Boy if I was trying to do something serious
Like, say, get media attention for a real issue, like say the flotilla to Gaza, the fight against the dismantling of Greece's social programs, or even trying to get across…
postaday2011
And back to school she goes, we think
Tomorrow Mallory will likely head back to school. She's past the contagious period and has been sleeping well, unmedicated for two nights now. No oatmeal bath or lotion either. She…
Social media vs email: your best activist tool is…
It's not so clear to me. Numerically speaking, still email. But from the perspective of response rates, it's not clear. It could still be email. Here's what I mean:
You’d never know it to look at her face
...but I think Mallory is either getting off easy or dealing well with the chicken pox. Last night did not see the three hour wail fest, and I expect this…
And now I brace myself
If last night is any indication, we're about 40 minutes off from the start of screaming. Mallory went down like a ton of bricks, half an hour ago, dosed withe…
Chicken pox. Who’s happy now?
I have to confess when Irene and I first discovered Mallory had chicken pox yesterday morning, we were kind of happy. Like when you put a tick beside something relatively…
Did the NDP fall into a trap?
I suppose the doyens of public opinion research will tell us the answers soon enough, but I'm wondering if, as Bob Rae claims, the NDP fell into a Tory-set trap…
Two hard drive failures
It's a sign of something. Within days of each other the drive on Irene's Macbook Air and one of the mechanisms in my desktop computer fail. One more spectacularly than…
Being Zen about the pool part 2
Total breeze of an evening. Home in time to put together leftovers for dinner. Dinner done in time for a bath, and then out for a beer with a friend.…
The Canada Post lockout busting legislation explained
It all makes perfect sense to me now. At first I thought it strange that the Tory government was ordering its wholly-owned crown corporation and its Tory government-appointed president to…
Being zen about the pool, part one
I came home today to find my kid and two of my neighbours' three kids swimming in the pool. And the landscapers prepping the area where a stone path will…
I really need to remove some stress from my life
I have two websites to launch this week for work, one freelance project that needs some attention, one volunteer website that needs to launch by the end of this month,…
Rights versus the economy
In uniondom we talk a lot about the 'right to free collective bargaining'. I expect most of us realize the meaning of that phrase is lost on most people in…
Mallory with a sparkler
We were at a Summer Solstice party at Facebook friend Sweet Rhubarb's tonight. Jamie brought sparklers, glow sticks and marshmallows. (Susie will be happy to see I spelled that correctly…
I’m not the only person who thinks this
Tim Harper, a Toronto Star columnist, has a good item this evening about the meaning of the Harper government's moves to end two nation-wide strikes for no reason that would…
So this is how it’s going to be: CAW to be legislated back to work after one day on strike
After a single day of strike, labour minister Lisa Raitt has announced the government's plan to legislate CAW members at Air Canada back to work. Wow. Welcome to Stephen Harper's…
Okay, one more post about the RLCT
And then I'm done. First up, a public thanks to my partner and Mallory's mother, Irene Jansen. I've been eating up at least six non-work, non-sleep hours a week since…
Rideau Lakes is over. I’m wiped. But happy
So I'm back. Rideau Lakes is over. Sniff. There were minutes today, however where I would not have been so sentimental. The moonscape loosely termed 'road' between Meryln Wilson Road…
Phew. Made it. Only 180 more km to go
Once I got out of town I was fine. I got about 6km lost trying to follow the prescribed route out of town. I was so nervous I skipped over…
Bike to Kingston? Why on earth would anyone want to do that?
And yet every year thousands do. It's the 40th running of the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour tomorrow and this year, I will be among them. First time in five years.…