Here are a few of the things I’m grateful for this year: The conversations I’ve had (and recorded) with my mom. Everyone who walked with me and let me take all the photos. Ice cream meetings at Ed’s. Plum dahlias. www.canva.com/design/DAG8u...

“Peace” process = more Russian escalation and outrageous territorial demands. #Ukraine 🇺🇦

Moving into David Frum’s house to start an open-pit mine in his living room. Confident he won’t stand for “the country’s courts…inventing new obstacles to development.”

Keeper

Getting rid of cookbooks is not easy. Near the end I get ruthless.

My most cynical view leaving 2025 is about the “peace” process. That word has been abused this year and has lost meaning and weight.

We can’t track a truck?

Every time I hear Geoffrey Hinton interviewed, I worry about what we have embarked on with AI.

There is going to be flooding. The it turns into a skating rink.

Some end-of-year political and economic reporting is grossly overstated and hyperbolic. Consider two headlines today: "This is Donald *r!&p’s world,” and "Putin has succeeded in dividing the west." What?! Wrong! Both are from mainstream media.

All of my followers on both the Bluesky mobile app and website have disappeared. Anyone else have this problem? @support.bsky.team

Here are a few of the things I’m grateful for this year: Following the urge to go down to the lake on December 24th, and feeling awestruck by the shimmer and sparkle of the sun on its surface. www.canva.com/design/DAG8u...

Here are a few of the things I’m grateful for this year: Following the urge to go down to the lake on December 24th, and feeling awestruck by the shimmer and sparkle of the sun on its surface. www.canva.com/design/DAG8u...

So many of us remember the ice storm of 1998.

Good gift @pleasuremotors.bsky.social

A superb plant-based dinner — Impossible Burger meatballs flavoured with ginger, garlic, green onions, and Asian seasonings. Simmered in a rich vegan mushroom sauce from @voulahalliday.bsky.social www.instagram.com/p/DSc_jZ-DQq...

People always seem surprised when I tell them this story, but it is funny! I mean if you can win recognitions and get big jobs I supposed you are never supposed to let people know stuff like this. But hey, some people will never like your work (or think it is genuinely bad). That’s okay!

I admired him. Beginning with his interviews with Joseph Campbell. What he says about the coupling of media and government off the top is plain and powerful.

*sigh*

A good human sent me what I am calling: the note of the year. So very lovely. Frames the day. ❤️

The Old Mill parking lot was packed today. I forget how many people go out on Christmas. I'll take a pass on the mayhem that is the all-day Christmas buffet.

Covered Bridge in Winter Maud Lewis c. 1967

Humber River #Toronto

I have a glut of cabbage (which is not a problem). Last night I made a coleslaw with a ginger dressing which has turned into lunch with some leftover chicken and candied nuts made by a friend. Lunch after a long walk.

today’s tunes

Another poem from Jay.

Village on the Lower St. Lawrence Randoph Hewton c. 1925

Former head of trust and safety at Twitter, Yoel Roth, demonstrating the intellectual dishonesty of “In Covid’s Wake” by showing how they distorted his own words to make them say the opposite of what he was arguing.

On a package this week.

A perfect day on the lakeshore. #Toronto

This week I sent Mark Carney and Karim Bardeesy (my local MPP) an email about affordability as it relates to food bank use. I’ll let you know if I hear anything. These days, I’m not holding my breath. #Cdnpoli

One of the most batsh*t crazy stories I have heard this week was reported by Zoe Chace and Suzanne Gaber on the political influencer war in Portland. SMH! @thisamericanlife.org

A couple of people I liked have left this platform.They were cut off from their community. The heavy-handed moderation left them feeling isolated and disconnected. It’s food for thought moving forward.

Have a beautiful Christmas Eve wherever you are.

“The influencers call her Pamtifa.” This is insane, America. Brilliant reporting by Zoe Chace. @thisamericanlife.org

Affordability issues in Canada I want to track in 2026: - Grocery prices, and comparative international pricing. - Food bank use. - EU trade deals and investment in the grocery sector. - Grocers quarterly profits. Grocery is one sector in Canada that’s desperate for competition. #Cdnpoli

New poems from my friend Jay Heinz.

Chonky, but still fits in the sink. 🖤

I'd like a "Made by humans" or "Made without AI" sticker.

I made Poilane's Walnut Financier and added candied ginger. They are made with breadcrumbs and are a bit more dense than a financier made with nuts only. The emphasis in the recipe is not on sweetness — the flavour is complex — and it's a clever way to use leftover bread.

Robert A. McCabe (American *1934) A caique (traditional, wooden Greek fishing boat) laden with grapes arrives at port at sunset, Katapola Amorgos, Greece, 1960s. From Robert A. McCabe’s fascinating photo book “Wooden Boats of the Aegean”

Gordon Lightfoot and Bob Dylan jamming in Lightfoot’s Toronto Rosedale home in December, 1975 during Rolling Thunder. That night Joni Mitchell would drop by and debut ‘Coyote,’ her Sam Shepard-inspired classic. (Unfortunately Dylan’s The Bootleg Series has some unfortunate caption errors).

Jane Fonda is not a coward. She’s been speaking truth to power her whole career.

You know who aren’t cowards? The people sharing Sharyn Alfonsi’s CECOT story. 60 Minutes, CBS, Paramount, and Bari Weiss are cowards.

The number of cowards in America is astonishing — in media and the Republican party. They keep piling up. It's a growing mountain of cowards.

Potage Crécy with buttery brown bread shards.

Get out the relish tray. It’s pickle talk. www.canva.com/design/DAG8E...

Exactly