Being the first-born-generation as a Filipino-Canadian and growing-up in the 80s conjured the kind of awkwardness that kids today will never know. I had to turn to art to escape and find my voice. And even since a very early age, it was one thing, one simple idea, I seemed to always turn to... Art.

To me and to countless others, fashion is another form of expression, like music, literature, art and dance, with the added benefit that everyone in western society participates in it, whether consciously or not. A piece is not created to stagnantly hang on someone's wall -- it is created to be worn on someone's back, and to fulfill a basic human need. If you don't think this can be done artistically, you've been spending too much time looking at American Apparel T-shirts.

With back to school comes the inevitable onslaught of our offspring's artistic endeavours (gulp). Their creativity is irrefutable but managing the volume is at odds with our resolution to control the clutter, and we're not up for the tears induced by one-too-many garbaflage attempts last year. Here to save our sanity -- and valuable storage space -- is easy app Artkive.

The potential economic benefit of trained mathematicians and scientists may be obvious to policy makers, and as scientists we can appreciate this. It can be difficult to envision how a third grader's piano lessons will lead to future economic gains; however, the hidden benefits of language and music training on cognitive health and brain function should not be overlooked. It's time to put what's "extra" back into the curriculum and embrace arts programming in schools as an essential part of building and maintaining cognitive health both in the present and into the future.

After a fateful trip to Paris, Ackerman was inspired to turn her love of travel, food, art and culture into a business. So she launched Butter and Egg Road, a travel-inspired private members' club that brings together an international community of like-minded people to share their love of food, art and culture during weekend social events in different cities across North America.

Did you know that gay men cannot be sperm donors in Canada? Absurd! And some in Canada still don't think same sex couples should parent. In my counseling practice I have seen both same sex and heterosexual couples for fertility and couples counseling and I can tell you this: the type of union has no bearing on the quality of the relationship nor on people's parenting skills.

Jorn Weisbrodt, the new artistic director for Luminato, which runs from June 8 until June 17, sat down with me for lunch. As a new Torontonian, Jorn had almost as many questions for me as I did for him, but somehow, I left wondering more and more about this great city we live in, and what will happen when Luminato opens its doors this month...

As is customary on the web, when one thing explodes, you can expect to find a wave of websites, applications and services to offer you various ways to enrich your experience. Here are five unique ways to enjoy your Instagram gems online and offline.