You are all members of the Society, a group of monster hunters headquartered in the Stronghold, a secret underground bunker in Kansas. When one of you is found dead, everyone must work together to find the killer.
Read Trev’s Books (not all of them) at Issuu
Once I shared this with my mother (and the art world), it was safe to share with the world! You can find my latest zine - Trev's Books: Unpacking My Grandfather's Library at Issuu.) Without repeating the zine itself verbatim, this zine is an extremely personal one for me. When my grandfather passed away in … Continue reading Read Trev’s Books (not all of them) at Issuu
Inspire Courage Crafts
Even in my leisure activities tilt towards geekery. Not content to just crochet granny squares, I started a collection of dice bags for all your favourite polyhedral friends. Not to be outdone, each bag has a character. Follow me over to Inspire Courage Crafts if you're interest is sufficiently piqued.
Museum of the Western World & Trev’s Books with BIBLIOCACHE
As a certain big-eyed ingenue once said, life moves pretty fast sometimes. We've barely got Museum of the Western World printed and it's already out in the world! So is Trev's Books! (I've also sent them my old classic What I Did on a Saturday Afternoon!) I was invited by Aaron Moran to contribute new … Continue reading Museum of the Western World & Trev’s Books with BIBLIOCACHE
Read Museum of the Western World at Issuu!
Not only have Amy and I put the finishing touches on Museum of the Western World, but the final beast can be perused and pillaged over at issuu! Museum of the Western World Behold our works, Ye Mighty!
Museum of the Western World
This summer, Husband and took a jaunty road trip over to Vancouver Island and reveled in the warm vibe of hippies with rose-coloured colonial glasses. Victoria, especially, with its parliament buildings, horse-drawn carriages, and organic foods evokes a weird blend of the sunny side of several bygone eras. Twice a graduate of UVIC, to Husband, … Continue reading Museum of the Western World
Rifling through your Wordhoard
Are write-ins and feedback sessions valuable? Or does routinely sharing first drafts lead to writer's block?
Reworking a Draft
How many drafts is too many? When do you know to let a piece of writing go?
A Thought Experiment for Time Travellers
Indulge me this: you're a time traveller. It's an ordinary day. The fate of the world is not in jeopardy. No damsels to save. No timelines to correct. To angst to stew over. Everything is perfectly fine. You can enjoy yourself. So you go to a bar. And who do you see in that bar, but yourself. You … Continue reading A Thought Experiment for Time Travellers
Finding a Path through the RPG jungle.
I've finally done it. I've taken the RPG plunge. In a way, it feels as if this has always been inevitable. I've been curious about playing D&D for a long time now; it's been like this glowing ball of light off in the distance that I've only been able to catch glimpses of here and … Continue reading Finding a Path through the RPG jungle.
A Happy New Year with Every Day Fiction!
In which I cap off a dark year by publishing a dark piece.
Breaking Down the Writer’s Block
Hit a creative block? Switch up your writing habits to get yourself over the hump.
Blake Snyder’s Beat Sheet for Novels
Can't quite pin-point the problems with your first draft? Struggling with an outline? The Beat Sheet is here to help.
On Keeping a Log-Line Book
Pitching a story in a single phrase not only gets you to the heart of a complicated mess, but can help brainstorm future projects.
Triangulating the Text
Understanding what it is you like as reader will help you figure out what to do as a writer.
The Importance of Just Getting it Done
First drafts don't have to be perfect, they just have to be complete.
Reviews are in for Redwing!
Black Gate's review of 'Redwing: Speculative Fiction Takes Flight,' the anthology featuring "Ticker Tape Kings."
Madrid, Before a Recession
In which I can't believe I published a poem.
Vancouver Notables: Ashleigh Rajala
In which Sad Mag kindly label me as "notable."
Interview with Polygon for ‘Archie out of Context’
In which I confess I have something of a "side hustle."
Not a DIY Expert
Consider this an appendices to the milestone 2. Our kitchen was boring. At least after we stripped the children's wallpaper and metallic faux-tile adhesive back-splash. I mean, that was a tad more exciting, but still... the interior design equivalent of a six-year-old's sticker collection. For the better part of the last year, we've been starting … Continue reading Not a DIY Expert
Home Ownership
This is part two of my re-capping of the last year or so. 2016 was all-around a year of horrors. It is known. Somewhere in the middle of it, Husband and I found out that the apartment we were renting in New Westminster was being sold. This was the second time that had happened to … Continue reading Home Ownership
Blood of my Blood
Since I've been out for a while, I thought I'd recap a few things that have happened in this last year or so of radio silence. This is the biggest one.* I have another nephew! He is my third nephew, the second one named Benjamin, and the first borne by my only sister. He is … Continue reading Blood of my Blood
Waking from my Writing Coma
So I've just finished a draft (final?) of something and the feeling is always like finally arriving at your hotel after an incredibly long, grueling, farcical series of misadventures. It's over. It's done. You're not dreaming. There's a tired, weighted sigh of relief... the feeling that holy-sh*t-I-really-need-a-drink... But what to do now?! (Besides opening the mini-bar, … Continue reading Waking from my Writing Coma
My Three Dads
There is a line in a movie that I am not ashamed to admit I have seen way too many times* which goes:
"Typical isn't it? You wait twenty years for a dad and then three come along at once."
I feel a little like this right now. I've had several months of plugging away at a project with all the diligence of an AP English student (which is to say, very little diligence, but we fake it well), and now everything has kind of exploded in my face.
Accepting my Slytherinness
I didn't join Pottermore for the longest time. My relationship with Harry Potter was intense, but troubled. It oscillated between shameless joy and celebration to cheek-biting scrutiny and critique. In one past life, I'd enthusiastically dressed up in costume and painted signs, windows, and children's faces for the midnight releases at the bookstore. In another, … Continue reading Accepting my Slytherinness
Pixar’s Rules of Storytelling
Each writer has a different approach to rules. For some, they're made to be broken, others they are mere guidelines, and even others, they are cliches to be avoided like the plague (guess which one I'm not). Anyway, advice in general is like excerpts from the bible: people cherrypick what works for them and ignore the rest. … Continue reading Pixar’s Rules of Storytelling
Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: VIII. Broken Down Somewhere in Belgium
This is part of a series I have been working on. The Introduction is here. I can't remember how it was I found out that the bus had broken down. What I definitely remember is that it was extremely cold. The bus breaking down did come several hours into a long bus trip from London. From there, … Continue reading Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: VIII. Broken Down Somewhere in Belgium
The Hiatus and Moving On
It seems like every time I return to regular posting after something of a hiatus, I have nothing but complaints about what kept me in hiatus. And I feel like I've come out of one of the most stressful times of my life. There are two kinds of stress I experience: time-related stress, where a million … Continue reading The Hiatus and Moving On
The Granny Square Approach
Momentum, like Mr. Darcy's good opinion, once lost is lost forever. Or so it seems. Something like a particularly nasty cold that lasts a week (especially when it is followed by Husband spending the whole next week sick with said cold) can wreak havoc on my momentum. Like coming back from vacation, or from an illness, or from … Continue reading The Granny Square Approach
State of the Union
Since about 2010, I've been keeping writing notes in Blueline notebooks. I go through two or three a year. I've just started my fifteenth. It's remarkably arbitrary when I finish a notebook; I simply run out of pages. From there, I have to plan a trip to Staples, select a notebook. Sometimes they're all out … Continue reading State of the Union
Nothing in Moderation
Perhaps you have noticed (or not noticed, I haven't the wherewithal to keep tabs on these things, alas), but I've posted the full-text of "Working Title," my short fiction piece that recently won the Quarter Castle Short Fiction context. I think I've gone on about this before, but this is a piece I'd been sitting … Continue reading Nothing in Moderation
“Every day takes figuring out all over again how to f***ing live.”
The above quote comes from the marvellous Deadwood, out of the mouth of the marvellous Calamity Jane. And I'm really feeling it right now. It's been a while since I've posted much of anything. Life is like that. Peaks and valleys. Hills and troughs. I feel like this is a lesson I've figured out before. … Continue reading “Every day takes figuring out all over again how to f***ing live.”
Interview with Quarter Castle Publishing
Another shameless plug. This time an interview with Quarter Castle Publishing. Behold, my majesty!
I have to admit that I love talking about my writing process.
It forces a level of self-reflexivity that I think is healthy, as well as provides a valuable time to reflect on the effectiveness of my process.
Also, I am vain.
(Also also… that picture of me had a plate of pierogis artfully cropped out.)
Ashleigh Rajala of New Westminster, British Columbia, is the author of Working Title, the winning submission in Quarter Castle Publishing’s first short story writing contest.
Recently Quarter Castle Publishing interviewed Ashleigh.
QCP: When did you decide to become a writer?
Ashleigh: I remember a moment as a book-obsessed child where I realized that someone created those books and that I too could do that. The first story I wrote was about a dinosaur, and my mum sewed a cover onto it and everything. Sadly, this opus has been lost to history. So I never really decided, it was just something I have always done.
QCP: Do you write every day? If not, how many days do you dedicate to writing?
Ashleigh: I write every day. Sometimes life gets in the way, but that’s okay. But I try to never let myself stop if I’m feeling blocked or less than…
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Quarter Castle Chronicles… chronicled
I am extremely thrilled and humbled to share that Quarter Castle Chronicles, Volume One, is now available in print and e-book! Quarter Castle Chronicles ~ Volume One showcases 13 short stories by 12 Canadian authors. They take place in settings across the country, both in the present and the past. From the rugged coast of … Continue reading Quarter Castle Chronicles… chronicled
Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: II. Madrid, the Arrival
This is part of a series I have been working on. The Introduction is here. the arrival I was supposed to take the train from Paris to Madrid. It was one of those things that I had planned out well in advance like the responsible adult I had thought I was. I bought my Eurail … Continue reading Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: II. Madrid, the Arrival
Consider the Working Title Worked
I'm happy to share that one of my works has been included in the latest issue of WomenArts Quarterly Journal. Based out of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, WomenArts Quarterly Journal (WAG) is: an initiative of Women in the Arts, aspires to nurture, provide support, and challenge women of all cultures, ethnicities, backgrounds, and abilities … Continue reading Consider the Working Title Worked
Obligatory July Post
I know I haven't posted anything in a while. I have no real excuse other than I have been writing, just not any blog posts. The body of one book is barely cold and I've already started on another. This one is a comedy, which is a nice change. It certainly makes life lighter. I am … Continue reading Obligatory July Post
On the End of Mad Men
(aka: What the hell am I gonna do with my life now? Overanalyze Game of Thrones? Yeah, right. Okay, whatever.) So that took a few days to digest. I’ve been drinking heavily ever since. I’m glad Monday was a holiday here in Canada. Naturally, I’ve been pouring over reviews of the finale, unable to really … Continue reading On the End of Mad Men
Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: I. Paris, Versailles
This is part of a series I have been working on. The Introduction is here. Versailles A few days into Paris—before the Australians, the honeymooners, the college kids, and the life-traveller; after the three asshole partiers, Matthieu from Montreal, and the nameless guy from Newport Beach—I decided to check out the Palace of Versailles. It was … Continue reading Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: I. Paris, Versailles
Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: IV. Casablanca
This is part of a series I have been working on. The Introduction is here. I was exhausted and burnt out. For short trips, you rally. But backpacking is a marathon. I dyed my hair from blonde to brown before I left Vancouver because I knew I was going to Morocco, and I’d heard warnings—mostly … Continue reading Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: IV. Casablanca
Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: I. Paris, the Five Types of Travellers
This is part of a series I have been working on. The Introduction is here. the five types of travellers My first week in Paris was a crash course in backpacking. The first day, wandering from my hostel along Rue Moufftard down to Place St. Michel, took me onto the Ile de la Cite, towards … Continue reading Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: I. Paris, the Five Types of Travellers
The Commencement of Commencement Advice Commences
There's nothing more useless than unsolicited advice. I was going to preface that with When you're young, but it's really applicable to all ages. Unsolicited advice simply comes at a much greater frequency when you're young. As I age (like a slowly ripening then rotting apple; that is the metaphor I've chosen to age by), I understand this … Continue reading The Commencement of Commencement Advice Commences
Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: Introduction
This is the introduction of what I hope will become a series / retrospective project / diary-after-the-fact / examination of memory-and-place-and-all-that-jazz. All the links to other posts about specific adventures and places are/will be below. Whenever you get back from a long bout of travelling, the world always feels different (at least for a little while, … Continue reading Travel and the Art of Mental Maintenance: Introduction
Why do I binge watch seven seasons of a tv show, but can’t force myself to watch a two-hour movie?
This post started as a note in my journal: one of those things that starts crawling out from your head while you're in the shower, like a worm on the sidewalk in the rain. I meant to write it before the Oscars, because that makes it seem topical rather than tangential. But alas. Every year, Husband … Continue reading Why do I binge watch seven seasons of a tv show, but can’t force myself to watch a two-hour movie?
Unmasked with Crab Fat!
A short story of mine - a slightly awkward New Journalism-inspired piece - is up online at Crab Fat Literary Magazine. Unmasked! is an expose of the long-since retired superhero as he at long last reveals his true identity to the world. I'm quite pleased with this piece, but I've been sitting on it for … Continue reading Unmasked with Crab Fat!
The Winter Months
Sometimes I feel like an asshole for complaining about the winter when I live in Vancouver. I see photos posted by friends who live elsewhere in Canada and they deal with Real Winter. Real Winter, to me, is snow and toques and leaving for work half-an-hour early to navigate the ice. Real Winter only really lasts a day … Continue reading The Winter Months
The Review is in!
The first review came in for Redwing: Speculative Fiction Takes Flight. It is a glowing review from fantasy magazine Black Gate that also includes an enlightening discussion about the increasing visibility of small presses and what that means for niche readers and writers. “Ticker Tape Kings” by Ashleigh Rajala is next, a time travel story … Continue reading The Review is in!
The Rubbermaid Tub of Broken Dreams
In a fit of nostalgia-fueled panic, I dug with gusto into this blue tub I keep in the closet that houses all the old poetry and scripts and stories I wrote in my teenage years. This is not a metaphor. I hope. That blue tub contains horrors and treasures in equal measure. Like some kind … Continue reading The Rubbermaid Tub of Broken Dreams
Presenting Redwing
Ah ha! The much awaited publication of Redwing is here! Redwing: Speculative Fiction Takes Flight is available as an e-book for Kindle and Kobo. With ten stories for $2.99, that's mere pennies per mind-blowing experience! Somewhere within that epic of majesty is my piece, Ticker Tape Kings... a strange meditation on time travel and the realities of the … Continue reading Presenting Redwing
Lost in the Supermarket
a musical education in the early internet era I first began listening to The Clash in high school. The internet was far past its infancy, but one could say it was an awkward teenager. It was the days before Youtube and Wikipedia and no one else I knew listened to old punk. If you even said "old punk," … Continue reading Lost in the Supermarket
Negatively Fourth Street is No More
Last weekend we handed over the keys. This followed a night of sweeping and polishing a floor that - no matter how much we SWIFFERED HARDER, DAMN IT - still could not be freed of all cat fluff. Those stray hairs and random popcorn kernels are a part of our tenancy that the apartment clung to, … Continue reading Negatively Fourth Street is No More
The Cultural Exchange
My husband knows he married a Harry Potter enthusiast. And he, himself, long ago admitted that he once-upon-a-time had been something of a Star Trek fan. "When I was a kid," he said with emphasis, as if awaiting judgment. But what judgment was I to pass? I was well into my twenties when I spent an entire semester solely on Harry Potter and … Continue reading The Cultural Exchange
The Indolent Muse
It always seems the way. After months - nay, years! - of complaining that I just don't have enough time to write, that I have to struggle to make time, that I have to make hard choices like not going to that social gathering and not keeping the house clean and not, you know, having children, I find … Continue reading The Indolent Muse
Black Paintings in a White Wing
Sometime in the late summer of 2008 - right before the crash - I was in Madrid. Madrid is home to one of my bucket list items (if I actually had a bucket list): Picasso's Guernica. Housed in the Museo Reina Sofia, Guernica is an absolutely astonishing sight to behold. The impact of such a piece … Continue reading Black Paintings in a White Wing
Half of All T-Rexes were Girls
My aunt was twenty years old when I - the first in the family of my generation - was born. She was mid-liberal arts degree and wore it on her sleeve. The blue onesie she bought me for my first Christmas quickly became a family joke. But I always resented the idea that a baby … Continue reading Half of All T-Rexes were Girls
A Proustian Spit in the Face
In an attempt to block out the chatter of the workplace, I popped in my earbuds and opened Youtube. Something made me play London Calling, the full album. After cringing at the oil pipeline ad that preceded it*, it was proven yet again that I can't get through a bout of Spanish Bombs without remembering this one … Continue reading A Proustian Spit in the Face
I was bound to waste a whole post on a cat sooner or later
As we promised ourselves upon our return from England, Husband and I got a cat. The more appropriate term might be inherited - nay - took in... as if she was the ragamuffin who charmed her way into our hearts in an 88-minute running time. It's actually nothing of the sort. She is the cat … Continue reading I was bound to waste a whole post on a cat sooner or later
When I was Thirteen a Thesaurus Lied to Me
Contrary to the alleged wisdom of Roget's Super Thesaurus 1995 edition (what deemed it "super" the tome never explained): "poetry" and "prose" are NOT synonyms. Thirteen-year-old me did not realize this. I trusted the almighty power of the printed word. Old notebooks now hold embarrassing hand-lettered titlepages. Of course, by "hand-lettered," I mean letters cut from … Continue reading When I was Thirteen a Thesaurus Lied to Me
Hark! A Prophecy!
In the hallowed halls of Main Street, in the aptly named Cottage Bistro, there shall be a gathering, and this gathering shall be called "The Launch! with PRISM, Event, poetry is dead, and Room Magazine." The date of this party shall be the seventeenth of April (a Thursday, methinks), in the year of 2014. And … Continue reading Hark! A Prophecy!
A ROOM of My Own… Bad Puns
I have a short story in the latest issue of Room, Canada's oldest literary journal by and about women! This print journal is available at bookstores around Canada (if you're lucky enough to a.) live in Canada, and b.) frequent bookstores, and c.) be capable of reading things undeliverable via an electronic device). The piece … Continue reading A ROOM of My Own… Bad Puns
Random Train of Thought Departing from The Grand Budapest Hotel
When The Grand Budapest Hotel opened last weekend, Husband and I missed it. It was only playing in one theatre and it sold out. (Get your shit together, Vancouver.) One week on, even with a wider release, we barely squeezed into the theatre. Casting glances around to our fellow movie-goers, I realized that the stereotype … Continue reading Random Train of Thought Departing from The Grand Budapest Hotel
Resolutions and Pattern Recognition
I've never much been one for resolutions but sometimes circumstances arise, flailing their fists, demanding action be taken. It's never anything so banal as the ticking of the clock from one year to the next that does it; no, for me, it's something drastic. Often, these resolutions end badly. Why? Because I suffer from the horrible conflation … Continue reading Resolutions and Pattern Recognition
Chiselling Away at Genre Expectations
Over at The Steel Chisel, you can find a short story of mine, "Scenes from a Road Movie." This is a piece I'd been sculpting away at for a while, so it seems only appropriate that it be published somewhere with "chisel" in the name. The Road Movie is one of my favourite film genres. I … Continue reading Chiselling Away at Genre Expectations
Your Daily Hate
After emerging from post-holiday hibernation, during which I did little else besides crocheting whilst binge-watching Netflix and eating bon-bons, I returned to the internet, that great information highway (or by-pass). For most of my news, I read the Guardian,* supplemented (cautiously) by the Globe and Mail for Canadian content, the New York Times for essays, … Continue reading Your Daily Hate
The Anniversary of a Our First Not-a-Date
The first date Husband and I went on was not actually a date but rather more like a premise for a terrible Christmas movie. It was two years ago. We were roommates at the time and still referred to one another, "My roommate, Gregg--" or "Me and Boy Roommate--." We never quite reached the "My friend, Ashleigh--" … Continue reading The Anniversary of a Our First Not-a-Date
Fiction and Festivities with Sassafras Literary Magazine
The pleasure is mine to announce - imaginary megaphone in hand - that I have a piece published in the most recent issue of Sassafras Literary Magazine. In their sixth issue, Sassafras, have gathered an excellent collection of other short works of art, poetry, fiction and non-fiction that I am proud to be in the company … Continue reading Fiction and Festivities with Sassafras Literary Magazine
That’s so Cliché
After a discussion we had this morning, Husband posted the following quote to Tumblr: My friend Martin Amis wrote a book called the War on Cliché, saying that all of us who write and think and speak try to remind ourselves that there’s nothing worse than borrowed phrases, and that using someone else’s words is … Continue reading That’s so Cliché
So We’ve Yet to Find a Decent World Map with South Sudan
For my sixth birthday, my grandparents bought me globe. It sat on the desk, tilted at that attractive, precarious angle. I loved that the mountain ranges were palpable beneath my fingertips. Their intention with this gift was to aid my transition into the realm of proper education. I had just begun the first grade. This … Continue reading So We’ve Yet to Find a Decent World Map with South Sudan
Gender and Hockey in the Gymnasium
As a child, I had a problematic relationship with gender. By problematic, I mean No Relationship At All. Perhaps different familial circumstances would have produced different results, but alas: I was the first child of my generation. With only a younger sister and no males to be placed in opposition to, I was raised by … Continue reading Gender and Hockey in the Gymnasium
Plug Away, You Shameless Plug
I'm not even going to try for the humblebrag. I straight-up won the Sad Magazine Fantasy Fiction Contest. *cheers* I've known about this for a month, where I received the news first thing in the morning whilst unshowered and annoyed in a terrible London hostel. It made my day then and it still makes my … Continue reading Plug Away, You Shameless Plug
Which Drunken Story to Tell…?
The good people at The Round Up Writer's Zine have published a piece of mine of great intellectual snobbery... ... namely the story of time I got really drunk on Sambuca while camping. This was for The Moonshine Edition, which was seeking embarrassing drunken stories. With the piece entitled "Always the Sambuca," I have to admit that … Continue reading Which Drunken Story to Tell…?
Positively – Well, Almost Certainly – 4th Street
This past weekend, Husband and I rented an apartment on 4th Street in New Westminster. This three-storey walk-up was built oh-so optimistically one year before the crash (1928). With views of apartment blocks, a cobbled road and a slice of an industry-laded river, it makes us feel like we're living in an F. Scott Fitzgerald … Continue reading Positively – Well, Almost Certainly – 4th Street
An Eventful Week (or, “a week full of events”)
Last Thursday we returned on the train from York to Doncaster, enjoying one last chance to experience the UK with the carefree attitude of souvenir-shopping tourists. No longer was there a life to plan. Friday we enjoyed one last dinner with my aunt and uncle, our gracious hosts during this two month stint of ego, … Continue reading An Eventful Week (or, “a week full of events”)
On the Embarrassing Act of Coming Home
Today we fly back to Vancouver. The great experiment - one might say - has failed. I know that over the next week, the explanation will boil itself down to an easy deflection: one or two lines doing their best to contain both logic and pride. It took us several days and a good dose … Continue reading On the Embarrassing Act of Coming Home
To Read or Not to Read: Morrissey’s Autobiography
One of the things I am going to miss about Britain (more on that later) is the fact that Morrissey releasing an autobiography warrants not just mentions on the news but also hardcore, "man-on-the-street" journalism. Truly, the public needed to know what the average Mancunian thought of Morrissey. We needed to know, I tell you! … Continue reading To Read or Not to Read: Morrissey’s Autobiography
British Bureaucracy for the Impatient
It's been a week on and we've yet to hear anything from the estate agent. It's been more than a month since the first job applications began and we've yet to hear anything from potential employers. Is our luck running low(er)? Or are we victims of the infamous British bureaucracy? It's something we noticed rather … Continue reading British Bureaucracy for the Impatient
Plot Twist: We Flee from London
As my first day of being thirty years old passes, we find ourselves having forsaken London. We went out flat hunting, paperwork in hand like rifles, the tube like horses and hounds. After several false starts, I had to admit to myself that London just wasn't worth it. Paying a thousand pounds for a small … Continue reading Plot Twist: We Flee from London
All Hail the New Backpacking Generation
Another difference between backpacking now and backpacking five years ago: the millenials have become the dominant backpacker demographic. Five years ago, I was one of the only people with a laptop—and this was pre-smartphone, pre-iPad. I only had my laptop because I held illusions of sitting in French cafes typing out a masterpiece. But most … Continue reading All Hail the New Backpacking Generation
Stephen Fry – a Fortuitous Symbol?
It seems quite ironic (or perhaps not ironic at all) that after discovering at long last the unencumbered joy of QI and the limitless glee of Stephen Fry's memoirs that we should spot him strolling along Piccadilly as we sip our organic coffee. I do not believe in signs or fate or anything of the … Continue reading Stephen Fry – a Fortuitous Symbol?
A Diary of the Latest Wave of British Immigration
Glib Tannenbaum Husband has at last begun his long-promised blog. Now he too can enjoy/despair at the travails of the writing life!
Doncaster Minster Wandering
Wandering through Doncaster today, we noticed that the Minster was open to the public. As we stepped inside, a kindly woman handed us some xeroxed pamphlets and launched into a practiced spiel on the history of the church. All was quite interesting; we nodded politely, punctuating her words with Oh really?s whenever felt appropriate. The … Continue reading Doncaster Minster Wandering
Land of the the Bone-Grinders
Still we linger in Doncaster. Things, however, have taken an interesting turn. In his ongoing efforts to delve deeper into the eccentricities of British history, Husband stumbled across an interesting fact about the town in which we are currently staying. In 1822, it was reported in the London Observer that "more than a million bushels … Continue reading Land of the the Bone-Grinders
Emperor Constantine the Great: the Inventor of Draping
Also, he was crowned emperor in (the original) York, on the same spot where York Minster (actually a cathedral) now stands. The more you know.
The Anglo Job Search Begins
It hardly seems right that we've been in England almost ten days. It's been something of a fog, like we're stuck on a transatlantic cruise liner with nothing to eat but chips and tea and nothing to do all day but watch the BBC and apply for jobs. I am at the point where I … Continue reading The Anglo Job Search Begins
The Last Scene of The Graduate
This is dizzying, this running away to England. The excitement! The anxiety! The rollercoaster of emotion! As Husband said, it probably won't feel like we actually live there until months from now when suddenly one moment we realize somewhere along the way we adopted a new routine. Our alarm clock will have a regular setting, … Continue reading The Last Scene of The Graduate
The Turning Point
By virtue of waking up early to get everything out of our apartment, I am at work a whole fifty minutes early. The near-silence is astounding. I say "near" because a diligent few chatter on phones in the distance and the barista at the coffee stand is organizing her till. But the usual din of … Continue reading The Turning Point
Mad Men is the Story of an Addict
Perhaps it is rather ironic that the AMC website uses cocktail recipes to market Mad Men, because, when viewed correctly, Mad Men is about the devastating effects of a life lived for alcohol. But it’s subtle, as addiction often is at first. I never noticed it as much on the first viewing. The sheer normalisation … Continue reading Mad Men is the Story of an Addict
Ashleigh’s Taco Salad Recipe – by Request
This was originally requested by Amanda alone, but then I thought, "it is not my place to hold back genius from the larger world." So here it is: on the internet. ASHLEIGH’S TACO SALAD* Makes 1 big, potluck-ready bowl. You can adjust these amounts as you see fit. I pretty much eyeball it every time. … Continue reading Ashleigh’s Taco Salad Recipe – by Request
A Not-So-Polite Rant About The Great Gatsby
As I remember fondly from working at a bookstore, every time a movie adaptation of a book comes out (especially one starring a quote - heartthrob - endquote) it creates a certain rush of readers: people who only pick up books with movie posters for a cover. No judgment. Really. Whatever gets you reading. I … Continue reading A Not-So-Polite Rant About The Great Gatsby
Versailles vs Disneyland Paris
They are both a short train ride from the centre of Paris. They are really one and the same, just two ends of a spectrum that strikes a balance in the middle. And that middle is the French Republic.
Some Dreamers of the Manhattan Dream
I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night and the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye. I like to walk up Fifth Avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd and imagine that in a few minutes I … Continue reading Some Dreamers of the Manhattan Dream
The Etiquette of Facebook, or, “Please don’t bring up those elementary school pictures I was tagged in in front of all our co-workers.”
Even if Emily Post hasn't quite got round to adding a chapter on it, there are unspoken rules to social media. They boil down to Wil Wheaton's motto: "Don't be a dick." Here are a few: 1. Don't tag unflattering pictures. 2. Don't start comment wars over something irrelevant. 3. Don't invite me to play … Continue reading The Etiquette of Facebook, or, “Please don’t bring up those elementary school pictures I was tagged in in front of all our co-workers.”
Forgotten Projects
As other projects eroded away under the weight of my own disinterest, I've decided to cut my losses and not let a withered vine waste internet space. I've amalgamated Celluloid Heroes posts into this blog. And after a bit of bushwacking, I found my old Livejournal account from 2005. I've also brought some of those posts over. … Continue reading Forgotten Projects
Packing my Library
After spending the majority of the years 2001 through to 2007 going to university and working in two different bookstores, I managed to accumulate several hundred books. I counted once mid-2005 and it was about 350. More gathered since, both before and after the Grand Library Merger with Husband's collection in 2011. Even after the … Continue reading Packing my Library
We Hardly Knew Ye
So long, New Westminster. As I pack up the last year and a half of my life (a nightmare of Rubbermaid tubs and grovelling to used bookstores), I just want to say, your Downtown was better than your Uptown (although Uptown was better than I thought it would be), your restaurants are delightfully sole proprietary, … Continue reading We Hardly Knew Ye
A Logical Proposal
This week a colleague got engaged. We used to work side-by-side and were once upon a time better friends. I was there the night a few of us went out and she ran into an old friend who is now her fiance. Her proposal was classically adorable: a bended knee at a Bruno Mars concert. … Continue reading A Logical Proposal
Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream
This is the California where it is possible to live and die without ever eating an artichoke, without ever meeting a Catholic or a Jew. This is the California where it is easy to Dial-A-Devotion, but hard to buy a book. This is the country in which a belief in the literal interpretation of Genesis … Continue reading Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream
The Coolest I Have ever Been: a Story About Anxiety
The coolest I have ever been is the day I had eye surgery on my left eye. When I left the hospital with one pupil normal and one dilated, I looked the closest to David Bowie as I ever am likely too unless Tilda Swinton and I are in a horrible accident together and the … Continue reading The Coolest I Have ever Been: a Story About Anxiety
Flowers and Canneries and New Spouses
The most common question heard by newlyweds: "How's married life?" Answer: "Good." The second-most-common: "How does it feel to be married?" That one is a little harder to respond to. Usually, I will say, "Just the same as before." But that's not necessarily true. There is a difference I was not expecting. Mostly, it's in … Continue reading Flowers and Canneries and New Spouses