News

The poor, innocent bystander shot in front of the Brass Rail this weekend was my BFF's cousin, John.

There's no way I can even try to make sense of this tragedy.

Some people will tell you that guns don't kill people, people kill people. The truth is, people with guns kill people.

Historically, humanity has been looking for new and creative ways to kill each other for centuries.

It really has to stop.

Do something for me today, won't you? Do something nice for someone, and don't tell anyone about it. Make someone's day. Send some love to a total stranger.

Happy, contented people don't kill other people.

Selling my armoire

After asking the universe for assistance, I listed my armoire for sale on Craigslist. Almost immediately, I received a number of replies.

Yesterday I met my first potential buyer. She didn't take it (too big for the corner where she needs it) but talk about an interesting woman.

She is an associate professor at Osgoode Hall, and past director of Osgoode's Institute for Feminist Studies. A card-carrying member of the sisterhood of the travelling underpants.

So, there you have it. Even brainiacs are looking for deals on Craigslist.

The age of acknowledgement

Friday morning I did a presentation for all of our account people. The topic was fundraising through bequests and legacies.

It might sound like a morbid topic, but by 2013, which is only five years away, experts are forecasting that there will be more revenue in bequests than in direct mail.

Part of the presentation had to do not only with why charities need to consider this important revenue stream, but when and how to talk to donors.

I talked a lot about "the age of acknowledgement". This is that time in every individual's life when they realize they're not immortal.

It's funny only if you haven't reached it.

For most of us, that age comes with a life crisis -- the death of someone close to us.

Until something like that happens, most people just don't get it.

As my friend TM said, after losing her 40 year old sister to ovarian cancer, "After my sister died, I realized how really precious life is. And that nothing is forever."

Nothing. Nothing is worth more than this day.

***

Happy to report that my BFF's Dad has made it through the operation. We're waiting for an update.

Slowpoke, Part II

My BFF's Dad is undergoing surgery in Sudbury this morning. Please hold a good thought for him.

So long, Sir Edmund Hillary

Okay, is it just me? I thought Sir Edmund Hillary was already dead.

I do feel pretty bad about it, though, since he seemed like such a decent guy.

In this morning's Globe, they reported that he'd made easily a hundred trips back to Nepal after his assault on Everest, building schools and helping the country toward economic stability. He was also incredibly vocal following the publication of Into Thin Air, about the blatant disregard for life -- for leaving struggling members on the mountain to die, while continuing a course to the top.

So, goodbye old chap. Here's to the mountains you'll climb in heaven.

And for you, I offer this final verse from Canadian poet Earl Birney's startlingly good epic poem David:

I said that he fell straight to the ice where they found him,
And none but the sun and incurious clouds have lingered
Around the marks of that day on the ledge of the Finger
That day, the last day of my youth, on the last of our mountains.

For the Bible Tells Me So

One of my biggest pleasures throughout the year is attending the Doc Soup documentary film series. Last night's film was a barn burner. Here's the film's synopsis, lifted straight from the web site:

Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families -- including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson -- we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child.

Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.

What makes the film absolutely brilliant is that the filmmaker manages to find a common ground between fundamentalism and homosexuality, by chiselling away at ignorance, until the only plausible outcome is acceptance.

Forget Al Gore. My new favourite politician is Dick Gephardt, whose shining love for his lesbian daughter left the entire audience in tears.

You can see For the Bible Tells Me So on the big screen at The Royal Cinema on College Street this weekend. There are a number of showings planned.

Garbage Day

Is there anything sadder than the day they pick up all the discarded Christmas trees? It always gives me a little heart pang.

Poor little things.

Barely two weeks ago they had pride of place in your family room, surrounded by brightly coloured packages, but today...naked and stripped, beside the garbage can.