Alex Carrick’s Blog

The Carrick family thinks it has the nicest pet dog in the world, a beautiful golden retriever named Daisy. But even we know there are times when Daisy seems a little lazy. A dozen-plus examples follow. (1) She once had a race with the oak tree in our back yard. The oak won, the dandelions […]

[Read more →]

How hot and humid is Toronto this summer? There’s no question it’s a scorcher. We’re setting new record highs daily.   It’s such a sizzler that…  (1) Out-0n-bail G20 protesters have declared a moratorium on burning cop cars. (2) Casual Friday has become sponge bath Friday; (3) All of the city’s mayoral candidates want to tax and license running […]

[Read more →]

Tracy Tindale was at her wits end. This was the Olympics in which she was supposed to shine. Instead, she was struggling again. While most of the problem was mental, it wasn’t all her fault. In fact, her condition had recently been given a name. It was going down in the medical books as a […]

[Read more →]

In early September, Leonard Smith covered over his family’s backyard pool and started swimming at the local health club. It wasn’t a fancy club, but it still required a membership fee. This restricted the number of people who had access to the property. Nevertheless, whenever Lenny tried to get in a swim, at lunch or […]

[Read more →]

I have decided to write about the year I lived in residence in Massey College at the University of Toronto because I have a bad feeling about post-war “baby boomers”. Having had some experience with human nature, and aging parents, I know the boomer generation is likely to become quite nostalgic as the years plod on. I […]

[Read more →]

I’ve taken up roller blading. The joke is that it’s to save on gasoline. But it’s actually because I’ve done a lot of ice skating and how much harder can it be to roller blade?   Turns out, it’s a lot harder. Ice is slippery, but it’s flat. The roads I’ve been going on with […]

[Read more →]

My wife, Donna, writes crime novels, five of them so far. It’s hard to get published these days, for a variety of reasons, and Donna is self-publishing.   She has an Internet site, but also knows how important it is to network. As part of this effort, she attends functions of Sisters in Crime and […]

[Read more →]

The one spectator sport I am still really interested in is the NFL on television and I have to admit it may not be for the best of reasons.

[Read more →]

The Olympic Games are a wonderful sporting and cultural event. There is no doubt that the athletes are the world’s elite.   However, the games could do with being opened up a bit more. And I’m not talking about simply adding some sports that would seem to be obvious contenders such as drag racing, ballroom […]

[Read more →]