Rose's Cantina

Two weeks ago, I received my first unsolicited copy of the Ottawa Citizen. I used to be a subscriber, maybe for twenty years. I also used to subscribe to the Globe and Mail -- even the New York Times ...for a time. I loved everything about newspapers. I wrote for them. I was devoted to them. I kept copies of my own articles until they became yeller. I even laminated one. It is now the color of a rubbie's fingers. Yuck. I don't write for papers much anymore because it's too hard to get published. I can't take the rejection. That's why I blog. Anyway, a few years ago, I stopped getting the paper. I read everything online now, just like the rest of the world. I get most of the content for free. If a news organization has a paywall, I don't care. I stop reading it. I get the flyers delivered right to my inbox. I have something called Obit Messenger to tell me which of my friends has shuffled off. My carbon foot print is now more like a toe dip. I...

View image | gettyimages.com My husband and I are both turning 60 next year, that magical age when all things are supposed to come together. You have great sex because Mom has gone through menopause and Dad is taking Viagra. You can finally take that trip you've put off because the dogs are all dead, and the kids are on their own. And your life becomes a series of bridge and golf games, endless parties, and trips to the gym. It's like Dick Van Dyke meets the Biggest Loser meets the speciality channels. I am lucky because I am 59 and I am not on any medication whatsoever. The doctor tried to put me on high blood pressure pills until I outsmarted him by purchasing a blood pressure cuff. I actually have low blood pressure! I go to the gym regularly, and I eat properly and still manage to get in a few glasses of red with no ill effects (cross your legs, fingers and toes). And I have perfect 20-20 long distance vision thanks to Dr. Myles and his five second cataract cur...

In an interview with CBC’s Peter Mansbridge broadcast Tuesday afternoon, outgoing Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Tom Lawson said men are “biologically wired” for such behaviour. A report this spring found that women in uniform endure hostile work environments due to an “underlying sexualize culture” that leads to sexual harassment and sexual assault. The 88-page report by former Supreme Court Justice Marie Deschamps , written after hundreds of interviews with active members, found that “there is a broadly held perception in the lower ranks that those in the chain of command either condone inappropriate sexual conduct, or are willing to turn a blind-eye to such incidents.”-- The National Post Well, isn't that special! The commanding officer of Canada's military -- outgoing, thank God! -- has just revealed the underying root cause of the biggest crisis to hit the armed forces in decades. Not enough bullets? Needing bigger airplanes? A lack of nutritious rations based on ...

In a recent advertisement, Prime Minister Harper can be seen sitting in his office, with a voice-over suggesting that he doesn't make political decisions based on ideology. Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Just for old times sake. Pick number one on the playlist, or enjoy all these great videos.

Advertisement: Come to Lansdowne Market this Sunday to grab breakfast, the first strawberries of the season and other local favourites, then join in the FIFA fun. This Sunday, June 7th, the market will be running a free shuttle bus to accommodate market customers during the FIFA Women's World Cup games (1pm: Norway vs. Thailand and 4pm: Germany vs. Côte D'Ivoire). Or, come early to avoid the rush. The market will also be open for extended hours — 8am until 4pm — this Sunday only. To access ... the market shuttle, park in Carleton University's Lot 7 for $4/day. The market shuttle will run every 30 min (with a lunch break from 12:15 to 1:00pm) dropping off and picking up at the east end the market in front of the Horticulture Building. Leaving Carleton University, Lot 7 8:15, 8:45, 9:15, 9:45, 10:15, 10:45, 11:15, 11:45, 12:15, Lunch Break 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00, 3:30, 4:00 Leaving Horticultural Building 8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30,...

If you've worked on Parliament Hill, you have no doubt been to a Press Gallery Dinner. The dinners these days are relatively staid affairs. Except for this year. This year, our Elizabeth May extinguished herself by going postal on the Conservative Cabinet, f-bombing her way to a hook off the stage. Good for Liz. There's more than hot air in that helium balloon, and we frankly applaud her for whipping it out. That said, it was a frankly amateurish performance for Lizzie (who took and axe, gave the Tories 40 wacks), and it was pretty tame compared to Press Gallery Dinners of yore. I was reminded of this last night when the old codger Ray Stone filled my inbox to the brim with photos of pre-eminent journalists wearing chaps, and drunkenly crooning on stage, to the delight of a mostly male crowd back in the 70s. There were only a handful of women allowed at the Dinner back then, when I was a sweet young thing trying to break into serious journalism. The women allowed in were...

Hello CBC friends: I know you are CBC Radio friends because I check my stats every day and more than 600 people have visited this blog in the past three days. That's thanks to my repeat performance on http://www.cbc.ca/radio/dnto Maybe you're wondering what happened to me after my husband left me at the airport to take a trip to Bermuda to go fetch his new wife. Well, a lot of bad stuff happened, and a lot of good stuff. I raised my three kids in near poverty while he climbed up the corporate ladder. Today, he is a multimillionaire with a six figure pension. He's still a big shot. I've moved on. I beat the odds and married my third husband 12 years ago, and we are going strong. It hasn't always been easy, but it's been interesting. You will find my blogs about my life, a well examined life, in these pages. I wrote this blog for four years and it helped me heal, and it helped me learn about myself. Along the way, I made some great friends. I don...