Canada | Mostly Bright Ideas

Browsing All posts tagged under »Canada«

Listen Carefully

August 1, 2014

Here’s a thing I’ve noticed. It has to do with accents, but the theory can be applied to a lot of other things, as well: The farther away we are from a place, the more everything seems to look and sound the same. I’ll give you an example, because so far you have no idea what […]

Careering Out of Control

November 4, 2013

In a recent moment of inexplicable self-assurance, I blurted out my intention to run, simultaneously, for president of the United States and prime minister of Canada. It isn’t that I think I could do a better job than either of the two people currently occupying those positions. It’s that I no longer believe anyone could. […]

Dueling with Citizenship

October 26, 2013

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I’m an American citizen, a privilege I acquired decades ago when I was born in the United States. This year, I became a Canadian citizen, too, after filling out a long application, providing additional paperwork to prove that I exist, and paying a fee of several hundred dollars. I also swore my allegiance to the […]

Afterthoughts (Part 3)

September 24, 2013

And then there was a place called Purgatory. It was where you went if you were too good for Hell, but not good enough for Heaven. At least, not yet good enough. Purgatory was, in effect, a series of waiting areas with gray walls and beige carpeting. Or maybe it was the other way around. […]

More Misunderstandings (Canadian Version)

December 7, 2010

My wife and I arrived in 1993 for our first visit to Prince Edward Island, a place that would eventually become our home. Soon after driving off the ferry and getting onto the Trans-Canada Highway, I noticed the cars coming the other way all had their headlights on. Where we came from, the only time […]

Crossing the Line

October 4, 2010

My wife and I are American citizens, and so are our kids, but we moved to Canada twelve years ago. It wasn’t a political statement of some kind. We weren’t trying to escape anything or looking to pursue a different lifestyle. We were just visiting and happened to find a house we loved. In our […]