Category: People
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Tile Me a Story
Once again admiring the intriguing narrative tile work here at Inn at the Forks in Winnipeg. I’m searching for more pieces around the city by local artist Fleur McLauchlan, but work has a way of seriously cutting into my sleuthing time… Read more
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Exit the Television
We haven’t had a television in our house for a very long time. One day I got fed-up trying to place the family room furniture in a conversation-friendly layout that also permitted television viewing. So I called up a friend who drove over and drove away with our set, bound for a Community Living group… Read more
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(Sort of) The Grand Re-Opening of the McKittrick Hotel 2012
A year ago we donned bone-white Venetian masks and registered at the McKittrick Hotel in NYC for an evening of mute revelry and immersive voyeurism. It’s set to be doors wide open again this year. Post the Do Not Disturb sign and prepare to Sleep No More. Read more
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Now I’m a Licensed Prospector, Too
Some things in life are surprisingly simple. For a fee of $25.50, presentation of photo i.d., and the completion of a form that required little more than my name, address, telephone number and birthdate, I became a licensed prospector in the province of Ontario. I am now permitted to stake mineral claims anywhere in the… Read more
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Leaving Children Home Alone? It’s Complicated.
It makes for a perfect sit-com setup. Eight-year-old Kevin is accidentally left Home Alone when his family heads off on Christmas vacation without him. Funny in the movies, not so funny in reality. As a mother of four, I can attest that life gets a whole lot easier when at least one child reaches that… Read more
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Part 1: If Walls Could Talk: The History of the Home – The Kitchen
One quick Google search of the word kitchen yielded this smart, funny and well-paced BBC series about the history of our homes, as told through four key spaces: the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room. Historian and presenter Dr. Lucy Worsley is Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces. She pretty much gets to time travel,… Read more
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A Carpenter’s Life: As Told By Houses
I was encouraged by my elders to “follow my heart.”…Would not our world be a better place if we all followed what our hearts tell us to do? People with heart won’t fight senseless wars, they won’t strip-mine a beautiful mountain, commit genocide, pollute our land with toxic waste and chemical fertilizers, foul the air… Read more
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Street Art: Things Change
I love when street art and murals bring cities to life. But this is no average mural. It was conceived as an animation, as living storytelling, and not as a static snapshot in time. However, in the end, it is unable to escape its essential form. A three-week painting condensed into a 3 minute animation.… Read more
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At Home With Mrs. Hen
At home with young kids? This is it exactly. The dishes, laundry, food preparation, bickering and incessant demands rarely stop. I feel your pain. Enough to want to fly the coop… Read more
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Dreaming of Houses And Other Interior Spaces
Last night I dreamed I lived in a house where all the rooms were too small. The bed stuck out of the door into the hallway and the visitors had to climb over the couch to come in the front door. The dream dictonary says that too-small houses are about frustration or feeling like some… Read more