Its way too hot to think deep thoughts, so this week let’s find something to laugh about. Since I'm a proofreader at a newspaper, my attention was drawn to the following headlines:

• Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half

• Iraqi Head Seeks Arms

• Kicking Baby Considered to Be Healthy

• Never Withhold Herpes Infection from Loved One

• Stolen Painting Found by Tree

• Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft

• Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case

• Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges

• New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group

• Teenage girls often have babies fathered by men

• Sex Education Delayed, Teachers Request Training
• Lack of brains hinders research
• Two convicts evade noose, jury hung
  

• Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

• Joint Committee Investigates Marijuana Use

• Prostitutes Appeal to Pope

• Enraged Cow Injures Farmer With Ax

• Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge

• Blind woman gets new kidney from dad she hasn't seen in years

• Lung Cancer in Women Mushrooms

• Include Your Children when Baking Cookies

• Infertility unlikely to be passed on

• Child's death ruins couple's holiday

• Milk drinkers are turning to powder

• Court Rules Boxer Shorts Are Indeed Underwear

• Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors

•  Safety Experts Say School Bus Passengers Should Be Belted
•  Smokers are productive, but death cuts efficiency
•  How to combat that feeling of helplessness with illegal drugs
•  Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
•  Here's How You Can Lick Doberman's Leg Sores
  
  

You may be surprised, as I have to admit I was, to discover how many accomplished people have their roots in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Here are three of them:

Actress Ellen Page was born on February 21, 1987, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Page began her career at the age of 10 on the award-winning television series "Pit Pony". With her breakout role in Jason Reitman's 2007 hit comedy "Juno" about an offbeat teenager who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, Page received Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG Best Actress nominations, and won the Independent Spirit Award for her performance. She followed that up with the lead in  the roller-derby 2009 comedy-drama "Whip It"; Christopher Nolan's 2010 psychological thriller "Inception"; the 2010 independent film "Peacock"; and the 2010 dark comedy "Super" opposite Rainn Wilson and Liv Tyler. Page co-starred alongside Jesse Eisenberg, Alec Baldwin, and Greta Gerwig in the Woody Allen ensemble 2012 comedy "To Rome with Love", and the 2013 thriller "The East".

Actor Art Hindle , "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was born in Halifax  He grew up in Toronto, a big fan of Elvis Presley and rock n' roll. Although shy as a child, he grew to be a rebellious and independent teenager. Inspiration for becoming an actor was his uncle, Michael Kane, with whom Art had the opportunity to work in the film "The Gunfighters". Hindle has made guest appearances in a numerous TV programs, and also appeared in several movies, dating from 1971. His first major role was in a biker movie, "The Proud Rider", spawned by the popularity of "Easy Rider". He worked with a real motorcycle gang, Satan’s Choice. It was during the making of this rather bad movie that Art almost changed his professional name to Jeremy Kane. Producers thought Hindle should have a more showbiz-sounding name. He chose Jeremy Kane in honor of his uncle, and even though he reverted to his birth name, his Kane pseudonym still is connected to the film. In 1971, he was cast as Billy Duke in the film "Face-Off". This led to offers from Hollywood which he resisted until he finally moved to Los Angeles. From the early 1990s, Art also has worked as a director. He stars in and directs the popular series "Paradise Falls" which airs on cable stations in the USA and on the Showcase channel in Canada.

Actor Mike Turner played the cop in "Jesse Stone: Night Passage". Born and raised in Halifax, Turner was heavily involved in high school sports. He attended Dalhousie University, where he majored in economics. He auditioned twice for the role of Clark Kent/Superman in the 2006 film, "Superman Returns", which later went to Brandon Routh. He was engaged to 2000 Miss Norway's Lene Pedersen. "Jesse Stone: Night Passage," a 2006 television mystery film starring Tom Selleck, Saul Rubinek and Viola Davis.was filmed on location in Nova Scotia.

If you're thinking I've finally gone off the deep end and am writing willy-nilly about nothing in particular, you would be wrong. Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables, lived on Prince Edward Island, which is 191 miles from Halifax. Her experiences there formed the setting for her novel.

Written as fiction for readers of all ages, Anne of Green Gables (1908) recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, an orphan girl mistakenly sent to the Cuthberts who have a farm on Prince Edward Island and intended to adopt a boy to help them. The novel recounts how Anne made her way in school and within the town. Since publication, Anne of Green Gables sold more than 50 million copies and was translated into 20 languages. It also has been adapted as films, made-for-television movies, and animated and live-action television series.

Prince Edward Island, is a popular tourist destination in Canada.

Lucy Maude Montgomery author of Anne of Green Gables lived on Prince Edward Island

Confederation Bridge joins the eastern Canadian provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, making travel throughout the Maritimes convenient. The curved eight mile long bridge is one of Canada’s top engineering achievements.

OK, so Eleanor Hurley, the protagonist in my novel didn't make it to Prince Edward Island. She had more important things on her mind, like her love-hate relationship with Jake McNeil.Read the first four chapters of "Halifax" on First Chapters' website at http://bit.ly/halifaxfirstchapters

Ebooks of "Halifax" for Kindles may be purchased on Amazon at bit.ly/JoanMauch, at Barnes & Noble for Nooks or the paperback through this website

Fish are jumpin' / And the cotton is high / Your daddy's rich / And your mamma's good lookin' / So hush little baby / Don' you cry.

Does that describe where you find yourself or are you struggling? Perhaps you're one of the longtime unemployed searching for a job or you fear losing your home which is underwater. Worse, maybe you live in one of the storm-ravaged areas and have literally lost your home to a fire or flood.

There is, it seems, no shortage of disaster these days. One has only to view the latest news whether on TV, the Internet or in print to be drawn almost to tears by the plight of our fellow man/woman.

At the moment, I am one of the lucky ones. No tree fell on my house during our most recent windstorm; my health is better than most and bankers aren't breathing down my neck. How long will my rosy situation hold up? Who can say? Tomorrow the sky may fall, as that pesky chicken announces in the fairy tale. For now, I take it one day at a time and am grateful for what I have. In the meantime, I'm enjoying an unusually nice summer: my lawn is lush and green as opposed to the usual mid-summer parched-earth appearance.

Yes, indeed, for lucky me it's "summer and the livin' is easy". How are you doing? I would love to hear from you.

We're all familiar with the tragic story of the sinking of the Titanic over a hundred years ago, but some may not realize that it happened about 200 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia. Halifax was the closest port to the disaster and sent ships to help with recovery efforts. Following are some photographs and information you may find interesting:

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax has a Titanic exhibit including many artifacts including: a third-class menu card; a mahogany rosette made from the grand staircase by sailors who carved objects from wood floating near the site; a mahogany panel from the first-class entrance into the lounge and the condensed log of Titanic's distress calls believed to have been preserved by the wireless operator, in case he was called as a witness. 

The first vessel to arrive at the scene of the disaster was the Cunard Liner RMS Carpathia and she was able to rescue more than 700 survivors.  

Police burned Titanic victims' clothes to prevent souvenir hunters from looting. The police sergeant who guarded the bodies and belongings couldn't bear to burn the tiny pair of shoes of an unknown child, so he kept them in a desk drawer until he retired in 1918, then took them home. They passed through his family until 2002, when the officer's grandson donated them to the museum.

  A deck chair bearing a carved five-pointed star, the emblem of the White Star Line is the centerpiece of the Titanic exhibit at the Maritime Museum

Three ships from Halifax  recovered 330 bodies; 209 were returned to Halifax and the rest buried at sea. Most of the victims who remained in Halifax were buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetery where the headstones were arranged in the shape of a ship's bow..

Until you're able to visit the Maritime Museum, Eleanor Hurley, the protagonist in "Halifax" will do it for you. To read about her experience, obtain the Kindle ebook on Amazon at bit.ly/JoanMauch; the Nook ebook on Barnes & Noble or the paperback through this website.