When this came out, I hung the cover on my bedroom wall. Sharing memories of David Bowie, as so many of us were after his too-early death this week, led me to think a lot about the world I lived in when I was a big Bowie fan.My world thenI saw Bow…
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A Writer's Mind: Lilian Nattel Live: 2016 in Abstract
On New Year’s Eve around midnight, my two girls and I stuck our heads out the window that’s missing a screen so we could watch the fireworks, and then someone had the idea of taking pictures of the city from…
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Fun with Daylight Saving Time
I used to be indifferent to falling back. The extra hour of sleep on the one day is nice but whatever. The choice of driving to work in the dark, or driving home in the dark, isn’t that material to me, and once December comes, it’s in the dark both ways regardless of Daylight time […]
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Makeup is so much bullshit
I (almost) never wear makeup to work. A whole lot of it is that I simply can’t be arsed, but it’s also a specifically political decision: men don’t have to, so why should I. I recognize that, as a knowledge worker who’s valued for my brainz, I’m honestly privileged not to have to focus on my […]
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Abominations in Clown Barf
Almost every knitter or crocheter’s taste in yarn goes through a similar evolution as their skill progresses. When you’re just starting, everything takes forever, so thick yarns seem like a good idea – yay, fewer stitches makes more fabric! And you buy yarn based on how pretty the ball looks, without
Continue readingwmtc: my inner teenager decorates my office
Every time I have moved – many, many moves, more than I care to think about, over many decades – I have carefully removed from bulletin boards and walls dozens of buttons, cartoons, photos, quotes, and postcard images that seemed to define my life. I have saved almost all of
Continue readingwmtc: a gray rug, a black kong, a happy white dog
We need to get rugs or carpet runners for Tala; she’s slipping on the wood floors when she and Diego play. But with one heavy shedder and one heavy drooler, we’re not too keen on buying nice rugs. While looking for something else at Ikea, we found a rug they
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Home Decoration, Arbourist and Intransigentia style
Back in 2012, Arb and I got married, bought a house, and adopted a dog, all within the space of three months. When we took possession of the house, there really wasn’t time to paint. Which was a shame, because the previous owners had done the place in a very
Continue readingwmtc: the great weed of 2015?
You will not be surprised to learn that Allan and I own a lot of books. And CDs. And even LPs! Many, many hundreds of each. We have culled our collection a bit over the years, out of necessity, but living in houses for the past 10 years, we expanded
Continue readingTerahertz: The Big Bang Theory is ruining science
When The Big Bang Theory first premiered, I watched it with a lot of hope. It had science script checkers and sought to bring the nerdy culture of physics into the mainstream. My wife (then girlfriend) and I started watching it while we were both undergrads – me in engineering
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Intransigent CPAP Evangelist
Do you snore? Get tested for sleep apnea. I (used to) snore. Loudly. One time, when I fell asleep before Arb, he took his phone and recorded me snoring, then played it back in my ear until it woke me up. It was ghastly. I also used to be incredibly
Continue readingwmtc: sunrise from the 19th floor
19th floor, central Mississauga, facing east. For locals, this is from the corner of Hurontario and Burnhamthorpe. You can see a bit of Lake Ontario on the right. Toronto is not that close. I’m zooming in. Here’s the actual foreground.
Continue readingwmtc: in which we (re)adjust to apartment life
On August 30, 2015, we marked 10 years of life in Canada. On August 31, we moved from our rented house to a high-rise rental apartment, likely our last move for a very long time. The move itself was an absolute nightmare, a Murphy’s Law Spectacular. I don’t even want
Continue readingwmtc: in which i help a skunk and it kind of says thank you
My apologies to wmtc readers who saw this on Facebook, but this story must be recorded on this blog! Yesterday morning the dogs were barking at the back door, really going nuts, and not settling down. Checking to see what was going on, I got quite a surprise. A skunk
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: On Blame – Another RSA Short by Dr. Brené Brown
This sorta stuff is what makes or breaks relationships. Have you ever caught yourself doing the actions they just mentioned in a video like this? I just did. Let me tell you a story, but first watch the video . Pretty high on the useful emotional educational chart if
Continue readingwmtc: preparing for the inevitable and diego’s mid-term report card
As the days count down until we move from house to apartment, I’m having trouble shaking my sadness. I’m very aware of the privileged position I’m in. We were able to find a really nice apartment, and although moving is expensive, we’ll be able to absorb it. Right now we
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: In Which Intransigentia tries playing Video Games
How I (mostly) feel about video games I grew up playing with Barbies and reading books, and didn’t really use a computer for anything other than basic word processing until around the turn of the century. On top of that, I have really bad hand-eye coordination, and not great depth
Continue readingwmtc: dogs, apartments, and anxiety: in which diego returns to school
As I mentioned (almost a month ago now), our pack of four is moving to a new den. We’re going to stop renting houses, as we have done for the past ten years, and move back to apartment life. Although I’ve adjusted to the idea, I’m no happier about it.
Continue readingwmtc: thoughts on luxury, plus know your rights, rental edition, part three
We have to move. We are heartsick over it. Our landlord is selling the house we live in. We’re not letting ourselves get kicked out (see below), but chances are very good we’ll have to move, so we’re taking steps to find a place sooner rather than later. With the
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Bullying and the enforcement of normal
Via Shakesville, I stumbled across this powerful and insightful article about bullying among school kids. As somebody who grew up bookish, queerish, funny-looking, and with poor mastery of social skills and “appropriate” gender performance, this totally resonated with me. The furthest I have come is to accept that I have both
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