Transitioning Out of the Pandemic I: Attending Mass
My first Mass as a double-vaccinated person was unexpected, I was struck by the silence of the nave as physical distancing and the muffling of masks created an unexpected acoustic experience.
Jon Stewart, 9/11, Trust, and COVID
Why Jon Stewart's rant about the lab leak theory is likely a watershed moment.
I Welcome The Reopening, Even If I Must Wait Until Mid-August
The COVID reopening is good news. Starting this coming Friday July 16, nearly all indoor activities resume. For me, it will create challenges as my vaccination cycle will not complete until the middle of August. I live in Hamilton's L8R postal code and am in 30s age bracket. I received my first dose appointment, on July 1st. [The pharmacist wasThe Almost-Normal Days of The Second July of COVID
Who knew it is the second Friday? I thought to myself, looking at the pop-up sellers on James Street North during my Friday walk. Life is quickly returning to some semblance of pre-COVID patterns. There are only a handful of pop-ups this Friday night, a few selling knick-knacks, with some original art in the mix. The flea market vendors are
An Rare Typical Day
Without realizing it until now, today was my first day of normality in nearly two years.
Council Speeches are Important: Blathering is Not
The problem of Council blathering cannot be solved by telling them to blather elsewhere. In fact, speeches at Council are more valuable than ever.On COVID Fatigue
The COVID third wave is the most demoralizing of the pandemic for me. In the first wave, during the early days when it was a crisis, I was too busy responding on campus, moving others out, and then moving myself out. It was the most exhausting, I managed to hold myself together from that exhaustion, but at times barely. TheMedia Criticism, "Celebrity" Candidates, and Covering the Issues
Much as the establishment candidates are not speaking to issues of voters, the establishment media (and it does not get more establishment than the NYT) needs to be mindful to choose issues which matter to voters to illustrate candidates qualifications, or lack thereof.
Aren't You a Bit Old to Be in This Class?
I continue to work on some posts for the coming weeks to encourage journalists to apply to be a Fellow-at-Large of the University of Toronto and Southam Fellow at Massey College. The tags for these posts is: Southam Fellowship "Aren't you a bit old to be in this class?", asks the student sitting beside me. I laugh out loud becauseKreigsfilme and Community at Massey College
I continue to work on some posts for the coming weeks to encourage journalists to apply to be a Fellow-at-Large of the University of Toronto and Southam Fellow at Massey College. This adds to the community aspects of the role. I write this on Wednesday night, as I watch A Midnight Clear on my tablet and enjoy chat discussion onWhen I Thought Libraries Shouldn't Have Video Games
Time: Summer 2007 Place: A restaurant Setting: Editorial planning meeting Twice a year, we gather to brainstorm the feature style articles for upcoming university issues and the website. One of my story ideas was to highlight that McMaster University's Library now had videos games for checkout and a gaming lounge for students. At a time when academic libraries were cash-strapped,