For the last couple of weeks, it’s been my privilege to witness some exciting progress for our community, plus have a really interesting experience. Literacy first As a librarian and library manager in a remote region, I work closely with the local literacy society, and I sit on its board
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wmtc: housekeeping complete
* The best-of page has been updated to 2021. * The links on that page are working again. * Internal links on multi-part posts are also working again — i.e. on the second part of a post links to the first, the third part links to the first and second, and so
Continue readingwmtc: housekeeping in progress: apologies for possibly sending old posts
For a very long time, old links on this blog have not worked. This has always bothered me. It’s bad enough that I lost many thousands of comments (2006 through 2019). I live in hope that this may change, if Blogger fixes the import/export issue, but as time goes by,
Continue readingwmtc: thoughts on privilege: using less oxygen in the room
Many years ago, at one of our wmtc parties, I was chatting with a new guest, the spouse of a friend. We had never met before, and they didn’t know anyone else at the party. Wanting to be a good host, I made it a point to spend some time
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the leak: great junior graphic for the young activist in your life
It starts with a trip to the dentist. Ruth Keller swears she brushes her teeth and flosses daily, yet the cavities are piling up. The dentist lectures, her mom scolds. No one believes that Ruth takes proper care of her teeth — but she does. Then Ruth and a friend
Continue readingwmtc: bill russell, rest in power: a trailblazing activist
Basketball legend Bill Russell died this month at the age of 88. Although I remember his playing days, it’s not Russell’s incredible and indelible sports record that leads me to honour him. If you’re not familiar with Russell’s life as a trailblazing activist, this is an excellent history lesson; if
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: like other girls: best youth fiction i’ve read in a long time
A girl wants to play football. That’s all. Well, not quite all. Mara wants to be herself. And that self wants to play football, among other things. Mara isn’t trying to make a statement. She doesn’t want to be political, and although she knows she’s gay, she doesn’t want to
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: killers of the flower moon: the osage murders and the birth of the fbi
I’m sure many of you have read Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. It’s an award-winning bestseller that garnered a lot of attention when it was published in 2017. If you haven’t read it, get it from your library, or
Continue readingwmtc: the great canadian sox shop for quality products made in canada
Add the Great Canadian Sox Shop to the list of companies I’m happy to have found. I am so, so, so tired of buying things that instantly fall apart. I’ll absolutely pay higher prices to avoid that. The worst is when you opt for higher prices, and the damn thing still
Continue readingwmtc: the game report: an update that is not completely analog
Back in December of last year, I blogged about starting a game night at home, rotating every-other week between games and music. I was super happy about it. Seven months later, I can report mixed results — mostly mixed because my partner really doesn’t like games. This has always been a source
Continue readingwmtc: the unscented company for greener, scent-free products
I highly recommend The Unscented Company! Here’s why. Looking for a pump-bottle liquid soap, I was very surprised to find a total absence of unscented soap where I live. In a large supermarket and two drugstores, there was no unscented hand soap! I was even more surprised — and disgusted — to
Continue readingwmtc: follow-up: response from pacific coastal airlines
This is a follow-up post to getting home: horrific customer service from pacific coastal airlines. Tl;dr: Those are the rules. Too bad for you. Next time buy travel insurance. Good afternoon, Laura I wanted to write today to let you know your letters to [company’s principals] were all received and forwarded
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: four fish: the future of the last wild food
After reading a review of Paul Greenberg’s Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food when it was published in 2010, I added the title to The List. When I read it recently, more than 10 years later, the subject matter had become so much more relevant to me, in
Continue readingwmtc: rotd: feminism is an endeavor to change
Revolutionary thought of the day: Feminism is an endeavor to change something very old, widespread, and deeply rooted in many, perhaps most, cultures around the world, innumerable institutions, and most households on Earth — and in our minds, where it all begins and ends. That so much change has been
Continue readingwmtc: things i heard at the library: an occasional series: #34
A customer said this. I tell my daughter I love her every day. I told my mother on her death bed, I’m not going to do what you did. I’m going to raise my daughter with love. My mother told me she hated me. She told me I ruined her
Continue readingwmtc: things i heard at the library: an occasional series: #33
As I sat down to write this, I searched for the last “things i heard at the library” post, to get the number. Amazingly, today’s post turns out to be a follow-up to the previous TIH! That was a surprise! And it makes writing this much easier. July 2020: I just
Continue readingwmtc: so many left behind: the ever-widening digital divide
Last year, while attempting to get a parking pass during our vacation — without a phone, my phone having been fried by an update — I got caught in a circuitous and frustrating encounter with information and technology gaps. About a year later, navigating the brave new world of do-it-yourself airport screening,
Continue readingwmtc: electoral reform is way overdue (but ranked ballots won’t help)
Canada’s 2021 federal election made the case for proportional representation very plain. While Canada’s electoral system isn’t as insanely nondemocratic as the US’s winner-take-all (or “first-past-the-post”) by state, with the antiquated and antidemocratic electoral college intervening, it is still FPTP by riding. For US readers, ridings are roughly the equivalent
Continue readingwmtc: in which i remember the pitfalls of creating rules, or, painting myself into a corner (again)
In our last episode of Laura’s Reading Plan, I posted a very long list for 2022. On that 2022 reading plan post, I wrote: This year’s plan is much longer. This is probably a bad idea. I also wrote: One thing is obvious: this plan is too long! I hope
Continue readingwmtc: the end of roe: a day we expected for so long still has the power to shock and stun us
We’ve been expecting this for 20 years. More than forty years of anti-abortion legislation, escalating every year and every decade, then Trump, then finally, the leaked draft. So I thought I was prepared — mentally, emotionally. Hell, for more than 15 years I’ve been saying that Roe is irrelevant for millions of
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