Personal Interests
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Today is the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, established to honour survivors of the residential school system, their families and communities. “The residential school system is a national tragedy borne by colonialism and propelled by systematic racism… Today is a day for commemoration and a day for Canadians to hope for a better…
Read MoreOn Growing Old and Facing the End of Life
I’m often struck by unexpected similarities between the books I choose to read. One year I read several novels and a magazine article that were all involved mining. It wasn’t as though I went looking for that theme – it just happened. More recently it happened with a different theme altogether. The Book I Didn’t…
Read MoreBreak Time: 2020 Reading Challenge
If you follow me on Goodreads, you’ve probably seen at least a few of my book reviews, and you may even know that I’m several books ahead of schedule on my 2020 Reading Challenge. I’ve been reading so much that even with a few weeks to go, I’ve already completed Modern Mrs. Darcy’s 2020 Reading…
Read MoreMy Photography Life in 2019 and Plans for 2020
I haven’t blogged about my photography hobby since the end of 2017, so I’ll start by bringing you up to date. I participated in 52Frames throughout 2018, but skipped a couple of weeks when my husband was in the hospital, so I missed out becoming a “Weekly Warrior” (what they call someone who has posted…
Read MoreSet Your Compass to Reach Your Goals for the New Year
With the new year less than three weeks away, it’s time to reflect on your successes and failures from 2019 and set new goals for 2020! A couple of years ago I learned about YearCompass, a fabulous free resource to facilitate this process. Before that I found the whole process of figuring out how I…
Read MorePhotography + Productivity = Perfection
If we’re connected on social media, you’ve probably noticed that I’m an avid photographer. A big part of digital photography takes place in the editing process, after the image has been captured, and I enjoy trying out different apps to see how they can make a ho-hum photo into a good one, or a good…
Read MoreAre you living your passion? Am I?
People become self-employed for many different reasons. Sometimes it’s by choice, because they want a more flexible schedule, for example. Sometimes it’s out of necessity, because they’re out of work and unable to land a job. Sometimes it’s because they’re truly passionate about something. The types of businesses they start are even more varied. They…
Read MoreNow and Then
My sister recently wrote a blog post with the title “25 Random Things About Me.” It began: A friend recently sent me a “Memory” of hers that popped up on Facebook. It was something I’d tagged her with ten years ago. What’s still the same? she asked me. What has changed? Here’s my answer. In…
Read MoreA Great Year for Reading
It’s been a rough year personally, but my best year ever for my web design business, and a truly amazing year for reading. I’ve been looking forward to writing this post for months so I could tell you about some of the books that have delighted me. Modern Mrs. Darcy’s 2018 Reading Challenge I enjoyed…
Read MoreThe Librarian
I’ve had a library card for as long as I can remember. A long time ago, I’d browse the shelves and select some books to take home and read over the next few weeks. I still do that occasionally, but I’m far more likely to look for a specific title in the library catalogue, request…
Read MoreFirst Look: Family Trust by Kathy Wang
Although it’s been a pretty rough year for me, a lot of good stuff has happened too, especially in my reading life. After already enjoying tons of wonderful books (which I’ll talk about in a future post), I received a copy of Kathy Wang’s first novel, Family Trust, through HarperCollins Canada’s First Look program. Family…
Read MoreThe Year I Became a Grown-up
For a long time I’ve been puzzled about why I don’t feel different than I did when I was younger. In a blog post (When do you feel grown up?) from a few years ago, I wrote that “… age really is just a number. We are who we are, and even we mature physically,…
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