Steeling the Gaze, recently at the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon, was a powerful show. Some of the pieces were incredibly beautiful; some got in my face. Often the same works did both. As someone with a background in Art History, I can identify the conventions of European portraiture in the props and poses European-Canadian […]
It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. –Wendell Berry This quotation from Wendell Berry sits at the very beginning of one of my favourite books on […]
A couple of years ago, I was part of a Transgender Day of Remembrance service. Two of us were to read the list of names of people who had died that year as a result of anti-trans hate or prejudice. A few minutes before the service, I am handed the list of names. Expecting one […]
I’ve been a fan of biography and autobiography for as long as I have been able to read. My favourite childhood books were about quirky people. Or philosophizing bears. Ok, maybe Winnie-the-Pooh is not exactly biography in the established mode. But Christopher Robin does say that Pooh likes to hear stories about himself, and this […]
I remember the first time I saw an email. A scientist friend of mine dropped by, a university student. He was really excited. He had a paper print out with him, you know that kind of wide paper with two strips of little holes along the edges? The kind of paper that has text on […]
