thanksgiving, eh?

My editor at Writer's Digest Books says my book is going to the printer on Friday, and asked me for a brief bio to put on the back cover, max two paragraphs.

I stared at a blank computer screen, wondering what to write. How to summarize my life in two paragraphs? After typing and erasing and typing and erasing, I finally tapped out a rather dull but informative two paragraphs and e-mailed them to my editor. I hope people can read between the lines. :-)

Going back to Toronto tomorrow, for Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. People at work asked me what Canadian Thanksgiving was for. I confessed I had no idea...for all I knew, it was just an imitation of the American holiday, but scheduled earlier so we could be first. :-)

So I went online and found a Web site about Canadian Thanksgiving. According to this resource, the Canadian holiday is simply a thanks for a successful harvest. Hm.

I'm still suspicious. Would we still have a Thanksgiving holiday if the U.S. didn't have one? The Canadian Parliament didn't establish an official Canadian Thanksgiving holiday until 1957. I would love to have been a fly on the wall of the room where they decided to establish the holiday.

But heck, I'm not going to complain. I'll eat my turkey, play with my nieces and nephew, take a dip in the clear waters of Canoe Lake one last time before winter comes. And I'll be thankful for the opportunity. :-)

Today's blatherpic: Cory visits during Word on the Street.

birthdays and puzzlenews

Today is Allison's birthday! Sunday was Jodi's and John Hall's birthday, and Saturday was Alisa's birthday.

Many congrats to Puzzlebox, who were recently invited to be Guests of Honor at FilkContinental in Germany, 2001! For more info, please visit their newly-revamped website at http://www.puzzlebox.net/. (as Debbie starts scheming how she could justify a trip to Germany next fall...)

Today's blatherpic: Allison and John, visiting my booth at Word on the Street.

rachmaninoff days

So Jeff went back to Toronto this morning. :-(

Then I went to work, found out that two people I really liked there are gone...one fired, one resigned.

On days like this, the harp is a godsend. I lose myself in the music, as clichéd as that may sound, putting all my focus into remembering the fingering, the technique, the melody struggling to get out from beneath my fumbling fingers. I resorted to something similar when I practised piano, though I was more competent on that instrument...I could focus on more than technique. Rachmaninoff was the best...it was wonderfully therapeutic, pounding out enormous chords that thundered their way down the length of the keyboard as the floorboards shook.

I've retuned my harp...from C to Bb. Takes more concentration now to flip the levers to the right key, but at least now I can play in F and Bb now (which matters terribly).

Then I called Allison. She's gotten used to this now, I think, me calling out of the blue to talk about nothing in particular. "I'm making dinner," I tell her. "What are you making?" she asks patiently. Then tries very hard not to laugh when I discover that I don't have a working can opener, or that I've somehow managed to burn my dinner while standing less than a foot away from it. :-)

Today's blatherpic: Jeff, Scott, and Brian, a couple of weekends ago. I quite like this picture.