I check all the boxes for an ideal sucker for Duolingo, the glorious language "learning" app that feeds on my need to achieve all the things. Within an hour of waking each morning, I complete the three daily quests that Duo, the eerily dictatorial cartoon owl, has assigned me. I know exactly how long it's … Continue reading Streak Freeze
For the most part, things have been going as well as could be expected in a world that’s crumbling to pieces. In the few weeks that have elapsed since my husband and I got home from our latest trip, I've managed to preserve a healthy level of that relaxed vacation energy while also diving back … Continue reading Drain of Energy
Last night just after 10:00 PM EST, I wheeled through the door, had a third dinner, unpacked because I'm constitutionally incapable of neglecting a bulging suitcase for more than thirty minutes, took a long bubble bath, then slept for eight hours straight, unheard of for me. I woke up disoriented in my own bed, half-expecting … Continue reading Same Same but Different
I’m writing this (and publishing it, if I manage to finish it quickly enough) while on a plane bound for Victoria, BC. It’s been six years since I last visited the city in which I was born and grew up. The long separation hasn’t been by choice; until now, my health’s made the trip unfeasible. … Continue reading Go West, Young Wheelchair
It was an unusually long summer and fall in Toronto, a period marked by eerily comfortable temps that lingered well into November and delayed the inevitable freeze of an Ontario winter. As much as I'm alarmed by what T-shirt-in-October days might signal, I was pretty fine with leaving my parka in the closet until weeks … Continue reading Trial by Snow
I resolved many years ago to stop with the New Year's resolutions and instead set and reset goals when it makes sense to do so. It's an approach that usually works for me, and it certainly served me well in 2024. New Year's nonetheless remains an obvious point at which to evaluate the previous twelve … Continue reading On the Eve of 2025
It’s Christmas Eve, and my husband and I are puttering around the apartment wrapping the few presents we bought for each other and enjoying glimpses of our Christmas tree and the faint sound of a holiday album. We pause intermittently to entertain the feline houseguest we’ve been hosting this week or to eat one of … Continue reading A Chill(y) Christmas Eve
By this time last year, I was in my usual full-on, over-the-top Christmas mode. My apartment had been garishly decorated for weeks, my cards had been written and put in the mail, and my Spotify algorithm had figured out that all I listened to was Christmas music and thus suggested nothing else. I had a … Continue reading Having Myself a Merry(ish) Little Christmas
It's the 500-kilometre anniversary of the fortuitous pairing of me and my power wheelchair, a match made in mobility heaven. The time and distance have flown by—too fast, sometimes (I should probably do a better job moderating the speed at which I drive). My power chair isn't a part of my identity, really, but has … Continue reading And Now We Are 500
My husband and I woke up early last Thursday morning, puttered around the apartment, and took a cab to the airport. Several smooth hours later, we landed in Boston. Next was a drive to New Hampshire, where we visited friends for the weekend, going to Maine both Saturday and Sunday. Monday we spent in Boston; … Continue reading On the Road Again (Again)
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 