The annual two weeks up north was the usual balm for the soul, despite rainy weather the first week. I went swimming twice (given that the second time was on September 15th, I thought that was pretty good. It was … not warm). I did my one annual ride on the rail trail. I got […]

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Despite the fact that there’s finally a breeze, literal in the fact that it’s not appalling hot and metaphorical in the sense that I’m doing a ‘250 words a day’ project right now. I’m on target but…. but…. There’s always a but. I’m working on both the Witch Novel and the completely reimagined Glass! Art! […]

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What is there to say on any of this anymore? The days come and go, I write a bit or I don’t, I practice flamenco or I don’t, I garden or I don’t. None of it is very interesting. This is not to say there haven’t been good moments. Socially distanced picnics and cocktails have […]

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One of my favourite quotes from Jane Austen is: “What dreadful weather we have! It keeps one in a constant state of inelegance.” Engraved on a tile, it made the perfect gift for my friend in Houston. I’ve applied it a number of times to the sauna that is Toronto this summer. I imagine it […]

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The days keep passing and outside things change, at least somewhat. In the last month I’ve had a massage, acupuncture, and an MRI. I’ve taken the subway (four times), the streetcar, and an Uber. I wore a mask. I sanitized my hands. I’ve met a friend for iced coffees and sat in a park on […]

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In the vast scheme of the pandemic, having to cancel a long-planned trip to Spain is not a major loss. But it was still a loss. I love planning trips (because it eases my quite ludicrous levels of travel anxiety) and I do lots of research. We had a trip booked to go to Madrid, […]

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Ok, my husband does, with my help. Success was achieved through a electric clipper set purchased online, a few videos, a stepladder (to put the mirror on), a hair clip (to keep the sheet around him), and a bit of fussing. I’m perfectly happy to let my hair just keep growing. The last time I […]

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How is your sheltering-in-place/isolation/social distancing going? That well? I can’t really complain (though, of course, sometime I still do). I’m sitting on my couch listening to “Tentacles!” from the truly amazing musical A Shoggoth on the Roof, which manages to combine the music from Fiddler on the Roof with H.P. Lovecraft. It works quite well […]

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Or at least before the COVID-19 pandemic. I think I’ve started to forget what day it is. Or, at least, more than I used to forget what day it was. We miss the gym and our friends but life is otherwise not that different. My mail-order seeds arrived and my garlic has started coming up […]

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Well, of all the things I expected 2020 to bring, a pandemic was not on the list. I’m lucky. I live in a country with good government healthcare and in a city that went through SARS and learned from the experience. I don’t have to worry about missing work and a good number of things […]

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