“This Language-Soaked Life” Part Four
From 1975-77 Maybin, still a “non-professional,” taught English as a volunteer for the Immigrant Services Society (ISS) in Vancouver. His students were South Asian women, many of whom had recently arrived and were illiterate, terrified, and … Read more →
Remember
During the last couple of years I have been exposed to a whole sub culture of people who are presently incarcerated or have recently been incarcerated. A large percentage of these people are caught in a tangled web of addiction and recidivism. It's … Read more →
Listening to my Gut
We all have them from time to time – strong, emotionally-colored urges to act in ways that make no rational sense and are counterproductive in our current modern society. Our forbears, and conservative Christians even today, ascribed this to … Read more →
Rejected Because of Your Communcation Skills
I felt a twinge of recognition from both sides of the fence when I read this post from blogger Clarisse Thorn: "When we met for coffee and he did the Let’s-Just-Be-Friends thing, he said it was because of how I communicated. He said: 'You know, I … Read more →
GIPSPUPPE (GYPSUM DOLL)
A beautiful poem about uprooted refugee children raises awareness of war affected and traumatized children
The Desert Fox – Part One
Our recent trip to Tunisia was not an outstanding success for us. True there was a small but pleasant group of people and as a quick all round insight into Tunisian life, the trip was quite satisfactory but the guide, not being an archaeologist, was … Read more →
Diary of a Smoker
I guess I consider myself “old school” and like to be somewhat reserved yet open to new things and situations. But something changed: I met something who was white but really caramel colored inside and I let her inside me. She knew all my secrets … Read more →
Three Icons of American Cinema in 1967
Two seminal American films were released in 1967; each dealt with the issue of racism and each featured one of the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time. Both were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture; one of them won the award. The … Read more →
Pathogenic Evil
Do Outbreaks of Evil have an Organic Cause? Martha Sherwood contemplates the idea that perhaps there was a biological cause to the savagery of World War II
Tarmac Meditations: Comin’ 2012
New Years 2012: shot a race by the midnight riverside, went home to sleep for a few hours, dreamt some dreams, more nightmarish than serene. Went back to the riverside, shot another race and caught some dreams, came home to rest, and found, sadly, … Read more →
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