Every now and then everyone needs a good wallow. Whether it's because of the loss of a job, the end of a relationship, or the loss of a loved one, sometimes the only thing for it is a good-old-fashioned spin on the self-pity train. As anyone who's ever wallowed knows, it's an important step in the healing process, although one that is dangerously easy to stay trapped in.

On a recent bout of my own wallowing, I found myself with a lot of free time and not much to fill it with. I hopped on my bike and rolled through the city looking for something to latch on to: some building or tree or unknown curiosity that would at least occupy my thoughts. What I found was a message, etched in stone, that shared my despair but also helped show me the way out of it. Hidden down an alley in The Annex, eight lonely lines of poetry wait those predisposed to aimless wandering, both emotional and physical.

Running between Huron and St. George Streets is bpNichol Lane, an alley that reaches from Sussex up to (almost) Bloor. As is the case with many of Toronto's laneways, the path is not just a shortcut or gateway to the backs of peoples houses: it's actually filled with the kind of hidden and out-of-sight surprises that make this city special.

The other week I spent a Saturday afternoon on the Islands watching Dragon Boat races, which was about as good an indication as any that summer had finally arrived. On the ferry ride back, I had a long look at the different areas and neighbourhoods that make up the waterfront. While looking at the central waterfront isn't exactly awe-inspiring because of the concrete curtain of condos, looking east and west still provides some interesting views.

My favourite is probably the eastern view over to the Portlands. With a few notable exceptions (like Cherry Beach), the Portlands is not the most interesting place to explore up close. In a weird way, though, it's one of the most interesting places in the city to observe from a distance. The smokestacks of three now-defunct industrial buildings compete with the banks and the CN Tower for the tallest structures in the city, and the huge barges that occasionally drift over to the Redpath Sugar Factory hail back to the time when the waterfront was heavily industrialized. Among those structures are the Victory Soya Mills.

I'm slowly getting familiar with the work of Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, the man who has been humbly wearing the mantle of Toronto's Poet Laureate since 2004. While his poetry is a treat in and of itself, he also waxes poetical (and theoretical) about urban issues and creativity in cities. This Wednesday, June 27th, Di Cicco is launching a new book about just those issues entitled Municipal Mind: Manifestos for the Creative City.

The book, published by Mansfield Press, is being launched in association with Spacing Magazine and the Italian Chamber of Commerce at the Gladstone Hotel. For anyone interested in the place where urban spaces and creativity intersect, this book may provide some interesting fodder for the imagination.

The event is free and begins at 7:30 pm.

Photo by Bahman. from the blogTO Flickr pool.

It's a lot of fun to watch a band get more and more popular, and I've been lucky to see Toronto's A Certain Symmetry do just that. In the two years they've been gigging around the city, they've headlined and opened dozens of shows, left screaming audiences in their wake, and earned quite a following in the process. As recently as three weeks ago they were featured in NOW Magazine as a pick of the NXNE festival.

Until now, though, fans haven't had anything other than great memories to bring home at the end of the night. That will finally change this Saturday at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern when A Certain Symmetry hand out a free copy of their new teaser CD to the first two-hundred people to show up. A pre-release to their first album, Pursuit, which is due later in the year, the EP features three songs that have become fan-favourites at shows over the past few years.

After about a six-week hiatus, I'm happy to bring back the UnderTOw column! The weekly write-up about landmarks in Toronto public spaces had to take a break while I changed living quarters, but should be back up and running for at least the rest of the summer. This week's landmark is the Amsterdam Bridge at the Harbourfront Centre.

Straddling the gap between York and John Quay at the Harbourfront Centre is a white bridge that most of us are familiar with. It's a perfect place to get an elevated view of the inner harbour, steal a kiss from a loved one, or read up about the industrial heritage of the site (there's a plaque about halfway across the bridge). This bridge is called the Amsterdam Bridge, and although it might be a good spot to enjoy a clandestine puff, there's actually a more symbolic explanation behind its name.

Not that anybody needs reminding, but summer has finally arrived! And while for cottage-owners and the moocher-friends of cottage-owners that means lots of beer, bbqs, and long dips in the lake, city-slickers who have to tough it out through the summer often think they get the short end of the summer-stick.

Last week's announcement that Toronto's Beaches have opened passed with relatively little fanfare, likely because lots of people in the city still aren't used to the idea that they CAN swim in the lake. As someone who makes a point of swimming in Lake Ontario at least a few times every summer, I'm going to offer a few tips on how to take a swim without fear of growing extra fingers or losing your eyesight - it just requires a bit of preparation and research.