I’m a coffee lover and a former barista. Mea culpa. — We’ve all got guilty pleasures. Vices and temptations, things that we know are bad for us, but we can’t help loving anyway. For me, that vice is caffeine. I’ve been drinking tea since I was three years old. It was something of a family tradition, and I stumbled upon the…

From my cold, dead hands! — When I was a child, I practically lived in my school library. I loved it. I would choose to spend my recess there, indoors, rather than go outside and play. Opening the pages of a book was like opening a doorway, granting me a window into another world. I could…

The system failing isn’t inspirational — A ten-year-old kid sells lemonade every day out in front of his house. He’s working hard, filling his jar full of cash from his neighbors. He’s got it crammed close to the lid with nickels and dimes, and after a week’s work, it seems like so much money! He runs…

And it’s pretty cozy. — A while back I launched a newsletter through Substack. I created a little brand name for myself, a logo, and the whole shebang. Instead of just being Sam W, I built a whole new alter-ego; The World-Weary Writer. I doled out information, tidbits and details and charity shout-outs, and everything…

Every child matters — September 30th this year marks the third annual Truth and Reconciliation Day. This is a day of remembrance. A day to sit down and listen to the survivors tell their stories and to hear the names of those children who never made it home. The children who never saw their…

After January 6, you’d think that would go without saying. — Biden came right out and said it out loud. It was strangely cathartic to hear a blunt and direct statement about the 91-times indicted former occupant of the White House. It’s nothing we didn’t already know. Trump is a whirlwind of indignant rage with the impulse control of a toddler…

As a Canadian, I am horrified and ashamed — What in the hell is going on in my country right now? For those who aren’t aware, the capital city of Canada welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for an address to Parliament last week. During the course of the proceedings, the speaker of the House of Commons elected to recognize…

What does Pride really mean? — There’s a moment a lot of LGBTQ+ people have when we come to accept who we are. The moment when we realize that we’re different from what society’s ‘default setting’ supposedly is when we step into the shoes of our identity for the first time. It’s frightening. It’s overwhelming. …

Explain how these people sleep at night — When you hear about a $19 million debt, your mind probably runs wild. Who could possibly have racked up that much of a tab? What did they do? Was it gambling? Drugs? A wild Hangover-style romp around the globe? Maybe a scam of some kind, like a real estate deal…