In the latest of modern politics’ endless series of unimaginable happenings, Californians are soon to vote on whether to separate their state into three: North California, California, and South California. It’s safe to say that for most people who don’t live in the state — and probably even most who do — this initiative makes…
It is a sunny, crisp spring morning as I write this. I recently finished a draft of a difficult play, and I’m preparing for a vacation that will involve three of my favourite things on the planet: role-playing games, great beer, and my oldest, dearest friends. After that, I’ll be heading directly back to the…
Last week, Toronto joined the regrettable list of cities that have suffered mass violence. It played out a lot differently than most of the mass murders in the United States: guns were not involved, the perpetrator was taken alive, and there was only the briefest, token effort to connect the violence to Islamic terrorism (this,…
In my salad days, I fell hard for Shakespeare, and spent the next few years barreling through his Complete Works, searching for plays I could adapt or direct, or just monologues I could recite to myself in the shower. My classes — first Advanced Placement in high school, then Honours English in my undergrad —…
I am sitting in a studio apartment overlooking the Mira River, that broad stripe of blue that loops about the soul of every native-born Cape Bretoner, crooning like a homing beacon whenever they’re Away. The sun is going down, adding a subtle swath of lavender above the treeline. I don’t go out for vistas very…
After that last ice-water-to-the-face blog post, I figured I owed my devoted readers something a bit more upbeat. Whenever I need a pick-me-up, I turn to music, so let’s dip into one of my perennial loves and obsessions, a defunct band from Athens, Georgia, who spend the 80s and 90s walking the line between alternative…
In A Short History of Progress, Ronald Wright estimates that human beings as we know ourselves have existed for about 100,000 generations, or 2.5 million years – a mind-bogglingly long time by subjective standards, but a mere blink of the eye of the Earth (4.5 billion years old). Yet, says Wright, we didn’t understand progress,…
I am trying, mostly failing, to find the socio-political seabed. I keep diving deeper into murk and cold, straining to see familiar signs of life. Mostly, the creatures I encounter on these deep dives are alien, primordial. I don’t see myself reflected in their eyes. Once in a while, I think maybe I feel a…
