Photo Memory of the Week
Category Archives: Thinking Broadly
A Trial Separation
It’s the equivalent of at least three full flights up to the airport lounge, but I head to the stairs. As I round the first landing, it hits me. I’m all alone on this climb. I mean, I knew it … Continue reading
Is That the Best You Can Do?
Netflix traffic accounted for 34% of North America’s downloads during the busiest hours of the day this year. Drew Fitzgerald, Wall Street Journal, 2014 May 14 Maybe you already knew that Netflix accounts for one-third of internet downloads. But maybe … Continue reading
Sayin’ Somethin’ Stupid
An encounter with a gracious Glaswegian and a comment remembered from a decades-old sexual assault case in Edmonton come together to remind me that I can always choose how I respond, both to silly comments and to egregiously offensive ones. … Continue reading
Devoutly To be Wish’d
Dealing with strangers on the phone elicits an array of non-reactions and helpful reactions (Yay!) and suspicious, hostile, downright irritating reactions (Boo!). All that information is on the website. Ouch. It’s not the words, it’s the tone. Biting. Impatient. … Continue reading
Snip Snip
Pruning trees – the activity, the judgement required, the variables – is a metaphor for deciding where to put my own life energies: which branches to keep, and which will never amount to anything. This one will never come … Continue reading
Instructor, Instructee
Learning (in part) not to accept responsibility for another’s problem, and not to need to make others happy with me, and to accept my own rightful authority in a job. He asked the same question six times. I was … Continue reading
Coming to Terms
Teasing apart the hairball of issues jumbled together in the school dress code issue and its news coverage. Do you think I look like a hooker? Wearing knee-high boots, a super short skirt, and a tight, low-cut top, the … Continue reading
How Long Has it Been?
Thanks to databases and nifty analytics, targeted advertising is almost magic. But nothing is perfect, as some notable clunkers make clear. Isabel: University of Ottawa I glance at the apparently personalized subject line on the email from my professional … Continue reading
Doors of Few Words
Washroom or restroom doors might not be the most appropriate venue for concise communication. In some places, clarity trumps all. Shopping for hiking gear at a large huntin’ and fishin’ supply store, I am interrupted, appropriately enough, by nature’s call. … Continue reading