Articles written by Matt St. Amand

What is Helium

About me - Matt St. Amand

Novelist, screenwriter, amateur ghost-hunter, part-time ordained minister and husband with a slowly improving track record. I have written six books, a handful of plays, screenplays and in the past 18 months was hired to write the biography of a local industrialist.

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Creative Writing > Poetry Poetry: The moon: 1 of 174
The Moon with SunglassesMoon, you need an agent. Artists have stolen from you all these years. Royalties are due. As I write by your light in the middle of the night, I know a debt is owed. Yet, you sit in the sky like a big, round child with cake on his face. A pock-marked rube, seemingly unaware, mugging in a celestial mirr... More..
Creative Writing > Memoirs Memoirs: My great, true, personal garden story: 15 of 393
I named the Japanese Maple tree "Roald," and thought of it as "him" even before I'd left the nursery. Growing up in Detroit, my only horticultural experience was tending a Venus Flytrap plant as a kid (which ingrained me with the belief that pieces of bologna were viable plant food). My wife and I had just built a home in a s... More..
Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: Falling in love: 9 of 144
It was the summer before high school, and I talked to her on a dare. I was at the park on the last day of June, playing basketball with my friends on the blacktop court. After my friend, Darryl, won the game - sinking a fifteen-footer over two other defenders - we retreated into the shade, where we left our water bottles. As ... More..
Creative Writing > Poetry Poetry: Reflections: 22 of 242
White Cane The blind man crosses the street, his cane a giant divining rod tapping a code that guides him home. I watch him pass & think, I know no such code, & even with my two sight-startled eyes I still walk into walls. More..
Health & Fitness > Diet Tips Commonsense tips: Weight loss: 1 of 11
Prologue: A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with One StepAlways consult a physician before undertaking a diet or exercise regimen. The point of diet and exercise is to become healthier, not to fast-track yourself into having a heart attack or into some other injury.Step One: Know Thy EnemyIt is not widely acknowledged, but... More..
Politics, News & Issues > US Leaders (Other) Assessing the legitimacy of conspiracy theories: 4 of 38
I'm just after watching a program on TVOntario hosted by Steve Paikin, Conspiracy Anyone? Below is an e-mail message I just sent to TVO regarding this program and my opinions about how it handled its subject:The premise of the TV show Conspiracy Anyone?, about conspiracy theories, was flawed at its base. The host operated fro... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Political Values America is in a privacy crisis: 5 of 42
Certainly, George W. Bush, John Ashcroft and the original Dr. Strangelove, Admiral John Poindexter, had all but decreed that the general public dress in cellophane, submit to polygraph tests on every street corner and sign hourly loyalty oathes, but the thing I marvel at these days is the amount of "self surveillance" going o... More..
Creative Writing > Satire Satire: Elections: 1 of 7
The All-the-Time Campaign Following the 2008 U.S. presidential election, both political parties blanketed the country with candidates for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 presidential races. There were hundreds of millions of dollars to be raised, opponents to be denounced, thousands of hours of empty television to fill and mortal fea... More..
Creative Writing > Memoirs Testimonies: Meeting celebrities: 6 of 38
My time in Irelandwas spent following impulse like it was good sense, visiting parks and pubs, exploring one end of the River Liffey to the other, and working on my book at the Irish Writers' Centre. I lost whole days walking Raglan Road where Patrick Kavanagh once lived and set his famous poem, drinking in Ryan's where the A... More..
Health & Fitness > Nutrition & Health Issues McDonald's Big Mac turned 40 in 2007: Time to retire this icon of unhealthy fast food?: 3 of 16
As a Libertarian and a Fortean, I believe everyone should make their own decisions. But if I held the lever that would rid the world of the Big Mac, I would pull it. It's not that the Big Mac is the only damaging item on the McDonald's menu. From its crotch-melting coffee to its Filet O' Fish that could survive an Ice Age unc... More..