A light-hearted look at baby boomer lifestyle, fashion, current events, and more . . . .
A segment on Cityline TV the other day got me reminiscing about simple things we once enjoyed that no longer exist. Host Tracy Moore missed the old Bi-Way stores for one-stop cheap shopping. Others missed the lunch counters at the original Kresge’s, Zellers, or Woolworth stores. When I worked for Ma Bell in the sixties, there was a Woolworth’s store on the southeast corner of…
Have you wondered lately whether you’ll still be able to carry on an in-person conversation with real human beings when life returns to normal? Will our social skills be so stunted by more than a year of isolation that we’ll eventually wander out dazed and bewildered, incapable of making small talk or actually having something to talk about? As a baby boomer in the vulnerable over-seventy…
Canada axed the old Imperial measurement system and adopted the more global metric system fifty years ago. Back then, I was living with Joan, a friend from my Willard Hall days in downtown Toronto. I clearly remember her confidently declaring that she would not be ‘converting’. She was determined to abandon any previous knowledge of Imperial and declare herself wholely and utterly now in the…
After starting two or three books that turned out to be duds, I was delighted when my friend Terry recommended Let Them Eat Pancakes by Craig Carlson. Terry shares my taste in reading material so I knew I would like it . . . and I did! It was like taking a mini-trip to Paris without leaving the house. The title is a riff on…
The pandemic has shuttered thousands of businesses but despite the odds, there are many independent small boutiques that are managing to survive. They’ve developed a loyal customer base and are employing creative marketing techniques to stay viable. I admire their stamina and appreciate their importance to local communities. These shops deserve our loyal support and encouragement. Many small businesses have created online videos and helpful…
An article in The New York Times Magazine titled Name Days on February 28th by Linda Kinstler, made a shocking revelation. Kinstler’s parents were Latvian immigrants and in order to ensure their daughter was easily accepted and assimilated into the American way of life, they decided to give her a thoroughly pronounceable, spellable, and American name—Linda. What is unusual and even shocking about this choice…
