Looking at life through a funhouse mirror
Back when such things were considered amusing because nothing more amusing had yet to be invented, my grandfather was fond of reciting limericks as part of the Presbyterian after-dinner frivolity, as we drank tea as viscous as crude oil from the depths of the north Atlantic. Tea fully capable of walking on its hind legs …
Here’s an Excerpt The very, very, very best Grade 2 art day is asbestos clay day. Asbestos is a wonderful material in the 1960s. Not only does it cover our floors and insulate our walls, it is a mighty fine modelling clay: malleable, full of texture and most of all fire proof. Ideal for making …
I’m already beginning to regret going back to school. “But didn’t you just graduate from something? Didn’t you already go back to school?” some of you might ask. And yes, I did, graduating just this spring. Part of the class of 2020 that will be forever remembered for its unique graduation circumstances, until the class …
Dorm rooms are built for function over form, kind of like conference room chairs are built for stacking not sitting. Dorm rooms are not interested in your enjoyment of anything. You are not here for aesthetics, you are here to wallow in the austerity that breeds great work. Or at least that’s what I tell …
I can never find a pen when I need one. And when I do locate the stash of pens in the back of the junk drawer none of them works (although technically they still all work as advertisements for the companies that paid for them). Back when pens were a business accessory, everyone had a …
It is hard to believe that it was thirty years ago – almost to the day – that I sat in Convocation Hall to receive my MBA degree. Imagine, if you can, completing finance and accounting courses without Excel or preparing a 50 page strategy paper without a word processor. That’s how we did it …
I first encountered a Norton Anthology in first year University. It was the poetry edition, rather than the English Literature version but I think both were edited by M.H. Abrams. Mr. Abrams died this week at the ripe old age of 102. This makes him a shining example of ‘that which doesn’t kill us makes …
Spring is the time for cleaning. Or at least, the time when your windows shame you into cleaning. Or if you have no shame, the time when you avoid looking out the windows in the middle of the day if the sun is shining. But for me it’s less about the clean part and more …
This may be an unfortunate way to start, but my inspiration this week is that an 81 year old man in Toronto just got arrested for murdering his roommate in his downtown nursing home. There are many things wrong with this (starting with the murder thing) but perhaps the most important is that he had …
Although we may like to think we invented it in the 1960s, the t-shirt is in fact 100 years old. Come to think of it, this should not be a surprise because I have a few that look at least 100 years old. Its longevity certainly makes sense as there are many things that would …