Mike McMahon
minimal mike
Hi. Welcome to my personal site. This is where I curate and store my writing (travel writing, poems, letters and notes), photos, book notes, reading lists and more. I used to have this info just stored on my laptop or scattered around the web on other people's sites. But now, I'm gonna store it here (own the content). Hope you enjoy some of it and if not, at least I hope it makes you feel something.
Photos
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Writing
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Starting Again
After a 9 year hiatus, I'm bringing my personal blog back.
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Tender at the Bone
Book notes — Ruth Reichl.
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The Enlightened Cyclist
Book notes — Eben Weiss (BikeSnobNYC).
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The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty
Book notes — Dan Ariely.
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The Tipping Point
Book notes — Malcolm Gladwell.
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Two types of politicians
A passage I kept — on Milgram, the Holocaust, and the means that justify the end.
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How to Love
Book notes — Thich Nhat Hanh.
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Real Estate
Book notes — Deborah Levy.
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The Memoir Project
Book notes — Marion Roach Smith.
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Honey, I Wrecked the Kids
Book notes — Alyson Schafer.
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Rocky Mountain ABCs
Book notes — Jocey Asnong.
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The name McMahon
The origin of the family name McMahon.
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The Path of Moral Leadership
Reflections from an Acumen course.
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Kindred Soul
A verse for a kindred soul.
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Know Yourself, Know Your Money
Book notes — Rachel Cruze.
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A postcard to Mom
Sending a Christmas Card to Australia.
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Moon and stars
A dirty sticky note on the fridge.
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A letter from Mel
A touchingly honest goodbye note.
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The Meaning of Life
Book notes — the School of Life.
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No Friend But the Mountains
Book notes — Behrouz Boochani, Writing from Manus Prison.
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Therapy notes
On the space, and what fills it.
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A conversation about the group
A phone call, piecing together the early nineties.
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Ce que j'ai fait la semaine dernière
Un exercice d'écriture de mon cours de français
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Training for the New Alpinism
Book notes — Steve House & Scott Johnston.
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A note from a suitor
About what she wants in a husband
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What I've learned
A poem.
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Grandma — McMahon
A few things I know about Vincent and Mary.
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Everything Is F*cked
Book notes — Mark Manson.
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Note to self
A note from my work notebook April 2019.
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All About Love
Book notes — bell hooks.
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Big Plans for the Next 5 Years
A five-year plan — a business that does good, a home in the woods, and living within my means.
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Lost
On lost faith, insecurity, and the search for answers.
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Your Brain On Love
Book notes — Stan Tatkin on attachment and the 'Island' type.
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Overheard at the pub
A snatch of conversation, caught.
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The Disaster Artist
A reflection, after the film.
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Not Safe
A short poem.
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Paddling Lake Temagami in Northern Ontario
A canoe trip into the old-growth quiet of Northern Ontario.
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Birthday Poem for Dad
A birthday verse for my father.
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Birthday Poem for Dad
A birthday verse for my father.
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Exploring the Dalmatian Coast
Walled towns, island ferries and Adriatic blue along Croatia's coast.
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Discovering Montreal in Summer
Architecture, jazz, bagels and bike paths — a summer in Canada's cultural capital.
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Explosions in the Sky
A short note — on a band, a bed, and a shared melancholy.
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Measurements
While building something at home
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Considering the Impact of Travel
Wrestling with the footprint of a life lived on the move.
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Everything Is Better in Hindsight
A song of memory and leaving.
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For a moment
A poem.
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Weekly challenge: call Deb
A page from my Five Minute Journal, March 2017.
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A daily journal page
A page from my journal.
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A gratitude journal page
A page from my Five Minute Journal, March 2017.
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How I Escape with Micro-Adventures
Why the best adventures are often the small ones close to home.
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Happy Anyhow
A short verse on presence and gratitude.
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What I Learn from Travel
What years on the road have taught me about life back home.
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Let My People Go Surfing
Book notes — Yvon Chouinard.
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Taking to the Skies over Mt Garibaldi
Flying the mountains around Squamish and Mt Garibaldi in a friend's little Cessna.
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Inauguration
A note, written at a bar, on the 2017 inauguration speech.
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Expectations
A short note — on letting go.
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Note to Portia after we split
On the stuff I bought, and getting it wrong.
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Discovering the Toronto Islands
Finding community and calm a short ferry ride from downtown Toronto.
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A Winter Escape to the Canadian Rockies
Snow, peaks and mountain towns on a winter trip through the Rockies.
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Driving the Trans-Canada Highway
Crossing a winter country on Canada's longest road.
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A love letter
My lovers birthday message
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Wonder
A short verse, written in New Zealand — still thinking of you, and wondering.
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On reading Miller and the Beats
A short reflection.
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In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
Book notes — Gabor Maté.
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Goals
A few goals I set for myself 10 years ago
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Consumption
Five lines on 'waste not, want not'.
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Was That Love?
Meeting someone in a Toronto bar, two days into a new life.
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I am the author of my life
Unfortunately I'm writing in pen
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Ethical Investing
Investing not just money, but time and attention, in the future you want.
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I Give Myself Permission
An affirmation — permission to live, travel, and chase the dream.
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Joy and Loss
A short verse on connection, loss and belief.
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On Identity and Fitting In
Notes to myself on identity, belonging and self-acceptance.
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On People Who Influence Us
Why do some people shape us so much more than others?
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Pivot
Notes from the book — six steps on the road to clarity.
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To My First Love
A poem for a first love, reconnected at mid-life.