I needed to get a job as a library page in order to be “in the system” at the Mississauga Library. Job openings rarely, if ever, go external. Since after I earn my degree, I want to work as a librarian in Mississauga, and I was advised by several people
Continue readingAuthor: laura k
wmtc: sweet victories! ford budget defeated, tarsands pipeline dead for now
If Rob Ford and Stephen Harper are both unhappy, this must be a good day! Yesterday the voices of reason on the Toronto City Council united to defeat Rob Ford‘s most dangerous budget cuts. There will still be cutbacks, and layoffs, and there is still a fight. But note this:
Continue readingwmtc: have you used wikipedia today?
What’s going on SOPA Why it’s wrong
Continue readingwmtc: rally for toronto! today in nathan phillips square
Rob Ford might be losing weight, but Toronto is losing vital public services and good jobs – if the mayor and his friends on City Council have their way. If you live, work, or go to school in Toronto, come out to defend your city. WHEN: Tuesday, January 17, 5:30
Continue readingwmtc: things i heard at the library: an occasional series: # 2
Girl, whispering so quietly I could barely hear her: Excuse me. Um, do you work here? Um… um… do you know where I can find books about diaries of wimpy kids? Ten minutes later, a boy: Do you have Diary of a Wimpy Kid? Not five minutes after that, another
Continue readingwmtc: the perfect is the enemy and other thoughts on writing
I have a little meta-reflection on writing my recent post about the walled-off internet. These thoughts are not specific to the topic; it could have been anything. As it happens, writing that post brought up some truisms about the writing process – one negative and one positive. Perhaps they are
Continue readingwmtc: a quick lesson on the affects of religion on longevity
It has come to my attention that certain fundamental religious people believe that the death of Christopher Hitchens, who had advanced cancer, vindicates their beliefs and proves that Hitchens’ atheism was wrong. This is quite strange, and quite hilarious, and also quite wrong. Let’s review. What happens to atheists with
Continue readingwmtc: the walled-off internet, or why facebook and mobile apps are good for them and bad for us
Last summer, Allan and I had plans to meet a friend for dinner, and I Googled the restaurant to get the address and details. The place came up in Google right away, but I couldn’t get to the website. After trying a few times, I realized the restaurant no longer
Continue readingwmtc: caterpillar is bulldozing canadian workers. workers are fighting back.
“So long, good Canadian jobs!” Electro-Motive, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., a huge US company, has locked out 465 workers from its London, Ontario plant. The company has offered a take-it-or-leave-it contract that includes a pay cut of more than 50 percent: from a good middle-class wage of $35 per
Continue readingwmtc: the joy of books, long may they dance
Found on G+, thanks to S.
Continue readingwmtc: songs from beyond the grave (a list in progress)
I was driving around Mississauga listening to Bob Dylan’s Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue, a great live album, when I realized that the narrator of “Romance In Durango” dies at the end of the song. Or does he? The song seems to fall into a small subcategory of ballads
Continue readingwmtc: odds, ends, and i-school
Shorter wmtc: Quebec in winter: the weather is cold, the people are warm, the food is good. I loved all of it, and I especially loved traveling with my sweetie. Driving home, we were on smaller country routes in Vermont and New York State for a good two hours before
Continue readingwmtc: the iron lady was an enemy of the people and should not be celebrated as a hero
This week, the movie “The Iron Lady” opens, a big-budget biopic starring Meryl Streep as former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. No technical or directorial skills, nor the inevitable genius of Streep’s performance, could justify my seeing this movie. Its very existence as a myth-making celebration of a dangerous, war-mongering,
Continue readingwmtc: more montreal, vermont, and homeward bound
Our second full day in Montreal was simply lovely. In the morning we headed up to the Marché Jean-Talon, the largest of Montreal’s four public markets. I felt as if we had wandered into Europe. The gorgeous produce carefully displayed, the charcuteries, the boulangeries, patisseries. Snack bars selling cassoulet, pasties
Continue readingwmtc: la belle province… la belle ville
Montreal bagels! Why oh why did I not know about Montreal bagels all the other times I was in this great city?? * * * * We had another easy drive from Duchesnay to Montreal. The first part of the trip was beautiful, through snowy woods and farm country, the
Continue readingwmtc: the canada party: "our oil sands are so dirty, it makes texas look like a greenpeace retreat"
And while I’m at it, I might as well post this. And now back to Quebec.
Continue readingwmtc: memo to progressives and liberals: ron paul is not your friend
Can it be? Are progressive people supporting right-wing libertarian Ron Paul for the US Presidency? In 2008 I wrote on supposedly liberal people supporting hillary clinton. I didn’t agree with that choice, but I understood it. This… this is just insane. So Ron Paul opposes foreign wars and the federal
Continue readingwmtc: dogsledding and duchesnay
We had our third and final awesome breakfast at Chez Hubert, then said goodbye to the Crying (or possibly Laughing) Dresser and hit the road. Station touristique Duchesnay is about a half-hour from Quebec City, outside of Ste-Catherine-des-Jacques-Cartier, on the Lac St.-Joseph. (Place names here are very big on the
Continue readingwmtc: quebec city, day two, allan and laura, 25 years
Last night we went out in the neighbourhood of the B&B, in search of a local fast-food chain that mainly serves poutine. We found a Chez Ashton a few blocks away, a brightly lit, bare-bones place with a steady stream of locals scarfing down the smothered fries. Supposedly they also
Continue readingwmtc: quebec city, day one
The drive from Mississauga to Quebec was long but easy. My only concern was winter storms, and we saw nothing more than the occasional flurry. In fact, for the portion of the trip in daylight, it was bright and sunny. I love long road trips; Allan gets cranky near the
Continue reading