99 Ways to Leverage Our Humanity
For better or worse, many parts of the world have been recently occupied – and in some places, like Vancouver, these occupations may be coming to an end. Many elements of the Occupy Movement have issued demands. Personally, I see…
The Case for Wal-Mart
The mega-company is called Walmart and its – or his/her, because corporations are people – motto is Save Money. Live Better. I will venture a guess that – ahem – about 99% of this blog’s readers do not believe that…
When I Turn 90 I Will Have…
On Saturday, the Horn Family migrated to the seaside retirement town of Sidney – where, recent findings show, everyone’s grandmother lives. And we were there to celebrate the 90th birthday of my grandma, Virginia Horn. One of our family’s traditions…
Trusting Community
Last Thursday I was playing in my weekly Tier 2 Men’s Basketball League game. We won, but that’s not what this story is about. This story is about trust. As I sat on the bench during the game (I get…
Pedal Etiquette – Drivers are too nice!
Most weekdays see me ride my bike home from work. And the lovely and talented Michelle Burtnyk-Horn rides to and from work every day. Recently, we had a chat about similar problems that we were having with drivers at four-way-stops.Long…
“I Am Enough” – Wholehearted Communities
I just finished watching a very awesome TEDx Talk by Brene Brown, who is Research Professor at the University of Houston’s Graduate College of Social Work. As a self-described Storyteller – though she admittedly downplays this colloquial title in the…
On Getting Old
It’s Saturday afternoon. As I type this every part of my body is throbbing with the dull ache of stiffness, fatigue, defeat, and aging. On Thursday night, my basketball team was thoroughly trounced by our younger, sprier opponents. The nine…
Overhearing Community
And my point is this. Listen to the people around you. In addition to all of the hilarious stuff that we spout-off, there are also a lot of interesting, meaningful and touching snapshots of creative concepts that we might overhear that might be world-change-worthy that might inspire the best idea you’ve ever had. So listen to your community. Trust me – and trust Dave and Graham – it’ll be pretty great.
Vacations and Canada’s Work Ethic
I love the rumour/fact that the French are in possession of the most productive economy on the planet. The argument that the French get the most done while spending the least amount of time at work was recently put forward by Business Insider’s John Carney and Vincent Fernando. The Wall Street Journal and MSNBC, however, counter with some solid arguments about American productivity – not only do Americans spend more time at work, but they also produce more wealth-per-person than anywhere else.
Youth Literacy Day!
There are few organizations that I like more than 826 National (and all of their regional affiliates, for that matter). The organization combines writing, community and pirates. Few places/people/things/nouns have established such an utterly perfect Venn Diagram. In honor of…