Breast cancer is never good news, and when I got my diagnosis in April of 2020, the timing was especially awkward. I had had my first ever mammogram right when the city was shutting down for the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. If I hadn’t already had it scheduled, there’s a good chance I…
Author: kittyireland
Paying attention to attention, psychology, habits, art, writing, literature, mysteries, nonsense, addiction, humanism, humor and cake.
Drinking Game of Thrones
As we begin the new season of Game of Thrones, may I suggest some drinking games? Drink when: “Winter” is mentioned, or for less drinking: “Winter is coming” or “Winter is here/ has arrived.” Tyrion drinks Dragons! Arya kills someone Cersei drinks Jon Snow pout-scowls Lady Mormont wins an argument Someone dies in a cringingly…
Halfway to Ninety
On October 22 this year, my grandma Pat would have been ninety years old, had she lived that long. She died in 1983, and I’ve often wondered what she might have done with all those extra years. She was just starting to explore her photography hobby. Her grandkids were about to become teenagers and would…
America’s Anxiety Attack
I’ve seen a lot of vitriol in the past couple of days, criticizing the “morons” who got Donald Trump elected. Expressing shame at being an American. There have been pleas to stay and fight rather than move to Canada. A lot of people feel a real change in their perception of personal safety. Most people…
Japan 2016 Part 1: Tokyo
Here is part one of a much-delayed recap of my travels in Japan with my boyfriend Ryan this May. This 10-day trip to Japan was the first time in Asia for both of us, and it started with a detour to Canada. It turns out airfare to Tokyo is much less flying out of YVR, particularly…
A Tribute to Grandpa Frank
In the cement-floored shady cool of the garage I would find Grandpa Frank, his legs coverall-clad and protruding from beneath one of his vehicles. The shiny forest green ’35 Model T. The plump ’46 sedan. Or maybe the powder blue F150 brought indoors for a minor repair. The garage door was always open in the summer…
Facebook Knows Me Best
Do you know the REAL KITTY? Apparently I don’t either, but Facebook does! Facebook has been gathering all of my data for 8 years or so. All of my searches, likes, articles I read, posts, as well as the essence of my eternal soul. And they have compiled a list of interests that reveal my…
7 Harmful Productivity Myths
It seems that everyone — regardless of level of success or actual rate of “productivity” — would like to be MORE PRODUCTIVE. I sure would. I have about 17 projects I would like to be working on apart from the endless should do’s (the dishes!) and hafta do’s (pay the rent!), not to mention a…
How to be Happy(ish)
Do you know someone who is genuinely happy? I know people who appear pretty happy, and I think they probably are. People with well-rounded lives, stable relationships, interesting interests, and generally healthy habits tend to have a shiny aura about them that we might call happiness. I know others who act happy, but who are…
Mysterious Mad Man: Don Draper
Who is Don Draper? Let’s start with his real name: Dick Whitman. Someone must have written about this — because it’s so obvious — but I haven’t read anything specifically about the choice of that name. Maybe it’s too obvious. Dick = uh, “dick,” and Whitman is pretty darn close to white man. Don Draper is the…
Plumb Wonderful 