It makes me glad to hear pumpkin seeds pop as they toast in the oven.
Before the city could be physically reconstructed to accommodate automobiles, its streets had to be socially reconstructed as places where cars belong.
Blog
2021
2020
As I was reading my book last night – namely the novel Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, – I came across a familiar-looking song, sung by the protagonist, Breq, to herself as she ventures off on a daring mission:
This blog is an exercise in vanity.
Vanitas vanitatum!
This is my favourite sentence that starts with ‘and’:
Or else there might be a drug in the laurel that could have produced such an Apollonian effect. To test this, I have crushed laurel leaves and smoked quantities of them in a pipe and felt somewhat sick but no more inspired than usual. And chewed them as well for over an hour, and very distinctly felt more and more Jaynesian, alas, than Apollonian.
On chickpeas
Whenever I open up and rinse a can of chickpeas, I find myself idly picking one up and with two fingers swiftly slipping off its transparent skin—
I have a great love of editing. Semicolon—
or m-dash? Too many syllables? Too languid?
too clipped? One sentence twisting, another
straight-ahead. Warp; point; zig; zag. I once
dropped my house-keys such that they fell
between the boards of the front porch:
I rescued them
with a bent coat-hanger.
On oomancy
In which I reflect upon the inciting incident in my relationship with oomancy.
The Rideau Canal
For the first time in my life, the nearest body of water to where I live (ignoring little ponds and the like) is artificial rather than natural.
Jocelyn
I first met my fiancée on .
Pen and paper
I have started using a paper notebook for an agenda/planner/to-do-list thing. It's been an interesting experiment.
2019
I have a secret, which I’ve never revealed:
This city is a strange place—so much of it is paved.
The trees here—it must be lonely for them, not being in a forest; stretching their roots out and finding soil compacted by cement, soil sparse of arboreal conversation.
Holy Communion on Harry Lake
In which it is cold, early morning; mist over the lake; I set my service leaflet on fire.
2018
My to-do list
I have a secret to-do list. The problem with my secret to-do list, though, is that it’s easy for me to forget what is on it.
Purple sparks
I used to be able to make purple sparks shoot from my fingertips. I just had to snap my fingers at just the right angle, with just the right force, when the humidity was just right, when my hair was tied up in a bun in just the right way …
This morning, flatmates and I had a brief dance party in the living room. It was a lot of fun—it felt long overdue. It made me think of a note I had written to myself about a year ago.
What do I have in my pockets?
In which I have to blow my nose.
At Mersey River, at a winter retreat, after Compline
Eternal praise! eternal praise!
2017
At the Lucky Penny, shortly before noon
Spotted Jack Mitchell searching the Perseus English-Latin lexicon for the word ‘virtuous’.
I was bored this afternoon, so I ate a raw clove of garlic.
That’s all.
At Duncan St and Chebucto Lane
As I was walking down Duncan street last Sunday evening, I came across a tree that that had a face—eyes, a nose and a mouth affixed to its bark.
Whatever is necessary that such dance parties as that of last night should happen again—that’s what matters to me.
On skating
Sometimes I space out for a moment.
2016
I made a remark shortly after I came in the door—paraphrased from David Lebovitz—about the state of the Parisian baguette: Emma is this moment recording it in her quote-book. I am flattered.
In the Winnipeg International Airport
I was pleasantly surprised to find the security area virtually deserted.