The way things are

As a doula, I see new parents who, while they’ll admit to knowing almost nothing about babies, are also filled with certainty. One couple’s infant is sleeping through the night. Another’s doesn’t sleep at all unless he’s in the...

Pictures; almost no words.

Last night, Peter and I went to liberate some of the gazillions of snails that have taken up residence in our aquarium. Semi-unwittingly, we chose the sweet spot between thunderstorm and sunset. In the space of about half an hour, this is what we saw. (God, I love...

Bright, dusky, bright

The horrifying roar of Boeing 757 engines; the Enya ringtone of the Nokia phone the convention organizers gave Peter; the grand piano and tourist murmur in Temppeliaukio church; the whir (almost everywhere, outside) of bicycle wheels and thud of joggers’ feet;...

Run Caitlin Run

To say “I’ve never been one for exercise” is to vastly understate matters. I inherited a quick metabolism, and a couple of people over the years have said sweet, misguided things like “You look like you work out!” and “You obviously do yoga or something.” Until last...

Corinthian Column

I got a nosebleed at Delphi, in the spring of 1986. In the spring of 2013 (six days ago, in fact), a computer virus deleted all my contacts and every single message I’ve received since I opened my Gmail account. I was stupid. I’d saved everything on Gmail,...

Peake and Sweet: together at last

To Sweet’s alarm and delight. If you’re in Toronto on the morning of Saturday, June 8, and can make it to the wonderful Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy, check out the Academic Conference of Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy...