I have the most bizarre memory. I mean, I can remember things that happened when I was 2. I remember locker combinations from high school. I remember school seating plans from elementary school. Yet I can’t remember my kids’ names on a regular basis, or whether I’ve seen a particular
Continue readingAuthor: cenobyte
centre of the universe: Fuck Libraries
The Saskatchewan government, in its 2017/18 budget, has slashed library budgets around the province. Its done all kinds of other things too like force civil servants to take a 3.5% cut in pay, shut down the only highway bus transportation service in the province, increase the provincial sales tax, and
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Education Governance Reform
The Government of Saskatchewan recently released a study commissioned from Dan Perrins called Educational Governance Review Report, Kindergarten to Grade 12. The first 21 pages of the report are pretty straightforward: there’s a need in Saskatchewan to centralise administration for our dozen-and-a-half school divisions, and to ensure school boards are using
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Cardboard cutout
I’ve heard a lot of stupid things in my time. Hell, I’ve probably said more stupid things than a really large number of people who’ve said stupid things, combined with an equally large, or possibly larger, number of people who’ve said stupid things. Don’t believe me? Okay, how’s this: Grade
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Uncomfortable Dinner
Canada’s federal Minister of Health has just slapped Saskatchewan’s hands for offering pay-to-use MRIs, prompting the Saskatchewan Minister of Health to thumb his nose at the Feds, in an act that surprises absolutely nobody. While the Conservative Libertarians among us crow that it’s nobody’s business how we spend our after-tax dollars, in
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Product Review – Amopé Pedi Perfect
I’m not sure when the state of our heels became such a huge concern, but apparently it’s a big thing. Like. At some point in the past few years, someone realised that the true path to success is through baby-soft heels. To be clear, I’ve never had a pedicure in my
Continue readingcentre of the universe: The Drama …Club
Did I ever tell you about my short-lived career as an actual “ad-man”? *wavy remembery lines* Way back in the once-upon-a-time, there was a drama club. And that drama club was trying to recruit new members. I went to a high school where there was a pretty clear divide between
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Sing, O Muse
Hubris is a term that we equate with excessive pride. Not just being boastful. It isn’t regular pride in something you accomplished (I got out of bed today! You bet your butt I’m proud of that). It’s a kind of pathological pride in which you elevate yourself above the common
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Frozone
I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. I have, in the past, taken medications to deal with some of the symptoms. I have used light therapy (I had this great doctor who had therapeutic lamps in his office and I could just stop in a few times a week to read/study under
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Strange Times
Everything seemed normal. Normal for any road trip you take with your kids. A million stops for the peanut-bladders; a million cruddy road snacks. At one roadside stop, I bought some semiprecious stone bracelets (a couple of mine have broken lately so I guess I needed to stock up). It
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Freedom’s Just Another Word
Over the past couple of weeks, you’ve been either lauding or vilifying this guy who plays sportsball in the US because he opted to sit out the national anthem in protest of racism, race-based violence, and inequity. You got *really mad* at him, and said he shouldn’t be allowed to
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Bikini, Burkini – Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
– initially entered as a series of ranty comments on an effbook post – I don’t care WHAT your religion is, or isn’t – no government has the right to tell anybody how to dress. So the government of France doesn’t have any more right to tell people what they
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Don’t Need to See
I love radio. I’ve always loved radio. Right now, I love radio more than usual. Just because you can do something, like take photos of dead refugee children, or take live footage of people being shot in the street, doesn’t mean you should use that footage. The best news reporters
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Transparency?
I don’t think that word means what you think it means. We just passed the deadline by which First Nations bands are required by the Federal Government to disclosed audited financial statements. The audited financial statements must be accompanied by a separate schedule which details the salaries for Chiefs and
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Honey honey
There is a girl at football practice throwing stones in the air directly over her head. Part of me wants to tell her why this is such a bad idea – and show her the scar on my eyebrow and chipped tooth to prove it, and part of me wants
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Ask
There’s this thing called “AMA”, which is short for both “Against Medical Advice” and “Ask Me Anything”*. I think both apply equally, 90% of the time. So, since I am in the process of trying to fixy things on my blog, I figured an “AMA” post might be kind of
Continue readingcentre of the universe: No entertainment value whatsoever
I’m testing something out here at the centre of the universe, so while I wait to see if that’s been successful, here’s a little story for you: Penguin’s car breaks down while he’s on vacation in downtown Florida. He manages to find a repair shop within walking distance of a
Continue readingcentre of the universe: How to get engaged in Canadian politics: an educational resource
Here is a handy guide that will help you, disenfranchised Canadian, get engaged with and get involved in the upcoming (eventually, at the end of several more weeks of pre-election hell) federal election! The first step, as the number to the left would indicate, is to click every single link
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Money for Nothing
Copyright is, at its simplest form, the method by which creators are paid for their work. It is a registration of an intellectual property (IP). It says “the creator has the right to charge, or not to charge, money for you to use this”. It’s not a form of censorship
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Standing there tongue tied
I have never voted for a Conservative candidate in my entire life. Sometimes it’s because I don’t like the candidate themselves or what they stand for (looking at you, Maurice Vellacott, Brad Trost, and Tom Lukiwski), and sometimes it’s because I don’t like their party’s platform. It’s true that I’m
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