The sacrilege of going back to school in August

August Blues indeed … “Will I get that marine-wannabe lunatic for phys ed?” “Will Mrs. So-and-so be sober this year?” “Is he back, I thought he had a breakdown?” Back when I was young the new school year started on the Tuesday after Labour Day. “Summer” consisted of those days between the last day of

Weekly Writing Challenge: Health and a millennial coincidence.

The Weekly Writing Challenge this week focused on “Fit to Write”. My piece is about my attempt to stay fit by running, as well as a millennial coincidence. Sometime during the late winter of 1997 I decided it was time I started doing some physical exercise. I had for many years been a pitcher in

Weekly Writing Challenge: I Remember

  This week’s Weekly Writing Challenge: I Remember calls upon bloggers to think back. Here’s a freestyle memory piece. I remember… … during the mid-seventies,  it seemed Montreal was awash with Anglo/Irish Pubs. There’s still a good number of them today including Hurley’s, McKibbin’s , The Irish Embassy and the Old Dublin to name but a

Weekly Writing Challenge: U.N. turns to chefs to solve problem of Turkey

This week’s Weekly Writing Challenge is another 1,000 words, it asked for a story to go with the photo below. So here goes! The news has been full of the problem situation regarding Turkey. Headlines scream “Riots are making Turkey dangerous”; “FAQ: What the heck is wrong with Turkey”; “Turkey makes me sick”. Hungarians feeling

Results: After the Boston bombing, are you more careful about attending public events?

This week’s Weekly Writing Challenge focuses on the use of forms. I took a recent post, and added a form for feedback at the end. I had never used a form before, but will certainly consider doing so. The comments were lengthy and often heartfelt. As for statistics, 100% of those who responded said they

After the Boston bombing, are you more careful about attending public events?

This week’s Weekly Writing Challenge focuses on the use of forms. Here’s a recent post of mine with a form for feedback added. Dear Boston, On behalf of all Montrealers let me express my sincerest condolences for the tragic events at your esteemed marathon. For as long as I can recall, the passage from winter

Don’t ask for the subway in Mun-tree-all unless you’re hungry

This week’s Weekly Writing Challenge: A Manner of Speaking may have been devised with Montréal in mind. Montréal is the largest city in the Canadian province of Québec, and a hotbed of mispronounced words, words borrowed from one language to another and local slang. If you ask the federal government about official languages they’ll tell you

Weekly Writing Challenge: A spaced-out Limerick

This week’s Weekly Writing Challenge called for a poem, well spaced. There once was a blog on WordPress Its aim was simply to express How using some space With no words in place Could really help writers impress

Weekly Writing Challenge: Image vs. Text – Viagra advertisement

The Weekly Writing Challenge offered the theme of Image vs. Text this week. This brought advertising to my mind. The concept of what is called direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs differs greatly in Canada when compared to the United States. In the US these ads provide details on what the drug treats and then go

Weekly Writing Challenge: Hope I’m not paid by the word

This week’s Weekly Writing Challenge: the Devil is in the Details gives me an opportunity to defend my tight writing style. So let me come at the theme  from a different angle. It’s a matter of degrees, in fact about 180°. I’m not a big fan of lengthy, flowery, detail-laden writing; I’m economical with words –