Generated by All in One SEO v4.8.9, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Witty and Vibrant Everything you need to know about the world ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://wittyandvibrant.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [Wittyandvibrant.com](https://wittyandvibrant.com/home/) - [The Hill](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2025/09/the-hill/) - In my mind it looms large. In reality it’s little more than a path leading out of a Toronto park, a former quarry. Generations scooped out shale and clay for the bricks that built old town Toronto. After that ran out, the local conservation authority bought the land and turned it into a park. Now - [Learning to Buy](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2025/02/learning-to-buy/) - A scarcity mindset is hard to shake. It scratches a groove into your psyche that’s hard to haul yourself out of, and it’s never accidental. Mine began as the child of parents who grew up in the shadow of WW II. My sisters and I still remember tales of ration coupons and making do with - [Elevating transit: A guideway across the Humber](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2025/01/elevating-transit-a-guideway-across-the-humber/) - A piece I wrote for the "Discover" section of the Metrolinx website about the upcoming elevated guideway across the Humber River, part of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension. - [Life with Keto](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2025/01/life-with-keto/) - If you want something badly enough, you’ll do whatever it takes to get it. Fear something enough, and you’ll do whatever it takes to escape it. I was parking the car when my doctor phoned with test results that showed elevated blood sugar. I had him on my headset, but almost ran into the wall - [A Piece of Cake](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2024/08/a-piece-of-cake/) - View this post at the Globe and Mail. Illustration by Alex Deadman-Wylie. He said it as if he were a little boy, not an 86-year-old man. “Are we having chocolate cake?” My first instinct was to blurt out, “I bought you lunch, set it out nicely, and that’s not enough?!” I bit my tongue. I’m - [Dreams of Science](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2024/03/dreams-of-science/) - Some kids dream of being actors or architects, dancers or doctors, pilots or painters. I dreamed of being a nuclear physicist. I was born a science nerd. Summers were spent in computer camp and mini-university, and in begging mom to take me to the local museum for the umpteen-millionth time. Even my basic literacy was - [Accidentally Torontonian](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2023/08/accidentally-torontonian/) - Toronto is never satisfied. It obsesses about its shortcomings, even as it lands near the top of “best cities in the world” lists, a pessimism born from privilege. Toronto is the commercial, financial and cultural centre of the country even as it dreams of becoming New York City when it grows up. It’s the centre of its universe, but also the centre of self-doubt, perpetually comparing itself to everywhere around it. - [My Goodbye Tour](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2023/04/goodbye-tour/) - I’m 52, comparatively young for some, but old for more. To me it’s indeterminate, but closer to the far end of the spectrum than the start. I think about that far end more and more, reminded of my own mortality by the growing count of friends and family who have fallen victim to disease, accidents - [A Grandfather's Things](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2023/03/a-grandfathers-things/) - I narrowly avoided permanent bachelorhood, finding my better half midway through my 40s. I have no children. Before the big day, my wife and I had a conversation: “Do we really want to be chasing toddlers around in middle age?” The answer on both sides was no. For me, parenthood was probably never in the - [Farewell to Ballybrophy](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2022/10/farewell-to-ballybrophy/) - I had it all planned. I’d waltz into the pub, and the bartender — casually wiping down the bar between patrons — would ask me what I wanted. I’d say I was here to pay a debt. He’d look at me quizzically, and I’d tell him the tale of my grandfather, Ed Brophy, who criss-crossed - [Coping in the Age of Disinformation: Part 4 – What's Your Source?](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2022/02/age-of-disinformation-4/) - This is part four of a ten-part series on coping with disinformation. For part three, visit Ask Why. In an ideal world, we'd all be extremely well-informed. We'd have the time and leisure to read up on issues and examine different sources, educating ourselves and coming to informed decisions about everything from local politics to - [Coping in the Age of Disinformation: Part 6 - Cognitive Bias](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2022/02/age-of-disinformation-6/) - This is part six of a ten-part series on coping with disinformation. For part five, visit Skepticism is a Virtue. Cognitive biases are the shortcuts we take when thinking. And like many shortcuts, they can leave you lost in the woods instead of at your destination. An ounce of awareness is worth a pound of - [Coping in the Age of Disinformation: Part 10 – That's a Wrap](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2022/04/age-of-disinformation-10/) - Over the past couple of months I've posted ten stories about disinformation and how to confront it. About 120 people have seen them: not bad, but no stampede, and certainly nowhere near enough to move the needle even a tiny bit vs. the propaganda and disinformation facing us. I'm neither a renowned psychologist nor a - [Coping in the Age of Disinformation: Part 9 - Evidence First](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2022/03/age-of-disinformation-9/) - In The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan tells the story of the fire-breathing dragon living in his garage. Spoiler alert: there's no dragon. There is, however, an amusing anecdote that demonstrates some very weird things that can happen when you ignore evidence (or the lack thereof). As Sagan tells it, a friend comes by to see - [Coping in the Age of Disinformation: Part 8 – Talking To People You Disagree With](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2022/03/age-of-disinformation-8/) - This is part eight of a ten-part series on coping with disinformation. For part seven, visit What You Want To Hear. We talk with people we disagree with almost daily, people who hold views diametrically opposed to us, people we're certain are operating under the influence of disinformation. You need to know how to talk - [Coping in the Age of Disinformation: Part 7 - What You Want To Hear](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2022/03/age-of-disinformation-7/) - This is part seven of a ten-part series on coping with disinformation. For part six, visit Cognitive Bias. The best politicians and salespeople take advantage of a universal truth: tell 'em what they want to hear, and they're yours. "The art of propaganda is not telling lies, but rather selecting the truth you require and - [Coping in the Age of Disinformation: Part 5 - Skepticism is a Virtue](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2022/02/age-of-disinformation-5/) - This is part five of a ten-part series on coping with disinformation. For part four, visit Ask Why. Skepticism gets a bad rap, thanks to frequently being confused with cynicism, but they're not the same. Cynicism distrusts everything. Skepticism trusts evidence. You can find a more detailed definition but that's what it boils down to: - [Coping in the Age of Disinformation: Part 3 – Ask Why](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2022/02/age-of-disinformation-3/) - This is part three of a ten-part series on coping with disinformation. For part two, visit Stay Curious. I wrote about the power of why previously, but it bears repeating, especially when countering disinformation. "Why" is a tremendously powerful word, so powerful that asking it five times was entrenched as a problem-solving tool at Toyota. - [Coping in the Age of Disinformation: Part 2 - Stay Curious](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2022/01/age-of-disinformation-2/) - This is part two of a ten-part series on coping with disinformation. For part one, visit Read Things you Disagree With. One of the first things you learn about negotiation (such as in these courses I took at the University of Toronto) is to stay open and curious. Without doing so, you can't understand what's - [Coping in the Age of Disinformation: Part 1 - Read Things you Disagree With](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2022/01/age-of-disinformation-1/) - Welcome to part one of a ten-part series on coping with disinformation. In this third decade of the 21st century, we badly need dialogue on how to cope with all the misinformation and disinformation that threatens to overwhelm us. I hope you find something useful in it. Idea #1: Read things you disagree with. I - [The Mayor of the Market](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2019/03/mayor-of-the-market/) - I have seen my retirement. It is delicious. He used to hang around Yonge & Eglinton in Toronto, but I haven't seem him in a long time. I don't visit midtown much since moving out in 2010, so I don't know what became of him. The first time I saw him, I couldn't decide whether - [Mystic Muffins](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2019/02/mystic-muffins/) - How long can the little guy with a big heart hold out when gentrification sets in? - [United by Weather](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2018/10/united-by-weather/) - "How's the weather down there?" It's how a significant number of conversations between father and son begin with us. Weather is a safe topic, a place we can meet, even though we're 800 miles apart. "Not bad. It was stinking hot today. How is it up there?" Gruffness is a mask. It establishes that we - [Why: An Ode to Richard Feynman](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2018/09/why-richard-feynman/) - "Toes on the line!" She was oddly emphatic for a yoga instructor, almost religious in her fervor. For some reason, she considered it crucial for us place our tootsies on a line of white tape, six feet behind another line of white tape, and so on across the room. Line after line of white tape, - [Love Letter to the Danforth](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2018/08/love-letter-to-the-danforth/) - I touched down in Toronto on December 30, 2000, thinking I would be here just one year. Almost 18 years later I’m still here, thanks partly to a neighbourhood named “the Danforth.” I came to Toronto from Calgary for a one-year program at Humber College. Aside from an arboretum, Humber’s Rexdale Campus doesn’t boast much - [Subway Meditations](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2016/12/subway-meditations/) - From the vaults: I no longer suffer from a 90-minute commute, but I look fondly back on my TTC Zen. Relive it with me. People stare. I’m sure of it. How can they not? I’m just sitting there, eyes closed, clearly not asleep but clearly not part of the hermetical little world hurtling down the subway - [One of the Luckiest Men in the World](https://wittyandvibrant.com/2016/11/luckiest-man/) - There’s a certain cliche you hear every time a guy gets married: “I’m the luckiest man in the world!” I hate cliches; journalism school rung them out of me. The only time I’ll use a cliche is when it’s true. That's why - and I’ll qualify it slightly so you don’t think I’m exaggerating - I’m ## Pages - [About](https://wittyandvibrant.com/) - Everything you need to know about the world™. - [Contact Page](https://wittyandvibrant.com/contact/) - IMPORTANT: If you don’t hear from me, ping me on Mastodon.; it means the contact form isn't working correctly. ## Categories - [Uncategorised](https://wittyandvibrant.com/category/uncategorized/) - [Thoughts](https://wittyandvibrant.com/category/thoughts/) - [Toronto](https://wittyandvibrant.com/category/toronto/) - [Life](https://wittyandvibrant.com/category/life/) - [Fighting Disinformation](https://wittyandvibrant.com/category/fighting-disinformation/) ## Tags - [wedding](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/wedding/) - [marriage](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/marriage/) - [lucky](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/lucky/) - [luckiest](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/luckiest/) - [luck](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/luck/) - [trump](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/trump/) - [meditation](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/meditation/) - [subway](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/subway/) - [Russia](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/russia/) - [danforth](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/danforth/) - [toronto](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/toronto/) - [community](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/community/) - [market](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/market/) - [The Market](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/the-market/) - [Feynman](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/feynman/) - [Why](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/why/) - [physics](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/physics/) - [individual](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/individual/) - [individualism](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/individualism/) - [weather](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/weather/) - [Elias](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/elias/) - [Gentrification](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/gentrification/) - [Development](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/development/) - [Mystic Muffin](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/mystic-muffin/) - [St. Lawrence](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/st-lawrence/) - [Saint Lawrence](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/saint-lawrence/) - [Saint](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/saint/) - [Lawrence](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/lawrence/) - [Mayor](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/mayor/) - [The Mayor](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/the-mayor/) - [Yonge and Eglinton](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/yonge-and-eglinton/) - [Yonge & Eglinton](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/yonge-eglinton/) - [Yonge & Eg](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/yonge-eg/) - [shared](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/shared/) - [skepticism](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/skepticism/) - [skeptic](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/skeptic/) - [life](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/life/) - [social media](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/social-media/) - [Disinformation](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/disinformation/) - [Misinformation](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/misinformation/) - [Propaganda](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/propaganda/) - [Curiosity](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/curiosity/) - [Negotiation](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/negotiation/) - [Source](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/source/) - [skeptical](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/skeptical/) - [Theranos](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/theranos/) - [Holmes](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/holmes/) - [Elizabeth Holmes](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/elizabeth-holmes/) - [Bias](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/bias/) - [Cognitive bias](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/cognitive-bias/) - [biases](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/biases/) - [Cognitive biases](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/cognitive-biases/) - [Disagreement](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/disagreement/) - [Sales](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/sales/) - [Carl Sagan](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/carl-sagan/) - [Sagan](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/sagan/) - [Cult](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/cult/) - [Cults](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/cults/) - [Protest](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/protest/) - [Ireland](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/ireland/) - [Ballybrophy](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/ballybrophy/) - [Travel](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/travel/) - [bucket list](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/bucket-list/) - [bucketlist](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/bucketlist/) - [socialmedia](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/socialmedia/) - [Tornto](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/tornto/) - [Science](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/science/) - [Math](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/math/) - [Dreams](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/dreams/) - [Data Science](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/data-science/) - [Machine Learning](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/machine-learning/) - [AI](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/ai/) - [Artificial Intelligence](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/artificial-intelligence/) - [keto](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/keto/) - [ketogenic](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/ketogenic/) - [diet](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/diet/) - [diabetes](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/diabetes/) - [blood sugar](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/blood-sugar/) - [sugar](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/sugar/) - [blood](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/blood/) - [Crosstown](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/crosstown/) - [Extension](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/extension/) - [Guideway](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/guideway/) - [Humber](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/humber/) - [Humber River](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/humber-river/) - [Transit](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/transit/) - [Spending](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/spending/) - [Money](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/money/) - [Retirement](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/retirement/) - [Brickworks](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/brickworks/) - [Hill](https://wittyandvibrant.com/tag/hill/)