My Journey with AIDS

Rustling the branches of my old family tree

You’ve probably seen the advertisements for Ancestry.ca (or dot-com elsewhere). A few weeks ago I decided to give it a test-drive and I must say I’m hooked! The programs isn’t doing all the work, mind you, as I leaf through two or three...

Published Sat, Jun 18 2011 5:53 AM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: genealogy, biography/autobiography, ancestry

Not pictured

View Full Album I am mindful, on this Father’s Day, that I do not have many photographs of Thomas Arnold (“Arnie”) Chaplin. (The additional ones I do have are wedding party shots with people who might not wish to be published.) However...

Published Sun, Jun 19 2011 1:51 PM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: family, AIDS and HIV, sexual orientation, United Church of Canada, homosexuality, coming out of the closet, biography/autobiography, Father's Day

Joyeux Fête nationale du Québec or Happy St-Jean Baptiste Day!

This is the day after school got out for the summer – at least that’s how kids in Québec view it. June 24 used to be more widely known as Fête de la Saint-Jean, marking the birth of Québec’s patron saint, St. John the Baptist. Having shrugged...

Published Fri, Jun 24 2011 12:01 AM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: Uncategorized

Over 400 “Friends for Life” to thank as they cycle the shores of my gene pond, river, and canals!

There is some hope that this near-historic hot weather will return to “normal hot” by Sunday. I have no doubt that this will be a great relief to all involved in the annual Friends for Life Bike Rally which leaves Toronto that morning on a...

Published Wed, Jul 20 2011 6:46 PM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: AIDS and HIV, genealogy, Québec, Montréal, Toronto, Toronto PWA Foundation, Friends for Life Bike Rally

There is no hierarchy in grief: Of Norway and Amy Winehouse

Please read this from Scott Dagostino, whose writing makes me admire the way his mind works. Being someone who might preemptively describe myself as naive (which endears me to world-wise friends and the ne’er do-well-alike), I must say the title...

Published Wed, Jul 27 2011 12:14 PM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: grief, youth, autobiography, AIDS and HIV, spirituality, Planet Earth has AIDS, mental health, stigma, friendship, Amy Whitehouse, Norway massacre, Scott Dagostino

The Town of Perth, Ontario’s appreciation of her past

My heart goes out to the people of Goderich who learned this week how quickly our architectural heritage can be severely damaged or wiped out completely. Having recently returned from a summer visit to my ancestral home (in Canada, at least, say ancestry...

Published Wed, Aug 24 2011 12:31 PM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: photography, Perth, architecture, Perth Facade and Signage Improvement Program, Perth Heritage Conservation District

A letter to Canadians from the Honourable Jack Layton

August 20, 2011 Toronto, Ontario Dear Friends, Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your...

Published Mon, Aug 22 2011 9:43 PM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: family, youth, writing, politics, human rights, social justice, gender, Toronto, JackLayton, New Democratic Party

There are some blog posts I’d like to forget – on returning to the NDP

I’ve always tried to make this blog somewhat of a record of my life, however fragmented, warts and all. Here in the archives is my defiant abandonment of the New Democratic Party for, let’s say, greener pastures. However right it felt at the...

Published Thu, Aug 25 2011 4:54 PM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: autobiography, activism, AIDS and HIV, politics, Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime, social justice, Toronto Centre, New Democratic Party, Jack Layton

Final tributes to Jack Layton in pictures

Click for pictures from Jack Layton’s final journey today from Toronto City Hall, and then Roy Thomson Hall. It was an emotion-packed, life-affirming day. Read More...

Published Sat, Aug 27 2011 3:35 PM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: Uncategorized, Jack Layton, NDP, state funeral

Final tributes to Jack Layton in pictures (and now with real pictures!)

It was an emotion-packed, life-affirming day. Read More...

Published Mon, Aug 29 2011 12:55 PM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: grief, activism, photography, politics, social justice, Toronto, New Democratic Party, Jack Layton, NDP, state funeral, Toronto City Hall

This post serves as a reminder of what has ailed me in recent days. On the day of Jack Layton’s funeral I spent an inordinate amount of time on my feet, standing in one place, taking pictures, standing in line, etc. A few days later I noticed some...

Published Thu, Sep 08 2011 5:29 PM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: autobiography, health-care, medical update, displaced fracture dislocation of the right distal radius and wrist, Displaced intertrochanteric fracture of the right femur

Aches and pains of fractures of old

This post serves as a reminder of what has ailed me in recent days. On the day of Jack Layton’s funeral I spent an inordinate amount of time on my feet, standing in one place, taking pictures, standing in line, etc. A few days later I noticed some...

Published Fri, Sep 09 2011 9:19 AM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: autobiography, health-care, medical update, displaced fracture dislocation of the right distal radius and wrist, Displaced intertrochanteric fracture of the right femur

Follow-up on my aches and pains

The x-rays (not exactly as pictured) last week were negative for anything untoward. All bones, and metal objects substituting for same reinforcing my femur, are intact. That’s a relief! The aches and pains continue intermittently, however, with...

Published Mon, Sep 19 2011 1:13 PM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: autobiography, Displaced intertrochanteric fracture of the right femur

The Winchester – from draft beer to coffee since before Confederation

I did a short double-take walking up Parliament Street today, approaching the former Winchester Hotel. At the sreet-level entrance to what are now apartments upstairs – to the south of Tim Horton’s - a sign says something to the effect “Winchester...

Published Wed, Sep 28 2011 10:59 AM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: photography, Toronto, architecture, former City of York, Heritage Toronto, Cabbagetown, Parliament Street

A most memorable trip to London long, long ago

I have been scanning some photos stored in shoe-boxes and managed to touch up several from a class trip to London which took place during March Break in 1976. (How fortunate I was – what a privilege – to have been able to go on such...

Published Thu, Sep 29 2011 10:16 AM by My journey with AIDS...and more!

Filed under: youth, autobiography, photography, travelogue, school trip

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