And when I say "book fair," I don't mean readings or lectures about books or writing or anything like that. I mean a building with multiple rooms of cheap books to buy. Basically, heaven. It started on Wednesday and Saturday was the last day, so my husband and I drove down…
On Sunday Lake Erie was almost impossibly still, with some ice on the horizon. I had to keep checking the spot where the water shrugged against the beach to make sure the entire lake wasn't frozen solid. We parked at a shoreside fish & chips shop in Lowbanks, closed for the season,…
I am proud to be participating in The Kissing Booth at Sundog Lit, two weeks of stories, poems, and essays inspired by my friend Leesa Cross-Smith's forthcoming book, Every Kiss a War. My piece went up yesterday, and I'm thrilled about having my work amongst such great stories and poems and words.…
A few days ago, I had to go to Toronto for a Finnish class. It was the first time I'd been to Toronto since I moved away in mid-January, and I was expecting it to feel disorienting. I felt a slight surge of alarm as I got to my old…
The summer after Grade 10, my family and I went to visit my great-uncle and great-aunt in northern California. We ended up all getting colds, and spent a few days recuperating in their home. For some reason, I only brought one tape with me - Elastica's first album. I…
Another year, another IFOA. (You can read last year's highlights here.) This year was similar to last year in a lot of ways. I went with Teri to some things, we had sushi to eat, it was even raining like last year. Here are the highlights: - Saw Margaret Drabble being…
Among the very large collection of phonograph records which the Library maintained were perhaps a hundred which Mr Kelso called his Horrible Examples. These were pieces of music which he despised, sung or played by people whose manner of interpretation he despised ... It had taken Pearl a long time…
The light goes so fast. It's dark again before I realize it's happening. A darkening room, a quieting world, the rushing of distant cars the only reliable sound. A bird now and then, to make me feel like it's spring. I've been writing again. Not much, but it's there, and…
- The lake in the distance, shining too brightly in the sun. - An old white serving/casserole dish of my parents' that I remember admiring even in childhood. - Three red apples inside said serving dish. - My dog, laying sideways in a patch of sunlight. - A Christmas photo…
Some small sound will wake me - my dog taking a stroll around the apartment, the curtains snapping in the breeze. I used to get frustrated, but now I find a strange ease in it. It's my time to research things I've been thinking about, work out story ideas, make…
