Paul and Obama and Jon's beard - scream

BIG NEWS - Jon Stewart has a beard! The world is agog. He looks very distinguished. Mind you, he would be adorable with snakes growing from his head.

Tonight, speaking of adorable, I watched Paul McCartney receive his award from President Obama on PBS. Two of the most glorious men in the world, sitting side by side. You can imagine me, the pile of mush, watching Obama grinning at his little girls as Paul launched into "Michelle" - the First Lady and the President swaying and singing along. Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris (who was especially fine) and many others sang Paul's songs, and Jerry Seinfeld, who almost seemed nervous, spoke.

But the best was when the man himself was on stage, with his trusty band. He has never looked better, this nearly-seventy year old rocker. Listening to "Eleanor Rigby," I thought, this is a great work of art, a timeless song that will last forever. Stunning.

Paul was wearing a wedding ring. Hmmm. His girl Nancy was there beside him, looking very pretty (well, maybe the skirt was a little short), and beside her, two good-looking elderly people who perhaps were her parents. How nice for Paul, since his own parents are dead, to have some substitutes. And his children all there, sitting behind the President.

And me, loving, as always, from afar.

The party countdown begins. Today spent all morning finishing up the garden. This evening, Christopher and Cristina arrived from London - my hosts, in their tiny flat near Carnaby Street, when I'm in their city. They're going to Niagara Falls tomorrow, while I run around beginning to stockpile groceries. Friday, I'm renting my AutoShare car and Anna and I will buy hundreds of dollars worth of food and begin the marathon of cooking, and my mum and her sister will arrive, and some of the others. Old friends have been feting me already - my local Lynn arrived with bubbly and peanut butter, my staples, and Suzette had me over for dinner. Anna called today to check in about the music, which she and her DJ friend are compiling. Sam's restaurant has hired someone to replace him on Sunday so he can get away.

Always make sure everyone in your world knows it's your birthday and they have to be really, really nice to you.

And finally - I received a reply from Loblaw's to my complaint about the lack of local produce.

... Aside from the harmful environmental effects of transporting produce over long distances, Loblaws recognizes the importance of supporting the businesses of Canadian Farmers. These are only two of the reasons why we are committed to sourcing from Canada whenever possible. That being said, there are times when local growers, for various reasons, simply cannot fulfill our demands and we have to look outside of Canada for supply.

At least they wrote back - though it's generic and meaningless. I wonder what the "various reasons" are that they could not stock Canadian strawberries or leeks a few days ago. Why does the common noun "farmers" have a capital letter? Is "sourcing" an actual verb? Wouldn't "meet" be a better verb than "fulfill"?

I'll ask the spokeswoman to meet with me to discuss my edit of her letter. And serve her extremely fresh local produce while we work.