Although it is certainly not the easiest time to enter the workforce, work will probably be the biggest single influence on your life. My first piece of advice is to take the job. You know the job I am talking about. The one that is far from perfect. The one that doesn’t come close to […]
My address to the graduating class of 2012 Read More »
It appears that the ‘tea’ is making a bit of comeback, if you can judge a trend from lifestyle magazines. This is a good thing for me because I absolutely love tea sandwiches – aka party sandwiches. In the 1960s, when they weren’t hanging out the laundry or Hoovering, our mothers were setting up a
Everything stops for tea Read More »
You may not know this, but St. Patrick’s Day is an official holiday in Newfoundland. No, honestly it is. I only know this because of the time well wasted I spent with a motley assortment of Newfoundlanders when I attended Dalhousie University in Halifax. I guess in Newfoundland culture, going to Nova Scotia to get
When you grow up in a small town best described as on the outskirts of nowhere, you don’t need much more than two wheels or your own two feet to get around. That is, unless you wanted to go somewhere exotic, like a place that had more than one clothing store. Back in those days
Baby you can drive my car Read More »
For some strange reason I saved my meal tickets from my resident days at Waterloo. Maybe that’s because I can always say I have a ‘meal ticket’, but who knows what I was thinking. Clearly not me. Anyhow, the meal ticket was kind of like a transit pass, except the photo was put inside a
Matchbooks are definitely on the endangered list. It used to be that every restaurant had a bowl of matches on their front counter. Now, paper matchbook marketing has all but disappeared, although you can sometimes score wooden matchboxes at expensive steakhouses (I guess so you will have something to light your cigar with). Otherwise you
Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match Read More »
Apparently, a short 200 years ago Charles Dickens was born. This has prompted all manner of hoopla, including Prince Charles cutting a birthday cake at the Dickens Museum (although the recipient was hardly in shape to partake) and Ralph Fiennes reading from Bleak House at Westminster Abbey. I must confess that Bleak House is the
Whatever season you decide to visit the area, you will find citizens of the Ottawa Valley enjoying a variety of activities. Here are some examples: Huntin’ Once the leaves are off the trees, hunting season cannot be far behind. It is first heralded by the festive orange quilted vests and the matching flash of orange
A field guide to the Ottawa Valley: Part 2 – Seasonal Pastimes Read More »
I have just finished reading a book called A Discovery of Witches, which was highly educational. Apparently, we unknowingly co-habit the earth with three types of non-humans: witches, vampires and demons. Each of these has its own strengths and weaknesses: • Witches, as most of you are aware, excel at spells that can control their
As a general rule, fine dining is not a concept that is familiar in small towns and my experience has certainly proven this rule. Not that fine dining is the only acceptable form of food you pay someone to make for you, but when chips with gravy are the pinnacle of the available taste experience,
Pizzas I have known Read More »
