I have always had a fondness for diners. A new one opened in Regina in last week – it’s called Mercury and the ambience is 50’s: red leather booths, lots of windows and a plainspoken menu. My friend Stefani and I had breakfast there on Friday. I’ve known Stef since she was a student at the J-School here; now she’s CBC’s legislative reporter. She’s smart, funny, thoughtful and a great animal lover. She’s looks like Courtney Love when Courtney Love used to be beautiful.
Stef is great company. She and I have a healthy reverence for gossip, but we also attack large topics. Friday we talked about how we’d both changed our positions on the nature vs. nurture argument. Then we moved onto the importance of self-knowledge and the damage people who lack self-knowledge do to their own lives and the lives of others. Good diner talk. If Mercury had a jukebox that played Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party”, our breakfast would have been perfect.
Friday, I received the cover for “The Nesting Dolls”. My son-in-law posted it on my blog, and I’ve had heated response: a friend says it makes her think of vampire babies; another friend says its reminiscent of the Battleship Potemkin; it makes me think of Rosemary’s Baby. I’m the only who’s read the book, so I can tell you that we’re all wrong. So far the number of people who love the cover is larger than the number who are iffy about it. I’ll keep you posted. For the record, I like it a lot.
Ted and I have grown passionate about the Met HD operas at our local Galaxy Theatre. The only problem is there aren’t enough of them, so I’ve ordered some DVDs for us. Saturday afternoon – right at 12:00 (opera time on the prairies if not in NYC), Ted and I sat down with our french fries and Diet Coke (opera fare on the prairies if not in NYC) and watched Thais with the gorgeous Renee Fleming—an experience as close to heaven on earth as I can imagine.
Later my friend Peggy came over to return the manuscript for “The Nesting Dolls”. She’s the only person besides Ted, my editors at M&S and my agent who’s read the manuscript and she was enthusiastic. Of course, it’s difficult not to be kind when the writer is six inches away from you with her lip quivering, but Peggy said all the right things, and I choose to believe them.
Sunday, our son Max put together our new bbq while we were at Church and our son-in-law Brett fixed a glitch with our computers. Then all of us had bacon and pancakes and went outside to play.
A fine and varied weekend, I think.