So This Is Canada: 12 Unguarded Observations of a Returning Canadian

Reverse culture shock is an interesting beast. It’s been six weeks that I’ve been back in Canada after living in Japan for four years, and I am in a weird headspace. People ask how the adjustment is going; it is certainly bewildering. I feel that I have not actually adjusted a single bit, but that I have […]

Notes From The Afterlife

I have been absent from this place for a good long while, and some of you may have thought I’ve dropped of the face of the earth, which wouldn’t be strictly false. I’ve gone on a journey of sorts, one I can never return from. A journey to the afterlife. The life after Japan, that […]

Forget Vigilante Justice, We Need Vigilante Mercy

The Internet. Possibly one of the greatest social experiments in the history of our civilization. The Internet is many things: a network of information. A community of people. A platform for ideas. A forum for conversation. The Internet is a powerful, adaptable, by-us-for-us tool… but for what? While the Internet has been used as a […]

The Hidden Message of “Pi Day Primer”

To celebrate Pi Day a few days ago, I made a very special post, carefully constructed to contain a hidden message. And it has been suggested to me by several people that I need to reveal the answer, lest an angry mob assemble outside my door (led, probably, by my husband himself, who’s quite upset […]

Pi Day Primer

Pi Day is a special day celebrated on March 14th every year, by math nerds, number lovers and pi(e) enthusiasts around the world.

From Vancouver To Sochi With Love

Dear People of Sochi, Hello, Bonjour, Privyet. I’ve been meaning to write you for awhile, but as the dust settles from the Sochi Olympics this seems like as good a time as any. There is something that has been nagging at me since before the beginning of these games, and I’m sure it hasn’t escaped […]

What Does A Canadian Look Like?

A. B. C. D. E.

GTA V: When Almost Perfect Isn’t Good Enough

The Grand Theft Auto franchise is no stranger to controversy. So when the fifth installment came out a couple of weeks ago, it was almost daring the public to come up with something new to trump the tired, old criticisms with an innovative line of attack. The “public” did not disappoint, but it wasn’t what […]

Arrrrr, Here There Be Pirates! Pirate Lore as Cultural Literacy

Ahoy, me hearties! Yaarrrrrrr, I’ve not seen yer faces fer awhile on the high seas. Alas, I’ve been locked up in the bilge, teachin foreign tongues to some green landlubbers. But t’night I be scribblin in me Captain’s log, so pillage yerself some grog and let some other scallywag swab the deck fer now. Illustration […]

What’s The Opposite Of A Banana?

When I tell people I’m part Filipino, they take one look at my pasty white skin and thin blonde hair and unsurprisingly raise their eyebrows. This is usually followed by an impromptu interview of sorts, to discover the basis of my curious claim.