Good Friend Tracey Strikes Again; A  Titanic Update and New Dream Vacation; A New Book About Libraries; Photos of VPL; Better Luck Next Time; An Anticipated Leonard Cohen Special   

The day before yesterday I received a jolly email from Tracey. Apparently the Titanic is going to sail again in 2022, along the same route as the first disaster and she sent the following link.  
https://globalnews.ca/news/4585774/titanic-ll-2022/. I immediately fired back the following email. 
Me: Girlfriend, We have got to go!! I will be 80!!’ I will go with my afire breast just in case! Hahaha 
She: Sounds a great way to celebrate I might be in the coal class though. 
Me: I think I should write a best seller to fund our journey in first class. I am going to blog our interchange.
I then fired off another email off to the originator of the beautiful saying:” I suspect that if you had been on board the iceberg may have lost the argument and been melted down by the fire in your breast.” 
Me: Tracey sent me this link. I immediately emailed the expectation that she and i should undertake the journey. I assumed her that we would be safe as I shall be traveling with my breast afire. I am doing great as my blog of today will attest
The three of us are having such fun. Tracey, recent to my acquaintance, is an example of a true soul friend. In days of lore (when I was a teenager) bad (and good behavior ) was considered to be caused by the friends you associated with. Bad kids, you ended up bad and vice versa. I am now reexamining that precept and finding some continuing truth in its wisdom. .  Precept shall be the word of the day. Precept, a noun:  a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought: the legal precept of being innocent until proven guilty | children learn far more by example than by precept | moral precepts.
Tracy’s continuing interest in me, as evidenced by her attention is uplifting and gratifying. Although she has embarked on a whole new adventure in her life she takes the time to email about a shared experience.  When I first went to London, alone, I was dependent on emails from many longstanding” friends’. Most, if not all, were too ‘busy’ to return the emails I sent, much less initiate any. I correctly assumed that it was not busyness; I was no longer a priority. I was gone and forgotten. So this feeling contributed to unhappy and rather desperate times and there has been a drifting away from those friendships.  But when I am surrounded by those who respond to me, who show they care THEN I am a happy camper. Content, not angry, nor depressed. The result: I make more new friends. My world and theirs expand as it warms the cockles of my heart (where ever that may be). My relationship with the “fire in your breast iceberg melting capability” author is exceedingly complex but the man is loyal and has staying power. 
I recently extolled the virtues of VPL. A new book was considered by The New York Times Book Review, Susan Orlean’s The Library Book. The central theme is the April 29, 1986 fire in the Los Angeles Central Library. Orleans turns the tale into two books; one the fire, the second about the workings of the library and libraries in general. She authoritatively makes observations that are parallel to my opinions. An example: “That’s the first thing that strikes Orleans; how even in the age of the internet, the public library remains the place people come to for answers to their most pressing questions. The search has not been entirely replaced by the search engine.” Some of the requests are rather unusual. “Why would someone call here and ask, “Which is more evil grasshoppers or crickets? a librarian asks, as she puts down the phone, in earshot of the author.” The review, written by Michael Lewis is highly favorable. “Once again Orleans has demonstrated that the feelings of a writer if that writer is surprisingly talented and her feelings sufficiently strong can supply her own drama. . You really never know seriously interesting a subject might be until such a person takes a serious interest in it.” I suggest you go and buy the book, or in the alternative, borrow it from the library. 
The two photographs are of the Vancouver Public Library. I was there to return three DVD’s, one book,  and ask a most pressing question to which I received the following answer: “Friendly”. It was not the answer I was looking for but one has to trust a librarian. We laughed when I expressed disappointment and said she hoped to be of better service next time.  
Today promises to be a boring day. I am sitting around waiting for Pierre the Handyman to show up (again). But this evening there is a special on the Canadian Knowledge channel about Leonard Cohen. I LOVE Leonard Cohen – he died when I was living in London which added to my distress. I was a Leonard Cohen groupie and went to his concerts and was most enthusiastic.  At least he was age appropriate, but then he died. That is the problem with age appropriate men. .    

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