I lied before. I actually read three kinds of blogs.

The third kind is the insider kind – usually centred on one particular city. They tend to offer up the latest on emerging musicians, the best places to eat, and other slices of life that make you feel like a citizen, rather than a passerby.

These are my three favourite insider blogs.

For the latest Toronto news, I click to BlogTO. Some may say it’s too popular (when did that become a criticism?), but who was there when I wanted to know where I could find General Tao Chicken at 4 a.m? BlogTo, that’s who!

When I want to know what’s up in MTL, then it’s off to Midnight Poutine (what’s with the food theme? why am I always hungry?). Food. Shows. Reviews of the best convenience stores. Everything a girl could ask for – and more.

Finally, there’s SoulAfrodisiac, which is written by a funky ex-Torontonian-turned-New-Yorker who goes by the name of Tha Connoisseur. She’s intelligent, politically conscious, and offers up the best commentary of soul, r&b, and hip-hop music – both past and present. She’s also the only blogger I know who can dress down Wesley Snipes without using a single swear word. Scroll down to the bottom for the video flashback of the day.

Anyone want to add their own insider blogs? I’m always looking for something new to read.

Finally, when I was in Montreal the other morning, I was listening to the CBC and heard this amazing new artist – David Martel. If you can believe it, he was discovered singing on the streets of Mtl. Very folkie and fun to listen to. Don’t believe me? Watch this video:

I’ve alluded to my Internet habit before. I believe that I couched it in terms of “research.” I navigate the blogosphere so that my passengers can better navigate the world. I want to be able to answer their questions about their destinations. I want to be able to give them direction, wherever they are going. It all sounds very noble.

But the truth is, I read two kinds of blogs. There are the travel blogs and there are the “journey” blogs. Both are important.

I get itineraries and ideas from travel bloggers like Janette Griffiths (check out her exposé on Stephen King’s Maine). I get another kind of more global inspiration from journallers like Phd candidate Jon Chui. His blog is now defunct, but I’m making my way through his archives, following him as he develops his skills as a researcher, artist and athlete. There is something very comforting about Mr. Chui, who has this to say about a roadblock in his scientific research, to which he has devoted years: “This summer I found out why what I have been working on does not work, which led to turning the page to a fresh project.” It’s like saying that you fell off your bike only to realize that you’d been going the wrong way anyway, so thank goodness. I wish I had half of his awareness mixed with an ounce of Janette Griffiths’ savvy. I mean, I’m a pretty good service attendant now, but that would bump me up a class or two. There wouldn’t be a question I couldn’t answer. Passengers would request me by name. Oh, wait, they already do.

I leave you with a video that I stole from the Fashion Made Me Funky blog, just cuz it’s cute and there is Scrabble and it is finally really truly spring.

Bisous !

I have a crush, but before you get too excited, I should tell you: he’s taken, and happily so.

Steven Guilbeault, environmental crusader extraordinaire, is the cover boy right now for VIA Destinations magazine. He’s only 39 (that’s not too old for me, is it?), but his life has already taken some dramatic turns. There was that time that he climbed the CN Tower to make a point about the Kyoto Accord, for instance. If only I’d been in town! I could have posted his bail.

But Steven (if I may) is not just about theatrics. Most of his efforts focus on the small, everyday changes we can all make: from signing up for an organic food basket to prioritizing cold-water washes on laundry day. He is the spokesperson for Equiterre. a Quebec-based organization that helps “empower citizens to make environmentally and socially responsible choices.”

I was as pleased as punch to learn that my employer, VIA Rail, has partnered with Equiterre for an environmental challenge. The Défi Climat aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in simple concrete ways, by promoting composting, air drying of laundry, etc. It’s directed at Montrealers, but there’s nothing to stop a Torontonian from playing along. My first initiative? Invest in a spinning composter that will fit on my tiny balcony. Here’s to small changes that make a big difference!

My friend Margarita (or “Chief” as we call her at work) is so avid of a cyclist that she can’t imagine anyone not feeling the same. This sometimes causes problems, like it did last summer when it was her turn to organize our traditional July 1st getaway. Did she plan a weekend at a spa? Did she find us a cottage, with a nice dock , and maybe a hammock? No. She made arrangements for us to be shuttled with our bikes and sidepacks to the northernmost point of the P’Tit Train du Nord.

Are you familiar with the P’Tit Train du Nord? It is a very long bike path that runs along abandoned track in the Laurentian region of Quebec. (A word about the bike paths in Quebec. They are so long as to have become an international sensation. The National Geographic Society recently named the province’s Route Verte system of bike paths the best in the world. By “best,” I can only assume that they mean “longest and most grueling.”)

Anyway, I survived, and now, it’s time for me to exact revenge. Margarita doesn’t know it yet, but this July, we’re going on a 5-day juice fasting retreat at a holistic spa in Ontario’s Opeongo Hills. Bwa ha ha!

For those of you who absolutely must know more about cycling in la belle province, this is supposed to be a good site to check out: Boreal Photo.

I have a confession to make. I always mess up the lyrics to my favourite songs. My most favourite song to mess up is The Engine Driver by Oregon alt-rockers The Decemberists (see live performance footage below). Not that I mess up the whole thing, mind you. Just one line. I always make

There are powerlines in our bloodlines

into

There are train lines in our bloodlines.

My silly mistake seems almost excusable when I meet people for whom this new lyric is entirely true. This is the case with my Facebook friend, Peach Flambee, who has graciously given me permission to share her story here.

Her maternal grandfather worked the rails in the north of England, back in the days of steam. He ended up as a switchman, at a time when the switches were still thrown by hand, but that was not how he started his career. His first posting had cost him an arm, when a train rolled over it. You’d think that this would’ve been a liability — a switchman’s job was not exactly easy — but he prided himself on his ingenuity and strength. As Peach Flambee explains, “Grandfather would wrap his [one!] arm around the handle of the switch and leeeeeaaaan back, using his foot as a fulcrum.” His children “practically grew up on top of the rails.” When he died, a son stepped up to fill his shoes. Peach Flambee suspects she may have distant relatives still working that same stretch of track today. (She herself works as an engineer, but of “the gearhead kind.”)

Anyone else have good stories to tell about the train lines in their bloodlines? Because I would love to hear them!