Hello, friends. There have been a lot of birthdays in our family over the past 2 months. As a consequence, there has also been a lot of cake. I grew up eating birthday cakes made from boxed cake mixes. Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines were our household familiars, and my mother jokingly called those cakes her "scratch" cakes. Sadly, I don't feel much confidence in packaged foods, these days, and … [Read more...]
Negotiating with tradition
Hello friends! We celebrate Christmas in our house, and we're still figuring out our traditions. I come from a family whose only tradition is to not have any traditions (even the Christmas tree was hit-and-miss throughout my childhood, and I doubt we've ever eaten the same Christmas dinner twice), and my spouse, Nick, is from a family with very strong, sentimental rituals. He and I have talked … [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...]
The exam of my life
Hello, all. What does December remind you of? I think of birthdays, Christmas, winter solstice, snow, darkness, and candles. Also, because I spent rather too many years at university, I think of exams. And of all the exams I've written, there's one that will always send a chill down my spine. During my PhD program, I had to write two comprehensive exams, aka comps: they were supposed to make me … [Read more...]
So indulged
Hello, friends. I'm blogging this week from my parents' house, where my partner, children, and I are playing, napping, idling, walking, exploring, and generally being coddled by the people who gave me life. It is grand, I tell you. Absolutely divine. Do you know what the most beautiful sentence in the English language is, when uttered by busy and normally responsible adults? It's, "Hi, Mom. … [Read more...]
Happy Hallowe’en!
Hello, friends! I hope you'll indulge my parental amusement for a minute. This is the jack o'lantern designed by our resident 3-year-old. Is it just me, or is a small child's drawing of a face more frightening than any deliberately spooky design? I mean, I wouldn't want to sit next to this character on a long-distance bus ride... I had an fantastic Hallowe'en surprise yesterday when this was … [Read more...]