Can you help my old friend Simon?
I just received a bracing email from an old acquaintance with news about Simon Shields, a friend, former colleague, and one of the most selfless people I know:On December 28, 2017, Canadian animal...
View ArticleBánh mì vs. U-Bahn
Every time I go to write bánh mì, a type of Vietnamese sandwich, I get stuck on whether it’s “nh” or “hn.”Because the subway in Berlin is called the U-Bahn, I fall into the trap of thinking that bánh...
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The Move Begins
I had to start somewhere, so with boxes from No Frills (thanks for the tip, Ray!) I moved the first load from Reinventorium v1.0 to Reinventorium v2.0 this morning.It was just the books and...
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How will anyone ever compete with Amazon?
It being International Women’s Day I thought, yesterday morning, that it would be a good idea to send my young nephew in Montreal something to commemorate the day and to up his feminist game (he’s...
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My Air Miles Data Access Request
A month ago I wrote about analyzing my use of the Air Miles program by scraping data from the Air Miles website.I concluded by mentioning that I had followed on with a formal data access request, under...
View ArticleStephen Fry on Dutch TV
Via my friend Elmine’s blog, a pointer to an appearance by man of letters Stephen Fry on Dutch television. What an insightful, reflective and brilliant person he is.Netherlands | Television | Stephen Fry
View Article"Your Point of View"
Oliver sent me an email last night with subject line “Your Point of View” and a body that was simply a link to this YouTube video, a trailer for the film The House of Tomorrow.This email precipitated...
View ArticleLadies of the Canyon
Oliver is slowly surveying popular music of the 20th century via Spotify. Which led him to exclaim to me tonight “Joni Mitchell has albums after Ladies of the Canyon!”Oh to be 17.
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Nobody Knows You're a Dog
Oliver and I returned home from an errand this afternoon to find Ethan the Dog using his laptop.
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Help Wanted: Support Worker for Young Adult with Autism
We are the parents of Oliver, a 17 year old young man on the autism spectrum.We’re looking for a support person to work one-on-one with Oliver through the day during the summer, and for occasional...
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Six Generations
Oliver, with his father, grandmother, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, and great-great-great-grandfather.Family | History | Photographs
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Standing Committee on Education and Economic Development
Late last week I received an email from our Executive Director at Stars for Life asking me if I could attend a meeting of the Standing Committee on Education and Economic Development this morning as...
View ArticleArmand Hammer vs. Arm & Hammer
File this under “things I always thought were true, but realized couldn’t be true, that actually are true.” Sort of.From the Wikipedia entry for Armand Hammer:In the 1980s Hammer owned a considerable...
View ArticleHillary Clinton on Dutch TV
Another pointer from my friend Elmine to an interesting interview on Dutch television, this one with Hillary Clinton, interviewed by Eva Jinek.Jinek herself has an interesting life story:Jinek was born...
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My Last PEI Home and School Federation Board Meeting
Ten years ago this month, Wendy MacDonald approached me after a Prince Street Home and School meeting to see if I’d be willing to put my name forward for the position of Regional Director for the...
View Article25 Years on PEI
Twenty-five years ago today I started work at the PEI Crafts Council, just up the street from where I sit right now.And thus began our new life on Prince Edward Island.Catherine followed a month later,...
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Crisis in the Hipsterverse
We have gotten into the habit of going to Receiver Coffee’s pizza-pasta night on Thursdays at the Brass Shop. The food is tasty, the price reasonable, the staff friendly and the vibe as mainline...
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Thirty-One Inches Wide
The move-the-Reinventorium plans continue apace: on Wednesday morning a team of smart and burly people from McQuaid’s will arrive, equipped with forklift, cables, and grappling hooks, to move the...
View Article"...designing all of our systems so that they work for everybody..."
One of the nice developments in the annals of democracy here on PEI is that Standing Committee meetings are now broadcast live online, with audio and video archived for later listening and watching. In...
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From Pretty to Gritty
Peter Santenello writes about moving to Kyiv in 2016:That November in 2016 was a step into another dimension for my mind, and new scenery for my eyes. Kyiv didn’t quite have that same charm as it did...
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