Monthly Archives: April 2023

Alberta Election Simplified:

Rachel Notley vs. “Marjorie Taylor Greene” Albertan/Canadian vs. American/Republican/Trumpian

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

My Favorite Maxims

I have often quoted these in the course of days so far. There is truth in every one. Like epigrams, there is also a much-appreciated pithiness to them. A man’s home is his castle. A place for everything and everything … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Two Crocks:

“I studied English literature, so words really matter to me. I tend to defer to the actual definitions of words when I use them.”–Justin Trudeau “When I can, I try to tell the truth.”–Donald Trump

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Black Icon Passes

Harry Belafonte, 96. “So I’m sad to say I’m on my wayWon’t be back for many a dayMy heart is downMy head is turning aroundI had to leave a little girl in Kingston Town”

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

City Public Libraries

are not really safe places anymore for the regular or average library-goers, particularly (unaccompanied) children. Bathrooms can be especially dangerous. There are way too many bums, street people, and druggies frequenting them (and, historically, they have long been around in … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

“We do it to ourselves”–Part 84079699

Russia drops a bomb on its own city. “We do it to ourselves” is half of human history.The other half is “And we do it to others.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hands-Down, the Best-Ever High-School-English-Teacher Book

*This is also one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to, with Frank’s entertaining Irish accent and his bang-on voicings of typical reluctant high-school learners. A bona-fide high-school English teacher classic. Loved his epiphany about using excuse notes by … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Reading CNN news this morning at breakfast,

I noted the minor headline about a chartreuse shortage which suggested that monks would know the reason for. A little while later, while reading “Maples in a Spruce Forest” a poem by John Updike, I got to the ending “The … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Edmonton Stroll Poem, 2023

I originally joined the Stroll in 1990, its first year; I am still connected to many kindred spirits via this splendid aggregation, now in its 33rd year, and have given many readings and workshops over the years.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Seaside Golf

How straight it flew, how long it flew,It clear’d the rutty trackAnd soaring, disappeared from viewBeyond the bunker’s back –A glorious, sailing, bounding driveThat made me glad I was alive. And down the fairway, far alongIt glowed a lonely white;I … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment