Life In Pleasantville
Food, Travel, Life
I have spent twenty summers figuring out how to survive a heat wave without air conditioning, and I have some thoughts. Because one day it just up and died on me. My central air, that is. Just up and left us without so much as a note. But instead of replacing it, I asked my …
In December of 2022, my ex-husband caused $275,000 worth of damage to my home. On purpose. It’s a long, sordid story that I am actively choosing not to relive right now, but what I can tell you is that I am still fixing it. There is no insurance money. There is no magic renovation budget. …
If you’ve spent any time on Dolly Parton’s internet and wondered why travel blogs are so positive, or at least why this one is, fair question. You’ve landed on a Canadian travel and lifestyle blog called Life in Pleasantville, and not surprisingly, everything you read here is, well, pleasant. Nobody’s getting dragged. No resort is …
I have a theory about why people don’t go to live theatre more often, and it has nothing to do with ticket prices or parking or not knowing what to wear. It’s simpler than that. They have forgotten, or possibly never learned, that some experiences require your full participation to work. Here is why you …
Gen X women are angry. Like, really angry. The rage has been building for decades, and this week it has a very specific face. Here’s why we’re done explaining it, and what we’re choosing instead. I’m angry. Like, really fluffin’ angry. Oops, did I just sub in “fluff” to make this more palatable? Silly me. …
A few months ago, I was driving in the car with the CBC playing in the background (like all good Canadians do, right?) when I caught part of an interview where a term I’d never heard before was mentioned: extinction of experience. I was close to my destination and didn’t have time to catch the …
There is a certain orange neighbour to the south who delights in pretending Canada does not matter. He huffs, he puffs, he slaps tariffs on our goods, and thrives on chaos. After nine months of this nonsense, Canadians have shifted from alarmed to annoyed to done. We have reached the grey rock stage. Nothing he …
It’s just you and me here right now, so let’s be real with each other. Despite countless reminders to do so, building an emergency kit in Canada is one of those things we mean to do… but somehow keeps falling to the bottom of our to-do list, right between “clean out the junk drawer” and …
