Light Fog, Mostly Cloudy Blues: Tuesday, February 25th!

It is the final proof of God's omnipotence that he need not exist in order to save us. -Peter De Vries, novelist (1910-1993) 

Dear Mathew Arnold:

Many thanks for your honest and sagacious feedback. Greatly appreciated! You are right on all fronts (this is likely the first and last time those words will come from my lips!). I fully understand and agree with everything that you have said. The following is commentary from a good friend that was an editor at McClelland & Stewart for many years and who had worked on some of my favourite books to include:  Aquin’s, Hamlet’s Twin, and Beauchemin’s, The Alley Cat. 

“...I enjoyed reading the stories, as I could hear your voice behind them, and I miss hearing it in person. You have also had an adventurous, not to mention, sometimes unlikely life, as we all know, and it’s great memoir material.

The difficulty with this piece as a novel, however, is the same difficulty I had with the earlier “official” memoir, i.e., that it tells me stories, but doesn’t dig into the characters “creating” the stories.  Your style is very anecdotal, which works well orally; but one of the jobs of an editor familiar with a writer’s voice is that, after reading the ms. and enjoying the voice, you then have to read it again, stripping out everything you know about that voice and the person behind it, to see if the written words alone carry the narrative, which they don’t quite yet...”
 

Thanks, again, Matt, for your time and intelligence in writing this critique. I will have to determine if the existing ‘blueprint’ warrants time and energy to proceed with the build. Kind regards, Felix’s Brother

Dear Felix's Brother!

I have already framed the glorious words: "You are right on all fronts!" and plan to place prints of same on every wall of our place to remind, Cora Lee of the Truth! Seriously, I think the "blueprint" does deserve continued attention, but that is for you to decide, of course. At some point, if you do decide to proceed it occurs to me that you might, literally, shuffle the chapters into rough groupings, thematically, and then see if developing the common threads might be a way to re-tell the stories in greater detail, with greater character and emotional development. Might not work but then again it might be a way to break through the constraints of the current form/arrangement.
 

At any rate, can hardly wait to hear you utter self-same words, noted above, at bridge, when playing against you, mind, in a couple of weeks! Fondestos to you and my Duhliink Natalia. Cheers, Mad Matt!

Dear Sisterhood!

In the presence of Dramatic Greatness, (even though contained by the thinnest skin on the planet), I would say!!! Don't worry, Chloë, we will be part of the soap for days! Move over Genoa City!

On the Nana front, I dropped her off at St Paul's around 9:00 am this morning so she is probably undergoing her scan as I scribe. She wasn't very comfortable all day yesterday and decided against attending her Book Club last night. I had to set my alarm for 6:45 am this morning as she had her last "procedure" to accomplish before leaving for hospital. She will not be given any medication while undergoing scan so she said she would take Aquabus home.
 

Snow has finally stopped so I'm going to go for my first ride since Saturday's iceathon. Love and Cheers, Dad/Patrizzio!

Poor Nana…having to endure procedures and YOU too all in one day

A thin skin with barbs, too! Family is love. :) Among other things….And torture, and a great sense of happiness!!! There you have it!!

Thought this might be of interest for those of you who recall our conversation of a couple years ago...

http://www.itworld.com/slideshow/141787/burgers-buildings-10-things-you-didnt-know-3d-printers-could-make-406618?source=ITWNLE_nlt_tonight_2014-02-24   8^) cheers, Mark

Hi Marcus! Thanks, again, for dropping off the household items yesterday. We'll take everything to Aunt Leah's tomorrow. Thanks as well for the link to 3-D printing. Simply fascinating. Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Hi Patrick and Corinne, Just to let you know the sad news that our dear friend Lloyd died last night. He died last night quite peacefully with Rae and two of his granddaughters at his bed side. Warm regards Christina

Fair bit of fog about in the morning and reasonably crisp so I waited until just before noon to set out, in order to let any residual snow/ice melt from the roads/Seawall. By the time I was heading towards Stanley Park it had turned into a simply gorgeous day. English Bay was spectacular, probably 14 freighters at anchor, back-dropped by the North Shore Mountains. The Lions were stunning, majestically white, shining regally above the green of the surrounding slopes.

Since I'd not been out since my ill-fated freeze-dry ride of last Saturday, I wanted to try to log at least 70 km and set about making the necessary Prospect Hill Loops. Once I'd found my lap rhythm I added in two sets of parking lot dipsy-doodles to ring the overall count up to 71 km after the fourth loop and I was then away to the races, so to speak, as I made for home. 

Bit of excitement on last circumcyle of SP as I approached the roundabout, just past the underpass for the Stanley Park Causeway. I had heard sirens blaring a minute or so before but assumed they came from emergency vehicles on West Georgia. At any rate, a police cruiser, lights flashing, siren whoop-whooping, came hurtling towards roundabout as I entered it and I neatly hopped up onto slightly raised centre section to allow vehicle to continue on its course. Lost sight of it as it sped around corner near Rowing Club and assumed it might have been making for the Aquarium as I saw nor heard no further evidence of it after that, as I pedaled on.

 However, shortly after passing the statue of Harry Gerome I approached Brockton Point Lighthouse and immediately noticed a VFD ladder truck, two ambulances and the aforementioned police cruiser. Activity centered on a red car, (couldn't tell make or model), which had obviously jumped the low curb to descend the slight, grassy embankment there, to come to rest against the metal fencing which runs the length of most of the tip of the Point. Be curious to know the circumstances of this accident. Seems most likely that the driver may well have been in "Drive" rather than "Reverse" and so ended up heading towards the drink! Anyway, I didn't stop to add to the large number of curious onlookers, the thought of touching the Burning Ground trumping my need to find out the cause of this bizarre situation, and left the emergency personnel to their jobs and "attacked" the Prospect Point Hill for the last time before making for home. Stats for ride:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/451628265#.Uw1s-Rjvq3E.email

Once back I rinsed off my Trek. Fair bit of "muck" as road surfaces were wet.  Wiped the chain and cleaned the gears as best I could without actually using any de-greaser. Re-oiled things and then put bike back in our storage area. Wanted to let oil "soak" in overnight and planned to wipe off excess next day.

After this was done, I took an "errand" ride, (1.89 km over 0:08'47, AVG 13.0 km/h), to Cheap Thrills for a few staples and then back home for a quick shower. I had signed up to attend an information session for The Ride to Conquer Cancer to take place on June 14th/15th, to Seattle. A friend, Sara, is doing her second ride this year and I thought I might see about trying it as well.
Meeting was at Ceili's Modern Irish Pub on 7th and Burrard, but a short walk away.

In fact, I really didn't need to attend as by the time I was there I had already found out most of what I wanted/needed to know from the Ride website. Basically, every rider commits to raising $2,500. Given this amount and time left before ride, I've decided I won't sign up for this year. One of the complicating factors is the fact that David and Pat Coffaro, winery owners from near Healdsburg, will be visiting in June and I don't want to be away when they are in town. 

More importantly, I don't want my fund raising to become something that will turn the event into a worrisome affair if I cannot meet or feel I cannot meet my target over the next three months. According to Jessica, the young woman running the session, this is really not an issue but I know I'll be more comfortable if I have the next year to work on my subscription base. 

Funnily enough, the ride itself is really not much of an issue, in terms of distance, at least as far as I'm concerned. A number of the people atending saw the UBC Foreshore Hill and Prospect Point Hill, suggested training routes for individuals in this area, as quite daunting. Didn't want to to seem boastful so didn't mention I'd just come from doing the latter four times. Nevertheless, a wonderful opportunity to put my riding to a very significant and worthwhile cause.