Family …

My mother once told me that when she and my father got married there were 200-plus people at their wedding, most of whom were family. Like most children, I never thought about a time when our family would stop growing and start shrinking. Children assume everyone they love will be around forever.

In actual fact, I’m lucky. Most of my family lived long and full lives. I was 15 when my great grandfather passed away, in my 20s when my great grandmother passed. One grandmother lived to 98, the other to

Missing something?

I had a movie last Saturday morning, the second last of the six-film package I bought for the Hot Docs Film Festival.

Although the friend I was with offered to drive me home afterward, I decided to walk. The theatre isn’t that far from where I live; about a 15 minute walk, 25 or 30 if you dawdle and stop to look in store windows.

Plus, it was my idea of perfect weather — sunny, warm, not too hot or humid, with a nice gentle breeze. So we said our

Can you remember your first kiss?

I ask because I have absolutely no recollection of mine, yet I hear so many people describe theirs minutely. Every little detail. Is it really that momentous an occasion?

Have I somehow failed at life because, at least on this particular subject, my mind is a total blank? Am I some kind of a misfit?

There’s no doubt in my mind that I had a first kiss, I had to — because there have been many kisses since that I do remember — so logic

Pick your battles

As you know if you read my blog I’m writing a book. It’s about my mother and, to a lesser degree, me. I loved her and we were always close. But what’s fascinating is, in dredging up these old memories, I’m noticing aspects of her personality, her character, her being I wasn’t really aware of before.

Maybe I’d seen it, known it all along, but it never registered with me, most likely because I

Life, tortillas and Antonio Banderas

Right now you haven’t got a clue where I’m going with this, do you?  Patience my friends, all will become clear.

But first, let me start by saying that Isabel Allende is one of my favourite authors. I’ve read all but one (her latest and it’s on my list) of her books, many of them multiple times. She takes you on magical voyages, not all of which are fiction.

Knowing this, last weekend a friend sent me a link to a Ted Talk she gave in March 2014: “How to live passionately — no matter your age.” OMG!  You owe it to yourself to watch it here.

Of course, given my recent post on meditating, avoiding negativity and embracing happiness the timing was absolutely impeccable. Allende’s 

A question for moms

What is it about Cheerios?  Why do all mothers of really young children never leave the house without a small plastic baggie filled with them?  And what is it about them that keeps every wee one I’ve ever seen quiet, happy and occupied, even for hours?

Have you ever paid attention when little kids are around?  Doesn’t matter where you are.  It could be grandma’s kitchen, a restaurant, a doctor’s waiting room, a store, a

My poor brain’s gonna explode!!!

Have you ever taken the time to add up all the flippin’ passwords you’ve had to come up with, and try to remember? Can you believe how complicated they’ve become?  There was a time all you needed was four numbers.  Any four numbers would do.

Most people I know, including me, used the last four digits of a familiar phone number or an address or a birthday.  Something easy.  Something memorable.  And once you had one set of four numbers you could use it for everything, or at least I did.

Even back then the experts warned against it, but I did it anyway.

Over the years it’s become a real pain in the ass.  Before long four numbers weren’t enough.  Passwords had to be at least six numbers.  Then you needed a combination of numbers and

My idea of heaven seems to be changing …

What do I know?  Maybe I’m just having a bad couple of days.  Maybe I’ve got a case of the January blahs.  Tell me what you think.  Is it just me, or is life becoming way too complicated?  Is it just me, or is nothing easy anymore?  I’m not joking.  This is a serious question.

Everything is becoming a hassle.  It doesn’t matter what it is you’re trying to get done, or who you’re dealing with.  It takes way longer than it has to, it’s more fraught with problems and frustration then it should be and you’re left wondering why you bothered in the first place.

Should I really have to re-arrange every carton of milk on the bloomin’ shelf in order

Moments in time …

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to have a camera with you at all times?  Well, technically, with camera phones we do, but I mean to use it?  Constantly.  Every minute of every day.  Freezing all the moments in time that become your life.

Keeping them intact, as it were.  A limitless panorama, there for you to look at, whenever you felt the need or the desire.  An opportunity to review, re-live, enjoy again, remind yourself of the lessons you learned, wonder what might have happened if you hadn’t stopped to take that, particular photograph.  What might have happened

Keep on keepin’ on …

I saw a terrific movie last Sunday, a documentary — “Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago”. Don’t know if you’re familiar with the Camino Trail — it’s a 700+ km pilgrimage route you can walk from various points in Europe to the city of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.

Yeah, you heard right. You walk it. Seven hundred plus kilometres. About 434.96 miles, give or take a couple of dozen blisters. Callouses. Cases of tendonitis. Bum knees. Tears. Exhaustion.

Everyone has their own reason for doing it. For some it’s simply to know they can. For others it’s to overcome an illness or fear, to find the answer to a question they may not have even yet asked, to find themselves, to come to terms with a loss, to celebrate an event or a milestone, or simply for the sheer fun