Senate Report on Mental Health

This past week, the senate social affairs committee released a detailed report on the status of mental health care in Canada, and I was ecstatic to hear that among the 118 recommendations offered, formation of a Canadian Mental Health Commission was prominent. Good discussion of the report on Cross Country Checkup today (can listen here), including a closing comment from Shitij Kapur - Chief of Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health here in Toronto (also, where I work), and a Canada Research Chair at U of T. The full version of the report is available here and here, or an executive summary can be viewed here.

I wouldn't have expected, but the first thing that popped into my head when I heard about the call for formation of a Mental Health Commission was, "Can I join??" I wish such a body had been around when I was applying for random government jobs, back in the days of summers off. I think I'm catching the advocacy bug... as most people who are passionate about their work seem to.

autobiography of red

as a refresher between stacks of journal articles, i finished Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red this weekend. Carson is a poet and professor at McGill university in Montreal, and one of my good friends had been on me to check her out. i noticed on the book jacket that Michael Ondaatje also sings praise: "Anne Carson is, for me, the most exciting poet writing in English today. She is a rare talent - brilliant and full of wit, passionate and also deeply moving."

evidence:

I am a philosopher of sandwiches, he decided.
Things good on the inside. [p. 97]

Wrongness came like a lone finger
chopping through the room and he ducked. [p. 136]

i have her latest (i.e., Decreation) on hold at the library.

big mistake

at the annual neuroscience poster day lunch yesterday, i grabbed what i thought were two half-sandwiches stuffed with lettuce, tomatoes, and turkey breast. a few pickles and cherry tomatoes for the side. headed upstairs to meander through the posters i had not had a chance to see. part-way through my first sandwich, i realized the deli meat was in no way turkey breast. removal of the top bun confirmed my dire suspicion: telltale orange casing. i had mistakenly opted for mock chicken.

individuals of my generation must remember mock chicken. when i was in pre-school i though 'mock' was a country, or style of cuisine, and that 'mock chicken' was simply a mode of poultry preparation, as per 'chicken cacciatore' and 'chicken kiev'. it was not until later that i realized 'mock' was a synonym for 'pretend' and 'fake'. i can imagine how this might have been explained to me, "when you play hairdresser, you are pretending to be a hairdresser. well, mock chicken is pretending to be chicken." what a concept.

this episode made me wonder: whatever happened to mock chicken's evil cousin, macaroni-and-cheese deli meat? apparently, still making it. how entirely unfortunate.

recent cat

not a cat blog... but he won't stop being cute.

percy, before yawn:

percy, during yawn:

percy, after yawn: