We have some exciting news! We have a new addition to Sarah Vaughan Photography and her name is Brittany Vaughan. Brittany has recently graduated from Fanshawe in London, Ontario with her diploma in Photography. She will be assisting and doing some thi…

By Carl A moment arrives tomorrow that is one of those markers in life that grabs your attention. My daughter graduates from college — although she still needs a couple two credits — and it makes all the difference.I worry for her, as I worry …

Today I walked to the post office to mail a copy of my book to my dear friend J who is currently living in China. I’ve meant to do it for ages, but I was too busy and then I was recovering from being too busy. So this afternoon I printed out the…

By Michael J.W. StickingsRear Window is one of my favourite movies ever.I consider it Hitchcock’s best, with The Lady Vanishes not far behind, and in my own personal cinematic pantheon it’s up in the realm of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, Kieslowski’s The …

By Richard K. BarryI have lived in Toronto for most of the past 32 years. It’s my adopted home, after having been born and raised just north of New York City. While I consider myself, culturally, an American, I carry dual citizenship and feel a great d…

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  I knew it the moment I was pregnant, something was wrong. Maybe it was that we were still grieving over the loss of our daughter. Maybe it was the fact that strangers kept coming up to us, asking to say a prayer for this new baby growing inside of me. Maybe it’s because I [...]

By Michael J.W. StickingsSo I was basically away for the entire month of April. My family and I went over to England, where I have a lot of non-nuclear family, and then on a vacation within a vacation to the Continent, specifically to Belgium, Germany,…

By Michael J.W. StickingsHi all. It’s been… weeks. This is the longest I’ve gone without blogging in the seven-year existence of The Reaction.I was on vacation in Europe for three weeks, most of it in England, and successfully resisted the urge to wr…

I’ve just returned from a lovely brief trip to New York City and points nearby. Apologies to friends who I didn’t notify that I was coming in; I was in dire need of less running around and more downtime. I had excellent quality time with my mother and …

I’ve just returned from a lovely brief trip to New York City and points nearby. Apologies to friends who I didn’t notify that I was coming in; I was in dire need of less running around and more downtime. I had excellent quality time with m…

One year ago today, we adopted Diego. I had just gotten home from my spring New York visit. Allan and I had been looking at dogs online, and had decided Diego was our guy. I called Toronto Animal Services to ask about him, thinking we would go there in…

One year ago today, we adopted Diego. I had just gotten home from my spring New York visit. Allan and I had been looking at dogs online, and had decided Diego was our guy. I called Toronto Animal Services to ask about him, thinking we would go there i…

Red Sox! Baseball! Today!The beginning of a new baseball season is a harbinger of spring, bringing hope, renewal, and… the end of school! In a few days, I’ll be done with another term and can turn my attention back to the rest of the world, including…

Sometime back before the turn of the century we had the vague idea of visiting Scotland to see where a chunk of my family’s history played out.  I’m a Canadian with Scottish roots on both sides of the family.  My great-grandfather on my father’s side was a fishmonger in Edinburgh before he emigrated to Canada [...]

By Michael J.W. StickingsI usually don’t make much of these things, but I wanted to mention that The Reaction is seven years old today.Yes, it was on March 29, 2005 that I started this blog, and started blogging.In the very first post, written when I w…

A long time ago, when I was in my early 20s, I was once venting to my mom about some ongoing street harassment. There was a construction site near my workplace, and all the women in the area were forced to run a gauntlet of catcalls and obscene chatter…

A long time ago, when I was in my early 20s, I was once venting to my mom about some ongoing street harassment. There was a construction site near my workplace, and all the women in the area were forced to run a gauntlet of catcalls and obscene chatter…

Picture the Isobel Bolton Hockey League finals, Blue team against White. Blue had been the best team from the beginning of the season. But White came from behind, improving week by week until they were facing Blue in the final game. My older daughter M…

And just like that I’m back.  In case you didn’t notice, I took the last week off to enjoy the surf and sand of the Dominican Republic with some friends.  It was a completely fantastic and I loved getting to enjoy the warm weather and get some R&R.  I even went completely offline for the [...]