The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist

Happy Things Friday: 9 February

Can I let you in on a little secret? Some weeks I have to dig really deep to identify happy things. It’s not that they aren’t are, it’s just that the debris of life…

Life Lately: A Roundup of What I’ve Been Eating, Watching, and Reading + Recipe Recommendations?

Time to talk food, television, and books. Who’s ready?

FOOD

I recently took part in a church-wide fast. For the first time – in my life! – I abstained from food for a spiritual reason, and…

Food, Life, Reading
Feb, 08, 2024
48 Comments

What’s In A Name? Let’s Talk Pronunciation, Grandparents, and Other Language Topics

I think we can all agree the English language is a regular ol’ hoot sometimes. The rules, the syntax. The quirks that make absolutely zero sense.

And then there is pronunciation.

Growing up Canadian, I…

Habits, Language, Personality Insights, Random
Feb, 07, 2024
67 Comments

My Year of Shmita: January Recap

I’m still not sure how to best track/recap my real-time progression through a “Year of Shmita”; for this month at least, I’m simply going to write down a smorgasbord of ideas without too much…

On Flattery, Pinball, and One Size Fits All

One of my favourite ways to prepare a meal – and simultaneously clean out the refrigerator – is to make what our family calls Hodge Podge. I pull together a soup using leftover scraps…

Happy Things Friday: 2 February

While I am not sad to see January pass by into my rearview mirror, the last week treated me well with many happy things. I know for some of you reading January kicked your…

Want To Write a Book with Me This Year?

A few weeks ago our pastor mentioned an idea in passing: What if we looked at our life as a book and assigned each year a unique chapter title? While he continued with his…