paradise in Lalaland

Just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, I climbed aboard the tiny ferry shuttle from Granville Island back to the West End and gave the ferryman $2 - the senior's rate. "Hey, April Fool's is over," he said. "I need to see your birth certificate."

HA! I know he was joking, but still, it made my day, and it had already been a day from heaven.

Worked all yesterday afternoon and evening, and then got up this morning and worked, no distractions, no phone calls, no radio, just me in Bruce's sunny aerie with my words and my tiny mind. Heaven, I tell you. I am editing the manuscript of the new memoir. It's there, it exists and has something to say, it needs work, but there are 73,000 words of something.

Stopped at noon, the day too stunning to stay inside, walked along the water to the ferry and went to Granville Island, one of my favourite places on earth, to meander around and buy some groceries - bread, smoked salmon, wonderful soup from the Stock Market; sat by the water with the seagulls and had a latte and a scone, then home. I'll go out again now and walk, then later, to Chris's for champagne and out for dinner. I have contacted other old friends whom I'll be seeing soon, my son leaves soon for his prize-winning week in Barbados, I had a FaceTime call with Eli yesterday, the sun is glittering on the water, my manuscript is not complete junk, and life is about as good as it gets. Right here, right now. Thank you.

This city! On a day like this, there's nowhere better. People are sunbathing on the beach, the place jammed with skateboarders, bladers, bikers, sailboats, kayakers, joggers, a million joggers. There are, however, also a disturbing number of homeless people, especially young people, lining every street with their dogs and their packs, begging. And a disturbing number of extremely expensive cars flashing past them.

Here's a very serious article about the early career of Rachmaninoff, with some powerfully authentic pictures of the great composer. Don't miss this!

New Research Reveals Rachmaninoff's Secret Career

http://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2016/04/01/472292565/new-research-reveals-rachmaninoffs-secret-career?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20160401&utm_campaign=npr_email_a_friend&utm_term=storyshare

And a Guardian article, not as funny, called "Here's an image of what a progressive Britain could be - it's called Canada." Who knew we were so cool? Yay!
http://gu.com/p/4t2aq/sbl