Impossibly Healthy-Looking Sick Kids + Implausible Plot = My New Favourite Show

When it comes to movies and TV, I'm a woman of extremes: I'll watch, for example, anything with a rating of over 80% or under 30% on Rotten Tomatoes with a comparable degree of pleasure. I don't know if it's because I have several chronic health conditions or if it's just a personality quirk, but I'm also … Continue reading Impossibly Healthy-Looking Sick Kids + Implausible Plot = My New Favourite Show →

Protected: Preventing the Unspoken

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Bad Neighbour

As I write this, it’s 6:20 a.m. I realize that many—most?—members of the workforce are awake now, but being on a leave of absence, I have no incentive to be up at this hour. And hey, this is a medical leave of absence, and my seizure frequency increases when I don’t get enough sleep. (Seriously, … Continue reading Bad Neighbour →

The “Joy” of Cooking

Now that I have more time on my hands, I have no excuse not to cook. Except for one, and it's pretty legit: I'm really, really bad at it. When it comes to food, I'm a good-enoughist. I enjoy eating, but not as much as I enjoy reading and alphabetizing my book collection. I'd thus rather … Continue reading The “Joy” of Cooking →

OCD and the Fitbit

Last summer, my mom bought me a Fitbit, which, for the unacquainted, is more or less a glorified, technologically advanced pedometer. The variety I got—the Zip—discretely clips on your belt, in your pocket, in your purse, or wherever else you choose to carry it and comes in a selection of colours to suit your preference. … Continue reading OCD and the Fitbit →

Drive to Drive

A few weeks after I went to the doctor following my first seizure, I got a letter from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation revoking my learner's permit. My expired learner’s permit. Brutal, right? For multiple obvious and valid reasons, the inability to drive is one of the biggest practical and social issues faced by people … Continue reading Drive to Drive →

What It’s Like to Be Postictal (in My Own Very Personal Experience)

One of the worst parts of the morning after a “big seizure” (technical term) is being too brain dead—figuratively, of course—to think properly, hence the uncreative title of this post. On the plus side, however, I can blame any typos/inelegant sentence constructions/etc. on my neurons’ latest riot. Anyway, I decided that it was high time … Continue reading What It’s Like to Be Postictal (in My Own Very Personal Experience) →

(Not Going) Back to School

For the first time in as long as I can remember, I haven't been looking forward to Labour Day. Seeing as I seamlessly transitioned from taking to instructing courses, I’ve never lost that fall “going back to school” excitement/anticipation despite being in a year-round doctoral program. I love the rhythms and structure of the academic … Continue reading (Not Going) Back to School →

Shakes on a Plane

I apologize if you find the title at all insensitive. I tried to resist—I really did—but alas: I'm a sucker for a pun. If it's any comfort, all shaking to which I refer in this post is expressly my own. We’re flying to North Carolina on Saturday for a week in the Outer Banks with … Continue reading Shakes on a Plane →

Why It’s Important, and Will Be Important, to Think about Robin Williams’ Death

As almost everyone with access to media of any kind knows by now, Robin Williams committed suicide yesterday morning. While he was relatively open about his battle with mental illness, a cross-section of the many, many reactions to his death on my Facebook feed—mostly sadness and shock—suggests that few people were aware that he faced … Continue reading Why It’s Important, and Will Be Important, to Think about Robin Williams’ Death →