Today Is a Day That Is Filled with Excitment…Anything Can Happen, or How to Be a Writer
Temperature has dropped. Ought to get back to work on the next thing. But I came across this: a great spoof of the writing life.
Mary Soderstrom
Ways to Beat the Heat (and Drought) II
Until today, we’ve had more than two weeks of drought, along with horrendous temperatures. Water levels in the rivers and lakes are as low as they usually get in August,…
Ways to Beat the Heat I
Way Number 1: Take your breakfast to the park. This couple were reading the weekend papers early the other Saturday morning, and I was charmed at the idea of escaping…
Saturday Photo: A Pile of Wood
Lee, after more than a year of post-fire tribulations, is back in business as a furniture maker. He had to spend 8 months away from his work shop while the…
Cicadas Are Backl, Summer Is Really Here
I heard the first cicadas on Sunday–just one, tentative buzz. But by now the buzzing begins in the early morning and continues through the heat of the day. One of…
Okay, So I Succumbed to the Social Media Business
Goodreads finally caught up with me, and so I’ve joined. One of the things they have is book giveaways, so here’s one for my novel about people who make mistakes…
Quebec Going to the Polls in Early September, It Looks Like
The rumor mills are buzzing with the news that Jean Charest’s Liberals are going to call an election for Sept. 4 or Sept. 10. Which makes it quite apparent that…
The Death of Wisdom Comes When You Refuse to Look for the Truth: More Harper
Yesterday Canadian scientists protested the cuts to scientific research included in the recently passed omnibus budget. Facebook was full of “shares” of this photo and others similar showing scientists and…
The Draft Again? The New York Times Suggests It Might Be a Good Thing
In an op ed piece in The New York Times today, Thomas E. Ricks says: Let’s Draft Our Kids. He writes; “In late June, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the former…
O Povo Formidável: The Portuguese Continue to Make Waves
Two very interesting things coming out of the Portuguese connection. The first is the Portuguese Sundays being held on Montreal’s St. Lawrence Main for several Sunday this summer. Music, dance,…
Saturday Photo: The Loveliest Flowers in the World
Just got back from delivering Jeanne and Elin home after a shower for Sophie and baby Thomas (not to mention Lukas.) It was delightful to see how Sophie’s friends wanted…
Ying Jia:" Success" of a Chinese Couple As Owners of a Depanneur
Great reportage on the life of a corner store owner in Quebec, done by the National Film Board and Le Devoir. Check it out: part in English, mostly in French,…
Words of Wisdom? I Think Not
Somebody posted a variation of this on Facebook recently, and I’m back to musing about just how destructive this bit of “wisdom” is. I have always thought Yoda is saying…
Happy Fourth of July in a New Era: Even the DAR Has Changed
The face of the United States is changing, no one can deny that. Recent census figures show that more than half the babies born in the US are non-Hispanic whites,…
Want to Know What I Think I Do for Living? Canada Writes Asks Me Some Questions
Earlier this year I spent a slew of evenings reading entries in the Canada Writes non-fiction competition. Very interesting, with some sterling entries in the lot I was given. (There…
Ten Days of Patriot Love: June 24 to July 1
Like to see anybody in the US of A take on “Oh Say Can You See” in the same spirit And if you’re feeling beaten by the heat, here’s the…
M. Aimé Lafleur and His Hens: an Adventure in Urban Agriculture
Jeanne and I have checked out an urban henhouse the last couple of Saturdays, and today I went by to take a few pictures. It’s in the heart of Piccola…
Saturday Photo: When You Haven’t Got Much Garden Room, Go Up!
In this neighborhood of tiny front gardens, people have a way of making every little bit of space count. Here one of my neighbors has a f\vine and a climbing…
Appropriation of Voice: Back to That Old Question
There are now 10 stories more or less written for the short story collection I’ve been working on for the last year, and for which I got that nice CALQ…
US Plan for Medicare Is Constitutional-!
It was good to learn that the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to uphold Obamacare this morning. That’s basically good news, even though the plan has great problems. Chief among…