The Toronto Trip, Pt 2 (The Birthday)

Part 1 here

As it has been every time I went on vacation, I post about it weeks after I finished my travels. Not the first time I’ve been late. Time for a photo dump of the day I turned 41, complete with my typical babble.

It had to rain on my party! Though it was cloudy when I took these pics from my rental condo, it would rain later in the day and into the night. Couple heavy rain with temps no hotter than the mid-40s (or at 7 Celsius since we’re in Canada) and you got me noping out on going out entire day. Which…actually worked fine for me. I have a birthday tradition where I choose not to go anywhere, whether I’m at home or on vacation. Last thing I want on my born day is for it to be ruined by stuff out of my control (traffic, people being pricks, etc.); at least when I stay home, most of the time, I can control my environment.

There’s no better food to have on a rainy day than sweets! Sugar-free sweets, in my case. What you see in the pics came from a sugar-free/Keto bakery called Yoona’s Kitchen in north Toronto. You may find this hard to believe, but this is the first birthday cake I’ve had since going low-carb. Cake is still something I’ve yet to bake, so I allowed them to bake it, complete with the Happy Birthday message (and my real name, which is why I had to censor that out). It’s carrot cake (my favorite cake flavor of them all), and it was muy delicioso! Those other sweets you see also came from Yoona’s. No, I didn’t eat them all that day. My favorite among them were the mini turtle cheesecake and nutella cupcake (the two sweets on the bottom right corner in the first pic).

My other birthday tradition that I started last year is watching birthday episodes of my favorite shows.

The End Credits version of Lisa’s birthday song with that sax solo still slaps to this day!

My birthday was the last full day at my lakeshore condo rental, and I made sure I enjoyed the rest of the amenities before I had to check out the next day.

If every birthday would involve staying home, admiring lovely city & lake views from my home, eating all the sweets I want & watching my favorite shows, and then have some pool-and-hot-tub time at night, that would be ideal!

I originally intended to post my Halloween here, but that will be in the next installment. Part 3 coming soon!

Forty-One

Hi, I’m Lexine, and I turn 41 today. Feeling fab (despite Toronto weather raining on my born day) and I know I look good. No filler (why bother) but I got some sugar-free birthday sweets (courtesy of Yoona’s Kitchen)! It’s also the first time having a low-carb birthday cake (I’ve yet to make one for myself), and it’s tastyyyyyy. 😋 (It’s also partially censored because my real name is on it.) 

And just like last year, I’m still not yet ready to show the rest of my face! 😜

Happy National Coming Out Day!

I originally saw this prose on Tumblr years ago, and despite it being so good, I have no idea why I didn’t bookmark or download/screenshot the text. It’s a good thing I was able to find it again, although I found it on one of the cesspits of social media. And while its message is 13 years old, it also remains relevant.

Also, it’s been 19 years since I came out as Bi. No social media posts, no party, not even another person in the room when, in the summer of 2006, I fully came to terms with who I was then (and still am). Not everyone who knows me in real life knows that I’m Bi, but that’s OK. That’s what Coming Out Day is all about: come out if/when you’re truly ready.

No Kid-ding

Happy International Childfree Day to those who chose not to have kids for their own reasons, make no regrets about it, and don’t care what others think of their decision to be childfree! 🥳🥂

(Side note: the pic is a two-fer, since Samantha Jones is a childfree character (and one of my icons), and is played by Kim Cattrall, who is CF in real life.)

(ETA: I was unaware that I used this same pic for last year’s childfree day. 😆Whoops!) 

Happy Bastille Day 🇫🇷

“Why are today’s French so hell-bent on defending their civil liberties? Perhaps it has something to do with their heritage of overcoming abuse of power to earn their freedom.”Rick Steves, from Rick Steves Europe, 2014

Maybe one day in the not-too-distant future will similar words be said about Americans.

Between this entry and this from two weeks ago, I think I’ll be celebrating special days of countries I admire (and would like to immigrate to if I win a big lottery jackpot) on this blog from here on out. Because what is there to celebrate in the States these days?

These Cool Poems – #TDoV 2025 Edition

Because now more than ever, we must stand ten toes down for the Trans Community! 🏳️‍⚧️🩵🩷🤍

“A Message For Trans Kids” by Keath Silva: 

******

“Batter My Heart, Transgender’d God” by Meg Day

Batter my heart, transgender’d god, for yours

is the only ear that hears: place fear in my heart

where faith has grown my senses dull & reassures

my blood that it will never spill. Show every part

to every stranger’s anger, surprise them with my drawers

full up of maps that lead to vacancies & chart

the distance from my pride, my core. Terror, do not depart

but nest in the hollows of my loins & keep me on all fours.

My knees, bring me to them; force my head to bow again.

Replay the murders of my kin until my mind’s made new;

let Adam’s bite obstruct my breath ’til I respire men

& press his rib against my throat until my lips turn blue.

You, O duo, O twin, whose likeness is kind: unwind my confidence

& noose it round your fist so I might know you in vivid impermanence.

Kings Over Crooks

It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day–the lone event worth celebrating today. Given what’s happened to this damn country in the past three months alone, this holiday hits different this year. Through ongoing education and activism, the beliefs of MLK Jr will not only live on, but will assist those who choose to resist the incoming tyranny. After all, it’s better to honor a king over a felon.

If you’re choosing to stay at home today like me, give his Letter From Birmingham Jail a read. (It’s free!)