test blog #10

Everything in life is a trade-off.  Everything has pros and cons, advantages and pitfalls, clouds and silver linings. I honestly can't think of anything this rule doesn't apply to, including the Big Life Choices that are the most obvious and clear to us. This post has an additional disclaimer, more like a geographical quirk.  Aerial views really emphasize remoteness. Although we live in what most people would consider a small town -- population approximately 4,200 -- Port Hardy is actually a regional hub. The next-largest town clocks in at population 2,500. The other communities in the region have populations of less than 500, many in double-digits. Because it's a hub, Port Hardy has more services than many towns of its size -- primary healthcare, a hospital, a few restaurants, a café, a large supermarket that is open every day (and serves the entire region), more than one hardware store, two hair salons. There's an airport! But the northern end of Vancouver Island -- t...

2018: Titles and reading projects that were languishing on my List . 2019: The year of the biography . The first time I created a reading plan for the year. 2020: I liked having the 2019 plan, and created a new plan for 2020 . In each case, I read many titles from the plan, and many off-plan -- enough that I feel I've accomplished part of a goal, but not so much that the goal became a chore.  For 2021, I consulted The List, and selected sub-lists of nonfiction, fiction, and YA. Add to that the authors I want to read or read more of (from the 2018 list), plus the long-term goals that may or may not advance.  Recently I made a brilliant discovery: I enjoy reading on the treadmill! I use a treadmill for exercise in bad weather or if for some other reason I don't want to outside. In the past I've always listened to music while walking to nowhere. A few weeks ago I tried reading, just as an experiment, and found that I love it. This new habit has made it possible to increase tim...

  In honour of National Read A Book Day, grab the book you are currently reading or the last book you read.  Open to page 56, and find the sixth sentence on the page.  Type the line in comments, plus the title and author of the book. I'll start: -- What? Roddy Doyle, Love  (2020) When we last played this game on wmtc in 2008, we had one of the longest threads ever on this blog... now wiped out. I continue to hope. Perhaps foolishly , but I can't live with the thought of thousands of comments being lost.

As I've mentioned many times, I keep a running List of books. The List dates back to the mid-1980s.  It's not a complete list of books I've read. I wish I kept track of every book I read, but because I didn't start this at the Beginning of Time, I can never start it.  The List is also not a to-read list. If it were, I would be too overwhelmed to read a single word.  The List is all the books I hear of or read about that sound interesting and attractive to me. The List is the universe of books that I turn to when looking for what to read next.  Books from the List comprise about half my reading -- meaning, I read many books that aren't on the List. This bothers me in ways I cannot begin to explain. I work hard to free myself from All Or Nothing thinking, but it pops up in all areas of my life.  [Strangely, for someone whose default setting is All Or Nothing, I don't care about reading series. I often read the first book in a series, and then, whether I liked it o...

In April, I wrote a post called " 11 things on my mind about the anti-police-violence and anti-racism protests ". For reasons unknown to me, it's one of the most widely-read posts I've written in a long time. So here's an updated list. 1. When governments respond to protests with violence and intimidation, and the protests only grow , a movement has reached another landmark of growth and development. This is happening right now, and it's exciting! 2. Protest by middle-class and middle-aged citizens is so heartening to see, and possibly another milestone. The so-called Wall of Moms , and the "dads" with leaf blowers and hockey sticks, are crucial pieces. Their courage will embolden so many others. No change will happen until and unless the middle-class is onboard, so get onboard! 3. Veteran resistance is so powerful. I wonder about resistance within the active military. From my work with the War Resisters Support Campaign in Canada, and from extensi...

1. Most violence is not being committed by protesters. What percentage of protesters are violent? Filter for police provocateurs, filter for white nationalists, filter for random thieves hiding under cover of mayhem. All of those exist at mass protests and have been proven to exist countless times. What percentage of actual protesters used violence? 0.5 percent? I have been to my share of protests, and I doubt it is even that. 0.05 percent? What percentage of media coverage is about violent protests? 2. Most violence is being committed by police. Police, wearing military-grade riot gear, are attacking peaceful protesters, even destroying their safety supplies . And while it's true that they were egged on by the cowardly redneck who lives in the White House, blaming him is misplaced. This problem is as old as America. 3. The media's unrelenting focus on whether or not protests are violent is almost exclusively reserved for protests by African Americans -- and in Canada, by Indi...

Here are some facts about US elections. There are mountains of evidence to support each of these. If you have doubts, do some homework. This is merely a summary of facts. 1. The Electoral College. Up to 50% of votes in any state are wiped out. Canada has first-past-the-post voting based on ridings (Parliamentary seats), but imagine if all of Ontario was one riding -- 51% and winner take all. 2. Partisan oversight. Elections are governed on the state level, and the person in charge of them represents a political party. There is no equivalent of Elections Canada. Imagine, for example, if Jason Kenney's party ran elections in Alberta, and oversaw vote-counting and potential recounts. 3. Voter suppression. This takes place on a dozen different fronts. In many states, registration is complex and very limited. There are onerous ID requirements. Voters can be and are disqualified based on any number of arcane laws. Voter list are "purged" -- hundreds of thousands of voters dro...

If you stream movies and TV series, you know that the proliferation of streaming channels has had mixed results for consumers. Many shows that were formerly on Netflix have been pulled by their media parents, and are now found on different streaming apps. At the same time, Netflix's monthly price has increased -- so you're paying more for less. Those who still want access to the shows no longer on Netflix need to subscribe to an additional streaming service; Disney (which has all the Marvel properties) and Britbox are two big culprits. Two other very popular streaming services, Crave (owned by Bell Media) and Prime (owned by Amazon), have exclusive rights to many enticing shows, including all the HBO and Showtime series. Recently Bell Media made an annoying cash-grab by offering a first season of a given show on Crave, then requiring an additional subscription to Movies+HBO or Starz to watch the rest. Many people have observed that if you want a few of these services, the pric...

1. Wealthy urbanites are fleeing to their second homes -- buying out grocery stores, expecting personal shoppers and home delivery, swelling vacation towns' size to summer proportions. This is the epitome of the egocentric, classist arrogance that often pervades the United States. 2. In India , a planned lockdown of more than a billion people is expected to leave millions dead of starvation. As people become desperate, there will inevitably be rioting, police shootings, and all forms of rampant violence. In this case the response seems far worse than the pandemic itself. 3. Many people seem to have forgotten that the majority of COVID-19 case are not fatal. I'm not minimizing the potential, but numbers of confirmed cases does not equal the same number of deaths. 4. Our experience of the pandemic often depends on our employment situation. For me right now, it's a vacation. Health care workers have so much added risk and all the stress that comes with it. Supermarket workers...

Allan and I have been greatly anticipating "Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story", the new film by Martin Scorsese released this week on Netflix. When "The Last Waltz" opened at Radio City Music Hall in 1978, I was a senior in high school. My friends and I skipped school and snuck into the city to see it. About 10 years later, Allan and I saw it together (he for the first time) and it became a touchstone of our relationship. These days, rearranging work schedules to watch a movie is no longer an option, but we waited until we were both available and could watch this film together. I loved it. The film is a joy from start to finish. I'm sure I will watch it again and again, and future viewing will reveal more to delight, enlighten, obscure, befuddle, and entertain. Here are some reasons why. 1. Dylan then. His stage persona is warm, forceful, and passionate. The songs he has chosen are socially engaged. His voice has never been better. He seems relaxed, happy...

There is not one traffic light in any town north of Campbell River. 1. Don't be in a rush. Everything takes time. Everyone has time. You have time, too. You might have to wait while people finish chatting. No matter. You have time. 2. Don't try to make plans. People stop by. They want you to stop by. Or you can wait for them to come 'round. They will. 3. Don't be too picky. Everything you need is here. It might not be exactly what you had in mind, but does the difference really matter? If it does, there's the internet, and you can wait. But generally you have a few choices. That's enough. 4. Don't say too much. People will ask. They are genuinely interested. Share a story. They will genuinely appreciate it. No need to go on at length. A short story will do. Don't say more than you want to, because whatever you say, everyone will know. 5. Don't talk about other people. Everyone knows each other. * * * * The small-town norm that is most divergent with ...

I agreed to stand for election because it was an opportunity -- an opportunity to bring a progressive perspective to a riding where those ideas are usually overlooked, and a personal opportunity to expand my own skills and experience. Overall, it was a positive experience -- because it was so short-term. If it had been gone on for six months or a year, I would have been miserable! Here's what I liked, what I hated, and what I just don't get. Positives 1. I met a lot of people! Community activists, progressive-minded neighbours, minority voices in our suburban city. Strangers reached out to support our campaign, to encourage me personally, and with ideas of how they could help. I loved making these connections. It was personally gratifying, and it also expanded my own network in the community. 2. It was a completely immersive experience. I was fortunate to be able to take a leave-of-absence from both library and union work, so I could campaign full-time. I felt exactly like I ...

Many of my co-workers keep colourful lists like this, or use Goodreads or Shelfari to track their reading. I prefer plain old text. Like most avid readers, my to-read list contains far more titles than I could ever read in a lifetime, even if I did nothing but read. Although I add books at a considerably faster rate than I tick them off, I do still keep The List, and I consult it when I'm looking for my next book. I do this with movies, too. I also read books  not  on my list, much more so now that I work in a library, and my reading tastes have broadened. But I don't keep a list of all the books I've read. This really bothers me. It has bothered me for a  very  long time. But at no time did I ever start keeping a list of All The Books I Read, because... I didn't start it a long time ago, so it will always be incomplete, so there's no point in starting it, ever. I know this is not rational, I know it's part of All Or Nothing thinking, which I work at avoiding, b...

I don't do New Year's Resolutions, but I do enjoy using the revolution of our Earth around the Sun as an excuse to take stock in where I am and think about where I'm going. This is not a Big Promise To Do Something; it's not even goal-setting. In my ongoing work to free myself from a strong tendency towards All Or Nothing , to not paint myself into a corner, to not create Rules which I then use to limit my experiences, I don't even set concrete goals. My thinking takes the form of general precepts that I'm trying to remember. When the weather is nice, spend more time outdoors. Walk more. Remember to make plans with friends sometimes. Do a jigsaw puzzle now and again. At work, take my full one-hour dinner break without doing union work. Remember that it's all right to make mistakes. Explore local history. Stop multi-tasking. Remember to blog instead of Facebook. Read more.

I've posted 11 anti-war songs , and I've done Labour Day readers' advisory , but I don't think I've ever done anti-war readers' advisory.*** Here are 11 great books with an anti-war themes. 1. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins 2. Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut 3. War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, Chris Hedges (nonfiction) 4. Regeneration, Pat Barker 5. Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo 6. Hiroshima, John Hersey (nonfiction) 7. Mother Courage and Her Children, Bertolt Brecht (drama) 8. A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway 9. Catch-22, Joseph Heller 10. The Deserter's Tale, Joshua Key with Lawrence Hill (nonfiction) 11. And finally, the greatest anti-war novel of all time, All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque There are many, many others: here are some lists . Honour the dead by working for peace. *** Turns out I had done this very thing, just two years back! The post was incorrectly tagged, so didn't come up in the search. Here...

In response to my help me find a new series to binge-watch post, I got tons of answers both here and on Facebook. I'm keeping the list for future reference. In the category of watching by myself during R&R downtime, I am starting with Hinterland, which has long been in my Netflix list. I've watched the first two episodes, and it's very much like Wallander, a good sign. After Hinterland, the to-try list: Peaky Blinders, Shetland, Fringe, Bloodline, Wentworth, River. Also will try The Defenders, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage. Intelligence sounds good, but two seasons and no conclusion is a dealbreaker.  Possibles: Lost, Criminal Minds, Friday Night Lights. I was pretty adamant about not watching FNL years back, but now I might give it a chance.  Will try both Man Seeking Woman and Letterkenny, but have to wait until either there's more episodes or the show ends.  In the category of Allan and I watching together over the winter, which generally means the best shows and...

I've been taking a break from social media, and I am feeling the positive effects. But I do miss people. But I feel better...but I miss people...but I feel better. And so on. This is your brain on fibromyalgia I struggle with low concentration and intermittent brain fog. I believe it's from fibromyalgia, but whatever the cause, it's a minor disability or a weakness for which I must compensate. I have devised various coping mechanisms, and for the most part, they are integrated into my life, as are all my many coping mechanisms for all the bullshit life throws at me. (Not complaining, merely stating.) I recently went through a rough patch where my mental state was particularly frustrating. I had a really hard time chairing a small meeting. (When I apologized, people told me they didn't notice anything different. But were they just being kind?) I had to write an email with a lot of names and dates -- numbers are the biggest challenge when I'm mentally impaired -- and ...

I've been scanning some old photos -- some of Allan and me through the years, others with my siblings at various ages -- and have been posting them on Facebook. This experience has led to two insights. The thoughts themselves aren't new, but this walk on memory lane has recalled and reinforced them. Insight number one: my self-image was extremely distorted throughout my life.  I thought I was fat and ugly. Yet there is evidence that that was not the case. I am now overweight, but that's a different story. This was a girl well within a normal, healthy weight and size range, thinking she was seriously overweight. It was no surprise that many of my female Facebook friends related to this. We came up with the following list of reasons. The reasons are not ranked in order of importance; it's a big mix, a preponderance of evidence, as the legal phrasing goes. 1. Media. We are constantly barraged with images of what is supposed to be beauty perfection; most are completely unre...

My book list is extremely long, so long that I don't call it a reading list or a to-read list, because I will never read even half the books on the List. It's more like books I would read. A list to narrow down the universe of books to a smaller universe of books to choose from. Working in a library has increased the likelihood that I won't read even a majority of these books -- or decreased the percentage that I will read. Where I used to stick faithfully to my List, I now read lots of books not on the List -- books colleagues or customers talk about, and more often, books on display. Being a librarian has broadened my reading, which I love. It has made the List less a goal and more a general guide. This is fine. Recently I noticed that certain authors appear on the List more than once, but remain unread. These are sometimes nonfiction titles that become hard to find. I'm clearly interested in the author's topics, but by the time I am ready to read the title, it...

Like all good people, I am horrified by recent developments in the US, and like everyone who has been paying attention, not surprised. I take hope from the immediate and powerful resistance that has been set in motion. But also at the resistance, I am angry, too. What took you so long? Let's hope it's not too late. Here are a few things you can do to fight back. 1. Donate to the American Civil Liberties Union. For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has been fighting for the civil rights of people marginalized or targeted by the dominant culture. These are the people best equipped to fight back -- the best and the brightest of the resistance. Even a small one-time or monthly donation can make a difference. 2. Canadians, sign a petition calling on Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen, demanding that they repeal the so-called Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States, which would allow Canada to welcome people fleeing viole...