Demographically speaking, I have always described myself as being on the tail end of the Boomer generation. Recently I learned that those of us born between 1954 and 1965 form a separate cohort called "Generation Jones." We were too young to participate in anti-war protests and the other movements that Boomers identify with; we were just trying to keep up, hence the "Jones" reference.

I am reading the proof copy of my mother’s diaries. It’s a single edition, printed for the sole purpose of editing. This is my chance to make final revisions before it goes to print. (For newcomers to this blog, I am publishing the diaries my mother kept when she was a high school student and a young wife in the 1930's.)

I have a Tiktok habit. Maybe you do too, or Youtube or Facebook reels are your preference. It’s all innocent and fun until you get duped into believing something that is not true. The city of Chicago made it very clear they did not want an influx of ICE agents sent in to make deportations. That story has been in the news and is well and legitimately documented elsewhere.

How many headlines can you read without shrieking obscenities at your screen? Esther Perel emphasizes that our quality of life depends on the quality of our relationships. The wisdom in that expression seems obvious; our relationships are a reflection of our ability to consider others, to be generous, to make meaningful connections. Let's add to that and include our relationships to alcohol, money, self-care, and community.

Welcome to September, the "other" new year. I hope everyone had a great summer. Mine was a quiet one, quieter perhaps than I would have wanted, no big adventures, no airports or train stations. But... my mother’s diary is in the works. These last few stages seem to have taken the most time. Every step demands another 4-6 weeks. If all goes well, it should be in my hot little hand (as my mother would have said) before Christmas.

In high school I was part of a group of five girls. All of us had other friends, but we were a group unto ourselves. Not particularly “cliquish;” as far as I know, there was no one outside of our group trying to get in. It was just the five of us together on a regular basis. In February, at a mini high school reunion, four of the five of us were together for the first time in thirty years.

After decades of marriage, Canada and the United States are getting a divorce. It's not Canada's fault; the U.S. is caught up in an extreme mid-life crisis and they're cheating with Russia. In strategic retaliation, Canada has been blatantly flirting with Europe, even winking at them in public. Marriages have peaks and valleys. The same can be said for the Canada-US relationship.

After decades of marriage, Canada and the United States are getting a divorce. It's not Canada's fault; the U.S. is caught up in an extreme mid-life crisis and they're cheating with Russia. In strategic retaliation, Canada has been blatantly flirting with Europe, even winking at them in public. Marriages have peaks and valleys. The same can be said for the Canada-US relationship.

A few years ago, a co-worker and I had a good laugh over an email that warned, “There will be a scheduled outrage tonight between the hours of such and so.” Yesterday’s No Kings Protests across Ame…

In the late 1960’s and '70’s, there were a series of unsolved murders in London Ontario and the surrounding area. I moved to London in the mid-1970’s and I really don't remember being aware of any of these cases at the time. I do recall, with a shiver, how often I hitch-hiked all over the city to save bus fare. 

Thuglife is both an anagram and an acronym. Tupac Shakur had Thuglife tattooed across his abdomen. Tupac was a rap artist, a poet, a philosopher and a champion of Black rights. I could write a whole post dedicated to Tupac, but I want to stay focussed on the meaning behind "Thuglife". I first learned what it meant when I read…

An excerpt from my Mother’s diary from 1935; I think I ought to record the history of the Hodgins’ Family which I heard the other night. Apparently two brothers, (Hodgins), went across to Ireland with Oliver Cromwell. They took some of the confiscated land and settled in Tipperary. One brother became an Anglican and the other a Roman Catholic. The former came out to Canada before the potato famine and settled near Lucan .

Too many headlines and recent news stories have begun with, “Imagine if Obama or Biden had done…” …fill-in-the-blank with anything the current US administration has done/is doing. One side is outraged, the other side is smug. There is nothing new about double standards. They exist as part of any social system, from who gets into the club, to who gets the promotion, and recently, most egregiously, who gets to vote. 

There must be fifty ways to leave your lover... MAGA is considered by many non-MAGA people to be a cult. Cults are a fascinating aspect of social behaviour. Individuals join cults for different reasons, but the main attraction lies in the feeling of belonging to a specialized group. MAGA offers members a black and white answer to difficult questions; there is no need to get confused in the grey area of social policies, just repeat the party line.

Benjamin Franklin preferred the wild turkey as a national symbol for the United States rather than the bald eagle. For all its majestic soaring, the eagle is a carrion eater and steals fish from smaller birds, such as the osprey. Franklin called the eagle a "rank coward" for retreating so easily when chased by much smaller birds, such as the kingfisher.

In re: Measles. From Roald Dahl.