Things that deserve the pink-eye:

Big sniff energy?

whatever this is. 

Gross. 

😒😷👎

Yes indeed, practically every time I acquire a head cold with a runny nose, if I blow my nose too hard AIR ALSO COMES OUT OF MY EYE! 

Yes, you read that correctly.

I did not have rebellious tear-ducts on my aging bingo, but here we are. This condition is apparently more common in older folks, babies, and those who've broken their noses, all conditions that currently describe me—the baby part is apt since I have a cold and I'm a man—and yes I did add this for preemptive reasons in the comments. ;)

The only bonus: no pink eye. YET. 

Dear friends, aging is no a (decidedly) laughing matter. 

Let's be honest:

I took your suggestions
and bought some instant coffee. 

most cupcakes are more like HALF a cupcake. It's a terribly injurious misnomer. 

Mine? More like mugcake. 

And now it's time to chugcake. 😜

Dear friends, a joke to boost your Friday in this sorry world...

What do you call an island populated entirely by cupcakes? 

Desserted.😊

Lifework

I'm so inspired by the Artemis II astronauts. (Click here to read about another likewise inspired Gen X'er.) 

The mission is a milestone achievement for us Canadians as it marks the first time a Canadian (Jeremy Hansen) is part of a lunar mission. If you're following it, you also know it's the first time a woman (Christina Hammock Koch) has orbited the moon. And it's a Canadian-U.S. collaboration. Sigh, I remember those days fondly. 

I first heard about the mission over a week ago while watching a news clip during which a cynical news commentator cited the mission as yet another distraction by the US administration to deflect from ongoing scandal after scandal. At the time I felt just as cynical. I still do. How can I not? As I mull over this war and its warmonger leader easily rage-bated by a criminal regime he and his claquers thought he could bulldoze down over the weekend to do what...build a statue of himself and a ballroom? Insert 63 swear words and the barf emoji here. 

It's exhausting.

But, dear friends, look to some real leaders: the men and woman aboard this ship the size of a ten-person tent. Their aim is to test the aircraft's systems for future missions and exploration, and that in itself is historic, but in the clip below, there's a truly human operative unfolding: I'd call it lifework. Using this opportunity, the astronauts seem to surprise a fellow crew member with a touching dedication, one that speaks to authentic legacy: not greed, not fame, not to escape consequences, but what we selflessly do in the name of honour and friendship. 

Show & Kvell

To those who celebrate, a happy Easter. I'm taking a moment today to show and kvell. 

Along with hand-sewn fabric eggs concealing treats and toys, my son's partner made these stuffed bunnies for all the children in our family. Those kids were stoked! And me? If you know me, you know I adore makers and aim to encourage all things creative. But what I did not know was the word kvell, a verb that expresses feeling great pride and happiness. 

Dear friends, it seems to me this sorry world needs more kvelling, more uplifting hearts, more sursum corda. So today, whether you were hiding or hunting chocolate eggs, or just giving and receiving in all the ways you do any day, keep kvelling and carry on.  

Things that deserve the stink-eye:

Rob. ber. y. 😡

I never thought I'd have to quit turkey cold turkey! 😮 

You Know When...

You know when you've already mixed a few ingredients and then remember your Grandma's chocolate cupcake recipe requires a cup of coffee and you don’t drink coffee and the only way you've ever made coffee is with those one-step Keurig cup-thingies but after an extensive (man-eyes) search you realize you're out of those handy microplastics-laden pods so you make eye contact with your coffee machine which looks as though it's time-traveled from the future and also it's looking back at you all hostile (insert The Good and the Bad and the Ugly whistle here—stay with me, I'm going somewhere with this) and let's be honest, we all think we're smart until we have to use someone else's coffee-maker (or microwave) and to complicate things further, your coffee-loving spouse is out of the country and your recipe absolutely requires coffee because there's no substitute for the delicious alchemy of chocolate enhance by brewed coffee (again, thanks Grandma) and the indifferent internet says just go ahead and make cowboy coffee as if at some point in your past you've freelanced as a misfit horse-riding posse member hell-bent on revenge who just drinks off the top of the coffee cup and spits out the dregs and so whatever focus you're wasting time with your incessant pea-brain (borderline pathological self-amusing) inner brainstorming nonsense so stop being a dork and so you finally focus and get to fixin' some joe and grind some pantry coffee beans and then you discover coffee filters so you rustle up your own more refined version (not really) of cowboy coffee by scotch-taping the filter into your favourite mug and you wonder if cowboys had scotch tape and the indifferent internet says scotch tape was invented in 1930 well dogies suddenly there it is: your version of cowboy coffee and holy shit it kinda worked and as the cowboys say, what in the tarnation? And that, dear friends/ cowboys/ cowgirls/ cowfolk, is how you brew it. 

Start Fresh?

scream start fresh

It seems to me that children typically start fresh every day. And we adults...do not. And it seems to me that in restoring ourselves, it helps to be like a child, to assume the necessary disposition—open, curious, unfettered, and, er...not so damn uptight?

Dear friends, I know I have been whining about this for weeks now, and I apologize for that, but I think I think I THINK Spring is finally ready to get on the fucking dance floor!

(Sorry...still a tad pissed off.) 

Sure, today's forecast high is a mere -5C / 23F...and yes, that's still a heap of smoldering garbage BUT, if I adjust my disposition to childlike pep talk mode, I must admit that it's SO MUCH SUNNIER here FINALLY the sun the sun the sun. Despite the temperature, there's (almost) melting! That's a win! Plus, I HAVEN'T SHOVELED SNOW FOR (nearly) 24 HOURS. 

What I'm saying is this: I've lowered my expectations and it's embarrassing but I'm actively summoning some version of childlike ignorance to cope with this interminable transition aka I'll take what I get and pretend the recess bell just rang and call it STARTING FRESH and if you live in northwestern Canada, that the best one can do. 

If being less uptight doesn't work, does anyone want to meet up and scream? 

Going

"I walk in the world to love it." 
Mary Oliver

Angry? Go for a walk. 

Confused? Walk. 

Overwhelmed? Walk. 

Stuck? Walk. 

Worried? Walk. 

Low? Walk. 

A walk has a way of thawing what's frozen within. Keep going. 

For those who love...

Homer Simpson said it so well:
"I'd be a vegetarian if bacon grew on trees."

Just a little bacon appreciation post for those who love salt and happiness. 

Years ago a friend oh-so-randomly filled a pause in the dinner party conversation by remarking, "Frick, bacon's expensive!" 

Well! You probably had to be there to fully appreciate this, but we laughed all night about his well-timed but left-field declaration and FOR YEARS NOW, whenever there's a lull in the game-night or supper discussion, someone inevitably drops this arbitrary statement and we laugh and laugh again. 

Dear friends, I hope you and your pals have inside jokes.   

( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜)

  weatherroneous

Dear friends, I introduce SPRING in Northwestern Canada. 

One might call our version of Spring 2026 less of a welcome seasonal change and more of a meteorological paradox. 😠

While other (northernish) bloggers tell of snowdrop flowers and actual butterflies, featured here is the (repellent) view through our lower floor window. Yes, that's our backyard (tomato garden box entombed) and yes, that's the peak of a neighbour's home in the distance. 

Although locally quite on brand for this winter, all this flake news has become MORE and MORE and MORE snowtiresome. 

Insert rage sigh here.