centre of the tumblrd universe

Not really a new dawn. Only kind of. There’s a cat sleeping on my lap so I can’t go anywhere. By, like, law. Lazlo asleep on my lap It used to be stories about alien intelligence “taking over” humanity was an horrific idea. Now I’m not so sure. I’m really not sure anymore if humanity would be made worse or better by a hive mind. And boy howdy do humans suck.

How many of the “do your research” blowhards figure they’re clever because a mobile device game told them their IQ is over 140 because they can free Santa from a rock slide by matching gems? This is somehow so much worse than “my mom thinks I’m cool”.

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay This article from The Verge talks about how disastrous it would be if developers are forced to ask content creators’ permission to use their Intellectual Property – eg. their WORK – to train generative algorithms. https://www.theverge.com/news/674366/nick-clegg-uk-ai-artists-policy-letter If paying for the right to use legally protected content is a step too…

Here is a list of the times I’ve been mortified; these live rent-free in my head and sometimes I wake up thinking about them: The time in grade five when we were playing chicken and Charmaine slid off my back, taking my sweat pants with her. (Also the last time I willingly wore sweat pants.) The time in grade seven when the singer guy who came to our school singled me out for a croon-n-walk…

Gotta love administrators suddenly finding themselves in several thousand dollars’ worth of a money jam and choosing to get rid of arts teachers to reduce the deficit. If there’s truly a deficit of $600,000 The Regina Public School Division’s Strategic Plan lists the following strategic priorities:  engaged and successful students Equitable & safe environments Healthy & Skilled…

There is an intercession in Anglo-Catholic services that ends with “…and anyone else for whom our prayers are desired”. I’ve always liked this bit because it drives home what my understanding of prayer should be: a personal conversation between you and whatever you need to be talking to in that moment, with the support of others. It’s a time when it feels like there’s truly a community behind you…

Our little town’s arts council has been extremely fortunate to have drawn the interest of some brilliant young folk. They wanted to do drama. Dinner theatre, they said. We were excited, they were excited… The play they chose to put on is Kevin Kerr’s Unity 1918, about a small town (in this case, Unity, Saskatchewan) in the days and weeks leading up to the end of the First World War. I thought it…

Photo by Tara Winstead: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-coins-on-a-yellow-paper-7111600/ Let me tell you a harrowing story. It’s not a story for the faint of heart. You may want to sit next to a loved one, turn on all the lights, wrap up in a fuzzy blanket. When our eldest turned 18 and was therefore required to file taxes, we signed him up with a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)…

I dreamed of dancing. Here’s the thing of it: although the makeshift stage were small and we had to move through nervous event-goers and stacked crates, the music was good. Despite there being only two other folks up there, when certain songs come one, you have to move. It’s got to be some kind of universal rule (looking at you, Boney M). I don’t now remember whether this was some kind of…

Local businesses: “we can’t find employees!” Chamber of Commerce: “how ’bout child labour?” L.Bs: “Do we have to pay, like, benefits and shit?” CoC: “Not if you only give them like 10 hours a week!” L.Bs: “We can hire SIX part time kids who don’t even NEED benefits!?” CoC: “It’s foolproof!” The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce (and/or one of its affiliates) is recommending the provincial…

This morning on my way to work, I was part of a traffic stop/diversion by city police doing a sweep for lapsed licenses/registrations. It went smoothly and I was in and out in about five minutes. The officers who were checking my deets noted my phone mounted to my windscreen/dash (the phone was turned off; I only use it for listening to books/music and sometimes navigation, and I don’t need to…

The house was old; the house was big – bigger in fact than it had ever been. Not much happened upstairs, in the attic, because the attic was full of dust and discarded building supplies, crumbling plaster and lath, and so many spiders. It wasn’t that the upstairs had never been used, but rather it hadn’t been used in decades. From time to time you’d pop your head up there to make sure the noises…

This is what it is to have children: When The Captain was just only three, we took him to see Monsters, Inc.. His da was concerned it would be Too Scary for him, but I was confident it’d be okay. A little bit scary is good for you, I always say. The Captain was always a ridiculously happy kid. I think the first tantrum he ever threw was when he was eight. We never had the “terrible twos” (we…

This is a Very Long Post. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about identity. About how it may change as we age, as we emerge into our society, as we redefine ourselves, as we learn more about who we are or about who we were meant to be. This will be a very self-indulgent post, because it’s entirely about me. In this post I’m going to talk about my own sexual identity; if this isn’t your jam, that’s…

Here’s the thing: I don’t remember how it came about but we were at a football game and in one end zone there was a stage. Supposedly for the half time show, because it would be irresponsible to just leave a whole stage in the end zone during play. //Irresponsible//. It was a lovely summer day, with the sun shining and just enough of a breeze to keep the wasps at bay under the shade…

It’s no secret (and possibly no surprise) that the public education system in Saskatchewan (and other parts of the country) is under attack. While governments have been claiming to increase funding to the sector, the truth is that education (and I’m mostly talking about primary and secondary education, because post-secondary is a whole different kettle of worms) has been underfunded for at least…

When my mom died, we asked people to bring rocks (she liked this Jewish tradition of remembrance) to put in a basket in her memory. Some folk painted rocks, some folks brought little ceramic knickknacks and gewgaws, others brought rocks from their gardens or farms, or maybe just from out in the parking lot. I don’t really like boneyards and columbariums; these places are soulless and strangely…