A Bit of This and That

There’s been talk online about the way fiction readers sometimes harass authors because they’re anxious for their next book.

Please, feel free to harass me to write more! But seriously, I do have a hard time generating sympathy for writers whose books are TOO successful!

Perhaps you have also watched the terrific series, Younger, since it came to Netflix. It’s about a 40-something former stay-at-home mom who can’t get hired in publishing until she lies about her age. I wondered how much of what goes on at Empirical and Millennial Publishing was real. A lot, it turns out.

The show used a “veteran New York book editor” as a consultant. We’ve noticed it often takes story lines out of real life. And it took a book from the show to the page. “Marriage Vacation,” a big hit on the fictional show, became a real novel for Simon and Schuster. We love the series. FYI it gets a little racy at times.

The Unthinkable

When I heard the news that Martin Short’s daughter had died, I thought, how can he ever be funny again? Short is arguably the funniest person on the planet. He lost his wife of 30 years, Nancy, to cancer in 2010. Grief changes you forever but you learn to live with it, eventually. My heart goes out to the man and I hope this doesn’t destroy his beautiful comic mind. But if he chooses to retire, who could blame him.

One of my favourite actors, Robert Carradine, also took his own life last week. He was 71 and plagued by a bipolar disorder that, from what I’ve read, couldn’t be controlled. We need to get better at helping people with mental health issues. Any lingering stigma needs to end, here and now. I will, from now on, throat punch anyone who makes a joke involving an aspect mental health. That includes the phrases “gone nuts”, “off their meds” and “effing crazy.” Everyone and their tender throats should consider themselves warned.

Legen – wait for it – dary

Not many Canadian broadcasters have forty-year careers, let alone spend that long at one station. Marilyn Denis has been on the top-rated CHUM-FM morning show for four decades and now she’s leaving, this summer. This career of hers – TV aside, I’m just talking radio – is exceptional. Morning radio is a lot of fun but the lifestyle surrounding it can be punishing. The day starts long before listeners think of waking up. And it can go on a lot longer than you’d think. The industry will buzz about who will replace her, as if anyone can. I hope she plans to do whatever the heck will make her happy. She’s earned it.

For Goodness Sake

I believe that for every person who does something crummy, there are a dozen or more who do something good. That’s just based on personal observation. The good ones greatly outnumber the bad. But sometimes it takes the bad for the good to make themselves known.

Earlier this month, a woman at the Las Vegas airport abandoned her dog when she was late for a flight. She tied the golden doodle to a baggage sizer and ran toward her plane. When security hauled her back to where she had left the pooch, she didn’t see the big deal. “He’s micro-chipped so they’ll bring him back to me!” She really thought it wasn’t a horrible thing to do, and she left.

The dog was taken to a shelter. When the woman didn’t come back after ten days he went up for adoption. He was quickly snapped up by the security guard who had confronted the woman. He said he and his family will, “love the dog beyond words.” (Does anyone have a tissue?) They named the pup Jet Blue.

It’s often said that we don’t deserve dogs. The woman who left Jet Blue at the airport sure doesn’t.