Alex Carrick’s Blog

Secrets! Sugar sprinkled on candy or arsenic mixed with nightshade. Are you in the know or flying blind? Delicious seductive power or unpredictable happen-anytime pain. Who to bring into the inner circle? Who best left excluded? Where to extend the intimacy? An implication of purity that’s non-existent. Most secrets aren’t. Obscuring the truth, they rarely […]

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“Real” men know how to make and repair things. They’re even able to improvise. I’m always astonished when one of my friends assembles furniture out of ferns. I’m not feeling as bad about my shortcomings as I used to. Nowadays, most things are so complex that when they break down, the only recourse is to […]

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This story doesn’t need much preamble. Besides, I like to keep my writing short these days. Maybe it’s a by-product of growing crankier. From a man’s point of view, the following are advance indicators that you may be approaching the “senior” years. (1) You read episode summaries of your favorite TV shows on the Internet […]

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I went to the dentist’s office this morning. To help foster a personal touch, there’s a notation on my chart that I’m an economist, so she usually begins our sessions by asking me where I think interest rates are headed. This time, however, my body language was such that she skipped the formalities and we […]

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The 19th century writers Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker were among the first great environmentalists. Their creations – Frankenstein’s “monster” and Count Dracula respectively ‒ blazed new trails in preserving scarce resources. In his research and during the operation that led to his triumph, Dr. Frankenstein was careful to use the purest form of electric […]

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Certain professional comedians believe they have a sacred duty to uncover something funny in every situation ‒ natural disasters and human misfortune be damned. As an individual who often writes material that is intended to be humorous, I may sympathize with this approach even while cringeing. When the average man or woman attempts such levity, […]

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In the political debates leading up to, during and following the recent government shutdown in Washington, a lot of “what ifs” were thrown around by some of the participants. This led me to consider some intriguing what-ifs that might be proposed for the animal kingdom. Here are a dozen or so. Keep in mind it’s […]

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A collection of some of the stories appearing on this blog site. Mr. Carrick’s entertaining books are perfect for when you want to relax. They are also spot-on gifts for almost any occasion. To order “Two Scoops” Is Just Right for Kindle from Amazon,  please click here. “Three Scoops” Is A Blast! can be obtained by pressing  here. “Four Scoops” […]

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I don’t understand how women think. It’s been a mystery to me all my life and I expect it will continue to confound me ‘til the day I die. I had a perfectly reasonable idea for how our family should spend the holidays this year. It was practical, do-able and would have saved us a […]

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Toronto City Council recently banned the use of plastic bags beginning January 1, 2013. It’s a tremendous source of comfort to me that our elected officials are always looking out for what’s in our best interests, whether we know it or not.   My family of five will no longer be able to tote home […]

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