Yes, I can well imagine that probably no one cares about anyone’s recap. As 2024 came to a close the media, especially old style print would provide all kinds of the “best of” in various categories. The best movies, TV show, theatre, books etc…etc. I wouldn’t look at all of them but when I did I usually would realize that I had actually not seen or read many of the best of the best. The Toronto Star listed the following movies as the best of 2024.

Anora - didn’t see it
A Complete Unknown - nope
The Brutalist - nope
Conclave - nope
All We Imagine as Light - nope
Dune: Part Two - nope
Bird - nope
A Real Pain - nope
Sept 5 - nope
Universal Language - nope

I guess I’m truly out of touch as I’ve not seen any of these movies. It was almost a similar situation when it came to the best of television. Of the top 10 listed, I have only seen one of them and a few episodes of a second one. Although there are a few on the list that I have bookmarked for later viewing.

In regards to my personal 2024, I’ve been attempting for a few weeks to come up with a theme that could weave its way through the year. Not easy it would seem.

I am going to divide the re-cap into two different parts.

The letter “P” is one that comes up a lot in the past year. Sometimes in a very positive way and in a not so positive way.

Sorry to shock you with these images. Trust me it was much worse than it looks. Back in October of 2023, I decided to have surgery on my shoulder. When I look back at it the recovery seemed to take place in stages. The first stage which lasted for a few months was awful. Of course it does depend on how extreme the surgery is and unfortunately for me the damage once they looked inside was a bit more than planned. To provide somewhat of a perspective, I suggest try tying one arm behind your back (your dominant one) and see how that works for you. Dressing, bathing and just about everything you do with that arm needs to be relearned with your other hand. Ugh…

Physiotherapy became one of my daily sins and most expensive one’s. I became one of the “part owners” of the the physiotherapy clinic that I attend. (Kidding about part-owner). Twice a week for almost almost the entire year, I would either take the subway or when the weather improved ride my bike to Yonge/Davisville for the luxury of being probed and turned into a pretzel. And best of all, I get to pay for it. All told I made it there 70 times. As I started to see improvement, I decided to scale back to once a week and of course if I was away I would miss some weeks.

I had a lot of homework and I was pretty good at keeping up with it, although I’ve slipped in the last few weeks. Every day I would complete approximately 28 different exercises using a mobile app that was provided by my physiotherapist. Over time we would add new ones and remove certain ones. Not all of them were focused only on the shoulder as I’ve developed some arthritis in the hips which is another not fun part of getting older.

I started to function somewhat normally by March/April and began looking at various options to get some physical exercise.

Another word beginning with the letter “P” entered into the mix - Pickleball. I certainly knew a little bit about pickleball from my working days - we sold pickleball paddles, but I had actually never played. You probably could say I was somewhat ignorant about the game but at no time did I ever look down at the sport. I started watching on YouTube to try to learn about the rules and the basics of how to play. I mean how hard can it be? Looks like mini-tennis doesn’t it?

I written about this in previous blogs so it may be a bit repetitive. Getting started in PB isn’t simple because finding a place/people to play is not easy. I signed up for a lesson at Fairgrounds at the old Cloverdale Mall and began my journey there. I also played at the YMCA in the Beaches and at the Distillery. When the weather improved I was able to join up with a group called the Ramsden Pickleball Club who had a permit for a few mornings a week at Ramsden Park. I also took advantage of my membership with East Toronto Pickleball and played a bit with that group in the east end.

I’ve become hooked. I been playing a lot - and I mean a lot.

When I reviewed my calendar I saw that I had played over 163 times - yikes. I have played more pickleball than I’ve ever played tennis in a year. Fast forward to the present I’ve been hanging out at the JAR which is a new indoor club located in the design district. Its quickly become part of my almost daily routine.

For my tennis friends who may chuckle at me there is no doubt PB is easier and not as hard on the body but that doesn’t make it any less “filling.” The games that I’m involved in are challenging, tiring and allow me to use some of my old tennis strengths. And best of all I’ve met some great people to play with.

There is a place in the world for both tennis and pickleball. They are different games involving different skills. It’s not that one is better than the other - but that they are different. Pickle is easier to play initially and thus the learning curve is short. But to get good you do need to do and learn certain things or your going to be stuck.

When I started this blog I wanted to write about things that I enjoyed and keep it light hearted. If you read some of the previous posts you know I’ve written extensively about pizza. Another letter “P.” Of course I don’t eat pizza daily or even weekly and frankly 2024 was certainly not the year of pizza. But there were some favourites as usual.

There are lots of lists out there and some of the spots that come up a lot are - Pizzeria Badiali, Descendant Detroit Style, Bar Sugo, Fourth Man in the Fire and North of Brooklyn. I have tried all of these and they are….really, really good. Badiali is a slice joint. If you pick up a whole pie and bring it home its not the same as it will cool off. Descendant is thick slices. Bar Sugo is amazing but very hard to get into.

One of the best and also very busy is Danny’s on College Street in Little Italy. Its been a success since it opened in 2022 and we often treat this as destination place to visit. You have to plan ahead. They serve what is called tavern style pizzas and everytime I’ve been there has been enjoyable.

Of course all of the above are not within walking distance which is a problem. Good things are worth driving to but it is always nice when you can find somewhere you like that you can walk to and have a glass of wine and not have to worry about driving. Around the corner from us is a new place which I’ve written about in a previous blog post. Stella’s is a not a typical checkered tablecloth Italian place but also not a typical chain outpost. They have a lot on the menu and I think the pizza is pretty good and it’s what I call only a stumble home. That definitely adds a star to the rating. It’s probably not ever going to make it to the top 10 lists but I like it and that is all that counts.

So….that brings us to the end of Part 1 and stay tuned for Part 2 in a few days. Yes…I don’t live an exciting life but this is what you get….