Posts filed under “Uncategorized”

Come back! Oh, come back!

Like many contemporary philosophers, Xunzi assumed that the dead are just that – gone, from us, from life, from existence.  But Xunzi did not imagine that this stone cold fact signified much.  Fact pales before desire and desire wants translating into action, into doing. In early China, one form of doing was the soul-summoning ritual.  […]

Renters vs. homeowners

It’s really weird how many of my neighbours who own their homes talk about neighbours who rent like they’re just passing through and are a detriment to the neighbourhood. They also treat them worse. When there’s a problem with the renter-residents, they call the bylaw officer or the landlord. When there’s a problem with an […]

A pandemic diary

Pandemic excerpts from from my 2020 journal February 5, 2020 They’re doing lots of quarantines for coronavirus. I wish we took the flu so seriously. March 15, 2020 Coronavirus – covid-19 – has spread basically everywhere now. It’s definitely a disease of the old and infirm, though young people aren’t invulnerable. I’ve been self-isolating for […]

This weekend

I’m going to paint a room and listen to end-of-year music playlists. Please send me painting advice and playlist recommendations. Also, choosing paint colors is exhausting. If you have ideas for a room that’s south-facing but gets almost no natural light because of a giant retaining wall and trees and has a lot of big […]

Wake up!

I bought a dormant Hippeastrum cybister back at the end of November. I potted it up right away, gave it just a bit of water to settle the soil, and tucked it in the basement closet for some cool, dry dark. I’ve been eagerly checking every few days to see if it had woken up […]

Nationalize the Irvings

The Irvings are a Canadian family who own the Atlantic provinces. That’s not hyperbole – they’re in the top 5 North American property owners – and they own much of the resource extraction and development, transportation, and English-language media in the Atlantic provinces – especially in New Brunswick. The Irving empire was founded more than […]

Desks for short people

I am 5’3″ (160cm) and I was beginning to think that finding a desk the right height for me was impossible. I’m just half an inch shy of the median height of women in North America. You’d think this would be easy. But the industry standard for desk height – 29 inches – is bonkers. […]