Stories
Plague Blog – 3
I went out to our local fruit and vegetable store yesterday. I’m not infectious anymore, and since the last time I shopped was almost two weeks ago, the fridge was pretty bare. Still, having had the flu so recently, I went from self-isolation into temporary social distancing, remaining hyper-aware of everything going on around me. […]
Plague Blog – 2
I spent the past couple of days reading the newspapers we get delivered on weekends, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star. Theoretically, I have a leisurely weekend, or at least a leisurely Sunday, reading the papers, eating a croissant, feet up, cat happy, a fire in the fireplace. Theoretically. This time, […]
Plague Blog – 1
About the same time as the first case of coronavirus was reported in Canada, I came down with the flu. Yes, I’d got my flu shot. It doesn’t always work. I thought I had a cold. A bad cold, but a cold. I only went into my family practice last week when I felt I […]
Book Review: Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel, Unsheltered, is a worried book. It’s worried about climate change, worried about the American economy, about health care in the U.S. (or the lack of access to it), about the American middle class withering away. Kingsolver was worried when she published the book last year, and I would bet she’s even more […]
Feeling Cranky About Social Media
I’ve been trying to write one of these posts for a while. But what happens when you lose interest in marketing? Because no one’s really fooled about social media, are we? The tech giants use it to gather our data while we use it to market and brand ourselves, posting images of our flawless lives (not), […]
Thierry Mugler, Nick Cave, and Fashion as Propaganda
Peacock-feathered butterfly wings on the back of a perfectly spotlit gown. Blade Runner leather body suits. Kick-ass boots with red flames, a red-eyed skull and a gold TM logo: all this at the Thierry Mugler haute couture exhibition at the Musée des beaux-artes in Montreal. I like ducking into art museums, finding a moment outside the crowded […]
Writing Tip: The Heightening Draft
I’m just finishing off decent drafts of two new novels: a thriller and a literary manuscript. Going back and forth between the two doing rewrites, I’ve been thinking about the steps I ask screenwriters to consider when I’m story editing their scripts. Lately, the heightening draft. As a story editor, I tend to start off […]
Why Are There No Insects in My Backyard?
Last night, I took a glass of wine and a book into the garden on a beautiful evening in Toronto, thinking I’d stay outside until the mosquitoes got bad. There weren’t any, and I stayed out until sunset. I repeat: No mosquitoes in Toronto in mid-July. I’ve been noticing all spring that there aren’t many […]
Protection and Prayers: Nick Cave at the Frith
I didn’t know what to expect, so when we walked into the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, I was sucker-punched by the sight of Nick Cave’s soundsuits, extraordinary costumes constructed from everyday objects, everything from Grandma’s doilies to washboards to mid-century toy tops. They were wonderful, but what was the artist up to? I’m speaking […]
A MAGA By His Trade
He was about as pumped as you could get, a dark spade beard above a thick neck that sloped down to enormous shoulders, his muscled arms looking oiled even outside the ring. Beside him was his wife, a very pretty Angelina Jolie-lookalike with puffed lips and the most astonishingly poreless skin, completely flawless under camera-ready […]
My Mother’s Marriage Proposal (The First?)
I wonder if anyone knew a man named Stan Johnson from Keewatin or Kenora, Ontario, a trainee pilot who worked for Starratt Airways in 1939. Because in going through my mother’s papers, I just found a proposal of marriage from him to her. More or less. It’s in a Starratt Airways envelope addressed to my […]
This is Windows Technical Department
The phone rang yesterday when I was expecting a call, so I picked up. “Hello, this is Windows technical department.” The usual scam, to which I gave my usual answer. “No, it’s not. This is a scam. You take money from old people and confused people. Don’t you have any grandparents?” That’s usually enough to […]
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