I discovered recently that a good friend is expecting a daughter. I was immediately thrilled for him and his wife, and spewed forth (as I tend to do because of that pesky little excitement-gene embedded in my DNA) about the special bond between father and daughter; how I am so often awe-struck by the golden [...]
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Marriage is a strange thing isn’t it? Let’s assume we live to be eighty (Google tells us this is a fair assumption). And let’s assume again that during those eighty years we will cross paths with thousands of other human beings. Of those thousands, there will be hundreds of potential ‘mates’. Well, if not hundreds, [...]
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Recently I found myself in the midst of a group of wonderful wild women in a gorgeous Gastown yoga studio…and one fantastically outrageous man (but that’s a story for another time). The guest of honour was getting married in a few short days, and I’d been invited to share some burlesque basics with the bride-to-be and [...]
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I’ve been taking some flack recently. Some think I’ve been playing favourites: that the boys in my family are getting the short end of the stick. Yes, there are boys in my family. The thing is I don’t talk about them because they’re, well, different to the girls. They’re private, and silent…really, really silent. Neither [...]
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I’m one of those annoying people who talks to strangers. I’m not sure how this happened, because my mother tells me I was really antisocial as a child. But I love listening to other people’s stories. You would not believe the astounding tales I have been told while standing in the queue at Safeway! I’m [...]
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I woke up one morning a while back and realised that I’d done none of the things I’d set out to do thirty years ago. Of course I blamed marriage and motherhood for my dismal performance, so I told my husband that my wife-ing and mother-ing days were done. Because Karma ensured that I married [...]
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This is the Year of the Dragon. I’m rather partial to dragons myself. Because I teach preschool ballet, I’ve seen some pretty mean-looking dragons in my time. Three-year-olds have terrifyingly fantastic imaginations, so the dragons in our studio are fairly frightening creatures. They are enormous and ugly – and I mean shiver-in-your-satin-slippers-ugly. And boy, are they [...]
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There is something indescribably beautiful about the Truth. Well, I’m sure there would be if it could be found. When I was seventeen, about to set off into the big wide world, finally on my own (well, besides the financial, emotional, and general all-round support of my parents), the pursuit of Truth was foremost in my [...]
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For the past fourteen years I have spent a large portion of every day wearing tights and wings, carrying a wand, and sprinkling magic fairy dust on unsuspecting forest creatures – how lucky am I! (And no, no drugs, prescription or otherwise, are involved.) I teach ballet, and most of my students are between the [...]
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