• "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." -- Mark Twain
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    Totem at Butchart Gardens

    Sooke Harbour looking toward Olympics

    Japanese Garden

    Butchart Garden

    Chef Conference at Sooke Harbour House

    Valerie in Whites?

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We are the world.

Michael Jackson isn’t really my cup of tea.  And the circus surrounding his death puts me off.  Yet Michael Jackson remains an important historical figure for my generation and I cannot simply dismiss him with a ‘good riddance’ and be done with it. 
Like it or not, Michael Jackson influenced the music of my time and [...]

Without my Dad

Some days I don’t remember Dad is gone.  I laugh, play, work, complain, sleep, eat and dream all without remembering.  Then out of nowhere, the dad-shaped hole in my being opens up and swallows my breath.  It knocks me back, pushing tears into my eyes and dizzying uncertainty into my heart.  I don’t much like it.
Planning [...]

So much to say

My head is full of stuff.   The firing of Mike’s mom’s caregiver.  The failed bill that would send $700B to Wall Street.  The dedication of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns.  The betrayal of woman by Woodrow Wilson.  The last few days of summer.  And the upcoming Presidential Election.  We won’t talk about my stock [...]

Feeling crazy.

This year needs to be over.  I plan to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and see if I can trick my life into thinking it’s in a new year and we can just get over 2008.
I don’t want to be depressed.  I don’t want to focus on the negative. I don’t want to be in drama and stress [...]

Feeling Normal.

Yesterday was the first day I felt normal since my dad died.  
It felt miraculous.  
Like the world was not fractured and laid bare before me.  I was happy.  I golfed.  I did good, hard work.  I laughed.  I hugged people because they needed it, not because I did (although I got hugs for that [...]