I started a new list and challenge this year, borrowed from something I saw on Facebook - read 26 books this year, satisfying a list of criteria designed to keep the list diverse and encourage exploring new styles, genres, etc. With a few friends, we came up with our own version of the list, and... Continue Reading →
I’ll Ask You Three Times, Are You Okay? by Naomi Shihab Nye. Book report #3 (2017)
I'll Ask You Three Times, Are You Okay? Tales of Driving and Being Driven, by Naomi Shihab Nye. Pub. 2007 I don't recall how I came to this book - likely another Facebook item. This is a well done collection of personal essays and memoirs by an active writer, teacher and poet based on her... Continue Reading →
Lists of 2016
Things that made me sad (a long list this year): Umberto Eco Prince David Bowie Alan Rickman Fort MacMurray Orlando, Turkey, Baghdad, Bangladesh Leonard Cohen Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds Things that irritated me: Christy Clark (a three-peat) Donald Trump and the entire GOP cabal Stanford rapist Brexit, especially Nigel Farage Pokemon Go Things that made... Continue Reading →
Theatre on Film
As many who know me know, I'm a great fan of both theatre and film. I'm also a fan of lists. One recent insomniac night, I began a list of best films about theatre. I was able to construct (and remember the next morning) a list of ten, and so here they are, for your... Continue Reading →
Item #10 – Address List
At first I wasn't sure whether to include this as an object, but since it is a thing, valued as much for its substance as its content, I think it counts. Titled "Robyn's Residences", it was written in or around 1990, when I first moved from Winnipeg to Vancouver. I don't recall the exact circumstance,... Continue Reading →
Lists of 2015
Things that made me sad: Charlie Hebdo ISIS Niqab debate Oliver Sacks John Nash Charleston Things that irritated me: Anti-vaxxers Stephen Harper Christy Clark (a three-peat) Donald Trump and the entire GOP cabal Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and the Senate cabal Trigger warnings Things that inspired me: Trish Keating, Leslie Laforest, Sean Connor The Rosetta Mission Omar... Continue Reading →
Deliciously descriptive
I've had the blessing over the last few months to read a lot more than I usually do, and I was delighted to find enjoyment in so many of the things I read. In addition to a few books, I've enjoyed various news sites, blogs and online versions of magazines. In early June, I read... Continue Reading →
Friending and Following (and being followed)
http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/social-media-affect-math-dunbar-number-friendships https://medium.com/treatises-on-a-modern-world/the-friend-and-the-follower-1b16ab6bda78 Every now and then I go through my various social media lists and pare back the numbers. I read about the Dunbar number a few years ago, in the book The Tipping Point, and have always found it intriguing that my own number - of FB friends, the social media equivalent of Dunbar... Continue Reading →
Oscar Picks 2015
This is a crossover post from my other blog, where I write brief reviews about all the movies I see (which is a lot - 146 in 2014). Tomorrow night is Oscar night, a formerly sacrosanct day for us that has waned in significance in recent years due to the out-of-this-world cost of seeing a... Continue Reading →
Lists of 2014
Things that irritated me: Rob Ford (a repeat offender) Christy Clark (ditto) Ice bucket challenge Jian Ghomeshi Greenpeace Things that inspired me: Chris Hadfield My aunt, for getting through and over DLBCL Humans of New York Sergeant at Arms Kevin Vickers #illridewithyou Things that amused me: Hadfields' "In Canada" Jimmy Fallon's lip sync contests Facebook... Continue Reading →
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