Tiananmen Square Massacre Anniversary Sparks Patriotism

Today is one of those days when I am extra happy and proud to be Canadian. Of course, I’m happy and proud to be Canadian on normal days, but today is not a normal day. It is the 20th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, where on this day in 1989 around 800-1000 students, workers, [...]

Game Over, or How a Trivia Master Got Schooled by The Big Book of Canadian Trivia

I don’t want to boast or anything, but I’m good at trivia. Like, REALLY good.

Every summer, myself and a group of university pals  go up to my old roommate Natalie ”Ruby” Rubino’s cottage for a weekend of fun: food, drinking, swimming, more food and drinking, and games (this particular group of friends, which includes myself, my sister Kris, [...]

Adoption in My Family

On my mother’s side of my family, the Wickware/Watling side, we have two adoption stories. One began in 1950, and the other in 1994. The former was a secret until 1997, and the latter was recently documented in Deborah A. Brennan’s book Labours of Love: Canadians Talk About Adoption.
My maternal grandparents, Bernice (Bernie) Wickware and Eric [...]

Great Song, Great Book

You can’t ask what you’re asking me to do
And I hope you understand when I refuse
I’m going North with my point of view
And I’m never gonna think the same as you

The above lyric is from one of my all time favorite songs, “An American Draft Dodger In Thunder Bay” by Sam Roberts, from his 2006 [...]