Archive

Beyond Literary Landscapes—Alienation

From my early beginnings as a young introvert, the public library has always been a bit of a refuge.  Years later, not much has changed, albeit with an additional affinity for endless hours spent scouring second-hand bookstores to add to my ever-growing “to-read” pile. From one bookworm to another, this column will be underscoring and… Read more »

Vintage Voice

April 1 is well-known as April Fools’ Day, but, all kidding aside, it’s also National Greeting Card Day.  We’re giving the pranks a miss this year in favour of vintage mentions of greeting cards. I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.  Bill Pollett traces the subtle markers of advancing age.  “For me, the… Read more »

[blue rare]—In Praise of the Lazy

I’ve always disliked Aesops’ fable of the ant and the grasshopper.  The ant, with its pathologically selfless commitment to busy work and ceaseless networking, does make some kind of sense as a symbol of the complete buy-in to the all-work-no-play ethos and motivation-through-fear that employers like to pretend they don’t force upon us.  As a… Read more »

Mitch versus Anxiety: A Story with Confusables

Writers, beware:  confused and misused words surround us.  We hear them, read them, and have even used them ourselves sometimes.  A spellchecker is powerless against them.  But we can learn better usage by reading well-written works, developing an interest in words, and staying friends with a dictionary and usage dictionary. The following story attempts to… Read more »

AU-Thentic Events

AU Systems outage Mar 31 to Apr 1 affecting some AU systems including course registration and exam requests Hosted by AU www.athabascau.ca/news/announcements/upcoming-system-outages See details at above link Library Chat Tues, Apr 2, 10:30 am to 2:30 pm MDT Online Hosted by AU Library www.athabascau.ca/library/index.html No pre-registration needed; access through chat box on home page The… Read more »

The Land Without a Master Narrative, Part II

A truthful and reconciliatory realisation is necessary when looking back upon the newly founded Canada.  A Canada that had a lot of supposedly uninhabited land that the federal government had hoped could be put to use for farming.  Many of the earliest waves of immigrants that crossed the ocean to get to Canada were rewarded… Read more »

Beyond Literary Landscapes—The Literary Essay

From my early beginnings as a young introvert, the public library has always been a bit of a refuge.  Years later, not much has changed, albeit with an additional affinity for endless hours spent scouring second-hand bookstores to add to my ever-growing “to-read” pile. From one bookworm to another, this column will be underscoring and… Read more »

Buying Clothing Gifts To Turn Our Loved Ones Into Superstars

Last week, we discovered how to determine our loved ones’ color palettes so we can buy them clothes with colors that make them shine.  This week, we will examine the last piece of fashion mastery skills to make our loved ones look stunning: clothes that suit their body type.  Everyone can look spectacular with these… Read more »