Take a moment to imagine that you are living in the time of your great-grandparents. Imagine yourself surrounded by horse-drawn carriages, oil lamps, and steam engines. You know that exciting changes are on the horizon—maybe you’ve already glimpsed a few, like the electric light bulb or the automobile—but it’s impossible to guess how the next…
It’s Pride Week in Cape Breton. I live in a small city with an aging population and an island mentality which tends to keep residents thinking and behaving like they are about fifteen years in the past. And yet [does some quick math] that puts Cape Breton in 2003, which [does some quick history research]…
I have been back to work at the Fortress of Louisbourg for three weeks now, but the whirlwind of activity that characterized my first summer has yet to begin. Last year, I started just before Canada Day, when the Parks Canada site rolls out its Peak Season schedule, complete with daily musket drills and cannon…
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 —…
