Jenny Q

My new wording for inviting classes of uni students to inform me of their preferred pronouns: "If people tend to get your pronouns wrong, feel free to tell me the right ones in advance." Hope it's ok.

Is Gowan Canada's Freddy Mercury?

Heads up if you have a dissertation hosted at UAlberta's ERA service. Mine is currently listed as "not found." Might want to check yours.

Maroon is a neutral colour. Who's with me?

Lumber store tips: don't bring your purse. Stick your bank card inside your phone case and keep your hands free.

Husb observes that "Money for Nothin" is the UK version of the Canadian "Takin Care of Business."

I thought ours might be closing down, it was so dry.

Since not everyone knows, never tell someone they look a. Pregnant b. Tired c. "Like I feel." Thank you.

Eau de staticguard

I beat the tiktok algorithm. It thinks I'm an Irish national.

Not a NIN fan but "Head Like a Hole" sure resonates these days.

OpenAI says it has proof that Deepseek used its work without permission to create something meant to undermine and destroy its product.

On behalf of all the authors whose novels and stories were taken as training data, oh no that must be so hard for you.

I've written more than my fair share of rejection letters to fiction writers and it never occurred to me to tell them I appreciated all the hard work that must have gone into their piece. Why? Because it is patronizing and weird to say that to any professional doing their job. No thanks.

Out walking after dark alone, man on the sidewalk coming my way so I head through the snowbank to cross to the other side. He calls out something I don't hear and I sing back, "Just in case, just in case!"

Leaving comments on student essays: "This reads like you dictated it on your commute using speech-to-text, but it's better than chatgpt, so rock on."

What I'm probably wrong about: the gender of that French noun; how much spaghetti we're gonna need; whether these shoes will make my sock creep down. What I'm not wrong about: who used ChatGPT for their essay.

I say we take Handel's Messiah (with the Hallelujah Chorus plus the movements where it sounds like the sopranos are holding live wires) and put it in a time capsule for 10 years. It will still be there for us, but our small market symphony orchestras will have to perform something else at Christmas.

Teaching university creative writing, the more-talented who don't work hard write better than the less-talented who do work hard, but they are nowhere near the more-talented who do work hard. Not even close.

Don't want to mess up the nice time we had this semester with a bunch of marking.

Fast fashion is pink. The best place to find natural fibres in a department store is in the men's section.

Oh! We just did this. Try behind the molasses.

My ear when it’s time to put my hearing aid in: "Not the bore worms..."

When it’s your sister, liking 7 months of posts in one sitting is a GOOD thing.

Find a man who would rather choose the household olive oil himself.

Debating whether to start class today with Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" MV. I'm thinking, yes. But now I can't pick between red dress or white dress versions.

My kids' scout readers made them play this

Mine said "Kids should be reading tape measures, not..." something something drag queens. Because it can only be one.

I love that film, and I also have bad titles.

Department mixer and I'm so happy there are nametags for the colleagues I've had for years after I spent the day trying to learn the names of 167 new students.

Academia is my second favourite cult -- maybe my third.