Happy Thursday!

Just a short start on my blog this morning while I coffee is brewing. I got in late last night and once again was not able to do my blog in the evening after work. This week has been a busy one - lots of folks at work to catch up with - lunch and dinners out every day with friends and colleagues. Great way to start back to the "grind".

This picture is my entry to the "so you think you have it bad contest". Not sure how this happened but sure glad this prank wasn't played on me!

So, having just written a paragraph, I must run off. Perhaps I will have a chance to write a bit more during lunch, today is a quiet day with no plans for either lunch or dinner. So stay tuned for the completion of this blog later today.

Ok, so I will admit it... I have this urge just to veg and do nothing more tonight. But I decided that as I sit here by the fire, rum and tonic at the ready, dog at my side, laptop in my lap, tv in front of my face I would open my blog and make an effort at finishing up today's entry. I just got back from getting a load of groceries and after a long day of brain activity at work I would rather sit and veg. However, I am a determined soul and having just been reminded of the promised finish of this entry I am motivated to get it done.

Well, I could write about the weather - did you hear that we have had more snow this year so far than last year at this time - and last year was a record setting year! Or, I could write about how Lake Ontario is starting to freeze up. I was noticing as I got home that the grey/blue shoreline is receeding as it is being consumed by the white snow and ice at a rate of about 8 or 10 feet a day.

But no, I am going to blog on for the next couple of blogs about the Canada Reads event. (OK, a few comments about the weather and or noteworth local events might creep in as well. I discovered Canada Reads last year. March is "Reading Month" and there are lots of events which promote reading in that month. Canada Reads is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by CBC. The books are announced in November and the contest is held during March of each year. During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series of five programs. At the end of each episode, the panelists vote one title "off the island" until only one book remains. This book is then billed as the book that all of Canada should read.

Canada Reads 2009 will be aired from March 2 to March 6, 2009.
For the 2009 competition, the books chosen by the participants were:
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, defended by Avi Lewis
The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay, defended by Anne-Marie Withenshaw
Fruit by Brian Francis, defended by Jen Sookfong Lee
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards, defended by Sarah Slean
The Outlander by Gil Adamson, defended by Nicholas Campbell

I have started reading The book of Negroes which is by all accounts an exceptional book. Will keep you posted.

Tomorrow I will tell you all about Toronto Reads.

And I promise a Cruise story or two on the weekend!