Life lessons

My mother, Ko Kil-Ja, discovered her talent and passion for Korean brush painting when she took up the art while recovering from breast cancer.  Today, she is a prolific artist who has had her work showcased in several exhibitions. In honour of her 70th birthday, I decided to post some important life lessons that I learned from her. 1. The world owes us nothing. The reality…

Year of the Snake

Sunday, February 10, 2013 Happy Lunar New Year, and welcome the Year of The Snake.   Just for fun: Korean Lunar New Year in Photos Celebrating Lunar New Year in Korea Lunar New Year predictions for 2013  Chinese Astrology  – history and useful information Find your Animal Sign Year of the Snake: The Serpent Behind the Horoscope: Five Parallels Between the Zodiac Sign and…

My first e-reader (sigh)

When I was asked if I wanted an e-reader for Christmas, my answer was a flat out, “no”.  I love the texture of paper pages, the smell of new books and the worn-out feel of second-hand books. I also love walking into bookstores and being surrounded by books of all sizes, shapes, and colours. But when the second book that I really wanted to…

Memorable characters

“It’s told from the point of view of a horse,” my daughter, Claire, told me when she started reading Black Beauty. “I don’t know if I want to read it.” She finished the book today, and concluded that it was a great read, and Black Beauty was a character she wouldn’t ever forget. When Claire asked me to name some memorable characters from books…

Writers who passed away in 2012

“Don’t talk about it; write.” – Bradbury, 1976 I recently read a list of writers who passed away in 2012. Donald J. Sobol, writer of the Encyclopedia Brown series, passed away in July. Leroy, aka Encyclopedia Brown, is a boy detective who used his intelligence to solve neighbourhood mysteries. Some of my fondest childhood memories in Canada include going to the public library where I…

“toenails twinkle”

I was riding the subway when a group of teenagers were reading and talking about the poem wedged between two ads. For over ten years, Poetry on the Way, has been placing short poems on TTC subways, cars, and streetcars in Toronto. “Poetry is what gets lost in translation,” said one of the kids quoting, Dylan Thomas. I was most impressed! Ever since I first…

Creative confidence

I watched a great TEDtalks video entitled, “How to build your creative confidence.” David Kelly provides some interesting insights on developing creative confidence, overcoming phobias and achieving self-efficacy (the belief that we can deal with any challenges that life presents us). I especially appreciated his comment that we are all “naturally creative” in our own unique way. Unfortunately, that belief is too often quashed…