something short and silly — I like to lay in the yard covered with damp leaves. It reminds me of my youth and, to a lesser degree, my career trajectory. I always carry my trusty vat of wax with me mostly to justify the expenditure to my anti-vat-of-wax spending wife. I dressed up as a…

Heed my words, young ones — Hey Grade 12s, it’s your counsellor, Mr. Paley aka T-Pain aka Pales aka T to the P aka Sir Paley the Wise and Beneveloent (this never fully caught on, but…pretty please?). I mean it’s not literally me, as this is a screen of a computer or device covered with words…

A farewell to another group of students — It all feels like so long ago when this all started. September 2017, grade 8. I was busy with my grade 12s at the time, reviewing transcripts, helping people with college applications and scholarships, but I made time to pop into your English classes to meet you. Establishing new relationships…

Read carefully, funny dads-to-be — So if I understand you correctly, you are saying that despite the frequent and aggressive kicking there is zero chance there is a half-human, half-horse in there. Sometimes when you are napping, I look at your belly, take some Lego people and, after a brief period of training, they are…

a short story — David stood there in the rain holding the tire iron. Or was he brandishing it? He could never be certain. What he was certain of was that he was soaking wet and late. Late to see Vanessa, again. And while he hoped that she would understand, he knew she wouldn’t…

A horribly infected comedy of sorts — It all started with a small cut on the bottom of my foot, but so did many of my more exciting adventures in my 20s. I like to think I stepped on a shard of broken glass — the only existing remnants of one of those evenings where all you…

Thoughts from a high school counsellor — I was talking with a student in my office the other day. Her grandfather, who had been in seemingly perfect health, had just passed away unexpectedly. We spoke for a long time about a variety of subjects, but the conversation kept touching on taking things for granted and assuming that…

Damn, girl — Red hair— almost unbelievable, like a unicorn or a really well constructed bookshelf — flying behind her As she takes off. Wheee! Or should I say “whoosh” (yes, I should) Hey, you! Yeah the one with the ears. Did I ever tell you about that girl who climbed to the…