Wow, September was a busy month. A piece I wrote back in the spring about my years as a Stampede Park parking lot attendant made the CBC Creative Non-fiction Longlist. I submitted something last year and didn’t make it past the first round, so improvement is always good. Next year, the Short List! This was […]
Read more "September Happenings"The lazy summer days of writing in my backyard have given way to cooler mornings working in my basement, waiting for the sun to rise. It’s been a long time and a lot of words since last I wrote here, largely as a result of a rather unusual summer for me, productivity-wise anyways. Generally, the […]
Read more "End of Summer"In this age of algorithms, websites pump out recommendations like air. Last month, after finishing The Night Circus, Goodreads suggested that I read Nights at the Circus. Not surprising, given how similar the titles and subject matter are, though I’d never heard of the book so promptly ignored the suggestion. Or so I thought. Enough […]
Read more "New beans, new books"Exploring Calvin & Hobbes is the selection of my book club for next month. It features an interview with series creator Bill Watterson and highlights from the ten year run of the strip. For many, it’s a chance to relive childhood memories. I was not much older than Calvin when it debuted and read it […]
Read more "New beans, new books, childhood fun"Once I really did leave home to join the carnival – and became a king. Truly, I still have the old name tag. One of my long-term goals is to do literary justice to those amazing colleagues of mine at the Stampede. The Night Circus and The Master and Margarita (from last month) are all […]
Read more "New Beans, New Book, Old Memories."I was first introduced to Albert Camus in high school, by my French teacher. We were studying his play, Les Justes, but I became captivated by Camus’ themes. At the time, I was working at the Stampede as a parking lot attendant. Each night, I would spend hours in my quiet parking booth, reading. The […]
Read more "New Beans, Warm Treats, and an Old Friend"It turns out not even all the coffee in Calgary could help me get through my reading list last month, so there’s a bit of overlap for March (and Night Circus is pushed back into April). I did write and submit three short stories – so there’s that. The Dylan Thomas volume is based on […]
Read more "March Make-up"What better way to fuel up your February ambition than with a morning cup of hot chocolate? The YYC Hot Chocolate Festival presented by Meals on Wheels kicked off this week and my beverage of choice today is Bridgeland Market’s Peppered Petals & Cocoa featuring cardamom and rose water with pink peppercorn sprinkles. I’m not […]
Read more "February Goals"January’s goals are a real mixed bag. I’ve been looking forward to reading Madeleine Thien’s Do Not Say We Have Nothing since the fall and have been promising my daughter that I would read The Cursed Child for almost as long. Ken Dryden’s autobiography, The Game, has sat on my shelf for almost six years, […]
Read more "January Goals"As November was all about writing goals, December has been about trying to catch up on some reading ones and setting new goals for next year. I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a bit behind on my reading, roughly six books off the pace I set for myself (though I did write a lot more […]
Read more "Reading Goals"
Coffee and Blarney 