Wryson’s Eternity by Shehanne Moore

Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia Thank you for listening in. Recently, I had the pleasure of recording a conversation with Scottish author, Shehanne Moore about her latest novel, Wryson’s Eternity. It was a lively and thoughtful discussion. And one I was very much looking forward to sharing. But technology had other ideas. The internet connection between Dundee, Scotland and Vancouver, Canada went awry!

http://teatoasttrivia.ca/2026/05/18/wrysons-eternity-by-shehanne-moore/

Sir James Mackintosh – When Compassion Learned to Speak

Birth of Organized Compassion Not every reform begins with action. Some begin with understanding. Before compassion can be organized, it must be given language. It must be shaped into thought that can be shared, defended, and carried into the public world. Without this, even the deepest moral concern can be dismissed as sentiment. Sir James Mackintosh understood this well. A Scottish thinker whose life moved…

http://clanmother.ca/2026/05/17/sir-james-mackintosh-when-compassion-learned-to-speak/

Walking in Nature with Myra Viola Wilds

“Catch your thoughts and hold them tightly…” A poem has a way of returning to us. Not always when we expect it, and never in quite the same way. Several years ago, I created a video around this poem by Myra Viola Wilds. Recently, I found myself revisiting it. The words had not changed, but my understanding of them had deepened.

http://rebeccasreadingroom.ca/2026/05/16/walking-in-nature-with-myra-viola-wilds/

Love Among the Ruins by Edward Burne-Jones

Love Among the Ruins When Poetry Becomes Paint and Paint Refuses to Die There are mornings when my art calendar does more than mark the day. It opens a doorway. Today that doorway was Love Among the Ruins by Edward Burne-Jones, a painting that feels less like an image and more like a quiet vow. At first glance, we see two lovers seated amid the fragments of a fallen classical city.

http://chasingart.ca/2026/05/15/love-among-the-ruins-by-edward-burne-jones/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Looking at Ourselves Through Klara and the Sun

Recently I read Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was not an easy read for me. The story unfolds slowly and thoughtfully, and at times I found myself pausing to reflect on what was happening beneath the surface. Yet the book opened up new ideas that connect directly to something I have been thinking about lately. How humanity is beginning to face the reality of artificial intelligence and the many technologies that…

http://rebeccasreadingroom.ca/2026/05/12/looking-at-ourselves-through-klara-and-the-sun/

William Wilberforce – The Long Work of Moral Persistence

Some reforms announce themselves with urgency. Others require something quieter and far more demanding: the ability to remain faithful over time. William Wilberforce is often remembered for the moment when abolition finally passed into law. Yet that moment was the visible crest of a much longer, largely unseen labour. What defined Wilberforce was not a single victory, but the willingness to return, year after…

http://clanmother.ca/2026/05/10/william-wilberforce-the-long-work-of-moral-persistence/

Staffa: When Stone Enters the Imagination

Staffa: When Stone Enters the Imagination Some places do not enter history quietly. They arrive already carrying meaning, as though they have been waiting for human language to catch up. Staffa is one of those places. Long before it became a subject of geology or a destination for the curious, it lived in naming and story. The Norse, moving through these waters centuries ago, called it Stafey or pillar island.

http://rebeccasreadingroom.ca/2026/05/09/staffa-when-stone-enters-the-imagination/

Symbolism and the Language of Light

Symbolism and the Language of Light Reflections on Munch, Redon, and the Inner Sun In a thoughtful video by the National Galleries of Scotland, Symbolism is described as an art of suggestion rather than description. Symbolist painters were less concerned with recording reality than with expressing inner states of dreams, longings, spiritual awakenings. They painted what cannot be photographed. To accompany this exploration, I have…

http://chasingart.ca/2026/05/08/symbolism-and-the-language-of-light/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Bernard Mandeville and the Beehive

Bernard Mandeville and the Beehive Rebecca’s Reading Room continues in the long tradition of the Victorian and Edwardian reading rooms. Those were places where neighbours gathered not only to read books and periodicals, but to exchange ideas, wrestle with change, and imagine new futures together. They were not silent archives, but living spaces where knowledge was shared, questioned, and renewed. Curiosity was welcomed as a companion,…

http://rebeccasreadingroom.ca/2026/05/05/bernard-mandeville-and-the-beehive/

The Power of Diversity

In a reflective walk along the James Bay shoreline, the author contemplates the essence of a Reading Room as a diverse space welcoming multiple voices. Reading is portrayed as a transformative experience that broadens understanding and nurtures empathy, shaping who we are through our engagement with varied perspectives and ideas.

http://rebeccasreadingroom.ca/2026/05/04/the-power-of-diversity/