Columns

AUSU Update

Dear Members, You may have recently seen information on the internet speculating about the future of Athabasca University. These reports suggest that the Alberta government may broker a merger between AU and University of Alberta, and that this may result in drastic changes to the services and programs offered to students AU students. We want… Read more »

From Where I Sit – It Won’t Be Easy

A little while ago I did something you probably take for granted. I sat on our sofa. Not long enough to make a butt imprint, mind you, but long enough to remember what it was like to live in a non-renovation state of being. That comfy piece of furniture has been covered with canvas painter’s… Read more »

The Mindful Bard – 5 Broken Cameras

Film: 5 Broken Cameras Directors: Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi Screenplay: Guy Davidi Genre: Documentary ?There’s a little bit of heaven in that muddy road to freedom.? from ?Follow the Drinking Gourd? (American Negro spiritual) Battle at the Centre of the Earth we’re standing at a steel gate at the West Bank barrier that keeps… Read more »

From Where I Sit – What I Did on My Mexican Vacation

I was one of 33 people who traveled to the Riviera Maya for my niece’s wedding. Plans were in the works for about a year. It would be the first time our extended family had done any such thing. January 27 was travel day. Five bridal couples and their guests made for a relaxed, party-like… Read more »

Write Stuff – Romancing the Tome

Smiling, cherubic Cupid, that traditional symbol of Valentine’s Day, is always pictured holding his bow and arrow. And more often than not, he manages to find his mark. But if Cupid wants to improve his aim, he’d be wise to start carrying a book. Because if there’s one scene that says hearts and flowers these… Read more »

AUSU Update

Dear Members, You may have recently seen information on the internet speculating about the future of Athabasca University. These reports suggest that the Alberta government may broker a merger between AU and University of Alberta, and that this may result in drastic changes to the services and programs offered to students AU students. We want… Read more »

The Mindful Bard – Fat Kid Rules the World

Film: Fat Kid Rules the World (2012) Director: Matthew Lillard Cast: Jacob Wysocki, Matt O?Leary, and Billy Campbell ?Misfits aren’t misfits among other misfits.? Barry Manilow Observing the Folly from a High and Lonely Place and Consenting to Join It Have you ever painted yourself so tightly into a corner that when an obviously dysfunctional… Read more »

From Where I Sit – A Good Thing

As the LRT train filled with countless groups of women, the anticipation was palpable. We had all plunked down some major coin and had no concrete idea of what we were going to get for our money. Like millions before us, we were making a leap of faith and in the process stroking off a… Read more »

The Mindful Bard – Samsara

Film: Samsara Director: Ron Fricke Genre: Documentary ?The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers and cities; but to know someone here and there who thinks and feels with us, and though distant, is close to us in spirit?this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.? Goethe The Silent Verbosity… Read more »

Write Stuff – Espresso To Go

How do you take your Espresso? Medium-dark with a hint of Dickensian workhouse? Or perhaps you prefer something lighter, like Mark Twain’s Library of Wit and Humor. Whatever you choose, it can be ready in minutes at the Espresso Book Machine?a device I was lucky enough to see in action. The Espresso I saw sits… Read more »