Tuesday, February 28, 2012

U of C Memories

Image from ucalgary.ca
The year was 1999. I was in my final year of communications studies at the University of Calgary when I had the good fortune of landing an internship with what was then called arch, the U of C's alumni magazine, with then-editor Charlene Rooke. The mag didn't have an official internship; I just emailed Charlene and asked her to put me to work. And thankfully, she did. I learned a lot about writing from Charlene--one of Canada's best magazine writers and editors. I'm still grateful to her to this day. It was during that time that I fully realized my passion for the written word and that I could actually make a living as a writer. Plus I loved seeing my name in print. Hundreds, if not thousands, of bylines later, it's still not old.

This is just one of many fond memories I have of my alma mater. So it felt good to write for arch's latest incarnation, U magazine, and profile a few fellow alumni: Adam Legge, Christine Klassen and Deborah Herringer Kiss, who are also carrying out their life's work here in Cowtown. Check out U's Winter 2012 issue.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Make-Believe: Not Just Child's Play


Do you remember playing make-believe as a child? I sure do. Some days I was a daring superhero; others a fairytale princess; still others a famous superstar. Little did I know then that all that play was in fact preparing me for my adult life. Okay, maybe the superstar days don't have that much application, but make-believe play is actually critical to developing important life skills. And they don't just stop at childhood. We continue to use make-believe as adults when we mentally play out various scenarios. I explore this topic for Canadian Living and it was quite an eye-opener. So when Annabel starts dressing up and playing with imaginary friends, I'll know that it's all good.