verainvancouver@gmail.com

  • Crazy From The Heat

    Crazy From The Heat

    I wanted to quickly express my astonishment that my post about Davie Village received well over a thousand views in just a few days, a first-time occurrence for anything I’ve written on here. The majority of the traffic was visitors to my site–as opposed to subscribers–and only two things could possibly have brought that about:…

  • Celebrating Trudeaustan Day

    Celebrating Trudeaustan Day

    …with my favourite song of all time, by a band that was criminally underrated and should have been massive. And yes, that’s the leader of our country in blackface. Two flawless studio albums, and they then threw in the towel because the world in the very early 90s was too fixated on hair metal (okay,…

  • What Makes A Teacher Great?

    What Makes A Teacher Great?

    Thanks for this daily writing prompt, WordPress, because I can speak from first-hand knowledge. Not only was I an ESL teacher for many years, I was also a teacher trainer, meaning that I instructed fluent-level international students on how to be effective, creative English teachers in their home countries. I loathed teaching. Despised it. Never…

  • The Ongoing Ennui of Davie Village.

    The Ongoing Ennui of Davie Village.

    The West End of Vancouver isn’t huge at all.  It’s a neighbourhood consisting of a handful of blocks in a grid, the furthest area west of downtown you can go, mere steps from English Bay and Stanley Park.  It is not to be confused with West Vancouver or the West Side of Vancouver, which I…

  • Brutalism in Vancouver.

    Brutalism in Vancouver.

    I am not referring to the job market, the cost of living, or the misanthropy of the residents in my particular neighbourhood, although any of those would be perfectly acceptable as material for this topic.  I am talking about an architectural movement that has been an object of mild fascination for me ever since I…

  • I Know Liberty, And It Is This Caftan.

    I Know Liberty, And It Is This Caftan.

    This wouldn’t even be close to a gunpoint-at-head scenario; it would be sweet relief and freedom. I purchased that caftan–an item of clothing I had never considered owning, never mind wearing, in my entire life–back in the summer of 2020. Along with all of the other atrocities and grotesqueries the world was forced to submit…

  • Ode To The Father

    Ode To The Father

    Last Sunday was Father’s Day, an occasion which we Lower Mainland Doukhobors commemorate by holding a picnic / potluck at some obscure park out in North Delta.  Obscure, but it’s actually called Annieville Lions Park, which works well for me since I’ve been living in my own version of Annieville for over a decade now.  …

  • Candy is a food group.

    Candy is a food group.

    Growing up, I was lucky to have parents who worked full-time, yet came home to cook a nutritious dinner for us every single night. Our meals were standard fare–salads were always on the table, every single night, along with some version of chicken, potatoes, pasta, meatloaf, Doukhobor vegetarian food–while the memorable things that stick out…

  • Lady, You Might Have A Drinking Problem.

    Lady, You Might Have A Drinking Problem.

    Wine flies when you’re having fun. In dog wine, I’ve only had two glasses. Keep calm and pour on. Booze is the answer, but I can’t remember the question. Not cute. You might want to start analyzing yourself and what it is that you’re doing to your body, mind, and life, because it’s not cute. …

  • Favourite (with a “u,” please) Book From Childhood Was…

    Favourite (with a “u,” please) Book From Childhood Was…

    Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren. I wish I could remember how I first heard about it or got hold of it. Actually, strike that: I now completely remember. Our elementary-school librarian, Ms. Boniface, used to gather the first- and second-grade students together a few times a week to read aloud to us from her books…