By now many Albertans are well aware of the financial and logistical nightmare that the University of Alberta finds itself in. Paula Simons has articulated some poignant thoughts on the whole mess in her column. It would seem that there is ample blame to be spread between both the PC government and the University leadership.… Read More
Puddle Pirates
I grew up in the space where the grassland meets the mighty boreal forest – that ribbon of undulating green that stretches around the northern hemisphere. We, maybe out of envy for our cowboy cousins to the south with their stampedes and Olympics, cling to the prairie ideal with hopeful vanity. But the reality is… Read More
British appropriation
Back in July I spied this in the local H&M store: I was offended, but not surprised. Earlier in the month I had this exchange with a hipster Twitter persona (a mock character created by a trendy writer in Brighton): Regardless of whether this is a joke account or not, it speaks to a general… Read More
Body Talk
I occasionally write about body image on this blog: an intensely personal topic, but one I think merits more discussion in our society. If you’ve read my past posts, you’ll know that I’ve struggled with an eating disorder for the last 13 years. Until a year ago, I struggled to punish, starve and exercise myself… Read More
Cities are our Camps — a Metis perspective on urbanity and resurgence
I’ve been thinking a lot about urban/rural splits. My Master’s is in Rural Sociology, so I spent a lot of time thinking about the relationships between urban and rural spaces (and I worked in the Western Arctic, so I also thought about forced settlement and rural versus ‘remote’ spaces). I’ve also spent a lot of… Read More
World-Class Disease
It starts with a fever. Maybe a bit of a cold-sweat. Someone who knows someone who visited Paris remembers seeing a tower that was unequaled by all other towers. Someone else remembers reading in the Economist that in Dubai construction is the answer to all the country’s dreams. Another voice chimes in: “if we just… Read More
Edmonton diversity?
I live far away. In a (sometimes) sunny Scottish city. I’ve become more aware of the differences in how the movement of people around the world shapes each city, county, country in amazing ways. Here in Scotland I long for pho and injera — two things that are not available in this small city of… Read More