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Friday, December 13, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 13
Thursday, December 12, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 12
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 10
Monday, December 09, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 9
Sunday, December 08, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 8
Saturday, December 07, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 7
Friday, December 06, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 6
Thursday, December 05, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 5
Wednesday, December 04, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 4
Tuesday, December 03, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 3
Monday, December 02, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 2
Sunday, December 01, 2024
Lego Advent Calendar Haiku 2024 Day 1
This year's Lego Advent Calendar Haiku features guest stars from the world of Charles M. Schulz' Peanuts, thanks to the generosity of my brother Sean!
Saturday, November 30, 2024
Acid-Washed Jeans
Sometime between 1991 and 1994, while working as a parts driver for Norwest Automotive, I picked up a used car battery from one of our customers. I didn't think anything of it in the moment; I'd picked up used parts for disposal several times already, and this was just one more instance.
But a couple of hours later, I noticed that my bluejeans were developing white patches in odd places, starting just below my pelvis. Over the course of the day, those white patches spread and the miscoloured denim thinned, By the time I returned home, my pants had developed huge rends, tears and gaps, disintegrating almost entirely into scraps not long after I removed my shoes.
I figured that the battery must have cracked and leaked some mildly corrosive form of acid down my pants. Certainly my legs were quite itchy by the end of the day, and they'd taken on a slightly pinkish hue. A thorough scrubbing in the shower relieved those symptoms.
I had occasion to tell Mom and Sean this story tonight; credit goes to Sean for coming up with the perfect title for this post.
Friday, November 29, 2024
Thursday, November 28, 2024
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Bobby with a Bullet
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Professor Price
Monday, November 25, 2024
This One Is Lovely
There's always something new and beautiful to discover, isn't there?
Sunday, November 24, 2024
Bluey Jones
Saturday, November 23, 2024
Villista Bandito
Friday, November 22, 2024
User Interface Update
Thursday, November 21, 2024
USS Manitoba
This season on Star Trek: Lower Decks, one of the show's recurring characters was transferred from the show's "hero ship," the USS Cerritos, to the USS Manitoba, named for the province of my birth. Naturally I'm tickled, even though we don't actually see the Manitoba on screen, and the series' untimely cancellation after this season means we're unlikely to ever see it.
Still, Manitoba represent!
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
The Good, the Bad, and the Needs Revision
Midway through one of my political science courses at the University of Alberta, my professor pulled me aside for a chat after class.
"What happened with this essay? You've done very well on your exams, so I know you can do better than this. It reads like a Time magazine article."
For a second, I was confused. I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was something along the lines of "Isn't that good?"
"No, no," he said. It's well-written, but it lacks depth. There's no real analysis here, it's just a shallow summary of the subject matter. You need to dive deeper, think harder about the subject matter, do some extra research, develop your own thoughts."
Those may not be the professor's exact words, but that was their spirit, and they hit me hard--because I knew he was right. Sometimes, when I'm not motivated or invested or I've left an assignment to the last minute, I can get lazy and produce material that doesn't reflect my full potential. It still happens on this very blog!
A little over a decade later, my friend Bruce (then my supervisor), criticized a story I'd written for our gardening magazine in much the same way, comparing it to a freelance article I'd written about Superman. The words he used were different, but his point was the same--and like my professor, Bruce was right.
During my time at the University of Alberta and at my corporate writing jobs across the years, I've written plenty of stories and speeches that I'm quite proud of. But there's also a large collection of pieces I know could have been better.
I feel especially bad to have let my professor and Bruce down, back then, and I'm sure those weren't the only instances when a teacher or colleague or client was disappointed by my work.
It makes you wonder if writers of, say, Hemingway's caliber have drawers full of old articles and stories that they look upon with a bit of self-loathing.
On the bright side, it's a real pleasure when you stumble upon a work you've forgotten and think to yourself, "Hey, I wrote this? I did, and wow, it's pretty good."
When I look back on my career, I hope I can say I wrote more good stories than bad.
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Jezebel Diamond