Comments: Bits 'N Pieces

Today I’d like to give a shout-out to my daughter. She is four today and is quite the fabulous little person. She has taught me an enormous amount about life and how to cope with chaos, from her tumultuous gestation to her drama-filled entrance on this stage to her daily antics.

She is fierce, strong, funny, tenacious and loving. I am truly grateful for her.

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In other news, can we please sort out this whole AIG business? I don’t claim to have an understanding of the whole financial system (does anyone?) but I do not think that giving big bonuses to the people who wreaked havoc on our finances is in any way the thing to do. WTF?

It enrages and embarrasses me to think of all the money that has gone to waste through greed and corruption that could help us take care of people who need help with basics like housing, food and health care. (Shut up, I’m Canadian.)

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I just finished reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Namesake.” That woman can write. She could make my car owner’s manual riveting (get it?) (sorry). Seriously. Check out her work. It’s beyond my comprehension how someone can write like that. Ditto for Anne Marie McDonald, in case you’re looking for brilliant female authors of our time who know how to cut to the heart of everything in miraculous prose.

But I’d also like to say huzzah to Brad Warner. His latest, “Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate” is awesome. (gee, is that the technical literary term?) In his inimitable blunt and hilarious style, he really demystifies the life of a Buddhist monk, which frankly needed to be demystified. So much of what we see in life is for show, and it’s nice to hear about the solid core underneath it all. In the end, none of us is perfect nor ever will be; and yet we are perfect as we are.

Chew on that for awhile. I've got a birthday party to plan.