A friend had invited me to the ‘viewing’ of their first grandchild in a community centre, or maybe in the common room of a condo complex. The new baby was teensy, with a shock of bright red hair. We’re talking Beaker hair, here, and it was perfect. When I got
Continue readingTag: Just for You
centre of the universe: Standing – NaBloPoMo Day 16
It’s Giftmas Sales Season (GSS) and I get to person the booth at the first big giftmas market of the year. You may think this is the Worst Thing Evar, but it’s not. Everyone is happy. Excited. Fulla beans. There’s enough time for Humbuggery; today though I’m looking forward to
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Concern – NaBloPoMo Day 4
My father was asking recently whether any more of my articles might be featured on the CBC website. I mentioned I hadn’t pitched any lately, mostly for REASONS that involve being a) pretty busy; b) kinda brain-dead; c) most likely undernourished since our oven is busted and my slow cooker
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Blinders – NaBloPoMo
Sometimes I’m positive the dog has the right idea. Probably this is why people started keeping their domesticated animals in their houses with them; they saw reflected in their animal buddies aspects of their own natures that they couldn’t quite talk about for whatever reason. Maybe they couldn’t name it
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Road Trip – NaBloPoMo Day 2
I was on the road today. I got out early owing to the fact that the weather people said it *probably* wasn’t going to start sky-shiting until later in the afternoon, which means it could go at any time. I’ve always liked driving. When I was an incorrigible teen, my
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Strange Times
Everything seemed normal. Normal for any road trip you take with your kids. A million stops for the peanut-bladders; a million cruddy road snacks. At one roadside stop, I bought some semiprecious stone bracelets (a couple of mine have broken lately so I guess I needed to stock up). It
Continue readingcentre of the universe: A tisket, a tasket…
What the crap is a tisket, anyway? Or, for that matter, a tasket? You know what, it doesn’t really matter. I’m’a just make it up. And I’m’a write about it. And the thing I write is going to be called “The Great Tisket; or, An Adventure in Tasket”. AND IT
Continue readingcentre of the universe: A letter
I wanted to write to you, to tell you that I’m trying really hard to be positive right now. That I’m trying really hard to think about the things that can go right instead of the things that have gone wrong. I wanted to write and tell you about my
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Three Stories
A Story About Crows for @lizzers_ Once Upon a Time, I lived far north of here in a “ranch-style bungalow” on a hill in a city bound by a river. The city itself still had many Wild Places. Not the kind of wild places where one might go after a
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Two Princes
I leave the doctor’s office, where I have just been shirtless in front of two men I have never met. I’m feeling a little scared, because in meeting with this doctor, I have basically consented to surgery. Elective surgery, but elective surgery that may change my life and make it
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Why we can’t be friends when you’re in Hawaii
My cousin is in Hawaii right now, and I have vowed that she and I can NOT be friends until she is home. Now. She’s a professional photographer, so all of her pictures of her little “vacation” are fucking gorgeous, and because I am not at all petty or jealous,
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Storytelling Month – Grandmothers
To celebrate Storytelling Month, I’m going to tell you at least one story per week in February. These are all true stories. Every day at noon, the bells in the fire hall in Climax (the town in southeastern Saskatchewan that was home to my mum, and to me every summer, Christmas,
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Storytelling Month – Dogs
To celebrate Storytelling Month, I’m going to tell you at least one story per week in February. These are all true stories. You know how you sometimes get in to the middle of a situation and then you wonder “how the hell did I get here?”, and then you spend the
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Oh Danny Boy, Oh Boy Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Danny
I’ve been gone for a little while. Which is to say, after ExMass, I decided I’d do a little assperiment. But before I get to the assperiment, I want to tell you a little bit of background stuff. While I’m ramping up to that, have a listen to the best
Continue readingcentre of the universe: CRISIS! (Averted)
I don’t know about you, but I still write letters to Santa every year. This year my letter, after the perfunctory inquiries about Mrs. Claus, the reindeer, and the state of Santa’s socks, included a request for the Clauses to look after my wee cousin as he undergoes some surgery.
Continue readingcentre of the universe: …when you look at it
So after yesterday’s Debbie Downer post, I thought I’d just say another thing along the same vein. And that is, that while there is a very important role that grief plays in dealing with loss, where the actual MAGIC happens is somewhere else. What that mourning stage does is gets
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Not with a whimper
I thought I would be much, much older before so many of my friends died. I thought I had more time. That’s the thing, isn’t it? We always think we have more time. Well, we don’t. That’s just the thing. Cherish every single moment because while time is not finite, our
Continue readingcentre of the universe: I don’t know why she’s leaving, or where she’s going to go
First, there was Alice. You have lived your whole life in the lap of storytellers; everything you have learned, everything you remember, is from stories told over and over. The reason we tell stories is because this is how we learn. History is nothing without the narrative; every religion began
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Signs, signs…
I was tagged more than five consecutive days ago by my friend Julian (@saskajules) to post five photos for five days. There’s a reason I am the way I am. I have no idea what that reason is, but there’s some speculation it may have something to do with my
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Despite all my rage
I was tagged by my friend Julian (@saskajules) to post five photos for five consecutive days. Actually, the challenge didn’t say anything about consecutive days; it just said five days. We *assume* it means consecutive days. But really, one could post five photos during five arbitrarily chosen days. Most of
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