So it turns out Tech Support was right. A canoe CAN be used as an icebreaker. Provided the ice is only about 1 cm thick, and you’re willing to back up repeatedly in order to generate fresh momentum. The ... Read More  

Confession – when I was a senior in high school, I was totally obsessed with Jesus Christ Superstar. Not the completely dreadful movie version, which I suspect was filmed under the influence of a LOT of mind-altering substances of dubious ... Read More  

Yesterday was the vernal equinox – the day with equal hours of light and darkness that marks the coming of spring. “Equal” being an approximate term, of course, depending on your latitude. At this time last year, my particular latitude ... Read More  

There were two things that my teenaged friends and I ended up doing at nearly every birthday party we had: 1) play Taboo and 2) watch Grease. John Travolta’s piercing blue eyes were definitely part of the appeal. We also ... Read More  

Tech Support stares out the window at the lake behind the house. Tech Support: Looks like the lake re-froze over night. Me: Yup. Tech Support: I bet it’s thin enough that the canoe could double as an icebreaker. Me: *about ... Read More  

I hate Daylight Savings Time. Hate it. My mental functioning is very tightly linked to sunlight. I want naps on rainy days, and the darkness of winter is a terrible trial for me. That’s why I celebrate Winter Solstice as ... Read More  

Musicals are one of my favourite forms of fantasy. After all, stopping in the middle of a gang fight for a spontaneous, perfectly synchronized dance number would be crazy in real life, but in West Side Story, it makes ... Read More  

Behaviour is what you do, culture is how you do it. This is totally obvious in human cultures, which have rules and guidelines for every behaviour – from table manners to what we wear to how we greet each ... Read More  

I am super excited about this, because any excuse to spend more time in the Harry Potter Universe works for me. I can’t wait to see how they take a bestiary and turn it into a story. November is ... Read More  

They are letting the ladies kick some butt. Ink Master, if you’re not familiar, is a reality show tattooing competition that, while full of crude language and characters most discretely described as “colourful,” also provides some pretty fascinating insights into ... Read More  

There are a lot of reasons to like Leap Day. It helps February feel less absurdly short. It inspired a cool Irish tradition and an adorable romantic comedy flick of the same name. It means that people born that ... Read More  

Well, I’m back from my conference and nearly caught up. It seems to take two days for every day you’re away to re-establish a steady state. I’m sure there are mathematical equations involved, but quite frankly, I’m still too ... Read More  

So I got home from New York to find these waiting for me: And then my Public Lending Right payment came. Which means good news all around. Both books are for ages 8-12, and are on sale now through your ... Read More  

I’m flying to New York this morning for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference. Blog will be quiet until I’m home and caught up on sleep, but check Facebook and Twitter. I’m hoping to have time to ... Read More  

It’s true – DNA fingerprinting is an incredibly powerful tool for forensics, in part because DNA can tell us: if a particular person was at a crime scene (TV CSIs call this “getting a match”) the identity of a ... Read More  

And now I am exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. Have a great weekend, everyone! Read More  

I was procrastinating on the internets this morning, as one does, and I came across this handy chart for determining whether you are a geek or a nerd: As it turns out, I am nerdy with a sprinkle of ... Read More  

Because it’s been a long day already and I’ve been staring blankly at the screen for ten minutes, thinking about naps instead of typing. But all is not lost, because I have science writing friends. I highly recommend Sci/Why, ... Read More