Tag: random thoughts

Of Interest / Updates

Resume writing a new résumé

I recently trimmed a bunch of stories from the “Library of Stories” page as many of these are going into a collection of stories I am working on publishing. At that point, I’ll have to overhaul this site, but that will come in time. I was kinda hoping that as a writer, I wouldn’t ever have to worry about writing another résumé but alas… grant writing means a resume, plus a whole new level of paperwork. I guess I’ll have to be a successful writer sheerly for the goal of never, ever having to write another résumé. Either that or

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Of Interest

Real life versus fiction: trauma recovery

At the end (well, multiple ends, but I’ll let that one go) of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings epic, Frodo mentions he feels the pain of the wound on the anniversary of the attack, and he suffers from recurring weakness and shadows of fear tied to the traumatic events he endured. On one hand, I understand it was a way of framing PTSD and trauma recovery at a time when it was just called “shell-shock”. But it always struck me – in my youth – as unrealistic. I’d think “oh, get over it already!” And ever year around April since

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Of Interest

The “Dark Matter” of Domesticity: A Paperclip Odyssey

I’m cleaning up and sorting through paperwork, allowing my brain to contemplate the digital revolution. Remember paper? That ancient forest-based communication method our ancestors used? So, story time. Back in my Shell days, I worked with a team providing support to various teams. One individual… let’s call her a “procurement enthusiast.” She had, over the course of her time with the company, ordered paperclips like she was preparing for a global paperclip apocalypse. We’re talking a drawer so full of paperclips, it could’ve been a metallurgic museum exhibit dedicated to “Bureaucratic Hoarding: A Modern Study.” Fast forward to today, I’m

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Stories

Throwback / Throw a light to the future Thursday

In March 2021 my sister Kathie had been told “yes, the cancer is back, and your time is up.” So, prior to the Easter weekend, I took a few days off work to travel to Edmonton. I visited Kathie, her family, and my other two siblings: Gail and Ken (and Ken’s wife & one of their sons). It was…great. We all talked, socialized, made each other laugh, and generally had a lovely time despite knowing this would probably be the last time we were all together. Then on April 7th, I started my COVID19 journey, resulting in me spending almost

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Stories

Christmas Song of my youth, missing my sister, other thoughts

Back in the late 60s/early 70s, Zellers sold A Very Merry Christmas: Volume 3. It was an album with a lot of big name stars (at the time) and other talent belting out seasonal songs. Mom bought it, and every Christmas growing up, she pulled this one out to play it. It’s actually quite a good album, with the music arranged mid-20th Century orchestral style only slightly veering into elevator music (more on that in a moment). As we got older and left home we heard this less and less, depending on whether or not we could get home for

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