December 6, 1989

December 6

Thirty years ago, 14 women were killed because they were women.

Read that again, in case you didn’t feel the impact:

35 years ago, 14 women were killed because they were women.

In Canada: in Montreal: thirty years ago, on this day.

December 6, 1989.

École Polytechnique. The Montreal Massacre.

It was more than a mass shooting.

I remember.

The world changed that day.

It has not changed enough.

I will not take up space today to spit out my thoughts on gun control or public safety.

I will not criticize today, here, those who continue to exhibit such blatant disregard for my fellow human beings, or the hypocrisy and/or misogyny of those people, or politicians, or corporations who try to hide behind flimsy excuses and transparent policies of diversity and inclusion. Or those who do not do enough to enforce, enhance, and encourage respect in the workplace, our communities, or countries.

Today is not my day for that.

In Canada, today is National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

It is a day for remembering the event, yes, but more so remembering the vital lives of the women who were hunted down and killed by a single man.

Today — as I do each year on the anniversary of this senseless tragedy — I will repeat the names of the 14 women whose lives were snuffed out by hatred, gender discrimination and attitudes which have prevailed in the years since.

Our daughters, sisters, mothers and lovers face these injustices each day, in a country that prides itself on a satisfying and sufficient way of life.

Violence against women is still here, it is systematic, and it is wrong. We all know it.

The lives of the women killed, not their deaths, must remain an example. I dislike the popular term ‘Legacy of pain’, but I still feel it.

These names must never be forgotten:

Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz

My heart goes out to the families, friends, partners, and loved ones who grieve for these significant women.

I grieve with you.

12/06/2024 j.g.l.

Hello Winter

The weight of winter hardly upon us, 
only now is our reality apparent.
The season must be seen to be felt.

Without snow there are only 
harsh winds and inconvenient truths.
Precipitation fuels our anticipation.

On the cusp of Solstice, Christmas 
barely a week away, winter now visible.
We live the season as much as we wear it.

Months from now we will wish it all 
away, yet today our feelings are as fresh 
as the fallen snow. Hello winter.

12/20/2024                                j.g.l.

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December 16

Mondays are just young Fridays

The learning never stops; and so, it shouldn’t.

Often, more through trial than error, I have taken on new tasks throughout my life and the experience (for the most part) leaves me in a better place; no matter how difficult it seems at first.

I am undertaking a redesign of this website. Not the type to go into things blindly, I’ve taken on some help to see myself through the process. I knew, from the outset, that I would require some assistance just as I did when I opened up Mythos & Marginalia almost a decade ago.

So much has changed in the years since. I wanted to take this opportunity to not only update the look of the website, but also my skills.

I am learning.

While I know (or think I know) what I want, turning my ideas into a tangible reality is not easy. I understand the fundamentals of page design from my years in the newspaper industry but editing and layout has come a long way from the days of pencils and pica sticks. Technically it is easier now (or should be), but it is the technology that I have issues with. My knowledge of coding was never what it should be, so I am trying to learn more.

The learning never stops.

The WordPress ‘classic editor’ — the platform I have worked on until recently — is, principally, more straightforward with its options. Selecting text size was a drop-down menu, and aligning the type was just a choice of clicks. Working in this format had become routine.

The newer (and, apparently, more advanced) ‘block editor’ mostly seems to skip those familiar steps. I, now, should be able to work more visibly to adjust the text to what I am trying to achieve. That’s a big “should be”. I am, right now, daunted by what should be simple keystrokes and sizing on a very intuitive template.

Making mistakes is easy; correcting them often proves difficult. Understanding the errors of my ways takes understanding and knowledge. I am learning. Slowly.

I guess I had become too used to doing things in a certain way, in a specific order, always able to visualize the results. Now, in this new format, all I seem to be doing is confusing myself.

I am not working in my habitual ways. But I am still learning. That’s a good thing.

You don’t learn from routine, yet you should routinely be learning.

12/16/2024 j.g.l.

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December 19

speak up

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December 17

12/17/2024

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December 15

in my journal

Incomplete thoughts, generally, complete me. Always, in my time.

Casually or constructively, I write what I think (or what I want to think) until it all falls together.

The unfinished thoughts – those bruised, blemished declarations, replete with erroneous expectations or rough edges – often lay latent in my journal. For a time.

Often intrusively confusing and so full of questions, the mandate of the message lacks even muffled clarity.

Those words will keep for another day.

12/15/2024 j.g.l.

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