Fin d'août

1. Got a wonderful surprise from agent Nancy, the bookseller, yesterday. When the book first came out in 2008, I got a cheque a month. By 2010, it was one or two a year. This will be the penultimate cheque because there are no more books to sell. Sometime in the next few months, I may hear from Douglas & MacIntyre about re-printing.
2. I can still remember the thrill of having new "exercise books" every September. They would come in a package of five and I would assign different colours for each subject. The "right" colour came from some kind of association—my biology exercise book, for example, was always blue because my passion for biology came from spending so much time on the sea and at beaches, lakes and rivers. I loved writing in those clean white pages with their pale blue horizontal lines and red margins. This coming September, however, a Chris decades removed from the boy who loved his exercise books looks forward to:
1. Securing an appointment with an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist to see if and how issues with my voice can be addressed—if not permanently, for my show next Spring.
2. Hearing from Simon Fraser University/Praxis Film Lab/Whistler FilmFestival that Warren's and my script, Uncle Gus' Monkey, gets accepted for development.
3. If the script is accepted, getting a hotel room in Whistler close to Dianne and Jane who will also be there. If anyone can have fun, the three of us in Whistler can do it. If the script is accepted, it means going to Whistler for five days of workshopping the script with actors and a film director.
4. The final components of Dwight's and my Dr. Sheldon Freud Self-Awareness Improvement Kits are finalized and printed (or at the printer).
5. I am hoping that, having taught during this fabulous summer, September brings nice Fall weather that will see a return to walking without sweating.