Cut it again, Sam

A beautiful summer day has vanished in bits and pieces - garden work, house work, editing work, two hours with dear handyman John looking at what has to be fixed. A long talk with Peter, who used to own The  Beatles' Store in Toronto, about possible places for my book. And, of course, sitting looking at the garden. I may turn into a black-eyed Susan.

In the meantime, the world is flaming again, heartbreaking, devastating. Here's an excerpt from an article by Joyce McMillan in The Scotsman about the cancellation of an Israeli play at the Edinburg Festival:

As the veteran British-Jewish politician Gerald Kaufman pointed out in a hugely authoritative speech in the House of Commons this week, the existence of anti-Semitism, and the fact of what happened during the Holocaust, does not provide one shred of moral justification for what is now being done to the children of Gaza in the name of the Israeli state... 

Behind all of this there is the horror of watching a nation armed with great military power embarking on what must be, by any rational measure, a course of suicidal self-destruction, stoking up and strengthening with every massive explosion in densely-populated Gaza the very forces of rage and vengeance that will threaten its future survival, and the peace of the entire Middle East...

At the end of his Commons speech, Gerald Kaufman dismissed the current Israeli leadership as “not only war criminals, but fools”; it’s a harsh judgment, but one increasingly difficult to dispute.

I do not dispute it. When something angers you, even justifiably, try your best regardless of the consequences to smash it and everything around it to bits - I would expect more maturity from Eli, and he has just turned two. 

My friend Juliet, in Paris, sent me this link to the Disasters Emergency Committee. Donating does not make you anti-Semitic. It makes you human. 

The DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) brings 13 leading UK aid charities together in times of crisis:  Action Aid, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision; all collectively raising money to reach those in need quickly.

GAZA CRISIS APPEAL – Over 200,000 people have fled their homes – they urgently need food, water, shelter and medical care.  Here’s how you can help -

http://www.dec.org.uk/

On the CBC news this evening, there was a piece about a new radio station in Calgary that plays shortened versions of hit parade songs - 1 1/2 minutes or 2 minutes and then on to the next. Because people now can't listen to one song for 3 or 4 minutes without getting bored, is the theory. It's time to move to a desert island.

David Sedaris at his best

David Sedaris on BBC 4. I laughed so hard, I nearly wet my pants. Sorry, too much information. But it's true. He's incomparable. Give yourself a treat. (It says "3 days left to listen" - not sure what will happen after that - it'll blow away?)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011tzjc

Making your life as an artist

Just as I finished bitching about the workload of marketing my books - and kvetching about a friend at the Y who always kvetches - I found this on Facebook: a marvellously wise free book about how to make a sane life as an artist. Highly recommended. I will now change my ways. And kvetch no more.

http://www.artistsu.org/making/

And here's some flash mob joy - LOVE this:

Denver Airport Holiday Flash Mob

beezy

My friend, the stunning actress Kate Trotter, just came for lunch, and I'm exhausted. We haven't seen each other for months and had so much to tell, so many stories, so much intense history to share ... oh the joy of old friends. She has just won another Best Actress award for her star turn in the film "Tru Love." She's spectacular and smart, should have been a director. We gabbled without stopping for hours and now I need to collapse.

But can't, because I have a list a mile long of things to do - to promote my books. A new kind of freelance life is dawning, one where the work never ends. No wonder people are always looking at their cellphones - they're in a race, and the finish line is always advancing. It occurs to me that there's a nightmarish aspect to this. I had thought I'd settle down in August, free my mind, take a deep breath and begin the next book. And also try to at least make a dent in the six foot high stack of books in the living-room. And instead, I'm writing press releases and compiling mailing lists and asking a friend to teach me how to tweet. Yes. I will learn to tweet. Yay.

Just had a long chat in French with my new tenant, who's arriving in a few weeks. Talk about serendipity - only two days after my post about needing to fill my basement suite, my friend and student Carol wrote that a dear friend's daughter was arriving from Quebec City and needed a place. She sounds adorable, and I was able to tell her about all the francophones on this block. Not your typical Toronto 'hood, that's for sure.

The weather is beyond stunning. A friend at the Y today was complaining about the humidity, and I said, Are you out of your mind? It's the mildest, freshest summer I can remember. But then, he's a kvetcher; that's his default position, there's always something wrong. Whereas I am Pollyanna - life is peachy keen!

But truly, it has been the most glorious summer so far. I only use my air conditioning when the temperature is beyond bearing, and I've not turned it on once so far. Let's hope this mildness lasts. Because I have really a lot to do.

But first, a large glass of wine on the deck and a visit with another of my dearest friends - le jardin.

A Most Wanted Man

I take back what I said about not posting flattering remarks sent to me about the books. It's just too tempting to share. So this is what my student Helen just sent, and thank you for putting up with this boastful writer:

We were at the cottage over the weekend and I finally found time to read your book. I loved it. I couldn't put it down. A warm, painful, heartfelt and honest story of such vulnerability and honesty. Wonderful.

Thank you! Maybe not 361 sold, but it's bringing pleasure where it goes.

My friend Ron took me as my birthday present to see "A Most Wanted Man," and then we had gourmet pizza and rosé on my deck. Dinner and a movie - the perfect date. It's hard for me to write about the film because I associate it with discomfort - the theatre was so full when we got there that we had to sit very close to the front - painful on the neck. It's also painful to watch the talented Philip Seymour Hoffman in his last role as a dissolute and brilliant German spymaster. Ron pointed out afterwards that it was a thriller without sex, violence or car chases, and yet it's thrilling. And quite haunting, because - SPOILER ALERT - it is trying to show the human face behind Islamic terrorism, and yet again the Americans are the villains.

But I have to say, sore neck or not, it's not my kind of movie.

I have spent nearly all day on promo for the memoir - writing a press release, meeting with Maija, the young woman who's coming up with ideas to help me promote it (Buzzfeed - what's that??), etc. This is business; this is capitalism and selling. It's not something I want to be doing, I'd rather be writing the next book, but first I have to do my best to help the last ones have a chance in the world.