Category: Blog

On Saturday afternoon, Rachelle and I went down to Nathan Phillips Square to see the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. There must have been over one hundred display stalls, and the work, for the most part, was lovely and often astonishing. After about an hour, I noticed a really familiar woman who looked like somebody I…

On Wednesday afternoon, I stumbled across a track and field meet that was taking place at Varsity Stadium. From what I could tell, the meet was for kids up to grade seven. The first thing that I watched was a high jump warm-up session for grade six boys. None of the kids had any technique,…

As most of you know, I’ve been involved in a program in which inmates are paired with pen pals on the outside. I’d been corresponding with one who went by the moniker of Mother Trucker for several months and he turned out that he was a very bad man. Thinking that we were embarking on…

Rachelle’s aunt and uncle live right beside the train tracks overlooking the Rosedale Valley. The other week, while out in the garden, they heard a scream. An hour or so later, they saw police officers, a few in full hazmat suits, combing through the forest beneath them. A woman that was going for her daily…

On Sunday, Rachelle and I went to the St. Lawrence Market with a friend in order to attend the weekly antique bazaar. Like most such enterprises, it’s primarily a wasteland of junk. The vendors bear more resemblance to carnies at the Ex than they do Southern gentlemen with ascots and European educations. As I’m pretty…

My friend Gerry had a dog that was named Mickey. As old as his youngest daughter—about 15—Mickey was a celebrated and deeply loved component of the family. The dog was hit by a car and killed, and the family was utterly devastated. They gathered together and had a ceremony, burying him in the backyard. Gerry,…

Since starting this Blog, I’ve been accorded an incredible amount of respect and authority from the world at large. It’s not at all uncommon for me to receive dozens of letters daily, each one asking for my advice on some matter. I’m only too happy to help out, as I feel it’s my duty to…

As many of you know, I had surgery to repair a hernia last Thursday. As such, I’ve been doing an awful lot of experimentation with painkillers. Last night it was dark rum, which proved to be an excellent analgesic. I actually ended up quite hammered and was inspired to write a letter to tennis superstar…

As you may have heard, Susan Boyle lost in the final of Britain’s Got Talent to a dance troupe called Diversity. Her story is well known. Embodying both the Cinderella and Ugly Duckling myth, she was plucked from solitude and obscurity, and rendered an inspirational lightning rod to legions of people who needed to believe.…