Marion Agnew

Sometimes it's helpful to get a different perspective. Even if you can't open the window, you can find a new view. Even if the window, and/or the picture, is slightly crooked.

Yesterday I learned something new, which is always one of my favorite things to do. And bonus: it involves office supplies! For those playing along at home who ALSO aren't 100% used to bilingual packaging for office supplies, "trombones" = "paper clips." In The New Yorker from February 1, 2016 , Nathan Heller writes, in "Air Head," about flight and airports. (Something I didn't know I was interested in until I read it, the sign of a good article.) Here's a quote from the last third. Writers and travellers alike do their best work when they don't know what they're looking for; disorientation requires problem-solving, and a new landscape holds secrets still.... To land somewhere unfamiliar is to force yourself into alertness, to redraw whatever maps you have, to set the stage for creativity more than mere pattern-matching productivity. I like the distinction he makes between pattern-matching and creativity. I'm not sure i

Sometimes the mail brings such pleasant surprises. The Spring 2016 issue of The New Orphic Review  (a fine Canadian publication based in Nelson, BC) includes my story, "Two for Balance." I hadn't anticipated seeing it before the fall. The story's about Thunder Bay. And love. And odysseys. I'm so glad it found a home.

Today I'm walking around singing, "So keep on looking for that bluebird and listening for his song." Because we're having an April Shower, all right. This kind. I sure hope it's snowing vi-o-lets. Go here to hear The Velvet Fog's version of the song. Hiya, April.