I'm reading too much on FaceBook and it's making me sick - almost. Or something is. The warnings and advice, the statistics and imperatives don't add up to a healthy lifestyle. Talk about irritable bowel (one of the threats)! I have an irritated mind.

One constant, nagging theme keeps popping up: Five Things You Should Never Eat. I think banana is one of them but I'll never know. If you make the mistake of clicking on to find out what you shouldn't eat, you find yourself locked in a looong lecture, talktalktalktalk, but no information. Other dire threats also lead to lecture-time, usually by a GENUWINE CERTIFIED (certifiable?) DOCTOR who is going to let you in on his secret before his next best-selling book is published, and why not buy this magic pill, potion, elixir, whatever while you wait?

Fresh news emerges daily from the latest surveys, reports and interviews as experts try to figure out what to recommend you do to ensure a long, healthy life. If you follow them all, you'll find that there is very little out there that you can put in your mouth that is safe.

I went on the Whole30 regime. It's not a diet; you are told not to weigh yourself while you are changing your life in 30 days. (I lost six pounds and then 2 more.) It should be called Whole45 or Whole50 because when you are sort of finished, you have to introduce everything you cut out gradually, one or two days at a time, while you find out what was causing you trouble before, if you were in trouble. If you weren't you will be when you're though. It's a lot of no-nos: no dairy, no sugar, no alcohol, no legumes, no gluten - no bread! It's sort of like the Paleo Diet (eat fish, meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables), but it gets sticky about sugar. I found myself reading all the small print on jar labels to see if there was sugar in the condiments and sauces. I had to take my reading glasses to go grocery shopping.

I'm a pretty good cook and I am an eclectic and enthusiastic foodie. Now, I'm not so sure. I keep thinking of all the warnings. Is nothing safe? I just read today that KD mac and cheese is bad for you. This is terrible news, especially for Canadians whose annual consumption of this product is the largest in the world. Apparently there's something in the powdered cheese mix that is very very bad. Cheese is not born grated; it is thrust upon you. So be careful.

I keep quoting Michael Pullan's advice: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly vegetables. Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. Note: I am some people's grandmother so pay close attention to me!

That's all for now.

This is not a puff piece. This is a sincere appraisal of the wonder that is my grandson.

Recently William came to help me with my various computer problems. He does this periodically (regularly), dazzling me with his expertise, but so humble and matter-of-fact about his skill. I knew by the time he was in Grade Seven and I read some of his stories that he would be a writer. A writer, yes, but so different from my old-fashioned, limited knowledge of what constitutes a writer in the twenty-first century. I asked him about his work, and it's a day job! In my day, writers had had to have a day job but they were seldom paid for writing. Help me get it straight, I begged. Describe your job for me.

"My job," he writes, "is to write code in support of journalism. Sometimes that's tools for journalists to use for research, sometimes it's to tell stories. [I recognise that word!] Right now I'm learning about how to build and manipulate scenes in 3D to help me tell stories."

Got that? He showed me a page of code that he had written and the as yet unfinished project: a 3D map of a city,a special one, with a history, all of which William has researched.

I thought of Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931):

Your children are not your children....

You may strive to be like them,

but seek not to make them like you....

You are the bows from which your children

as living arrows are sent forth.

How about grandchildren?