Michael Winter
@michaelwinternet.bsky.social
I'm a writer from Newfoundland living in Toronto. I admire trees and like to feed people and overhear conversations; I note gestures and read books and draw pictures and listen to old music and there's a dog I walk.
When kids are around me outside and I need to wipe my nose I will press one nostril closed and blow out the other. I first saw an old man do this when I was a kid, I still know his name, and I can't think of anything else he did, but I too wish to be remembered by the young.
November 15, 2025 at 12:04 PM
When kids are around me outside and I need to wipe my nose I will press one nostril closed and blow out the other. I first saw an old man do this when I was a kid, I still know his name, and I can't think of anything else he did, but I too wish to be remembered by the young.
have sent my son several cute animal videos and he's had to explain to me how they're all AI-generated, so now I'm reduced to forwarding him only Buster Keaton clips
November 14, 2025 at 1:27 PM
have sent my son several cute animal videos and he's had to explain to me how they're all AI-generated, so now I'm reduced to forwarding him only Buster Keaton clips
Don't mind feeling stuck in a cold, windy, rainy house, but when the mousetraps begin to disappear...
November 11, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Don't mind feeling stuck in a cold, windy, rainy house, but when the mousetraps begin to disappear...
currently repairing storm door that was ripped in half and thrown onto ground during latest windstorm -- caught myself thinking my storm door needs a protective door
November 10, 2025 at 3:26 PM
currently repairing storm door that was ripped in half and thrown onto ground during latest windstorm -- caught myself thinking my storm door needs a protective door
is high-beam the new low-beam? #blindedbythelights
November 8, 2025 at 9:50 PM
is high-beam the new low-beam? #blindedbythelights
how the yellow leaf can blow in front of a tree, obliterating from view the trunk of that tree
November 5, 2025 at 1:11 PM
how the yellow leaf can blow in front of a tree, obliterating from view the trunk of that tree
That time of the year when I can't pee in the garden anymore because the deciduous trees are losing their leaves.
October 28, 2025 at 1:06 PM
That time of the year when I can't pee in the garden anymore because the deciduous trees are losing their leaves.
someone had lost their way, and I knew where they wanted to go, but I'm terrible at giving directions
October 25, 2025 at 4:25 PM
someone had lost their way, and I knew where they wanted to go, but I'm terrible at giving directions
can say now, having just thinned my turnips, that there is no discernible difference between "turnip greens" and "rapeseed" and will stop correcting people when they say they are eating turnip greens when in fact they are eating rapeseed -- my apologies for being tiresome.
July 24, 2025 at 3:15 PM
can say now, having just thinned my turnips, that there is no discernible difference between "turnip greens" and "rapeseed" and will stop correcting people when they say they are eating turnip greens when in fact they are eating rapeseed -- my apologies for being tiresome.
I cut my fingernail badly in a kitchen mishap, and it's fascinating to see the nail grow back -- I have no idea what's happening down there in the nail bed, some autonomous force is in charge
July 22, 2025 at 11:29 PM
I cut my fingernail badly in a kitchen mishap, and it's fascinating to see the nail grow back -- I have no idea what's happening down there in the nail bed, some autonomous force is in charge
current feeling
June 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM
current feeling
it's hard to believe those pallets of garden soil and stacks of windshield wiper fluid that are piled up outside the exit to the grocery store aren't freebies you throw in your cart on your way to the car
June 10, 2025 at 9:24 PM
it's hard to believe those pallets of garden soil and stacks of windshield wiper fluid that are piled up outside the exit to the grocery store aren't freebies you throw in your cart on your way to the car
On my way to donate blood I noticed they are knocking down the Banting Institute, built in 1930. I once took a cutting from a vine that grew at a window, a window I imagined Frederick Banting once peered through.
June 9, 2025 at 4:10 PM
On my way to donate blood I noticed they are knocking down the Banting Institute, built in 1930. I once took a cutting from a vine that grew at a window, a window I imagined Frederick Banting once peered through.
"If you envy my life, work harder!"
May 31, 2025 at 5:33 PM
"If you envy my life, work harder!"
we didn't host King Charles, but we did have two teenaged British rugby billets, and they left us with this loot, God save the sultana:
May 29, 2025 at 3:54 PM
we didn't host King Charles, but we did have two teenaged British rugby billets, and they left us with this loot, God save the sultana:
when someone dies earlier than expected it's a shock, but there comes a time when you have to admit that it'd be surprising if they were still alive at this age -- you release them from the tragedy of early death, but you still miss the years you could have had with them if they had remained alive
May 28, 2025 at 2:13 PM
when someone dies earlier than expected it's a shock, but there comes a time when you have to admit that it'd be surprising if they were still alive at this age -- you release them from the tragedy of early death, but you still miss the years you could have had with them if they had remained alive
Last chance to see work by Andrew Scott, Michael Winter, Andrew Rucklidge, and Stirling Scott (this amazing deer) -- BIG PAWS NEVER SEEN group show at the West End Phoenix space, 3 Bartlett Ave, Toronto.
Drop by today, Saturday, 3 May, 2-4 pm! We'll all be there.
Drop by today, Saturday, 3 May, 2-4 pm! We'll all be there.
May 3, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Last chance to see work by Andrew Scott, Michael Winter, Andrew Rucklidge, and Stirling Scott (this amazing deer) -- BIG PAWS NEVER SEEN group show at the West End Phoenix space, 3 Bartlett Ave, Toronto.
Drop by today, Saturday, 3 May, 2-4 pm! We'll all be there.
Drop by today, Saturday, 3 May, 2-4 pm! We'll all be there.
counted nine guys around me with moustaches, started feeling old
May 2, 2025 at 5:49 PM
counted nine guys around me with moustaches, started feeling old
I'm part of a group show of visual art this Thursday, May 1st (that's tomorrow) at the West End Phoenix HQ, 3 Bartlett Avenue, Toronto. There'll be lots of recent watercolours and collages and some paintings too, come say hello! 6-9 pm.
April 30, 2025 at 11:57 AM
I'm part of a group show of visual art this Thursday, May 1st (that's tomorrow) at the West End Phoenix HQ, 3 Bartlett Avenue, Toronto. There'll be lots of recent watercolours and collages and some paintings too, come say hello! 6-9 pm.
kid lost his bike lock so now he's using mine, and my bike is so decrepit I can't rationalize buying a new lock (so expensive), so I've taken to tying the bike up with a length of rope -- so far it's been good practise for my knots.
April 23, 2025 at 2:38 PM
kid lost his bike lock so now he's using mine, and my bike is so decrepit I can't rationalize buying a new lock (so expensive), so I've taken to tying the bike up with a length of rope -- so far it's been good practise for my knots.
remembering that time I tried on a second-hand coat in the Value Village and found, in a side pocket, an almost-full mickey of whisky, and realizing this was intentionally stashed there, someone was coming back for it.
April 22, 2025 at 4:24 PM
remembering that time I tried on a second-hand coat in the Value Village and found, in a side pocket, an almost-full mickey of whisky, and realizing this was intentionally stashed there, someone was coming back for it.
kid begged me to buy him a loaf of white sliced bread, so I did -- first loaf like that I've had in many a year, but I just toasted up two slices and spread mayonnaise and cut up a tomato and sprinkled pepper & salt and wow that is a nice sandwich.
April 13, 2025 at 2:37 PM
kid begged me to buy him a loaf of white sliced bread, so I did -- first loaf like that I've had in many a year, but I just toasted up two slices and spread mayonnaise and cut up a tomato and sprinkled pepper & salt and wow that is a nice sandwich.
Every time I read a book of the collected letters between two writers, the book always ends the same way -- one of the writers dies and the letters stop.
April 10, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Every time I read a book of the collected letters between two writers, the book always ends the same way -- one of the writers dies and the letters stop.
I gave blood today and the nurse who pricked my finger said, "You're well-hydrated," and no one has ever said that to me before.
April 9, 2025 at 11:05 PM
I gave blood today and the nurse who pricked my finger said, "You're well-hydrated," and no one has ever said that to me before.