Poverty is a blight, a disease, a cancer, a kind of rust that never sleeps as it erodes dignity and injects anxiety into the host, slowly saturating the soul and taking the body for itself. Poverty is the manifestation of failure, sometimes deserved, sometimes not, but once marked the stain lasts forever. Recovery is slow, and the heart never fully heals. It’s always the math. That math consumes the mind in feverish, […]
The Bailey Chronicles Part 1: Like a Boss Part of our weekend ritual for many years was going to the mall. Bailey loves movies, and loves to watch them in the theatre. His favourite genre is horror–the scarier and more graphic, the better. We’d go to the food court for lunch, then head to the theatre. When I first started working with Bailey, he was much more independent than he is now. We’d settle […]
I will continue my series on Bailey on Wednesday. I thought I’d post this today, though, as it’s timely and, well, I just felt like America needed a bit of hand and some encouragement. Well, America, you gone and done it. You’ve just put Donald Trump one step away from the White House. I’d first like to thank you. Every election cycle, you bring the crazy and become the scariest, most hilarious, jaw-dropping […]
The first time I saw Bailey, I was walking through the atrium of the Robin Hood learning centre, a kind of school, employment placement service, and sheltered workshop serving a population with developmental disabilities. Bailey was the embodiment of poise as he leaned back in his chair with the casual confidence of a crime boss holding court at the back table of a greasy spoon joint. He’s bald on top and has a […]
Every time I think I have a handle on consistent posting, I encounter an unexpected event that requires time and attention. A dear friend of mine, Bailey, became very ill with a lung infection and a variety of other ailments that required him to be hospitalized. The last four weeks I have spent pretty much all day, every day, and a good chunk of the evening, at Bailey’s bedside. Bailey has Down Syndrome, is a brittle diabetic, […]
To this day I can’t decide which was worse: the fever or the feeling of razor blades in my lungs. That first day the flu hit, my body was wracked with wave after wave of fever. It’s a kind of misery that I can’t describe. It would last ten to fifteen minutes and the intensity was unbearable, but when it finally subsided my relief was minimal; I would become cold to the […]
I never get sick. Ever. I don’t get colds or the flu. I’ve never had a broken bone and I’ve never been in a car accident, and until just recently, when I had Fester evicted from my back, I’d never even had stitches. And this is good because my mind has had plenty of ailments from the day I was born. To me this is an even trade-off. I am quick […]
I became familiar with this breed of person really just this year when the Toronto Blue Jays made the playoffs for the first time in a bazillion years. The country celebrated and people were happy. And then the fun shamers came out of the woodwork to complain: How dare they celebrate celebrate and be happy when there are ____________________in the world? Anything from famine in Africa, to the perceived disproportionate media […]
Yoga: The Hardest Bliss Part 1 and Part 2 Upon reflection, I’ve realized that this story simply isn’t worthy of a whole post, but I painted myself into a corner by saying there’d be a Part 3. So feel free to hit the “Like” button, skip the post, and get on with your life. Unless you need a cure for insomnia–then by all means, read away! Upon my fourth visit […]
Yoga: The Hardest Bliss Part 1 The day after I signed up, I attended my first class. I was nervous, but the atmosphere in the studio is so relaxed and calm I soon felt at ease. I bought a mat and rented a space to store the mat. So my new mat and I entered the practice space. It was dark outside and the studio was softly lit and smelled of incense. I felt […]
Get Off My Lawn 