La La Land and the blog's tenth anniversary

The mild gloom of this strange January continues - no sun but no snow either, just an icing sugar frosting today. I did a yoga class on Monday which I guess was tougher than I realized - had a great class at Ryerson but couldn't sleep afterwards for hip pain and was hobbling like an old lady today. Still, went to meet my good friend and fellow writer Stella Walker, both of us bringing pages of current writing to discuss - invaluable, her eye on my work, and, I hope, mine on hers. Much more rewriting to be done. Stella is perhaps the only person on earth who has laboriously learned both Yiddish and Cree. She is not only a writer but an actress, a singer, a singing teacher and a painter. Extraordinary.

And then off to cheer myself up - with one horror after another coming from the States and the sky a constant slate grey, I needed a good movie, and boy, did I see one - La La Land. LOVED IT. Absolutely delightful. Yes, they are not Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, but Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are charming and skilled, the story had a twist at the end that brings an ache to the heart, and the music is glorious. All in all, the perfect movie for January. Or any other month, for that matter. I had a rapturous chat with one of the young ushers at Cineplex as I was leaving - he saw my dewy eyes and grinned and we nearly clutched each other while going on about how much fun it was.

Give yourself a treat. And remember that Ryan Gosling learned to play the piano for the film, and he is Canadian and a superstar. And adorable, even if his eyes are a bit too close together. They're both adorable. Thanks guys, I needed that.

And finally, a thrill: received the email below from my friend George Hume. Ten years! Ten years of my blabbing. I love this blog. It takes lots of time and it pays nothing, but here I am, and here I shall remain. Onward!

If I am not mistaken, today marks 10 years of blogging.
Congratulations,
George