My grandparents lived in Texas for a long time, so I’ve spent a lot of time there over the years. Even though I’m thousands of miles away, Hurricane Harvey feels personal to me. I can’t even image how it feels to those who are living it first hand. But amidst the devastation, I find hope. In times like these, issues of politics, race, and religion fall away, and there are only people, coming together to…

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Me: *stumbles downstairs in the morning to find kitchen a hive of activity* Tech Support: Morning! I did the thing and the stuff and that other thing, and all that jazz. Me: *channeling Catherine Zeta Jones* Come with me, I know a whoopty spot, where the GIN is cold, but the PIANO’S hot; it’s just a noisy hall where there’s a nightly brawl and ALL…. THAT… JAAAAAAAAZZ Tech Support: *jazz hands* Happy Friday! The post…

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What’s the first thing you do when you visit someone’s house for the first time? Admire their kitchen backsplash? Poke through the medicine cabinet? Not me. I go straight for the bookshelves. I LOVE snooping through other people’s bookshelves. If they have books I’ve read and loved, I know we can be friends. And if not, well, at least now we have something to talk about until I can come up with a polite excuse…

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I have a theory* that there are three kinds of ignorance. The first kind is what I’d call neutral ignorance. The gentle, perfectly understandable kind that arises due to a simple lack of knowledge: Ignorance: lack of knowledge, education, or awareness (Merriam Webster) There is no shame in not knowing something, and there’s no shame in not having access to the education or experience that would provide that knowledge. This kind of ignorance is much…

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We are the caretakers of a very unusual bequest – the Tech Support family rhubarb plant. The original was planted over a hundred years ago, and cuttings have followed his family all over the United States and Canada. Our particular bush was started from a cutting Tech Support’s dad sent us through regular mail. Seven days in a dark box later, we stuck it in the ground and walked away. It’s the lowest maintenance, hardest…

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It has just occurred to me that, now that I’m required to carry two passports and file taxes in two countries, I should also be entitled to twice as many holidays. Since I have thus far managed to work both Canada Day and American Independence Day, I seem to be failing both of my citizenships. It may be time to knock off for the day…. Fellow North Americans, how have you been celebrating? The post…

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Sunshine and naps for all! The post Happy Canada Day! appeared first on L. E. Carmichael.

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Lately my Facebook feed has filled up with memes and videos about miracle cures for cancer that THEY don’t want you to know about. I’ve avoided commenting on them, because I don’t want to offend my friends, but every time I see one of these things, I spontaneously combust. Look, I get it. I lost my mother to cancer in 2009, two days before her 56th birthday. I have lived the rollercoaster of pain and…

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It’s summer solstice today, but apparently not summer, at least not in Nova Scotia. The most hours of daylight of the year doesn’t actually help if the sun’s not shining. It’s been cool and rainy for weeks and let’s just say I’d trade this for the heat wave in Arizona any day. Wearing a sweater and slippers – indoors – on the first day of summer just plain feels wrong to me. But my rhododendrons…

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After I got my PhD, I went to work at a bookstore. This was partly because my brain was fried and I wanted to relax with the pretty books. It was also because, as I writer, I wanted to understand how the retail end of the book business actually functioned – and how real humans behave when choosing new books. It was revelatory – and now I share those revelations with you. How To Have…

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