How nice to celebrate a good friend! I met Brenda O’Farrell in my first year of journalism in 1983 at Concordia University. She was 19. I was 25. She was an early bloomer and I was a late one. We’ve remained fast friends ever since, although there have been some gaps...

That was interesting. I made an unplanned trip to Starbucks at lunch the other day. I didn't have my phone, a newspaper, book or magazine, or a pen and piece of paper. There was nothing to do but sit there while I sipped my latte and nibbled on a blueberry bar. I...