The Fog Is Here

The fog settled in today. That harbinger of winter, in my humid coastal city, as the temperature cools and the air turns itself opaque. It happened within moments, while shopping with my roommate for ingredients for our official welcoming winter meal. We entered the store through clear air and emerged into mist. I feel comforted […]

The Google Heart

I recently attended a talk by writer/artist/designer Douglas Coupland where he mentioned offhand – as though it were common knowledge – that Google is becoming sentient. As he describes, Google the company is currently sending out its minions to collect information on anything from anywhere to add to “Google” the online entity, because it apparently expects “Google” to […]

On The Fear Of Becoming a NEET

Dear Ms. Weibelzahl, Excuse the abruptness of this correspondence. I’ve heard all about you and your upcoming move to Ottawa. As it so happens, my organization is based in Ottawa, and we are in need of someone with your qualifications and experience. I have already reviewed your profile on LinkedIn, and believe that you would […]

The Other “F” Word

My Japanese high school students are doing group work on the pros and cons of the Internet, and I’m challenging them to come up with something more creative than “The Internet is bad because danger!” when a word pops out at me. A student has doodled a cute wide-eyed character on the bottom of her team’s paper, and drawn a […]