Homework

The City recently installed this just north of us on Sherbourne Street 
because they don't make a "junkies crossing" sign.

This past week's writing assignment in Roxanne Snider's course was to craft a character's "moving defence," a monologue that sets a tone and explains something the character wants you to know about them:

I hate having to listen to people passionate about their work. You know who I'm talking about. Like the guy from a monster food conglomerate excited about early childhood nutrition, by which he means baby food with almost no asbestos in it. Or the millennial woman proselytizing about how the next wave of electric cars will save the world. Because that's what cars do. Save the world.

These tiresome zealots are all different on the surface but when they start talking about their thing they all get the same weird light in their eyes, the same excited tone in their voice; their words pick up torque and they become their own force of nature.

When my luck runs out and I end up next to one of these self-winding windbags, I pretend to listen and consider my options. I can't step on their foot or spill my drink on them. That would make them sympathetic and that's not what I'm looking for.

But, I need to inflict some pain. My general rule is the worse the bore, the grander my exit. A military manufacturer from my golf club was just about to make his big finish on next generation low friction super liquids. I took a fake phone call. My nephew's wedding exposed me to a game designer looking for ways to hook up with Disney. She was never going to get to her big finish. I choked on a canapé. I got cornered at a fundraiser at the Aga Khan museum by the son of a former business partner. He's big into blockchain. I told him I needed to leave so I could attend my ex-lover's medically assisted death.

Call it a hobby. I love turning my back on stunned faces and egos deflating so furiously you can almost hear the whistle.

Another Publishing Milestone

Google tools tell me where the traffic on this blog comes from. Most of the time it's porn bots. But, last week, this blog was viewed by plagscan, which teachers use to check to see if their student's work was plagiarized. I'm so proud.

The Industriousness of Squirrels, Revisited

I noted in 2017 the progress since 2015 of squirrels gnawing away at a metal plate bolted to a silver maple in the Allan Gardens.

They're done now.

 
Thanks for reading!

Have a great week!

Karen