Painting Removal and Other Difficult Tasks
Scratching the last bits of paint from the staircase this morning. It is a project begun when we bought the house decades ago, but which stopped about 10 years later.…
Mary Soderstrom
Rooky MPs Take the Floor: Great Experience in Canada Post Filibuster
There has been a flurry of Facebook posts from the young NDP MPs about the epic struggle being waged in the House of Commons to try to amend the back…
Saturday Photo: More Walls Signs, the Good and the Uglly
Walking down lanes and alleys gives you a different perspective on a place, and I've come across some fascinating contrasts on the Plateau. Among them are the carefully painted works…
Québec’s Fête nationale: No Chasse Galérie This Time, Just Stephen Harper Being Mean
Practically everything is closed in Quebec today, except pharmacies and a few corner stores. St. Jean Baptiste Day, the Fête nationale, is one of the two or three holidays when…
Barbara Kingsolver’s La Lacuna and the Story that Follows
The last book discussed at the Atwater book club was Barbara Kingsolver's fascinating La Lacuna. It has haunted my days ever since, so I was delighted to find a New…
Bixi Troubles Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Make it Pedal Backwards
Montreal's popular bicycle rental program, the Bixi, has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. A few weeks ago, the city of Montreal was asked to guarantee…
Summer Solstice on the Plateau
Six months ago, I never thought we'd still be on the Plateau, but now we're at that other solstice and I see a different world than what greeted us when…
They Gave Jack a Huge Vote of Conference: Wish I’d Been There
The NDP convention in Vancouver over the weekend has been making headlines. Seems there's was some controversy over whether to talk about a "socialist" or a "social democrat" party, as…
Saturday Photo: A City is a Palimpsest
Once upon a time, the Plateau district of Montreal was on the edge of town, in the country in fact. The house on the left bears witness to that nearly-countrified…
More on Tatoos from a Tatooed Lady, Five Years After
And as I was walking around yesterday, looking at the artfully tatooed arms and shoulders on the young folks here, I remembered that I have two tatoos. They're the marks…
More Signs of the Times: Tatoos
No pictures so far--it's a bit embarassing to stop people to ask--but I'm struck this year by how many young people now have tatoos. Not just roses or "I love"…
Time to Make Reading Lists for New Year!
This is the week when I do book discussions, and I've been working on reading lists for the season that will begin in September. Here's a preview:2011SeptemberSecret Daughter by Shilpi…
Going Green in Order to Grow Greenery: The Sweet Potato Experiment
Many, many years ago, my first house plants were sweet potatoes and avocado vines. They were cheap, and satisfied my hunger for greenery. Guess that wouldn't work today!
Saturday Photo: Signs of the Times on the Plateau
The Plateau district of Montreal was until about 30 years ago a working class neighborhood, full of small houses, neighborhood commerce and light industry. It was scheduled for urban renewal…
Plant Perennials: They Come up Even When You Neglect Them.
There are many varieties of columbine or Aquilegia, as it is known botanically. This lovely flower is a descendant of a couple of plants I bought about ten years ago,…
The Earth Is Full, and I’m Too Hot (almost) to Care
Today it is hot, heading for the low 30s (the mid 80s F) with humidity that makes the temperatures much more uncomfortable. Last night it was cooler and about 2…
Even The New York Times Gets Cot–Ulp, Caught–in the Spell Check Trap
Here's the latest from a New York Times feature on the mistakes they make:A quote about the DSK case: "While the American justice system has its origins in British common…
Four Years of Rants and Reflections but No Eden Recreated…
...but then I didn't expect to do that on June 5, 2007 when started this blog. It was born in a conversation at The Writers' Union of Canada annual general…