Saturday was hotter in London, Ontario than it was in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai, that over-populated, but-it’s-a-dry-heat, desert playground, where 40C+ is the norm. Where millions of people hustle through the world’s tenth-busiest airport on their way to spend their wealth at luxury stores while the sun beats down with a relentless burn. No …
It breaks my heart to see so many people sharing bogus health information on social media. Add to that, the conspiracy theories surrounding the government suppressing the cures for cancer and other diseases. Scientists have families too.
Forget the KonMari method – deciding to keep only the items that bring you joy. Don’t buy a bunch of baskets and sort your stuff. That only helps the basket-makers and doesn’t do enough to reduce the amount of stuff you keep. No, I’ve developed a new way of looking at your stuff that will …
The suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain rattled me. I don’t own a Kate Spade bag and I’ve never watched Bourdain’s show, although I did purchase Kitchen Confidential after years of hearing about how brave and bold it is. But I didn’t have to be a fan to understand the importance of these special …
If you weren’t aware, Google has an online translation service. I’ve used it here and there and recently Ken read about an Easter Egg on the site. Remember Easter Eggs on DVDs? They were little hidden gems, like outtakes or special scenes, that you could only find if you knew where to look.
It’s difficult to find an audience for your online wares. When people found Lisa’s Pieces, they liked our tables, lamps and found treasures, but translating that into sales wasn’t easy. We ended up with a lot of unsold stuff simply because we couldn’t find enough of the right people.
When did being progressive become a bad thing?
The personal possession purge continues. A cedar chest we acquired and have no room for; a barnboard-and-bulb-cage chandelier made by Derek; an extra motorcycle windshield we boxed up and stored – it’s all going, going, gone!
I suppose I should feel flattered. Scores of Twitter bots, those automated, pre-programmed fake accounts, started following me last week. I didn’t even realize it was part of a trend until London’s Medical Officer of Health tweeted about it. Then CTV London did a story about it, explaining that ‘prominent’ Londoners were being targeted by …
I don’t believe in saying “never” to anything on the food chain. If someone tells me they will never eat bread again, but they absolutely love bread, I’ll hold my tongue but I want to tell them they’re crazy. Where is the joy in depriving yourself of something you love?
When I was a kid, I loved the poems of Robert Service. They told stories of the Yukon gold rush in a musical cadence that included lots of alliteration and rhymes. Service didn’t bother with subtleties in his most famous works. You knew what you were getting with The Cremation of Sam McGee, The Ballad …
While I check out my items at the grocery store, I can’t help but think about the last time I went through a cashier’s lane. We exchanged the usual pleasantries. She asked how I was. I responded, fine, how are you. And then she launched into the reasons why she shouldn’t be there. It wasn’t …
One of the great privileges of my career has been to meet so many people and hear their stories. It’s fun to meet the rich and famous, sure, but it’s the ordinary folks fighting various battles who have made the most impact on me. As Amanda Marshall sings, “Everybody’s got a story that could break …
So, this is what our basement floor looks like! I haven’t seen this much of it since it was installed!
I was “let go” from a magazine before I even got started! The Managing Editor hired me to write a column titled Brandt’s Rant and then she left for another job. The new M.E. didn’t see me as a fit for the mag unless I wanted to write about something I have no interest in. …
I’m concerned that the new era of openness about harassment, bullying and toxicity is going to have an unintended consequence: driving the sexes even further apart.
This week, Throwback Thursday makes way for a Thankful Thursday.
Girlfriends, remember when we first realized that we could wear yoga pants to do anything and go anywhere and it was fashionable? That was a great day.