So in my other job I wrote a piece about a horny Satan statue that was erected in a Vancouver park. Fun times.

Commuters in Vancouver yesterday were greeted with the sight of a large, red Satan flashing the salute and, um, parts of his anatomy, as the statue mysteriously appeared in a park near Grandview Highway. The statue was visible to SkyTrain commuters nearby, who may not have noticed because they were thanking God for the fact that the SkyTrain had miraculously not broken down.

I am taking a bit of a break for the next few weeks. I may or may not check in here, depending on the weather and how much of my reading list I manage to work through. Be good.

Here’s a little interview/profile type of thing I did with bestselling author Steven Galloway about his latest novel, The Confabulist. As Steve would say, good times.

“One of the things this book is really about is the relationship between fact and fiction,” Galloway says, admitting he has a preference for the latter. “I think we spend a lot of time worrying about or placing emphasis on whether something happened or didn’t happen. Whether it’s true or not true. In the case of memory, what’s more important is the story of that memory — what that memory is saying to you in the present moment about the world and about what happened. I think if we took some focus off arguing about ‘did this actually happen?’ and put more focus on ‘what does it mean that I think it happened?’ then we’d probably solve a lot more problems and be a lot happier than if we just continued to argue about history.”

My screensaver was this just before my computer crashed and had to be re-imaged.

Yesterday I was going to post a photo of myself with my editing beard. It’s like a playoff beard, only wilder — I think all the caffeine makes it go crazy. But then I walked into a tailor’s to get measurements for a suit for a friend’s wedding. The tailor looked at my beard and said, “Sorry, can’t help you.”

So I went home and decided maybe I shouldn’t post that pic, after all. Then I shaved.

With any luck, I will be finishing the edits today. Then I’ll try that measurement thing again.

I’ve been editing editing editing The Dead Hamlets, the sequel to my first Cross book, The Mona Lisa Sacrifice. The edits are almost done, which is nice. I can’t wait to get this one out there into the world.

Plus, I have to finish soon because I have to leave for a friend’s wedding. He messaged me the other day asking my suit size and I said I would have to get back to him. I haven’t worn a suit in years, so I have no idea what my size is now.

Then I realized that the fact I haven’t worn a suit in years means I’ve been living life in the right way. I sure hope I can keep it up. Weddings and funerals, that’s what suits are for. And maybe trials.

And with that, back to the editing!

You can blame Nick Cave and his Vancouver show for the fact I didn’t get any writing done yesterday. But you can probably thank him for all the inspiration over the past years and the years to come.

Here’s a video from the show. You can see me in the audience if you want to play Where’s Waldo.

Hey all, I just wanted to take the time to give an endorsement to Kiva. If you haven’t heard of it, Kiva is a nonprofit organization that helps people around the world through microfinancing. You can set up a loan fund for as little as $25 and help out the needy. I set up an account a little while ago and so far I’ve helped a woman in the Philippines with her furniture business, a woman in Samoa with her textiles business and a man in Paraguay with his law school tuition. All with the same $25.

Kiva is running a promotion right now where members can invite friends to join and both will get a free $25 bonus to their accounts to loan out. So if you click the link and join, you can get a free $25 to loan someone (while the bonus funds last). Give it a shot if you want to help someone out.

A Vancouver landmark. I wish the rest of the alphabet were represented.