In April 2009, the Alberta government launched a re-branding campaign designed to attract new inhabitants and remind current citizens of why the province was a desirable location. This campaign was marked by scandal when it was discovered that the photo used in most advertisements, showing two children running freely along one of the province’s not-so-ubiquitous “shorelines”, was a stock photo of the beach near Sir Lancelot’s castle in Northumberland,…

Somewhere in the dreariest days of winter, I wrote a post on songs about being alone. During the time that followed, I was alone. A lot. There were some days where I didn’t speak to anyone but the cat:

Gillian: Pumpkin, do you like this outfit?

Pumpkin: *look of disdain*

Gillian: Would you like it better if you sat on my lap and wrecked it with…

Those who know me well know that my two main interests are country music and ballet. But unlike my two favourite foods, cheese and wine, or my two favourite drinks, red wine and white wine, I don’t believe in mixing these two interests. So it was with great trepidation that I opened an email last week with the subject line “Cowboy Boots and Ballet”. Sure enough, it was an advertisement for an upcoming ballet based on Johnny Cash songs. Ugh.

Turns out the ballet is set to Cash’s…

My mind’s a jumble. I close my eyes and six million scattered thoughts pass through, pictures of people walking away from my life and others coming in, images of someone I probably just pissed off and song titles and lyrics and crossing over verses and sweeping up the patio and cleaning out my closet plans. Yesterday, I boiled an egg for 30 minutes. I put it on, went to the other room and searched through ten years of journals, then thought, ‘what’s that sound?’ and went back to the kitchen…