Alex Carrick’s Blog

“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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Surrounded by racy stories in the media everywhere these days, I sometimes find myself caught up in the flow and straying out of bounds with my material. To help you discover whether or not you may be flirting with the same R-rated conundrum, here are a dozen tell-tale signs that, wittingly or otherwise, you’ve acquired some expertise in writing the […]

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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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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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The following is an edifying tale wherein a king learns a valuable lesson from his queen and the whole nation is better off as a consequence. The court jester plays a pivotal role as well, although he probably came to wish he’d stayed out of it.   There once lived a king who was always mad. […]

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It’s a terror nearly as elemental as the fear of dying. It can bring strong men to their knees and turn the smartest of women into incoherent babblers. Maybe you already know where I’m headed. It’s public speaking and there’s nothing else quite like its scary prospect. Many people would rather go through a spinal […]

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Hank and Harriet, single and alone in their own separate worlds, saw the ads on late-night TV. Their friends encouraged them to give it a try. Now here they were, staring each other down across a tiny table in a hotel ballroom filled with 100 other hopefuls.   They were about to start their final session in […]

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I am becoming Bionic Man. This has been an ongoing process for the past ten years. First, I had my gall bladder removed. Then, two years apart, I had cataract surgery on both eyes. Most recently, I had a hernia operation. I am now being held together by steel thread, sealing wax and dirt. If […]

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I’ve taken up roller blading. The joke is that it’s to save on gasoline. But it’s actually because I’ve done a lot of ice skating and how much harder can it be to roller blade?   Turns out, it’s a lot harder. Ice is slippery, but it’s flat. The roads I’ve been going on with […]

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There are few things in life much more fun than taking the kids to a movie in an actual theatre. You load up on popcorn, Pepsi and Twizzlers; the lights go down; the sound starts to reverberate; and the fun begins. You look over and your youngest ones are looking up at the screen, wide-eyed […]

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