From the category archives:

Reading

How Guy Kawasaki Enchanted Me

If you don’t have an internet connection, there may be a chance you’ve never heard of Guy Kawasaki. For the rest of the world, he’s pretty much pervasive, the founder (or co-founder) of Alltop.com, Guy is also perhaps the most-recognized individual on Twitter. He posts links about every seven minutes on the strangest, funniest, most [...]

Read more →

Before Walking Away

Thumbnail image for Before Walking Away

February can be a harsh month. For me personally, this February more so than most years. February has never been a particularly good friend in the best of times, but if there is ever a setback in February, there is seldom much kindness to be found. Outside, it is cold and icy. Inside, the rooms [...]

Read more →

Website Launch: Pencils and Crayons

After a bit of discussion, not a little debate, and some quick planning, I’m pleased to announce the launch of a new website: www.pencilsandcrayons.com. Cool name, right? Yeah, I know. I was actually surprised it was available. The website came after my rant on Murderous Poets last week, and the shabby condition in which poetry [...]

Read more →

Murderous Poets

Thumbnail image for Murderous Poets

Name your five favourite poets. Most human beings in North America have a hard time doing this, especially if they are asked to exclude composers of song lyrics. Only those who are very well read even begin to start answering. Is it any different in Europe, or Asia? Do the masses of South America still [...]

Read more →

Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead

Thumbnail image for Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead

There are some books I try to put off reading. Good books. Books, I know are going to do more than entertain me, that are going to push me, inspire me towards doing more. Any good book should inspire its readers, but there are some – just by looking at the cover – you know [...]

Read more →

The Great Forgetting (a Review)

Thumbnail image for The Great Forgetting (a Review)

I was given a fascinating, beautiful and disturbing book this weekend,  The Great Forgetting by Calvin Luther Martin. It was originally the forward to another book published by Yale University Press, and in itself its actually quite seductive. Beautiful fonts and graphics make what would otherwise be a quick read, something more of a journey, [...]

Read more →

20 Best Opening Lines

Thumbnail image for 20 Best Opening Lines

The first line in a book is like a first kiss. It can lead to the cover being slapped closed in the author’s face, or the beginning of a wonderful love affair, an adventure that could span for days, leaving you breathless at times, and with memories to be cherished for the rest of your [...]

Read more →

The Kobo eReader – a Writer’s Review

Thumbnail image for The Kobo eReader – a Writer’s Review

Indecision took a holiday this weekend and I finally picked up a Kobo eReader from Chapters today (that’s like Barnes & Noble here in Canada, eh). I still have mixed feelings about the damned thing. First of all, let’s get this out of the way. No, it’s not a Kindle, but it’s smaller, has less [...]

Read more →

10 Free Online Education Resources

Thumbnail image for 10 Free Online Education Resources

Long ago, in a galaxy far away, when the internet was still unexplored by most people, and the world wide web was still just a menu item on services like Compuserve, I spoke and dreamed of a time when anyone, anywhere, could get a free online education – degrees earned at home through the marvels [...]

Read more →

Thoreau’s Minimal Living

Thumbnail image for Thoreau’s Minimal Living

There were not a lot of comments on my last blog about minimal living, but the emails were flying fast and furious for the last couple days. If you’re interested in minimal living (and if you’re a writer, artist, musician or other such unemployable soul, you should be) a book you should read, or read [...]

Read more →