Pat Blythe – On your mark…..book report……and music (of course)

…..and so it has begun. Music is starting to break out everywhere and many artists are “quietly rushing” to bust through the starting gate. With fewer venues, and so far, slightly smaller audiences, (which is going to mean a slightly lower pay day in the short term). I think the gates are going to get so jammed you won’t be able to slip a blade of grass through (among other things). It’s going to be quality over quantity so I hope all those drumsticks, keyboards and guitars are “sharpened”, tuned and at the ready. There’s been roughly 18 months of “practice” time.

Peter and Betty – Together

This week, Loyal Reader, we start off in a dark, depressing place. However, thankfully, my story does have a happy ending, due to a number of factors.

In the period of misery I experienced after Lois’ passing, I came close to “hitting rock bottom”. I really don’t remember much of the last half of September, 2019, and I was actually happy to have the distraction of having to clear out Lois’ apartment the following month to enable me to focus my energy on something besides my all consuming grief. I couldn’t have finished that job in a timely manner without the help of Lois  neighbour Kathy, who loaned me a dolly, and my nephew David, who came over and helped me out on two separate occasions, including going as far as renting a van to help me with moving the contents of the apartment, something I most certainly couldn’t have done using public transit. ( Happy birthday, David, by the way.) a)

Roxanne Tellier – Time Enough at Last

When it comes to excuses, I’ve got a million of ‘em. Even now, as I should be writing this column, I am thinking of two dozen other things that I should be doing first – like alphabetizing the vitamins in the bathroom cabinet or swinging up to the grocery store for some spices that I won’t need until Halloween.  

Roxanne Tellier – Eye Saw the Light

I’m not a big fan of this ‘aging’ stuff. But unfortunately, dealing with all the things that can go wrong as our bodies mature beats the snot out of the alternative.

Sometimes the drama of politics has to take a number and wait for my attention. This was one of those weeks. I had some routine cataract surgery that didn’t go as well as planned, and it took a lot of strong-arming to get that rectified.

I’ve long had the reputation of being the loudmouthed rebel, who takes no sh*t or prisoners, either for herself, or for those she loves. Not sure if it’s the Irish or the French in me, but that’s just the way I’ve always been. If you come for my people, you’d better come prepared for a fight.

Roxanne Tellier – Everybody Hurts

Like many, I’ve suffered from depression and anxiety since I was a young child. Poor old Joe Btfsplk, the Al Capp ‘Lil Abner’ character who lived under a cloud at all times, had nothing on me. I had an ulcer by the time I was ten years old, and toyed with the idea of suicide throughout my teens.

Pat Blythe – A Different Path …and Music!

Mental health.

Did that grab your attention? It’s been on my mind and in my social media feeds in one form or another lately. There’s been so much hullaballoo from endless voices (not the ones in my head) and sources including the yearly Bell “Let’s Talk” campaign, personal stories and “helpful” advice on FB to the multiple daily postings from #soul, etc. on Instagram. I’m seeing “regular” ads and click-bate that offer instant help, healing and gratification (whatever the hell that is).

Roxanne Tellier – Managing A Blue Christmas

Man, I cannot stand Elvis‘ song, “Blue Christmas.” And I’ll bet you have a couple of holiday tunes you could gladly live without for the rest of your life … enough’s enough on the “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer,” amirite?

And no .. we’re not discussing the ‘controversy’ over “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” No, we are not.

But.

Roxanne Tellier – Daylight Savings And Other Idiocies

ENOUGH already with this daylight saving nonsense. The cost to the country, and it’s citizens, has been recorded and shown to be of little to no benefit to the nation.

Peter Posts Prodigious (Moving) Pictures….

Last week’s column was the first of several on my olde office, for after all, when one works for nearly 20 years in the same place, it’s more like a marriage than a fling!

Roxanne – Free the Weed!

 As Canada slinks towards that moveable feast, the day when cannabis becomes legal and regulated, a couple of conference groups have seen the future – and it is pot friendly.