This morning as I was walking up Carden Street, I noticed a small feather blowing ahead of me. There was only the lightest breeze, but it hovered just a few paces ahead of me for an entire block. It finally landed at the corner. I picked it up. It was a smallish feather, innocuous grey with a streak of black and some white down. I saw another one ( Read more... )

It has been a strange week. Wednesday evening brought a wave of loneliness and alienation. Fortunately I had plans to attend a volunteer party at Out On The Shelf. I might have stayed home, except I had already promised to drive my friend, Lori. Before going, I baked gluten-free apricot shortbread tarts, one for me and one for her. Lori gave me the ( Read more... )

Since last year I have become friends with someone at Out On The Shelf. This evening she dropped by during my shift and revealed she has been reading Eramosa River Journal since before she knew me or came to OOTS. She appeared embarrassed about it. It's not the sort of thing a diffident person says comfortably: "Hello, I know you much better than ( Read more... )

Today we held the second annual knit-a-thon and raised over $3,400 for Out On The Shelf, which covers our operating budget for a few months. Forty people participated. It's amazing what can happen when you get a bunch of queer knitters together. The event cost OOTS practically nothing, just a lot of time for the volunteers who pulled everything ( Read more... )

I mentioned Ranger Rick magazine on The Yarn a few days ago, and this morning Senior Editor Libby Schleichert commented there. Cool!

After 18 months the Writers' Circle has suddenly taken on a life. For a year it was just me and Sarah quietly working away on our stuff. Then four weeks ago Nicole showed up and added some spark to the mix. Last week ( Read more... )

Nearly three years ago, when I started volunteering Tuesday evenings at Out On The Shelf, the partner on my shift was Denise, a shy Catholic woman just coming out of her shell. A year or two younger than me, she had never had a relationship and wasn't sure where she identified herself in the queer spectrum, but as a social worker, had volunteered ( Read more... )

I've had a lot on my mind lately:

• Yesterday we held a knit-a-thon to raise money for Out On The Shelf. It costs about $700 a month to keep the library open. We hoped to put together five teams of five knitters and raise a minimum of $500. Seven teams turned out and raised almost $2,900. Knitters rock.
  
• Dad's bypass surgery is booked for Tuesday, and ( Read more... )

The Phoenix rises. Out On The Shelf, Guelph's queer library and resource centre, is moving to a new location. This started because the Canadian Mental Health Association, which hosted the library free of charge and provided some funding, lost its budget to do so.

From the moment we learnt about this less than three months ago, the people who run ( Read more... )