Even though I was always a logophile and I taught English for a year or two, my first love in academe was history. I think my love of history is in my DNA because my first exposure to historical texts happened before I could even read. Coincidentally, it was also my first act of defiance ...

Question of the day is: What’s orange and sounds like a parrot? Answer: A parrot. I mean, really, what else? OK, maybe you didn’t find that interesting. But what is interesting is that Carrot is a four-way homonym. At least I think it’s interesting, which is because I think a lot ...

Tuesday morning I was headed up Route 86, almost at the Trudeau Road turnoff, when I saw blue and red lights flashing in my rearview mirror. I immediately pulled over and a few minutes later the Rescue Squad ambulance flew by. The symbolism was painfully appropriate: Me driving to Cavu on one ...

“So are you going to the parade?” Kean Riley asked me. I frowned but said nothing, in silent dismissal of the absurdity of his question. It was followed by a long pause — silent mockery, as it were. “Well...?” he said, clearly uncomfortable with my non-response. “Well, ...

This time each year something happens here with the grinding regularity of stores starting to play X-mas music the day after Halloween. And like the stores and their premature musical Ho Ho Ho, our version annoys me to no end as well. So what is it? It’s people here wingeing about — ...

Last week at Nori’s, after a hard day of hanging out, swilling coffee and swapping lies, I went out to my car and — Lo and Behold! — there was a note under one of my windshield wipers. For a very long moment I just stared at it, dumbfounded — I couldn’t remember the last time ...