Wednesday, 25 August 2010 - Kids grow really really fast. I watch my nieces grow and I am absolutely astonished at just how fast the girls grow out of stuff. Any stuff really. There was the seat that you could prop them in... too small for them now. There was the bouncy vibrate'y chair thingy that you could soothe them in... to small again. There is the Olympic wear that every good little half breed (half Canadian) should own... awfully tight. It is a common theme, and it seems to be a 6 week cycle. I visit every 2-4 weeks. I have made it my mission to bring on visits things they will not outgrow that quickly. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea what that might be.
As the girls grow out of things, they are growing in to others. Some of which were handed laterally from other girls a little older, but growing just as fast. The clothes that no longer fit are handed off to another family who too is watching their offspring spring right out of their clothes. It's a little 'reduce, reuse, recycle' and it works really well. A second-hand wardrobe - or third or forth hand - makes excellent sense when you are talking of the wee ones. Hell, there are times when a second hand wardrobe could make good sense for the not so wee anymore ones. Today is Second Hand Wardrobe Day so if there is anything in your closet that you think should be being worn by someone, but that someone is no longer you, pass it off.
I have a large Rubbermaid container full of clothes that need a new home. I got a suggestion the other day that I put it outside with a sign saying the first $10 takes it. The idea is that by putting a value on it, it is more likely to be stolen. Is it stealing if I just want to give it away? Second Hand Wardrobe Day could be about more than just moving things from your closet to another's. Maybe it isn't selling, or offing, or dumping your stuff, but providing something for those who need it more than you. There is always someone out there who needs it more than you. (I'm not talking just about those out there with ZERO fashion sense and who do not own full length mirrors.)
Look around you. Everywhere you turn these days it seems there is someone in need. As the summer turns to fall, people begin to look for warmer clothes. Clothes can be very expensive as we all know. Second hand stores and Good Will are great ways to help. A good shirt for $3 is easier for many than $75. Jeans for $5 rather than $105 is certainly more affordable. Sweaters and jeans could go a long way to providing a bit of protection from the elements. Whether they are in need of a 3.5 inch spiked leather knee boot with back lace-up or not is another question. And I'm not certain I'm ready to part with these babies yet.
I was out at a gala one night in a very sexy brand new pair of Bruno Magli shoes. They were pointy and high and strappy... and pure torture. Not really the kind of shoe you give away to the homeless. I on the other hand, threw them out of the window at a hooker we passed on the way home. She seemed pleased. And honestly, if you spend most of your time on your back, they shouldn't be so uncomfortable. They were really really hot shoes... so if her "dates" aren't very attractive, she can at least put her feet in the air and admire the shoes.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Things go whoosh boom burn
Tuesday, 24 August 2010 - If you live on the flood plains, why are you surprised when your basement floods? You live in tornado alley, yet when your mobile home becomes upwardly mobile, you look for answers. The question should be why you rebuild your life in the path of a tornado? There is clearly understood economic reasons for living in the path of natural disaster. Often, people who live in these areas do so because they can afford to live there. Moving out of the area could take money they just don't have. Perhaps the family home has been passed down - and moved from concrete pad to concrete pad - for generations. When, as a family, you are marginalized, it is no easy task to pack up your life and move. How will you pay for the move? How will you create a new life when you can barely afford the one you have?
Hurricane season too is but a month away which means there are a few people who's lives will be turned upside down and sideways - or at the very least, the car in the driveway and the lawn furniture will get a ride. For me, it means low season prices on Mexican vacations, and a week in the sun. If a hurricane comes through, it means an extended vacation and a few good stories when I get home.
You would think that after years and years of history repeating itself, people would have naturally migrated away from areas of danger as an example of evolution. There are patches of civilization that haven't altered their way of life in thousands of years. Some of these tribesmen live deep in the jungles of Brazil and Africa. Some live in patches of land in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. Yet this is nothing new. On today's date in 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius burst it's top in what was undoubtedly one of the largest single volcanic eruptions in history. Over 3,300 people became part of the geology. If that wasn't lesson enough, in 1631, Vesuvius blew again, this time killing over 3,600.
Today is Vesuvius Day. In honour of such natural disasters and the urge to live where one probably shouldn't, we should think to our friends in Insurance. If you are not able to purchase flood insurance, you might be living in a flood zone. If you can not purchase earthquake insurance, you might live in an earthquake zone. If you are unable to purchase volcanic damage insurance... well you know how this goes.
Myself, I live in one of the most beautiful parts of North America... a mere 100 miles from Mt. Baker - a volcano that has been known to spew and steam, a few kilometres from the San Andreas Fault, and blocks from an international Airport and a mass transit project. I suppose I should know better, but honestly, I live in paradise. Ask Adam or Eve... even paradise is fleeting. One day I might look back on my decision to stay here and wonder if perhaps I too failed to learn from history. In the mean time, I pay my insurance, and ignore the risk. That could pass as a mantra for my life. So far I am unharmed.
Hurricane season too is but a month away which means there are a few people who's lives will be turned upside down and sideways - or at the very least, the car in the driveway and the lawn furniture will get a ride. For me, it means low season prices on Mexican vacations, and a week in the sun. If a hurricane comes through, it means an extended vacation and a few good stories when I get home.
You would think that after years and years of history repeating itself, people would have naturally migrated away from areas of danger as an example of evolution. There are patches of civilization that haven't altered their way of life in thousands of years. Some of these tribesmen live deep in the jungles of Brazil and Africa. Some live in patches of land in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. Yet this is nothing new. On today's date in 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius burst it's top in what was undoubtedly one of the largest single volcanic eruptions in history. Over 3,300 people became part of the geology. If that wasn't lesson enough, in 1631, Vesuvius blew again, this time killing over 3,600.
Today is Vesuvius Day. In honour of such natural disasters and the urge to live where one probably shouldn't, we should think to our friends in Insurance. If you are not able to purchase flood insurance, you might be living in a flood zone. If you can not purchase earthquake insurance, you might live in an earthquake zone. If you are unable to purchase volcanic damage insurance... well you know how this goes.
Myself, I live in one of the most beautiful parts of North America... a mere 100 miles from Mt. Baker - a volcano that has been known to spew and steam, a few kilometres from the San Andreas Fault, and blocks from an international Airport and a mass transit project. I suppose I should know better, but honestly, I live in paradise. Ask Adam or Eve... even paradise is fleeting. One day I might look back on my decision to stay here and wonder if perhaps I too failed to learn from history. In the mean time, I pay my insurance, and ignore the risk. That could pass as a mantra for my life. So far I am unharmed.
Monday, August 23, 2010
And he shall be known as Shvitsil
Monday, 23 August 2010 - One of the advantages of living along side the Cascades is the views. Everywhere you turn, there are purple mountains majesty, and snow capped peaks with such beauty at which you can marvel. The scenery on the coast, especially the Pacific Northwest is like nowhere else. The mountains provide an unending playground for the adventurous and the not so adventurous year round. There is the Grouse Grind which is a gruelling climb - part hike, part staircase - that sees hundreds of visitors every day. Day hikes and weeklong treks, mountaineering and mountain climbing, skiing, boarding, snowshoeing, heli-skiing, tubing, tobogganing, zip lining, hot tubbing, clubbing, camping, hotel guesting... the options seem endless indeed.
The weather on the mountains also provide excellent variety. In one day you can experience warmth, cold, fog, rain, sun and snow, and get a bit of all of it again on the way down. But mountain adventures are had all over the world. What about the folks who scale Kilimanjaro, Everest, Mount McKinley, Mount McKay... are they adrenalin junkies? Or maybe they are short statured and looking for a leg up? There are so many cool places in the world that can provide adventuresome travel, some places where you can go it alone, and others where you might want to consider a sherpa.
In the coming year, myself and a couple of mates are looking at a mountaineering trip to Peru or Ecuador. Maybe that doesn't seem like the relaxing vacations of the Caribbean variety, but I'm sure that the weather will be warmer than it will be here on the 49th parallel, initially anyway. I have been assured that there are several days of easy'ish hiking as we ascend mountains, passing streams, lakes, rocks, and snow. The crampons that will adorn my shoes are what I will call "mountain golf shoes". There are tents involved, but I've also heard word of Inns and "porters." A porter I've been told, is like a sherpa, only they lug up your stuff, set up tents, look after you, and then wait for you at the base camp to ensure you come down off the mountain alive. A porter sounds to me like a vacation slave. Now see... I'm finding positives in this trek all over the place.
I have always wanted a slave. I shall call him Shvitsil. He will by my house boy, pool boy, shoe boy, man servant all around handy dandy 'porter.' I will hug him and squeeze him and treat him well, but I will have very high expectations of him. If I were very lucky, I would also have a driver... and he shall be known as Hobdee. I thought about calling him James - but it's just so last year. The driver slave will be responsible for all the driving... something of which I could really be happy to do away. I'm not enamoured with driving... but I am all over the keeping of slaves. Here's hoping the United Nations doesn't link to my blog. Today is International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and it's Abolition. I'm guessing sherpas and porters don't really fall under the category of slave trade. I wonder though if my porter will allow me to call him Shvitsil?
The weather on the mountains also provide excellent variety. In one day you can experience warmth, cold, fog, rain, sun and snow, and get a bit of all of it again on the way down. But mountain adventures are had all over the world. What about the folks who scale Kilimanjaro, Everest, Mount McKinley, Mount McKay... are they adrenalin junkies? Or maybe they are short statured and looking for a leg up? There are so many cool places in the world that can provide adventuresome travel, some places where you can go it alone, and others where you might want to consider a sherpa.
In the coming year, myself and a couple of mates are looking at a mountaineering trip to Peru or Ecuador. Maybe that doesn't seem like the relaxing vacations of the Caribbean variety, but I'm sure that the weather will be warmer than it will be here on the 49th parallel, initially anyway. I have been assured that there are several days of easy'ish hiking as we ascend mountains, passing streams, lakes, rocks, and snow. The crampons that will adorn my shoes are what I will call "mountain golf shoes". There are tents involved, but I've also heard word of Inns and "porters." A porter I've been told, is like a sherpa, only they lug up your stuff, set up tents, look after you, and then wait for you at the base camp to ensure you come down off the mountain alive. A porter sounds to me like a vacation slave. Now see... I'm finding positives in this trek all over the place.
I have always wanted a slave. I shall call him Shvitsil. He will by my house boy, pool boy, shoe boy, man servant all around handy dandy 'porter.' I will hug him and squeeze him and treat him well, but I will have very high expectations of him. If I were very lucky, I would also have a driver... and he shall be known as Hobdee. I thought about calling him James - but it's just so last year. The driver slave will be responsible for all the driving... something of which I could really be happy to do away. I'm not enamoured with driving... but I am all over the keeping of slaves. Here's hoping the United Nations doesn't link to my blog. Today is International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and it's Abolition. I'm guessing sherpas and porters don't really fall under the category of slave trade. I wonder though if my porter will allow me to call him Shvitsil?
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Tomorrow never comes.... pass me a drink today.
Sunday, 22 August 2010 - When do you know it's time to say enough is enough? Do you need a sign? Some kind of celestial signal? Perhaps it is time when your horror-scope says it's time. I think everyone needs a sign... some kind of beacon or alarm that denotes time. There is the morning alarm clock which ultimately tells you it is time to wake. There is the pop up window that tells you it's time for your meeting, and there is the buzzer on the oven to tell you it's time to put in the roast. But what is the tell-tale sign that it is time to stop procrastinating, or some kind of kick to the behind that says you can think about it forever but if you don't actually put the shoes on, that run will never happen. Seriously... why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?
Well, I suppose that is because tomorrow never really arrives. There is ALWAYS a tomorrow... well, at least we can hope that is the case. In reality, our next breath is assumed. Tomorrow may never arrive, and all we have is right now. We can't spend out lives waiting on tomorrow, or planning to 'start' that soon. Sometime you just need to start. Start now, not tomorrow, don't wait for the perfect day of the week... Monday... everything should start on a Monday. Or Sunday - hey... that's today - because it's the start of the week according to the calendar.
So it is Sunday, it is the start of the week, and it is now. What will you start that you have put off? I have been putting off many things because sometimes it is just easier to think that there will be another day to get to that. I procrastinate myself right out of great ideas. It took me 11 months to settle on a sofa. Rome wasn't built in a day you know. On the other hand, at least the Romans got around to building the city. If it were left to me, the gladiators would still be living in cardboard boxes on the side of dirt paths.
Alas, it is Sunday. I will get started on a few things today... like the laundry. I've been looking at the pile of laundry that is beginning to take over my room and certainly the closet for some time now. I have a large Rubbermaid container full of old clothes and household crap that I no longer want nor need that I have been moving from room to room for those same 11 months that it took to find the sofa upon which I am now sitting. I have hit the green grocer and stocked the fridge with the things that make my body happy - vegetables, vegetables, vegetables and fruit so that tomorrow I can eat healthily. Today is already a right off. I've had an enormous coffee and a Coke Zero for Breakfast, chased down with a Burger King Whopper - minus the bun. Last night I was certainly no Angel, but today will be better - and will not include wine. There was enough of that yesterday. I may not have had a healthy start to the day, but I will have a healthy finish. And tomorrow will flow from today. I am no Angel, that is for sure, but seeing as it is Be An Angel Day, I can put my best foot forward and give it a go. If I wait for tomorrow, it will be too late.
Of course, if I start tomorrow... it would be the start of a new week. I like that plan the best. Now, be an Angel and get me a glass of vino.
Well, I suppose that is because tomorrow never really arrives. There is ALWAYS a tomorrow... well, at least we can hope that is the case. In reality, our next breath is assumed. Tomorrow may never arrive, and all we have is right now. We can't spend out lives waiting on tomorrow, or planning to 'start' that soon. Sometime you just need to start. Start now, not tomorrow, don't wait for the perfect day of the week... Monday... everything should start on a Monday. Or Sunday - hey... that's today - because it's the start of the week according to the calendar.
So it is Sunday, it is the start of the week, and it is now. What will you start that you have put off? I have been putting off many things because sometimes it is just easier to think that there will be another day to get to that. I procrastinate myself right out of great ideas. It took me 11 months to settle on a sofa. Rome wasn't built in a day you know. On the other hand, at least the Romans got around to building the city. If it were left to me, the gladiators would still be living in cardboard boxes on the side of dirt paths.
Alas, it is Sunday. I will get started on a few things today... like the laundry. I've been looking at the pile of laundry that is beginning to take over my room and certainly the closet for some time now. I have a large Rubbermaid container full of old clothes and household crap that I no longer want nor need that I have been moving from room to room for those same 11 months that it took to find the sofa upon which I am now sitting. I have hit the green grocer and stocked the fridge with the things that make my body happy - vegetables, vegetables, vegetables and fruit so that tomorrow I can eat healthily. Today is already a right off. I've had an enormous coffee and a Coke Zero for Breakfast, chased down with a Burger King Whopper - minus the bun. Last night I was certainly no Angel, but today will be better - and will not include wine. There was enough of that yesterday. I may not have had a healthy start to the day, but I will have a healthy finish. And tomorrow will flow from today. I am no Angel, that is for sure, but seeing as it is Be An Angel Day, I can put my best foot forward and give it a go. If I wait for tomorrow, it will be too late.
Of course, if I start tomorrow... it would be the start of a new week. I like that plan the best. Now, be an Angel and get me a glass of vino.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Left... unlucky
Friday, 13 August 2010 - Ah... Friday the 13th? Good day for a horror film no? What about a good day to run through the neighbourhood with a goalie mask? Sickle? Butchers knife? Talking doll? (Sorry, wrong movie.) This is one of those days where anything you do or say is blame free. Honestly? Who could blame you? So where does the evil shroud of Friday the 13th come from, other than from some B Movie horror film with a guy named Freddie?
Fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia... and if you aren't afraid of the day, you should be afraid of having to pronounce that! Seems to be that until the 19th century, there wasn't any real record of a Friday falling on the 13th being a bad luck day. But think about all the bad that is associated with the number 13? There are 12 months in a year, 12 hours on a clock face, 12 apostles, 12 zodiac signs, 12 Olympus Gods... Maybe 13 is unlucky cause it messes with the order of things. And Fridays... well, they say its a bad day to start a project, is a bad day for the markets (Black Friday ring any bells?), and it seems Friday wasn't a great day for Jesus. There are not too many 13th floors in towers and buildings (unless you are Chinese, in which case there isn't too many 4th or 14th floors). Who knows what brought this about, all I know is that today is Blame Someone Else Day, and I have no intention of taking any blame for anything today. I will blame it on the day, on the numerology, on the evil spirits among us, the black cat next door, or that I walked under a ladder. I WILL NOT take any actual blame myself... I will blame the curse of Friday the 13th.
Is being left handed a curse? I know that much of the world is built for right handedness, but being a right hander myself, I'm not sure how this really applies. Being careful where you seat people at the dinner table should be considered... and if you can put all the lefties on one side, and the rest of us on the other (hey - segregation has it's purpose), there will not be a battle of elbows. You could put all lefties in right hand drive cars and they can shift with their naturally dominant hand - or force them all to drive automatics. How do you build a left handed keyboard? Would you move the backspace keys to the other side? Put the escape on the right (hey, learn to use your right and you too could escape). Fire extinguishers are build right handed. The pin is pulled with the right and the nozzle is controlled with the right. Can a zipper be right or left handed? Golf clubs are always available in Right, but need a Left set and you can wait awhile. Tennis rackets are right handed. If you play with them on the left, the logo is backwards. Maybe if you string them the opposite way?
Is it a coincidence that today is International Left Handed Day and a Friday the 13th? Or, is left-handedness just as bad luck? Actually, some of the most brilliant people I know are Lefties. Maybe because you are forced to think about even the smallest and most mindless moves you activate more synapses and get more brain action than you do as a right hander. It's possible that you have to activate larger areas in the brain for smaller tasks, and the flow of all those extra neurotransmitters is good for brain power. It's entirely possible. Perhaps the lefties just need to be smarter or they would be that much easier to mess with at parties. Just a right-handed thought.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Pan, tilt, zoom, keyhole, focus......
Tuesday, 10 August 2010 - Things just taste twice as good in twos. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - taste best in twos. They are easier to share, and cuts the guilt in half. Twix... comes in two. Kit Kats come in fours... easy to share, and twice as good again. What about stuff that is so good that you just can't get enough? You just want more and more and more. Does three mores make a Smore or is that just wanting s'more? What is it in your life that makes you want s'more? It's Smores Day. Life may not really be a box of chocolates, but a mixed bag of cookies. Sometimes hard, sometimes soft and chewy, often full of nuts, occasionally full of frosting, and even better when full of marshmallow and chocolate, the cookies are the things in life you want, or need, or don't yet know what to do with.... the bites of life.
So what "cookies" do you want more of? For me, it's a good times with the important people in my life. I want more good times, more experiences and just more. I want more time with family. I want more time with friends. I want to spend more time living in the moment, and more freedom to do just that.
What do you want less of in your life? For me, I want less time alone. I want to tell less lies to myself. I want to admit that the things in life I have always said I didn't want were and are exactly the things I do. I want to work out a way to have a heart-to-heart with myself about this and come to some kind of agreement. After all, how hard can it be to talk to yourself about the things you want out of life? I guess when you have waited this long to come to grips with it, and you face the possibility that it may be too late in life, you could be creating quite an argument with yourself. I only hope I don't have to send me to the sofa for the night when we finally get around to having that conversation.
Life is a cruel game most times. You spend time being who you think you need to be, only to find out it is neither who you need nor want to be. You spend time convincing yourself and others around you that you made the choices you did because dammit they were the right ones. In the end you manage to convince everyone, only the truth is, you are full of Smores. You are winning in life when what you want and what you project jive. That's when not only do you want more, but you get more. I fear that I have left this dance too long. Perhaps if I can find the focus button I can get this projector working with better focus. First things first, I want more cookies in that box of life. Add good friends, graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate and a heat source, and you have more and more and more... Smores.
So what "cookies" do you want more of? For me, it's a good times with the important people in my life. I want more good times, more experiences and just more. I want more time with family. I want more time with friends. I want to spend more time living in the moment, and more freedom to do just that.
What do you want less of in your life? For me, I want less time alone. I want to tell less lies to myself. I want to admit that the things in life I have always said I didn't want were and are exactly the things I do. I want to work out a way to have a heart-to-heart with myself about this and come to some kind of agreement. After all, how hard can it be to talk to yourself about the things you want out of life? I guess when you have waited this long to come to grips with it, and you face the possibility that it may be too late in life, you could be creating quite an argument with yourself. I only hope I don't have to send me to the sofa for the night when we finally get around to having that conversation.
Life is a cruel game most times. You spend time being who you think you need to be, only to find out it is neither who you need nor want to be. You spend time convincing yourself and others around you that you made the choices you did because dammit they were the right ones. In the end you manage to convince everyone, only the truth is, you are full of Smores. You are winning in life when what you want and what you project jive. That's when not only do you want more, but you get more. I fear that I have left this dance too long. Perhaps if I can find the focus button I can get this projector working with better focus. First things first, I want more cookies in that box of life. Add good friends, graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate and a heat source, and you have more and more and more... Smores.
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