Posts by Bruce Grierson
Lest Lee Forget
This is an accidental Big Day. Accidental because its subject, Lee Miller – one of the most important war photographers of the 20th century – was unknown to me a week ago. But our excellent local art gallery, the Polygon, had just opened a big show of her work. The keeper of the Lee Miller…
Read MoreFrozen Frenzy: dream day for hockey junkies
I will confess that watching TV for eight straight hours would not be my own choice for a Big Day (though we did do it once – in our defense, it was during Covid). But I appreciate that someone thought up Frozen Frenzy, and made it happen – yesterday. As a result, a particular kind…
Read MoreBumbleberry Jam Day
I love stories of how a single meeting between geniuses produced a Cambrian explosion of new art. A classic example involves authors J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, whose long walk down the leafy paths of Oxford one day in the fall of 1931 spawned both The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien) and The Chronicles of…
Read More“Someday is not a day of the week.”
That pointed phrase, coined by the children’s book author Denise Brennan-Nelson, has been poached by motivational speakers, financial advisors and shoe salesman (looking at you, Phil Knight), to the point where it’s been blunted like a dum-dum bullet. But the original source remains a modern classic. In the book, three-year-old Max keeps begging Grandpa and…
Read MoreNegative Artifacts
Awhile back the novelist Jonathan Safran Foer was having a convo with the person who might be my favourite podcaster, Randy Cohen. Safran Foer mentioned that he is a collector of “negative artifacts.” Cohen was curious: Do tell. “A negative artifact,” Safran Foer said, “commemorates something that didn’t happen.” The term, he explained, comes from…
Read MoreHow long does a day in space feel like?
Many people think it’s high time we sent a poet into space. Up there they would deploy their antennae and capture, in high fidelity, that most precious of commodities we’re running so low on back on Earth: wonder. Until that day, we’ll have to be content with Orbital, Samantha Harvey’s slim and meticulous novel, which…
Read MoreUBC scientists one-up Lou Reed, unveil the template for a Perfect Day
At some level, this whole One Big Day project circles around the abstract concept of The Perfect Day. If such a thing were possible, what might it look like? The question might make more sense if we were sheep. Presumably, sheep would all wish for the same sort of thing out of a day (freedom…
Read MoreCape Scott Ruck ‘n Roll (or The Trail That Ate My Boots)
“Is there sleep in my eyes?” Jen says, emerging from the tent to meet the day. Imagine if that construction worked for other occasions … some verb residue lingers on you from the thing you just did. I’ve got a little work on my hands. I’ve got a little play on my feet. We are…
Read MoreBig Sky Day
Tuesday, June 10, 2025 was a pretty big day for Verna Marzo. And also for everyone she shared it with, for reasons that will become clear. Here’s how it all went down. 5:30 AM Many of Verna’s days begin this way – eat, pray, exercise (lots and lots of situps). But not all in that…
Read MoreThe Museum of What You Used to Know
Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, the unofficial World’s Most Positive Human, revealed in a recent conversation with Tim Ferriss that he is a ferociously dedicated diary-keeper. Every night, round about midnight, he faithfully jots down notes — just what has shaken out from the day. He has made it his mission to encourage everyone to do this.…
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