The Journey Towards Me
(Memoir Excerpt) I had been on the ship for about a month when we pulled into Barcelona. The ocean was calm, not a cloud in the sky. The sun had just risen quickly in a florescent rose glittery tone. The fresh crisp air promised a golden day. I walked down the boardwalk and saw the […]
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(Memoir excerpt) I was driving across the country again. It had been a few months since I left home. Who knows where I was coming from or where I was headed. I think my last stop had been in Memphis. It was three o’clock in the morning. I had been driving a long time, a few days […]
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(Memoir excerpt) I had only been working on the cruise ship a few weeks when a group of suits came onboard. We were told to be on our best behavior. They were the bosses, the owners, and the managers from V-Ships. One of them, a shorter man in his early thirties with bone-straight brown hair […]
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I’m in the middle of writing the book proposal for my memoir, and I’m feeling overwhelmed. Why does my story need to be told? Why will people care? I feel like I’m out in the water flapping around trying to figure out my footing. It reminds me of this time I was in Thailand. I had […]
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(Memoir Excerpt #7) Between eating apples, we worked nonstop from 7a.m. to 4:30p.m. That’s when the man came around to collect the tags from our filled-up crates, and pay us our hard earned cash. Our bodies were completely exhausted, but giddy with excitement at the idea of going to the grocery store and cooking a big […]
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(Memoir Excerpt #5) After our celebratory dinner of green onion sandwiches, I knew it was about time I called my mother. I had been gone a week and a half and save for my note on the kitchen fridge and two messages I left for her on the voicemail at home when I knew she […]
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(Memoir Excerpt #4) It had been a week and a half and we had driven 2500 miles across the country. Once we crossed the border into British Columbia we emptied our wallets and searched through the car for any stray coins and laid out all the money we had left. We had $28.75. If we […]
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(Memoir Excerpt #3) I felt like french explorer, Jacques Cartier, stumbling across one hill at a time. Sketching out the lay of unchartered land in my journal and deciding where to stake my sword. After a few days on the road I was learning more about geography than any class in school ever taught me. We […]
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(Memoir Excerpt #2) It was peaceful driving at night. The temperature had dropped and we had the heat on in the car. The highway was dark and only illuminated by my dim headlights. There weren’t very many cars on the road; just massive 18-wheel trucks blasting by us every once in a while. Chuck and I were […]
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(Memoir Excerpt #1) So, this is where my story actually began. The day I ran away from home. I was 17 years old, in my last year of high school, when I ran away from home and ended up traveling around the world for five years. I’ve been trying to understand why I ran away, […]
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I was born in Toronto, and spent the first 18 years of my life there. I couldn’t wait to get out. I felt like it was holding me back. But it wasn’t the city that was suffocating me. Traveling around the world for five years gave me a deep appreciation for what a wonderful multifaceted and […]
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NUIT BLANCHE is hands-down by FAR my favorite event in Toronto. Traipsing around all over the city in the middle of the night experiencing art with my friends, community and fellow life lovers, is an unbelievable experience. If you’ve never done it, it’s a must, at least once in your life I’m so excited to actually be […]
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The past few weeks putting this exhibit together has been an amazing experience. I was blown away at the response and the amount of people who participated in the anonymous apology submissions. Reading them all was thrilling, funny and at times, heartbreaking. It was liberating and very scary to put my personal apologies out there, but many […]
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A Canadian born and bred, after living in the united states for years (and becoming an American Citizen) I missed being sorry. Yes, it’s true, we apologize for everything. I’m sorry even when I have no idea why. I’m sorry when I didn’t hear what you said, “Sorry?” I’m sorry when I’m coming out and […]
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So, I feel like I’ll need a break from drudging up my past and dealing with my present, so this category is where I can lighten up and talk about fun stuff, like places to check out, restaurants I like, or new art exhibits and theater shows I’d recommend. For now, I’ll be mostly focusing […]
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Hi, my name is Riva. The name ‘Ruby Garnay’ came to me in a dream one night. It reminds of a free-spirited European aristocrat, rebelliously bounding across a piazza and I just want to yell out to her, “GO Ruby Garnay, you got this!” She’s my inspiration. Maybe if I take some time to look […]
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Go Ruby Garnay 