"Author doesn't eat vegetables and is very short. Connections? You decide"

That quirky little line was written by an old friend, author Karen Quinn.

I used to work with - for - her when I did executive training for American Express. who canned me eventually because I was too outspoken. (Dull and safe does better in large organisations).

Anyhow, she was terrific marketer, a very loveable person and probably too bright to stay in the Amex maw forever. So one day she came to her senses and left to write a book, called The Ivy Chronicles, which was a best seller.

It's all about parents fighting to get their kids into the best schools. Very quick with the quips.

Guess what the villain's name is? Drayton Bird! (She asked me first).

Then she wrote another, and now she's got yet another out - Wife in the Fast Lane

Check her out if you like a laugh.

Talking about which, my old partner Glenmore, the intelligence expert, sent me to look at a dog, a cat and a rat.

The man who owns them rigged a harness up for his cat so she wouldn't have to walk so much (like the dog and himself). At some juncture the rat came along and as no one wanted to eat anyone else, the rat started riding with the cat and often, on the cat!

The dog will stand all day and let you talk to him and admire his altruistic, "we are one" personality for a few chin scratches.

The Mayor of Santa Barbara filmed this clip and sent it out as a Christmas card.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuuesBhOR9g

If only Muslims and Christians, not to mention the Protestants and Catholics, Greeks and Turks, Arabs and Kurds, Northern and Southern Italians, etc were so sensible.