MY ELECTORAL DISTRICTS

 National Assembly 

Nelligan 

MNA

Canadian Parliament

Lac-Saint-Louis

MNA

MONTREAL BIKE TRAILS

  VELO QUEBEC

US STATE ABBREVIATIONS

Gary Gulman is comedian that does a great bit with the very real problem of shortening the states to a two letter abbreviation. It's a postal norm that I still find terribly challenging. 

Here he is on How the States Got Their Abbreviations.

Here is the list to make it clear:

State/District             Postal Code

Alabama                     AL

Alaska                     AK

Arizona                     AZ

Arkansas                     AR

California                    CA

Colorado                     CO

Connecticut                CT

Delaware                    DE

District of Columbia  DC

Florida                    FL

Georgia                    GA

Hawaii                    HI

Idaho                    ID

Illinois                       IL

Indiana                      IN

Iowa             IA

Kansas              KS

Kentucky           KY

Louisiana           LA

Maine                  ME

Maryland          MD

Massachusetts MA

Michigan         MI

Minnesota MN

Mississippi MS

Missouri         MO

Montana         MT

Nebraska         NE

Nevada                 NV

New Hampshire NH

New Jersey NJ

New Mexico NM

New York NY

North Carolina        NC

North Dakota ND

Ohio         OH

Oklahoma OK

Oregon         OR

Pennsylvania PA

Rhode Island RI

South Carolina.       SC

South Dakota SD

Tennessee TN

Texas         TX

Utah         UT

Vermont        VT

Virginia        VA

Washington        WA

West Virginia        WV

Wisconsin        WI

Wyoming        WY

Territory/Associate Abbreviation Postal Code

American Samoa                 AS

Guam                                 GU

Marshall Islands                 MH

Micronesia                         FM

Northern Mariana Islands MP

Palau                                 PW

Puerto Rico                                 PR

Virgin Islands                         VI

It is notable that in 1967 the abbreviation for Nebraska changed from NB to NE to avoid confusion with New Brunswick!

TECUMSEH

 Near my house, on the way to the nearest Costco, I cross a street called Tecumseh. 

What I did not know was this is the name of a Shawnee chief and warrior, born in what is now Ohio. He was a folk hero, travelling widely and forming a Native American confederacy. 

His younger brother Tenskwatawa became known as the Shawnee Prophet, who founded a religious movement that rejected European influence and valued their traditional lifestyle. 

The two brothers would go on to establish Prophetstown, Indiana, a multi-tribal community, that would be destroyed by Americans in 1811. 

In the War of 1812, Tecumseh joined with the British, helping capture Detroit. He participated with the British in the failed campaign against the Americans in Ohio and Indiana. When US Naval Forces took control of Lake Erie in 1813, he retreated with the British into Upper Canada (a town near Windsor is named after him), and was killed at the Battle of the Thames on October 1813. 

His death lead to the collapse of the conferacy, and the lands he fought to defend were ceded to the US government.

THE DROPOUT

 It's a lot more functional for me to drop into a podcast wormhole, because I can listen to it incessantly while commuting, doing dishes, laundry, shovelling, exercising, cooking and cleaning. A similar binge of video makes my bum a little flatter and wider, so when I started to watch The Dropout on Disney, it was fortunate that only a few episodes existed in video, whereas the podcast series had 24 episodes that I have eaten up in the last week while staying relatively active and productive!

If you don't know the story, it's a gripping one. Another Stanford dropout becomes a billionaire, but this time it's a woman. Elizabeth Holmes was, for a few years, the youngest female billionaire, by founding and becoming CEO of a Silicon Valley company called Theranos (therapy and diagnose) based on a revolutionary idea that blood tests didn't need to from a traumatic needle in a vein, but from a small quantity of blood from a smaller puncture to the fingertip. Unfortunately for many, it was never a reality, and Elizabeth's trial is followed from the beginning to the verdict. 

Attorney Jay Edelson says in the Verdict: January 5, 2022

"I think overall this is going to lead to a tremendous shakeup in Silicon Valley. We've had 20 plus years of Silicon Valley playing fast and loose with facts, and everyone kind of just agreed that it was okay, and it really isn't okay. It's not okay to steal a billion dollars ... It concerns me that Elizabeth Holmes was, at the time, the most prominent female startup, and the number of men who have gotten away with stuff that Elizabeth Holmes did, if not worse, it would fill (you know)journals. I do, just as someone who believes so much in consumer rights in not defrauding people, I am glad about this guilty verdict. It makes me uneasy that.. um, I don't want there to be one scapegoat here. I am not saying that she didn't do anything wrong. She deserves her sentence, but I think that there are a lot of other people, a lot of men, who have done similar things, and I hope that justice will done in other instances as well."

Silicon Valley investor and critic Roger McNamee  Crime and Punishment: October 12, 2021, 23:43

"The thing about Elizabeth Homes that I look at, that gives me hope for humanity: you wouldn't have had to go back more than 5 years when it would have been impossible for a woman to raise that kind of money, even for a great idea. Men have been raising money for bad ideas for a really long time... that actually represents social progress."

WORDLE

It seems ironic and slightly frustrating that the name of this popular online game of solitaire is six letters long, when it only calls for five. It's a lot easier to find a word six letters long, so each time I have to find with five, it is a challenge.

This game reminds me of the game mastermind, but it seems more fun and marvellous that I can shuffle through my unseen dictionary of my memory and find a solution with 6 attempts almost all of the time. 

It's become a daily habit, and a monitor of my fatigue. When I find myself putting the yellow letters in the same place instead of moving it to any other spot, I know I need to check my fatigue, hydration, and nutrition.

If you haven't heard of it, you need to try it. Apparently it exists in other languages. Maybe I'll look for the french version next. 

LISA COOK

 The study of economics in my life has largely been a post-secondary personal pursuit. My high school teacher gave me the impression that the financial system was increasingly unknowable following the uncoupling of currency and gold. Additionally, our investment into Air Canada (which was, to be fair, only a year long) was a failure, earning less on the sale then we had put it, which hurt in 1989 when a GI was returning 10%. Needless to say, I learn to save, and invest safely, which doesn't help me much in the current market. 

Since then, I have moved from personal budgets to financial planning to investment. I am still learning, so a few years ago, when I happened on a podcast called Planet Money, I began to see that economist have a point of view on far more than money. From my personal viewpoint, they are some of the greatest modern philosophers in the world. They analyze date and come up with solutions. They have insight into almost every system out there, and that is very exciting and comforting!

One such economist has sparked even further interest in her extensive historical research. Her name is Lisa Cook, and her articles are worth reading.The podcast called Patent Racism that introduced her to me was on Planet Money was an analysis of black racism and the impact of black innovation. She found that people's general understanding of the history of black was lacking, and even had to provide that as the basis of her economic study and argument that lynching/violence kills innovation while it's killing victims. It's a pivotal note in history, and a modern day cautionary tale. 

From her work, I was introduced to the lynching of Emmitt Till (and his remarkable mother, in Women of the Movement on Global), the devastation of the Tulsa Race massacre (imagine your neighbourhood razed to the ground), and the Tuskegee report on lynchings (a brutal short history here).

 Racism and lack of diversity kills innovation, and both need to be avoided. The paper that started it all is titled: Violence and Economic Activity  with its abstract.

Here is a talk she gave on Diversity and Innovation. Another on What Promotes Or Kills Innovation?

Here is the blueprint for the present proposed implementation for an Innovation Economy, called the Hamilton Project.

I look forward to follow and aspiring to more Lisa Cook ideas.

BOOK REVIEW: THE INCONVENIENT INDIAN

 Logo of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People

CLEANING UP MY PHOTOS

 I have too many photos. Lots of people say it, but I really mean it! I have reached the limit of my computer's generous memory capacity with over 600 GB of photos. 

I love most of the these photos, and now most of them are on computer. If they hadn't been, I would likely have a room full by now, so I am glad for the technology. Here's what I didn't realized, though, about the technology. My photos are replicating, like mice in the attic, and they need tending, more than a physical collecction does. 

As I write, my photo app is being repaired. This is the second "library" of photos that I am doing, with yesterday's first main library now finished. There is one more after that, and then the plan is to import 2 of the older ones to the main one, and see what redundancies I can get rid of.

One of the problems of digital photos is that there is little urgency to edit, and then all of a sudden I have thousands of pictures that have multiples, either because my device reloaded twice and didn't notice, or I take a series of 5 photos of my teen each time in an attempt to get one decent photo without tongue sticking out or eyes rolling.

Here are some critical steps from apple support (the website is great, but the phone service even greater, and when they end they send links to the website that I should have found in the first place but didn't understand until they walked me through). 

I am trying to avoid calling again, and more comfortable to look online for help if my notes fail me, but here is the number to book a followup just in case: 1-800-275-2273. Ask for photos/creative media.

It all starts with OPTION key then one-click photos. The system library default is called Photos Library. It took several hours yesterday to repair it, and today I am repairing Photos library A and probably iPhoto library. When I migrated photos following a robbery years ago, I restored from a hard drive and I think I missed the step of deleting after importing. I will not make that mistake again!

An important setup for any longer task, including upkeep of the latest operating system is to go to SYSTEM PREFERENCES, then ENERGY SAVER, then choosing: prevent your mac from automatically sleeping when the display is off, wake for network access, and Enable Power Nap.

When the libraries are repaired, I will OPTION PHOTOS and make sure in finder that I am in PHOTOS LIBRARY. I will go to FILE, then IMPORT PHOTOS LIBRARY A, then iPHOTO LIBRARY. Then I will laugh and cry and brutally edit the collection until I have only one copy of the photos I want to keep. Then I will say thank you and good-bye and delete forever 400 GB of data, and back up my SINGULAR photo library. Oh, happy day! I can feel the burden lifting from my shoulders already! 

March seems like a good month to make a photo book. I have 23 years to catch up on!

VIRTUAL ESCAPE ROOM

 We signed up with virtualescaping.com for a game called Artifact Isle.

We could be a team of 6 but ended up with only 5, for a reasonable price of $35.

We were recommended to sign on a few minutes before, on a desktop, laptop, or newer ipad (2019), with 90 minutes to escape. We meet in a lobby, where we can strategize before pressing the start button. The team leader is the first person on the platform. We communicated within the ingame video chat.

If we get stuck, we can have up to 3 hints during the game. Another hint we were given was that not all clues will solve a problem at the same location as you find the clue, so I plan to take notes! Apparently, we may also have to split up to be in different locations around the island to solve the clues.

I am excited!

What I know:

I was given a diary from my late grandfather, and the information in it leads me to a forbidden cave and its treasures. My grandfather, and others, have been at this island, but no one seems to have survived. There are many clues to find, but the island is sinking!

From the pictures, there is a tropical beach with a 3 digit code, there are totems that are built in different sequences, there is cave with wooden crates and a movie projector, and a manmade entrance with totems on either side.

Things we had to do:

notice colours, groups of things, maps

CODES: coloured shape directions, codes, scramble words

Things I learned - if I have the key, I am fast! "Put me in coach. I'm ready to play, today!"

Even virtual escape rooms are fun!

Not everything means anything!

I like cooperation. People who just play around and don't explain themselves don't contribute much to the team. I

TIPS from The Escape Game

1. Communication is the key. Clearly and continually communicate. There are no bad ideas. Speak up if you think something is worth exploring. Close the loops.

2. Your game guide is an invaluable tool. Have them search the entire space after entering the room. 

3. When in doubt, ask for a clue. Don't get stuck too long on any one puzzles. There will be a lot to solve!

4. Make sure you are online in advance, and that you have everything you need downloaded before your start time!

5. Split your screen if you can.

6. Computers and laptops are better than ipads, so that you can see both your teamates and your game dashboard at the same time.

7. If you can, get a 360 degree scan of the room on entering.

8. Keep a pen and paper handy, to decipher or rearrange numbers, letters or words. 

9. Give clear instructions to your game guide.

10. Stay organized! Keep track of clues items and kinds of locks and codes you need to escape, and where you found them!

Have fun!

CLEANING UP MY RAM

I am almost not even able to use my computer. It am no longer able to open anything without delay, and when I use the "sweeping" app EaseUS CleanGenius, I have no memory freed, even though I have 3 GB in inactive memory, and the free memory is 110 MB of 8 GB!

So I am going to restart my computer (I tend to leave it on because the startup takes too long), and follow this advice.

These are the steps will try and update:

1. Restart your computer. Done

2. Update software. Done

3. Change browser. Still using safari.(chrome/firefox are better for RAM)

4. Clear my cache. This helped.

Finder-- Go tab--Go to folder dropdown--~/Library/Caches--Go to folder--Edit tab--Select All--File tab--Move to trash

5. Disable extensions

Recommended to follow:

Spotlight (command+space)

Finder -- Preferences -- right click -- clear (chose open folders in tabs --instead of new window)

Activity -- memory - i (information) -- quit (i didn't highlight and didn't recognize ANYTHING!)

              -- CPU 

Lastly, recommended to advanced user (so for me, to be used with caution as a last resort!)

Open TERMINAL

Write "sudo purge"

This should clear inactive

BOOK REVIEW: GARCIA'S HEART

Liam Durcan may have written his Opus Magnum, and if I were him, I would incredibly proud to have peaked with this novel. It is complex, beautifully written, and required me to google definitions, geography, history and art!   

I have not read his short stories, which was the first thing he published, but I did read The Measure of Darkness, which was well-done and a fascinating idea (an architect that loses both a portion of his vision and the ability to understand its loss i. e. neglect), but the character is not very sympathetic. 
In contrast, the protagonist in this story (one of only a few characters that is NOT a Garcia) is complex while still being sympathetic.

This is credited to being a "neurologic narrative" (Barbara Sibbald CMAJ), although I saw an interview where Dr. Durcan minimizes his role as neurologist in writing. Certainly, both novels I read do not overdo it, but have been certainly well-informed by his medical knowledge. I also learned in an interview that he doesn't do research, but his character Patrick refers to those who do as "narcissistic". 

I loved his imagery, and there were so many perfect phrases and sentences that, at first, I started writing them down, but had to stop, because I would have needed pages to note them all!

Here are a few gems:

"A boat. Affluence squared. The confluence of money and stretches of leisure time."

"The trumpet of Josh's raised righteous voice ushering them out."

"The allegations against Hernan outlined in the book were like anti-matter, altering the rules of the universe as he knew it."

"...causing his heart to make that thin-air no ropes climb into his throat."

When his heart started beating fast with emotion: "He knew the circuitry: pathways converging on his amygdala that, in response, fired like an automatic weapon, a heartbeat pattering after, spent shell casings bouncing off the floor."

And my favourite: "For all of the mighty tasks a brain was capable of doing, nothing was underrated as the ability to forget."

Here are some vocabulary words:

prosopagnosis - loss of ability to recognize faces
beatific - blissful
Shibboleth - the motto or catchphrase identifying yourself with a group (something that distinguishes outsiders from the group, as in Judges with the pronounciation of the Ephraimites of the word enough to betray them and have them killed

autodidact - a self-taught person
scion - descendent of a notable family
parse - analyze for underlying structure or meaning
redolent - fragrant

Some ideas:
Crying baby dilemma thought experiment and fMRI (solved by a mother in the novel) 
Classically utilitarianism says killing the child to save the village is worth it (John Stuart Mill) vs Deontology says that killing the child is wrong (Kant)

Declaration of Tokyo (hadn't read it!)

A physician shall not "countenance, condone or participate in the practice of torture" (boarding in ER with no lights being able to be switched off, etc.

Always the ornery editor, I thought the spelling "en-passant" strange coming from a Montrealer, and would have spelled it in French italics "en passant". I wondered if it was blooper on the beach at Scheveningen that the sand was between them and Germany, when I think it would have more like England. Lastly, he refers to something gravely important not to "bear repeating". I think it does bear repeating, but she doesn't. That should be described some other way. 

Still, nitpicking aside, this is a monumental work crafted sentence by sentence like Lin Manuel Miranda wrote the raps for Hamilton. It's worth the read, and a real credit to the writer.

I have two things I have to ask next time I see him on consult service: When is Flash Forward coming out (I look forward to a female protagonist), and what's the deal with the cover art? The brain is oriented upside down, where does Mercury and the letters K and S fit in, and is that a sea anemone?!

And if you need a reader for your next novel, I am happy to give my feedback! I am looking to transition to another career, and proof-reader would be one place I can see myself!

Read it! 4/5

BOOK REVIEW: MADNESS OF CROWDS

 A book a year is an incredible feat, and Louise Penny continues to deliver. Sometimes, though, I wonder if the editing was really finished, and whether or not extending the deadline wouldn't improve some of her last works. This was one of them.

One of things that kept repeating in my head while listening to the audiobook, was the warning from Stephen King (or was it George Lucas, or was it Stephen King to George Lucas in reference to Jar Jar Binks) to "Kill your darlings".

If Ruth's duck never said "Fuck Fuck Fuck" again, I would be forever grateful. How long do ducks live, anyways? It feels like Rosa is getting far fetched in her survival, even if Ruth is somehow providing her optimal care, which I wouldn't think is being carried around everywhere. 

How many times did she refer to "The Asshole Saint", and sometimes still needed to repeat who he was. We know! Your readers are not idiots!

I got tired of hearing about specters, even though I spent advent reading Dickens and watching different versions of The Christmas Carol. Referring to specters in the Victorian era is okay. More than once is too much in 2021!

That being said, Ms. Penny tells a nice story while making social commentary appropriate for the times. 

The most annoying conclusion, but who could know how little omicron would be affected by the vaccine, was that the pandemic was over with herd immunity from vaccinations, and life returned to normal, but she gets to write fiction, so I can accept this and move on.

I did find that a Nobel Peace Prize winner was an unlikely guest in Three Pines, and was disappointed that she was played as the simpleton at first. I was honestly aggrieved by Gamache's decision to ignore his son-in-law's breech of protocol, and not upholding the morals that he dug in with in the past with much more at stake. 

Unless this is going somewhere, if Gamache is no longer Gamache, I think it's time to develop other character and go somewhere other than Three Pines.

It's worth a read, but not a recommendation. 3/5

BOOK REVIEW: VIRAL BY ROBIN COOK

 I picked up this (audio)book while waiting for the one I really wanted to read, Pandemic. It has not been easy. I thought that this was a departure for Robin Cook, and read reviews that agreed with me, but when I reviewed the 35 odd books that Robin Cook has written, I realized that I haven't read that many, and what I read was a very long time ago.

Coma was old paperback copies when I read it, but that was still back in the 1990s when Kevin Bacon played a medical resident in Flatliners. I would have to look at the stories of Fever, Outbreak, and Vital Signs to be sure I actually read them. For me, Robin Cook was a master of medical thrillers, but maybe I didn't read that many of them!

Fast forward to this week, and I found myself reacting badly to the unsympathetic character that leads the story. His idyllic life falls apart when his wife contracts "EEE" on the beach at Cape Cod, and his low budget insurance plan becomes a looming debt that he cannot pay. It should be a tragedy, but his egocentric brain carries on without feeling any human emotions of grief and loss, he outsources his sick daughter to a variety of women, including strangers that are all more than eager to serve his needs for free, and he gets angry at every turn of events, bordering on entitled rage with every emergency encounter. 

It drove me nuts!

The reader of the audiobook made a few mistakes, calling Ver-sed "Versed", and the French patient was called the male french version Jean  when it was supposed to be Jeanne. (True, Jean in English as a female sounds like denim, but you still have to say the -n at the end when you say it in French!) The accent varied too much for me, and I would expect that any French speaker who repeatedly used the colloquial word "shannanigans" may not be speaking with an accent. Similarly, he assumed the American ER doc who has a Sikh name had an East Indian (?Irish) accent, when it was more likely he talked like an American, because he was! 

I kept waiting for the husband to find out that his wife's cardiac arrest was a medical error, with Versed 5 then 10 mg more in keeping with Valium doses, and possibly the reason she died, and not the seizure. Alas, that was not the plot twist.

I have great sympathy for the writing of a bad book. Even that takes a monumental effort. I wondered if at age 80, we are seeing the cognitive decline expected of the age or if a ghost writer was writing their first attempt at a copy cat (the name Robin Cook, like Robert Ludlum, is a brand unto itself). The prose was tediously repetitive, and the story read like a report, with no plot, no tension (except for the toxicity that emanated from the un-woke immature man that unfortunately talked the entire time), and no complexity of emotion or normal life. Characters were one dimensional, and the ideas were pat (no charge, everyone perfectly followed the covid precautions, a woman hired for her business savvy and another who was a total stranger were used as caregivers with the father oscillating between overreaction to neglect of his daughter, and in total denial of the needs of his family, colleagues and himself. If this was the tragedy, I could accept it as a character flaw, but it seemed that the author was unaware that a father could feel emotion, and make decisions that would acknowledge the feelings and needs of others, and not only himself.

What is the worst, SPOILER ALERT, this is a story of an angry shallow man who rages his way through the health care system, and repeatedly assaults health care workers verbally and then physically. His behaviour, while understandable to be inappropriate given the circumstances, is unchecked and totally inappropriate. The doctor's response of ambivalence is unlikely, given assault is uncommon, and would not be tolerated. Brian's misguided rage has no insight into what the real issue was, and his - this grief is terrible because it is no one's fault.  This reality never even comes up. 

The coming reality of mosquito borne disease in the ongoing climate changes, and the inequity of for-profit health care are real issues that bear discussing. Vigilante justice and the unlikely escape of the law is unacceptable, and unchecked misguided rage and  assault are serious issues, and not to be romanticized and oversimplified, as in this book.

I don't recommend this book, and give it a 1/5. 

FORTY-NINE BIS AND BETTY WHITE AT NINETY-NINE

It was going to be a tough Covid party to hold, so I when I cancelled my party, in the midst of my friend's Christmas dinner plans and vacations, I was feeling alone in my strictness, and a little unsure that this was the only way. It was the best way, but it felt like it cost me the most. I was at peace with the decision, but not happy about it. Six months earlier, I had given up the dream of Christmas in London and New Year's in Paris for this milestone year, in the midst of Covid, but I really had hoped to keep the tradition alive of my Megapalooza party with the wonderful women in my life. As the 5th wave broke and my peers were not protecting their shifts or me, I settled on a compromise that made me happy. A group of six who were all vaccinated, respectful people, whose lives intertwined at the best of times, plus my daughter and me. It would be sedate, but a celebration nonetheless, and an opportunity to hand down the "old lady" stick that had made its rounds down to me, the youngest of the crew.

Alas, the Christmas plans that people were making were too risky for me to have them over on the sixth day of Christmas, and I couldn't expect them to self isolate (I have a small life, but they do not) for my party in lieu of their get-togethers, that would inevitably involve eating. I wanted eating too, or it wasn't much of a party. Wearing masks, 2 m apart, no food or drink. I cancelled, and resolved that I would not turn another year older until I could get together with friends. That was my intention, until I woke up that morning. My declaration had done nothing. I was 50 and there was no way around it. 

I had stayed up late the night before, cleaning the kitchen and making crepes so that my daughter would have a treat. As the only child of a part-time single mom at home, I didn't want her to make up the lack of other people in my life, but I was hoping to inspire her to at least make a nutella banana wrap for us. Sure enough, she brought us breakfast in bed, and we ate together then read together until the doorbell rang. From that moment on, it was hectic! I have had calmer days on call, with calls coming in 2 and 3 at a time. I would hold out my phone for her to answer my cell because I was on the housephone, and I was answering the door with a phone pinched between my ear and shoulder to reach out for the package or flowers or cake! 

I had two things to do, and I only got one done, because my unplanned day was too busy! 

I went for a walk with two of my friends. We went around for longer than expected, and I was cold and ready to get back when they surprised me with a tailgate party of hot chocolate, and a box filled with gourmet goodies that only these talented ladies could do! Homemade lemoncello cake, pesto, lentil soup, fried rice, cheese and grape starter, bubbly, vichyoise, falafel mix, muffins and more! It was a box packed with love, and wrapped with reused recycling. It was kindness and love in edible form, and it was just what I would have wanted, and I didn't even think to ask for. Four of the "chicks" had gotten together, but the organization went further than that. Another neighbour came by with a tin of cookies, and the party planning friend that had insisted I do something special for the day, and I felt terrible to cancel on her, had brought her own version of a tailgate party, with a bouquet of vegetables and a tray of snacks that travelled around the world - spanish olives, french brie with crust, skewers of insalata caprese and roses of smoked salmon (her favourite protein). With real champagne (hard to find with the run on SAQ items from the warehouse strike), and balloons, added to an enourmous bouquet of flowers my parents sen, I was missing nothing but the company. ( I would have given it all up for the company in a heartbeat). 

My daughter and I ate with a new Disney movie to watch. I opened a nice bottle of Cab Sauv and we watched the show uninterrupted, only because I turned off the ringer  early on when I saw we would never make it through otherwise. The house was a mess, and my daughter was off to bed early (getting ready for the marathon of staying up past midnight tonight), so she sternly told me to leave it, and I went to bed with three books, reading until the day ended. 

So much for 49 bis, and so soon the next decades will come. 

Betty White died at 99 today, and I am inspired to have half her spririt at the end. How much she must have had at this age to be there, taking jokes and making them, as quick as ever, with a slowing of her body, but never her mind.

I have talked to people across the country over the last 24 hours, and these things stand out the most:

I don't see what others see, but what I have (at least far away and in small doses) is valuable.

I have a lot yet to do, and a lot to say, and I had better, as my Grandma would say "get cracking"!

I need to transition, and soon, to doing something that I love, for work.

I need to get my house in order, for my sake, my daughter's sake, and for the sake of the limited time I have to do many things not yet done.

I need to find a way to bounce back from a work day with a bad sleep schedule to a healthy day and good sleep. 

I need to write, and create, and record, and remind others more of how special they are.

I need to take the time alone as precious and use it for progress in solitary pursuits. I need time alone, and yet mourn when I get it and don't use it well.

I need to stop waiting for Princess Pirate to learn these things from me. I need to build the curriculum and the house systems without her. I have to stop being afraid of the loss of opportunities that she chooses not to take, and have faith that it will come to her when she is ready. 

I need to guard my introverted strengths voraciously, and be my own thinktank. If I am frustrated, I need to write about until I come up with solutions. 

I need to be alone a little longer until I cherish being alone. Until I can say no to an invitation. Until I lose my fear of missing out (FOMO).

HOW NOT TO DIE (OR DIET)

I found a colleague from med school and residency on facebook, and he posted a lot about a healthy lifestyle that he was clearly living. He had posted a video by Dr. Michael Greger, and I watched it. This was the video of his Daily Dozen Checklist.  I was impressed by the story of his grandma, as well as the careful explanations of science based food science.

 I saw a list of his (whole food plant based) Daily Dozen recently, and was pleased to find that he had an app developed to help track his recommendations.

Here is the list, as I noted, of a the daily dozen:

1. Cruciferous veggies - contain suphoraphane- broccoli, cauliflower, kale, bok choy, cabbage, kohlrabi, radishes

                                     -  one serving=1/2 cup chopped raw, 1/4 cooked

2. Flax seed - contains lignans

                    -1 tablespoon ground

 

3. Beans - lentils, chick peas, edamame, miso, tempeh, tofu, kidney beans, green peas

               -1/4 c hummus or bean dip, 1/2 c cooked, 1 c fresh peas

4. Berries - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, raisins, grapes, kumquat, cranberries

                - one serving 1/2 cup raw, 1/4 dried

5. Other fruit - apple, watermelon, 

                      - three servings of 1 medium, 1 cup raw, 1/4 cup dried

6. Greens - spinach, mesclun

                - three servings of 1 cup leafy 

7. Other veggies - tomatoes, artichokes, asparagus, beets, peppers, carrots, corn, squash, sweet potatoes, zucchini

                           - two servings of 1 cup raw leafy, 1/2 cup juice, 1/2 cup raw nonleafy vegetables, 1/4 cup dried mushrooms

8. Nuts and seeds - one serving 1/4 cup, 2 T nutbutter, 1

9. Herbs and spices - one serving=1/4 tsp tumeric

10. Whole grains -three servings=1/2 cup cooked, 1/2 bagel, 1 slice bread, 1 tortilla

11. Beverages - five servings=1 cup H2O, tea, coffee

12. Exercise - 40 minutes intense, 90 minutes moderate

When I went to the library, I was confused to find two almost identical cookbooks, with only one author name different, and a difference of publishing year of 3. Then I saw it: How Not To Die, and How Not to Diet! He had written two very similar books, and the one about weight loss predated the one about mortality. 

I like that it's open sourced, up to date, and motivating for everyone.

The checklist for How Not To Diet includes:

21 Tweaks:

(For 12 weeks?)

1. Weigh twice a day x2 (on waking and before bed)

2. Optimize Exercise timing x1 (at least six hours after your last meal, so before breakfast, or midday before late lunch) For diabetics, start exercising 30 minutes after the start of a meal and continue for 60 minutes.

3. Front-load calories x1 (make breakfast or lunch largest meal of the day - king/prince/pauper)

4. Preload water x3 (before each meal, 2 cups of cool water)

5. Preload with negative calorie food x3 (first course fruit, salad, or soup less than 100 calories)

6. Incorporate vinegar x3 (2 tsp, dressing or flavor)

7. Enjoy undistracted meals x3 (no phone, tv)

8. 20 minute rule x 3 (eat slower, chew better)

9.  Black cumin x1 (1/4 tsp)

10. Garlic powder x1 (1/4 tsp)

11. Ginger x1 (1 tsp) or cayenne pepper (1/2 tsp)

12. Nutritional yeast x1 (2 tsp)

13. Cumin x2 (1/2 tsp lunch and dinner)

14. Drink green tea x3 ( 1 cup 1 hour after each meal to avoid interfering with iron absorption)

15. Stay hydrated x1 (if your urine is never darker than pale yellow)

16. Deflour diet x1

17. Time-restricted diet x1 (under 12 hours, 7 days a week)

18. Fast after 19:00 x1

19. Sufficient sleep x1 (7 hours sleep, at regular bedtime)

20. Trendelenburg x1 (not for me with heart burn, foot of bed elevated by 8-9 inches)

21. Complete intentions  x3 (every 2 months write three new implementation intentions - if x, then y plans, then check them off when you complete them everyday)

FUN WORDS I SHOULD USE MORE

 "cuss" words (Dwayne Johnson)

"staffdom" (Jacob Sawa) the fantasy land that residents create in their head when they dream of soon being in control

"toxic capitalism" (someone interviewed on Planet Money)

"gerrymandering" (Hilary Clinton in What Happened) Okay, admittedly, she has more reasons to say it than me, who never talks politics, more out of ignorance than interest!

"knavery" like, "Such knavery!" while shaking my head and tsking (tutting if I was British!)

BOOK REVIEW: THE ALCHEMIST

 Paul Coehlo’s fable is philosophy’s version of The Wealthy Barber. Basic but cute. Feel excluded as a female. The shepherd creates his own personal legend, but his wife doesn’t get her own. 

Best quote: An opportunity avoided can become a curse.

Cultural reference: The (Hebrew) Urim and Thummim

SCIENCE JOKE/TRUTH

You know that phrase, "Everything happens for a reason"?

That reason is usually physics!

I AM WRIMO WINNER, TOO!

 I have joined the illustrious gang of "winners" who have completed a gruelling month of writing 50,000 words for a novel. 

I reread some of it already, and it was good and bad!😄

Now, to put it all together. I am overdue in actually finishing a novel, a goal a little more recognisable in the general public than being a NaNoWriMo winner!

I would show you my certificate, but my google blog and my pdf refuse to cooperate today! You will have to take my word for it!

WRITING QUOTES FROM ESPRESSO BOT

"Whatever you choose to call it, staring into the abyss in search of an idea can be terrifying. " 
Colin Nissan (Don't Be That Guy)

"Novels do take charge of the writer, and the writer is basically a kind of sheepdog just trying to keep things on track."
John Gregory Dunne (Nothing Lost)

"The real hero is always a hero by mistake, he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else."
Umberto Eco

"Not a wasted word. This has been a main point to my literary thinking all my life."
Hunter S. Thompson

"If I stop working and just try to enjoy myself, I get very neurotic and guilt-ridden. Orwell was the same." 
Arthur Koestler (The Sleepwalkers, The Act of Creation)

"I write slowly because I write badly. I have to rewrite everything many, many times just to achieve mediocrity."
William Gass (The Tunnel)

"People underestimate the power of writing in terms of why certain arguments stick and why they don't...My objective as a writer is not merely to write in such a way that people read it and say, 'Yeah, I think that's correct. It's to write in such a way that people are haunted. That they go to bed thinking about it, that they wake up thinking about, that they tell their spouses about it, that they tell their children and their friends about it. That they grab them by the arm and say, 'You got to read this.'"
Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Water Dancer)

"Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft. The greater your vocabulary the more effective your writing."
P.D. James

"Language fits over experience like a straight-jacket."
William Golding

"Thank your readers and the critics who praise you, and then ignore them."
Harlan Ellison

"Most of us find our own voices only after we've sounded like a lot of other people."
Neil Gaiman

"Writers have a rare power not given to anyone else: we can bore people long after we are dead."
Sinclair Lewis

"Tell the whole truth. Don't be lazy, don't be afraid. Close the critic out when you are drafting something new."
Jane Kenyon (Let evening come)

"I want to be read. I want to be valued. That is perhaps the only shot at immortality a human being can have. "
Anne Rice

"It had better be quirky or perverse or thoughtful enough so that you hit some chord in them."
Nora Ephron

"Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes, work never begun."
Christina Rossetti (19th century poet)

"I'm not too keen on characters taking over, they do as they are damn well told."
Iain Banks (The Wasp Factory)

"Trust your reader. Not everything needs to be explained. If you really know something, and breath life into it, they'll know it too."
Esther Freud (Doctor Who:Attack of the Cyberman)

"I approach the work as though, in truth, I'm nothing and the words are everything."
Louise Erdrich

"You know what about writing? It doesn't have any walls."
Lidia Yuknavitch (The Night Watchman)

"Along the way accidents happen, detours get taken - the accidents turn out to be some of the best things."
John Irving

"Write toward vulnerability"
Anne Lamott (Bird By Bird)

"Write about the emotions you fear the most."
Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak, Shout)

"Writing is thinking, and if you don't think clearly about what you want to say, what story you want to tell, you will never write clearly about it."
Kevin Coyne (musician)

"You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive."
James Baldwin (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings)

“You can write any time people will leave you alone and not interrupt you. Or rather you can if you will be ruthless enough about it.”

Ernest Hemingway

“If you want to work on your art, work on your life.” 

Anton Chekhov

“If the stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed.”

Barry Lopez 

“No object is mysterious. The mystery is your eye.” 

Elizabeth Bowen

“Avoid your weaknesses. But do this without telling yourself that the things you can’t do aren’t worth doing.”

Zadie Smith

“Here's how to write a mystery novel: at the beginning you tell a lie, and by the end you tell the truth.” Gregory McDonald

“There is no such thing as conversation. It is an illusion. There are intersecting monologues, that is all.” Rebecca West

“Above all things—read. Read the great stylists who cannot be copied rather than the successful writers who must not be copied.” 

Ngaio Marsh

“Have more than one idea on the go at any one time.” 

Geoff Dyer

“It ain’t whatcha write, it’s the way atcha write it.” 

Jack Kerouac

“The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion…in the air. All I must do is find it, and copy it.” 

Jules Renard

“Revision is one of the exquisite pleasures of writing.”

 Bernard Malamud

“A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage.” 

Sydney Smith

“The most critical thing that a story must do—the tippity-top of the narrative mountain!—is make the audience feel something.” 

Chuck Wendig

“I write a story as if it were a letter to someone and essentially, that’s what you do.” 

Theodore Sturgeon

ONLY A DAY AWAY!

I feel like every graph tells a story. These are the graphs of my third NaNoWriMo. It is a story of persistence, mediocrity, chaos, neglect, and discipline. 

The first graph proves that I am not an overachiever. The second proves that I am inconsistent. Together they prove that when I want something, I can get the job done! Also, I am very motivated by deadlines!

During this month, I have worked my full compliment of shifts (can you tell which were my two work weekends :)?), vacuumed my house, kept up on laundry, changed my car's winter tires, gone out to dinner with good friends, signed a contract for a bathroom reno, visited Ottawa for an overnight getaway, participated in a book club, visited two art gallery exhibits, fed my kid three times a day, had a friend over for a late Thanksgiving dinner, hiked, shovelled, watched a few Christmas movies and shows, and caught up with friends and family.  

I am proud of what I have accomplished, but my life will be a lot simpler on December 1st without the singular focus necessary for this event!

THE ORIGIN STORY

My friend asked me last night what has inspired my love of the Chateau Laurier. I would have thought that I was born with an innate love of Fairmont hotels, but I would have been mistaken.

My earliest memory of a Canadian Pacific (CP: now the modern Fairmont) castle-like hotel was a trip that my family took to Banff. It is a memory stitched together with just a few images. Some of my memories may not have been the same year or even in the right place, but there are two things I remember strongly: waking up at least one day in the campground and doubting my dad’s proclamation that we were in the mountains, until the fog finally lifted to reveal the rock face that had been completely obscured in the dark right beside our tent, and the outrageous and hilarious freedom of wearing garbage bags with our arms poked through because of rain, feeling none of the usual embarrassment in knowing that everyone we met was a stranger anyways. 

I have a vague memory of stopping for a hot chocolate in the lobby of the Banff Springs Hotel, but maybe it was just a look in the lobby. I have a picture of the hotel that must have been taken from some height, and looking down into the valley, the hotel was the scale of Neuschwannstein, and resembled the castles that I later knew were as an adult in Europe, with the ruins of Heidelberg found in the fog being a strong memory with no photo. When I moved to Montreal, I am not sure I understood the breadth of the CP hotels that spanned the country. I think that Quebec city’s Chateau Frontenac (CF) may have been my only knowledge of a hotel with the turrets and dramatic rooftops outside of the Rockie Mountains, but I am even unsure of that timeline, and that I would have connected the two spanning such a distance as where I grew up to where I ended up. 

What I do know was that I started a file folder with the bills and room cards for all my Fairmont Hotel stays over the years, and this is the timeline that I am more certain of, although given memory’s unreliability, there is still some artistic license likely to be present.

From my records;

My first Fairmont booking was for a conference in Toronto called the North York Emergency Medicine. It was 2007, and I did not go alone, leaving my then husband and my one year old daughter to their own devices while I spent long days learning. I remember that we took pictures in our bathrobes, and that my daughter was just starting to walk with confidence, using a toddler sized rolling walker and enjoying the enormous carpeted floors of  the lobbies and hallways. The hotel was the Royal York, and I can’t remember if it was this visit, or another in 2009, but we took the train that actually brought us to the train station that still serves the hotel. 

The following year, 2008, we booked a room at the Hotel Frontenac in the summer, and now we full blown chased after the little tyke who ran away if she could! No walker needed!

In 2009, I indulged in a night to celebrate my birthday, staying at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in hometown Montreal, with a view down on my favourite reminder of Rome (Vatican City, actually) that is Mary Queen of the World cathedral, and the incredible Sun Life Building that sits kitty-corner to it. 

The Chateau Laurier was next, during a year that I was developing the intention of becoming a  premier member.  That year was 2011, and there was a midwinter promotion in concert with the Holtz Spa in the nearby Byward market. I went with two friends that I knew from a group of long time friends. At the time I don’t think we had spent any time together by ourselves, but that trip changed things. Both of these women have become very important to me, likely beginning with that stay.  This also is likely to be the start of the idea for the book I am on day three writing. Certainly, CL is the closest Fairmont hotel to me unless I stay in Montreal, so has been the easiest to visit. It has never had the heart stopping increases in price that CF has had, and it is now officially the CP hotel that I have visited the most, thanks to my recent visit there with one of the two women that accompanied me there ten years ago. 

The three characters may have developed on a different timeline, but it is interesting to see the parallel of three women from that visit. I know that two of my original characters were based on others, and not on my travel companions, but even down to the room we had with 3 separate beds and a view to Parliament Hill feels primordial to where my story has evolved from. I also wonder if all my reading of Nancy Drew (ND) and her two best friends could have played a part. I think I may have even added a boyfriend, like Ned, to balance out the estrogen. The Mystery at Chateau Laurier was the original title, which sounds like a ND mystery, and the name stuck until my first NaNoWriMo in 2019, when I started to fill in the characters, but the mystery plot never developed, or was very awkward. 

I started going to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) conferences beginning in 2011, and travelled to quite a few cities this way. I found the cost of the exchange rate, and the demand in the US cities almost unaffordable, so was not able to consistently stay at a Fairmont. I did enjoy my stay so much in Boston at the Copley Plaza that I returned with my family, this time with a time booked to walk their lobby dog named Caty (pronounced Katey). I remember a little room in San Francisco that was the peak of what I was willing to pay for a night, especially for a room that I was literally only using to sleep in. It was steep in price, but also in real estate, and I when the sting of the cost wore off, I was glad to have stayed truly in the heart of San Fran, even if it was just for a short time. 

I started this blog in 2012 on a spinoff trip as a Rick Steves superfan with an incredible stay at the Fairmont Seattle. Eating alone turned out to heighten each meal that I ate, and certain foods still come up as fond memories. Spanish fig loaf found in a brick at the international section at the grocery store, and several failed attempts to make the breaded cheese croutons that topped a vegetable bisque soup come immediately to mind. The food was accompanied by the luxurious surroundings and a pianist! I can also recommend that fall is a great time for eating out!  

Today I was reminded why I had the idea of a treasure hunt, when I found an envelope from October 26th, 2013 addressed to Princess Pirate, Room 373, and was dotted with pastel coloured and sparkly stickers in the shape of hearts and with happy horse faces . I don’t remember the ruse, but I wrote at the top, I believe addressed to the front desk staff:

BONJOUR. LAISSEZ MOI Á LA RÉCEPTION

The first clue must have been hidden in plain sight in the room, left to be found.

It read:

Good morning, Rebecca! 

Today I have a treasure hunt for you! 

The first clue is waiting for you at the lobby’s front desk, where I checked in. Just ask for a message for room 373. 

Good luck,

Love, 

Mom (smiley face emoji)

The second clue read:

Ask your daddy to help you find Albert Einstein’s photograph. 

Below it is a desk. 

Check the right drawer for your next clue.

P.S. This poodle is for decorating our shoelaces.

The third clue read:

Good job!

You found the next clue! 

(Editor’s note: I am hearing Blue’s Clues in my head now. I think that might have been my inspiration. Unfortunately it may have also been my aspiration. This was not great work, which is why I have had so much trouble making it into an adventure worthy of a novel!)

This place I found when I visited the castle last winter.

I loved it and am so happy to use it’s hiding place today!

Don’t leave the room, but look for a lamp with a stack of books. 

Don’t be afraid to be a detective. 

Be curious - I promise it won’t break!

The fourth clue was the last clue, and it read:

Wow, that was the toughest spot to find. 

Hope you are having fun!

Now it is time to return to your room.

Find the “safest” place and press the numbers of your birthday - month. 

Don’t forget to put 0 (zero) in the tens spot + day. 

(Editor’s note: I think this is confusing, and I don’t remember what the gift was!)

Hope this is a good gift for a princess!

Enjoy your castle!

I have long admired the construct of a murder mysterday, but before binge-watching was a thing, the closest thing we could come to was binging a series of books, which was hard to do given the constant wait required repetitively for the next book in the series to be released to you after putting it on hold. Even then, with authors like Agatha Christie who had long ago finished writing, it seemed like a far-fetched idea to have so many murders around one person, usually in a small space, or in a small town. These eventually transitioned to murder mystery shows, and the sequence of so many victims quickly became too terrible for me to bear. So I have still never read all of Agatha Christie’s books, and I don’t binge watch crime shows for fear of becoming so despondant as to be suicidal. I like the “twist” though, and when I started writing this book in 2019, I thought that I would take inspiration from the idea of a letter, but it turned out not to be a very interesting device for a plot twist. 

I took inspiration at least for the protagonist Stephanie from a Tissot painting that I have loved for a long time that hangs in the National Gallery of Canada called The Letter. It is a medium sized painting set in a beautiful garden. A woman with an elegant black gown and hat from the late 19th century holds a letter in her gloved hands that she is actively shredding. The multiple pieces hang impossibly in the air behind her, as if caught by an updraft. She is surrounded by fallen horsetail chestnuts, so I always imagined the park to be in Paris. She stands on the grass, which is a big no-no in a park in France, and there is only one table behind, so although I had imagined that she was in a public place, maybe she is at her own private residence and the man behind is not a waiter but a footman maybe. I don’t know what is happening, but her face seems confident, making the expression closest to disgust. Maybe she has  been stood up with a letter carrying the excuse? Whatever is happening, she is not devastated, but this is just the beginning of a story in my mind. She is my first truly original character. She is not based on anyone I know. She is her own persona, although I have to admit, she is also the character most like myself!

So there you have it. A story written over two Novembers, from 2019-2021, started a long time ago. The three women characters have been developing on paper and in my mind for along time, and they probably met the Chateau Laurier during a cold a grey fall in 2011. It was not a trip very far away, but that weekend changed my life. It brought me to dear friendship with two extraordinary women, had me fall in love with the architecture and history of the hotel, and started my writing inspiration for the story that continues to challenge me today!

COMING UP FROM BEHIND

I am barely keeping my eyes open, but I have passed the 40,000 word mark this morning, and am able to finally go to bed at 23:55 because I have passed the 42, 500 work count today. It was a big one, and it's going to be no small feat to write 2500 words a day for 3 more days, but I am back on track, and looking towards the finish line. 

Good night wrimos!

Good night moon!

FIRST REAL SNOW YESTERDAY

Moving the penguins to the North Pole. Without snow, we couldn't do it until today!

CHRISTMAS MOVIE SEASON BEGINS

I am about to watch too much tv. CTV has added Christmas movies and CITYTV is making them available three at a time, and I am going to make a concerted effort to make my way through as many as I can!

SCALE: 

Less than 3 Don't bother

3 Watchable

3.5 Has some merits

4 A nice watch

4.5 Great movie

5 Competes with Hollywood

November 22nd
Christmas Lovers Anonymous (3.5/5 stars) 

CTV

Good decorations and costumes, good chemistry, no diversity
- rip off of You've Got Mail, reporter chasing a scandal about the book author and book author caught in a lie fall in love in online first, guy stands up girl when he realizes, girl forgives guy when she realizes, happy ending! 

November 24th 
Christmas Time is Here (3/5 stars) 

CTV

Great decorations and costume, music, Christmas magic, some diversity
Vancouver
- familiar props: small town, family run inn, big bad developer want to buy and expand, heritage property document found last minute (dead mom leave letter in picture frame) saves the day, Christmas magic starts an heirloom watch, negative first impressions turn to romance, rich long time friend invests, the couple end up being able to save the day
- premise that Dad shouldn't sell the Inn to keep retirement income as a bad idea, rich best friend badly cast, awkward chemistry, mixes business with romance 

November 26th
Window Wonderland (4/5 stars) 

CTV

Set in NYC, finds someone who believes in her and slowly warms up to him, as he fits right in!
- good chemistry, good acting, people are not what they seem until they find the courage to be authentic, competition for window dressing at Christmas, being locked in a department store for the night, and more!

Chyler Leigh (Dr. Lexie Grey)

November 28th

Cross Country Christmas 3.5/5

Citytv

A high energy problemsolver meets a high school peer while a cancelled flight leads to a cross country adventure that involves an unreliable dog grooming truck, a tractor, and more!

Rachel Leigh Cook

November 29th

Homemade Christmas 3.5/5

Citytv

A selfless cheerleader type is mistaken for the face of the company, and the store owner works together 

- great chemistry, they keep each other true to themselves and their friends, great decorations

- the conflict point is too obvious, and she is dating someone when their relationship blossoms 

Dashing Home for Christmas 2.5/5
Citytv

An inattentive consultant gets diverted with an annoying talkative optimist are a mismatched pair, until they find that they have a lot of (superficial) things in common

-awkward writing, contrived, pointless road trip, minimal decorating

Christmas in My Heart 3.5/5

CTV

Widower country singer meets single classical violinist through his daughter who hires her for lessons during the advent season

-nod to Hannukah, violin quartet, good chemistry, Christmas recital

November 30th

It's Christmas, Carol 4/5

CTV

A horrible boss meets her mentor as a ghost in a heartwarming remake of A Christmas Carol

Carrie Fisher, Carson Kressley

Guess Who's Coming For Christmas 3.5/5

CTV

If you can accept the timeline, this is a perfect Christmas romance with a musical collaboration

December 1st

Sharing Christmas 3/5

CTV

Another remake of A Shop Around the Corner, without the tension or witty writing.

December 2nd

Loving Christmas 3/5

CTV

An estranged son returns, to compete for the top job at his dad's company, who has groomed Ashley for the position for years. They take a look at everything differently, but somehow lack the chemistry of opposites attracting. The decoration was great, but I don't know why the actor for Ben always looks like he's out of character, and it bugged me. 

December 3rd 

The Picture of Christmas 3.5/5

CityTV

An increasingly unfulfilled city girl returns to the country to sell her aunt's tree farm, to rekindle her love of drawing, and find a community (and handsome caretaker with adorable daughter who live on site) that she almost loses before she realizes that this is exactly what she wants.

December 4th

Christmas Ever After 4/5

CTV

A romance novelist creates a perfect character that no longer seems real. In writers block, she returns to Antler Lodge for her traditional Christmas stay and their last holiday when she meets Matt, a single father,  who looks like the clinch cover of her books but is real. 

Protagonist and actor use a wheelchair.

December 5th 

CTV

A Perfect Christmas List 3/5

A feuding mother and daughter work together to fulfill Grandma's Christmas list when they think this is their last Christmas with her. Her good Samaritan doctor conveniently finds time to be involved.

December 6th 

CityTV

Let's Meet Again On Christmas Eve 4/5

Complete with a narrator, a Christmas wedding and some Christmas magic. A cumbersome title but a sweet movie! Lots of lights and a bad skating scene included.

December 7

Christmas is You 3.5/5 

CTV

A couple who dated in high school reunite as singer and producer to write and sing together again. There is a requisite minor betrayal of trust, and a complimentary long-distance coupling of her brother and boss, if that wasn't enough! I love a romance story with a long history!

December 8

Christmas à la carte 3/5

Citytv

The actress in this is incredibly smooth, and the premise of a passionate producer getting her shot in her hometown with a widowed and withdrawn chef trying to hide from life is a nice story, but his character is hard to be sympathetic too, and I wouldn't want them to work our, for her sake!

December 9

Saying Yes To Christmas 4/5

Citytv

A wannabe editor is cursed with an inability to no to anything Christmas, jeopardizing her chances of promotion, and leading her to an independence and passion for her future.

This actress is incredibly convincing, and this movie has everything you want in a Christmas movie. Romance, creative writing ideas, an old flame, a little magic, lots of green, red, and white, and Christmas activities you know, with some new traditions that you might not. 

December 10

Fixing up Christmas 4/5

Citytv

The son of a builder is teamed up by his dad with a detail oriented party planner, and learns how to see that every aspect of the client relationship is vital, while getting to know a great girl with many talents.

December 11

Jingle Bell Princess 3/5

CTV

A princess gets left behind by accident in a blizzard by her private jet, with a little Santa magic, so that she can find freedom and love with a greiving dad and his daughter in a small town. It would rate higher, and I cannot emphasize how hard it would be, but her accent falters and the director/editor team didn't correct it enough for me to rate it as watchable.

It's like Audrey Hepburn's Roman Holiday meets a Garrison Keillor's Christmas Blizzard!

December 12 

Hoopla

The Man Who Saved Christmas 3.5/5

The true story of toymaker A.C. Gilbert, from Erector Set fame, who struggles with priorities as he gets into business, and, then, during the difficult years of WWII.

December 13

CTV

Miracle in Motor City 4/5

A wonderful story that brought tears to my eyes, with a little Motown celebrity, with Smokey Robinson saving the day. Not sure why they choose the two other singers for their acting skills, but it was a great version for those seeking a true meaning of Christmas movie with more complexity that most.

December 14

CTV

Broadcasting Christmas 3/5

This film has all the makings of a great Christmas, with competing anchors who were previously a couple, played by stars Joan Hart and Dean Cain. The start really bugs me though. Who wakes up at 4:15 and is happy about it? Who wakes up in Connecticut at 4:15 and it’s bright, and you go into work with masses of people?! I can’t get over it!

Cringe moments: The anchor loses her job because she’s pregnant! Lesser but totally avoidable, a badly synched saxophone solo.

Royally Wrapped For Christmas 

CTV

I didn’t think I would watch another “Royal” movie, but I saw that the wonderful actress Nicola Correia-Damude (Burden of Proof) was singing a Canadian Christmas song, and was linked to the movie.

NANOWRIMO 2021

This month is going quite smoothly, but I tend to be a chronic underachiever! Although not far from the stable graph line sloping upward to 50,000 words, I have only surpassed it twice, November 4 and 5th. It would be easier to finish on time in one week if I had, and my failure daily to reach the target is sobering. On average, I am writing 1460 words a day, which is why my current word count needed is 2137. A small deficit kept from November 7th grew significantly with weekend shifts with 0 imput (losing me a 21 day in a row and every day writing. The holy grail of achieving your daily goal for 30 days isn't even on my radar!)

In addition, this year, several in the Montreal group (of which I am grateful for their motivation) are already at 50,000 words and writing beyond! It's exciting to see how some took off running and left a bunch of us the dusk, most of them with day jobs and some of them with lives! 

That being said, I finished my last (night) shift yesterday, and feel somewhat lucid today, so I have a really good chance to get this done. My only glitch is a 2 day trip to the scene of my story with a friend, in part to celebrate our current age before upcoming birthdays. I hope she knows how much time writing takes! If not, I am going to be losing sleep for the last push!

What is exciting to me this year is to see how preparation helps. In an ideal plan, your house is in order and your freezer full of food, as well as 30 plot points or scenes for a place to start every day. Still, I have 6 characters, one that is likely to end up on the cutting room floor, that I have enjoyed following around. I never got into those video games like SIM city where you create and world, but I feel like it's very similar. In my hands, my characters resemble awkward monsters like Frankenstein's, and like the early CG effects associated with creating people and putting them in situations. 

The other factor was a very frustrated creative writing teacher that initially I found very critical. With time, I saw that what he was criticizing was a group of writers that were excellent at writing what they knew (their own reflections), but the class was meant to create something new. That is not easy, and it was not easy for our teacher to get us to live out our fantasies. I am starting to get it, finally. After decades of journaling, my ability to report and reflect is not bad (not good, but not terrible!), but I have to create something new. 

The question of, "What if" is a great starting point. What if my character living an ordinary life of a daily grind has something extraordinary happen? What then? That is when the fun starts!

Next, when your characters are boring you, there are ideas like: Flashback to explain their emotions. Grab a tearjerker. Stir the pot. Forget the rules. Write the rules. Depend on insanity. Some of this I credit to Scarlet, our Montreal leader extraordinaire. Some she would credit to a packet of cards from the Writer Emergency Pack by John August, like Change every blessing into a curse, That's Not the Dragon, and Standard Procedures.

My fellow Montreal writers have also been inspiring. We have virtual sessions where we chat and inspire, and then write for 30 minutes of the hour. There is some competition in how many words we each type, but it is a friendly one. Like yoga, most of us are just competing with ourselves, and at times the days with the lowest word counts are necessary moments in creating the next new idea. There is also a group that hangs out at different times on A Writers Mess on a server called DISCORD, and the sprints are frequent and short, with lots of nice things (if you are willing to learn a little coding) and helpful people to coax you along in your journey. You can even use the BOT to do it all by yourself! I found that helpful last night at 23:43!

As an exercise in not judging what we write, this elusive goal keeps the critic on our shoulder in check. Afterwards, some serious judgement will be necessary. At one point I was so tired, and my character had had three name changes, that I couldn't remember what to call her!

I have learnt that your soundtrack cannot be too slow, and my new favourite is a 25 minute 42 second CBC recording of Alexandra Streliska "Inscape". I also recommend google docs. It has an excellent autocorrect for grammar, keeps a word count total or for a highlighted part. Plus, my daughter has more than once been my IT support to help me get out of trouble!

So today I start at 35,043 words in my count. A few are plot points and not yet stories. I am taking a risk not using these words to contribute to my word count, but I think reflection is a powerful thing and I might not have much bandwidth after this to consolidate my thoughts. Last time (and for the first time in 2019) I wrote 50,000 words, I couldn't look at it for months. It speaks to under training, and reminds me of the marathon I ran once. I was in good shape and definitely did some training, but after I finished, I didn't run for months. Not great! 

I am excited to put the two parts of the story together, and I have put out feelers to a few people willing to read at least part of it. This will not be great Canadian novel published for the world to enjoy, but it will be a stepping stone to something else. If nothing else, it is wonderful to see the process if you just keep applying the work!

Good luck to all my NaNoWriMoers out there. Whether you make your goal, or fail to achieve it but do something else instead, you are a winner! Showing up is more than most are able to do, and you did that and more! I am so proud of you!

CREATIVE WRITING WEEK FOUR

Prompts:
Bird

You too (et tu brute)

2 stepping across life

Lessons:

Fiction is a beautiful lie. 

Don't mess with a soufflé.

Artists/authors:

Linda Marics

Suzanne Belair

NANOWRIMO 2021

 WORDCOUNTER

BACKGROUND MUSIC

REWARDS: 

PERPETUAL CALENDAR

THE HERO'S JOURNAL

FANFICTION BY TABITHA GILROY

PUBLISHED NOVELIST ON ZOOM

Word sprints 658 in 30 minutes PR!

Vocabulary to incorporate (can you find the six words?)

On the island of Capri, in a hypogeum populated with boats bearing tourists, seeking its cerulific waters, an otacust in a boat wheepled in alarm when he saw a man disrespectfully avulsed a zoetic creature from the stone wall.

2 days with no words is killing me now! I must keep it up until my next shift, and then not give it up no matter how bad I feel afterwards. 1667 minimum a day to the end. Half-way I am crawling back at 21,705.

Monday morning write-in gave me 2000 words in 2 hours. My best word count! 

ASKING TOO MUCH

 I was on call on the wards for the last time change. It worked out no different for me, because although my call was one more hour, and my pay was by day, so no overtime, I didn't get called in, or even called. Others had to work overnight for one more hour, with their compensation being overtime.

When I got to work, I asked the two nurses who got an extra hour that night how it went. The first nurse had slept the extra hour, and she was very pleased. The second nurse couldn't sleep in, but enjoyed the extra hour before work. 

I had managed to sleep in, but I found myself wanting to also have a longer day. In that moment, I realized that this is why I am often frustrated with how much I want to get done in a certain amount of time. I was given an extra hour, and felt like I lost one. My expectations are impossible!

JUSTIN CASE IS JUSTIN TIME

 One of my daughter's friends name (the son of my friend whom I met through our kids) is Justin, and I first heard about a show called Justin Time. I think it was the jingle that she first told me about. 

I tied it to (in error) a series of books in the juvenile fiction category about a third grade boy, named Justin Case, by Rachel Vail, (followed by a series about his younger sister, Elizabeth).

Now, on a search for tourist activities in Ottawa, I found on the Diefenbunker website in a the Museum at Home tab that Justin Case was a Canadian mascot for the Civil Defence!

While listening to 99pi this week, I discovered a company calledInteraction Research Corporation that makes safety cards for planes that are called Just in Case. (TRIGGER warning: the producer and Roman Mars are unapologetic for interfering with the potential safety of thousands of passengers by the theft of 300 cards.)

Also, of note, was the connection with PM Mackenzie King and a man named Igor Gouzenko who defected after working as a cipher clerk and spy at the Soviet embassy. The Royal Commission created by PM King investigated espionage in Canada, and was a starting event of the Cold War.