August started with every ambition of continuing July’s espresso-fueled summer of writing and reading. A trip to The Roasterie here in Kensington furnished me with some delicious coffee beans and visions of spending hours outside with a few books that have languished on my shelves for far too long (most notably The English Patient and The Luminaries). […]
Read more "August is for Ambition"This winter, I spent some time out near Golden, British Columbia, enjoying the quiet. I had a delightful time staying at Il Nido, a bed & breakfast nestled between the Purcell and Rocky Mountains. Apparently, I read a lot of British literature and also drank some wonderful locally roasted coffee. I wish I’d brought another […]
Read more "New Year, New Beans, New Books"Kazuo Ishiguro has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Although Kazuo Ishiguro has been on my To Be Read list for decades, my first and only direct encounter with Ishiguro’s work came in 1995 while I was writing for The Gauntlet and tasked with reviewing The Unconsoled. One of the sad realities of the world […]
Read more "Kazuo Ishiguro"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, […]
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Coffee and Blarney 