Disclaimer: This is NOT directed at anyone in particular. It is an issue that I have been thinking about for a long time. I'm also not going to pursue the academic theories around identity and a writer's right to have as many nom de plumes as they want, at least not… Read full post »

This interview was originally published on Mary Wollstonecraft's blog. That blog was deleted. I am re-posting it in the spirit of Bonnie Russell's misogyny meme today. 

Do you mind telling me some basics things about yourself--age, sex, where you live, where you grew up, any sibli… Read full post »

Someone asked me the other day if I had a favourite Christmas gift. 

I hesitated before I spoke. I thought about the beautiful Birk's diamond and ruby ring my husband gave me two years ago. It is a delicate ring with four small rubies criss crossed by pave diamonds in… Read full post »

I joined OS one year ago, Dec. 11 2008. I was elated when I discovered it purely by accident, but also maddened to realize that it had existed so long by internet standards without me knowing about it. My first post was about my mother, who she used to be, and… Read full post »

Remembrance Day

Note: I wrote this last year for another blog and have updated it slightly. 

I made a realization yesterday. I no longer care what stupid people think. 

I mean, I've thought that I didn't care before, but I still did care a little bit, at least enough to present facts, argue, or walk away exasperated. Now I just walk away and banish them… Read full post »

This started out as the title suggests -- thanks to Beth Mann for the idea -- but it has morphed into something more. I'm going to mention the corny movies that always manipulate me into crying, then some of the more serious ones that evoke tears.… Read full post »

I have taught  part-time in post-secondary schools for nearly nine years and I have observed many changes in student behavior. Since students get their say at rateyourprofessor.com, I am having mine here. I am in a mood to list things lately so bear with me.

1. Students almost never give… Read full post »

I had the HIN1 virus last week, better known as swine flu, and I’m doing just fine, thanks.  It probably helped that I didn’t know I had the dreaded  virus until I was in the final stages. If I had known, I might have been sicker purely for psychological reasons.

After… Read full post »

I used to know who I was: an idealistic, opinionated journalist-turned-film critic for a mid-sized daily newspaper. To say that I lived, breathed and slept my job would not be an understatement. Yes, I sometimes bitched about the long hours, the ridiculous demands on my time, the endless travel and t… Read full post »

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

These are dead easy, moist and tasty. I like 'em for breakfast or dessert. I adapted this from a recipe I found online -- sorry I've forgotten where -- at a pre-school of all places. Apparently kids like to make them, too.

Ingredients… Read full post »

 Allow me to (re)-acquaint you with MC5, one of the seminal bands of the late 60s and 70s in all their black-and-white glory playing live at Wayne State University in Detroit. Check out some of the shocked expressions on the students' faces and stay tuned for the ditzy hippie chick at… Read full post »

"We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves." –– Thomas Merton 

"...some periods of our growth are so confusing that we don't even recognize that growth is what is happening.  We may feel hostile, angry or weepy and hysterical o… Read full post »

It turns out that I will be hosting dynomyte, an OS member who is currently trying to make his way to Vancouver if only his aged Mercedes wagon will let him.

The presence of this out-of-town visitor fairly shrieks of a good opportunity to organize a meet-up… Read full post »

Someone accused me today of hating America. I've heard it before from the usual suspects, but today I stopped to really think about it. Do I? Really? Hate America? Has all the angst and nastiness of the past few years, not to mention weeks, stirred up  feelings in… Read full post »

I never want to hear any of these things ever again:

Commercials of any kind on any medium anywhere

Car alarms

Car stereos so loud that they vibrate

Video games that boom while normal people are trying to sleep 

Loud music in places where… Read full post »

I made a blackberry pie the other day, one of several fruit pies to grace my table this summer. I had a few blueberries left so I put about half a cup in with the blackberries, and the mixture was incredible. This pie only has one crust,… Read full post »

A Bronx woman is suing her former college for $72,000, the cost of her tuition including $2,000 for "stress,"  because after three months of searching, she still hasn't found a job. She has a bachelor of business administration degree in information technology. As a part-time educator, I am symp… Read full post »

She's gone. I found out the other night. Friends from out of town came sweeping late into a dinner party Thursday and told me. They thought I knew. First I was in shock. Then I cried. Then we drank a toast to her memory.

My friend Marilyn Moysa died June… Read full post »

I found this recipe a few years ago and have adapted it a couple of times. It sounds like a lot of work, but it's really pretty easy when you consider that it is in stages. And you get tasty, smooth booze to give as gifts or better yet,… Read full post »

Vancouver is currently going through a heat wave. It is 30 degrees Celsius here today -- over 90 degrees F for you non-metric types. It's not a super dry desert heat like that of Las Vegas. Most definitely not. I am sitting in my kitchen drenched in perspiration while writing this. … Read full post »

 Disclaimer: My post has nothing to do with the person whose blog this comment appeared on last night. That person has the right to feel the way they feel, as do the commentators. I also have the right to question if others share these feelings.

"There are likely many others… Read full post »

1. Because I don't have any photos and others do and nobody reads posts that aren't illustrated. My camera is old and I don't have an iPhone.

2.  Because I was the only Canadian in the crowd and although I am very comfortable in the U.S. and was treated extremely… Read full post »