Seen and Heard in Edmonton

We begin with children. I have a couple, and besides making good Instagram fodder and (probably) looking after me when I’m old, they turn out to be very interesting people to have around. If kids aren’t your bag, don’t worry, there’s plenty of other posts to dig into after this familial interlude:

• I just love Valerie Lugonja’s Gramsy posts. What at an epic first birthday party for her little grandson!
• Kelly-Dawn Aulenbach issues what may be the best metaphor for parenthood I’ve ever heard.
• Elizabeth Wilkie gives a raw but heartening look at how her marriage has changed since she had a baby.
• Kassey Koumarelas, who just had her second baby, shares the family photo session they had just before the new arrival.
• Paul Giang looks at what it will take to get more families with children to live downtown.
• Date night ideas for less than $10? Sounds like a plan! And YEG Date Night’s sister site, Raising Edmonton, lists restaurants where kids eat free.

Communicating

• Vickie Laliotis shares solid tips on time management, super-important for full-time bloggers like her.
• OilersNation bans anonymous comments, but registered users will still be able to weigh in.
• Tracey and Josh Sawatzky have decided to wrap up YEG Music Magazine.
• Rhonda Kronyk recounts Aboriginal communities’ efforts to keep their languages and traditions alive in the face of racism and assimilation.
• Adina J shares her thoughts and asks for your on Good Omens, the first selection of her book club.
• Donloree Hoffman writes a letter to her younger self. So does Zoe Todd, who isn’t in Edmonton right now, but her younger self was.

Why and how

• Glenn Kubish wonders why we aren’t getting the information we need about pedestrian deaths in this city.
• Michael Ross finds some interesting patterns in the numbers coming out of the Ward 12 byelection that Moe Banga just won.
• Mack Male dives deep into the City of Edmonton’s efforts to improve public engagement.
• Sunil Agnihotri performs an epic crunching of Oilers stats to find some interesting patterns and conclusions.
• Ryan Batty evaluates Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli’s performance at the trade deadline.
• Matt Henderson is happy to admit he was wrong about the Oilers’ Brandon Davidson, who has proven to be not only a great story but a fine player.

Artistic pursuits

• Jenna Marynowski previews Hot Mess, a play written to be performed in a bar (in this case, El Cortez).
• Jenna has been on fire this week with previews of SkirtsAfire (see what I did there?), The Other, and This is War.
• The Northern Sessions shares two songs from folk festival veteran Ken Stead.
• Thomas Wharton offers a story of obsolescence.
• Brenley Charkow and Ryan Parker chat about the art of a getting a good headshot.
• Sydney Lancaster invites visual artists of all stripes to participate in a conversation about the economics of being an artist.
• The Edmonton Arts Council blog  chats with artist Vikki Wiercinski about public art, and spotlights the talented and inspiring winners of the Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund awards.

Sundry

• Nicole Rowan cracks me up with the play-by-play thought process on her February thrift hauls.
• Nicole Winski takes us on a tour of Rutherford House, a thankfully preserved jewel of Edmonton’s heritage
• What does New York Fashion Week feel like? Let Alyssa Lau show you.
• So much going on with the food bloggers! Your best bet is to catch up with Sharon Yeo’s food notes.
• I have to highlight 52Skillz again, on the strength of the coinage “toastception.” You’re just going to have to watch to understand.

This is but a smidgeon of what can be found at ShareEdmonton, so feel free to go find more. You can find these picks and previous ones on my Flipboard magazine.

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In this week’s podcast, Andrea Beça quizzes me about what the network is and why I want to build it. If you’d like to join, apply here.