Oh, Canada

Posted on 28 June 2024 by Isabel Gibson

1995? Of course. 1980? Yes, even that. I’m old enough to remember both Quebec independence referendums–both so far, that is–and I especially remember how close the Oui vote came to carrying the day in 1995.

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Posted in Thinking Broadly, Through Canada | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Just Add Air

Posted on 27 June 2024 by Isabel Gibson

Thump.

Ah, the sound of an Amazon parcel landing on the front step. My pillows!

If I weren’t the woman-of-the-world that I am, entirely au courant with vacuum packing of parcels to reduce shipping costs, I’d have been alarmed at the smallness of its dimensions and the largeness of its decibels. That thump was exceedingly unpillow-like.

As it was, though, I just selected a normal household object for relative scale, confidently cut into the outer layer corralling my two pillows, unfolded each just as if I unfolded flattened pillows every day . . .

 

and cut again, exposing each pillow to a rush of air.

Honestly, it’s enough harmless fun that it encourages me to try to think of vacuumable things to order so they can be shipped this way.

As vacuumed, on the left; as un-vacuumed, on the right.

We’ve added our own milk or water to concentrated soups and powdered hot chocolate for decades. Now we’re adding our own air to a whole new generation of products. What can possibly be next?

 

Posted in Another Thing, Appreciating Deeply | Tagged , | 6 Comments

. . . How It’s Going

Posted on 27 June 2024 by Isabel Gibson

While we wait for the garden to grow, let’s take a look at a thread on X (Twitter), with several posts in that same “how it started, how it’s going, but not snippy-like” category:

Minas Gerais, Brazil – reforestation

Gareth Weeks – liver transplant

Woodstock couple – 50 years later

Rio de Janeiro – reforestation

Best friends – since WWII

Pachuca – painting

Boston highway – moved underground

 

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, How it Started | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Keeping Your Distance

Posted on 22 June 2024 by Isabel Gibson

How far do you think they can jump?

A dramatic pause in the story lets us wait in our imagination, as the Sonoran Desert park ranger had waited for the response to his question from the woman who was concerned about rattlesnakes jumping out at her. We didn’t have to wait long: She hadn’t been unsure and he only had 40 minutes for his lunchtime lecture.

Thirty or forty feet.

Another pause lets us think about that number, and get ready for the point of his story.

Good grief.
If they could jump 30 or 40 feet
there wouldn’t be any place in the desert
where you’d be safe.

We laughed, as he intended, but that voice in my head said, “Is he saying that whenever I’m out hiking on a trail there are rattlesnakes within 30 to 40 feet of me?”

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Posted in Laughing Frequently, Thinking Broadly | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Redux: Wet Cement

Posted on 22 June 2024 by Isabel Gibson

We’ve stumbled into a big, beautiful world, boys and girls. Or maybe we’ve just crossed into The Twilight Zone.

There is a fifth dimension,
beyond that which is known to man.
It is a dimension as vast as space
and as timeless as infinity.
It is the middle ground between light and shadow,
between science and superstition.
– Rod Serling

You remember, I’m sure, the wine whose tasting notes said it tasted of wet cement. I mean, how could you forget? We’re all probably marked forever. Anyway, one reader suggested that it was a mistranslation of something that presumably made sense in the presumed original Spanish. I decided to check out that possibility.

Nope. Wet cement it is. Wet cement it was meant to be.

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Posted in Another Thing, Laughing Frequently | Tagged | 16 Comments

Without any Breeding

Posted on 13 June 2024 by Isabel Gibson

Needing to restock my wine shelf, I made the mistake of wandering into the Vintages section of the closest Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) outlet.

What is Vintages?

I’m glad you asked. Let’s let the LCBO website answer:

Vintages is your gateway to discovering
the world’s best and most interesting wines,
from icons crafted in top regions
to eclectic little gems starting at well under $20.
No experience required! ​​

Now, I’ve come to accept that I can’t keep up with popular culture, the kids’ slang, and technology, but I did not know until this very day that the Wine World has moved on without me. You don’t believe me? Herewith, the tasting notes for the LCBO’s Wine of the Month.

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Posted in Laughing Frequently | Tagged | 22 Comments

Great for Grignotage

Posted on 08 June 2024 by Isabel Gibson

Bad news, folks: There’s a new food-like substance on the market and it’s tasty.

My interest in products is often matched by my interest in the marketing thinking behind the taglines being used (as here, here, here, here, and here), and this bold claim caught my attention.

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Posted in Language and Communication, Laughing Frequently | Tagged , | 8 Comments

How It Started . . .

Posted on 08 June 2024 by Isabel Gibson

. . . how it’s going.

You’ve seen the side-by-each comparisons, I expect. On social media it’s usually one of two juxtapositions:

  • Flagging hypocrisy – “These detestable people must be de-platformed because speech is violence” becomes “Gosh, everyone deserves a hearing” when the cause–but not the heat of the rhetoric–changes.
  • Indicting failed government policies – “You said you were going to do such-&-such for $yy” but “You haven’t done any such-&-such and you’ve spent 100 x $yy already.”

Fair enough, even funny enough, sometimes. But also tiring enough, in quantity. “Snipe, snipe” is a crummy basis for a society.

So that I don’t do the exact thing that’s making me tired, I herewith launch a new blog category: how-it-started (how-it’s-going). But this one is not for hypocrisy or policy failures. Instead, it will celebrate progress and achievement. To start us off, here’s a friend’s garden from last week. Stay tuned for the promised follow-on shot, later this summer.

How it started . . .

It will also celebrate sheer continuity. After all, it’s good to know that some things last: Not everything disappears or fades away. To start us off, here’s me with the same reaction to sunlight, about 72 years apart. Nope, some things don’t change, although the wrinkles and the hat are both new.

How it started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . how it’s going.

 

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, How it Started, Laughing Frequently, Photos of Flora, Photos of People | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Posted on 07 June 2024 by Isabel Gibson

It’s an old riddle, unencumbered by a funny answer.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
To get to the other side.

It’s an anti-joke, even in its (too many) other formulations.

Why did the chicken run across the road?
To get to the other side faster.

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Posted in Laughing Frequently, New Perspectives, Thinking Broadly | Tagged | 6 Comments