My Facebook feed tells me that today is “National Coming Out Day” and as a self-identified “professional gay” I thought it’d be good to write a little post. I consider myself visibly gay. ...
Youth who grew up in foster care are welcome and wanted at university. So says Vancouver Island University (VIU) in Nanaimo which recently announced that they would waive tuition fees for former youth...
When I was 12 I received a letter from the Right Honourable Kim Campbell who served as Prime Minister of Canada from 25 June 1993 until 4 Nov. 1993. “It looks like you got something from Ottawa here,”...
Have you ever had licorice ice cream? It’s my favourite flavour but it’s so darn hard to find so I was absolutely thrilled to learn that my neighbourhood ice cream place, Gleburn Soda Foun...
I have been a journalist for 15 years today. On this date in 1998 the first issue of the Mind’s Eye, a youth newspaper in my hometown of Nanaimo, British Columbia, was published. I was part of the you...
As some of you may know I recently returned from a week-long trip to Quebec. I went out there to be with one of my dearest friends as she celebrated her 30th birthday. She recently moved to Que...
I think I first heard the song “Greatest Love of All” when I needed that love most. It was 1992 and I was in foster care. The love, support, and stability I needed came to an abrupt end every time the...
This weekend my friend Dave and I worked on a gazebo in his mother’s back yard. When I say “worked” I actually mean “constructed”. His mother lives in a secluded area just north of Nanaimo. He needed ...
I was in Nanaimo this weekend visiting friends. I had a wonderful time for most of the trip. Unfortunately, I had the worst restaurant experience of my life. I have this strange phobia of being held ...
I’m going to visit my friend Yuri in Ladysmith this weekend… he’s the older brother of my friend Geordie. It’s a lovely seaside community just south of Nanaimo. About 7,500 peo...