I’m trying something new with this site, to make it less static. Rather than just serving as a landing pad, information source and archive for my writing, I want to make things a little more dynamic again. I’m going to be implementing a new content strategy over the coming weeks (BLARG “content strategy”), so stay tuned for more frequently updated and exciting things.
Taken moments after we left for the weekend, my dad is already sharing his soft serve with the dog.
One of the things that I want to do is to post a daily collection of all the things that I did, like writing that has been published and things that have featured me or my work.
Writing
My latest Sound Advice column went up on Torontoist, featuring the new EP Liminal by Kelly McMichael and The Gloss. It’s filled with blithe songwriting, incredibly rich and melting vocals, and is perfect for the heat of the summer.
My review of Chimaira‘s new record Crown of Phantoms is up on About Heavy Metal. It’s a transitional record, the first after a huge line-up shift, and as such the confidence is a little shaky and the quality is uneven. There are moments, though, that speak to a bright future with the current talent.
Radio
I was featured on this morning’s edition of the CBC radio show How To Do It: The Guide To Things You Hope You Never Need To Know (that subtitle could easily do double duty as the subtitle for my memoirs) with Sarah Treleaven and Josh Bloch. The theme was “How To Exact Revenge,” and so naturally I told a story about those black ten months that I worked for an internet porn company doing SEO, and became so enraged at my colleague (who, to be fair, had the intellectual capacity of a June bug and microwaved fish) that I hid her cellphone in a pumpkin.
Puppy News
She’s totally asking my dad if those swans are going to peck her.
I have a nine-month-old Belgian Malinois puppy named Harley, possibly the loveliest dog in the entire universe (and also a gigantic buttface. This weekend, my parents came to visit, to take care of our animals while Chris and I went to Montreal for the weekend. As we expected, they spoiled her ridiculously the whole time when we were away, and also took some lovely pictures.
Because the dog and the Viking man weren’t enough, there’s also a rainbow.
Also, the new music video from Dinosaur Bones, “Nothing Left Between The Lines,” features a Belgian Malinois named Falcon, who belongs to Harley’s breeder and trainer, the wonderful Jenn Segal of Malinger Kennels!
Apartment Makeover: Crazy Parents Edition
My previously beige bathroom is now turquoise!
We expected to come home to find our dog spoiled and our parents in love with their four-legged grandchild, but instead we returned to find that most of our apartment had also been painted and, in the case of the bathroom, entirely redecorated. My parents were here for three days and they accomplished more in home improvement that I’ve managed in two years. My dad washed the backyard.
My dad hanging the one thing I actually asked him to do while I was gone: a new set of hooks in the hallway. He also painted the hallway. And waxed the floor.
That’s it for today, more updates and features coming!
Your parents sound awesome. Do you ever rent them out… ?
I actually told them that they should start a small business where they do both housesitting and small home repairs. They would make a MINT.
I have two cats and a bathroom in need of remodelling. 😀