Hello, friends. This past weekend was the Thanksgiving holiday in Canada. I am still coasting on leftovers (that's a splendid thing, in my opinion), basking in crisp sunshine, and in total denial of the sudden onslaught of Christmas cack in the retail world. This is not a terribly new video and I can't seem to embed it here the way I usually do, but I'm linking to it anyway because hey! that's … [Read more...]
How to mount a penny-farthing
Hello, friends. I'm up against a deadline (Canada Arts Council grant application - my first!), so here's a fun little instructional on how to mount a penny-farthing bicycle. Bicycles became extremely popular in the 1880s and 1890s and I enjoy thinking about Mary Quinn trying one out, in later life. As you'll see, the early designs were for athletic men only; sadly, there's no chance of riding … [Read more...]
The Birth of a Book
Hello, friends. Isn't that lovely? (via Lloyd Kahn's blog) … [Read more...]
What kind of Asian are you?
I love this. In real life, I've tried a few low-key variations on this, but it never seems to get through. I think if we want to educate the people who ask these questions, we need to explain directly why it's inappropriate to make assumptions based on appearance. In the meantime, however, I'm just going to watch this one more time and smirk. How do you respond to questions based on … [Read more...]
Inspiration
Hello friends, and apologies for being late with this post. There's no good reason, except that my son had a PD Day at school on Monday, so I didn't realize that yesterday was Blogging Day until, well, this morning. But I'm here to make it up to you! My spouse recently mentioned two utterly awesome videos, which I have to share with you. (Nick detests online videos, so when he gets enthusiastic … [Read more...]
Think you love books?
The mad geniuses at Type Books (which hosted my Toronto launch for The Body at the Tower) do. The proof? This absolutely charming stop-action short, showing what books get up to at night. You'd have to be a total grinch not to love this. Go on - tell me you're not haunted by the idea of your own books larking about in the near-dark. Mine certainly waltz, trade bookmarks, and commiserate … [Read more...]