I haven’t forgotten to write up Day 3 of the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence Conference – I WILL get to it (all my notes are made and I can’t wait to tell you what happened!). But, it’s coming up to Christmas and I want to share something that is
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Scripturient: The Book of Knowledge: 1
When I was growing up in the Fifties and Sixties, having an encyclopedia in your home was the bee’s knees, to use my grandmother’s phrase. It was a sign of sophistication and learning, of culture and wisdom. And being reasonably well-off, because encyclopedias were not inexpensive. I can still hear
Continue readingScripturient: Musings on Downsizing, No. 2
In the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, there’s a memorable, somewhat spooky scene towards the end where astronaut Dave is pulling the chips from the memory banks of HAL, the ship’s AI computer. HAL begs Dave to stop while his memories recede: Stop, Dave. Will you stop, Dave? Stop, Dave.
Continue readingScripturient: Musings on Downsizing, No. 1
Downsizing seems to be all the rage among people our age. It’s so popular, it might be classified as a sport or a game for seniors. Assuming someone could codify the rules, that is. I’ve been told it’s all over the TV, too, but since we haven’t had cable for
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Back to Back to School
A Story of Parenting, Told in School Supplies Kindergarten, First Child: I purchased these school supplies over a year ago, have been awake since Friday labelling every pencil, every marker, every individual crayon, every eraser, and every individual tissue in the box. I have labelled every article of my child’s
Continue readingScripturient: As Elvis leaves the building, so do we all
No one gets out of here alive. We all die. And with us go into the dustbin the dreams, the values, the ideals, the culture we grew up with, we shared, we ensconced in our daily existence. And the clutter we accumulated during our lives. Elvis has left the building
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Surprising Things I Learned About My Mom When She Moved
It seems like my Mom has been moving for months. It feels like over the past while, my sister and I have been operating in semi-crisis mode with our mother. She moved out of her apartment a few weeks ago, but we didn’t know if her new residence would be
Continue readingScripturient: Is This Your Bar of Soap?
This is side five. Follow in your book and repeat after me as we learn three new words in Turkish: Towel. Bath. Border. So begins Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him, from the first album released by the Firesign Theater, in 1968 (on later …
Continue readingPostArctica: The Pool Room in Verdun
This is the block on Verdun avenue between Desmarchais and Melrose. On top of the Dollarama was The Pool Room, a snooker hall where my generation basically hung out, grew up fast, and a lot of firsts were experienced such as smoking your first joint or dropping acid for the
Continue readingPostArctica: The Pool Hall in Verdun
This is the block on Verdun avenue between Desmarchais and Melrose. On top of the Dollarama was The Pool Hall, a snooker hall where my generation basically hung out, grew up fast, and a lot of firsts were experienced such as smoking your first joint or dropping acid for the
Continue readingPostArctica: When Punk Rock Hit Vancouver
Vancouver, 1978. So I am over at Glen Ward’s place and he puts an album on for me that he had ordered from Europe and we both were killing ourselves laughing through the whole thing, shaking our heads and pumping our fists, and just so damn high on this horrible,
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: 1 out of 100 Calgary Co-op members vote.
It’s election season for Calgary Co-op. For the month of February if you’re a member-owner of Calgary Co-op you can select three of their nine-member board. Most people don’t know they can help select representatives on that board. Out of some 440,000 members the Calgary Co-op cooperative only nets a little
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Makes you feel happy, like an old time movie
There’s something touching about a classic film, something magical about a B&W movie, about a film shot between the wars in that period of recovery and optimism; a film that was new when my parents were young, full of life and hope. A movie from the days before CGI, before green
Continue readingWalking Turcot Yards: Blade Runner Revisited
“But what can a poor boy do except to sing for a rock and roll band” The Rolling Stones Or maybe just follow your imagination with a camera if music is not your talent. So this is my take on Blade Runner. Or should I say my ultra low budget
Continue readingknitnut.net: Ask Me Anything: #6 – The moon
Future Landfill asked “Did you go outside and look up at the moon when Neil Armstrong went for a walk there in ’69?” I wish I could say that yes, I did go out and look at the moon, but the truth is I don’t remember actually doing that. What
Continue readingknitnut.net: Wanted
I wonder if Coyote knows his mugshot is plastered all over that new coffee roasting place on Anderson Street? The last thing he needs is a bunch of heavily caffeinated bounty hunters on his tail. Speaking of bounty hunters, I was thinking about the ways my sister and I used
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: The 70s called
I remember talking to my Grandfather on the phone in 1974. He was in Canada, and I was in the UK. There was an echo that made it very difficult to hear his voice; I think he struggled even more … Continue reading →
Continue readingknitnut.net: I had a grandfather
My grandfather, Opa, would be celebrating his 104th birthday today if he hadn’t been killed by an irrational fear of surgery. He died in a hospital in Hollywood, Florida, as a result of septic poisoning from a blocked gall bladder duct. He was 86. The doctors had warned him about
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