"The average solo traveler is a 47-year-old female." I guess I've been 47 for much of my life, or perhaps I'm just reaching the median, with dozens more years to go. I've always enjoyed solo travel, especially on the road - behind the wheel, miles clicking north south east west, tunes blaring (and being sung... Continue Reading →
Item #3: Jumping Dog
You've probably seen one of these before: a plush, mechanical dog that walks a few steps, slowly sits down and then - WOOSH - does a backflip, lands on it's feet and starts again (occasionally, it lands on its side or head, and then just flails its legs about until you rescue it). In earlier... Continue Reading →
Phone Pomodoro
I use this tool often to help me manage time and focus on tasks requiring attention to detail, such as reading, writing or editing a longish document. It is highly effective, and I often recommend it to others. In essence, the tool keeps track of time so that you focus on a task for 25... Continue Reading →
Confessions of a Kickstarter
As an avid Kickstarter-er, I was both intrigued and disappointed by this campaign. This is either a very clever scam marketing ploy. Or a case of the internet gone wild. I'm not sure who is to blame - the campaigner or the supporters. It is pretty typical to see people get carried away sending funds to... Continue Reading →
Item #2. Stork figurine
It was the summer of 1979. We had moved to Souris, PEI, at the beginning of July, and all of us kids were getting used to small town living. Pop worked at MacDonald Pharmacy in town - one of those stores that was much more than a drug store. In hindsight, it reminded me of... Continue Reading →
Reader discretion is advised
"They're all theatre. You don't understand them, you don't like them all - why should you? Theatre is for everybody - you included, but not exclusively - so don't approve or disapprove. It may not be your theatre, but it's theatre for somebody, somewhere..." Bill Sampson in All About Eve A trio of takes on trigger... Continue Reading →
Lake Morning
I awake gently to the sounds of silence. There is light already, albeit faint, and a part of me nudges towards a return to sleep. I lay still for a few moments, my only movement my blinking eyes. As I wait. There it is – the first chirp or twitter of a smallish critter. The... Continue Reading →
Item #1. Gumby
Since Gumby was neither man nor beast, doll nor figurine, this thing of mine is just simply Gumby - both who and what it is. Gumby is on my desk, or more accurately on my lamp. In my peripheral vision whenever I'm at my desk, its omnipresence is both strange and comforting. Strange because, well,... Continue Reading →
More than a few of my favourite things
Inspired by a friend's post and chat about things with meaning, I've been thinking about our need for things. Beyond the modern-day needs for owning stuff and consuming conspicuously, there is a need for people to have specific things that have meaning beyond their utility. Like icons or totems, these things become imbued with special... Continue Reading →
Tea for one, two or more
I've been a tea drinker since my earliest years (back in the days when moms didn't pay as much attention to the caffeine intake of their children). The early tea comrade in my life was my Aunt Jan. I remember when she used to visit and my mom would make a pot of tea in... Continue Reading →
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