A few days ago, an old university classmate in Hong Kong received two copies of my novel, Nonimportantech, ordered through Amazon. She sent me a photo and wrote: "I bought two copies. One to read and annotate. One to keep. Besides… buying two meant free shipping." That last sentence made me smile. Even after more than thirty years, she still has the same wonderful mix of humor and practicality that I remember from university. Back then, she was probably the most beautiful and

This afternoon, a butterfly wandered into my little print shop. It didn't circle the lights.It didn't rest on the window. Instead, it landed quietly on the trimmed edge of a copy of Nonimportantech lying on my counter. For a moment, I forgot about customers, printers, and unfinished orders. I simply watched. Books are strange objects.Most people notice their covers.Some read their first pages.Very few ever think about the hundreds of hidden page edges holding an entire world

Yesterday, a familiar face walked into my little shop, ACCO PHOTO. We have known each other for more than ten years. Back then, we were simply two fathers picking up our children from the same family daycare. Later, our children attended the same neighborhood school, École Ludger-Duvernay. His daughter was selected to continue her music education at École Le Plateau in Grade 2. A few years later, my younger son followed the same path. Eventually, both of them continued to...

When people think about adventure stories, they usually imagine heroes leaving home. In Nonimportantech, many characters do exactly that. But what interests me even more is that they all come back. Zoa spends time in South Africa as an exchange student. Sealage is repeatedly called away by the military. Xiaoyu travels to China twice. Pavel and Claudette help two elderly people in France protect their farm from illegal occupation before traveling to Africa to assist a newly fo

Yesterday, one of my regular customers came into my little print shop with a beautiful 15 × 30-inch panoramic photograph. The landscape was breathtaking. We carefully prepared the file and sent it to the printer. When the print emerged, he looked at it for a moment before saying, "The saturation seems weaker than on my screen." I understood exactly what he meant. Years ago, people often told us the opposite—that our prints looked too saturated. Curious about color management,

Last week, the elegant Italian lady returned with three more MiniDV tapes—numbers 15, 16, and 17. While handing them to me, she smiled and said she had been busy taking care of her mother. "My mother is very old now." I nodded. "One day, all of us will be." Then she told me something happier. "My daughter is coming to stay with me for a while." And, as often happens in our little print shop, the conversation quietly drifted toward children, parents, and the strange rhythm of

Yesterday, a couple walked into my little print shop to have their Canadian passport photos taken. They looked as if they had stepped out of a fashion magazine—elegant, relaxed, and perfectly at ease with each other. The photo session went smoothly, and soon it was time to pay. As always, I asked a simple question: "Separate or together?" The lady didn't answer directly. Instead, she smiled and asked,　 "How much?" Thinking she hadn't heard me clearly, I repeated my question.

Over the past few days, I came across several news stories from Alberta and other western Canadian provinces. Heavy rain had turned rodeo grounds into deep mud. Boots disappeared into the earth. Horses splashed through puddles. The crowds, however, didn't leave. They laughed, cheered, and embraced the mud as if it were simply another part of the festival. Watching those scenes reminded me of something unexpected: the traditional Chinese biaoshi (caravan guards). At first glan

Summer has arrived in Montreal once again. Heat wave after heat wave has settled over the city. In my little print shop, ACCO PHOTO, I've noticed a small detail that says a lot about life today. Many young parents who come to photograph their baby's very first passport picture now carry a tiny handheld fan. The babies are often only a few weeks or a few months old. The fan isn't a luxury. It's simply another way of protecting someone who has only just entered the world. A few

For more than thirteen years, I have owned a small print shop in Montreal. Every wedding season, couples come to ACCO PHOTO with their happiest memories. We print wedding photographs. We enlarge portraits onto canvas. We frame family pictures. We produce welcome signs, seating charts, menus, table numbers, and ceremony backdrops. Sometimes we even become a tiny part of a wedding before it begins. Watching so many weddings over the years has led me to ask a simple question: Is