Next

Let's call him N - as opposed to M.

N for Next.

N has me very interested. Lives in the Fraser Valley and has a killer sense of humour.

Stay tuned.

Back to Work

The vacation is finally over. I have to start working again - tomorrow - um, make that tomorrow afternoon. I have to write an entire story tomorrow. Sigh

And then take the weekend off to recuperate.

Quiet Day

What an odd day - so dark I have to keep the lights on even though it's almost noon. And I am completely idle. I've spent the last hour plus finishing a rather lovely book - something I rarely do during "working hours." Clearly, it's something I'll have to get more used to.

I like being idle, but only when I'm "supposed" to be. In other words, the holidays are over - and here I am with less to do than last week. I call this "enforced idleness" and it doesn't feel as good as the, "I engineered this idleness" kind of doing nothing. I'm still not out of the work mindset. Less so - yes - but I still need and want to do some. I could make work for myself but for some reason that doesn't feel like quite the same thing.

In my work, this kind of "nothing to do" space comes and goes. I'm still not used to it. Will I ever get used to it? Yes - I'm sure I will. I'm just easing into it rather than jumping in off the high tower.

The Finkler Question

Book Review:

Let me preface this by saying that I read copious amounts of books, everything from the latest Harry Potter to (the recently re-read)  Great Gatsby, from Bill Bryson's histories and travel tomes to Carl Hiasson (a guilty pleasure). I read the Giller Prize winners and the Man Booker Prize winners and Oprah's choices - I read a lot, always have and always will. I adore books.

Which leads me to my review of Howard Jacobson's The Finkler Question, the latest winner of the Man Booker Prize. Rarely do I manage not to finish a book - so rarely that it is a noteworthy occasion. I couldn't finish The Finkler Question. I struggled with it. I persevered. I forced myself to continue to pick it up and read just a few more pages. In such a manner I managed to get three-quarters of the way through the book. I kept telling myself, "Come on now. It won the Man Booker Prize; sooner or later something is going to happen."

Nothing happened. I finally gave up and shut the covers one last time. I was curious. I went to Amazon.com to check out the reader reviews - not the critics who fawn over the prize winners regardless - journalism is dead and gone even in book reviews. (trust me - I know - I have reviewed an awful lot of books).

I couldn't say it better than a lot of the "lay" reviewers on Amazon. One mentioned that it was a book club selection that very few book club members managed to finish. I concur with these readers that it was a book Woody Allen could have written if he had lost his sense of humour and decided to people the story with characters he uniformly and thoroughly disliked. There are no characters here with redeeming qualities. And NOTHING HAPPENS! It's just plain boring.

Why did it win the prize? Because it deals with a supposedly controversial topic? Please! We could take any religious or national demographic and find existential angst about who they are and what they have done to themselves and others - Catholics could have a field day with this.

As for clever humour. A seven-year-old could do better than "D'Jew know Juno?" And that's the funniest bit in the book.

Enough of that. How about some good books? If you love dogs you cannot miss reading "A Dog's Purpose" by J. Cameron. Brilliant! Beautiful! A wonderful story!

Cool Water, the Giller Prize winner is a Canadian delight - set in the prairies and overflowing with believable and charmingly eccentric characters.

There - more to come.

Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n Roll

Got your attention with that headline, didn't I?

Well, it's not strictly an attention-getter. I actually remember the 60's - or parts of them. And here's what hardly anyone will tell you - the sixties were child's play compared to the seventies and eighties.

At any rate, I did my share of all of the above - possibly more than my share. Regrets? Nary a one. Why would I regret having such great stories to tell - and one day, I will tell those stories: from grinding up and ingesting morning glory seeds, to being the only white person in a touring R&B band. Ah yes - those were the days. Hitch-hiking to Winnipeg in the dead of winter (Winnipeg!?), crashing the art gallery openings in Montreal dressed as a cross between a real artist and the Phantom of the Opera - sleeping in an all-night laundromat, serving beer in an all-French speaking bar and getting by because - well, because I was young and female....

The reason I thought about all this was the brief discussion I had yesterday with my hiking buddy about what it's like to have a boring life. Let's face it, compared to the sixties and seventies etc., my current life is very, very boring. It's predictable. The most exciting thing I do all week is walk with my dog. My hiking buddy told me that she adores her boring life as a stay-at-home mom. And she does - and, what's more, I understand why because I love my predictable life far more than the life I led back then when I never knew where I was going to sleep or who would buy me my next meal.

There is a lot to be said for getting older, wiser, happy, joyful and at peace.

And I am.

Of course, that doesn't mean a random pebble tossed into the serene waters wouldn't be welcome. Just got contacted by a rather lovely man on the mainland.... better go check my email.

Hiking

It was an amazing day for hiking on the Westwood Ridges today. Two people - two dogs, crisp blue sky and sunshine - how blessed is that?

And just look at that view!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, Nanaimo!

A glorious morning to walk by the ocean and absorb the beauty of this part of the world.

New Year's resolutions? Sure - why not? I have a few but I'll tell you about number one on my list. This year it's all about a relationship. Until very recently that just wasn't a priority in my life. I don't know why - it just wasn't. Now it is. But not just any relationship - I've got quite a long wish list and I refuse to settle for less.

First, he's got to make my laugh. He's got to be full of self confidence. He's got to be able to keep up with me on the trail. He's got to love dogs (and me). There has to be chemistry and there has to be genuine respect, admiration and friendship. He's got to be handsome - to me. All of that would make a good start. And the universe being what it is - an "ask and you shall receive" kind of place, I can hardly wait for all of this to manifest.