Erin's Journals

A Quick Note: I’ve added a What’s Up post to my website homepage (just scroll up if you’re reading this on Monday), so you can check in to see where I’ll be speaking next. For example, it’s official that I’ll be at Chapters Indigo in Oshawa on Wednesday, February 27 at 7 pm. Wait to buy your book then and maybe we’ll see you at Chapters! 
 
I trust you stayed warm this weekend and are ready to face a brand new week. I did and I am, so here we go!
 
There have been some big and not-so-big things going on in the world of late, and being focussed on things like angels and books and such here, I haven’t had a chance to weigh in on a few. They’re pretty minute in the big picture, but they’ve gotten me thinking. Thought they might be food for thought for you, as well.
 
A study last week showed that the people most likely to spread so-called “fake news” on Facebook are over 65 years old and lean politically to the right. I had to stop and think about it and I believe I’ve come up with a reason. 
 
I’m reminded of the early days of the internet, when Rob’s dear stepmom would send us warnings about needles at ATMs (“welcome to the world of AIDS” the note nearby would say) and such. I was even at a memorial where a bereaved father cited the hoax of a drugged person waking up in a bathtub of ice with no kidney, as illustration of how awful the world is. Yes, it can be awful (and certainly was to his murdered daughter), but that story was just not true. 
 
Every day, I get dozens of notes to my now defunct Facebook page (not the one that you visit, I’m sure – the one I shut down has no face picture) about friend requests, holding a finger down, etc. and it’s a hoax. Just not true. I’ve given up writing to people to tell them; there’s just no point and I don’t want to make them feel foolish. I’m not the internet police and can only control what I put out there. 
 
So you see, there are plenty of ways for unsuspecting people to get tripped up. And even in 2019 when we should all know better, some still simply do not suspect, or they choose not to ask, since it fits with their world view. My solution: Google the subject of the story and add the word “hoax.” 98.1% of the time, my spidey senses are correct.
 
But here’s the reason I believe that fake news is spread more by seniors than anyone else. My grandmother back in the 1980s would read the National Enquirer (or the “Inquiry” as she’d call it). When I’d tell her that many of the stories she was reading simply weren’t true, she’d ask in all innocence, “Well, then, how can they print them?”
 
That’s the world she – and many of us – grew up in. You just couldn’t put something in print unless it could be backed up with facts (except for the trash by the cash which seemingly has always been held to a much lower standard until someone stepped up and sued their miserable butts). The same belief goes for outlets like Fox News, who routinely fabricate and are simply mouthpieces (and inspiration) for tRump. Although it’s not licensed as a news outlet, it’s in their name and, therefore, viewers believe what they are watching.
 
Thankfully, here in Canada, a news network is held to a higher standard. You may not agree with the perspective one takes, but at least you know they’re obligated to be factual and not incendiary propaganda machines like the aforementioned US network – the one that spread the Birther movement and has some people still believing that the 44th POTUS is a “secret Muslim,” for heaven’s sake.
 
My take is that seniors believe because they can’t imagine people just putting together such convincing lies. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the rest of us have been raised in a more skeptical age. And Facebook news is the place where the most disinformation is spread. Oh, Zuckerberg, what hath you wrought?
 
I always felt sheepish about sending back Rob’s stepmom’s emails and telling her that they just weren’t true. Her heart was in the right place and I never wanted to embarrass this bright woman by correcting her. All I ever hoped was that it wouldn’t be spread any further. I’m afraid I’m whistling in the wind these days….
 
Have a gentle Monday and I’ll be back here tomorrow. And that’s the truth!
 

Okay, you’re going to think I’m nuts – and unless you’re new here, you’ve probably had that thought already! And I’m right there with you on that, some days. Maybe, strangely enough, it’s what’s kept me sane.
 
But something ELSE really freaky has happened this week and you may have spotted it yourself yesterday if you clicked through to Books and Brunch, for which I am going to be a guest on Sunday, February 24 at Wooden Sticks Golf Course in Uxbridge. I’ll tell you about it in a second…but first, in a wonderful bit of news (well, for me, anyway) Sunday has sold out. 
 
But…the Blue Heron books website has announced a second event on Saturday, February 23rd. I received an email from Shelley Macbeth late yesterday with the following info:

Whew! What a day…. with Erin announcing our event, the phone/email blew up…. We go in touch with Erin and her publicist and were quickly able to cobble together an alternate event. Erin’s like that! So, if you were unable to get through today via phone or email, here’s the news–
 
We have added an up close and personal ‘Dessert and Coffee’ event with Erin the day before our brunch event. The details are as follows:
 
Date:  Saturday, February 23rd
Time: 2:00 pm (doors open at 1:30)
Place: Wooden Sticks Golf Club https://woodensticks.com/
Ticket Price:  $24 + HST and includes dessert, coffee/tea, a $5 coupon towards the purchase of Erin’s book, Mourning Has Broken, which Erin will sign
 
There are two ways you can guarantee your tickets. You can phone the store at 905-852-4282 with your credit card (instant acknowledgement), or you can order online here: https://blueheronbooks.com/?q=p.book_events. If you are ordering online, don’t forget to complete your order — sometimes people omit the last step and the order never reaches us.
 
As we are a small store it’s difficult to process many incoming orders at one time so please be patient! The store opens at 10:00 am if you are phoning in.

Whew indeed! And please, please don’t call the store until after 10 am if you don’t mind, as per Shelley’s request. Yesterday on my public Facebook page there were many questions about advance ordering, signings and the possibility of further appearances. I can tell you for certain that there definitely WILL be more visits and as a soon as I ge details and green lights and all of the things that are out of my hands, I will post them both here in the journal and on FB and Twitter. (I do try to remember Instagram, but if that’s your fave social media, just check in here every weekday for updates.)
 
Things move very quickly, as I’ve learned, and I can’t always keep you posted in real time about ticket sales and such. All I can say is that there are more places to come and, if I had my way, I’d stop everywhere from Niagara Region to Peterborough (and yes, Elaine, I know you’ve requested London, ON).
 
As for signings, if you’ve pre-ordered a book and they’re not available in time when you come to the live presentations, not to worry: I have a very nice collection of cards featuring the book cover that I will be happy to sign for you. Best of all, we’ll get to spend a little time together. That’s what I’m looking forward to the most.
 
And let me say if you couldn’t give a tinker’s damn about the book, I do apologize for focusing on it of late. This is a really big time in our lives and it’ll settle down soon enough. Thanks for your patience.
 
One final angel note as we finish this incredible week: I was preparing yesterday’s journal, I asked Rob to post a screen shot of the Blue Heron website. And he asked me, “Did you scroll down to see who else is coming?” and I said no. He said the name of an author who’s also been booked for B&B later in the year and I almost fell out of my chair.
 

 
Okay, so our daughter is Lauren D. Davis – sharing the middle name Dawn with her mom. But honestly. Lauren B. Davis? What a lovely coincidence!
 
Thank you, always, for coming by. Have a wonderful weekend.
 

How can someone get jet lag without even being on a plane? I guess our little trip to Vegas was a bit more excitement (okay, a LOT more) than this gal is used to; I’m still just resting and trying to catch up. How did I ever do this and still get up at 3:30 am the next day?
 
The schedule for my visits and interviews during February in the GTA is getting carved in stone, and I can’t wait to share it all with you. You already know about the two sold-out Oakville appearances, but we have a new one to add to the list: Books and Brunch on February 24th in Uxbridge. It sounds like a wonderful event and here are the details. I’m optimistic tickets will sell quickly, so please, if you’re even considering it, get them today.
 

 
I was going to share some “tales of tails” in terms of dog-friendly travel tomorrow but something has just come up that has me shaking my head. You may suggest after this week’s woo-woo journals of angels and found money, that I should have done that a long time ago. But this is really bizarre. I’ll have that for you to wrap up the week tomorrow. Promise.
 
In the meantime, we stopped off at a spot in Primm, Nevada, just on the edge – and I do mean the very edge – of the California border. They get gamblers just the second they cross into Nevada. We weren’t among them, but in one hotel, Whiskey Pete’s (among three hotel/casinos in one spot owned by the same company), there was something to see that was more memorable than a four-of-a-kind: the actual car in which gangsters Bonnie and Clyde met their end.
 

 
It was downright spooky, I’ll tell you – and I’m not just referring to the mannequins! Far cheerier was a spot in a casino/hotel called Terrible’s, a chain of gas stations that grew into much, much more, called – yes – Terrible’s. Do you think a 21st century focus group would allow THAT name to happen? Anyway, it wasn’t terrible at all. There, you could see TV’s Batmobile…
 

 
…as well as a car used in the stage show Grease Live! which I’m sure Rob and I enjoyed in Toronto thanks to the Mirvishes.
 

 
Finally, here’s the very DeLorean gullwing stainless steel set of wheels from the three Back to the Future movies. Don’t ask me why these are all on display right there at the Cal/Nev border, but I thought you might find them as interesting as we did!
 

 
Have a lovely Thursday and we’ll be back with you tomorrow. Thanks for sharing in the adventures on this first full week of 2019. Boy, if they’re all like this, I’m going to have to start napping again.
 

Well, we’re back “home” in Palm Springs again, having taken our friend and my former radio partner Mike Cooper to McCarran International for his flight back to Toronto yesterday. All in all, it was a fun-filled and entertaining few days filled with laughs, hugs and even a few truly surprising moments. Let me take you back to Saturday, one of the most incredible angel-kissed days of my life.
 
Rob and I were at a place called Aliante, a casino hotel resort on the outskirts of Las Vegas. We don’t do the strip, as the pays are so meagre (we find) and there isn’t a wide enough variety of nickel and dime games. We don’t have the stomach to play quarters and dollars like some folks and that’s why I’ll never win enough to have to summon a casino employee to come over for a payout in cash, or what they call a hand pay. But I’m okay with that. I can’t stand the remorse, so I play within what I think are reasonable limits.
 
I sat down at a machine on Saturday and pulled a bill out of my little Beatles change purse, bought in Liverpool the year Mike and I went to London to cover the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. As I did so, a little pewter medallion fell out on to the floor. I carry it in my full-sized wallet at all times; a gift from Debbie Cooper when Lauren died, it means a lot to me.
 
As I was picking it up, I noticed a penny wedged under the machine. I wasn’t able to get it out, but felt that maybe Debbie was with me, just reminding me how glad she is that Mike was coming to be with us and have a lighter heart for a little bit.
 
I’ll skip to the best part: I hit a Royal Flush (worth $200 in nickels) a very short time later. Here it is!
 

 
When we were ready to move on, I asked Rob if he’d dig that penny out. He got on his hands and knees and, using a player’s card, retrieved that lucky penny. I tucked it into my bra. Within a few hours, I’d found another penny and even a quarter! Yes, I had quite a “treasure chest” going, if you will.
 

 
It seems to have worked: I proceeded to win another $400.
 

 
Rob had his share of aces and kept up his end of the bankroll, so we left feeling pretty satisfied. But wait – there’s more….
 
On our way to the car, a vehicle was following us and I said to Rob that we should deke through some parked cars so they didn’t think we were leading them to a spot. As we did, I looked down between two dark, empty cars and saw a little white ticket. I wasn’t too surprised; often people playing machines that pay them out one or two cents just throw them away rather than cash them in. So, with no expectations at all, I bent down and picked it up. Here’s what I got.
 

 
I couldn’t believe it. (And yes, it adds up to an 11, as significant a number in my life as 8’s are). We made sure no one was getting into a car nearby who might have dropped it, then walked – no, rushed – back into the casino to cash it in. I suppose we could have turned it in to security, but from what a man told us earlier in the day, they hold onto it for a year and then you can claim it. Um, no. 
 
And something that happened moments later confirmed that we were meant to find it: we got into the car, turned on the Beatles channel on the radio and what song do you think was playing? 
 
Guess….
 
….keep guessing….
  
….got anything….?
  
————- scroll down ————-
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
It was that kind of a “record” day. Hope yours is magical, too, and thanks for the visit – back with you here tomorrow.
 

Happy Tuesday! I’ve a story about angels, signs and just plain luck to share with you here tomorrow. But first, where we are today and just how much of a lift it’s giving three of us. Yes, three. 
 
A few days ago, Rob and I could feel a case of the blues pulling up over us like a big thick blanket. I came up with an idea of how to cure ours and maybe help someone we love who had had just a hellish Christmas season. We called Mike Cooper and he booked a flight right away. And so here we are…or there we were: we left Vegas today after our short visit and adventure together. 
 
After 90 minute delay leaving YYZ, Cooper arrived at McCarran at just about midnight on Saturday. Because we drove, we could be Mike’s personal chauffeurs for everything he might need. And like so many who’ve met us over the years on business trips, we made sure we didn’t quite spell Mike’s name right…
 

 
We went straight to his hotel so he could get checked in after hours, but the next two days were just good for the soul. Since we’re staying in a different, budget, dog-friendly hotel (which I’ll tell you about later in the week), we would get up and ready and meet him and have some fun, enjoy a few amazing dinners out (the barbecue joint Lucille’s in the Red Rock Hotel is one I’ve mentioned before and not to be missed) and mostly just reconnect through misty-eyed memories and discussions about moving forward, staying upright and feeling like things will never be the same. 
 
Of course they won’t; I was able to share with Mike a quote from writer Anne Lamott that she graciously agreed could be included in my book. It is the truest metaphor for survival after loss that I’ve ever heard or read. Bless Anne for allowing us all to share in her wisdom. 

You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.

These last few days, we danced together, we three. We laughed (always at the most inappropriate things) and we just talked. And talked. It was so good to reconnect and, although playing at machines is probably one of the least sociable things a person can do, we did a few hours here and there and just let Mike have some mindless fun and win a bit of money while he was at it.
 

 
Mike’s back doing his Coop’s Classics show on CHFI, something that is as good for him to be doing as it is for you to listen to. Just having a purpose and a reason to put on makeup (oh wait – that was me, not him!) can be so helpful in getting through the early days and months of grieving. Once again, radio comes to the rescue. 
 
So our adventure together has come to an end. Rob laughed harder these past three days than he has in months, so it was wonderful for his soul, too. Me? To quote Carol Burnett’s theme song, “I’m so glad we had this time together.” We’re hoping to see Mike again in February when the book launch on the 26th brings us east, but we’re counting the weeks ’til the river cruise Mike and I (and Rob, of course) are hosting together in April. There’ll be laughs, there will be tears and there will be a whole lotta hugging – guaranteed.
 
Talk to you here tomorrow with the most amazing things that happened of an angelic nature in Vegas. They were incredible, but they really did happen.