I’m not 87 yet, or 72, but I hope to reach each age in decent health and in not too decayed a state. I think one way to achieve that is to keep active. Here are a couple of examples of people of a certain age making contributions, following inspirations and staying in the game (yes, I know, a rather cringey expression, but it suits here): Hazell Jacobs is an 87-year-old woman who, during the early days of pandemic, decided to do something creative with her time. A lover of scarves, she started a blog that has become internationally popular, even being featured in the New York Times; and Gerald Stratford is a 72-year-old man who has become the “king of ‘big veg’ gardening” and appears in a Gucci campaign. Curiously – or perhaps predictably – both are Brits.
Tag Archives: miscellany
Beryl O’Links: Heat Wave Edition
It is very hot in Toronto. A week ago today I was still having to turn on the little heater in my office – now I am using a fan and contemplating taking my show and moving it downstairs, where ’tis a bit cooler. To the matter at hand – some links from past and present, far and wide, not all pandemic-related. In fact, very few.
Sad news – the apostrophe protection society admits defeat. I hate poor grammar but one of my biggest pet peeves in that regard is people who don’t know where to place apostrophes or commas. We have failed as a society when people pluralize family names, for example, with an apostrophe.
A great piece from Lionel Shriver about the tiresomeness of lefty lingo.
Give this man an award – he (accidentally) hit a dog with his car, and drove it to safety. It turned out to be a coyote, no less deserving of compassion.
And give this man an award – Lebanese businessman bought Hitler artifacts and donated them to Israel.
Clive James and the greatness of Philip Larkin.
Another person deserving of an award – for saving Mongolia’s snow leopards.
A hero for the animals in Wuhan – yep, awards for him, too!
The first boy diagnosed as autistic – what a story.
The awakening of Norman Rockwell (seriously surprised that something this good was at Vox).
The British housewife who took on the Soviet Union – why had I not heard of her? And she deserved awards, as well!
Tragic history – again, why had I not heard of this? The “Reverse Freedom Rides.” Humans – so cruel.
Why plague doctors wore those strange beaked masks.
And – last link, as I want to end on a positive note – it is ok to drink wine by yourself! I already knew that, but it is now sanctioned by the New York Times.
Beryl O’Links: St. Brigid’s Day Edition
Whatever happened to Notre Dame’s bees?
A good piece (by Ray Pennings, an acquaintance from media circles) about the dangers in Canada’s assisted dying legislation.
Novel written at Auschwitz to be published in English.
Hussein Aboubakr gives me hope. So does Mohammed Saud.
Give this man – a kitten-rescuer – all the awards!
Another man who deserves all the awards.
In my view, this is a legitimate reason to nuke a country.
In Sweden’s most notoriously anti-Semitic city, a rabbi and an imam are trying to make a positive difference.
The librarian who saved Timbuktu’s cultural treasures from al Qaeda.
Never stop! Centenarian Japanese photojournalist is still working.