FLINGINGMINGOES! Every family has a secret language, most of it devised by the little lexicographers known as toddlers. In my house, the tall pink bird that stands on one foot was called a flingingmingo. The… Read More »CHILDHOOD WORDS
This revelation came to me in a blinding flash one day when I was desperately turning coat pockets inside out, upending handbags onto countertops, and pointing accusatory fingers at anyone within earshot. You know what… Read More »KEYLESS ENTRY
The neighbours called to say there was something odd going on. The old house, a dilapidated bungalow, was slated for demolition. Hoardings were up and there was no question that the place was unoccupied. Nevertheless… Read More »NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
When was the last time you saw a snake? When I was a kid there were two types of wildlife. The type you hoped for on a Saturday night, and the type you routinely encountered… Read More »WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE … AND AREN’T
It would appear that we’re heading back to the office. It won’t happen all at once, but slowly, very slowly, our office wardrobes are going to switch over from Crocs and sweatpants to heels and… Read More »OFFICE ROMANCES
We never had this conversation. Ask me about this in the years to come, I’ll deny it. I’ll squinch up my nose, cock my head and say, “Wherever did you get that idea?!” “That oh-so… Read More »CRINGE-WORTHY
We are always looking for reinvention. To march off the edge of our own maps; to ascend summits of our own imaginings. There comes a moment in most lives, when we seek a different expression… Read More »UP AND AT ‘EM?
I didn’t get the name I wanted. I wanted to be Annette. Or Tuesday. Or Dixie. Instead I got Jane. It’s a porridge name. It wasn’t sibilant – meaning sizzling and sexy. It wasn’t mellifluous… Read More »NAMING RIGHTS … AND WRONGS
So, who’s your hall pass? Come on; you know what a hall pass is. If a chiffon-clad, champagne-bearing, Claudia Shiffer were to descend from the heavens and crook a finger … well? This is what… Read More »CELEBRITY CRUSH
A new year is always freighted with reproach as well as aspiration. It appears that this may have been intentional. January takes its name from the two faced Roman god, Janus, who was able to… Read More »DRY JANUARY