Time has expanded into an eternal present, engulfing the past and the future like a large two-way tsunami. I guess that’s how it always is, really, but mostly, when I’m bustling about going from work to more work to making dinner to worrying about bills/upcoming taxes/my disengaged daughter [insert frantic worry here] it seems likeContinue reading “Notes from the Pandemic: There is only the present”
Tag Archives: random thoughts
Silver Lining: Productive Isn’t Always What We Think It Is
Transcript A whole lot of time and space have suddenly been dumped on my lap as if all my backorders for my entire life have been filled all at once and honestly, I don’t quite know what to do with it. No, that’s not quite right. It is not that I don’t know what toContinue reading “Silver Lining: Productive Isn’t Always What We Think It Is”
On the Illusion of Communication
“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”- George Bernard Shaw I’ve always thought of myself as a good communicator. I thought I was doing awesome. I could string those sentences together like nobody’s business. I was sending out clear messages to the world! Yeah, right. That illusion heldContinue reading “On the Illusion of Communication”
On my Toxic Relationship to Time
I was listening to the On Being podcast the other day and I heard a phrase that struck me the way a mallet hits a gong. It was one of the last interviews the poet and philosopher, John O’Donohue, gave before his untimely death in 2008. It is worth listening to and then listening toContinue reading “On my Toxic Relationship to Time”
We Are All Octopuses
I read a book a few months ago entitled The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness. I had never given much thought to octopuses before, but it turns out they are remarkable, completely alien creatures. Here is how the author of the book, Sy Montgomery describes them: “Here isContinue reading “We Are All Octopuses”
You Only Meet Yourself
It is strange how things come into your life when you most need them. I made a friend recently. We met at a social networking event. The room was crowded and noisy and you had to yell to be heard. I was wedged between strangers on a circular bench table. He was on theContinue reading “You Only Meet Yourself”
Self-Censorship Shmelf-shmensorship
One of the reasons personal posts have become few and far between is because my children are now of the age where they actually read this blog. I have become more circumspect about sharing anything that might embarrass them or give away something a child should never know about her mother. As you can imagine,Continue reading “Self-Censorship Shmelf-shmensorship”
Random Thoughts: What goes through my head when I think of my teenage daughters
Status Update: I am tired. It is still very much in the minuses outside. This winter is never-ending, like the end of a Police song or a trilogy by Peter Jackson or an Oscar speech. We have all given up hope of ever seeing green grass again. Oh, and I am now officially the mother ofContinue reading “Random Thoughts: What goes through my head when I think of my teenage daughters”
Are we corrupting our children? The debate about raunchy lyrics (yes there is one)
When I was ten, my favourite tape (yes, I am that old. I was buying tapes well into late teens. I still regret the unfortunate advent of CDs- stupid technology) was the soundtrack of Grease. In fact, I remember going directly from the soundtrack of the movie Annie, full of funny and moving songs aboutContinue reading “Are we corrupting our children? The debate about raunchy lyrics (yes there is one)”
The Complicated Need for an Intellectual Father Figure: Thoughts on Reading Donna Tartt’s The Secret History
The Secret History by Donna Tartt This books has been staring at me in the Ts of my Fiction section for quite a while now, so I thought I would delay all the other, newer books on my extensive reading list and pick it up for Christmas. Like The Magician King, the book made meContinue reading “The Complicated Need for an Intellectual Father Figure: Thoughts on Reading Donna Tartt’s The Secret History”
Lina Branter 