Dear bloggees, I apologize for having neglected you this week: teaching, the encroachment of chilly autumn, getting over my cold, all conspired to keep me away from my blogging duties. Sometimes, yes, I just need to live my boring life for a few days, without chronicling it.

Massage therapist Barb used to give massages in her Cabbagetown living-room, in front of her fireplace – paradise on a snowy day. Now she’s at St. Clair and Yonge, too near tempting shoe stores and with no fireplace, but just as skilled. I haven’t been to her for years, but have had for months a dull, sometimes sharp pain in my upper left shoulderblade. She put her finger right into the sore spot and kept it there – oooooh. Pain gone.

It’s an exciting life, n’est-ce pas? I hope yours is as thrilling. I recently watched a delightful CBC documentary about experts, which showed that most of the time, they have no better idea than the rest of us but sound as if they do. According to one study, the predictions of financial analysts over a decade were the same as the results of chimpanzees throwing darts at a board. The message: we need to do a bit more figuring out ourselves. And nobody wants to do that!

Oh – and I have to report my beloved Paul McCartney’s first ballet score “Ocean’s Kingdom” has received, shall we say, mixed reviews – but good on ya, Paul, you are a good sport and will try anything. I love that about you. Can we talk?