it’s the year of the horse Gong Hei Fat Choi Horses have a special place in my family I’ve only ridden one twice both times I held nervously to the reigns somehow that prairie blood coursing through my veins knew what to do just barely My dad says my great-grandad James Courted the fierce Caroline… Read More
Winter Woman
I found this poem I wrote a few years ago when I was going through my notebooks. It’s not autobiographical or meant to represent any particular person. Just a story about a woman. —– my mother was a winter woman she sighed through the July heat brow heavy with sweat her body morphing and melting… Read More
The Edmonton Ex-pat Care Package
Last night a fellow Edmontonian and I discussed the idea of an Edmonton ex-pat care package while we sat around a fire, celebrating my birthday. After some deliberation, and some disagreements we came up with some good ideas. There were, of course, some disagreements based on our discerning tastes. (For me: Pilsner. For her: Alley… Read More
boxing gloves and bibliographies
Everything I need to know about decolonisation, about surviving, about breaking down barriers, about triumphing over pain I learned in the boxing ring. My uncle trained in muay thai kickboxing with Frank Lee, a renowned Edmonton trainer, in the 70s and 80s. In the 90s, my Uncle started his own gym. Initially, my gawky 14-year-old… Read More
Proceed with caution: policy, ‘expertise’, and research arrogance
Recently a colleague who is an attorney made a good point: “ethnography is kind of the gold standard, isn’t it?” I expect people from other disciplines to critique anthropology. I wasn’t prepared for praise. “Well,” he continued, “it seems to me it’s the method that the other social sciences aspire to.” This got me thinking.… Read More