burns the fire

I dropped in to see my friend Ahmed at his antique shop yesterday. Unlike Barak Obama, he is a Muslim, and sports the post-Ramadan weight loss to prove it. Ahmed is also a furniture lover and a totally gentle soul who unlike most of the downtown types I know, has an innate faith in people. He trusts that they will pay him when they can (they do), and practices love and acceptance for all. I find it hard to swallow that when he showed up in a downtown hospital emergency ward as a non-denominational kidney stone wracked his dark-skinned, Muslim body, the ER doctor told him to get the hell out of Canada.

I asked Ahmed if he filed a complaint, he shook his head and told me that everyone in the room heard the doctor, and no one said a word.

My chest is hurting as I type. Ahmed is unscathed but I want to hunt down this criminal physician with my white skin, female might, and Jewish psyche haunted by the history of persecution and fear. Desperate for the world to be a better place- for people to heal- I will strap the mad doctor into a hospital bed for a week (the time Ahmed spent in a corridor with a morphine drip), and pump love into his veins to dissolve his hate. 

(Restored by Ahmed, in the center of our loving home)

If you’re on the look-out for a treasure to grace your space, check out Brocante Baleze at 2116 Bleury (and Sherbrooke). Say hi to Ahmed.

Good News Flash: Mazel-tov to my hogtown bud and super scribe Andrew Kaufman (All My Friends are Superheroes) who just signed a two-book deal with uber-publisher Ann Collins at Random House. Write on, A!!

Good News Flash: My whip-smart producer pal and NYC indie gal Mridu Chandra is about to world-premiere her latest feature film POUNDCAKE at the prestigious AFI FEST in LA in early November. They are honored to be the only US film in competition. Catch it if you’re in LA, spread the word and join the premiere party!