ability to sing as a soprano.
That being said, I’m not saying his discography isn’t bad. There’s some hidden gems, but most of his songs are bad. This doesn’t mean that HE should be disliked because he has done some amazing covers.
At the end of the day, I am telling everyone to stop hating people because their discography sucks. Have a great day!
Carmen Corbasson Community Center in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
TL;DR; I have a blog because I have too many thoughts and suck and writing them down into a cohesive piece.
Many (two) people have asked me why I even chose to create a blog on this website. Working on this website has been a goal for me since 2021, when I purchased this domain for e-mail addresses. I didn’t necessarily intend for it to be much, but as I approach my third month of writing in this blog, I think it’s a good time to reflect on why this blog exists.
Initially, I restarted this idea during a pretty low point of my personal life (still in my flop era tbh). I wanted to work on creating an outlet for me to explore ideas that I wasn’t able to express with my friends and colleagues (ie. talk about trains), and I thought a blog was the perfect outlet for that.
I also wanted to create a place where I could work on my writing, crafting my tone as I work on my Statement of Purpose for grad school. I do enjoy writing, but I did drop out of 12th grade English summer school, so I could probably use the extra practice to impress the admissions committee.
Originally, I planned on focusing on more insightful articles on mundane topics (such as my first post on a BART fare rule I found interesting), but I’ve slowly shifted my focus on incorporating more introspective in my blog. I’ve never really been an open book on a lot of topics in my life, and I’d like for this blog to incorporate more personal topics of my life. I’ve really been working on myself this year, so I want to grow with my writing as well!
Honestly, I’m not sure what effect these blogs are having on my life though. I’ve really written some heavier posts (pride month core), and some really random posts (why I love Oakville?), and I don’t really feel that my writing, or my mental health has been getting better to be honest. But progress is not linear, and I’m going to have to accept that because I don’t have a choice.
I think another criticism I have with myself is that my posts tend to be very long. Should probably work on that for the upcoming posts as I think it gets hard to follow the topic ideas. I’m still glad I’ve stuck with the blog for TWO whole months though, and I should be releasing one more blog post for June.
Overall, look forward for more mundane article topics! I’d like to take the time to explore the mundane topics of my life (like what’s my favorite road font). These articles take a bit of time to research, so I just really need to dedicate some time towards it this summer. I have until next year to decide if I want to keep up with this or move it somewhere else, so I’ll probably let y’all know when it comes to that.
No traffic during the weekends. I can always excuse traffic on weekdays, but ON A WEEKEND? Oakville could never.
The best trail system in the GTA. Such a great combination of lakefront trails, suburban greenway trails, and deep river valleys. It’s so underrated that these gems exist in the GTA, and Oakville is the only suburb that preserved most of them. 200+ kilometers of trails. Probably the main reason I would live here.
Downtowns with character (Oakville, Bronte)
Frequent GO Train service to Downtown Toronto
Close to Hamilton and Buffalo
Lake Ontario is actually very underrated. It’s a great place to enjoy the water and hang out.
Restaurants are decent (for most cuisines)… and for any other cuisine it’s not even far from the rest of the GTA.
It’s actually QUIET for a suburb. Children actually play on the street, and it’s full of suburban amenities you would like for a young family.
Oakville has loads of cool people 🙂
This isn’t actually a pro but there’s no proper mall in Halton Region? Mapleview is the closest to one but it’s also terrible. Square One is close enough so it’s not the end of the world.
