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I bought Hummel’s book because there is a picture of a man solo-paddling an old wood-and-canvas canoe on the front cover. For me, that image is even more powerful than the words “Don’t Panic” written in big letters. I’m a sucker for marketing. In the first chapter, after describing what it’s like opening up a [...]

I was driving my late-model Neon down the right lane of a busy four-lane street in Brampton a few years ago. The air-conditioner had broken down a year earlier, so I had the windows rolled down. Traffic was moving at an aggravating pace. Rush hour. I pulled up alongside a gas station with a driver [...]

The Screwtape Letters © 1942, renewed 1996 Includes Screwtape Proposes a Toast (© 1959, renewed 1987) San Francisco: HarperCollins 209 pages I’ve read through this book a number of times. The first thing that always strikes me is the perspective.  Lewis is writing from the viewpoint of a Senior Devil (Screwtape) to a Junior Devil [...]

Six short days from now, I’ll be starting my canoe trip from Missinaibi Lake to James Bay. In honor of the trip, I thought it would be appropriate to give an excerpt from my favourite wilderness author, Sigurd F. Olson. Listen to the beauty of his prose as he talks about sunsets: Sunsets had always [...]

Imagine you had thirty seconds left to live. The scent of fresh-cut flowers tries in vain to mask the chemical smell of the hospital room. Your friends and family surround your bed, listening eagerly to hear what you’ll use your last bit of strength to say. What would it be? I’m not sure what I [...]

His Dark Materials Omnibus (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) New York: Alfred A. Knopf 933 pages Reactionary Christians irritate me. I’m convinced that there’s a certain breed of believers that live to protest whatever pop culture serves up. These militant believers target everything from Harry Potter to My Little Pony. This [...]

I’ve started rereading Lewis’ corpus. After giving away so many tattered yellow-covered copies to my friends, I started searching for solid hardback copies I can mark up for posterity. The Screwtape Letters has long been one of my favourites. Every time I read it I’m struck by the poinancy of his observations on human nature. [...]

My favourite quote this week comes from 17th Century Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan. I stumbled across his work in a slim Dover Thrift collection of 100 Best-Loved Poems (Dover Thrift Editions). I remember buying it from a magazine store in Windsor while almost penniless during an internship about a decade ago. Here are the lines [...]

I’ve just noticed that the beautiful “sodelicious2 green 2.0″ theme that I chose for this blog doesn’t display properly in IE. I’ve been a Firefox guy for years, so it took me a while to notice. I’ll fix this as soon as I can figure it out. Thanks for your patience. Update (June 7, 08): [...]