Bellyache with the Sister

I'll Call You ...

2007-02-01T13:51:00.000-05:00

Article in today's Star about banning cell phones in Toronto Schools:

I don’t get the debate on banning cell phones during class time in schools. I mean, we weren’t allowed to use calculators during math class in high school (yes, I am totally aging myself here!) or listen to our Walkman either, so why all of a sudden all the agony of whether to ban them or not? Who do kids need to call during class? Are parents really keeping tabs on their kids that frequently?

One kid whined that if they ban phones are cameras next since you can take a picture with a camera too (apparently today’s teens are smarter than they look!). I think we’re missing the point here. Cell phones today can take photos, video, text message, surf the net and play music, not just make calls. Digital cameras so far as I have seen can pretty much just take pictures and video. No Web access on mine, anyway! And parents are worried that they now won’t be able to remind their kids about dental appointments and such.

So I have to ask myself how is it that when I was a teen I somehow managed to remember to tell my folks what time my band practice was, if I was going to a friend’s house after school, make it to my dance class and dental appointments without my mommy calling me six times during the day to remind me?

Don’t get me wrong – I love my cell and never leave home without it, but in the same way I find people who Blackberry during meetings rude and distracting, cell phones during class time should be a no-no too.

How can we afford not to?

2007-01-25T12:43:00.000-05:00

What the hell? Why can’t we raise the minimum wage in this province to $10 an hour? Greg Sorbara and an assortment of political yahoos seem convinced that by allowing people to earn a real living and actually afford to eat, put a roof over their heads and get medical care that tens of thousands of jobs will be lost. It’s an absolute travesty that one of the most expensive provinces to live in has one of the lowest rates for minimum wage.

Why? Because all the big business cheapos who pay their workers next to nothing with no benefits or job security are afraid that their multi-million dollar annual bonuses will dwindle? They’ll have to forgo the second Porsche for their spoilt brat of a kid? That third vacation property on the French Riviera will have to wait another year? Unbelievable!

Let’s look at this logically. Right now by keeping mass amounts of working people dirt poor, they can’t afford to eat. If they can’t afford food, then obviously little luxuries like clothing, school supplies for their kids and medications – never mind trips to the dentist or optometrist – are right out of the question. And if they can’t afford that then they certainly aren’t doing much except simply existing.

So what would the tragedy be? So let’s say we give everyone in the province enough money for a home, food, clothing and medical expenses. Let’s just really fantasize and say we go so far as ensuring everyone in the province even has a few hundred extra bucks a month after the necessities of life are paid for. Know what they’re gonna do?

Exactly what the rest of us do – go shopping.

That’s right, you read correctly, they’ll go out and spend it on MP3 players, designer shoes, new refrigerators and take-out food. They’ll go to the movies, buy a car, get a cell phone and get cable TV.

And pay taxes. Not just higher income taxes because they’ll have higher salaries, but property taxes since they might just be able to afford a home, sales taxes, gas taxes and whatever other hidden gems the provincial and federal governments have for generating revenue.

In other words, by paying people enough money to not only live on but have an actual life on, the very companies and governments that are whining they can’t afford to do this will wind up making more money in the long run.

And you know what? That actually makes good business sense.

No wonder there’s such a backlash …

Rather than address the real issue ...

2007-01-17T11:26:00.000-05:00

Mayor Miller is all concerned and is presenting to city counsel that media only mention intersections where crimes take place rather than mentioning Scarborough ‘cause he says the media is giving the neighbourhood a bad rap.

That’s right. It’s all the media’s fault there’s so much crime there. If they’d just lay off then it would go away. There’s a crime prevention policy for ya. Easier to blame journalists than look at perhaps why there’s so much crime in one neighbourhood. I’m totally sure if they just say the intersection and not say the “S” word, then it’s not really as bad as it seems?

Guess it’s a slow week at City Hall …

Happy 2007!

2007-01-06T13:17:00.000-05:00

Yeah, not posting so much these days but thought I'd check in a type a quick entry.

Had a great Christmas - The Good Father and I both had the full week off and we did a lot of eating, drinking and loafing about. I got some great CDs, DVDs and an awesome amout of books (hurray!) among our mutual gifty bits under our own little tree. And the cats had an absolute field day leaping about all the scraps of wrapping paper.

Christmas Day we ventured to the 'Shwa to dine and dither with the Good Father's clan. And as a bonus feature, our dear friend L joined us (small word story - she used to be my older sister-in-law's roommate in collage and they were like night and day - L is a party girl who's a ton of fun and a confirmed Pagan, unlike my bible-thumping sister-in-law. Somehow they stayed friends and she knows the family better than I do since she's known them longer). We had fun and my niece loved the baby goth purse I got her (black canvas bag with a skull and cross bones - but the eyes were heart-shaped and the skull sported a little bow - too cute!).

New Year's we spent the weekend at the Crabby Cottage and spent several more days loafing, eating and drinking, and now I resemble a large calibrase roll. Thank the gods I'm back into rehearsals starting tomorrow!

And now I have benefits!!! I know that's awfully adult, but I can't tell you how thriled I am to be able to purchase drugs and medical services again on someone else's tab!

Anyway, off to finish downloading my new CDs to my MP3 player. I'll try to post more than once every month or so, but we'll have to see how busy life gets. I mean, I spend all day at work on a computer, and with eight hours of dance a week, often the last thing I want to do in my limited free time is to sit again at a computer, ya know? But I promise, if anything exciting happens, I'll make a very serious effort to post.

All the best to everyone for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. May 2007 be the best year for all!

Blessed Be!

Contradictory Quote of the Day

2006-12-13T14:22:00.000-05:00

From today's Toronto Star. An article about the new Left Behind computer game in which players are religious zealots who have to convert or kill non-believers in the name of Christ. When interviewed, the creator of the game had this to say in response to criticism that the game promotes religious intollerance:

"The reality is that our game perpetuates prayer and worship and that there is no killing in the name of God," said Troy Lyndon, the CEO of Left Behind Games Inc. who describes himself as a "follower of Christ."

"There is killing, of course. It is a video game," he said. "But the basis of the game is spiritual welfare."

'Kay so let's get this straight - there's killing in the game of those who don't believe in Christ, but no killing in the name of God, though Christ is supposed to be the son of God and, ergo, kind of a God-figure, yes? And according to the article, after a zealot kills a non-believer, they have to pray to re-boost their soul points. I guess because one of the 10 Commandments is "thou shall not kill?" Unless the New Testiment has an adendum to that that reads "... unless thine prey is a heathen whost darest to not follow in the laws of Christ?"

But what do I know? I'm just a lowly little Jew ... and as we know from reading said book series (okay, I read the first one because I just had to see how tacky it was) there's a "special place" for God's chosen folk (that'd be the Jews if you believe the whole "chosen people" deal. Personally I believe that if there is a God then her chosen will simply be the nice people who are kind to everyone regardless of race, religion or sexual preference 'cause my God is a cool chick!).

Farewell to my Beautiful Girl

2006-12-08T15:44:00.000-05:00

On Monday December 4th, The Good Father and I said farewell to our eldest cat, Tasha. She’d had a rough time between late October and early December, battling two very aggressive but different forms of cancer. She was 14 years old.

She had developed a lump on her stomach that turned out to be a malignant tumour, and since it hadn’t spread we had it removed. When the lab report on the surrounding tissue came out clean we thought we’d beaten it and she’d be good for a few more years.

Then a week ago I went to pet her face and she was really sore on the right side of her face. Back to the vet we went and found another lump in her mouth. They had to put her under to really get a good look at it (she’d had tooth problems before so we were hoping that was all it was) but it turned out to be another tumour. The biopsy revealed that it was a new and even more aggressive cancer than the first that had literally taken hold in a matter of weeks and was moving through her skeleton. The vet said that even if we were inclined to have it removed and try to treat it, we wouldn’t be buying her even months, more like days. She couldn’t eat and it was too painful for her even to yawn properly.

So after a weekend of feasting on bacon and Swiss Chalet chicken, we decided that the only humane thing to do was to let her go. It wasn’t an easy decision – though both of us had lost pets in the past, this was the first time either of us had been the ones to make the call. Before it had always been the parents. While she went quite peacefully and the staff at our local vet clinic were beyond compassionate and sensitive to our loss, we are still reeling from loosing her. Our other two girls are slowly realizing their big sister isn’t coming home to them and they’re both somewhat out of sorts, wandering around looking for her, chatting to us constantly and our youngest has taken to lying in her favourite spot on our bed and looking mournful. I wish there was a way to explain it to them but alas, there’s just no way to explain something like this to a calico and a tabby.

Farewell my beautiful girl. You had a pretty good life for a kitten who started out her life in a dumpster at York University, whose first litter box was a cut down 2-4 case lined with a garbage bag at the Calumet College dorm and who survived three moves, two little sisters and several unhappy trips in a car going to and from the vet. May your own personal heaven be filled with catnip, fields full of scurrying mice and paper balls. We will always love you Tasha and will always remember you as our first furry kid.

And he seemed like such a nice guy …

2006-11-21T15:08:00.000-05:00

So now Michael Richards (better known to most as Kramer from Seinfeld) has apologized for being a blatant racist and total prick to people in the audience during a live stand-up comedy performance for heckling him, saying he wasn’t funny.

Maybe they were on to something. Personally I found his character on Seinfeld annoying and too over the top. Granted I found most of that show to be in poor taste, so really it’s just par for the course.

Regardless, I know people who do stand-up and being able to handle hecklers is part of the job. The trick, I’m told, is to get the audience laughing at the hecklers instead, not using racial slurs to make yourself look like an asshole.

Apparently, Mr. Richards missed this part of the training.

I find his apology self-serving and false. For him to so innocently proclaim he’s not a racist and has no idea where the comments came from leads me to believe one of two things:

Either he is in fact a racist and most of the time has a publicist nearby will a roll of duct tape to keep his mouth shut;

Or an alien pod will soon be found in his apartment with his lifeless corpse, proving that it wasn’t him, just an evil alien double trying to harm his reputation and bring life on Earth one step closer to complete annihilation by stupidity and intolerance.

Personally I’m leaning towards the first option. Maybe he should go hang out with Mr. Gibson, and they can trade racist, sexist and anti-Semitic barbs. Who knows, maybe then the KKK will hire him to do their next function! It could be a whole new career opportunity for both of them! Live together, Richards and Gibson Present: 101 Ways to Offend the World!

Hey, it could happen …

Happy Birthday to Me!

2006-11-17T16:43:00.000-05:00

So Monday, November 20th is my birthday. Let's just say I'll be older than I look but not as young as I feel (or, well, act to be honest ...). I'm heading out to the Reservoir Lounge tomorrow night with a group of friends and taking Monday off work (becuase why work on your birthday if you don't have to). I'm rather looking forward to tomorrow night. If you've never been, the Reservoir Lounge is an awesome spot to hang out - great music, good food and wine, and fabulous atmosphere. All I have to do is hope to hell this two-day migraine is gone by tomorrow (love this up and down weather - sigh).

So in honour of my upcoming aging, my department sang Happy Birthday, lit sparklers and my boss brought us all Haagen Daas ice cream bars (caramel almond - to die!!!) instead of a cake. We celebrate birthdays here and, well, we have a lot of Scorpios so everyone was starting to feel a tad caked out if you catch my meaning.

Oh - and on the current events front - WTF with this book by OJ?! I mean, what kind of brain surgeon writes a book that tells the world how he committed murder (oh, I'm sorry "allegedly" committed) and covers his ass by saying "I didn't do it, but if I did, here's my step-by-step guide!"

Too bizzare ...

New Blog!

2006-11-03T15:10:00.000-05:00

My department's former co-op student (and a very cool chick by the way!) has started her own blog! Check her out at Trini Sweetness!

The Lights are On ...

2006-10-21T15:04:00.000-04:00

A few people have wondered where I've gone. Honestly? Nowhere, but new full-time job is taking up a lot of my time! Not that I'm working rediculous over-time, but I do tend to hit the computer running in the morning and don't stop until there's smoke rising from the keyboard. Needless to say not much time to blog during the day, and when I get home the last thing I want to do is turn the computer on again, you know?

Dancing is also keeping my non-work hours busy, so there's my extra evening and weekend time. Not that I'm complaining mind you. I made $300 last night for doing a 30-minute dance set at a retirement party, so hey, at least the "hobby" is paying for itself! I had our troupe drummer along and we had a blast!

Had a girl's night with Ice Queen and Crabby last weekend which was fun. Got to see Icy's new bod and hear Crabby's sexy new voice (which unfortunately became phnemonia, but she had fun so that's what really counts!).

The Good Father is sick now too. That's actually my fault. I was down with one hell of a chest cold two weeks ago. Man that took me out!

On the kitty front, our eldest Tasha is recovering from a lumpectomy. We found a malignant tumour on one of her mamory glands a while ago, and since it appeared the cancer hadn't spread to her lungs or bloodstream, we had it removed. The vet's pretty sure they got all of it, so we're probably going to be flipping her over like every hour for the rest of her life looking to see if it comes back. I am not looking forward to seeing my next VISA bill, but we couldn't not try to save her, ya know? And if the surgery buys her three or four more happy and healthy years, then it's worth it. She's a member of our family and we just had to do what we had to do.

So needless to say I likely won't be updating as often as I used to (which I guess is pretty fucking obvious, huh?). But rest assured that if something profound happens I will do a post to keep the world informed should it care.

Cheers all!

They Like Me!

2006-09-26T13:33:00.000-04:00

They really do! I just found out on Friday afternoon that I was being hired full-time!

Yay me!

Can't really get into the full background right now ('cause I'm at work) but now that it's been officially announced, I wanted to share the joy. I'll try to find time on the weekend to share the whole story.

Living on Borrowed Time

2006-09-19T19:34:00.000-04:00

Well I got the word that my company is extending my contract to the end of December - phew! At least that gets me through Christmas which is nice to know. There may yet be a full-time opportunity, but until they review full budget late in October I don't know for sure. Still, my boss is really working hard to keep me in the team and I honestly can't say how nice it is to work for someone who really fights for their staff. I haven't had a boss like this in a very long time and it makes such a difference, you know? I find you tend to actually want to put in the extra effort when you know that effort is truly appreciated.

Still keeping my eyes open for full-time, but at least I have a few more months and can be selective rather than feeling I need to apply to everything, you know?

Back to nursing my migraine. Sigh. The weather here in Toronto has been up and down like a toilet seat the last few days and my brain is none to pleased to say the least!

Official Sod Off from the Vatican

2006-09-09T15:09:00.000-04:00

Well it's official - Canada's been given a stern talking to by the new Pope (or at least the Catholic-type high ranking folk have been). Apparently were immoral heathens who are doomed to hell. It seems that because we have legalized abortion, birth control and same sex marriage we're damned as a nation. Our "good Catholic" politicians are failing us and so now we're all to roast slowly over an open demonic pit.

Well I for one am pleased as punch to hear that!

I mean, who want's to be sanctioned by a church - any church from any particular one religion - as a purist, narrow-minded bigoted, sexist nation? I say kudos to us for recognizing that we're all individuals with different ethics and morals, and that for all their failings our politicians realize that fact. We are not a Catholic country. Heck, we're not even a Christian country and I am the happier for it. We have ethnic and cultural diversity that allows everyone to worship as they will and live as they will provided they bring no harm to others (well okay, in theory anyway). So we have the foresight not to mindlessly pro-create for the sake of populating the country with more mouths than we can feed - so what? That's a bad thing?! We can't afford to educate, feed and give decent health care to the kids we currently do have in some cases - who are we doing a favour for if we create more bodies than our geography can support?

Good for us! I am now prouder than ever to be Canadian!

Down in the Dumps

2006-09-01T10:18:00.000-04:00

So Michigan will stop taking Toronto trash, and we have four years to figure out where to put it all.

Rather than figure out where to put all our trash, what say we concentrate instead on how we can reduce how much shit we throw out and figure out how we can reduce waste. That would be a much more logical way to solve the problem, no?

Oh, I'm sorry, we have politicians in charge of this decission don't we? My bad ...

World-Class or Second-Class?

2006-08-29T14:14:00.000-04:00

Apparently Toronto didn’t make the latest list of top world cities to visit and a lot of people are rather put out by that, considering Victoria, Vancouver, Montreal and Quebec City made the list.

But let’s review.

Montreal and Quebec City – particularly Quebec City in my humble opinion – have such a great historical feel to them. There’s interesting architecture, funky cafes, restaurants and shops, and an old world charm that can’t be beat. Victoria is pretty and also historical (very Victorian if that’s your cup of tea according to Ink) and Vancouver has the ocean, a very eclectic feel and quite frankly is very “in” at the moment.

Toronto? Well, I have to be honest. We’re not so much different than a lot of other over-build, concrete-driven other cities of North America.

Now don’t get me wrong – I love my city and honestly there aren’t a lot of other places I’d probably choose to live. And we do have some great little communities (the Beach, the Danforth, Little India, two Chinatowns, the Annex and Cabbagetown to name a few) but you kind of have to know where to find them if you know what I mean. Our downtown core is really a snore visually – nothing by blocky office towers and attempts at interesting metal and glass architecture that really doesn’t do much except look like a vain attempt to look modern and futuristic – unfortunately failing in the vast majority of cases.

When you consider some of the other cities on this planet how can we even expect to compare with what would be “world-class”? Paris, Milan, London, New York, Rome, Madrid, Munich, I mean really! What do we expect? Our transit system pitifully under serves our city, you can’t swim in the lake most summers, and we don’t actually promote ourselves overly well. But we do host one of the top international film festivals every year, there’s some great places to eat thanks to the amazing multicultural mix we have here, and a lot of different cultural festivals and celebrations – again thanks to the fact we are one of the most multi-cultural cities on the globe – and that is something to be proud of!

But are we world-class? Good question! What do you think?

Oh, and a HUGE congratulations to Crabby who just got her ABC (Accredited Business Communicator) designation today! Way to go Crabby!!!!!

Oh Yes they Did

2006-08-24T12:21:00.000-04:00

Can you believe that CBS is going to produce this for their next instalment of Survivor schlock?!

I have to tell you, I am completely and absolutely disgusted by this. What is this, 1955?! What is the network hoping to accomplish with this asinine, cheap and trashy version of an already trashy series?

I for one will go out of my way to ensure I avoid this program (not that I've ever actually watched any reality tv - I tried a few but honestly, the tacky high school-style backstabbing, pettiness and bickering kinda sickened me). I just can’t imagine what the fuckwads over at CBS were thinking. In a time when racial tensions are at an all-time high with minorities being targeted as terrorists and criminals, this is a sad way to feed into the societal frenzy that’s going on and try to make money using cheap tricks and even cheaper tactics.

Truly, I am beyond appalled by this. But sadly, not overly surprised …

It's the Naditu Belly Dance Summer Send-off Spectacular!

2006-08-20T15:40:00.000-04:00

Naditu Belly Dancing is having it's final show. After this September, there will be no more dance school as Judy and Troupe Naditu move on to work on more creative endeavours, including a full length belly dance show! If anyone's interested, the details are:

Sunday, Sept 17- Show day! Summer Send-off Spectacular!

Dinner: 5:00

Enjoy a wonderful sit down meal of Middle Eastern dishes, (many vegetarian options available).

Showtime: 7:00

See performances by fellow students, Troupe Naditu, live drumming,

and solos performed by Jordan, Nashita, and Judy.

**Many new premieres including a hot modern Egyptian piece by Hakim, a soulful fusion to the Natacha Atlas It’s a Man’s Man’s World, plus the rockettes of shimmy, and back by demand, last year’s Superveil.

Cost for dinner and show: $35

Show only: $22

The show takes place at Dancing at Twilight (Naditu Belly Dancing’s usual location) at Main and Danforth, 2448 Danforth Ave.

For more info call 416-850-1618 or email fiona@naditu.com and/or judy@naditu.com Get you tickets now!

Maybe I should have paid more attention in chemistry class ...

2006-08-16T11:48:00.000-04:00

Okay I’m confused.

What exactly can you make out of matches, Vaseline, a screwdriver and a piece of paper that necessitates taking a plane out of the air? Have we gotten paranoid or are we just being shrewdly cautious?

Read this and tell me if I'm crazy.

The Gods Are Pissed

2006-08-09T11:16:00.000-04:00

The gods must hate me. I mean seriously, they must have it out for me for one reason or another. I try to be a decent carbon-based life form but apparently I’m doing something wrong or at least not right. I have a job right now – granted contract – that I love. I love what I do, I love who I work with, I love where I’m located. I knew coming aboard it was contract but there were all kinds of signs, hints and outright statements that this position would likely become permanent. My boss loves me, says if he had his way I’d already be on staff full-time. But the powers that be are dragging their collective feet and I’m looking at having to re-do my resume – again! – and start pounding the pavement, my favourite thing to do. Not.

It figures doesn’t it? As soon as I’m feeling happy and content the rug gets pulled out from under me. And I don’t even know if it makes the situation better or worse that my boss thinks I’m the greatest thing in the world, because in spite of all his tap dancing they may very well turn around and tell him he can’t have full time staff.

I’m bummed. I’m blue. I’m completely incapable of concentrating on any work and I don’t at the moment totally care. I may be back out on my ass within six weeks wearing suits and a fake smile telling my fucking life story over and over again to HR consultants who have way too much education and no clue what people actually “do” for a living, answering asinine questions about situations where I dealt with conflict, solved a crisis, beat a colleague to death, the usual psychosomatic crap they ask in interviews, getting a polite handshake at the end with promises of at least five more rounds of interviews to follow IF they decide they like me at all and writing dozens of meaningless thank-you cards knowing full well they mean shit to anyone on the other end.

Having a great day – can you tell?!

TGIF!

2006-07-21T16:42:00.000-04:00

So it’s nearly 4:30 p.m. on a hot and sunny Friday afternoon. All my chaotic emergencies from earlier this week have cleared away and the office is quiet as most people are either on holiday or have already left for the day. I myself will be sneaking out shortly but thought I’d jot a few lines before I skedaddle for the weekend.

As some of you may have seen on Ink’s blog, she and I did our now annual Kingston girl’s weekend last weekend and had a blast. My sister-in-law (the younger one whom I actually like!) came in from Bellville to join us at Chez Piggy for dinner on the Friday night, and we shopped, gabbed, ate and giggled foolishly for 48 hours. It was much fun!

I managed to read The Devil Wears Prada cover to cover between the train ride to and the train ride home from Kingston. Cute, funny, easy read and everyone I think has had a boss at some point in their careers at least similar to the psycho-bitch portrayed in the book.

What else? The dance troupe is working away towards our September Showcase – stay tuned for full details of our show right here on my blog! The Good Father and I will be taking a week’s holidays the first week of August and may take a few days reprieve at a borrowed cottage from a former boss. Not totally sure yet but it would be nice to get away for a couple of days. My mother-in-law is pretty close to selling her own cottage so we won’t be vacationing there this summer!

My gig here at Fab Job is still, well, fab! I’ve had a meeting with my boss and he’s let me know that he officially wants to keep me, is working on the business plan to do so, and hopes to let me know the verdict in early August. The decision if I get to stay is really up to the President of the company, so hopefully the work I’ve been doing for him is impressive enough (though it’s good that the man actually knows me personally and stops by to chat when he’s in the office. He’s a very nice man actually. Very down to earth and “real” if you catch my drift). All I asked my boss was if he could please give me as much notice as possible and not let me know like two days before my contract’s up that they aren’t keeping me. That much he’s promised to try and do so here’s hoping!

It’s funny. The Good Father said yesterday that this is probably the first job I’ve had since he’s known me that I seem to really be enjoying. Ironic in that case that it happens to be a short-term contract, huh? Still he’s right. Aside from the first three years I worked for the boss whom I had over for dinner last night from my advertising days, no other job has been quite this great. I’ve enjoyed aspects of other jobs, but none quite this completely in a long time.

Well, that’s enough rambling for now. Cheers all and a happy weekend!

Maybe it’s Just More Fun?!

2006-07-06T09:29:00.000-04:00

Listening to and reading about all the buzz and freakout around North Korea testing missiles. The Big Boys are threatening sanctions and North Korea says it can play with any nasty toys they like so pfftthhhttt! They’ve gone so far as to threaten retaliation against any nation trying to stop them (of course that would be a more viable threat if their toys worked properly …). And our Bush Butt Kissing Prime Minister has committed a whole whack of money to our military efforts rather than peace keeping. While I think if our folk are gonna be made to hang out in nasty places we should probably be wearing the right uniforms and such.

In the meantime, the shuttle launches with yet more flying foam making everyone wonder if we should really be doing such things if our equipment isn’t up to snuff. And if it’s not up to snuff, why is that?

So it begs the question: if we spent as much money, time and effort on space exploration and scientific research rather than finding new and creative ways to blow each other up, would we in fact be a more advanced and sophisticated race? Would thinks like we see on Star Trek be closer to reality than fantasy? Would there be less hunger, less pollution, better education and more peace?

You kinda have to wonder what it’s going to take for us as a species to realize that perhaps we’re going about this whole “advanced civilization” thing entirely the wrong way, because in science fiction, the “advanced” races are those who have peaceful, healthy societies and the violent races are considered backwards, barbaric, selfish and stupid.

Hmmm …

Bathroom Etiquette

2006-06-22T18:53:00.000-04:00

Okay, would someone please tell me what the hell the problem is with women not flushing the frigging toilet in public bathrooms?! There is nothing more disgusting to me than walking into the bathroom at my office (not a restaurant or in a mall but in a place of business for pete's sake!) and finding someone else's refuse floating about in the can!

Do people do this in their own homes?! I do not, repeat, do not, get this, so if anyone has some insight please god share your wisdom!

And hey - the job is still going great by the way! They seem to like me lots but still no word if my contract will be extended after the end of September, so still crossing bits in hope!

Again, I admit, I suck!

2006-05-30T20:42:00.000-04:00

I am just so lousy at posting these days! I'm rehearsing four times a week plus work so to be honest my blog has been the last thing on my mind as of late. Still I feel the need to apologize and hope people understand. I keep thinking of things that have been happening that would make awsome posts, but to actually put fingers to keyboard - yeah, not so much!

Anyway, suffice it to say that I may be posting infrequently for a while, so please forgive me for that and also for not visiting your blogs either - I just find that when I get home after work and a dance rehearsal that all I want to do is shower and crash, you know?

Love you all still and thanks for understanding!

We're all Happy Now

2006-05-10T11:26:00.000-04:00

Cecilia Zhang’s killer, Min Chen, has pleaded guilty to her murder because he doesn’t want to put the family through the grief and hardship of a trial.

Well gosh darn it, how sweet is that? I mean, you know, he didn’t actually mean to kill her, right? I mean, he just wanted to kidnap her and hold her for ransom so he could get money to stay in Canada and, after all, accidents do happen, so gee golly willikers, that’s awful swell of him to admit to his crime, right? Now her mom and dad can go ahead with their lives feeling that though they have lost a daughter, they’ve gained a new perspective and can feel relieved that the murderer is just so full of concern for their well-being that he sacrificed his freedom to sit in a cushy Canadian jail for a good 12 years rather than immediately be deported as he should be to rot for the rest of his life in a Chinese jail where he should be!

I feel just a whole lot better about the entire incident now, don’t all of you?

Yup, as I’ve said before, our legal system has more than a few screws loose …

Counting Blessings

2006-05-04T19:13:00.000-04:00

So I left the house the other day headed for work a little earlier than usual with plans to ease into my day before a 9am meeting. Not quite five miutes from home - at the corner of Coxwell and Gerrard (a corner I am frequently at) I am buried in my book with the streetcar window open enjoying my time to read - I hear a woman scream.

I look out the streetcar window amongst the gasps of my fellow passengers to see an older woman flug out onto the streetcar tracks whilst a black jeep-style vehicle pulls away completing a right hand turn from Gerrard south onto Coxwell. The driver advises us we're gonna be a while as he radios in for an ambulance. A city worker in his bright orange vest stands in front of the woman so the dim fucks who continue to drive around her don't hit her again. Cars honk and curse out the streetcar driver. A woman pulls over quickly getting on her cell phone to call in the accident as well.

Chaos reins for about 15 minutes as two ambulances, a fire truck and a cop car arrive on the scene. The woman (thankfully) is able to walk to the ambulance with the aid of a paramedic and though I am late for work, all is relatively well.

But my entire morning is thrown off by this. As I call my boss from the streetcar to tell him to inform a colleague I will likely be late for that 9am meeting due to a hit-and-run, it occurs to me how often that woman lying in shock in the middle of Coxwell has almost been me more times than I care to count.

I think of all the times friends have told me of near misses so close they feel the brush of car tires on their feet while drivers curse them for being "in the way" and it scares me a bit.

I realize how lucky I truly am that thus far that poor lady is almost me but not quite, that the one time a car did connect with me I stayed on my feet and punched in her hood rather than winding up under her wheels. I thank the gods that another pedestrian got the licence of the driver and hope the lousy, insensitive, selfish fucker gets his licence revoked forever and spends a good stretch of time in jail as Guido's "bitch."

And I again realize how lucky I am. How lucky many of us are.

So go hug your spouse, your partner, your friend, your cat, your hampster for that matter. Think that for all the fucked up shit we deal with in the world, we weren't that lady on Coxwell on a sunny Tuesday morning winding up with a free trip to a hospital rather than a normal, boring, routine day of work.

Sometimes I think we just need a good slap to remember that things could always be worse.

Spreading the Word

2006-04-29T11:02:00.000-04:00

This was an email received from one of my dance troupe. The link to the story from the Toronto Sun is maddening to say the least, but if anyone wants to help out this couple who were so brutally victimized, please read on:

Friends,
Please see below for info on an eBay auction, organized by my partner, to help a local Toronto couple. For those of you who missed the news story, this horrific crime took place a couple of streets over from where I live in the Danforth/Coxwell area. We appreciate your forwarding of this message to friends and colleagues to raise awareness. Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Lucy

Hello Everyone:

Bad stuff goes on every day and with luck it rarely affects us
personally, but sometimes we feel the need to reach out and help
those in need and for me this is one of those times.

I have an eBay auction on right now to fundraise for an unfortunate
man and his wife who were victims of a brutal invasion and robbery.
I don't know them but their story moved me. The full story can be
found at the Toronto Sun Website.
There are also more details on my auction page.

The eBay auction is for some figurines, INUKSHUKS, i personally make
out of beach glass.
There are 3 available up for bidding, you can view the auction here

An eBay account is easy to sign up for and if I know you personally
you won't need a PAYPAL account to donate with.

So bid and help raise money and also pass this email onto your friends.
Please let them know you know me and that this ISN'T a joke or one
of THOSE forwards that promise Bill Gates will match everyone's
donation and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will personally visit each
bidder to thank them.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

David

And They Wonder Why We're Frustrated

2006-04-20T19:00:00.000-04:00

So the TTC is spending a whack of money having various entertainers pop up and do weird shit in and about the subway stations this month as part of some stupid "pizazz" promotion or some such crap. Supposedly it's aimed at bringing a smile to the days of commuters.

Wanna know how to bring a smile to the faces of your commuters? Stop raising the fucking fares every six months!!!!!

An Apology and a Memorial

2006-04-16T13:54:00.000-04:00

Okay, yes I suck. Now that New Job is keeping me busy as stink during the day I haven't been in the mood to get back onto a computer when I get home at night to blog. Plus our dance troupe is back in full swing so I'm at the studio two evenings a week plus Sunday so I've been out a fair bit as well.

Regardless, I will do my darndest to get online at least once a week to check in with everyone and find something to bitch or at least be sarcastic about. Regardless, things still seem to be going well with New Job and here's to hoping that I can make myself indespensible enough that before my six-month contract ends in September, they realize they cannot live without me and hire me on full-time (all prayers to any deity of influence are welcome on this subject).

But onto what I actually did want to post about earlier this week and am only getting around to it now ...

Years back when The Good Father and I were newlyweds and I was a new member of a local community theatre group, we did a summer production of The Scottish Play (anyone who knows about theatre will know that it is taboo to utter the name of this particular classical Shakespearean work as it is bad luck) and I worked for the first time with a group of energetic folks. One of which was a young girl named Shafarun.

She was the director's girlfriend. Pretty, very petite, soft-spoken but with a wicked sense of humour, Shafarun - while we never admittedly became great friends - was a sweet, fun person to be with and we often ran into each other at theatre gatherings.

Then I got a phone call later that summer from another friend telling me that she was in critical condition at the Wellesley Hospital burn unit. It seemed she went camping in a trailer with some friends and their tank caught fire. I can't recall accurately all the details, but it was the middle of the night, one guy woke up, dragged Shafarun out and tried to save the other two friends who perished. Shafarun had some very serious burns to her face and hands, and her lungs had taken in an awful amount of smoke. They weren't sure she'd pull through.

But apparently Shafarun had other ideas. Though she spent months in hospital recovering, she was determined to get better and get on with her life. She endured multiple surgeries on her hands as doctors worked to give her functioning digits and her lungs would always be weakened from the experience.

Regardless, true to her form, she kept positive and kept up her sense of humour about the whole thing. She endured months of physical therapy, was determined to make use of her hands again, and came out of the whole experience as strong and as funny as ever.

She eventually dumped her boyfriend and got on with her life, heading back to school to become an esthetician. I lost track of her for a while, but saw her again about three years ago at the funeral of another friend of the theatre group. She looked fantastic, was happy to introduce me to the new man in her life and proudly beamed as I shook the hand of her two-year-old daughter. She was very happy, and I was glad to see that she'd put the terrible experience of years before well and truly behind her.

Then last week Tuesday an email from another friend came to me with a note to please call her, she had some news she wanted to tell me in person. I called, and was expecting this girl to tell me something new and exciting that was happening in her life.

The last thing I expected to hear was that Shafarun had died the previous Friday night in a hospital in Vancouver where she'd moved with her partner and was raising three young children. She'd caught Pneumonia, went into the hospital Tuesday and died Friday. It seemed that regardless of how much Shafarun had fought what happened to her and overcame so many obsticles, the beating her lungs took as she was pulled from the fire left them unable to fight the infection.

I was truly and utterly rendered speechless. I mean, I hadn't seen the girl in years, but she was barely 32, a mother of three, and was gone. It seemed unreal somehow and terribly unfair.

But as I said to my friend after when we spoke, this only goes to prove that old saying "only the good die young."

Good-bye Shaf. While we didn't know each other long or particularly well, I hoestly feel that you were one of the strongest women I knew. May your strenght, courage and good humour live on in your children.

First Week Down

2006-04-01T16:18:00.000-05:00

So I just wrapped up my first week at New Job. Aside from the fact that I was still horribly sick with the flu Monday (I felt awful and had to leave early on my very first day - ick!) and a two-day migraine (it never rains ...) it was a pretty darn good week! The group I'm working with are all very friendly, helpful, down to earth people. Even the senior mucky-mucks are supportive and kind.

I keep telling The Good Father Patrick O'Stacey that I'm waiting for them to go "okay, we've suckered her, now let's show the new girl what we're really like!"

I think the ol' cynic in me can't help but be worried after being burned horribly in the last job. But from what the other staff tell me, the bosses are in fact just that nice.

I also have a new friend! It seems one of my colleagues has decided she thinks I'm just the greatest find since Bay Days. I made a joke to her my first day not to get used to me since I'm only actually there on a six-month contract, but she just laughed and said "You are going nowhere. If I have anything to say about it, you're staying right here!" It made me feel really good, actually. And she's been with the company for 32 years (she must have started when she was 12 - either that or she has a great cosmetic surgeon) and seems to know how everything works around there.

So fingers and toes crossed that the good feelings last. I'm really quite happy and I have to say that it's a fucking nice change considering the time I've had over the last year. I deserve a really good run, don't I? It's about time the tides turned and I got to be happy and fulfilled at work for a couple dozen years or so, right???

Quirky is my Middle Name!

2006-03-24T19:10:00.000-05:00

Apologies to Brianne that it's taken me a bit to get to this, but she tagged me and asked that I list six quirky things about myself. Since there are only six, I can comply fairly easily, so here it goes:

1. I mentioned this on St. Dickeybird's blog already, but it's probably the best. I have three sets of sheets and towels in corresponding colours; sage, vanilla and cream. The sage towels must be in the bathroom when the sage sheets are on the bed, etc., etc. When The Good Father Patrick O'Stacey tries to help with the weekly cleaning and dares to put the vanilla towels in the bathroom whilst putting the sage sheets on the bed, it throws me for the entire week.

2. When I lock the door on my way out in the morning, I have to jiggle the handle like five or six times to convince myself it's actually locked.

3. I need to physically see where all three of my cats are before I leave for the day. This stems from an incident where we went away for a weekend and The Good Father accidently locked our youngest in the linen closet for the entire weekend (I don't know about anyone else's cats, but mine LOVE sitting in the laundry hampers!). I also have to kiss them all goodbye, and that's not always appreciated!

4. I cannot drink soda out of a tin. Not that I'm actually a big fan of pop, but when I do want, it's diet ginger ale and it has to be in a glass with ice. It tastes funny right out of the can to me.

5. I will frequently awake in the middle of the night wondering if my husband remembered to turn off all the lights downstairs and lock the doors. I have been known to get out of bed at 3am and go downstairs to check all the doors myself - including on occassion opening the doors and re-locking them to prove they are actually locked ... and that I haven't left my keys in the door again ...

6. I have to have control of the tv remotes. I know, I know, this is supposed to be a guy thing, but to be honest, I understand how they work better than The Good Father and he's actually called me into the den to "fix" the tv when he's accidentally hit the wrong button.

adendum: The Good Father was reading this over my shoulder and reminded me that the truth of the matter with the remotes isn't that he doesn't know how to use them, it's that I just won't let him use them. My apologies if there was any missunderstanding.

I won't tag anyone else here, but please do feel free to share you quirks either on your own blogs or in the comments here!

Safe to Share

2006-03-21T16:47:00.000-05:00

Okay, well, now I've gone out and spent money on new work clothes, so I guess it's safe to actually say that I got a new job now. The reason I was keeping it off my blog was for fear of jinx. You see, for this job I have to be bonded (another financial institution, but the last one I worked in only did a criminal record check) and I was worried that I might not be. But the HR chick at New Job said that if she hasn't heard back from them by now that there's a problem it's pretty safe to say that everything is probably fine.

So I start Monday!

It's initially a six month contract but my new boss told me that he's already working to make the job permanent and actually checked with me when he offered the position to make sure that was cool with me.

Well yeah!

But anyway, he's already sent me a lovely little package with new job branded items and some candy and a card welcoming me to the organization. I'm very excited but incredibly nervous at the same time. After the last nasty burn I'm a little gun shy here, but trying to be optimistic. They seem like really nice people and it's a small organization that's growing which is nice.

So everyone wish me luck!

Guess Paul McCartney's Influence Is Waning ...

2006-03-15T17:29:00.000-05:00

It's time once again for the annual outrage at the Canadian baby seal hunt. I think the irony over this year's increase in the number of baby seals that can be slaughtered being increased after a big, showy anti-seal hunt demonstration by former Beatle and Wings singer Paul McCartney is ironic and someone in the Fisheries Ministry is probably hearing about the timing on this one - media 101 people, don't do something you know is going to be unpopular right after a big star has just done a whole PR stunt talking about how unpopular it is!

Anyway, according to this article in the Toronto Star, the Fisheries Minister has opted to increase the number of baby seals that can be butchered up from 320,000 to 325,000. Apparently this is to help us here in Canada being overrun by rampagign heards of seals who, if their numbers are not kept in check, with take over Atlantic Canada and demand representation in parliament.

Now I do understand that there are set rules and limits on hunting certain game to keep the heards from starving because we as humans have taken over so much of their land we need to keep their numbers in check (oh the irony!) but really, what is the deal with baby seals?! It can't be for meat 'cause they get nailed in the head with clubs at a whopping two weeks old! Now I am not a vegitarian or a vegan, I do eat meat, but I do not believe in killing a baby animal by clubing it repeatedly in the head with a sharp object so you can skin the poor creature (for those of you about to point a finger at me about my anti-fur stance, I wear leather because I eat cow and the entire animal is used when it's killed and the fur trim on my winter coat is fake, thank you very much).

Apparently the seal hunt is a necessary industry to keep many Atlantic Canadian families in jobs and therefore the slaughter is justified. Okay - then let's legalize murder because, ya know, there are assassins and hit men out there that just cannot function with the current laws as they stand. By keeping murder and hiring a contract killer illegal we are keeping a good number of people around the world on the dole line!

Okay, perhaps an extreme example, but it's kinda like the loggers and the trees. If we go out there and keep cutting down all the trees because the loggers need the money, what happens when we run out of trees. They can only grow so fast. If we keep slaughtering hundreds of thousands of baby seals each year then there aren't many growing to maturity and therefore not as many seals being born. You get the cycle.

So is there something vital I'm missing in this argument? If so, please let me know. I am open to hear the other side of this story and would actually be interested to know what it is.

Step into the Wayback Machine, Mr. Peabody

2006-03-13T13:48:00.000-05:00

The state of South Dakota is taking their citizens back in time. They have decided to make abortion of any kind - save a doctor is willing to put his career on the line and swear on a stack of medical texts that the woman will die if the pregnancy goes ahead - are going to be illegal once again.

So explain to me how a mother is to explain to her 14-year-old daughter who has been molested by her uncle, or the, 23-year-old college student that sorry, but the fact her boyfriend loaned her out to a party to be gang raped, or the 30-year-old woman who was sexually assaulted by a co-worker are unable to terminate the possibly resulting pregnancy in any fashion because the state has decided for you ladies, that your mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing are no longer under your own control.

This pisses me off to no end. The full details of what was proposed appeared in several articles over the weekend, including this one from today's Toronto Star site.

Apparently, regardless of the fact that 65% of Americans actually oppose overturning the landmark Roe vs. Wade ruling, that hasn't stopped the minority fanatics from taking their views to the courts and are forcing all women everywhere to abide by them.

Tell ya what, if you don't believe in abortion, don't get one, 'kay? Stay the fuck out of my womb!

Now the fact I am pro choice by no means means that I would definitely have an abortion should I find myself pregnant and not wanting the baby. The point I support is the woman's right to choose what to do with her own body. What I do with mine or would do with mine isn't even the point. And while I don't support the idea of women using abortion as a form of birth control because they can't be bothered using pre-emptive protection doesn't even enter into the issue. That's up for that particular woman and her doctor to discuss. I mean, I don't agree with deciding the religion of a child before they can even see straight nevermind speak for themselves, but that doesn't mean I've never gone to a friend's christening, baptism or bris (for those unfamiliar, that's the ritual circumcision of a male Jewish baby).

I hate holier-than-thou people who think their beliefs should be the laws for the masses!

Sick Bastard

2006-03-10T10:53:00.000-05:00

This article appeared on today's Toronto Star site about a sweep of the Parkdale area of Toronto where 139 men were arrested seeking prostitutes. My first thought is quite frankly, why? I mean, we have kids running around with guns killing people, but let's harass sex workers.

Then I read a little further about men approaching prostitutes with their kids in tow. How fucked up is that?! I mean, quite frankly, I think that the big problems with prostitution (pimps, drugs, underaged girls) would all really go away if our government just made the damned trade legal and regulated it like they have in a couple of U.S. states and in several European countries. But really, dude, bringing your kid along to get a hooker? That's just sick!

Regardless, why do we live in an age where we tell people still that they aren't allowed to pay for sex? Quite honestly if that's how a guy gets his rocks off and if that's what a woman seriously wants to do for a living, then who are we as a society to judge? There should be laws in place to protect sex trade workers as well as their clients, but honestly, the profession has been around forever and quite honestly generally is harmless.

Should it be legal or do we need to keep this trade a crime?

Awsome Show!

2006-03-09T15:57:00.000-05:00

I know there aren't any other bellydancers out there reading my blog, but I splurged last night and went to see the Bellydance Superstars perform at the Jane Mallet Theatre. They are an American group lead by a dancer named Jillina who is not only a fantastic dancer, but is personality plus on the stage. It was also my first time really getting to see some professional tribal dancers (American tribal is a type of dance created in the U.S. that is very heavy on drum, has wild costumes incorporating a lot of beads, feathers and wild coin combinations with its own unique twist on traditional Arabic dance) and an opportunity to see some true professionals at work.

Not all the dancers blew me out of the water - some of them were rather ho-hum with not much to offer. Personally I find that a dancer is only exciting to watch if she has a great stage personality. It's one thing to have killer technique, but quite another to "put on a show" if you know what I mean.

Anyway, had a wonderful time and just thought I'd share. If the Superstars ever come to your town, do make a point of seeing them. It is a unique and worthwhile experience that's a nice change from traditional ballet or broadway style dance.

Answers I'd really like to give to typical interview questions:

2006-03-06T15:05:00.000-05:00

What were you doing between March and October last year?
Knitting clothing for my cats. Have you ever tried to do a fitting on a pissed off calico before? It takes time!

Why do you want to work for our company?
Because you have a job opening and I want it.

What interested you in this position?
See above.

How do you deal with difficult people?
I call my good friend Guido. He handles those kinds of problems for me.

What do you see as your biggest challenges with this position?
Getting past you so I can actually start working.

Tell me of a time where you worked well in a team and what was the outcome?
In university I found a cockroach in my salad during lunch and incited a riot in the cafeteria to protest. We were all arrested, but I got my point across.

What atributes can you bring to this position?
I'm breathing.

What would you say your best trait and worst traits are?
Best - I can actually write a full sentence and don't bombard candidates with useless bullshit questions to justify my salary to my bosses. Worst - I have a bit of a temper and tend to get violent when co-workers piss me off, but I'm on medication for that and feel much better now.

Side Note: Thus far, the best has been when one prospective employer called me in for a fourth interview which was to be a writing test. I was kept waiting an hour, and then instead of a writing test, the hiring manager brought me in to tell me her team all thought I talked too much and what did I have to say about that.

What I wanted to say and what I actually did say - as I'm sure you can well imaging - where two totally different things. I've asked a few people what the point of that was, but thus far no one - including people I know who hire staff - have a clue why they did that or what purpose it would have served.

Gods I hope this freakin' job search is over soon!!!

Well admitedly, no one would come to see her face ...

2006-03-01T18:09:00.000-05:00

From today's Toronto Star, it seems esteemed Canadian author Margaret Atwood has invented a device that will allow writers to do virtual book signing tours. Apparently all one needs to do now is hook up a robot arm and sit it next to a computer where the author - via webcam - sits writing autographs on a computer tablet. You can read the entire article here.

Wow. How friendly is that? I mean, isn't the whole point of going to a book signing to have the chance to meet the author in person, shake their hand and get a real live autograph? Now I recall that Atwood cancelled a book signing session in Toronto during SARS for fear of getting sick by one of her adoring fans (it was for Oryx and Crake. For god's sake, how many fans could there have been?!) so I guess it's no surprise she would come up with something like this.

To me it says that she just can't be bothered going out to tour. It speaks of someone too self important to put herself in the way of ordinary mortals who might infect her (or any other writer for that matter).

I hope this invention dies and that other writers are embarassed to do book signings this way. I mean sure, say Arthur C. Clarke was still around and did something like this. It would be a perfect publicity stunt seeing as how he's a science fiction writer.

But Atwood? Yeah, the only reason I see here is so she can avoid leaving her house and being touched by mere mortals. Granted I enjoyed Handmaid's Tale but really, after Oryx and Crake I really think she should leave the genre - and all the paraphenalia that goes with it - to those who truly understand it.

I await the sound verbal thrashing I expect to receive from devout Atwood fans now ...

Gee, Thanks world!

2006-02-24T13:05:00.000-05:00

World loves us, according to survey
Feb. 23, 2006. 12:42 PM
HILDA HOY
STAFF REPORTER

They like us, they really, really like us.
A multinational survey indicates the world thinks highly of Canada, ranking us first in hospitality, tourism and friendliness, and also giving us high marks for politeness and honesty in government.

Overall, Canada ranked third, behind No. 1 United Kingdom and Switzerland.

The global community, however, is less than enthralled by our culture, the survey showed, placing Canada 14th.

Released Tuesday, the third Anholt Nation Brands Index study surveyed more than 25,000 people in 35 countries in November. Information on a country’s brand image can be useful for tourism, foreign policy and economics, said survey developer Simon Anholt, a British-based author and branding expert who markets his data to government agencies worldwide.

The findings are in tune with what Canada’s tourism industry would expect, Tourism Toronto spokesman Andrew Weir said. The perception of Canadians as a friendly and hospitable people is a “Canadian hallmark,” he said. “It serves us well.”

What’s also not surprising is the perception that we’re dull in the cultural arena.

“Canada is still most associated with its natural beauty, the mountains and the moose. It’s a legacy from a long time of marketing those things,” Weir said.

Toronto Tourism is marketing 2006 as the Year of Creativity, trumpeting the city’s galleries, museums, theatres and performance arts events.

“I think over time, we’ll start to see the perceptions change,” he said.

In the meantime, it seems the world is quite keen on Canada. In fact, the survey shows the world has a “beautiful, impeccable” image of us, Anholt said.

“The Canadians are everybody’s favourite friend. In fact, there’s quite a few countries that would rather have Canadians as a friend than someone from their own country.”

Apparently no one who voted has ridden the TTC lately ...

Uncommon Cortesy

2006-02-21T10:22:00.000-05:00

This weekend the Toronto Star ran an article about people giving up their seats on the TTC to pregnant women. To that end, a reporter padded herself with a maternity pillow so she looked about eight months along and rode subways, buses and streetcars around Toronto.

The results were embarassing to say the least.

She rarely got a seat and was amazed at the number of people (I wasn't!) who seemed to play the "I am just soooo engrossed in my newspaper that I can't see your stomach two inches from my nose!"

I must say I felt her (albeit fake) pain. Having been in knee braces, had surgery, been on crutches, it floored me over the years how horribly insensitive people were. I'd hobble onto a bus or streetcar and watch as people actively lost themselves either in books, newspapers, or found something absolutely fascinating out the window. A few times I was truly frustrated and loudly would ask someone for a seat, but usually I stood and fumed. There were times where someone would offer up a seat which I graciously accepted.

I try to be aware of the comings and goings on public transportation and be there to offer up a seat to a pregnant, elderly or limping patron. But it still amazes me how many people just can't be bothered to be civilized. I remember one man offering up his seat to an elderly women, and then on his way off the bus blasted a row of teenage girls sitting at the front of the bus who just couldn't be bothered to move. Brava for him!

What also gets me are people who think their shit is worthy of a seat. Did you knapsack pay a fare? Did your groceries or your fancy shopping bag? I admit that I sometimes take a seat for my bag if there are few people on the subway, but not if it's crowded. Just last week a woman (a rather large specimen) was sitting on the outside of a two-seater with a small boutique bag taking the window seat beside her. The car was pretty crowded and lots of people were standing. Loudly I asked her if I could have the seat. She moved the damned bag alright, but refused to haul her fat ass and legs out of the way so I could get in past her to sit down. I loudly sighed and said "well gee if it's that much of an effort for you, don't bother!" and walked away. She had the good grace to look a little embarassed as half the passengers turned to see who I was talking to.

Now I admit there are days where I am just bone tired, or notice other empty seats around so don't always move immediately if someone comes on a streetcar or bus, but I do try to be aware of the people around me.

The Star also did an online poll asking if men should just automatically give up their seats to women because it's sometimes hard to tell if a lady is pregnant (okay, maybe in the early stages, but I've seem plenty of pregnant women and trust me, even the women that are already full figured still look pregnant to me!) or what? Personally I don't think men need to give up their seats everytime they see a woman board a bus anymore than they should hold a door open simply because a woman is behind them (though I am all for simply holding open a door when you walk through as a courtesy to whomever is behind you be they male or female), but I think it would be nice if everyone was aware if an older person, someone having physical difficulties or a pregnant woman comes onto transit.

What say you?

GOLD!

2006-02-20T16:53:00.000-05:00

It's a good day to be a Canadian! Heartfelt congrats to our awsome women's hockey team who took the gold medal 4-1 over Sweden.

It's one of the few times I actually watch hockey. See, in Olympic hockey, a 60-minute game lasts about 2 1/2 hours. In NHL hockey, one period lasts about that long. Less fight, more actual game. It's what the sport was meant to be.

Congrats to our ladies. We rule the ice!

... would you like freedom fries with that?

2006-02-16T15:24:00.000-05:00

Alas, even innocent baked goods are no longer safe from the political strife of our world!

Now, according to this article on the Toronto Star Web site, Iranian bakeries have been ordered to re-name the danish - apparently a much-loved sweet of the Arab world - "Roses of the Prophet Muhammad."

Add that to the American Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast, and you have yourself a healthy, well-balanced, politically correct meal.

So what's next? Non-Committal Bacon? Democratic Coffee? Love Not War Breakfast Tea?

Any other suggestions?

You Know It's Love When ...

2006-02-15T14:21:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this is a day late, but reading other people's Valentine's posts - particularly Mr. Mystic's about "proving" your love got me thinking as to how I know The Good Father Patrick O'Stacey loves me:

He helps with the housework because he lives here too.

He picks me up after rehearsal if it's dark out just to know in his own mind I'm safely home.

He hugs me when I'm crying - even if it's during a fight!

He'll bring me flowers sometimes just because, and not because Hallmark says he should.

But the biggest thing was something that happened while we were still dating, even before we were engaged. People like Crabby, Ink, or anyone else who suffers from migraines will really understand this one:

So I was over at his apartment when we were living on campus at York Unviersity and I got thwacked with a killer migraine. He came home from class and I was lying on the sofa in the dark. When he asked why the lights were out I told him. This was his first experience with me and migraine, so he was really unsure what to do. I asked for ice which he brought, and then he went to try and stroke my hair and I whacked his hand away (for anyone who doesn't know, migraine can make you hyper-sensitive and even the smallest touch can bring a major wave of pain). Then I did a runner for the bathroom and began a lengthy conversation with the porcelin god. He came in a few minutes later with a glass of water, put it on the floor next to me, and then sat behind me holding my hair out of the way while I relived my meals from the last three days.

Now I know this may seem rather odd, but at that exact moment, I realized "wow! This guy really does love me!"

They always say that when it's love, you know. That's how I knew.

Show me the Money!

2006-02-12T12:53:00.000-05:00

The city of Toronto always seems - as of late anyway - to be in a cash crunch. Dowloading from the previous provincial Conservative government, the creation of the Mega City, and millions of dollars in broken promises from the current provincial Liberal government, not to mention the failure of every federal government for the last, oh, say, 20 years to help out one of Canada's largest cities has left us here in Toronto in a sorry state. Our once proud TTC - the envy of North America as the best public transit system - is falling apart, our hosipitals are overcrowded and wait times are pathetic from diagnostics to treatment, our schools are a mess, our municipal community centres and social programs are either out of the reach of most people financially thanks to increases in user fees or non-existant due to cuts, and our municipal politicians are sitting pointing fingers at everyone else as to why the city is facing major problems rather than seeing what can be done to fix them.

Mayor Davild Miller made a good show at the start of his reign by making it seem like he cared what the people thought. I actually attended one of those city round tables, sharing my ideas and views with municipal staff, but thus far have seen not one of those ideas brought up by the people of this city put into action.

So now the idea comes up of a Toronto lottery (for those who may have missed this gem, check out the Toronto Star article here.

Now to be totally honest, I can't say that I see this as such a terrible idea. Why not a lottery to help raise money for the city? We're obviously getting no help provincially or federally from either the eternally promised gas tax or any other form of money, so why not? I'd just as soon buy tickets for a Toronto lottery as I would Super 7 or Lotto 649. And if I can help put money towards improving public transit and making city rec programs free again, how bad could this idea be?

But as always, The Sister is open to debate. Has anyone else ever lived in a city where something like this was done? Does it work? Would you buy tickets for a lottery to benefit your city? Do you think this idea sucks rotten eggs and will only provide yet another nasty snake pit for those addicted to gambling?

Any and all ideas and opinions, as always, welcome and eagerly awaited!

And the point would be ...?

2006-02-08T13:16:00.000-05:00

Continuing on with the explosion that has erupted over a Danish newspaper's depiction of the prphet Muhammed, the same Danish paper is now saying to even things out they'll publish cartoons about the Holocaust from an Iranian source.

Pardon me?!

While I felt that the cartoons published in Jyllands-Posten were probably in poor taste and exercised poor judgement (I personally have not sought them out since the verbal descriptions of what they portrayed were enough for me thank you very much), I don't see how putting up cartoons about six million Jews being executed evens the score. Am I missing something here?

From what I have read over the past week, political cartoons slandering Judiasm and Christianity are par for the course in some Arab countries and thus far the Jews and Christians have not gone on a rampage burning Arab flags (the pretend U.S. war in Iraq aside - you all know that I think the American government - Bush in particular - was just looking for an excuse to play cowboy and am appauled by his actions in the Middle East). So what is the Danish paper trying to prove? Is Europe looking for an ethnic war here as many other European papers have opted to re-publish the Danish cartoons which has only lead to further protests and anger from the Muslim world. Personally I am proud that papers like the Toronto Star have opted not to publish them as quite frankly I think it's just asking for trouble. I don't know about other Canadian papers, so if anyone has seen them reprinted I'd be interested in knowing. No, I don't want to see the cartoons, I'm just curious if we've taken a stand journalistically as a nation or if Toronto has just been more sensitive since we have such a mixed ethnic population.

Perhaps I'm missing something in the article from today's Toronto Star (for those who haven't read it, here it is)?

I'm open to anyone's insights and views on this. Am I being hyper-sensitive being a Jew?

How Cool Is This?!

2006-02-07T13:36:00.000-05:00

If you have time, take a boo at This great site! Favorville is a nifty little site set up by two local lads who came up with the idea of using the Web to link people up for favours. Need a ladder? Looking to carpool? Looking for a doggy daycare? Favorville hooks up request for favours with those who are willing to lend a hand. I signed up and gave some advice, for example, to someone looking for a vet in my neighbourhood.

The Toronto Star did a great article about the two masterminds behind the site here.

The site is divided into neighbourhoods and you can offer a favour or ask for one - it's up to you!

Okay, just thought this was kind of neat and wanted to share. You can go back to whatever important bit of stuff you were doing now ...

Maybe we need to turn over a new leaf?

2006-02-03T18:19:00.000-05:00

A recent article posted here suggests that Canada is a serious yawn as a travel destination. It suggests that Americans would rather go to Mexico or the Caribbean(like, who wouldn't - particularly in February?!) than come to the Great White North.

Are we really so dull? I know that SARS really put the fear of several gods into the tourism industry, though quite frankly after living through it, it was a non-event. Yes people got sick and died, but it hardly wiped out half the population of Toronto! But seriously, are we boring? I've travelled parts of the country - the Maritimes being my favorite - and I can't say that I've been bored. I'd like to make it out to Vancouver (the furthest west I've been is Calgary) and up to the Yukon, but the places I have been in my home province, in Quebec and out east have been friendly and beautiful with plenty to do.

Is it that we're too much like America? Is coming to Toronto really no different than being in Chicago or Detroit or Boston? I know since our dollar is holding its own quite nicely as of late that coming here for a cheap holiday isn't so cheap anymore, but truly, what are we doing wrong?

And what about visitors from other countries? The article really concentrates on U.S. visitors but they're hardly the only country we get tourists from. Trust me - I see the busloads of tourists every summer down at city hall speaking a wide variety of languages so someone must like what we have to offer!

Would you come here? Even if you already live here, do you think we have what to offer the rest of the world? I'm inclined to say we do - mountains, beautiful lakes, bustling cities that offer a great culture mix of events, food and shops. So seriously, are we a snore or is this article blowing the situation out of whack?

Good for Her!

2006-02-01T13:26:00.000-05:00

This article was all over the Toronto news yesterday about a girl who saw some fuckwit throw his garbage out the window of his minivan in Kensington Market. She tossed the garbage back in his car and he got out and proceeded to assault her bike and yell at her.

A man with a camera across the street took a stunning series of photos of the whole event (I'd link to that site but it's a pig and takes forever to load. However if you have a lot of time to kill, try looking at City Noise and see the action).

My favorite bit? Regardless of the fact there were witnesses to the incident and photos, the cop who finally arrived on the scene refused to press littering or assault charges on the driver.

WTF?!

I think the cyclist did totally the right thing. She took his trash and dumped it back where it belonged - in the asshole's car. The fact he didn't like having his own trash dumped back in his face is basically tough shit as far as I'm concerned. He littered (which he should have been fined for) and assaulted a person (which he definitely should have been charged for). So what gives here? A flock of witnesses and a slew of photos weren't good enough to prove to the cop what went down?

Many people commented on both sides. Most supported the cyclist but some said she went too far by throwing the trash back in the man's car.

Me personally? I say there should be more people like her willing to take a stand. I remember one summer day during a concert at the park here in the Beach a group of friends and I (a couple we knew lived in an apartment right across from the park so we were sitting on their balcony watching the show) saw a girl on roller blades toss her empty pop container on the sidewalk. We all shouted down at her "Pick up your trash! Litterbug!" and crap like that which of course drew many eyes to us and her. Though she simply skated away (bitch) I think our point was made.

So what would you do? Do you think the cyclist went too far?

A Celebration of Tacky

2006-01-30T14:43:00.000-05:00

I've actually been meaning to do this post for a while but have just gotten around to taking pictures of this beautiful item.

For my birthday (yes, I know it was in November but as I said it took me some time to get around to it) I received this little gem from my sister-in-law:

As you may or may not be able to tell it's a shelf. But the picture here does not do it justice, oh no, for you see, this very interesting shelf is made of plastic and spraypainted gold.

Yup, just darn lovely isn't it?

Now this is typical of what she tends to buy. For my 30th birthday she presented me with a flimsy clear glass gravy boat with ladel and the ladel was broken. I might ad that this dandy serving dish came from Zellers (she lovingly left the price tag on the box).

Interestingly enough, every so often she throws me for a loop by getting me something I might actually use, but these instances are few and far between. Now let us not confuse this sister-in-law - the bible-thumper with the personality of a wet rag who conveniently dissapears from sight as soon as it's time to clear up any given meal at my mother-in-law's house - with my lovely talented and funny sister-in-law who is actually The Good Father's younger sister.

Regardless, I invite everyone to share with me (and/or the blogging world in general) your chepest, tackiest gift ever received. Either comment here on my blog or post your own photo on your blog for all the world to see.

It's things like this that really make blogging such fun, don't you think?

"Zaphod's just this guy, you know?"

2006-01-26T15:38:00.000-05:00

This article in today's Toronto Star talks about the male metrosexual/retrosexual image. And apparently most guys just aren't either.

Qu'elle suprise.

For too long advertisers have tried to tell us what we should wear/eat/desire/look like/smell like/desire in our lives and it seems that they're having a bitch of a time pinning down the male stereotype.

Perhaps because that's the point - they're trying to create a stereotype that actually doesn't exist.

I find no man I know - including my own husband The Good Father Patrick O'Stacey - falls into any stereotype. The Good Father, for example, is a typical "guy" in that he can fix shit, build shit and tear shit apart really well. He also doesn't spend all that much time worrying about fashion and would be happiest if he could spend all day every day in his favorite pair of cut-off jean shorts (of course, because we live in Toronto that's not always practical in say February) and a ball cap. That said he does care enough about his appearance to worry if the shirt he's wearing matches his pants and/or needs to be ironed before we go out for an evening.

But un-stereotypically, he's a fabulous cook who really enjoys cooking, can and will do laundry, can and will do house work in general, and knows more about the "correct" cuttlery to use in a restaurant than I do. While yes he loves to drive fast and has very definite opinions about what rules of the road shouldn't be rules, curses like a trucker if someone cuts him off or does something stupid on the road, and will not think twice about getting into a confrontation if he feels it's warranted, he also knows a lot about different kinds of music, knows his wines, appreciates good art (though I know the term "good" art is incredibly subjective) and will surprise me with wine and flowers "just because."

So is there such a thing as a "typical male?" Hell I'm not even so sure there's such a thing as a "typical woman" so why put pressure on the men? The Good Father has told me he's the envy of some of his male friends because I appreciate Monty Python, action flicks and consider a Jackie Chan film fest a great way to spend the evening. That said he's also told me he gets envious looks when they find out his wife is a belly dancer, and that said he's also been given the line "you let your wife belly dance?" to which he replies "What do you mean by Let?!" Bless his lovely Irish soul!

So let's hear it - guys, do you feel you fall into a stereotype of some kind? Ladies, are your men walking stereotypes or do they like my own loving man defy definition and flatly refuse to fit into a box (though I consider refusing to fit into a box a good thing, not everyone may agree with that point)?

Enquiring minds want to know!

What's not to know?!

2006-01-20T15:29:00.000-05:00

My dear friend Ink has graciously tagged me to share three things that no one else knows about me.

Oh dear.

Okay, here we go:

1. I used to shoplift when I was in high school. A friend (okay, ex-friend) got me into it and I did it simply for the thrill of seeing what I could get away with because I was pretty clean-cut looking so never seemed to be suspected. I got caught once trying to take a necklace from the antique market at Harbourfront, but I burst into tears the second the guy tagged me so he let me go with a warning. The friend I was with at the time said "well if it means anything, I didn't see you take it!" That was the end of my glorious theiving career (sidenote: everything I ever stole I gave away. Somehow I could never handle keeping it because it made me feel too guilty - oy).

2. When The Good Father goes away on a trip without me, I sleep with:
- our replica battle axe beside the bed which I am convinced that, if cornered, I could weild with deadly accuracy and bring down the fucker who dared break into my house!
- my cell phone on the nightstand (because you know, if someone breaks in they'll cut the phone lines like they do on tv and I'd be screwed since in all likelyhood I'd be too fucking scared to use the damned axe, though would bring it into the bathroom with me because I can lock the bathroom door and make my desparate 911 call on my trusty cell phone).
- the hall light on because it freaks me out if it's completely dark when I'm alone.
- My stuffed bear Hannah Barbera (seriously, that's her name!).

3. I've re-cast favorite movies and plays with people I know and will agonize sometimes if I can't think of someone who's the right fit for a character. For example, I have Neil Simon's Murder by Death, The Princess Bride and Soutpark The Movie all perfectly cast (Southpark would be a great stage play, don't you think?) and have decided that I have the right group to do Wicked too (my friend Laureen would be the perfect Galinda! She's not like her in real life but I could totally see her doing the role)!

Perhaps not earth-shattering revelations, but there they are.

Okay, now let's see ... I tag:
Mainja at Fabulous Attitudes Taboo
The PhoenixNYC
and
Epicurist

I apologize to those tagged in advance but hey, humour me!

Tragically Lived

2006-01-18T15:32:00.000-05:00

I really wonder about us as a species when I read stories like this one. The reason is that stories like this aren't isolated incidents. I've lost track of the number of abused to death kids I have read about over the last couple of years, and followed the stories in the media as reporters tell these sorid tales, asking how this could happen, why this happens and what can we do to keep it from happening again.

I don't know the answer, but I now I have a horribly, politically incorrect solution:

licence people to have kids.

To quote Kenau Reeves character from the movie Parenthood, "you need a license to have a dog, you even need a license to fish, but any moron can have a kid. (I'm paraphrasing on the moron part - I can't remember what the exact word was there)."

Many religious organizations insist on marriage prep courses before said couple can be married in said religious institution, but why isn't there any course on parent prep? Perhaps if people realized what was actually involved with the care of another human being they might think twice. Maybe birth control should be free. Maybe people should go through some kind of screening process before they can be allowed to procreate.

I'm not advocating that people should be in any particular income bracket before they're allowed to have kids. What I am advocating is some kind of asessment of people's mental states beforehand. Just because a person can give birth doesn't mean they should. I know I'm treading thin ice as far as a human rights issue goes, but we as a species prove time and time again how badly equiped we are to handle offspring. And I'm not just talking extreme cases where the child dies. I see parents smack their kids across the face in public, yank hard on their limbs to drag them along, yell at them for stopping to look in a shop window, and belittle and berate them for what I see to be minor infractions (dropping a cup of milk, picking something up off the ground, eating too slowly) and I'm talking people from all walks of life here.

If you don't have the patience or the interest, why have a kid? Is it because they have false illusions of what their child will of course be like? Do they not know that kids are simply little people with moods and opinions and feelings that are all their own? Should there be a kind of reality check for people before they embark on raising another human being?

Looking for an Angel

2006-01-16T12:16:00.000-05:00

The Guardian Angels have arrived in Toronto and I am somewhat confused by our city's cold shoulder welcome. Their founder has in fact been asked to leave (which I understand he is doing tomorrow) but I have no idea why our mayor and our police chief are so opposed to their being here in the first place.

From what I have read and seen of The Guardian Angels, they are not running about beating the shit out of criminals, but rather are a citizen's group of ears and eyes who's objective is to help police identify criminals and reduce crime by going into high risk areas and getting at risk youth involved with them rather than with a gang.

Now our police chief seems to feel that this is a personal attack, insisting that our cops can do their job without help, thank you very much, when apparently, they can't. We've had an alarming increase in gun violence and while he stands in front of media cameras begging for the public's help in identifying and bringing criminals to justice, seems, for some stupid reason, violently opposed to a citizen's group coming in to help.

Is he against them because they are from the States? Is he insulted because he feels they are saying he can't do his job? Is he embarassed that Toronto has gotten to the point under his watch where a group like this is necessary?

I really have no problem with them being here, and from what I've seen and heard they are a help to police forces around the world and are welcome in most cities, so what's up with our local government?

For the Torontonians in the group, how do you feel about The Guardian Angels? To the Americans, if you have them in your city, what do you think of them? Do our cops have a reason to not want them or should we in fact be welcoming them with open arms?

Would you go?

2006-01-10T15:03:00.000-05:00

This article on today's Toronto Star Web site talks about a Canadian release of the U.S. made film Karla based on the murders of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French. Many expressed outrage when they first heard that the movie had even been made, but how many would actually go see it?

I can't say for sure myself. Yes I know it was a horrendous crime and both Karla and Paul should have the skin peeled from their bones with a dull spoon, but let's all be honest, how many of us have rented, watched on TV or have gone to see movies based on real murders, rapes and crimes that happened in the U.S.? Are we all being hyper-sensitive because this happened in our own back yard?

Should the movie have been made? Are true crime shows and movies in poor taste? Do shows like Law and Order or CSI not count because none of us have ever read in the papers about the crimes many of these shows base their scripts on?

What do people think?

Flashback

2006-01-06T12:44:00.000-05:00

So I'm on the subway yesterday on my way to a dance gig, happily listening away to a retro 80's mix I have concocted on my lovely little MP3 player, when this dude sits down diagonally across from me. Now there's nothing particularly odd about that, but this guy was obviously into his 50s, wearing a HUGE coat (it wasn't particularly cold in Toronto yesterday!) and a HUGE furry hat (see last aside) and with a walkman slung across his body. Now I'm not talkin' a CD walkman, no people I am refering to the old style tape player. He was tapping away to whatever the hell he was listening to and I actually didn't realize what it was until I saw him remove a tape and replace it with another one. Then I realized he had the thing slung right across his body with one of those old shoulder straps that they used to come with.

Okay, so I've had much more exciting posts in the past, but it struck me as funny that my first thought as I fingered my teeny little MP3 player that doesn't even make a bulge in my pocket (aw hell, okay, get the obscene sex remarks out and over with!) and weighs like an ounce was "how archaic! Do they even make tapes - let alone sell them anywhere anymore?!"

Now in all fairness, the tape players were always a hell of a lot easier to carry than the portable CD players simply by the size of the medium. Tapes were small rectangles, so a tape plaer could easily be clipped to a belt or tossed in a pocket. I went through two portable CD players, and no matter how funky the technology of the player was, the damned CDs are just the size they are and there is no way to comfortably clip them to a belt or toss them into a pocket. They usually required being held in the hand or their very own carrying case (I used a small purse that slung over my shoulder and fit the player and a couple of CDs nicely). As well, no matter how supposedly advanced the anti-skip technology was, you run, the player skipped. And I am not the type of person that does or ever did run marathons, but honestly sometimes that quick jog for the streetcar was all it needed.

So yes I am much happier with my little MP3 player, but really, thinking back, the tape players, regardless of the fact CDs may have better sound quality, were much better portable listening devices than CD players really ever were.

Thank the gods for MP3 technology!

Check her out

2006-01-03T16:15:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! Let's hope 2006 is a good one because, man, 2005 really sucked rotten eggs (for me, anyway).

And now for your reading pleasure, I'd like to introduce you to my dear friend Ink from Ottawa. Ink and I go way back together - you may have seen her commenting on my blog as GovGirl, but has found new super powers and has been reborn on her own page.

A Unique Christmas Commentary

2005-12-22T14:44:00.000-05:00

Now THIS is fucking funny!

Retro Moment

2005-12-22T12:18:00.000-05:00

Knottyboy was talking about Barbies on his last audio post and it reminded me of this set of dolls I had as a kid called The Sunshine Family. This would have been mid to late 70's. They were the crunchy granola doll set - mom and dad work Birkenstock's! The house was a round open style doll house - a bungalow and everything was very, well, hippie-ish. There was a grandma and grandpa set too, but I don't recall having them.

Does anyone else remember this?

Happy Solstice!

2005-12-21T12:37:00.000-05:00

Today is the longest night of the year and marks the Winter Solstice for all us pagan-types out there.

It also marks the birthday of one of my very nearest and dearest friends, Govgirl, whom had the audacity to not be at work today after I sent her an e-card, so she'll just have to wait and see it when she goes back to work in January! Happy Birthday dear girl! You are a remarkable woman and a true friend. I am lucky to have known you for as long as I have and look forward to many more years of friendship (Govgirl was the person who introduced me to Monty Python and Douglas Adams, so she holds a rather special place in my heart!).

Regardless, a Happy Solstice to everyone out there and may the turning of the seasons bring hope, joy and prosperity to all!

Define "Bored"

2005-12-16T11:40:00.000-05:00

So my first official rejection from my first desperation to find a new job fast interview. They called (which at least they did that - most times you just get ignored!) and said it was decided that I was too senior and would be bored in three months.

Well gosh, I didn't realize in half an hour you'd managed to totally nail not only my abilities but what I would consider "boring." Wow. I'm impressed. I mean, it's funny I've gotten that response before as to why I wasn't hired and it's the most frustrating thing in the world to hear! I mean, how the fuck do you know what bores me? You didn't ask in the interview so how could you possibly have the vaguest idea?!

Piss me right off.

Help

2005-12-15T15:12:00.000-05:00

I want to add my picture when I post, but do I have to sign up for that stoopid Hello thing or is there a way around it? There doesn't seem to be the option just to add a jpeg or anything, you need some url and I really don't want to do that if I don't have to.

Anyone?

Waiting ...

2005-12-14T16:52:00.000-05:00

So I've caved and done the damned Christmas cards. I wrote them up last night and sent them out today. I keep waiting for that holiday euphoria to kick in but so far really just still not into it.

The Good Father put some lights up but hasn't connected them yet. I figure at the rate he tends to do things they should be working by New Year's Day.

Haven't decided if we'll bother with a tree or gifts. Kinda have to get for the family, but since we're doing donations at least it can be done sitting right here. But rather than worry about getting it done I'm waiting for my husband to get his ass in gear and sit down to do it. For the one sibling and spouse that didn't want to do donations we decided tough shit, they're getting donations. I suppose at some point next week I'll haul my ass out and get gifts for their kids. Yippee.

I don't know that we'll do gifts for each other either. I just keep worrying that if we do go out and even just spend like $100 each, if I don't get a job fast enough that money would have been food, you know? We'll still do our Christmas Eve tradition of Chinese food and Scrooged but that may be about it.

The mood goes up, the mood goes down. Mostly down. I know I'm lucky beause I have what really counts - friends and family and a home - but still it's hard to deal with all the crap of the season. And if I hear one more blasted carol I'm going to shoot someone. Waited in the doctor's office for an hour today and the radio station played all Christmas music - most of it really sappy too. Ick. I hate sap even when I'm in a good mood!

Okay, Onwards and Upwards

2005-12-12T11:58:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone for their words and hugs during my last manic depressive post (and I am allowed to be manic depressive because, well, I am manic depressive, though in polite society today we say bipolar - oy.).

While I'm not quite 100% here, I just got a good swift shot in the ass from a member of my dance troupe. Now we have only known each other a few years, and trust me, this woman has been through a lot of shit in her life but always manages to smile. I won't go into full details but she - without realizing it - reminded me what the purpose of the season is. Not stuff, people.

So while I'm still kinda out of sorts, I think it's time I got my collective shit together, pulled up my boot straps as they say, and tried to get into the holiday season.

The operative word being try here. I mean, I already got my Christmas cards, so may as well send them out, huh?

Slowly but surely the old Sister Stacey will make a return ... stay tuned ...

(oh and to Ms. Bees Knees - thanks for that very generous offer! I will let you know if I intend to take you up on it!)

The Many Stages of Pissed

2005-12-09T13:20:00.000-05:00

So it appears I've moved on from horribly wounded and weepy to bitchy and bitter. Less crying but more grit. No idea yet what the next phase will bring.

And I am just oh-so-sure that all the blogging community wants nothing more than to hear how grumpy I am. How not into the holidays I am. How I don't give a purple fuck if my husband's family get gifts or not. Actually that will be interesting to see. Normally every year I haul ass and buy gifts for his family and he gives me money once I've done the shopping. This year I could care less so I wonder if he'll finally get out and do shopping for his own family.

And this year technically would be easier than I've dealt with since it's donations for the adults - he can do it all from the house. Except for the kids. I wonder if I make no move to do the shopping if he'll get out there and buy them crap if I don't. Guess we'll see on the 25th won't we?

But I'm sure he's happy in a way I'm not into things this year. He hates shopping so no running around trying to get me shit either. And no tree. He has commented the last couple of years that he could do without a tree. He finds it a pain and since I grew up in a Jewish household found it novel and fun. This year he gets his wish - no tree, no having to balance on the front porch bannister stringing lights up, none of that shit. Should make his life a little easier.

My mother though is on my ass. She insists on getting together for Chanukah though I have said I'd rather skip it this year. And she's asking when I plan on doing my shopping "since you have free time you don't have to fight crowds on the weekends!" Yeah, lucky me. She's already got gifts for us so I will get her something.

I'd already ordered our cards for this year from Glinda's Club (sticking with the not-for-profit theme) but I can't be bothered to send them out. I figure if The Good Father wants his family to get cards he can do it this year. Again, normally a chore that falls to me that he never has to think about. Wonder if he'll bother.

Funny that - you get married and the wife does all the family responsibility shit. I don't know if it's a conscious thing or if women just think about this crap more and about getting it done where men generally don't. I shop for gifts for family birthdays, Christmas, make food for events and get cards sent out. I don't have much family so I guess I never thought much of it before. This year I could care less so let's see if he does.

Funny this wasn't going to be a gihugious Christmas anyway. We'd gotten out of that habit the last few years - just stockings, some books, CDs and movies we've wanted and a few small gifts. But the fact we won't be doing a fucking thing at all now makes it seem more not there if that makes sense. I was actualy going to take a cue from Ice Queen and get The Good Father some guitar lessons since about six years ago he absolutely insisted that he absolutely needed an acoustic guitar. I went out and got him one for his birthday. It's been sitting in the case in the living room ever since. I figured if I got him lessons he might just go and use the thing. If not, fuck it, I was going to drag that sucker out and take the lessons myself. I dropped a good chunk of change on the damned instrument it would be nice if someone used it!

So enough of my beyotch rant. I'm sure everyone has happier things to do than sit and read about how miserable I am right now. But the up side is that I have this blog as an outlet to let out how I'm feeling. I've never been great at keeping a private diary, but give me a shot to share my crud with an unsuspecting world and I salavate like a rabid dog.

Go figure.

Tagged

2005-12-07T14:04:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of Radmilla. And though I'm not into "happy" right now, I feel it's my duty as a blogger to reply to said tag, so here it goes:

Name 5 simple pleasures that you like most, then pick 5 people to do the same. Try to be original and creative and not to use things that someone else has already used.

1. Cuddling in bed with my cats. They know when I'm sick or unhappy and come lie with me and purr. It's there way of saying "we're sorry mom and though we can't fix it, we can let you know we're here!"
2. Curling up on the sofa with The Good Father Patrick O'Stacey and watching a really, really bad or dumb comedy after a totally shitty day (week, month, year ...).
3. Good friends who always side with you no matter what has happened.
4. Knowing that I'll never cry alone (thank you Crabby).
5. Knowing that it's not where I work, who I work for or what I do, my friends love me for who I am (thank you to Mr. Crabby for reminding me of this. It's easy to forget.)

Who do I tag?
Ice Queen
Epicurist
Knottyboy
Mikevil
Bees Knees

Uncomfortably Numb

2005-12-02T11:35:00.000-05:00

To use a Crabby quote, Helldamnfart.

Yesterday afternoon as I'm sitting in the office happily working away and feeling smug that I will have money for the holidays, my debts are all paid off and I can now start to really enjoy reaping the benefits of working for a living again, the boss comes down to tell me that I'm being let go.

Insert bewildered look and stopping of heart mucscle here.

I am wonderful. I'm a fabulous writer, have a great personality, a positive attitude, am full of energy, get things done quickly and all that great shit, but apparently that's just not enough.

See, in the interview for this job there was a 50/50 split between marketing and communications. I was very blunt and straightforward in the interview saying that while I had years of advertising agency experience as an Art Buyer and five years of copywriting expereience I lacked any real formal marketing training or ability, thought with my background could probably figure it out and learn it given a bit of time.

At the time they told me their top priority was someone who was a strong writer and a good personality fit, so they hired me.

It would seem that after two months, some very positive feedback on the work I'd done and landing two new contacts for sales visits (something I had no idea how to do) I just wasn't what they were looking for and they were letting me go.

The upside is I get paid for December though I won't be there. They decided they owed me that much. They will also say if asked that I was let go due to lack of work and was hired for a short term contract rather than full-time to help me get another job more easily.

I spent most of last night crying on the shoulders of The Good Father and the Crabbies. I ate pizza and drank rather a lot of red wine.

Today I'm kind of feeling numb, tired, unwanted and my ego has taken a battering like I didn't think possible. I feel about a quarter of an inch tall and very, very lost in a world that is happily chirping away about the coming Yule festivities.

I have to say that the absolute last thing I feel right now is festive.

Anyone looking for a good communications person???

Forever Young

2005-11-29T13:27:00.000-05:00

In one of my favorite rolls as Devil’s Advocate, I thought I’d do a post in response to the seemingly high number of issues people are blogging and emailing about – obnoxious teenagers acting like cretins, harassing people, braking the law and, well, basically being teenagers.

Yes kids today are mouthy. Yes the swear a lot and loudly in public, behave as though there are no consequences to their actions and act like the world owes them.

But let’s all be honest here – didn’t we all?

Oh sure I was probably considered a “decent” kid because I did well in school, took my dancing seriously and was never arrested, but to be honest I was hardly the perfect child. My friends and I were loud and obnoxious on public transit, throwing nasty looks at adults who dared look at us with scorn and rolled our eyes and “whatevered” if they dared to tell us to shut up. I skipped classes, smoked where there were No Smoking signs, dressed in a manner that made grown-ups shake their heads or cringe, mouthed off to teachers I didn’t like and listened to music in the yard with my friends pumped to the max until my neighbours screamed at me to turn it down – and simply laughed at them.

I shoplifted, tried recreational drugs, drank, even got into a couple of fights. Since I had a shit home life I figured the world owed me and screw them if they didn’t like the way I behaved.

Today I’m in a successful marriage, have my own home, work for a living and am considered a decent, law-abiding citizen. I pay my taxes, go to work on time every morning, worry about the diminishing ozone layer, the high cost of living and host dinner parties. Go figure.

And while my dear husband grumbles every time a car full of teenagers drives by us with the stereo blaring, I remind him that he too was 18 once and thought the world should love the same music he did, and if they didn’t, fuck them. It was summer and this was what any self-respecting teen with a driver’s license and a car did in the summer! He now, like me, simply shakes his head and smiles when it happens.

So yes, there may be different issues with teens today than we dealt with. In the 80’s you worried that the other person’s fist was bigger than yours. Today kids worry that the other person’s gun is bigger. They listen to crappy music but then really, think about it – Duran Duran? Madonna?! The 80’s had its share of lousy music that shaped a generation’s attitudes towards sex and fashion that made our parents nervous every time we walked out the door. And now when I go out dancing (yes, sometimes I still do that!) and see a bunch of twenty-somethings dancing away to “my” music I laugh because they were still in diapers when these bands were popular!

Young people today face more policing in the schools than we ever did. Sure I remember the bus pulling into my high school and seeing a line of cop cars and thinking “bust” but that was likely for drugs. Today there are metal detectors in the schools looking for guns. Imagine getting up every day and having your parents insist you walk into that whether you like it or not. University tuition is getting further out of reach and jobs are harder to come by now than ever before. No wonder teens are angry and disillusioned – look at the world we’ve created for them.

Ultimately I think that parents and teachers need to spend more time with kids teaching basic lessons like self respect, respect of your fellow humans and instill a sense of action and consequence. Like a little kid, a teen will do whatever they think they can get away with. Why shouldn’t they? We as adults do it all the time.

Oh Please!

2005-11-24T15:18:00.000-05:00

I know I already posted today, but this article on the Toronto Star website just burns me. The fact that the French government has decided the reason youths rioted in the streets was entirely the fault of rap music is the ultimate form of denial. Now I admit to not being a fan of rap music since many of the lyrics do promote violence, objectify women and, well, in general I don't find it nice to listen to, but honestly!

Heavens, no, the reason youths in France rioted has nothing whatsoever to do with their immigration policies, their attitudes towards religious dress or the treatment of minorities in their country. It must all be the fault of a bunch of American musicians.

Right.

I have one thing to say to the French parliament:

get a life.

Giving

2005-11-24T13:15:00.000-05:00

So this year the family is doing a philanthropic Christmas rather than exchange gifts. My one brother-in-law has requested either home made gifts or donations for the past few years and now my one sister-in-law – after spending her first year working in social work with families who quite literally have nothing, said she wanted donations as well. The Good Father and I figured this was a great idea and I suggested that the entire family do donations instead of gifts this year. My mother-in-law thought it was a great idea and so she’s in too. We've all selected a few favorite charities and will give donations in a family member's name to said charities. For example, I picked Second Harvest, Daily Bread Food Bank, The Star Santa Claus Fund and the Ontario SPCA, so if someone wants to give me a present, make a donation to one of those charities instead. We're now looking into cards too since The Good Father said he'd rather give money to a charity than to Hallmark!

But alas, we do have a holdout. The Good Father’s older brother and his wife (who plays the big Christian charity card like no one else I know) aren’t keen on that idea at all. Our guess is they’re afraid that their spoilt, snot-nosed kids won’t collect. We had all agreed that since the kids were still small and there were only the two of them we’d get presents for my niece and nephew regardless.

My sister-in-law who initiated this idea says she’s giving them donations whether they like it or not, and I’ve decided if they want gifts they’ll get gifts that raise money for a charity. HBC has these lovely Simon Chang designed tops with proceeds going to breast cancer research that I think I will get for the wife, but I’m stuck for her husband. The Good Father says it would be ideal if there was some wildlife charity that published an outdoors-y magazine where funds went to the charity, but I don’t know of any.

Anyone got any good ideas for charitable gifts for a man who is negative about everything and near impossible to buy for at the best of times?

The Good Father and I decided we’d still get each other a couple of small things and set a spending limit for presents and stockings for each other (because I find that the stocking can really get up there – particularly when I do shopping for his stocking in places like Lee Valley!) because quite frankly it’s fun to shop for my spouse and regardless of how old I get it’s still fun to see parcels under the tree and get to rip a few open!

She Takes the Cake!

2005-11-22T21:19:00.000-05:00

Note the "strategic" location of the candles.

And since The Ice Queen requested, here is "the dress shot:

Happy Birthday to Me!

2005-11-22T11:28:00.000-05:00

So Sunday was my birthday and I had a fab weekend of celebration. the Crabbies along with the Ice Queen and Funky Fresh joined The Good Father and I for curried goat, the most amazing onion and bacon tartlets and a home made bellydance birthday cake courtesy of the Ice Queen and Crabby. I was going to post a picture of the cake but my email is acting up since my work computer committed suicide while I was away yesterday so you'll all just have to wait until later in the week.

Yesterday I took the day off to lunch with my mom and see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Much fun!

Anyway, not much time to post but wanted to share my aging angst with everyone!

To My Neighbour

2005-11-16T12:44:00.000-05:00

Dear Neighbour,

Though I desperately wanted to say this to you, I'm afraid that your constant state of inebriation negates any reasonable conversation and therefore I vent my spleen here instead. Perhaps this is cowardly and unethical, but it's all I can think to do.

I know you're been out of work for over a year after "loosing" your last job. I know you and your wife have both insisted it had nothing to do with your alcoholism and that you were simply downsized, but I could tell from the look on both your faces when you told me that the company simply could not excuse your increasingly frequent sick days and concern about how focused you really were on the job. In fairness they gave you a nice package, but rather than taking it as a warning and getting your shit together you instead opted to drink it away and made it impossible for me to use my yard all summer as you regularly looked for me to be outside so you could blather at me drunkenly. It was painful to see you like that at 11am, but that's the way it was. The fence is going up in the spring that we never thought we'd need, but there it is.

So you accosted me on my way home the other night and, with drink in hand and also very evident in your eyes, asked if The Good Father and I would provide a job reference for you. They didn't want work references you said, they wanted friends and neighbours to vouch for you. You caught me totally off guard and I was eager to get in my house, so I simply said that I would talk to my husband since he really knew you better than I did.

I was being a coward. I know that. The truth of the matter is that you refuse to face your drinking problem, and that not only puts your health and wellbeing in jeopardy but also makes life a living hell for your wife and small child. Since your wife also refuses to face the music and won't take her child and run, the poor kid is subjected to life in an abusive household. And no matter how often your wife tells me that "K" isn't affected by what's going on, believe me it's a lie. That child is a completely different person now than when s/he was younger. Beyond skinny, won't meet anyone's eyes and speaks with a defined stutter that wasn't there before. This is a scared kid. I know that child services has been called in since the hospital made your wife do that the last time you had to have the cops called to the house because she feared what you might do. Why she won't take the kid and run from you as far as she can is beyond me and my frustration with her is the reason that not only do we no longer socialize with you, we no longer socialize with her because we can no longer express sympathy to a woman who won't get her own child out of a horrible situation.

So the job reference. Well for one thing it's never ideal to ask someone for a reference while staggering drunk and I cannot in good consciousness tell any potential employer that you are reliable or that I trust you as far as I can comfortably throw you. The Good Father feels the same way, but for some reason when he talks to you you don't get angry like you do with the rest of us. Yes, I'm being a "girl" and hiding behind my "man" on this one because I generally prefer to stay as far away from you as I can.

I know and have heard that alcoholism is a disease and that we should pity an alcoholic rather than be mad. The analogy I've heard runs along the lines of "you don't get mad at your diabetic friend for having diabetes" to which I reply "I do if they don't take care of themselves, watch their diet and take their meds." Unfair maybe but most people I know with diseases take the necessary precautions to keep from getting sicker.

So maybe I'm a bitch or totally in the wrong or uncaring and insensitive, but this is how I feel and I'm afraid I can't do anything about that.

Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to say all this to your face. Maybe I'd be brave enough to do it now if I thought you'd listen to me, but at the moment all I can do is watch and wait and see what happens. The best I can do is pray for your child, and be warned - if I ever, ever see so much as a scratch on that kid that looks even remotely suspicious, I will not hold my tounge.

Sincerely,

Sister Staceypatrick

Ooops!

2005-11-15T10:03:00.000-05:00

Kinda screwed up my comment page. It's fixed now so you can comment again.

I'll try to think of something interesting to say later ...

Lest We Forget

2005-11-11T10:18:00.000-05:00

Now, admittedly I am not a fan of military action. I find it appaulling that we find we need to kill, maim, rape and pillage in order to sort out our differences and ultimately all it ever does is lead to more bloodshed.

However as I sat this morning watching Rememberence Day services in and around Toronto and saw those veterans standing or even sitting proud, tears in their eyes as they remembered their respective battles and listened to them sing O Canada, I admit to getting choked up. I remembered pictures my mom has of my Papa in his uniform during WW II in Poland and all the relatives I never got to meet because of one man's lunacy.

And while I express anger at governments happy to send our young people out to inhospitable locations around the world to do their dirty work while they sit in their fancy offices in their fancy suits eating in fancy restaurants and going home each night to their fancy homes and loving families, I salute the men and women of our military for going out there to do the kinds of things I could never imagine doing myself. All in the name of peace and freedom.

And while I personally think that if George Bush or Tony Blair or any other leader of any other nation has a gripe with another leader of another nation then they should haul their own asses and those of their own relatives out there to settle their disputes in person, I admit to admiring our troops from Canada for being out there helping those who are the victims of what big boys with big toys do to their own people.

So to everyone out there let us remember that while we may disagree with whatever conflicts are going on around the world at the moment, we must admit and accept that we are where we are today because of those that gave their youth and sometimes their lives so we could sit and bitch about taxes, gas prices and Christmas elections.

Thank you. Though we may not always show it, we are grateful for what you did and can only hope that somehow, someday we realize that there may just be a better way to settling our differences, but we appreciate and remember lessons learned from the past.

Who are we kidding?

2005-11-09T12:58:00.000-05:00

Reading the paper again today I am struck with a little more than simple fear at what has been happening in France the last couple of weeks. And it makes me worry. Not simply that worry that something similar could easily happen here, but that worry that the whole situation is being horribly mis-managed like so many issues like this are is supposedly civilized countries in North America and the European Union.

Groups of people strike out due to years of bottled up frustration and rage in the only way they know how, and the mob mentality takes over. The typical response is to send in government-sanctioned thugs and beat these un-sanctioned thugs into submission so that us law abiding tax paying folk can go to sleep at night without the worry our cars will be burned in the streets.

But as is typical, no one is actually taking a step back to ask these people why they are rioting, what they are lashing out against. Instead we panic and rush in to punish them for acting out and throw them into jail.

And amazingly, somewhere else in the supposedly civilized world, something similar with happen again soon. It happened with the L.A. riots, and it even happened with 9/11. Instead of asking “why is this happening?” we simply ask “how fast can we stop this?”

Now from a base level this is a logical, knee-jerk reaction. No one likes to be afraid and therefore we do what we can to make the bad people stop scaring us.

But we don’t ask what the French government is doing to these immigrant youths that makes them riot in the first place. We don’t ask the Governor of California why his people went on a destructive rampage one day. We don’t even ask what it is in the U.S. foreign policy that caused Bin Laden to even think about the idea of crashing planes full of innocent people into office towers full of even more innocent people.

Instead we scream for more blood to be spilled and send our cops and our military out there to pay those mean people back for hurting us. How dare they – we’ll show them!

But in the end no matter how many people are beaten, how many die, how many are incarcerated or how many homes and lives are destroyed, we never ever try to tackle the route of the problem. Teens here in Toronto roam around in gangs, buying up guns illegally and swarming innocent people in parks and in schools creating terror.

Yes, we need to get the guns off the streets and yes we probably should have tougher penalties for gun crimes, but do we ever stop and ask what is causing these teens to behave this way? Do we just assume they were born to be bad people and treat them as such? Do we really honestly ever try to talk to them and see what causes them to feel they need those guns, their gangs?

I’m not saying there’s an easy answer that can be fixed with the signing of a new government policy or putting up basketball hoops in Parkdale, but what I do wonder is if our standard violent reactions to their violent actions is just creating a vicious circle and we really aren’t so civilized at the end of the day after all.

Just wondering …

2005-11-04T13:42:00.000-05:00

This picture has been causing quite a stir in the Port Credit area of Mississauga. As stated in this Toronto Star article:

'Offensive' mayor portrait pulled
Group threatened legal action
Artist believes he's getting bum's rush

MIKE FUNSTON
STAFF REPORTER

A sinister-looking painting of Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion was removed from a photographer's shop window after the Port Credit Business Improvement Association threatened legal action.

The threat didn't originate with her, said McCallion, who had a laugh over the portrait.

"I don't know this gentleman at all, but from what I've heard he's somewhat interesting," she said yesterday.

Lawyer Marilyn Sparrow wrote a letter to Byron Osmond at Foto Galleries 4 on Lakeshore Rd. E. ordering him to remove the painting from the window by Oct. 27. After ignoring the deadline Osmond moved the portrait, which he painted, on Tuesday rather than face a lawsuit, he said. It had been in the window for a week.

"The current window display, with references to the Port Credit BIA and Mayor Hazel McCallion who has served this city as mayor for over 27 years, is offensive to the entire community," Sparrow wrote.

Osmond, a BIA member, said he was trying to make the mayor look powerful, not sinister. "I didn't do it to offend the mayor. I didn't put in a lot of wrinkles."

Osmond and the group have had a long-running feud. He offers nude family photography for naturists, and he believes the association doesn't approve.

He said he was left out of the Mississauga Arts Guide by the association and it has cost him an estimated $80,000 in business. So he painted the McCallion portrait dubbed "1984" and put a price tag of $80,000 on it.

Osmond believes the association is run by a clique and doesn't do enough to attract shoppers to Port Credit.

He also ran a Best Bum contest, inviting residents to have their bottoms photographed.

Osmond said he's moving his business out of Port Credit.

The association did not respond to an interview request yesterday.

Now, I may not know much about Mississauga, but I certainly know enough to realize that it's probably one of the last cities on the planet that would ever have its citizens participate in a Best Bum contest. But I can honestly say that if Hazel herself isn't offended, why should anyone care?

Hazel is a cool dame. She should be Prime Minister. Seriously.

Who Gives about the Gomery Report?!

2005-11-01T14:06:00.000-05:00

The Gomery Report was released today and fingers Chretien and his inner circle of cronies as the baddies in this whole fiasco, letting Paul Martin off the hook.

Now I don't really care who was to blame, whether Martin did or did not know what was going on, or how many people were involved. What I do care about is now that we've spent all this additional taxpayer money to assign blame somewhere, what is going to be done about it? Will Chretien and his buds be made to pay the federal goverment back? Will the Liberal Fund be forced to empty their coffers and pay Canada back with interest? Will anyone go to jail?

If no one is actually going to be punished (because, quite frankly, I don't know that Chretien actually gives a shit at this stage in his life if Canada hates him - he's out of politics and probably has more than enough cash to keep him going til he croaks) then what was the point of the report?

I suppose finally knowing exactly what did happen should count for something, but that doesn't put hundreds of millions of dollars back into taxpayer pockets, and I say if you're going to go to the effort of basically doing what amounts to a trial, shouldn't their be some punishment? This does count as fraud and imbezzlement, does it not?

What do people think? What should be done, if anything, to give us closure?

Go Build Something, You Lazy Beavers!

2005-10-27T14:07:00.000-04:00

For some reason this article struck me as incredibly funny – particularly the lines about “beavers refusing to breed” and “lazy beavers.”

Maybe that’s why I refuse to breed. I have a lazy beaver ...

Six beavers released in England
Beavers extinct in England since 12th century

European beavers gentler than North American variety, not expected to cause damage

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON — Six beavers from Bavaria were released in western England today in a second attempt to restore a species that has been extinct in the country since the 12th century.

An earlier effort in 2001 flopped because the beavers failed to breed.

The new batch of beavers was released into a 15-hectare enclosure at the Cotswold Water Park.

"I hope I live to see the day that beavers are freely roaming across the countryside once again," said Simon Pickering of the Cotswold Water Park Society.

Hunters wiped out the beaver population in England in the 12th century, but the animals survived into the 16th century in Scotland.

Pickering said he did not expect to see much construction activity in the beaver enclosure.

"They are essentially very lazy animals and will spend much of their time lying about, sleeping and eating," he told reporters.

"The European beaver is much more gentle than the Canadian beaver, and causing damage will not be an issue with them. Unlike their Canadian cousins, they don't tend to build as many dams."

I'd go build something - having a Canadian beaver and all - but I'm kinda finding more of a kinship with those of European descent ...

Fun With Credit Departments!

2005-10-25T16:50:00.000-04:00

Okay, somewhat long and convoluted story here that I’ll try to condense as much as possible …

A zillion years ago my dad gave The Good Father Patrick O’Stacey and I a car phone (anyone remember those old bag-style phones?) for our driving trip to Nova Scotia (really, this bit is relevant to the story later on so file this tidbit away for now) through his phone plan with Rogers. The Good Father eventually began upgrading his phone and phone plan with Rogers, and asked them a dozen times or so to take my dad’s name off the phone bill (see, the bill would come to us addressed to Mr. SisterStacey’s Dad, Mr. Good Father Patrick O’Stacey and since my dad wasn’t paying the bill, just started the account for us, we wanted his name off of it). So for years now the Rogers cell bill has come to us addressed Mr. Good Father Patrick O’Stacey Mr. Good Father Patrick O’Stacey. Please don’t ask me why.

More time passes and both The Good Father and I tire of our respective phone plans with Rogers and opt for a couple’s plan with a different company. I had a pay-as-you-go phone so I simply stopped putting minutes in it and my husband hadn’t had a contract with Rogers for years, opting for a month-to-month bill instead since he didn’t like any of the contract plan offers.

He calls Rogers to ask for his final bill and to cancel … and the chick on the phone tells him flat out no. How she could tell him he can’t cancel was beyond either of us so he kept having fights with the collection department over getting a final bill and closing the account.

So now the part with my dad comes back in. He comes by for dinner and asks if he ever had anything sent to him via our address. I ask why and he tells me that he applied for a line of credit, and the bank told him he had a black mark on his credit rating from an unpaid Rogers bill (dear dad hasn’t been with Rogers for years) and couldn’t figure out what the deal was. That’s when it clicked with me that while they replaced dad’s name on our bill they never actually removed him from the account.

Furious, my husband goes up the food chain at Rogers and demands to know what the hell is going on. The find that the woman in collections he’d been arguing with sent the unpaid bill to collections rather than cancel as requested. The guy The Good Father spoke to apologized profusely and corrected the issue.

Or so we thought.

Two weeks later – at 8:30pm – I pick up a phone call from Rogers credit department asking to speak with my spouse who was in the shower. I ask if I can give him a message and the woman informs me that our cable bill is over due. Surprised, I tell her that we literally just received it in the mail that very day. She insists I’m wrong and won’t discuss it with me further, saying she has to speak to my husband. I say fine I’ll give him the message. Then she asks who she’s speaking to and, since this has never been asked of me before, I ask why she needs to know. “Well fine if you’re going to be rude about it!” she says and hangs up on me.

I reiterate the whole story to The Good Father who calls the dude he spoke to to get the first issue cleared up and asks WTF?! He calls back a week later explaining that the first woman put a note in our file that we were hostile and to “treat us accordingly.” Scouts honour neither of us were ever rude. A little frustrated perhaps, but never, ever outwardly rude (honest!).

The upshot of the whole situation is the first woman got fired (apparently she’d done crap like this before and we were the straw that broke the camel’s back as it were) and the chick who hung up on me has been sent for remedial customer service training and is not allowed to speak directly to customers until she completes it.

What a convoluted mess – and all because we switched to Telus!

Something Nice To Share

2005-10-24T13:44:00.000-04:00

Yes, rather than regale you about how The Good Father Patrick O'Stacey and I managed to jointly get someone from Rogers credit department fired and another sent to remedial customer service training (the bitch called me rude when I wasn't and hung up on me ... well okay, maybe later I'll tell the story) I thought I'd share this lovely story from today's Toronto Star about a father who doesn't drive and how walking and taking public transit with his kids has allowed him a closer relationship with them. Agree or not, it's a nice read and brings home to me the point that I know a few people share that having a child does not instantly necessitate the need for a mini van!

Do I Sound Like a Man?!

2005-10-20T18:26:00.000-04:00

How is it that I get the most bizzare wrong number messages on my cell phone's voice mail? I clearly identify myself by giving my name and still sometimes I get messages for other people.

Now I have gotten messages on our home line from people speaking foreign languages and that I kinda get (kinda). But today on my cell I get a voice mail from a woman obviously familliar with the English language who apparently couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the voice message before leaving me a message. The killer is it was for some dude and they were confirming his doctor's appointment (unfortunately I don't know what kind of doctor).

Figuring this might be important as I was listening, I pulled out a pen and figured I'd write down the office number and call them back informing them of their error.

Wouldn't ya know she didn't leave a phone number.

And since I don't have call display, I have no way of getting back in touch. I am hardly going to pay *69 charges on my cell to get a wrong message sorted out, so I can only hope this was just for something minor.

For those of you who have actually spoken to me in person, is there any chance that I could be mistaken for a man on voice mail?!

(and yes, I am fully expecting at least half a dozen sarcastic remarks to that question, so don't expect to surprise me)

Glad I'm Not A Manager!

2005-10-17T12:28:00.000-04:00

It appears that most people don't actually like their bosses (qu'elle suprise, non?). This article appears in today's Toronto Star giving the stats and rates that Ontario workers give their bosses.

In my experience, a good boss can make all the difference in the world. Actually in general if you work for and with good people, almost any job can be totally bearable in my opinion. I've had to do much grunt work in my day, but if the person I'm doing it for is appreciative and nice about it, it never seems quite so bad. And I'm not just talking making big bucks (though that doesn't hurt either!). How someone asks you to do something for them, how they respond when you've finished and generally if they treat you like an actual person during the day can be huge factors in my own personal job satisfaction. Seriously, the basic manners mom taught you about saying "please" and "thank you" go a long way in my books! There's even a new tv commercial out from Monster.ca about how a nice boss can be a great thing, so there must be some truth to it!

I think the problem is that a lot of people who become managers and supervisors may be very good at what they do, but companies don't take the time to ensure that they know how to deal with people, and while someone may be a great architect, marketer or whatever, that doesn't automatically make them a people person.

How does everyone else get on with their bosses? I'm still in the new job honeymoon stage here at my job, but so far my boss seems to be a really neat lady. A little quiet and reserved perhaps, but friendly, kind and very appreciative. It's the little things, ya know?

Week One - So Far So Good ...

2005-10-10T18:02:00.000-04:00

So far things at the new job seem to be going along just fine. Having the luxury of a daily 30-minute to and 30-minute home walk is great and reminds me that it was one of the best parts of my last job working in my own neighbourhood. It allows me to gear up and wind down for the day and I hadn't realized how much I missed it! Also it makes major grocery trips to the uber-mart less necessary since I'll be going past our local grocery store, meat market, cheese shop and several fruit and veggie stores every day and can pick up food every day or two - which means we'll be eating more fresh veggies at dinner again. It also means fewer car trips, which with the current price of gas jumping about all the time every little bit helps.

I start back to belly dance classes and troupe rehearsals next weekend too which I'm glad to be getting back into. A two month hiatus from weekly dance has started to take a toll on my hips! Plus there's a kick-ass second hand bookstore next to the new dance space, so I forsee many side trips there before and after rehearsals which can't be a bad thing for a bibliophile!

This week will also mark the end of the Jewish New Year cycle with Yom Kippur on Thursday evening. Since this is the time of year Jews are supposed to ask forgiveness in order to start the year on a clean slate, I officially apologize to one and all if I have - even inadvertently - said or done anything to offend. I am truly sorry and swear that I never mean to say anything for the sole purpose of harming another (bad karma you see) so please allow me to clean my personal slate. While I may not be religious and go to synagogue, I still find the annual ritual a nice way to begin the year.

This week at work I'll meet the rest of the crew who work in the downtown office (very near where Crabby works actually!) and find out more about what the heck we do. I'll likely be posting more on a weekly than a daily basis for a bit (unless something in the news really gets my goat and I just have to vent!) and will try to visit each of you about once a week too.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is currently sitting in happy, overstuffed contetement from too much turkey and pumpkin pie!

Here's to a Happy New Year!

2005-10-02T18:52:00.000-04:00

So tomorrow I start my new job. I'm somewhere between excited, terrified, nervous and relieved which I suppose is to be expected. I may not blog for a few days while I adjust to my new daily schedule and begin celebrating the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashannah that starts at sundown tomorrow and ends 10 days hence with Yom Kippur (or Yummy Kippers as The Good Father calls it since Yom Kippur is The Day of Attonement and the day Jews traditionally fast, so he figures at the end people are seeing food and saying "yum! Kippers!" I forgive him - he's a gentile and whatever helps him remember my families holidays ...).

So thanks again to everyone for their support and good wishes during my unemployed months. I will be back later in the week, but in the meantime, have a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year with much love and laughter.

Church or State?

2005-09-30T12:50:00.000-04:00

This article appears in today's Toronto Star about how the Catholic Church may refuse Canadian politicians communion for passing the gay marriage bill.

Now, I don't know how many Canadian politicians are Catholic so I don't know how serious an impact this would actually have. I mean, for me if I was a politician it wouldn't faze me in the least being a Jew, and I have never heard of a Jew being turned away from synagoge for having liberal beliefs but hey, anything's possible.

Regardless, my first reaction was "how childish is this?!" What, so if this country won't do what one church in particular thinks is "right" (no pun intended here) then fine, we'll take our waffers and wine and go home? Do they quiz every single person as they go up to take communion to find out how they feel on the marriage issue, what their views are on abortion and birth control before agreeing to let them partake? I somehow doubt it so why make this particular comment singling out the politicians? Because it's easy to do?

Thinking further I realize the Catholic - and any other church or religious institution for that matter - has the absolute right to refuse communion, absolution, whatever to anyone who follows their particular faith but strays from their beliefs. However, I think that the Church has to accept that Canada is not a Catholic or even a Christian country and that many races, religions and lifestyle blend to make up the textured fabric of this nation. In my opinion it's one of things that makes this a great country and why I prefer to live here even above the U.S. who's politicians say they believe in equality but have under George Bush been taking a rather scary hard-line right-wing approach and that as far as I'm concerned is a step back into the dark ages for any country in this new millenium.

Still, I can't get over the fact that I feel as if the Catholic Church seems to believe by making threats they can control what we do here in Canada. As I say to anyone who doesn't agree with gay marriage or abortion or birth control or whatever -This is a free country where the rights of the individual - so long as they harm none - must be put above any one religious organization. So if you don't like it, don't do it. Or move to Rome, whatever suits you best.

The Three Rs

2005-09-28T13:35:00.000-04:00

This article is about how the Liberal government is keeping possible new locations for garbage dumps under wraps. They fear community reaction to having a dump near where they live. As is always the case, nobody wants a dump in their backyard, and I can't say I blame them.

So rather than bitch about it, do something. There are compost bins now, recycling is getting easier since more and more becomes recyclable every year. There's no real need to throw out all that much garbage, and quite frankly if people don't want garbage dumps, then perhaps they should stop creating so much garbage!

Now there will always be some that everyone will have. Most take-out food containers can't be recycled, styrofoam meat packages can't, plasitic wraps, dental floss, aerosol cans, that kind of thing. But maybe if we all paid a bit more attention to what we buy then we'd be able to throw out less. And another easy way to reduce your garbage? Break stuff up before throwing it away. Takes up less room in your garbage bag. It's not a perfect solution but it can help.

In Toronto we only have garbage pick-up every other week and to be honest that's more than enough for us. Granted we don't have kids (everyone's standard reason as to why they go through so much more stuff) but do kids really generate that much trash? I understand with a kid you use more hydro, gas and water, but do they really mean so much more garbage? Honestly, I'm curious what those of you with kids have to say on the subject. Do you really find you fill your trash bins more quickly when you have a child or do you adjust habits to keep waste in check?

So I say - like with gas prices - the solution isn't going to be in our government's hands, it's gonna be in ours. Reduce, reuse and recycle. Don't buy a minivan. Take public transit, walk or bike when you can. Carpool. Don't buy products with excessive packaging or write to favored brands manufacturers and pressure them to reduce packaging waste. If we wait for someone else to fix our environmental problems we'll be living on a dead planet in no time. If we speak up, and trust me, where and how we spend our money will tell companies what we think and can change how they distribute and create their products (remember the big consumer push against animal testing?) we can change how our world works. Not overnight, but we can make a difference!

Saw This Coming A Mile Away

2005-09-26T15:19:00.000-04:00

From today's Toronto Star site:

Opposition hammers Liberals over gas prices

CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — After waiting all summer to take a face-to-face shot at the Liberal government, opposition parties settled today on their weapon of choice: gasoline prices.

The Conservatives got the first chance to pound the Liberals over sky-high fuel prices as the House of Commons resumed sitting after a three-month break.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper asked the government to cut gas taxes.

Prime Minister Paul Martin rejected the idea, noting that half of gas taxes go to municipalities to fund local infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

The NDP and the Bloc Quebecois also planned to go after the Liberals, and the Bloc was to ask for an emergency debate.

Yeah, 'cause, ya know, if the Conservatives or NDP were in power the first thing they would do would be lower the gas taxes. Right away. Absolutely. Just as soon as they can get around to it. Will have their assistants look into getting a report on the impact of lowering the gas tax out just in time for say the next election. Maybe.

Being Like a Kid

2005-09-26T11:51:00.000-04:00

T-minus one week to new job and I'm taking some time to really relax and enjoy my last week of unemployment now that I know I have somewhere to go next Monday.

So I've been acting like a kindergartner looking forward to her first day of school. Got my "Back to School" outfit, my "Back to School" haircut and colour, and this weekend the dear Good Father Patrick O'Stacey even bought me a new "Back to School" lunch bag! I'm serious! There's this funky line of insulated lunch bags that really look like handbags. Not too expensive either! I was so excited that when the Crabbys ceme over that evening I was boucing around and dragging my poor friend into the kitchen and waving it around going "look! New lunch box! Hurray!" Fortunately Crabby is used to me now and just had a good laugh rather than sending for the men in their nice white suits to take me away.

Also on the new for fall front, our belly dance school has a new home. We're now sharing space with a ballroom dance school and the space is awsome! Great floor and much bigger than the old studio. We also get a deal if we want to take some ballroom classes (and the ballroom students if they want to try belly dancing), so some of us are discussing taking an intro class to learn some salsa!

I hope that this year proves to be a good one. I've got such high hopes and that scares me because I always worry that I get myself all psyched up and then crash and burn when things don't turn out to be as I hoped. I could use a year of good fortune and low stress!

The Wrath of God?

2005-09-21T14:05:00.000-04:00

Now, I'm not one to fully buy into the whole wrath of God thing, but watching and reading in the news lately about all the natural disasters wrecking havoc on the southern U.S. does make me wonder, and I have to wonder if dear ol' George Dubbya sees anything ironic in what has been happening on American soil.

See, since he plays the born-again Christian card and the whole God-given right to blow up supposed infidels in the middle east because they threaten the oh-so holy American way of bible-thumping life, isn't it just a teensy bit ironic that while the American military - supposedly with God's blessing through Pope Dubbya - is pounding away to shove their form of democracy down the gagging throats of countries that really don't want them there and have made it abundantly clear, that the American south is being just pummled by good old Mother Nature in a way that hasn't ever been seen before? I mean, the timing is just so, well, biblical it's not funny. That Dubbya's own home state of Texas is in the midst of an ass-whuppin' right now just seems, well, divinely just somehow.

And while I cringe to see all the poor black people of New Orleans left to die like the third class passengers on the Titanic because the rich are just too self-important to give a shit what the fuck happens to them, you have to wonder - why did these storms - and yes there have been predictions for years that this would happen at some point - choose to happen right now?

Makes one stop and go "hmmmm ..."

Well, makes me take a moment to ponder the situation anyway. And that part of the fallout is rediculously high gas prices seems again ironic. I mean, Americans - and to some extent Canadians - love their big-ass gas-guzzling cars (Small Dick syndrome I call it) and now it'll pretty much bankrupt them to drive such rediculously impractical shows of self-importance, so again, irony or fluke?

The only way the whole gas-driven chaos will end is if North Americans stop buying big-ass cars they don't really need, start using public transit when feasible (there is still no way that my husband can get from Toronto to Mississauga for work in less than two hours by public transit), improve public transit so it is feasible for more people, and car makers start really putting money and effort into creating electric and hybrid cars. The gas companies only have such amazing power over us because we allow them to. And considering how much oil is drilled for right here in Canada, why the hell should we give a flying fuck what prices do in the Middle East? Why do we allow ourselves to be held hostage to that?

Much to ponder. Maybe it's time we all start really worrying about what's actually important in this world - like using renewable energy sources and conserving those that aren't - rather than simply buying useless and impractical crap all the time just 'cause we can.

The Bitch Is Back!

2005-09-19T17:04:00.000-04:00

I GOT A JOB!!!!!

Relief doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling right now! I can walk to work, it's a small but growing company, I can walk to work, I get benefits and a pretty darn good salary to boot. I start October 3 so I still have a couple of weeks to hang and now I can actually enjoy not working, ya know?

How do you spell relief? I-N-C-O-M-E!

Still Spry at 65

2005-09-19T10:50:00.000-04:00

This article in today's Toronto Star points to potential problems that may arise with the abolishment of manditory retirement at age 65. Seems companies are all worried about liability issues (Worker's Comp stops covering your staff at age 65) and slackers (yeah, because as well all know, there is no such thing as a 35 year old slacker ...). Thus far in other provinces, stats say that out of the roughly 100,000 who retire at 65 each year, only 4,000 choose to stay at their jobs.

So why the worry? I personally am divided on manditory retirement. On the one hand it would be nice to have an age that you have to stop working by and be forced to enjoy a few years before you kick off, but I know there are a lot of people concerned that they will be working if they can because they'll starve otherwise. The Canadian Pension Plan isn't exactly generous and not everyone can afford to sock thousands of dollars away every year in an RRSP in order to ensure a comfortable retirement. Not to mention those people who simply live to work and wouldn't know what to do with themselves otherwise.

Should we force people to retire at 65 or should we be letting people work until they're ready to stop?

Reason They're Called "Emergency" Rooms

2005-09-16T11:30:00.000-04:00

This article was on the Toronto Star site today.

About time something like this happened. I've always said that emergency room triage should be able to include the option to tell people to go away and see their family doctor or go to a walk-in clinic for minor issues. It scared me that last time I was in an ER with The Good Father's broken foot and the room was beyond packed with obvious emergencies (one a small child screaming in pain from what looked like a broken arm) and nurses taking time with people that didn't need to be there. Case in point:

A teen boy who could obviously walk quite well was with his mom who told the nurse he'd hurt his hip a month ago and it hurt. The nurse enquired if he'd been to his family doctor and the mom said he had, but it still hurt so she figured she'd drop into the ER. And since they were there, she had a sore throat and could the doctor see her as well? Unreal!

Now yes, I understand that sometimes major illnesses can masquerade as seemingly minor symptoms, but really! The one good thing the Harris Conservatives did was impliment the Teleheath system, so why wouldn't this lady use it instead? I used it once myself and found it a good resource for putting my mind at ease (was having side effects after a flu shot and wasn't sure if they were serious or not. They weren't). A neighbour used it as well when she had shooting pains in her left arm. She was barely off the phone when the ambulance pulled up to take her to the hospital. Turned out it wasn't a heart attack, but they teleheath nurse thought better safe than sorry.

My idea would be to have a non-emergency clinic either in every hospital or very nearby that was opened from say 7pm to 3am and all weekend so that if someone goes into an ER and the triage nurse deems it a non-emergency but something that should have attention (stitches, low grade fevers, whatever) can refer them to that clinic. I don't know how practical it would be, but seeing as the most recent health survey suggests that less than 1% of all emergency room visits aren't emergencies, maybe it would be a good option? There has to be something we can do to improve the system. Educating people as to what an "emergency" is might be a good option. Maybe a series of ads explaining to people what emergency rooms are for and to use teleheath if they're unsure.

I don't know how practical my idea is, but I think if something was done to ease the pressure in ERs they would be able to operate much more efficiently.

So Just Say No!

2005-09-13T15:30:00.000-04:00

A short article on the Toronto Star Web site today states that U.S. Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts won't talk about the possibility of overturning the historical Roe vs. Wade decision by the Supreme Court in 1973, though has stated in the past the decision to legalize abortion was wrong. You can read the piece here.

Abortion for me is an issue along the lines of gay marriage or even being allowed to use birth control. Many religious groups have "issue" with these issues, and personally my feeling is that if you're morally opposed, don't do it, but don't you dare tell me what I can or cannot do with or to my own body.

This is not to say that I'm pro-abortion, merely pro-choice. I've never been pregnant and therefore have no idea what I would or would not do if I found myself with child. What I do know is I'd want the freedom to choose what to do about it without a bunch of religious right-wingers deciding for me. Many anti-choice advocates who cloak themselves with the self-righteous "pro-life" banner tend to wrongly believe that because I am pro-choice I would have an abortion. I've had numerous debates over the years with people on this one. I may never have one, but that doesn't mean I would deny a 15-year-old rape victim the right to terminate her pregnancy, or the university student who misses a pill or even the mother of three kids who accidentally finds that her regular birth control method failed. Who am I to say what another woman can do with her body?

With so many cases of unplanned and unwanted kids out there who wind up the victims of child abuse (one of my fave arguments has always been "you'll grow to love your child." Uh-huh.) why shouldn't abortion be an option? Ideally if all forms of preventative birth control were 100% fail-proof this wouldn't be an issue, but the reality is shit happens and so do unwanted pregnancies. I don't believe that a foetus is an individual at conception. That said I don't think abortions should be allowed at any point during a pregnancy. Once the foetus medically reaches the stage where it could be considered a person, then that's where the line should be drawn.

But that's just my two cents ...

UN Uneffective

2005-09-12T13:25:00.000-04:00

Today the Toronto Star's daily poll asked readers if they believed that the United Nations was useful. 65% said no and I was one of them. The UN as far as I'm concerned is the biggest waste of resources for the planet. They serve no useful purpose and make a sham out of the original reason they were formed in the first place - to basically prevent the horrors of the Holocaust from ever happening again. They have failed miserably.

The original League of Nations - from what I understand - didn't fare well either due to the active absence of the United States. Then the UN was formed after WW II and so far have prevented nothing horrific as far as I can tell. The world still suffers from rabid dictators bent on death, destruction and ethnic cleansing and the UN sits there and, well, sits there.

They have no teeth, no clout, no real power to speak of. If the UN is going to ever become a going concern, they have to actually have some clout in the nations represented by them. They need to have power over people like George Bush who inspite of the UN saying his little tryst in Iraq was considered an illegal act, went blythely ahead and declared war anyway, basically giving the UN the finger in the process. The UN response? Yeah, still waiting for it.

Unless world governments actally work UN rulings into their constitutions, then the UN serves no useful purpose. Their work is useless. Their rulings mean nothing. So why are they there? They have no military or political clout and when they do choose to act, it's so far been well after millions of people have already died. So what's the point?

I'm open to being proven wrong, so if anyone has any insight into why we bother still with the UN or has any ideas to share on how to make them effective, please share.

On the Bandwaggon

2005-09-07T17:13:00.000-04:00

Okay, I am sick to death of blog spam, and while I can't get all of it to stop, I can at least disallow annonymous comments - which I'm now doing. Sorry to those who this causes a problem for (guess you're gonna have to start a blog now, huh govgirl?) but I'm tired of deleting ads for car loans, diet pills and enemas!

Thank you for your attention to this matter. You may now return to your regularly scheduled activities ...

Old, Not Dead!

2005-09-06T17:28:00.000-04:00

I do regular gigs at seniors homes with my belly dancing. Sometimes with the troupe, sometimes as a duet with my fellow dancer Bronwen and sometimes, like today, solo.

I know it doesn't sound great "woo-hoo, dancing for seniors. How thrilling - not!" but really, they have turned out to be some of the best audiences I've ever performed for. From the minute I walk into a residence and tell them who I am the staff get all excited "ooohhh! The belly dancer is here!" It's a boost to be sure. I mean, how often do you walk into your place of work and everyone says "oh yeah! You're here!" Yeah, not that often for me either.

And the residence are always so receptive! They want to participate (part of my gig is I drag a few eager volunteers up to shimmy with me and try on a hip scarf) and there's nothing more rewarding than knowing your dancing has inspired a woman in a wheelchair to get up and come dance with you. The men are always a hoot too. They get all giddy when you dance over to them ("hee hee! She looked at me! Did you see?") and love to be flirted with.

It's funny, the first time I went to do a solo gig at a residence I was kinda not into it, but they were paying and I certainly needed (and still do need!) the money. But once I finished and got so much wonderful feedback, praise and participation, I realized how rewarding these gigs were to do.

North Americans are a society that worships the young and shuns the old. We stick them away in buildings and forget that they're still living, vibrant people with a wealth of experience to share. Being able to bring an hour of joy into their lives is rewarding for me. Oh sure, you get the odd one who balks at the costume or the kinds of moves, but overall they find it beautiful to watch and fun to try.

Not such a bad way to make a few extra dollars.

I'd Have Rather Been a Zebra

2005-09-05T20:04:00.000-04:00

So perusing today's Toronto Star and find another enlightening article about the goings on in New Orleans since Katrina hit. Apparently the New Orleans zoo, which admittedly resides on some of the highest ground in the city, was spared the worst of the storms. It would seem that the zoo's management was presuming a storm like this was inevitable and decided to prepare an emergency plan just in case.

The death toll in the city for people: could reach 10,000
Deaths at the zoo: two otters and a raccoon.

Zoo personel where on standby for when Katrina hit. Emergency stores of food and water had been stored on the premises and 14 staff were on hand to care for the animals. Barracades had been errected and thus far, aside from the loss of the three animals, everyone at the zoo is doing just fine.

So why is it that a zoo could get its shit together enough to be prepared for this disaster when the rest of the city was caught unprepared and defenceless? Can we say lack of foresight from the federal government? All news sources I've read stated that the country knew for years that something like this was bound to happen at some point, and that if the government would put out one billion dollars to prepare the Golf Coast, much of the destruction could have been avoided. Now it looks like tens of thousands of Americans are paying with their homes, their jobs and their lives. Insurance claims are beyond projection and the fallout for the rest of North America in inflated gas prices and therefore higher prices for everything else from apples to X-boxes.

This disaster will now probably cost tens of billions of dollars for the American government, international governments (if Bush would just take the fucking help everyone is so generously offering - including Canada), insurance companies (who will no doubt use this as a very convenient excuse to ding the hell out of everyone everywhere for everything to recoup their precious losses) and private citizens who have to rebuild their homes, their businesses and their lives. New Orleans may never be the same again. People are being shot dead in the streets over loaves of bread.

Suddenly, ya know, a billion dollars doesn't seem like a whole hell of a lot of money ...

I Take It Back

2005-09-02T09:41:00.000-04:00

On Coffe Dog's blog I made a comment that it was sad the world was taking such a massive interest in the devistation cause by Katrina when after the Tsunami earlier this year we kinda went "oh no!" for a while and then moved on.

I was wrong in my assessment of how we were reacting since this was a disaster closer to home. After reading Rosie DiManno's article this morning in the Toronto Star, I feel horrible for the people stranded in this storm-ravaged area of the continent and seethe at the lack of government reaction thus far. Aside from a comment I saw from Georgie-boy on the news that his dear dad and Clinton were going to start fundraising and the government would "respond" he didn't specify how. Or when. Which sickens me because he's probably sitting there figuring he can't put money towards helping his own people because he's too busy spending billions of American dollars playing dictator in other countries in the Middle East that really don't want him there. The article says:

Nature wrought destruction but human beings have brought disgrace.

It is disgraceful that countless people are still stranded five days after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf coastline, flattening communities and knocking a major metropolis on its ear.

It is disgraceful that hundreds of state troopers and National Guard soldiers have been deployed to protect property rather than help people.

It is disgraceful that thousands of hurricane refugees — including the elderly, the infirm, the sick, mothers with babes in arms, children separated from parents — have been essentially abandoned in the Superdome and the convention centre, left to fend for themselves without food or water.

It is disgraceful that not a single relief agency has any presence on the ground as far as those of us who are here can see. No Red Cross, no federal emergency administrators, no medical teams, no shelter officials, no angels of mercy.

That is why, beneath the damp and dank, New Orleans is seething.

That — and not rampant greed — is why there has been so much looting in recent days, to the extent that police and troops have been taken away from critical rescue operations and assigned to watch the inmates, or outcasts, who are being treated like vagrants.

And that's all they do: Watch. Patrolling up and down the main arteries, in their armoured personnel carriers — as if this were Baghdad — automatic weapons hoisted on their shoulders, never stopping to assist fragile citizens in wheelchairs and walkers or mothers with ailing, wailing infants.

I've seen better disaster response efforts for earthquake victims in India and the ethnically cleansed exiles of Kosovo. Even the prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay are surely being cared for better than this.

Could it be because the overwhelming majority of these dispossessed are poor and black that their very lives are apparently of less worth than business properties in the French Quarter, deluxe hotels on Canal St., chi-chi mansions in the Garden District, and tourist casinos on the riverfront?

Harrahs Casino, one of the largest and sturdiest buildings near the Riverwalk Palisade, barely damaged, has bolted its front doors, while scores of homeless families that might have taken temporary refuge therein are left to huddle on the torn-up grass, in the dripping humidity — and, yesterday afternoon, the deluge of another thunderstorm — waiting forlornly for promised evacuation buses that have yet to appear.

"We are a Third World city in a First World country," spat out one disgusted local as he propelled a grocery cart laden with personal possessions along Royal St., intent on getting the hell out of the city, out of the parish, even if he had to walk all the way to Baton Rouge, 130 kilometres northwest. Another frail fellow, a diabetic whose limbs are too swollen to walk — he's been unable to obtain dialysis treatment for nearly a week — was being pushed along in his wheelchair by an elderly friend. They had no specific destination — just away from here. Out, out, out. But a speeding scout car almost ran them over in the middle of the street.

Julie Holzenphal, 31, delivered her first child on Aug. 22 in nearby St. Bernard Parish, shortly before Katrina hit, but was turned out of the hospital the next day, even though maternity ward staff kept her newborn daughter, Zoe, who required medical attention. When Holzenphal managed to make her way back Wednesday, she found all the babies had been transferred to distant hospitals, some even out of state.

"I don't know where my baby is," the single mom sobbed. "Somebody said Houston. How am I supposed to find her? Where are the records? My house is gone, but I don't care about that. This is my baby daughter, for God's sake!"

Everywhere, the scenes are heartbreaking, the tales of woe pathetically similar.

"We spent four nights in the Superdome, but we just couldn't stay there no more," said Deion Franklin, as she and husband, Lamond, ushered five youngsters and one chow puppy onto an aluminum skiff — and how the couple managed to get hold of such a precious conveyance, they wouldn't say.

"There must have been 100,000 people in the dome, and you just wouldn't believe the mess, the heat, even the crime," Franklin continued. (Officials put the figure at 25,000.)

"We were always being told: `We'll get you out of here, there are buses coming.' But we never saw no buses.

"I didn't want my little girls in there any more. There were at least four girls raped, that's what I heard. Shots being fired, knives being pulled, fights breaking out all over the place."

The woman's daughters excitedly come forward to recount the worst thing they'd seen: "This man, he jumped right off the top section. I saw him do it," claims the oldest. "He was holding this little girl in his lap and then he put her down and then he just jumped, killed himself."

Franklin claims the man had scrawled his name and address on a sink before committing suicide. "Apparently he'd lost the rest of his family in the hurricane. They'd all drowned."

There was chaotic violence at the convention centre some 10 blocks south of the Superdome, as well.

Late Wednesday night, shooting broke out and at least one person was killed. But three or four others apparently died overnight and two bodies had yet to be removed yesterday morning. They were still lying on the pavement across from the centre.

"Police won't come in here to help us out," complained Leanne Zambloom, as she fretted over her 11-month-old son, Jahon, frantic over the child's listlessness, his refusal to take in fluids. "We've had rapes, we've had murders, but all the cops do is drive around with their shotguns."

Then, wrenchingly, she begs: "Will you take my baby? Please, get him some help. I'm willing to turn him over to somebody who can get him to a doctor. I'm terrified he's going to die."

For several blocks, to either side of the convention centre, thousands of refugees wait sprawled on the concrete, endlessly pleading for information and release. Insofar as they are surviving at all, it's because they are taking poignant care of each other, sharing their dwindling provisions, minding one another's children.

"I could never have lasted this long if it wasn't for strangers," adds Zambloom.

It is every day more apparent that these refugees and evacuees are on their own, to cope as best they can.

"I was stuck on the roof of my house for two days, and then a 240-foot barge smashed right into it," said Joceryn Moses. "It wasn't no police or soldiers who rescued me. It was just a man with a boat, and I never even got his name.

"So then I'm brought here and I end up sitting on the sidewalk for three days. Can't they at least bring in some portable toilets? You got to do your business, you squat down behind a car. Is this America? Are we animals? I don't know, maybe we're turning into animals."

But what I see are young people taking care of old people, the relatively healthy caring for the sick, people sharing their paltry supplies. It's true there's crime and violence, but tempers are terribly frayed, and feelings of hopelessness overwhelming. The only well-known and sympathetic face these people have seen was that of the musician and actor Harry Connick Jr. The New Orleans-born celebrity — his father was the city's famous district attorney for decades — spent yesterday wandering among the stricken.

There is also, it must be remembered, the underlying reality of impoverished and ghettoized New Orleans, where dangerous neighbourhoods were already segregated by more than race. And it is from these neighbourhoods, these resentful enclaves, that many of the refugees originate.

They didn't get out when they were told to get out because they couldn't get out. They're poor. They don't have cars. They don't have SUVs that could navigate the flooded streets. And they had nowhere to go, so they followed the advice of officials, pouring into the Superdome and the convention centre.

"Everybody's angry, can people on the outside understand that?" asks Kathy Jenkins, a 26-year-old single mother with a toddler and an infant. "Then you get different gangs from different projects who already have their rivalries, and they're thrown in together. What do you think is going to happen?"

The men, the heads of families, are palpably infuriated and shamed by their inability to look after loved ones. They feel impotent, and that also nourishes their rage.

"Every time I try to talk to a police officer, I just get blown off," grumbled Carl Davis, a labourer who has lived all of his 50 years in New Orleans.

"Man, I know we got us a disaster here. But how could they have been so ill-prepared? They knowed this was coming. There must be hundreds of public school buses in this city. Why can't they use those to get us out of here? What would it take to give a person two square meals a day?

"We're always sending food and doctors to people on the other side of the world. We have soldiers dying in Iraq. And they can't get help down to us poor people in New Orleans?

"I tell you, America has let us down."

America let us down. Doesn't that just say it all. My heart and hopes go out to everyone who has suffered from Katrina's wrath and hope that your government - and other governments around the world who have been helped out over the years not by the American government, but by the people of that country, come together to do what they can to bring these people home. Soon.

Again, I apologize for my comment earlier. I hadn't heard the whole story and made a wrong assumption.

High Hopes for September

2005-09-01T10:50:00.000-04:00

Regardless of the fact that fall doesn't oficially arrive for another few weeks, the first of September for me has always meant the beginning of the season. Here's hoping it's a better month than the one that just past - here's to being able to pay all our bills on time and in full, here's to an actual job offer and here's to getting the car fixed quickly.

Yeah, The Good Father had an accident yesterday thanks to some fuckwit deciding to slam on their brakes for no discernable reason in the pissing nasty rain just before an on ramp and causing a five car pile up. Nice way to start the morning, huh? Well, thankfully he wasn't hurt and the damage to the car is still being assessed, but the insurance company provided a rental and hopefully we'll know how soon his own car will be fixed. The cops didn't charge anyone in the accident due to the lousy weather, but I'm sure that our insurance company will still find this the perfect reason to jack up our rates next year. Fab.

I called Crabby as soon as I got off the phone with my husband because I was a mess and had a phone interview later in the morning (and those of you who know me will realize how I never, EVER talk about job interviews due to my firm belief in the jinx factor, but I was pretty frazzled). Bless her loving heart, the first thing she said was "should I get Mr. Crabby to bring me over? I can be there in five minutes." She offered to sit with me during the phone interview (thank the gods it was a phone interview and I only needed to sound composed, not look it!) if I wanted. Hurray for friends! I kept her on the phone for half an hour but managed to get through the call on my own. I have no clue if it went well or not, I can barely remember what I said! Anyway, Crabby managed to make me laugh which was what I needed, so that was a good thing.

So keep your fingers crossed that since August went out on such a nasty note that September may actually start on a good one. So far it hasn't been a banner morning (don't ask) but I try desperately to remain hopeful.

And did anyone see gas prices this morning here in Toronto again? The Good Father got a "deal" getting gas at $1.20 a litre. Most places are apparently nearer to $1.26! Nasty!

I Wondered When This Would Happen

2005-08-30T15:03:00.000-04:00

Got this email from a friend of mine today:

Try this:

IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE IN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES DID NOT PURCHASE A DROP OF GASOLINE FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES.

AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OF OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OIL COMPANIES.

THEREFORE SEPTEMBER 1st HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND " DAY AND THE PEOPLE OF THESE TWO NATIONS SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF GASOLINE THAT DAY.

THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT.

WAITING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO STEP IN AND CONTROL THE PRICES IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION AND CONTROL IN PRICES THAT THE ARAB NATIONS PROMISED TWO WEEKS AGO?

REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF GASOLINE GOING UP BUT AT THE

SAME TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH EFFECTS PRICES ON EVERYTHING THAT IS SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING MATERIALS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES ETC. WHO PAYS IN THE END? WE DO!

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY, WE WILL DO IT.

AGAIN AND AGAIN.

SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE SEPTEMBER 1ST A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA SAY "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"

I had been saying something like this to The Good Father for years, that if somehow just everyone in Toronto stood their ground and didn't buy gas on one day, would it make the gas companies take notice. He said no, but could you imagine if everyone, or at least the majority of people in North America, didn't buy gas for a day what just the media coverage alone might do?

Ultimately I don't think gas prices would come down miraculously to affordable levels, but if the public gave these monopolies just a taste of what we were willing to do en masse to make a statment, maybe over time if more people took public transit, stopped buying new cars, used their bikes, anything at all, could we bring about a change?

It would be interesting to see ...

Right Neighbourly

2005-08-29T16:20:00.000-04:00

So the other night The Good Father Patrick O'Stacey and I were watching a DVD when we broke for popcorn. The Good Father ducked out for an illicit puff of nicotine, and came racing back in to tell me that our new neighbour "D" (we only met him last month after they first moved in) was chasing some guy down the street yelling at the top of his lungs. We stepped out the front door to check and see what was up, and it turned out that some freak had followed his wife down the street from the corner store. She's got a serious back injury and walks with a cane, and this really freaked her out. While The Good Father went down the street with D to see if they could find him while I ran over to see C and find out if she was okay. She was just getting off the phone with the cops who were (supposedly) sending someone over to take down a statement and get a description. She was really freaked out and upset, and trust me, this is not a woman who gets upset easily!

So I sat on her front porch with her telling dumb jokes trying to calm her down some while another neighbour came out and went with TGF and D to see if they could see this guy anywhere. Of course the freak was long gone and the cops never actually showed (nice!). The guys came back and we hung for a while with them, and we basically just told them if they needed anything we were nearby.

I got home today from seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with mom and found a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine in my door with a card from the very same neighbours thanking us for being there for them. Too sweet! I went right over and thanked them, telling that it hadn't been necessary but they just said they were grateful that they had neighbours who gave a shit.

This is why I love my street. Neat, huh?