Uninhabited Spaces

A letter can change your life. This one changed mine. 32 years ago this month a letter arrived from Queen's University that offered me admission. If I recall accurately, my mom called me at my summer job at my dad’s car lot to let me know the envelope had arrived. I was the detailer- the kid who cleaned every inch of the car, inside and out, to get it ready for sale (My closest friends would tell you that was a rather appropriate job for me). I left my home in Aylmer, Quebec, and arrived at Queen’s, at the tender age of 17, in August 1989. Like Bilbo, I went on an adventure and I fell instantly in love with my new school and city. I came to age at Queen’s and experienced some of the worst and greatest moments of my life. What has forever bonded me to that endurable collection of limestone edifices on Lake Ontario is the people who were always in my corner, of which there were so many. From the embarrassment of riches that were my professors in the extraordinary department of Philo...

So it’s May 1993 and I am on the STO bus between Aylmer (Quebec) and Ottawa. I see a friend from Philemon Wright high school named Stephanie Turner . We get to talking, and by the time we reach our respective stops, Aylmer Youth Theatre is born. We somehow wrangled in Dave Shoebridge and Mathieu Astieu and we had the founding directors of an amateur theatre company. Our mission was to provide a gathering place for Francophone and Anglophone youth in the Outaouais region to come together through live theatre. It appeared we helped to fill a vacuum, as we ended up engaging over 60 youth from 6 high schools as talent and production staff (waving to folks like Scarlett Hawthorne , Josh Turner, Geordan Turner , Karen Mackay, Mw Cb , Joelle Lefebvre , and Michel Bailey ). Our debut show “Resurgam” was dedicated to Wendy Glover , and featured a play from our junior company, “The Knight Before Glasses”, and a play from our senior company, “Sisters” ( David Curtin might recall an infamously ...

My love of writing and the free press started back in high school as part of the team that produced the Philemon Wright H.S. “PW Flash” (yours truly is front right in the black and white photo, circa 1987) alongside some wonderful peers like Stephanie Turner, Andrew Low, Kariann Picard, Lars Roberts and others. I have vivid memories of the smell of the mimeograph. When I went to Cegep Heritage College , I and my brilliant classmates Andrew Low, Tracy Hutton , Heather Bilkes , David Clark , and many more contributed to “The Mushroom Magazine (this cover from the November 1988 issue). Upon arriving at Queen’s, I continued to write, providing op-eds for Queen’s Journal and Queen’s Gazette, and publishing essays in the peer-reviewed Queen’s Anti-Racism Review and Queen’s Undergraduate Review. After I graduated, I was on the board of Kingston’s Progressive Independent Community Press, where I met the awesome Damian T. Lloyd , Gord Campbell , and Renée Stephen . I later won a short story co...

I once got into an argument with a colleague who patronizingly scoffed at my assertion that theatre was analogous to team sports. He dismissed me completely when I tried to explain that a company of actors, technicians, artists, and musicians have to come together under pressure and time limits to perform at their highest level possible. He laughed at me and said, “But there’s no competition.” I replied that you have to compete against your previous performance and the changing audience. He was not convinced. I demurred to keep the peace, but was hurt at the disrespect for the physical and emotional effort that is live theatre. This memory takes me back further, to 1986, where yours truly is in “Oliver”. My memories of high school are largely associated with the incredible group of people I met through drama class and musical theatre, under the wonderful guidance of the amazing Wendy Glover . The second photo is from 1988 and our production of “Grease”. I think this image captures m...

Without a doubt, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were largely responsible for the architecture of my childhood imagination. So when LEGO Space came along, it was a match made in, well, outer space. This scene is yours truly with one of the original classic sets. It was either me in my bedroom with my LEGO, or you could find me running through the tall ferns of the forest pretending it was the moon of Endor. The sands of shoreline by our home was Tatooine. The marsh in front was Dagoba. As I grew older, I realized that the best sci fi is not really about space and aliens, but rather about us very messy and especially complicated humans on Earth. My imagination was always a constant companion as a child. I have tried to nurture it and to dream up better worlds.  

So it’s 1976, maybe 1977. Yours truly is onstage at Churchill Street Public School in Ottawa, narrating the Nativity Story. I’m not sure how it came to be that I was selected for this very important job, but clearly the teacher saw something in little colour-coordinated me. This photo surely must be my first public speaking role (And what a lovely striped shirt). It’s something I have loved doing for as long as I can remember. Just give me a mic, I always like to say. In future posts I will talk about my time in theatre. This post is about antecedents, my dears. For while certainly a performance, public speaking is me representing myself and not a character. Or, perhaps more truthfully, the character is me. Those who went to high school with me will remember they would either see me on stage in plays or having way too much fun doing morning announcements (including what might be considered mini radio-style commercials I wrote and performed with friends). There was also a failed, yet v...

I was an only child for 9 years. In 1980, our family grew when my sister Angela arrived, followed by my sister Marsha in 1982. I’ll defer to my mom to fact check me, but I’m pretty sure I was ok with having siblings arrive. I was drafted for babysitting duties from an early age and tried my best to help my mom. In some ways, I helped raise my sisters and I took that responsibility seriously. I have fond memories of treasure hunts I created for them, and they really loved wheelbarrow rides (especially when it crashed). I remember my sister Angela would talk to me a lot while still in that toddler gibberish stage. She seemed to want to share with me, even though I had no idea what she was saying. She certainly had a lot to say, though. She hasn’t changed. She still likes to talk and share with me. At least now I understand her. My sister Angela is the heart of the three of us. She truly does give herself away. She works in healthcare, and as our dad was dying, I learned more from her ab...

  So, 2021 is the year I turn 50 and I thought it would be fun to put together a selection of key moments of the journey so far in a little exhibition called #Yearof50 . It’s not really about me so much as moments that mean a lot to me. So please indulge me as I rummage through the past and bring up some memories that are the mile posts of the road so travelled. And please share your own memories too. Ahem, so the first entry is this little fella that I assume is hanging out in a park in Ottawa somewhere around 1975 (I’m counting on my mom, Jackiline Hodgins , to let me know). This is one of my favourite moments because it reminds me of my mom, summer, Jiffy Pop, learning to ride a bike, and Janice Joplin, Styx, and Joe Cocker blaring out on vinyl.

Our ride to and from Boston Approaching Ptown on the ferry Yer man on Race Point Beach Typical view along Commercial Street Race Point Beach Herring Cove Beach So, how do I get my hands on one of these? The entrance to our home for the week Mark making lunch in our kitchen What a beauty! I love New England architecture. Mark on the inner harbour beach Oysters on the shell and wheat beer. Mmmmmm The three towers of Provincetown One of our favourite restaurants. Gotta love that entrance! The Squealing Pig, one of our favourite taverns The Crown & Anchor, home to the best cabaret acts and piano bar Now that is what I call a beach house! The view from our favourite cocktail bar, Harbor Lounge Ambling along Commercial Street A Provincetown institution Lunch and Bloody Marys at the Lobster Pot Celebratory rally following the landmark SCOTUS ruling View from the Tea Dance at The Slip You knew t...