Friday Diversion

A little something to help psych yourself up for your annual leap over a burning outhouse at an obscure private campground in Sauble Beach... Yep, it's the May long weekend in Canada, meaning that summer is officially here. As always, here is some of the best reading I've come across over the course of the past 7 days...


Don't!
By Jonah Lehrer

Flying in the face of all things May Two-Four, here's a little piece explaining the virtues of self-control. Tom Petty famously wrote that the waiting is the hardest part; Lehrer explains why it's probably in your best interest to do so.



Gladwell-Simmons II: Ultimate Rematch
By Malcolm Gladwell and Bill Simmons

Two of my favourite writers go toe-to-toe in an email exchange discussing everything from Larry Holmes and Boxing Heavyweights to Jennifer Aniston and the NBA draft lottery.



His Irish Diaspora
By Alex Witchel

A beautiful look into the life and work of Colm Toibin. How's this for a poetic description of the Irish disposition?

In a public symposium about 9/11 at the library he used the expression “an Irish face.” An audience member asked what that meant. “I said, ‘I mean someone whose eyes are soft but his jaw is hard, who can look very stubborn, who can remain silent for a very long time, who’s capable of immense love but never mentioning it and capable also of resentments, who’s never much owned anything and is happier looking at the horizon than other possessions.’ ”

Thanks to Unkle Mike for the piece.



Canada's Dan Dawson named NLL MVP
The Canadian Press

What. A. Legend.