I have not read all of Agatha Christie’s Poirot books, but he’s such a timeless character, the series not needing to be read in order, that I recently devoured the very last Poirot book: Curtain. I’ve been reading Christie for as long as I can remember. Well, maybe not since the age of 2, but…
Category: Writings
Articles, essays, stories, etc.
Book Review: Otherwise by Farley Mowat, an Enthralling Read
Farley Mowat begat the popular Black Brant sounding rocket and air-to-air missile Velvet Glove when his patriotism and search for a new purpose after WWII led him to… well, you’ll have to read Mowat’s latest book Otherwise (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2008) to find out how he accomplished this feat. The few reviews I’d seen…
Articles on Squidoo
I’ve written several online articles, from setting up a CafePress shop to Getting Started with Ubuntu and published them on Squidoo. I’ve listed them on my Essays Page where they will be regularly updated as I publish new ones. Check back often to see what’s new!
The Soft Light of Christ(mas)
The woman stands at the tall lobby window, staring out into the night, waiting. The car races down the darkened road. The crosswalk lights sway erratically in the black wind, casting shifting shadows onto the melting snow. People jostle strangers in the light-bright mall, un-noticing. The mother cooks in the kitchen. The father sits on…
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day on YouTube Page.
Happy Canada Day
Forty years, four months, and fourteen days ago, I landed at Toronto International Airport with my mother, my baby brother, and my teddy bear. My father was waiting to greet us, as he had been in the country for one month already, starting work, finding a place to live. Thirty-five years, four months, and fourteen…
Authorship Down
When you first go to writing school, that is, creative writing courses or workshops, they don’t tell you about the marketing side of the business. They don’t tell you that writing is only the beginning, that after the fun stuff comes the business stuff, that if you want to sell your books or stories or…
The Toronto Public Library Rewires Human Brains
As promised, here is the essay I wrote on the Toronto Public Library way back in 1997. I’ve been informed that nothing has changed, except that the catalogue is now driving everyone nuts. ♥ The future looks bleak for the Toronto Public Library (TPL). Its budget has been downsized, users continue to pour in, while…
The Toronto Public Library Challenges Its Users
I was looking through my old, very old, files to see if there’s anything worthwhile to republish on my website, and I came across a rant I wrote on the Toronto Public Library. I don’t remember writing on the TPL — I only remember writing on cocoa butter, to be honest — and I barely…