Beth's classes starting mid-January

Re the winter term classes coming up:

At Ryerson, the evening class, True to Life, which starts Monday Jan. 16 at 6.30, is filling up, only a few spots left, so if you're interested, act quickly.

For those who've taken my course before or have a great deal of writing experience, consider Life Stories II, the advanced section of my course at U of T, in the afternoon starting at 12.30 Tuesday Jan. 17. There is room.

If you've completed Life Stories I, here's your opportunity to begin developing a manuscript, building on the strengths you've gained and the discoveries you've made. Delve into the art and craft of revision and focus on longer pieces.

Winter - 17In-classDowntown/St. George

What a good day to stay in bed - it's forbidding out there, dark and wet. My poor daughter, with two little boys, stuck inside all day. She suggested a trip to Allen Gardens and then a visit here, but not today, my darling, definitely not today, I'm in bed with my nose, my throat and my head. Luckily my dear cleaning lady and friend, Marisha, is here. I lay in clean sheets while she mopped the floor around me and felt like a queen.

I have all I need: humidifier, Kleenex, water, computer and a stack of books. Someone left Samantha Bee's memoir I know I am, but what are you? in the Little Free Library, so I'm reading that - funny and horrifying - plus two big wonderful tomes: Lynda Barry's book about creativity, What it is, and the gorgeous Letters of Note: correspondence deserving of a wider audience, a magnificent book of letters from writers famous and unknown, ancient and modern, given to me a few Christmasses ago by Patsy and revisited with enormous pleasure today.

I must find my copies of John Berger's books and add them to the stack, if I'm going to be lying here for awhile. It's hard for me to confess that though I know he was a fantastic man and mind, though I've seen a play based on his principles and read many interviews, still, because I am a SHALLOW, SPEEDY PERSON, I have not finished a single one of his books. Must change that. If I could lie here for a week, I'd get a lot of reading done. But my restless legs would go mad. They already are twitching away. Time for tea and snack. Had to cancel a date with Ken to see Almadovar's Julieta. So behind in my films - at least four must-sees on right now.

Last night, I turned on CBC's Ideas - it was Michael Enright repeating important interviews from his Sunday show, all of them spectacular, one a woman from Glasgow, once the murder capital of Europe, who has hugely diminished the crime and gang culture there by paying attention to early childhood and even animal cruelty - making vets aware that violence against women and children often begins against animals. Brilliant. A woman who worked in NYC to transform transportation, hugely increasing the importance of pedestrian walkways, parks, open space and bike paths. LOVED it. A Finn who told Michael about the Finnish education system, which emphasizes play and happiness over performance and testing.

Does radio get better than that? I don't think so and wrote them afterward to say so.

Over and out. May you keep warm with a clear nose and head: my wish for all of you today.

Oh, one more thing - writers, consider entering this.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/2016/01/cbc-creative-nonfiction-prize-is-now-open.html