To thine own self be true

“Hell is other people,”
–Jean-Paul Sartre

A Coke float.

These days when it gets hotter, I still have one for old time’s sake. A tall glass. 3 scoops of ice cream with hypocritical Diet Coke now. It still foams at the top before fully filled with coke which you have to scrape off to consume, before topping the glass with more Coke. Very satisfying, decadent, and a treat retained from my youth.

Don’t forget your mask.”

Poet and Canada Goose, May 2010, Lost Lagoon, Stanley Park

(I sometimes just ‘take dictation’ with any in-the-night mental prompts and record them on yellow Post-its. The following are pretty much 1 pagers/1 liners.)

-The sudden fact of imminent mass death has been jarring for many: individuals, families, groups, organizations, societies, countries, the world. Many are suddenly thinking seriously about death and personal death for the first time in any lengthy way.

-In response to widespread, random deaths, there has been a fight for survival response on a number of levels: individually, family-wise, community-wise, city-wise, province/state-wise, health-wise, economically, politically, ethically and morally.

-America’s recent main conflict has been between ego, greed, selfishness, lies, absolute corruption and the survival of facts, truth, empirical reasoning, decency, kindness, empathy, true heroism, and integrity.

-The responses to death overall throughout history have been the search for immediate pleasure and happiness, the development of myriad perspectives and approaches, and individual’s quests for meaning and higher purpose.

-Evil and hate remain the main human problems. There are too many autocrats and dictators controlling nations. And there is, too often, an automatic suspicion and distrust of people who do not resemble oneself.

-Despite COVID, ‘man’ is a social animal who defines himself in terms of others. Above all, is the desire to connect, to be with and ‘in’ others.

-Family is the last bastion against COVID (even for kids and unmarrieds).

-Work, in and of itself, is not enough to satisfy the soul in a time of crisis. Work is often trivial, frivolous, and antithetical to true individual freedom and providing deep inner nourishment.

-Love, truth, kindness, and beauty are mankind’s highest aspirations and worthiest achievements.

-The almost-total loss of a sense of Context/s has had a profound diminishment of people’s cognitive powers and agendas. Lost in all this has been an appreciation of civilization and the arts, an interest in beauty in the widest sense, an alienation from Nature, and an ignorance of history and the best of mankind. The larger contexts, in particular, have been mostly abandoned–the higher, uplifting, ennobling sensibilities and perspectives.

-Without the arts, we are all incomplete and horribly impoverished–emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. The aesthetic sensibility and realm have taken a huge hit.

-Fear leads to separation, isolation, alienation, prejudice, discrimination, and destruction of self and others. Many people do not have the inner resources, tools, and smarts to deal with the loneliest number–number one.

-Humor and a sense of irony are the final saving graces for social discourse and interaction. They keep one sane, balanced, and broad-perspectived.

-Good health is not something to be taken for granted. Daily diet, exercise, and mobility are about as basic as it gets for an individual. Choices relative to these are basic to intactness, balance, and survival. It is hard to stay healthy or alive if you get sedentary to the point of not moving. It is always harder to hit a moving target.

-Civilization and the survival of arts and culture are not things to be taken for granted. You cannot trust government or big business to finance or support these ever.

-Given the omnipresent fact of widespread ongoing changes, one should never assume that the world one knows and prefers will be here in one minute, tomorrow, next week or month, or in the future. It is not the world that needs to change to conform to our wishes and agenda; it is people who need to change, adjust, and adapt to non-stop changes and future shocks.

have been outstanding. Yesterday’s (July 1) cut to the quick on Trump’s continuing treason toward his own country and how, as Nancy Pelosi puts it, “All roads lead to Putin”. Putin must have some pretty damaging stuff on T that has had the latter kowtowing and carrying water for the Russian dictator for 4 years. The “Comrade Trump” satirical ad sums up a lot about T.

Techno Found Art, c 2017 by Richard Davies

I would not have seen all the provincial parks, remote Northern regions, the Mingan Archipelago, and other remote areas in various seasons of the year. A tremendous public service for Canadian armchair travellers.

Equally memorable, its scenes from around the world.

(still The Great Canadian Poem)

1. What is the most famous poem in Canadian history? Who is the author? (His poem was on the old $10 bill.)
2. What is the federal recognition given out annually since the 1930s for significant Canadian writing in each genre, each year?
3. Who is the Montreal writer who started as a poet and ‘pornographic’ novelist, and who later morphed into Canada’s internationally-known singer-songwriter-performer-cult figure?
4. Which P.E.I. writer has the most famous house on the island and whose children’s works have drawn over 100,000 Japanese fan-tourists?
5. Hugh MacLennan (tied with Michael Ondaatje for most GGs) is most famous for his 1960s novel about French- and English-Canadians in conflict in Quebec. What is it called?
6. Who was Winnipeg’s first famous novelist who wrote several significant’ women’s novels’ set in small prairie towns? (One of her books was famously banned in Ontario.)
7. Who was Canada’s most famous humorist writer of many popular books? (He taught Economics at McGill. There is an award named after him.)
8. W.O. Mitchell wrote the classic coming-of-age Canadian prairie novel called?
9. Which acclaimed Canadian short-story writer is so famous she is recognized in many other countries and was recently saluted by a coin and stamp issued in her own country?
10.Which Jewish-Canadian Montreal novelist had a wicked wit and had movies made of his books? (His prose was often published in prominent American magazines, too.)
11.Who has sold more poetry books than any other Canadian poet? (He was a mere bank teller when he became our most famous, quoted writer of his time.)
12.Who is the first significant Aboriginal-Canadian woman writer who had an international following? (She has a cairn dedicated to her in Stanley Park, Vancouver.)
13.Which widely-read, best-selling, sardonic Canadian woman writer has written in all genres and developed her own digital autograph pen to reduce effort at signings?
14.Which famous popular children’s story by Roch Carrier was quoted on the old Canadian $5 bill?
15.Who was the first prolific, widely-read French-speaking woman writer whose work was published in both English and French in Canada? (She was born in St. Boniface, MB, and her childhood home is now an historic literary attraction.)

Bonus question freebie–count for a bonus correct answer (quiz remains out of 15 regardless)
Who was ‘Samuel Marchbanks’, the Massey College master of trilogy novels in Canada?

Answers:
1. “In Flanders Fields” John McCrae
2. Governor-General’s Award
3. Leonard Cohen
4. Lucy Maude Montgomery
5. Two Solitudes
6. Margaret Laurence
7. Stephen Leacock
8. Who Has Seen the Wind
9. Alice Munro
10.Mordecai Richler
11.Robert Service
12.Pauline Johnson
13.Margaret Atwood
14.”The Hockey Sweater”
15.Gabrielle Roy
bonus: Robertson Davies

Score:

Ignorant/Poor/Insufficient 0-5: You know little or nothing about this country’s great literary heritage and culture regardless of how much education you have. You need to familiarize yourself more with our country’s literature. You may be a newcomer to Canada who’s passed the basic test on Canadian culture and lifestyle in order to become a Canadian or be a victim of the gutting of basic Canadian information, literature, history, and culture in schools, universities, and government libraries (begun under Stephen Harper).

Average to Good 6-10: At some point you’ve read or studied some Canadian literature and are familiar with some of the key names from CanLit history. You should feel some national cultural and educational pride. Give yourself a pat on the back for knowing basic facts and important information about our country’s writers and core, bedrock literature highlights.

Knowledgeable/Proficient 11-15: You were likely educated before 1990 A.D. in this country and may even have studied several Canadian writers and works. You are likely well-educated and actually know pre-2000 Canadian literature facts and highlights quite well. You are a true Canadiana fan who may also have a reasonable background in literature, literary studies, and books of our nation.

(copyright 2019 by Richard Davies)