Meanderings of a mental health client in good company
Originally posted on My journey with AIDS…and more!: Would it be much of a surprise, even to the casual reader, that I am a mental health client? I have been…
Kenn
1,013 followers – questions?
I don’t know who you all are, but the blog machine tells me there are 1,013 of you following me here. You can also find me, Kenn Chaplin, on Facebook.…
Reprise: A human wreck at ‘Wreck Beach’
It was my first visit to the west coast, that summer of 1996, and – given my fragile health – I was determined to make it the trip of a…
No offence to ‘black dogs’ but I got real today
Bright and early this morning, before I could slip into dishonesty, I volunteered to my diabetes specialist that I was depressed. Actually it was more like joining in conversation with…
Remembering “The Romans” – The Romans II Health and Recreation Spa
just an illustration? I found it in the Yellow Pages, which I was checking out at the Toronto Coach Terminal on Bay Street. I had just arrived from Niagara College.…
I’m back, breaking my blogging fast
Facebook, with its at-best superficial ways of linking me to my world, has taken me away from greater reflection possible in this blog so…I’m back – on my journey here.…
Time Stamp: Blog Writer’s Block
As of late, I’ve ‘got nothing’. Facebook has ruined my blogging.
I am reminded
I am reminded of December 6, 1989 at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique. I am reminded of February 5, 1981 – Toronto’s bath house raids, the catalyst for my coming out. I…
Medical update: It’s all good
While showing me a graph, with the trajectory of my health over the past few months, my endocrinologist remarked, “I wouldn’t have sold you life insurance in January!” Point taken.…
Out for 35 years
Reading something which noted that 1981 was 35 years ago jarred me into realizing that it was three-and-a-half decades ago this very month that I officially came out of the…
Walking the walk – with assistance
First there was the pre-Christmas illness. Then, while in Perth, I went for only one walk – to the pharmacy – in a town which normally calls out for long…
Chasing the HI on a glucose meter
I spent the afternoon yesterday in the Emergency Department of Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital after a drug overdose, albeit accidental, when I tried to eliminate a “HI” reading on my…
Honours from ACT
It was both an honour and a pleasure this past Monday to receive an award for 25 years of service at the AIDS Committee of Toronto’s Annual General Meeting. I…
May 9, 2007
The assignment for this week (Sept. 28, 2015) at the Mount Sinai Narrative Writing Group was “Write a story about a decision you have observed or experienced.” May 9,…
‘Times Have Changed’ at 40 Wellesley St.E. #HIVnow
The latest ambitious awareness campaign by the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), #HIVnow, “asks big questions, puts forward honest answers and issues clear calls to action”. The “Times have changed”…
Leaving Unit 503 upright
I am surrounded by boxes, both packed and empty. This week I am changing units within my housing co-op, moving house for the first time since 1992. When I re-located…
Re: How a change of heart led to a backlash from the ‘Church of Nasty’
How a change of heart led to a backlash from the church of nasty Dear Mr.Coren, I have been a follower, if not always an admirer, for many years. Your…
Keeping Kenn Zeller’s name alive
I listened politely a couple of weeks ago as the woman told a roomful how she had been influenced so positively by a school librarian years before. “I was going…
United Church of Canada Moderator to receive Craig Chaplin Memorial Award
The three Colleges of the Montreal School of Theology – comprised of The United Theological College, The Montreal Diocesan Theological College and The Presbyterian College, Montreal – are gathering together…