A question for each, and to each, their own.
When I learned to talk about what my dad was like to me, to my brother, to my sister, I didn’t have much to say. I’d been spared the details, but the feeling remains to this day.
Something changes for a child when their parent dies. Something happens to every person alive when a loved one passes away. Pain and struggle, grief and destruction, series upon series of unfortunate events, these are worthy of the pen, and so are stories of heroics, accomplishment and peace.
We each need to have the space to speak our piece. It’s not a wish…
It’s been a while since I updated my Desert Island Bookshelf, so here are five more titles for the mix.
For this edition I’m including sets of books that I’ve been listening to through my library’s audiobook app, since that’s what I’ve been addicted to lately. I highly recommend listening to these titles, but obviously books are nice too.
Divergent Series: Veronica Roth
Coming in hot is the series I was most skeptical of to begin with. I had compared Roth’s work to Collins’ Hunger Games. I was partly justified, since Katniss and Tris are similar, yet where Katniss never pinned down her destiny, Tris does so meaningfully again and again. …
If you’ve been lying to yourself as long as I have, you might want to read this just to prove me wrong. Enjoy.
I was listening to a Jack Reacher novel and I had an epiphany. The characters were briefing for the fight of their lives and there could be no doubt in their minds they would pull it off.
“You have to know you’re the best.”
That statement hit me like a left hook. I’ve been living like a secondary character. I’ve been acting like a victim in my own book. I’m not saying I’m the best, but I’m the best I’ve got.
See, I throw my characters into melees all the time, but I’ve never had to fight for my life…
If you haven’t seen the incredible footage of Craig Foster’s documentary, get to it.
I was watching this haunting film a few days ago, but I wasn’t able to finish it. After fast-forwarding through Foster’s self-fantasizing intro, I was finally enthralled by the cold, stark images, the dark waters, the lurkers, the jellyfish.
The cinematography was absolutely absorbing. The moral was missing.
SPOILER ALERT:
I shut off after the filmmaker let his octopus friend lose her arm to the sharks. Foster says he had to let nature take its course. He had to…as if anyone would get angry with him for shooing away a shark…
It’s the age old question: what is the record…
How exactly can we overcome fear?
Today I was unflinchingly inoculated against the Flu and several other infectious diseases. The incredibility of this situation may not be obvious, but with a little history, I think you’ll be just as amazed as I was.
My earliest memory of getting vaccinated took place in a large room where I sat in my mother’s arms and she rocked me back and forth. She held me in a vice grip, suffocating me against her chest, while the doctor injected me and she sang the ABC’s in a shaky, breathy voice. …
I found out about Aaron Hicklin’s Desert Island Bookshelf quite a few years ago, right about the time I was headed out on the road for a climbing trip. The idea is to only keep the books you could not live without, but if you’re a bibliophile…that’s all of them. I only really had the space for ten books in my van, so I was able to take the advice.
When my partner and I set out towards Montana, we thought we had packed everything so proficiently and securely, but it was a matter of minutes before we heard rumbling…
If you haven’t already seen Hail Satan? (2019), then I suggest saving this story and returning here once you’ve had a chance to form your own opinion of the film.
You are about to read seven tenants of The Satanic Temple. A set of rules for how one must govern themselves should they choose to join this unusual church. CAUTION: THESE MAY SHOCK YOU!
THE SEVEN FUNDAMENTAL TENETS
One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason.
The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend.
To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is…
In the wake of all the “What I eat in a Day” videos on YouTube, I figured I would be straight up with the public about my own staples, treats, and dirty little secrets. Plus, it’s kind of fun to peer into the fridge and think critically about what I’m putting into my body.
So first things first, I want to talk about what I was eating about three years ago, when I was still a fresh little cabbage patch kid. …
What has been the hardest item in your home to let go of, even when you know it’s no longer serving you?
How many of us have piles of Christmas Cards stashed away in a drawer right now? The holidays have wound down and we finally must come to terms with the fact we have to take down our decorations. Except even as I am sweeping away the last cookie crumbs and sparkly tinsel, I can’t help but feel like my space is just not clean.
Every nook and cranny of my house is over-flowing, and I’m starting to panic…
We all have those wolves in our families, the ones who wait until the debate is high and the gravy is flowing, and then just when things get interesting, they come in for the buzzkill. Whether it’s your slightly bigoted elders, your crazy vegan sisters, or your overbearing in-laws, it seems that the holidays become their hunting ground.
I am guilty of being the wolf in reindeer’s clothing. There I’d be, stress eating the garlic stuffed olives, while everyone is sharing about their experiences on the paleo diet, and I just can’t contain myself. …
Kassandra Dick
Kassandra is a Canadian freelance writer and soon-to-be author. Her debut thriller, Habit, comes out this spring. Poetry/Prose: https://theprose.com/KassKatt
