Dominique Joseph

you say "i asked chatgpt"
i hear "i asked [an improv comedy group]"

an improv group wrote this report
instead of a therapist i use an improv comedy group

Did not think it was possible for Canadian transparency laws to somehow get any worse but

Here’s your one-stop round-up of people on Bluesky making constructive posts about improving cities, courtesy of the Urban Truth Collective. Honoured to be included!

Cc @bluesky.sboots.ca

Great read! The comparaison with vegeterianism works!
« I don’t want [these new AI features]. I want to write my own emails…to write my own (mediocre) software code…to learn and think and ponder with other humans, not with a text-prediction system built by consuming all the text on the internet. »

The “generative AI vegetarianism” metaphor is very useful if you want to explain to people why you don’t use generative AI. Sean breaks it down masterfully in this post.

A delightful break from all the stuff…

Yep. Married women have always worked. Many had jobs outside the home, many more did piecemeal work at home to supplement the family income. There are dozens & dozens of books by historians about this. I know because one of my comps fields was History of the American Family & I had to read them all

Merci pour le partage. Ravi de revenir à Montréal et de rencontrer Joanne Liu et Prativa Baral en personne. Au plaisir d’échanger avec vous à McGill — ou sur Zoom.

Archangel's Light - Nalini Singh :: NYT bestselling author Archangel's Light is Book 14 of the award-winning Guild Hunter series by NYT bestselling author Nalini Singh.

The story’s structure is also fascinating. We jump forward 700 years after the previous installments. Cool to see how the author gives us an idea of what’s happened since then.

For more background about the friends to lovers story: Archangel’s Light.

nalinisingh.com/books/guild-...

Archangel's Ascension - Nalini Singh :: NYT bestselling author In Archangel's Ascension, Guild Hunter series book 17 by Nalini Singh, an impending transformation will be both an ending and a beginning…

In a world with almost immortal warrior-angels & vampires, and very mortal humans…

One of my faves from a Nalini Singh series: Archangel’s Ascension.
Long-term friends to lovers, navigating that new dynamic, dealing with past traumas and big changes.

nalinisingh.com/books/guild-...

How awful. I hope that she gets well soon… and that sidewalks get better too.

Just watched this. Wow!!!

To see the lyrics (text):

oxfordsong.org/song/sea-pic...

To see the music score for the 1st song:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGxb...

Beth Taylor & Hamish Brown: Edward Elgar, Sea Pictures YouTube video by Schubertíada

A friend sent me a few videos with the mention ‘For an accompanist’. He knows I loved to accompany singers in my previous life as a pianist!

Listen to the amazing Beth Taylor & Hamish Brown:
Edward Elgar, Sea Pictures -

I esp. like the first song…

youtu.be/oTC4C8-QpCs?...

I was just thinking that these days, Ottawa should be called the ‘city of a thousand lakes’… or Puddle Town!

So much fun, to encounter a huge puddle in a middle of a long sidewalk, with a long pile of snow blocking an easy path to the street… Decisions, decisions!

Adds a little spice to daily life…!
(Not the best way, perhaps.)

Wishing you and your car safe travels.

Villa Marie-Mirande in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, 1912. Full ceramic facade. Self-washing so always looking fabulous.

Looks amazing! Is it ‘self-washing’ because the rain is enough to wash the ceramic?

The whole point of saying that something is a human right is that it's saying ALL humans have a right to it. Not just some. Not just the ones you like or who look like you or who come from the same place as you or even the ones who aren't violent or mean or commit crimes.

EVERY. HUMAN.

I was just thinking that these days, Ottawa should be called the ‘city of a thousand lakes’… or Puddle Town!

So much fun, to encounter a huge puddle in a middle of a long sidewalk, with a long pile of snow blocking an easy path to the street… Decisions, decisions!

This poem reflects on the quiet forms courage takes in everyday life—persistence without recognition, and the small acts that keep people moving forward. The Sound of Ordinary Courage Most courage doesn’t look like thunder. It looks like someone getting up again without announcing it. It looks like quiet hands washing a cup, paying a bill, answering a message when the heart isn’t in it. No banners. No applause. Just the stubborn decision to keep going.

This poem is about noticing where real wisdom lives—not in noise or success, but in people who slow down, listen carefully, and remain attentive to the world. A Thought I Had While Walking The world is loud about the wrong things. Success. Speed. Winning. But the best people I know move slowly and listen carefully. They notice the sky. They ask real questions. They remember your name. If there’s wisdom anywhere, I think it lives there.

This poem explores how small acts of kindness can become deeply meaningful, especially when someone is struggling and needs even the smallest gesture of care. The Weight of Small Kindness A door held open. A stranger smiling. Someone saying “take your time.” These things seem tiny until the day you desperately need one. Then suddenly a small kindness feels like oxygen. And you realize how easily we save each other.

This poem reflects on what people ultimately remember about one another—not victories or achievements, but loyalty, honesty, and the way someone stayed present through difficult moments. What Remains In the end I don’t think we remember the victories. We remember who stayed. Who spoke honestly. Who didn’t run when things got difficult. History may forget our names. But the people we loved won’t forget how we lived.

Sometimes a poem doesn’t answer anything.
Sometimes it just sits with the truth a little longer than we usually allow.

Either way, here are some new poems. 💙💙💙
#poetry #blueskypoets #writingcommunity #BlueSkyPoetry #SkyPoet

I think it’s linked to the library card. If so, each card should get access to 8 tickets ( I guess?).

You’re right: 8 is not a lot! I’m sorry for that change :-(

- I don’t think the Ottawa Library communicated the change (from 12 to 8 tickets a month). I wonder why.

Anyways… As you can see, my years in a very customer-focused company, often working on improving customer service and/or service in French, really left a mark! I still notice that stuff.
END/

Lovely to see good service!

- Google Translate seemed to do a good job; they got what my original request was about, and the answer I got was fine.

- Funny how I immediately thought there was a problem with the app, with the technology. From bad experiences, probably!
/7

Their explanation: the Ottawa library reduced the number of tickets it provides each month: went from 12 to 8. I double-checked on the library website: confirmed.

Thoughts about the whole experience:
- I’ve definitely come to expect bad, frustrating interactions with customer ‘service’. Sad…/6

…so they could serve the next person.

I then got a reply 12 hours later, In French. They started by saying they were using Google translate to write to me in my language.

Excellent answer, clear, factual; they’d obviously checked my account to make sure everything was all right.
/5

Will my message be handled by some annoying chatbot which will send me a senseless, useless reply?

HAPPY RESULT: I wrote in French. Quickly got an acknowledgement with an interesting touch: it invited me to check out the FAQ and, if I found my answer there, to write back and cancel my request…/4

I checked the app’s FAQ, then ended up writing to customer support.

Some of my worries, from previous bad experiences: I’m in the French version of the app and everything is well written, but should I write in English, to avoid miscommunication/mistranslations? … /3