Big news — our Prime Minister has finally made up his mind and is moving out. He had no choice but, like Biden, took his time. Will this be a repeat of the US election, the governing party will shoehorn in a woman who’s qualified but not the best candidate and lose to a neo-fascist? You’d think one of the two opposition leaders could have managed to say something polite about Trudeau – thanks for his years of service, at the least. No, nothing but rage and insults. That’s the disgusting state of our politics, thanks to the disgusting PP.
Yesterday’s huge treat: a meeting with Harriet Walter, no, pardon me, Dame Harriet Walter, friend since theatre school in London in 1971. This brilliant, courageous, and hugely successful actress and her husband spend part of the Xmas holidays with friends near Kingston. I met her at Union Station on her way back to London and steered her to the UP station, where we had coffee and a grand gossip. I gave her my fifth book Midlife Solo, in which she makes a cameo appearance on Page 96, and she gave me her fifth book, She Speaks: What Shakespeare’s Women Might Have Said, in which she invents speeches for Gertrude, Rosalind, Kate, Ophelia, and other Shakespearean heroines who don’t have nearly enough lines. Yes, in iambic pentameter! Besides being preternaturally talented, Harriet is also funny, wise, and kind. We’re lucky to have hung onto the friendship across many years and many miles. Look for her on your TV and movie screens soon; she’ll be there, dazzling as always. And buy the book. It is of course fabulous.
I watched four episodes of a powerful series from Denmark, Families Like Ours, about a time in the future when the seas have risen so far that the entire country has to be evacuated; chaos and heartbreak ensue. It’s important because it shows “families like ours” – white, educated, middle-class – at risk, lost, penniless, because of climate catastrophe. The first three episodes are marvellous, but in the fourth, the writers go way too far in torturing their protagonists, and I gave up. Friend Judy urged me to watch the rest but I’m resisting, because Episode 4 was so over the top. But 1 through 3 – admirable – and frightening. One family is distraught because all their money is tied up in their house, which becomes valueless in an empty country. That resonated uncomfortably with me. However, so far Toronto is safe from floods and forest fires.
Also watched the film Joy, with Bill Nighy and James Norton, about the difficulties surrounding the invention of IVF, nearly defeated by religion – thank you, science! – and the Golden Globes, largely so I don’t have to watch the Oscars (I deleted scores of outdated document files as I watched, very satisfying). I do not understand why actresses have to wear so little and reveal so much. They’re there to celebrate talent, not sex appeal, yet one after the other appeared in skin-tight dresses with breasts hanging out, vying to be judged on the fanciest dress. Absurd. There were a number of surprises when Hollywood favourites didn’t win. I haven’t seen The Brutalist and despite its win am not sure I want to see a 3 ½ hour show, with intermission, about architecture. But maybe I do.
Tiggy has been diagnosed as diabetic. I guess that explains why she drinks and pees so much. Of course the food for diabetic cats is more expensive. But apparently cats can recover; diabetic dogs do not. So, onward, you ridiculous animal. Speaking of which – the birds have finally discovered the new heated birdbath on the deck. The other day two cardinal couples took turns drinking amidst the clusters of sparrows. The feeder is as usual always crowded. It’s bitterly cold – minus eight feeling like minus fifteen, so I’m glad to help keep the birds not only fed but hydrated and clean.
The boys are flying home from Florida today with godmother Holly, after a fabulous vacation; Holly Facetimed me with the boys in the background, splashing in the pool like seals. She also sent pictures of them eating ice cream or dinner at a movie theatre and devouring pizza in bed. Poor Anna is going to have a hard time adjusting them to the harsh reality of Toronto in January – school tomorrow.
I discovered a terrific newsletter – Fix the News – that only posts good news, and there’s a surprising amount. We need uplifting during these dark days! I recommend reading the post about all the good things that have happened in the world recently, climate, health, human rights, and more. Thank you!
And here’s my new Substack newsletter — about my sixty-plus years of keeping a diary and then a blog. https://touchpointsawriterstruth.substack.com/p/keeping-a-diary
I photographed just a few of the notebooks – absurd! But that’s how I live. I chronicle.
Chronicle for January 6, 2025, over and out, for today. Stay tuned.