News- March 19th, 2013

On yesterday's edition of the CBC News, a story by Jack Julian discussed an ongoing outbreak of syphilis amongst men who have sex with men. I have been doing a lot of research around sexual health, specifically amongst queer populations. ​​

Inspired by Julian's story, as well as by other recent readings, I posted an op-ed in my blog for Xtra, Down East. 

The essays looks at the ideas around how we discuss sex and sexual health, and how the traditional approaches may be lacking when it comes to educating individuals when it coms to making choices around their own health.​

"Imagine if our sex lives were automobiles. For those of us who do drive, we know that it takes time to learn how to drive. But how can you drive if you don’t know how to take proper care of your car, both inside and out? You can know how to put the key in the ignition, but if your car won’t turn over, how do you fix it? You can’t just ram the key in hoping all of a sudden it will turn over and be ready to go. If you get a ding or a scratch, what do you do then? Does your car have less value all of a sudden? No. It doesn’t."

You can read the rest of it here. ​

News - December 1st, 2012

I've been enjoying writing for East Coast Living for a couple years now.  Recently, I wrote a story about the joys of rediscovering old recipes, as well as the wonders of baking bread at home. 

I also had the great fortune to talk with a few mushroom hunters/foragers/amateur mycologists in a story for The Coast.

Over at Xtra, I wrote about how a group of local activists wanted to amend the Nova Scotia Human Rights Bill to include "gender expression" and "gender identity" in the act, therefore providing written legal protections for transgender individuals. A little over a month after that story appeared, things were already on their way to changing. The changes to the bill have now passed.

News - September 27th, 2012

I was asked by The Coast to write about the upcoming Canadian Chef's Congress, where chefs from all over the country would descend on Nova Scotia's Grand-Pré to talk, share and most importantly, eat.

I also recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Paul-Émile d'Entremont, the man behind Last Chance, a documentary released by the NFB about the lives of queer refugees living in Canada.

Regarding the Raymond Taavel case, it appears that there are delays in bringing his accused to trial. 

News - April 23rd, 2012

Last tuesday morning, I woke up to the news about the passing of a man on the streets of Halifax.

I didn’t think it would be someone I knew, but it was.

A few hours later, I was on the phone, making calls.  Spokespersons, friends, editors. I filed and filed and filed report after report about the death of Raymond Taavel for Xtra.  You can see some of it here.

I went to the vigil for Taavel, wrote notes, recorded audio, and took photos.  I came home and wrote about it that night.  This was live, breaking news, and I had to report it, tell it.

The next day, I wrote about the reactions of the people, the businesses and the communitiesthat knew Taavel.  I wrote about the man who stands accused of his murder.

I spoke about Taavel in various media channels. I was asked to speak with Radio-Canada stations throughout the maritimes.  I spoke about it on Le Téléjournal Acadie.

One week later, there is still more to know.  More interviews to file.  More to be posted here. 

News - April 4th, 2012

As much as I love writing about food and queer issues, I am still a big lover of the arts.

Luckily, I have had the opportunity to write about the subject and some rather interesting individuals in that field.

The Coast recently published an article I wrote about a series of lectures on contemporary sculpture happening here in Halifax. Over at Xtra, I had the chance to interview photographer/publisher Amos Mac.  Mac publishes Original Plumbing, a magazine about and for trans men, but it’s his photographs that I can’t get enough of.

Crop Top Soldiers, by Amos Mac

I’m a big fan of Michael Cyril Creighton’s Jack In A Box webseries, so it was great to have the opportunity to talk to him. On the international side of things, I had the chance to interview gay jazz crooner Steven Gallavin.  I even wrote a quick blurb about a wonderful short film called“This Is What Queer Looks Like” for my Down East blog.

I’m still writing about food of course.  I had a great time writing about what to eat for under $12 for The Coast.   As I had mentioned in a previous post, I recently interviewed Michael Ruhlman on the topic of charcuterie for East Coast Living.