Urbanism
My friend and colleague, the scintillating Bruce Deachman, challenged us to come up with new and improved mottoes for Ottawa and you know me when someone puts a dare in front of my face. This. I’ve lived in this town for nearly 24 years and while there are many
Travel
A bit of a shorter update this week as I’m on the road from Ottawa to Connecticut via Toronto which, as you’ll know if you’ve ever looked at a map, is totally not on the road to Connecticut from Ottawa. But since Eldest was competing both in
Travel
This wasn’t meant to be a weekend replete with political philosophy. My goal was to take a well-deserved break to rest and recharge. But of course being me, now that I have an hour to kill before dinner, here goes. A whimsical visit today to Canyon Ste-Anne prompted both
Français
There are costs and benefits to living in a country with two official languages. Perhaps, if the British parliament had opted to implement Radical Jack's ideas, we'd have saved a ton of cash. But it didn't and here we are. A country with two
Urbanism
My eldest had her favourite cousin spend March break with us and, seeing as the cousin had never been to Quebec City I decided to take both of them last weekend to end their week off on a high, French note. I took them on a quick walking tour of
Culture
(Une espèce de suite à cet article.) English follows and summarizes the French, in a sort of sequel to this piece. Ceci n'est pas une bibliothèque ordinaire mais j'espère qu'un jour elle le sera. Je souhaite que les réseaux de bibliothèques publiques de partout
Travel
I had not seen a truck with the full Confederate flag treatment in this town before, I thought as I jogged past the jacked-up white Dodge wearing the gayest rainbow-pride Apple Watch and nothing but virtue-signalling Lululemon high-performance running attire. I was naive enough to hope that the displeasure of
Culture
Once in your life you find someone, sings Bryan Adams in Heaven, who will turn your world around. Finding your soulmate can be the work of a lifetime. But you know what’s even harder to find than the kind of love people write songs about? A movie so fucking
Politics
Unlike so many weak-kneed losers bleating about their freedom like they’ve graduated from the Preston Manning School of Ineffectual Whining, when someone tries to silence me I just write louder. Because that, friends, is how you fight toxicity. By being right up in its face, disturbing its shit. I
Urbanism
The last thing I expected to find in a suburb of Vancouver is affordable gentle density but that’s why they say you should travel. It truly does expand your mind. As my patient reader knows too well, I was in that city recently to attend the ultimate national championships
Urbanism
I spent most of the week in Vancouver and Surrey. If anyone I personally spawned asks you why I was there, please tell them it was to support my eldest (number 23 above) who was playing for the Saskatchewan team (Go Wheaties!) at the national ultimate championships. But really, I
Travel
You travel enough along the 401 in Ontario and you start to see patterns. For instance, you notice the clothes worn by people who patronize the OnRoute rest stops along the way all appear to come from the same bins of faux athletic garments from Costco. Except for the truckers