Blog

Middle Age

Not so Yonge Anymore

In the early 1970s, Toronto’s Yonge Street was a place to see and be seen. The sidewalks from Bloor to Queen were filled with people shopping for Indian cotton gauze shirts from stores that smelled like pachouli, buying head shop ...
Houses

Suburban Status Report 20230115

The suburbs are trying to kill me. To be fair, the feeling is mutual, but they aren’t even being subtle about it. First, a bit of back story. Despite having a well stocked kitchen, I like to walk out around ...
Middle Age

Audiobook Giveaway!

ICYMI, the audio format of Nowhere like This Place: Tales from a Nuclear Childhood was released earlier this year. In case you are really out of the loop, this is what the book is about: Marilyn Carr’s family arrived in ...
Customer ServiceMiddle Age

Shop ’til You Drop

I am not a huge online shopper, no matter what colour Friday happens to be. This is probably because I am not much of a shopper and not much of a girly girl, with all the lack of penchant for ...
Middle Age

Techno Jailbird

“Looks like this laptop was dropped,” the geek at Best Buy said. “This whole edge has gone all wonky.” I feigned ignorance. “Possibly. I wouldn’t know. But can you fix it?” “Maybe. The power supply port is out of alignment. ...
Houses

October, it’s Over

This is the time of year I usually refer to as “the southbound march of the condiments.” Not this year. I have decided to reconsider my cottage closing tactics. Perhaps forever. Do you know what happens when the bottles and ...
Work

My new book: How I Invented the Internet

Very excited to announce the second installment of my memoirs (what? am I somebody important? who the heck keeps writing about herself? hint: I do), How I Invented the Internet, available September 30, 2022 wherever fine books are sold online ...
Middle Age

Back to School

It has been a long time since I was part of the back-to-school cohort, at least when it involved education that was not of my choosing. As I recall, there was the requisite B2S prep and shopping, with one of ...
Houses

Cottage Status Report 20220825

The hummingbirds are acting like assholes. There are three of them that swoop around chasing each other away from the feeder whenever one of them decides it’s time for a snack. Apparently, this means they are getting ready to start ...
Houses

The Cat’s Pajamas

As you may know, I am now down to one cat. In case you were not aware (and in my own defense), I only had two. Also in my own defense, there was only one period in my life when ...

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