After 30 eventful years in the newsroom -- including 12 years as an arts reporter and 13 years as city columnist -- today is my final day at the London Free Press. It's been grand. But like somebody said: "Newspapers. They'll break your heart."

"I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things." -- Tom Waits

Some days I just want to yell at the world: "Up your rusty dusty with a floy floy!"

Delighted to announce that my short story "It Won't Go Away," is featured in the horror-fiction anthology "Dead Keys: Typewritten Tales of Terror." Available here: amazon.ca/Dead-Keys-Type…

So, so honored to be the winner of the 2021 Austin Clarke Fiction Prize. Still hasn't fully sunk in. It's my first contest win. The story was incredibly difficult to write and means the world to me. I hope you check it out. puritan-magazine.com/winner-perfect…

Thrilled to have my story “Playing Possum” selected as a runner-up for the Austin Clarke Award.

Free samples of pie (winterberry!) & soup (jalapeno & cheddar) tomorrow from 11 a.m. till 2 p.m. at YOU cafe at Richmond and York. #ldnont

I love typewriters. (I do. Really.) Here's a neat video about a British artist who uses typewriters to create. bit.ly/1a318aG

London group "Friends of Meadowlily Woods" wins 2013 Cultural Heritage Landscape Award from Architectural Conservancy of Ontario. #LdnOnt

Just finished interviewing Amanda Todd's mother, Carol. Difficult subject matter. Courageous woman.

London Coffee House brews community for its vulnerable members. bit.ly/17uqEb8 #LdnOnt

Good vibrations: High-tech Emoti-Chairs allow deaf & hearing-impaired individuals to "hear" music. bit.ly/1bVSc5g #LdnOnt

You have to watch this. Sperm whale explosion caught on video ow.ly/rePD8

We often believe the poor are weak & lazy. But poverty expert says we need to think differently. bit.ly/1bdtTyO #LdnOnt

Stats say 2.5 million Canadians pondering suicide right now. To help, sign up for safeTALK training. bit.ly/18CtZG4 #LdnOnt

Is there a word to describe the chunks of icy snow that accumulate behind the wheels of your vehicle? If not, we need one.

"I thought (the kid) was happy.' Neighbour reacts to London horror house. lfpress.com/2014/05/30/hor…

Norm DeBono reveals Fanshawe hired principal who misused $50,000+ in school funds to (wait for it) teach education. lfpress.com/2014/08/20/dis…