The personal possession purge continues. A cedar chest we acquired and have no room for; a barnboard-and-bulb-cage chandelier made by Derek; an extra motorcycle windshield we boxed up and stored – it’s all going, going, gone! …
Coming soon…. …
Sunday can’t possibly be the first anniversary of my father’s death. It’s gone so fast and time has also crawled. I truly thought I understood what it must be like to lose a parent but I didn’t – I couldn’t – until I lost my own Dad. …
I suppose I should feel flattered. Scores of Twitter bots, those automated, pre-programmed fake accounts, started following me last week. I didn’t even realize it was part of a trend until London’s Medical Officer of Health tweeted about it. Then CTV London did a story about it, explaining that ‘prominent’ Londoners were being targeted by these sinister little twits. …
What in the world happened in Toronto yesterday? Ten people are dead after a man ran a van along a sidewalk I walked a million times as a Torontonian. We can dismiss people as evil but that’s too easy. The hard stuff is trying to understand why they did what they’ve done. …
My brother and I argue about the most inconsequential things. Last week, we spent more time than I care to admit in opposition over what a piece of melted cheese looked like. …
I don’t believe in saying “never” to anything on the food chain. If someone tells me they will never eat bread again, but they absolutely love bread, I’ll hold my tongue but I want to tell them they’re crazy. Where is the joy in depriving yourself of something you love? …
When I was a kid, I loved the poems of Robert Service. They told stories of the Yukon gold rush in a musical cadence that included lots of alliteration and rhymes. Service didn’t bother with subtleties in his most famous works. You knew what you were getting with The Cremation of Sam McGee, The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill and hundreds of others. He also wrote six novels, two autobiographies and even acted in the 1942 film, The Spoilers, with Marlene Dietrich. Visiting his restored cabin in Dawson City, Yukon – a preserved historical site – is on my bucket list. …
After a life marked by illness – chronic and acute – and several conditions that resulted in frequent hospital trips and stays, our friend’s adult son chose to end his life. He had suffered heart attacks and mini-strokes for a month straight. He stopped dialysis treatments and finished his life on his terms. Bill said his goodbyes. He donated his eyes so others could see. He asked that people celebrate his life as opposed to mourning his death. …
Don’t mistake this book for being like all of the others about the Trump administration. Collusion was written by a journalist with rock-solid credentials including more than a decade embedded in Russia. Luke Harding has sources who go on the record and are legitimized in several other ways. He shares specifics about the US President’s deep financial ties to Moscow, Putin and Deutsche Bank – a bank with a history of fraud and deception.  …
Thousands of broadcasters and actors in this country dream of making it in the US. Our friend Ed Kelly has been doing it for decades. The way I see it, his career is successful for three reasons.
…
While I check out my items at the grocery store, I can’t help but think about the last time I went through a cashier’s lane. We exchanged the usual pleasantries. She asked how I was. I responded, fine, how are you. And then she launched into the reasons why she shouldn’t be there. It wasn’t her shift. Someone called in sick and she was summoned at the last minute. She was really tired. …
One of the great privileges of my career has been to meet so many people and hear their stories. It’s fun to meet the rich and famous, sure, but it’s the ordinary folks fighting various battles who have made the most impact on me. As Amanda Marshall sings, “Everybody’s got a story that could break your heart”. …
After more than a year away, I signed up once again to Voices.com. (I wrote about it HERE.) I was annoyed with them. My booking rates had fallen and they had doubled their escrow rates without notice. It went from 10% to 20% overnight. That’s the amount they charge a client based on the rate paid to the talent. The amount comes out of the total budget, ostensibly reducing how much the talent, like me, can charge for the job. …
The question I asked myself was, where can I buy a can of turkey gravy and a container of PolyFilla? I’m very tired and must get home to nap so this magical place must not be out of my way. Only one store came to mind: Walmart. …
When Erin and Rob come to visit, there’s food, fun and lots of laughter. Their arrival coincided with Rob’s birthday so we made sure our wait staff at the Mandarin were aware of that fact. …
So, this is what our basement floor looks like! I haven’t seen this much of it since it was installed!
…
It’s quite alright to come in second. …