I completed my VIVA in January 2026, and I wrote pretty extensively in a previous post titled How I survived my viva and PhD thesis defence in creative writing about how I prepared. The preparation phase is the most dominant part of the PhD journey. It’s the one we all fear. So, even though I […]

Heated Rivalry seems to be getting hotter and hotter. But one debate about the show is why it seems to be depicting a fantasy world. One of the common complaints I’ve seen online is that the story is not realistic. Hockey players continue to exist in a world of homophobia and trauma, and this brings up feelings […]

  Heated Rivalry is now officially a cultural phenomenon in Canada and abroad. It feels like the entire world has locked into Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov’s story, and I want to highlight some of the defining symbols in the story, particularly the Canadian highway, as well as our cultural reaction to the show. I […]

Last year, on February 12, 2025, Seattle Times reporter Danny Westneat penned an article titled, There’s not much to say, Canada, except: Sorry which laid out his response to Trump’s economic tariffs, and Canada’s unsavoury response. He said, “The awkward reality is I don’t know what to say to Canadians at this juncture in our […]

Yesterday, I had a post take-off on Threads when I said that my PhD is on the liminal qualities of the Canadian highway. I had asked if anyone had taken videos of any highway drives, that I would love to see them. Then, 144 comment later, I found myself with a treasure trove of highway […]

A few weeks ago, I went to an event in Calgary at the Grand Theatre hosted by a group called Build Canada. I can’t remember how I came across the event details, but since leaving my full-time government role, and submitting my PhD thesis, I have a bit more flexibility in my schedule these days […]

It’s that post-election hangover. Canada hung on to its democracy under a barrage of American economic threats, invasion rhetoric, misinformation campaigns, and head-spinning electoral politics. It seemed like five minutes ago that Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government was waning and every “bro dude” I know was gleefully counting down to Pierre Poilievre’s imminent victory. Then suddenly […]

When I moved from Calgary, Alberta to Edinburgh, Scotland in 2017 for my master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh, I was pretty anxious. Even though I had already been the to UK many times, and had friends here to help me out, moving overseas is difficult. The process of relocating is different for everyone […]

I’m now at the point of the writer’s journey where I look back at what I’ve made, and think: it’s time to get serious. But querying agents is such a bizarre feeling. It is especially weird because I have spent my career in advertising and PR, so I have won and lost many pitches over […]

It may seem out of place that I’ve taken a sudden shift in my blogging to go from something creative to something political, but this is one of the tools I have to formulate my thoughts on what is happening in the early days of February 2025. It’s not a surprise that Canadians are none-too-thrilled […]