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Google Podcasts

Google Podcasts

Another good thing about 2020 is that I (finally?!) discovered podcasts. I’m feeling a bit late to the party on this, but wow, there is a whole world of free, fascinating, useful, and entertaining audio programs out there. Working from home, I’ve found that sometimes it’s a productive use of time to listen to the …

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Marlene Dietrich in Toronto in 1975, at the Royal York's Imperial Room. Quote from "Marlene Dietrich's ABC," 1962. (Photo by Reg Innell courtesy Toronto Public Library under Toronto Star License)

Signs of Life

At the beginning of August 2020, I drafted a post titled, “Optimism in the Time of COVID-19,” containing a list of all the hopeful things I’d seen on a walk in the neighbourhood (wearing a sweaty face mask). However, I couldn’t make myself publish it, and I’ve been meditating upon why. At the time, I’d …

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The Year I Visited 100 Museums

The Year I Visited 100 Museums

Back in January of 2019 (which honestly seems like yesterday), I set myself the goal of visiting 100 museums during the year, and posting a short blog entry about each one. That would work out to three or four a week, which sounded overly ambitious, but hey, why not.  I’m delighted to report that I …

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The 1848 Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, covered with snow, on a moonlit December night.

Enoch Turner Schoolhouse

The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse Foundation, a not-for-profit charity established in 1971, held their annual fund-raising Founders’ Dinner last night, and I was honoured to be invited to represent the Ontario Historical Society. As a bonus, it gave me the chance to have a look inside the museum, which is owned and operated by the Ontario …

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The thousand-year-old Round Tower is the most prominent feature at Glendalough: a landmark, bell tower, look out, and refuge.

Glendalough (Ireland)

The monastic settlement at Glendalough, located in the beautiful Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin, is certainly a place that has, as Anne of Green Gables would say, plenty of “scope for imagination.” The monastery was founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century. It’s said that he lived in a cave overlooking the upper lake, …

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