1. Binge-eating during Civil War

After the movie, Petra remarked that we both were binge-eating the popcorn as we watched. It was a coping mechanism during the film, which we both really enjoyed.

Yes, we saw a movie together at the theatre! Something we pull off about once a year now that we have young kids.

We got the babysitter, splurged on Cineplex’s VIP option (with the full recliners and food service—we recommend the crispy chicken sandwich with truffle fries) and watched.

The world of the film was completely believable. The acting was understated with great performances, especially by the quartet of leads: Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson.

Neither of us have restless leg syndrome, that was us just jumping in surprise in our seats.

2. MAiD across state lines

There were a number of terrible stories that broke in the Canadian news this week about MAiD. Like the one about the Quebec man whose hospital couldn’t source the proper mattress. As a result, he developed painful, terrible bedsores. And after four days of suffering in this way, he asked for the hospital staff to end his life. And they complied.

This National Post article got some attention on X: it asked why 15 times more Canadians die by MAiD than Californians.

For context, the populations of Canada and California are similar. Both legalized doctor assisted suicide in 2016. But the way the procedure is administered is different. In California patients must self-administer, ingesting the drug that kills them on their own. Canadians can self-ingest or have a doctor inject them with the life-ending drug.

This chart from the American Journal of Bioethics reveals how MAiD plays out, by the numbers in each territory:

See the chart at andrewkooman.com

All that to say, it's prompted me to pen another Op-ed. (You can read the previous articles I wrote for The Christian Post, similarly triggered by the issue):

* Oh Canada — mental illness shouldn’t be a death warrant

* Now the Canadian euthanasia regime needs a heart transplant

* Canada's doctor-assisted euthanasia ripe for organ donation abuse

3. If Annie Dillard wrote heart-racing thrillers

I finished a second Peter Heller book those week. I picked his The Guide off the shelf at my local library. If you're not familiar with his work, it's like reading Annie Dillard (dazzling descriptions of nature) with some incredible thrills (action sequences and villains).

Do you ever do that? Pick up a book by an author you’ve never read and just give it a try? I do here and there, and was so glad I did.

What I didn’t know was that it would be so descriptive, poetic. Or that it was really the second in a sequence of books that gave away a major plot point for the first. So after reading The Guide, I picked up its precursor The River which is set in Muskoka, not too far from where I live.

The books are beautiful and action-packed.

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