As a young child, I listened to my mother’s CDs, often sliding one out at random from the stuffed CD cupboard beside the stereo in our living room. It was in one of these searches that I first began to listen to Leonard Cohen. He was not, however, ever one of my favourites and never [...]
Continue Reading 1 comment April 30, 2010
Four of us met in Mundy Park’s gravel parking lot at 7:30 this morning to get in our Saturday run before heading to Silvercity’s encore of Carmen. We finished an hour later, our shoes dipped in brown and mud splattering up the backs of our legs and shirts. I’d organized a lift with Clare’s family, [...]
Continue Reading 3 comments March 14, 2010
The alarm dragged me from my sleep at 7:00 yesterday morning, as it does every school day. I lay in bed for a few moments, savouring my relaxation and listening to the CBC’s morning news, then forced myself to slip on my clothes and plod into the kitchen. Mechanically, I heated up my milk in [...]
Continue Reading 17 comments March 7, 2010
I grew up with the sea, tasted its salty breezes and threw rocks into its seeweedy depths. A small dirt path concealed to all but those who knew of it led from the bottom of my cul-de-sac to a rocky outcropping where the tide washed in. Here, in the placid waters of my early childhood, [...]
Continue Reading 1 comment March 6, 2010
Snow Falling on Cedars is haunted by death and pasts left festering unspoken. In the uncovering of San Piedro’s (the Island the story takes place on) history, I suppose my own past was unearthed as well. Last night, I was inspired to excavate my elementary school diary. It was stuffed in the bottom of my [...]
Continue Reading 5 comments March 2, 2010
Last week, I unlocked my bike from its months long hibernation in its tarped den against the back wall of our house and headed out for an afternoon ride. I peddled fast along the sidewalk, flanked by coming home traffic on one side and houses on the other. The fresh air in my lungs and [...]
Continue Reading 1 comment February 21, 2010
I have tried writing this blog post a few times, but I honestly didn’t know what direction to take. To be frank, my choices for novels were a bit last minute on Wednesday. I really had no idea which one I wanted, even after reading the descriptions. But last night my excitement to read Snow [...]
Continue Reading 7 comments February 21, 2010
What is being Canadian? I spent Wednesday searching for that elusive answer. As I boarded the Skytrain for downtown and sped past construction cranes, lichen-streaked high-rises and clanking shipyards, I took out my mental camera (I forgot my actual one) and tried to capture moments of Canadiana. Our first stop was Chinatown, a place I [...]
Continue Reading 2 comments January 18, 2010
Memory My hands plunge into the dress-up box, excavating fairy wings, witch’s hats, bunny ears and wigs. It has been a long time since I have looked inside. Trapped in the contours of each rip, hole and pen mark, are my childhood fantasies. I freeze momentarily as I grasp a creased Ziplock bag labeled with [...]
Continue Reading 1 comment December 1, 2009
People hang on to what they know because it is safe, often avoiding change even when it holds promise for good or better opportunities. People are afraid of the unknown and of leaving good things behind. It is these fundamental human emotions that To Everything there is a Season explores. The main character, a young [...]
Continue Reading 1 comment October 31, 2009
