Single parents were very common in the 17th and 18th centuries. The most common cause: death of a parent. Approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of all children in this era experienced the death of a parent during childhood. Since then, medical advances and improvements in sanitation and maternal care have significantly reduced mortality of people in reproductive age. […]
The first time I heard Chaim Tannenbaum’s extraordinary singing was on Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s album The McGarrigle Hour, which was recorded at a gathering of friends and family in 1998. In particular, I was struck by the poignancy and luminance of Tannenbaum’s vocals on the traditional song, Dig my Grave. I thought, “Who is this guy?!” […]
I’m spending Saint-Jean-Baptiste or “la fête nationale”, a public holiday celebrating the province of Quebec and it’s culture, in Toronto, Ontario. I’m a fluently bilingual Montrealer, visiting my American father and my Quebecoise mother who live in Toronto. Sacrilege you say? I don’t think so. Most Montrealers, whether English or French speaking, view Toronto as […]
The US Government is penalizing Americans that are living and working abroad, rather than considering them as an asset. I’m a dual citizen living and working in Canada, and I recently spent about $700 just to correctly file the paperwork for both my US and Canadian tax returns. I was obliged to pay tax to […]
The spaced-out scientist 