We arrived at the Rhodes airport (RHO) at 10pm. It seemed nice enough: bright, expansive, plenty of room for a flash mob. But there was no flash mob, just a queue for Tor Air that heaved with hundreds of angry passengers. Our flight back to London was delayed by two hours.… Read full post »

The pie is certainly an underrated food item. The fact that it is comprised of delicious, flaky, buttery pastry and contains either sweet and savoury fillings should secure its place in regional cuisine the world over, yet it seems that only the Brits have really embraced this baked treat and continu… Read full post »

I am a vegetarian. For the most part anyway. Like most vegetarians (or so I’m told), I really enjoy eating pork products (bacon, spareribs, chops and pork tenderloin with an apple sage stuffing) and especially, sausage.

When I booked a surprise trip to Bavaria for my husband’s birthday, I… Read full post »

‘You don’t like avocados.’

‘Oh.’ And I believed her, because she told me. All the time.

My mother gently placed a small, ripe avocado in the shopping cart and steered it through the small produce section of our local Safeway. The year was 1987.

‘How about some appl… Read full post »

On November 24, 2005 (Michelle's 30th birthday, in fact) we gathered at her house for a games night like any other. There would be games (Pictionary was a favourite), snacks (any corn or potato product, fried), and mayhem (shouting, laughing, bum cupping). The Cruise Group was in effect.

Kari opened… Read full post »

It all started with a German (of course), as all arrogant ideas of superiority do.

Baron Karl von Drais is credited with inventing the earliest form of bicycle, the Laufmaschine or, running machine, which consisted of a wooden frame with two wheels that was pushed with one’s feet. The/… Read full post »

It has been one exciting year. Nearly. I don’t mean “nearly” as in nearly exciting, but in reference to the fact that it’s been nearly a year.

Synonyms for exciting: agitative, animating, appealing, arousing, arresting, astonishing, bracing, breathtaking, commoving, dangerous… Read full post »

The difference between living in Canada and living in the United Kingdom or Great Britain or England is vast and large. My husband and I relocated from Vancouver, British Columbia to London, England in March and I have yet to acclimatize. I thought it would be instantaneous. Heck, Canada was founded… Read full post »

My Grandmother passed away on May 11, the day after Mother's Day. She suffered from Alzheimer's disease for the past six years.

 This week my sister and I were re-counting our special childhood memories with our Grandmother. Little things- like Peek Freane fruit cremes, sweet peas, butterfies an… Read full post »

The Hiatus. Or: break, pause, interruption, aperture, blank, breach, chasm, discontinuity, gap, interim, interval, lacuna, lapse, opening, rift, space… Whatever you want to call it, that’s what it is. Or, that’s what it will be anyway.

To clarify:

On December 22, 2009  I set… Read full post »

I found a resume on the corner of Granville and Broadway. I have printed it out, word for word, for your enjoyment…

Debbie P. Marquee

#216-1240 West 10th Avenue

Vancouver, BC

V6H 1J3

(Please contact by post, no phone)

Objective: To apply the skills and training that I have acquired/… Read full post »

The cruise group was founded in approximately 1966. Six individuals met through church, paired off into couples and married. They have been best friends ever since. They all had their children around the same time and see each other about once a month for birthdays, BBQs, weddings and bat mitzvahs (t… Read full post »

I have been told I’m funny. I have been told that I have beautiful blue eyes. I have been told I have nice hair and nice teeth, but extremely cold hands. I have been told I have an iron deficiency. I have been told that I have birthing hips and strong… Read full post »

Everybody loves to check their mailbox. Everyone is hopeful that it will be a hand-written letter from their Grandpa or a birthday card with a five dollar bill in it from an Aunt, or some other kind of surprise, like a rebate check or a tax refund.

I’m waiting for… Read full post »

I’m jealous of my nephew. I’m jealous of his carefree life where the only things he has to do are eat, sleep, and play. He’s only three so I suppose I should cut him some slack. However, I will be sure to encourage my sister to teach him all the things… Read full post »

He and I had known each other for two years. His birth date was exactly six years and eleven months before me, but I could accept that. Our relationship had blossomed from one of lust and like, into full on love. I had met his parents, and he had met mine.… Read full post »

I sold my car yesterday. It was coming down to the wire and I needed to make a deal. It was either sell it or store it for a few years while my husband and I are away in the UK. It didn’t seem to make much sense to pay for… Read full post »

I knew it was time to find a new dentist. 

My last dentist was a nice enough guy. He made an effort. He must have kept a running record of our conversations in my file because he asked me about the job interview I had nine months previous, the time… Read full post »

My parents have asked me not to use their names in my posts. I will respect their wishes, though the two of them did make for the most entertaining stories. Of course when I wrote, “my mother” or “my father”, I was referring to the entity of mothers and fathers and… Read full post »

Oh, the French. With their scarves and their stripy T-shirts and their berets and their thin moustaches and their tiny cups of coffee and their “French” fries and their Eiffel tower and their sidewalk cafés and their baguettes hanging out of their shopping bags and their “par… Read full post »

People talk, talk, and talk about global warming. They say it has caused an increase in the earth’s temperature as if that’s a problem. I say, why wear a sweater when you can wear a sundress?

There is proof in the existence of greenhouse gases, I’ll grant you that. There… Read full post »

Dear Members of the Academy,

How are you? I’m fine, though a little worse for wear after three bottles of Apricot Ale and way too many Doritos.

I watched the Oscars last night. Everybody looked really nice and sparkly. Thanks for not bringing the PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants out this ye… Read full post »

Just as Ferris Bueller took his day off, so shall I.

I realize there are differences. Ferris was a well-liked high school student with a penchant for technology and faking sick; I am a 30-year old woman who knows how to switch on her television and record something on her… Read full post »