The Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs

We're a-celebrating Fa-jzha's Day in da house with flapjacks and oodles of sirop d'erable. My lord, that's stuff like gold!

Later, J, the girls and I are heading just out of town to hang out with these dudes by the pool for more celebrating. My grampa, on the left, turned 79 this year. He's the coolest. My dad, in the centre, is getting back from a bachelor party in Detroit this afternoon (I hope he has stories!!), and my uncle on the right will be the barbe-Q-er and host-with-the-most. There will be good times for shizzle.

Now forget those guys - back to me. I've been concerned lately that I need to develop opinions on current affairs. I've always been a bit wobbly and wishy-washy with my thinking - meaning if you say something, I'm most likely to lean to your way of thinking. I'm easily manipulated. I will also change my thinking when I hear something different. Is it called titter-tottering? Who knows? Anyway, yesterday I borrowed a pile of books in some topics that are on the top '0' my mind lately. I am trying to learn assertiveness, and I think I must have some concrete opinions with which to fight and argue. I could be wrong here. See what I mean? Here's the pile so far:

• Wake Up and Smell the Planet - The non-pompous, non-preachy Grist guide to greening your day!
• A Crime So Monstrous - Face-to-Face with Modern Day Slavery
• The Book of Negroes - a novel by Lawrence Hill
• The Big Red Machine - How the Liberal Party Dominates Canadian Politics
• The Female Eunuch - a searing examination of women's oppression
• The David Suzuki Reader - A lifetime of ideas from a Leading Activist and Thinker

I really want to clear up some of those blurry lines in my mind. Wish me luck! I hope I'm smarter by next weekend. : ) People will be crazy to mess with me. Just saying.

N