Epistimology
First, there is not knowing,affectionately christened, bliss. Then, there is the question:is this all one can know? This leads to question after question,which is as far as knowing goes.
Imagine if there were no generational differences
Imagine if there were no differences among generations. Does one of us really want the next generation to be exactly like this one? Or the one before? Generations begin as… Read more Imagine if there were no generational differences →
True Confession
In my 20’s I hung out with fashion photographers, neon sculptors, writers and artists. We were an eclectic tribe of misfits. We had parties in large lofts in a down… Read more True Confession →
I am an immigrant
I am an immigrant. I did become a Canadian citizen about 5 years after I got here. But before that I worked at a number of jobs but never once heard anyone give me crap because I took a “Canadian’s job.” I did have one rather snotty Canadian inform me (at Heritage Days no less) that now that I had left the United States I would have to abandon my melting pot mythology and accept the inherent wisdom of the Canadian mosaic. It was all rather amusing, but that was… Read more I am an immigrant →
Perseverance
My grandmother cooked on an old wood burning stove. I was always excited to visit her. She would be waiting on the front porch, her long gray hair tied up in a bun, her house dress stained from cooking and working in the garden. I raced from the car as she walked down the stairs, opening her big arms she would wrap around me and then lift me up into the air. She squeezed so tightly I could barely breathe. She smelled of bread and earth and of love. I’d… Read more Perseverance →
This is my Duck Gizzard Story. What’s yours?
One Saturday afternoon, I ventured into the Asian Supermarket. I don’t know what I expected, but when i walked through the automatic doors I thought to myself, it’s like Safeway. … Read more This is my Duck Gizzard Story. What’s yours? →
Make Some Music!
You might know that I am a singer-songwriter/musician, though not nearly as active as I once was when young and spry. Did you know my band, Mark Holmgren and Early… Read more Make Some Music! →
The New Normal Report
Everyone is talking about the “new normal” of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. We know we are facing overwhelming situations and conditions. Millions of Canadians are out of work. People are living isolated from one another (well, at least for the most part). Schools are shut down. All of them! Thousands upon thousands of small businesses are close to the edge of ruin. Stock markets tanked. The Saudis and Russians thought now would be a good time to tank oil prices. The above is more than a brief and inadequate… Read more The New Normal Report →
A Techno-Nerd Rant
I am a bit of a techno-nerd despite my graying beard and there is much about technology that has changed so many lives for the better, but this post is not about those technologies. I am getting leery of being a digital archetype whose privacy is non-existent. My identity, choices, experiences, rants, goofy pictures, cynicism, humour, not to mention my infinite wisdom are “out there”. I am millions of data bits analyzed and aggregated with one purpose in mind: control me. It feels like paranoia, but it can’t be. I take… Read more A Techno-Nerd Rant →
Access to Affordable Housing is a (Complex) Human Right
The recent reports of community resistance to a Capital Region Housing proposed development in Keheewin are yet one more example of the NIMBY-YIMBY quagmire we cannot seem to prevent. I… Read more Access to Affordable Housing is a (Complex) Human Right →
Affordable Housing is an Economic Problem
The challenges we face with respect to building more affordable housing are complex to state the obvious, and resolving them calls for an integrated set of strategies that go far… Read more Affordable Housing is an Economic Problem →
Time to Break Some Rules
Change happens when rules are broken; when an upstart group of people rebel against broken systems and rote habits and try something radically different or brand spanking new; and when… Read more Time to Break Some Rules →
What if most our heroes were wrong?
I was young and living poor in Uptown Chicago. I was an on and off again college student. It took me seven years, maybe eight, to get my degree in… Read more What if most our heroes were wrong? →
Are the Wealthy Over-Taxed or Do They Pay Too Much?
I have read quite a bit lately about how unfair our income tax system is to those who earn incomes in the top 20% of the population. Those postings and… Read more Are the Wealthy Over-Taxed or Do They Pay Too Much? →
Rethinking Economic Growth
We live in a world – especially in the western world – where it is just given that economic growth is a sacrosanct necessity in order to ensure continued prosperity.… Read more Rethinking Economic Growth →
Where does who you are reside?
Who are you? How could I ever know? So the question turns to, “Who am I?” Am I contained within my body? Or does my identity exist across fields of… Read more Where does who you are reside? →
Reflecting on a Creative Life
Visit my music page. My musical life seems so long ago now. I guess because it is. In the early 1990s I won a song writing contest which allowed me… Read more Reflecting on a Creative Life →
Livable Income IN a Livable Economy (Part Two: the Impacts of AI)
Last November I published a blog on the Edmonton CDC website and more recently repeated that posting here on Anticipate. Reading it first is, I suggest, of value to fully… Read more Livable Income IN a Livable Economy (Part Two: the Impacts of AI) →
Living Wage IN a Livable Economy
Originally posted in November 2018 on the Edmonton CDC Blog. In Edmonton, approximately 140,000 workers are identified as low income earners (earning below $16.31 per hour), according to the Edmonton… Read more Living Wage IN a Livable Economy →
Collective Impact as Uprising
I have written in the past about what I call the pendulum swing or the bandwagon effect. I think this is what has happened with respect to collective impact over… Read more Collective Impact as Uprising →
My Basketball Coach
I have always been tall and husky. I was my current height, 6 foot 7 inches, in my freshman year of high school, and I was a basketball player and… Read more My Basketball Coach →
Upside Down Thinking: Funders should be Rebels
Funders should apply to community agencies to fund them. Can you get your head around that? What would that look like? Why would that approach be more impactful and cost-effective… Read more Upside Down Thinking: Funders should be Rebels →
Data and Wisdom
When we look to another for wisdom, it is not data that we seek. We want more than information; we need more. We deserve more. Data sends signals, whether standing… Read more Data and Wisdom →
Why are we here?
Such a simple question, four small words that get at the core of our community change work. It’s not a question confined to a step in a visioning or planning… Read more Why are we here? →
Disruptive Innovation: a Type of Upside Down Thinking
Upside Down Thinking has a relationship with Disruptive Thinking and Disruptive Innovation, but they are not merely different descriptors of the same thing. You can read a previous posting I… Read more Disruptive Innovation: a Type of Upside Down Thinking →
