It was with pleasure that I participated in the Ecocity Summit in Vancouver yesterday. From the site: The Ecocity World Summit is the longest-standing international Summit that addresses building cities in balance with nature. It is a biennial event involving over 1,000 delegates from around the world. The first Summit in this series was held…
There’s nothing in the world more powerful than a good story. Nothing can defeat it. Tyrion Lannister, Season 8, Game of Thrones I am usually fascinated by other people’s stories. I feel pretty humbled about my own story, but also figure it might be as interesting as someone else’s. I think this is true of…
Talk about a dream, try to make it real. Tonight my husband and I went to see Blinded by the Light, a terrific story of a young Pakistani man living in Luton around 1980 and dealing with cultural difficulties with his dad as well as an increasing white nationalist movement against Pakistanis in England (sound…
And I love it. I’m back at work again and was so surprised yesterday to have a great talk with the dean in our school and one of the ops managers, who are supporting my academic presentations in early October for the World Summit Ecocity. This event happens every two years in a city around…
It’s weird in today’s world. Sometimes you don’t know your neighbors too well. We’ve lived in our current house for about four years, and have had some waves and hellos to neighbors but have never gotten to know any of them. However, lately, my husband–and not just lately, but for several months–has been walking to…
I apologize for the lack of blogging lately. I’ve had a wee bit of time off work again and have had time to relax, write, think, and, of course watch and read various stories. Another bullet list of things: As my close friends know, I’m a nerd, so enjoy the occasional video game. Nearly 15…
Here’s a fun exercise for memoir writers. It’s journal-writing combined with word association. This is not “add a new associated word” but write an idea about what this word or phrase means right now. During a cold winter night, as I’m trying to renew myself from a days-long flu bug, I look forward to next…
So many poets and novelists have led me to where I am at today. Especially those who remember nature and write words that you wish you could write. They write words that you can grab and wrap around you. They write words that bring you into the love of forests, rivers, mountains, lakes, oceans, deserts,…
Unlike the rest of Canada, we haven’t seen a bit of snow except for up in the mountains. It has rained a lot, barely dipping below freezing. My sage and thyme on the balcony are still alive from last summer. The past few days have been chilly but full of sunshine, a nice break from…
I want to see mountains again, Gandalf, mountains, and then find somewhere where I can rest. In peace and quiet, without a lot of relatives prying around, and a string of confounded visitors hanging on the bell. I might find somewhere where I can finish my book. I have thought of a nice ending for…
