Seminar: superb

November 15, and there were people out in flip-flops and shorts. Warm, sunny, beautiful; we'll take every minute, thank you very much, especially with such black clouds on the horizon. I ran into a cheerful neighbour who said she thought ISIS was going to start the 3rd world war. I replied by quoting the Gwnne Dyer article in which he says many more people die in car accidents than by terrorism, the horror of which is pumped up by the media; we've got to maintain a perspective. Perspective, people!

Moving right along. I've heard from all the Parisian friends I wrote to. Daniel wrote back that this is a "war of attrition" and we just have to have patience. Not a word much loved by governments. And in the meantime, our government has been in office all of two weeks and is plunged already into international chaos.

Back here, Wayson came for lunch and we strolled in the hot sun to Yonge St. to see "Seminar," by the American playwright Theresa Rebick about a writing teacher and his battered students. It was superb; highly recommended, though I will say that I thought the production was better than the play; the play is pretty good, but the production is fantastic. Especially if you're a writing teacher in the audience watching a writing teacher on stage, but even if you're not.

At one point the writer, the superb Tom McCamus, says, "This is how you learn to write - you have an editor go through your work word by word, figuring out what you were getting at." As an editor myself, I agree. And as a writer always in need of a good editor, I agree even more. Thank you again, David Mirvish, for granting Toronto audiences the chance to see another superb small play in an exemplary production.

And then we strolled back in the sun. Missed the Santa Claus parade. Darn.