This one is just in French, because the platform to which I am referring is 100% in that language. It is a new initiative by the Assotiation des auteur.e.s de l’Ontario français to promote the work of its members, francophone literature in Ontario as well as help
[English follows French, be patient.] Il y a des affaires qui sont tellement nounounes que mon vieux fonds franco-québécois revient au galop et s’accapare la place qui lui revient pour les démantibuler sans merci. La patente à gosse du maire nocturne d’Ottawa me casse les pieds quelque chose
One of the coolest parts of my work is to get advanced copies of books I’m dying to read and tell you what I think of them. Carolyn Whitzman’s excellent Home Truths in one you won’t want to miss when it becomes available in a couple of
There’s a lot of talk in Ottawa these days about whether our transit system is going to hell super fast or is entirely fucked already. On a good day it barely works — if by “works” one means getting people to where they’re going in a reliable manner that
Like her or not, Kamala Harris is a woman who knows who she is and works hard to do what she thinks is best and if there is anything that sets toxic men’s teeth on edge it’s a woman who doesn't need their approval for, well,
One of the best aspects of homeschooling, other than freedom and flexibility to explore what interests your kids and the opportunity to take breaks when it’s nice outside or go on trips with your kids and a better sense of how they are progressing and plenty of other cool
Not to boast, but I’ve spent the last year and a half heroically navigating, on my trusty and very dependable comfort bike, the living hell that is the area around where the new central library is being built. The part where Scott turns into Albert, specifically. First the old
Because I travel lots and never not have a camera with me, I decided to start collecting great examples of people-friendly places and tell their stories. I opted to make it a different website because a) it’s more narrowly focused than this one and b) my hope is to
Labour Day weekend is here and in addition to the yard work I didn’t do all summer I’m planning to finish reading two books and finally get around to spring-cleaning the front closet. You could say I’ve had a busy 2024 so far, and not just because
What a week, my lack of god. It’s been difficult to focus on what’s happening here given the excitement of the big convention in Chicago and the sense that finally we’re getting over the doom and gloom of having two very old white dudes fighting for a
Any time someone is dumb enough to get into an argument with me about gender-affirming care it ends in stunned silence when I point out that if we are to ban it we’ll have to start with boob jobs, penile implants and Viagra. Oh yes, it totally is the
In my Ottawa Citizen column this week I tee up the Canadian Ultimate Championships, which start Sunday in Ottawa. It’s giving me a great excuse to talk your ears off about why frisbee is so cool. But since not everyone is as obsessed as I am with this one
Gender
Have you recovered from the Great Olympic Trans Scare of 2024 yet? Or are you a normal person who doesn’t freak out because some women look slightly different than others? The Algerian boxer who defeated the Italian one was the stronger fighter in that ring Thursday. That’s not
Urbanism
It is indecently hot and sticky this week and no, that didn’t stop me from running and kickboxing and frisbeeing and generally sweating buckets. It’s vacation time for many people and as we head into the August long weekend (who cares what it’s called or why?) and
Urbanism
When I took Eldest to Paris in April one of the things she remarked was how easy it was to move around without a car. The picture above was taken in the fourth arrondissement somewhere near a thrift store she wanted to visit and where, incidentally, she did purchase something.
Gender
I don’t remember the first time I heard about “period panties” and like everyone who menstruates I was immediately both curious and slightly horrified. What do you mean, a change in my habits? I’m not ready to change those. I’m 53 and nearly 2/3 years old
Gender
As I wrote elsewhere, transfeminine professor of law and bioethics Florence Ashley’s first book, Banning Transgender Conversion Practices, was nothing short of a rhetorical tour de force. “The subject matter is not easy, given how emotional people can get when it comes to providing affirming care to trans and
Urbanism
A short note today, because 1) it’s summer and 2) I am preparing to compete (!) in Ultimate this weekend, first competition in anything since Worlds in karate in 2018 I’m not nervous at all and 3) I am working on two longer pieces for you that should be
Culture
You know me and my mild obsession with the nature of work and trying to puzzle out why some people insist on doing the absolute most mind-bendingly stupid thing which is to force every single working person to work in exactly the same way regardless of what they do or
Politics
In the Ottawa Citizen this week I go back to that unfortunate episode where the people managing the Carp Agricultural Society got hoodwinked into renting some space to nasty right-wing extremists. And I say it’s up to all of us in the mainstream political space to occupy as much
There are days when it’s hard to shake the feeling that this city is actively trying to discourage people from not using personal cars for everything all the time. For instance, nobody would accept a city not investing enough in infrastructure for vehicles. If safe parking for cars was
Politics
A shorter post this week as everyone including self is hard at work preparing to spend some of the weekend resting, in-between various house and back yard chores. Vacations, a wise friend once said, is just a reorganization of when the work happens. It doesn’t make the work disappear.
Urbanism
Showing my age with this one, no doubt. But what better time to discuss snow and winter safety than in the middle of a scorching heat dome of a heat wave? Also the Northern Pikes are among the most under-rated bands this country ever produced. Fight me. But seriously: I
Politics
This week I've got two very different kinds of violence on the mind. Political and culinary. One is totally funnier than the other. Let’s start with the political. Everywhere you look you see an increase in toxicity and the kind of nastiness that drives good people away