… November is my least favourite month of the year. If it happens to be when you celebrate your birthday or anniversary or any other occasion that’s important to you, please don’t take it personally. My distaste for November has nothing to do with you.
I don’t like it because it’s dreary. Dull. Sure, there’s the odd sunny day, but mostly it’s grey and damp and dismal. The days get shorter. It gets dark earlier. Piles of leaves cover the roads and sidewalks and Continue reading
I was reading a piece about Alyssa Milano in Sunday’s New York Times and came across this quote, which I love: “Each day is a blank canvas…go and make some marks.” I so agree.
In this particular instance, it’s related to Milano’s political activism. But I think the sentiment — or call to action — can be applied to anything. We no longer live in a world where it’s okay to just “be.” We do have to get involved, to participate, to do something for the greater good, to make our mark. How we choose to do it is up to us.
Given the state of politics globally, being an activist may be the first thought that pops into your mind, it’s Continue reading
It was election night in Canada last night and we narrowly avoided seeing Andrew Scheer, our answer to Donald Trump, elected as our new prime minister. Justin Trudeau hung on, albeit with a minority government.
Trudeau’s far from perfect, he made some very serious mistakes and he’s lucky he still has a job. But not as lucky as we are.
There’s a lot to talk about, but it was a late night and right now I’m going back to bed.
Today’s my dad’s birthday and I’m flooded with memories. My father never wanted us to make a big deal of his birthday. He never wanted to be the centre of attention and, as for surprise parties, he was not a fan.
My mother and I respected his wishes up to a point. We never even thought about throwing him a surprise party or any other kind of party. We did, however, insist on a small celebration — either just the three of us or a very small group of our immediate family — either at our house or at a restaurant. But there was never a Continue reading
It feels like the whole world is in shambles. It doesn’t matter in which country you live, there’s another crisis every day and scandals more often than that. Lying and cheating have become the new normal. I’ve never seen so much lawlessness, so much anger, hatred and cruelty.
Everywhere I turn, including online in comments I read on various posts, articles and blogs, people are mean-spirited, aggressive, antagonistic and rude. Like they’re just spoiling for a fight. Disagree with something or someone and you can expect to be attacked, abused actually — verbally and Continue reading
Today is the last day of Rosh Hashanah. It’s the Jewish New Year and the first of the Jewish High Holy Days. For this holiday, the meal includes apples dipped in honey, to symbolize a sweet new year. But for me, this holiday has both sweet and bittersweet memories.
My family was not particularly observant. We followed some traditions and didn’t follow others. But when it came to the holidays, we were all in. Not as much for the religious significance as for the Continue reading
I know, I know, we have enough of our own problems with our own politicians in Canada to question what’s going on in the U.S. — but honestly, I can’t believe Donald Trump is still in the White House and not behind bars.
David Leonhardt, a NY Times opinion columnist wrote yesterday that Trump’s recent conversation with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukranian president, during which he admits to pressuring him to dig Continue reading
I belong to an online group for freelancers in the ad industry. It’s on Facebook. Yesterday morning someone posted about a recent experience she had.
She’d been talking with someone about possibly doing some work together and suddenly the conversation just stopped. No reason, no explanation, no nothing. She wanted to know if “ghosting” is common in the industry — she’s spent a lot of time working in Europe, where apparently business is conducted differently.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen posts like this. It’s an all-too-common occurrence. And I’ve got to Continue reading
I’ve had the same digital box and remote forever. I’m in the “if-it’s-not-broke-don’t-fix-it” camp.
About a year ago, the on/off power button on the remote stopped working, but that didn’t bother me. It’s good to get off the couch once in a while. Then on Thursday night, the channel selector thingie stopped working. And that was a bridge too far for me.
Bright and early Friday morning I called my cable provider. I looked at my watch and it was 9:15 a.m. I got through to a customer service person (and I use the term loosely, more like customer torture) Continue reading
Believe it or not, it’s been several years since I’ve been behind the wheel of a car.
It all started back sometime in 2009. I was at one of those speaker events. This was a breakfast and the speaker was an author whose new book had just been published. I honestly can’t remember his name, but the book title is The Green Metropolis.
The point being made in the book is that big congested cities are more environmentally conscious and successful then more rural, less densely-populated areas — which is the opposite of what most Continue reading
365 And Counting 