Maxed Out

On stress tests - the kinds that ask, "Have you experienced any of the following in the last year?" - there are two bullets none of us can dodge: birthdays and Christmas.

"Help me... help me... help me!" - The Fly Poor Andre Delambre. So driven, so dedicated, so curious.

Okay, I'd have to agree on the poem thing. But there are other things way more lovely than a tree. There's the look of relief on someone's face when they realize they're not going to die because help has arrived and more help is just moments away.

"I ain't goin' nowhere, man. I ain't goin' nowhere. It's dangerous out there, man Might 'a been a big bomb scare. Hard to get off of this easy chair. I ain't goin' nowhere.

Three questions kept running through my head in the cool breeze of a November Phoenix evening.

E-mail, not TripAdvisor or wearing nametags, like everyone does in Whistler, is the great leveller of modern society. E-mail is as close to effortless communication as we're likely to get...

"Stupid, for lack of a better word, is good." What? I got the quote wrong? Greed? That line is supposed to be about greed? From Wall Street ? Whatever, dude. That was so... so 1980s. Everyone knows greed is good. Like, duh.

People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? I mean, you've got the Harperites harping against Iggy Pop for torpedoing the nation's chances to serve a temporary term on the United Nations Security Council - an honour likely only one in

Diversification, not unlike sustainability, is one of those concepts easier to grasp than execute. And almost impossible to argue against. Financial advisors push diversification on their clients all the time.

"You can never go home again." I think my father said that. Or maybe what he said was, "You can never come home again." Whatever. I am where I grew up. Since some time in August, I've been yo-yoing between Arizona and the Land of Enchantment.