I have a friend who uses the word awesome to describe almost anything that pleases him. Yes, it's simple (and a hyperbole) and maybe, in his case, it's a tiny bit overused. Yet, that simple word is also extremely expressive to him and there is a great deal of feeling in his delivery of 'awesome'.... Continue Reading →
This One Goes Out to Mrs. Hynd
I do this thing when I read. I take a pen, usually a colored one, and draw a loopy circle around a section that I love or that I want to find later. It stands out and it's easy to find. I do this because of Mrs. Hynd, who taught me in 1981. "Circle all... Continue Reading →
A Little Perspective
As I go through the blogs of yore I find stories that I'm glad I wrote. They dial me into the moment like a tuner on a radio, giving me clarity to memories I thought I left behind. Below is one of those memories. What was going on On Saturday Dave and I were in... Continue Reading →
Easy is Empty
Nothing good is easy.Shonda Rhimes, Year of Yes Reminder #1: the mountains Canada Day 2016, I wanted to get to the Ink Pots at Johnston Canyon. Despite my super relaxed photo below, it was a ton of work. I was sweaty, hot and tired. Why did I do it? Because it seems these journeys are... Continue Reading →
Yay Dave!
David Gane brings so many things to the table that I do not. David and I had a collaborative blog a while back. It was the Counios and Gane blog. Then Dave streamlined our website and we created a newsletter and have a Shopify store for our books here. Somewhere in there, the blog was... Continue Reading →
Happy Birthday to Blogging
It's been one year since I began officially blogging on my own. Serendipity In a separate post I will be talking about how Dave managed to get all my old posts back into my sticky little digital fingers and it seems so fitting that it is on the anniversary of this WordPress blog. It's been... Continue Reading →
Getting to Know the Author
My students were cutting up old magazines for an art project. I was day dreaming about the other job in the lull of the quiet work. I found a loose page in a magazine where James Corden answered the following questions. Made me think about my answers. And, well, here they are: Best Pinch Me... Continue Reading →
A Conversation with a YA Reader
I recently got a notification on Pinterest that someone wanted to send me a message. I didn't make any connections to the name so out of curiosity I accepted. It turns out it was my cousin's daughter in Greece. She's in Grade 10. Below is the conversation we had about the Shepherd and Wolfe series... Continue Reading →
Life Lessons and Football Dreams
A Young Visitor "Hey Ms. C." A teen pops his head in to say hello, interrupting my noon hour marking which was okay with me. He was in my homeroom, at least when we used to have homeroom. "I didn't actually know how much I liked homeroom until the schedule changed and it was taken... Continue Reading →
Books I Loved in 2020
The Book Fairies is an organization started by Hollywood actress Emma Watson. A few years ago she launched an international project that would see more than 1000 books left in public spaces for people to enjoy. The Book Fairies started in London, England with the Books on the Underground project but has now spread around... Continue Reading →