Adolescence is generally solipsistic and hyperbolic. Being broken up with, then, feels like the worst thing in the world, and everybody cares about it. It’s not, and they don’t. I know of people who dated in high school, got married, and are living happily ever after. Had I done so, I would have forfeited over…
Ten Things I've Learned
Guestpost #52: Yu Murai – Representative of Kaimaku Pennant race (a theater company) – Ten things I've learned from being a stage director (after the devastating earthquake and tsunami 3.11 in Japan)
I met Yu first when I worked in Vancouver for the PuSh Festival, and later in New York City, where I was witness to one of the most bizarre, funny, unique, and inspired pieces of contemporary performance I have ever seen: “Romeo and Toilet“. Yu is the artistic director of Kaimaku Pennant Race, and I…
Ten things I've learned from voting
Voting is an inherently altruistic act, because while your actual vote generally makes absolutely no difference (at least within a large population), the principle of an individual act of voting, writ large, determines the government. So, voting is like Kant’s categorical imperative…would society fall apart if everybody voted? No. What if everybody did not vote?…
Guestpost #51: JP Davidson – Ten things I’ve learned from being a moderately successful podcaster
For over a year, JP Davidson has been creating I Like You (http://ilikeyoupodcast.com), a weekly podcast about love, like, dating, and the opposites of those things with his partner Elah Feder in Toronto. Bringing together true stories full of depth, humour, and heart, JP and Elah don’t just study love – they snuggle it into…
Guestpost #50: M – Ten things I've learned from my first year of working at UVic
Note: My name is M, and I’ve worked at the University of Victoria for almost a year. I got my BA for History In Art here, and have learned just how different it is to work here than be a student. Not better, not worse, just different. A lot of people in Victoria (and elsewhere,…
Guestpost #49: Caitlin Kelly – Ten things I’ve learned from being an author
I don’t know Caitlin personally, but I was honoured when she submitted a guestpost. She is an accomplished author and blogger. Caitlin Kelly’s new memoir, “Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail” (Portfolio/Penguin) was called “excellent” by Entertainment Weekly and compared to “Nickeled and Dimed.” Her first book is, “Blown Away: American Women and Guns” (Pocket Books, 2004). A Toronto…
Ten things I've learned from having "queer" friends
Note: in university, I was taught that the word “queer” has been re-appropriated as a sort of catch-all for any sexuality that is not “heteronormative”. But since normal doesn’t really exist (it has to do with Derrida, or something), then we’re all a bit queer! I guess you can also use LGBTTTQ, if you want to…
Guestpost #48: Sally Smallwood – Ten things I’ve learned from studying comedy
Sally Smallwood is a gifted comedian, a talented improviser, a writer, and a very smart and funny woman. Here is her website: http://www.sallysmallwood.com/ Here is her blog: https://cameronandsally.com/ Laughter truly is the best medicine. It’s a physical and emotional release, like crying. Laughing every day helped my husband overcome chronic anxiety, and become the Sexiest…
Guestpost #47: Courtney Walker – Ten things I've learned from sitting in the courts at Old City Hall
Courtney is a writer, director and improvisor. Her very clever blog is here: http://cjwalker.wordpress.com/ Her ITC bio is here: http://www.impatient.ca/people/courtney-jane-walker/ Preface: the summer after my second year of university I got my first job in TV as a researcher for the CBC show “This is Wonderland.” This required me to sit in the courtrooms in…
Guestpost #46: Elizabeth Black – Ten things I've learned from being a game show contestant
Liz Black is a writer. She writes a little of everything (a comedy website, a blog, thank you notes to loved ones), but she has also been a game show contestant on the Game Show Network’s program Chain Reaction. Chain Reaction is a word game where teams of three compete against each other for very,…
Guestpost #45: Stephanie Harper – Ten things I’ve learned from being a beekeeper
Bio: Stephanie Harper is a 38 year old medical laboratory technology student about to graduate and become a person with a paycheque. Before that, she was a beekeeper with a home business selling honey, natural cosmetics and beeswax candles. She is a mother, a freelance writer, a city-born-country-dweller and a student of the universe. Sometimes…
Guestpost #44: Chas Cook – Ten things I've learned from using mobile phones in Canada
Note: I don’t know Chas personally, but my understanding is that he’s British. Bio: Chas is an upper middle 40’s musical nutcase brought up on a solid diet of The Clash, Stella Artois, Leeds United, designer football violence, hip shaking dance music and small scale civil disobedience, now ‘jailed’ in Toronto despite numerous failed escape…
Guestpost #43: Stephanie Sheri – Ten things I've learned from being in the independent rock band Pan Out Now
Steph is a friend of mine, a musician, an improviser, and an all-around awesome person. She is also an excellent vocal coach: http://www.dragonflymusiclessons.com/dragonflymusiclessons.com/home.html Note: After graduating music college and being a professional working musician in Toronto, I took the plunge and co-founded an original rock band called Pan Out Now. It was an intense 13…
Guestpost #42: Chris Besler – Ten things I’ve learned from being a lifeguard (at a lower-income apartment complex)
Bio: Chris has utterly wasted a decade making people feel merriment through his improv, and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Talk to him about movies or nerd culture, and he will not shut the hell up. He performs weekly for the Impatient Theatre Company and he swears he’s going to start writing that damned…
Guestpost #41: Alex Baird – Ten things I've learned during the past (and arguably the best) twelve months of my life
Alex is an ITC improviser, and a former teammate of mine! Here is her ITC bio: http://www.impatient.ca/people/alex-baird/ The domestic dog is an amazing creature. I got my own dog, Harley (a super-adorable Pomeranian/Papillon mix), last April. I give him most of the credit for making 2010 the best year of my life. He’s noisy and troublesome,…
Ten things I've learned from going to a diverse downtown high school
Note: I went to Jarvis C.I. in Toronto. Sometimes, a high school needs to hire security guards to ensure student safety. We had Carlos and Ramon (AKA Mini Carlos). They ensured student safety by selling counterfeit jeans out of a locker and hitting on high school girls. There was a time when everybody at Jarvis…