Hello convenience shoppers. I am talking to you. (That bag of pre-mixed-and-washed salad you are tossing in your cart? You’ll get no judgment from me.) But please, let me try to convince you, even if you’re an entry-level do-it-yourselfer, that it is possible to reclaim kitchencraft. All you need is a couple of mason jars,…
Talking totem poles with post-colonial First Nations artist, Lil’watul Levi Nelson
When Levi Nelson entered his piece, Anthropology, for the IDEA Art Award competition in March this year, he only told the judges half the story. The contest winner would have their painting bought for $5,000 and installed at the Joseph and Rosalie Segal Family Health Centre, the mental health wing at Vancouver General Hospital. It…
You don’t have time to volunteer, so maybe you should
What science, and Katrina Onstad, author of The Weekend Effect, claim to be the best way to hack time Katrina Onstad hates brunch. The Toronto-based journalist finds it to be a colossal time-waster, although she phrases it more delicately. “I’m a little ambivalent about it. I have had some really nice brunches. But the culture…
Future-proofing the world, one packet of loaner seeds at a time
On Wednesday, the first day of summer, I borrowed a packet of shelling peas from the library. I sifted through a box of seeds, picked out the peas, signed my name to the register and pledged to return my loan in, oh, about 5 months time – once I’ve planted and eaten its harvest, and…
How Patagonia’s Worn Wear Program Will Make You Love Your Old Gear
This story first appeared at Mountain Culture. The other day I resigned from my day job. I walked out of the CAO’s office and into the washroom and realized there was a hole worn through the elbow of my shirt. Good time to be returning to freelance life, I thought. At least I can keep…
Proof that what you put out into the world comes back to your tenfold (or 3 out 10 million reasons reasons to love Pemberton)
It just occurred to me, after learning from our local librarian that Pemberton’s circulation figures are literally off the charts, that I could not have landed in a better place. By off the charts, I mean, books move through this community at a higher rate than any other library in the province that serves a…
Sorry to break this to you, introverts, but we need to get out more.
It’s the economy, relationships, stupid My spousally acquired health benefits expire when the ski season ends, so in April, I decided to make a last minute, literally down to the wire, effort at addressing a chronically neglected issue and its mysterious new sidekick, by booking a visit to a physiotherapist. Cue several lightbulb moments: this…
Your Leave no Trace philosophy needs an upgrade: #leavetraceoflove
I rode a quick lap of No Err the other morning. It was 10 days since the Nimby Fifty bike race had sent 230 riders that way, and I assume that four of those racers were responsible for the discarded energy gel packets I picked up along my ride. A few scraps of litter doesn’t…
Zero Waste meets bee-love in Squamish-based khala cloths
When Asa McKee goes to work in his home studio in Squamish making khala cloths, the plastic-free food wraps he invented with wife Tamar, he cranks the tunes (Grateful Dead, live concerts only) and starts cooking down beeswax, sourced from bee-first apiaries. “The whole house gets super warm and floral-smelling,” says Tamar. It’s planet-friendly, kid-friendly,…
What winning the lottery really means
When the $2.2 million cheque arrived from the BC Children’s Hospital Lottery Foundation on Thursday May 11, it was one week since Lana McKenzie discovered she had bought the winning ticket. She had $33 in her bank account. The 44 year old former receptionist at the Village of Pemberton, and her husband, “Dumpy” Shanon Dumbleton,…
If you don’t have Rules to Live By, steal these
A newly single friend has gone on a bit of a tinder-bender lately. I’m talking a globe-trotting sex tour connecting with openly available people on an intimacy bullet-train – swipe right, doors open, go rapidly and directly to your destination. I’ve thought a few times about asking him the secrets of a successful and satisfying…
Garlic Independence Day
I have not bought garlic at the store for at least 5 years. Not so much as a single bulb. I have achieved Garlic Independence. I don’t say this to brag. I’m proud of it, sure. But I also deeply suspect that the minute you announce publicly “I am an amazing garlic grower”, your just-now-reaching-for-the-sun…
