To thine own self be true

http://canlitbooks.ca

A rare, comprehensive, illustrated website featuring Canadian books and authors from the mid-nineteenth century to the early 21st century in chronological order. Gives a ton of information on who the well-known, good, and great Canadian authors and books once were. Includes photos of authors, books, ephemera, and even signatures. This is the kind of information once only available from university CanLit courses back in the 1960s and ’70s. And the kind of concise overview information found nowhere else online or in books. Especially interesting for anyone wanting to get to know the foundations and main sweep of our country’s literature and writers.

Queries: Richard.Davies@shaw.ca

and James Cagney in one of his best-ever roles as an underground rebel/university professor. Featuring Glynis Johns, Cecil Cusack, Richard Harris, and many other English character actors.

The Luck of the Irish (on DVD, shown above) A hilarious comedy with Tyrone Power in one of his best roles, playing a writer who discovers a leprechaun in Ireland, who later comes back to New York with the leprechaun as his butler, and eventually returning to Ireland to resolve all the conflicts. Cecil Kellaway is a hoot as the mischievous elf. A green-tinted version is available on the same disc.

1. Green crème de menthe pie! A St. Pat’s wonder!

Second-best: Green crème de menthe parfait (creme de menthe over vanilla or oreo ice cream)! Simply decadent.

Chopin’s Piano Sonata no. 3 in B minor op. 58.
4 mood-full movements played by Maurizio Pollini.
Which I listened to after Sunday lunch.
Great stuff!

There is a cast of thousands that influence/d one and made us what we are today as individuals.

Parents. Siblings. Grandparents. Aunts and uncles. Cousins. Guardians. Have a long think about that one.

The kids we grew up with and knew at school and university.

The many teachers and profs. The coaches and trainers.

Those people we worked with in summer and permanent jobs.

The people we met in passing along the way. The strangers, acquaintances, and time-limited others.

The spouses, partners, and companions.

To say nothing of the myriad hours of reading, study, computer time, tv, radio, and movies.

No, we are never alone. We are always in different changing contexts and relationships.

Whatever we do or have success at comes with the influence and involvement of many others.

Looking back, I have a long list of significant others, coworkers, associates, assistants, and aiders in whatever successes I’ve had. And many of these are admittedly just a matter of good luck and good fortune.

I know I have not deserved to be as lucky as I have been so far. But they do say that you can make your own luck and so I continue to be a believer in possibilities, in ephemeral doors and windows. My bent, in fact and practice, has often been to take the risk and make the first move, knowing the opportunity will not likely be there long or that if I don’t generate it, it simply won’t happen.

Authorship in one’s own life. ‘Life is what we make of it.’ We choose and create our own lives. Definitely!

And so, our lives open up and flow more positively if we imagine and create, if we act on our dreams and wishes, and if the momentary impulse or inspiration moves toward will, its expression, and action.

But, as all of this is true, nonetheless, we must remember that we often need and seek others’ help no matter how much we convince ourselves, deludedly, that we act completely alone without the involvement and participation of those many others out there. “No [wo]man is an island.”

What a person reads is what s/he is. Sensibility, ideas, beliefs, career.

To say nothing of depth of empathy, sympathy, understandings about human nature and life, and appreciations of characters/others.