inpiring...

Could go to the Musicycle Tour performance in my town tonight, but probably won't. Not that I don't think that what they are doing is really, really cool. I just have an arch nemisis that I'd prefer not to run into, and there is a good chance that he'll be there given his love of music, the environment and biking around. With so much in common, we should be friends. But we're not. So, anyway, think I'll stay home reading Persuasion instead. BUT if you happen to live near one of their future tour stops, then GO... and let me know how it was.

Also inspiring is EnviroWoman, the environmental superhero who was interviewed on CBC this afternoon. Really glad I happened to catch it. Tons of useful info, and really darned funny. Trying to reduce the plastic in my life, so I'll be returning to her blog often.

let me direct your attention...

To the Shakespeare in the Ruins website. If you click on the slideshow, you can see O. in all his 1958 Venice glory. Including one shot of his fine straight nose, which his mother is so proud of. :]

Missed the family and friends performance, and missing opening night (tonight), but will be in attendance on the 23rd. Taking Elliot with me for his birthday, and maybe dragging Anactoria along too?!? Elliot said she had mentioned going, and I'd love to meet her in person, so hopefully... Though her changing circumstances might have her in a more frugal frame of mind.

Also want to mention that I have a new post on Blue Greenie about a website that has become my latest internet obsession. Just an extension of an obsession that I already have, really. But check it out too!

skin deep

I've become obsessed with the new, improved Skin Deep website. Part of that is residual weirdness left over from my thesis on breast cancer... trying to de-toxify my life in every way possible. Part of it is my sensitive skin. Part is environmental. In any case, I'm looking up everything I use and trying to find better products to replace them with. Was happy to see that the soap I've been using is way up the list of stuff that ain't bad for ya.

I've used the old version of this site before, and not thought much of it. Interesting, ya, ya, but for some reason it didn't grab me. Was directed to the new site from Conscious Cosmetics, which is a blog by the Breast Cancer Action Montreal folks. Love the way one thing leads to another on the internet, though it can also be a horrible waste of time.

Have been thinking about being an "environmentalist", and I'm not sure that's how I'd label myself. Almost all my environmental do-gooding has been a direct result of health concerns stemming from my mom's cancer in 1999, or from the fact that I'm a perpetual student i.e. perpetually broke. So, using baking soda and vinegar to clean? Healthy and cheap. Turning down the heat in the house? Cheap. Hanging laundry on the line? Cheap... maybe I should be saying frugal. Walking everywhere? Healthy and frugal. Growing my own veggies? Healthy and frugal.

Haven't quite got the point of making my own cosmetics. Mostly it's a lack of time to learn how. And not wanting to waste money messing up recipes. But thinking about it, and was happy to get some ideas thrown my way by CC.

daily dose

Here's a website to check out: Daily Dose of Imagery. I love photography (looking at it, not doin' it) and I've become addicted to this guy's site.

K and T, I think you'd both really dig the site as he has a ton of photos from Toronto, where you both used to stomp around.

Feeling funny lately. To quote P.D. James (since I'm reading Children of Men), I've been experiencing "a weight of vague unease, not heavy enough to be called anxiety, but a mild unfocused depression, like the last tatters of an unremembered but disagreeable dream."

I think it is the result of having several highly anticipated events come to pass. Finished my thesis, graduated and saw the Police. The past year has been focused on the thesis, it has been constantly on my mind. The past six years have been all about school, with not a lot of thought given to what comes next, except the basic plan of doing and MLIS. The Police concert has been the treat I've been looking forward to since February. Now these are over, and I don't know what to do with myself. Feel very purposeless and at loose ends. Maybe I should have anticipated this, but I didn't. I thought, at least where school was concerned, that I'd feel a fairly high level of euphoria. Which I'm not. I feel the opposite.

Thankfully, I have a good friend visiting until next week, and another visit to look forward to at the end of the month.

I did have a really fantastic time in Vancouver, by the way. Managed to squeeze a lot of stuff (and food!) into two days. If you are ever there, Cafe Artigiano has the most amazing coffee. And we went to an incredible Lebanese restaurant, the name of which escapes me. Karen? Help?

i see england, i see france...

Despite my earlier complaints about supposedly "green goods", there are some things that need to be bought new and if an environmentally (and healthy) choice can be made, I say, do it. Case in point...

Probably more info than you need, but my undergarments are pathetic. Most pre-date my return to school six years ago, so they are shifty, saggy, creepy bit of cotton. Graduating calls for a celebration, and what better way than to toss those holey knickers and buy me some new pairs? Enter Blue Canoe.

Tried four of their styles: sheer low cut, sheer high cut, lace panty & string bikini (this picture is NOT me, by the way). Did an extensive search for something closer to home than California, but couldn't find anything attractive. Very happy with all the styles and have gone back and ordered multiples. If you are interested in ordering, the sizing was very accurate, so get out that measuring tape.

If cotton undies aren't your thing, Groovy Green has a long list of other places to get "sustainable skivvys".

before & after

before




after
thanks mama d!

what i'm doing vs what i want to be doing

It has been ages since I've blogged. Months ago, a good friend of mine gave me a brass snail that she picked up at a garage sale, and suggested that I slow down just a tad. I placed the snail in a spot where I see it every morning when I wake up, but so far, it hasn't helped. Have been busy finishing my undergrad thesis so that I can actually graduate this Saturday (done!), working on a conference committee that I stupidly agreed to be on (over!), applying for a home repair grant (submitted!), and moonlighting at a greenhouse 'cause school has left me dead broke.

*sigh*

What I'd much rather be doing is lingering in bed on the weekends, putting on some groovy tunes and cleaning my house, drinking cider while working in the garden, and on rainy days like today (a holiday that I'm working, by the way) re-using some of the material from my awesome snake skin crushed velvet pants that really shouldn't be seen in public any more (if ever they should have been) to make myself a new bag.

tagged by the claw

1. Go to IMDB.com and look up 10 of your favourite movies.
2. Post five (5) official IMDB "Plot Keywords" for these 10 picks.
3. Have your friends guess the movie titles.
4. Then tag three people.

10 movies!!!??!? My ten favorite? This is so hard. Okay, here goes...

1. Piano / Breast Feeding / Restaurant / Female Nudity / Butcher
2. Dominatrix / Crime / Art / Trust / Biza
3. Buddhist / Famous Score / Male Female Relationship / Princess Diana / Fish Out Of Water
4. Myth / Mystery Villain / FBI Agent / Mind Game / Ship
5. Female Nudity / Surgeon / 1960s / Pig / Historic
6. Prostitute / Female Nudity / Frame Up / Pimp / Female Full Frontal Nudity
7. Plotless / Mixed Drinks / Drunk / Darkness / Countryside
8. Crying Baby / Spanish Civil War / Book / Horse / Maze

I came up with eight. And you're probably all asking, what kind of degenerate movies have I been watching? Let me just say, in my defence, few of these make any sense to me. So, now who do I tag? The 80s movie guru Mama D, the craft queen over at Jumilla Bugs and the absentee Bee.

And speaking of movies, you can catch the back of O's head in this trailer. So proud.

summer reading list

Last year, I didn’t get very far with my summer reading list. Not sure what happened. September came up too fast and then I was stuck reading textbooks again. Have decided not to try and finish last year’s list. This summer, I have a theme. Inspired by the movie version of Jane Eyre, which Karen was kind enough to loan me, I’m going to spend the summer reading gothic fiction. It has only been a couple of years since I read Jane Eyre, so I’m not going to start there. There is so much else to explore. So, here’s the list:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty (and a book of short stories by Welty that Elliot got used on credit for me)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Bellefleur by Joyce Carol Oates (not strictly Gothic, I'm told, but in the Gothic style)
Grey Woman by Elizabeth Gaskill (ditto)

I’m mixing up the styles, I know, but I am sticking to all women writers. The music I listen to is almost exclusively by men, so I feel like I need to balance things out a bit.

Will probably end up adding to this list as I met an English prof at a party last Friday and she teaches a class on Gothic literature. She's going to send me her "must read" list, which is very cool. I really don't know anything about the genre.

Have been doing some non-ficiton reading as well:
Night by Elie Wiesel
Letters to Alice by Fay Weldon
Naturscape Manitoba

It has been such a pleasure to read for pleasure again!

anybody still checking in?

Whew! It’s been ages. Finally done school. And I mean *done* school. Well, for now, anyway. Spent half of March and most of April in front of the computer for hours every night writing my thesis. That’s in, mark has been submitted, and I’m good to graduate on 26 May. Hurray!

As soon as school was out of the way, my life was taken over by the Manitoba Libraries Conference. I sort of volunteered to be the registration coordinator, and while I was finishing school, I sorely neglected my duties. That runs 7-9 May. 3, 07

Then… what? Relax? Mais non! I’m back at the greenhouse for the spring planting season. Have had a couple of shifts there already. It’s so good. I’ve been planning my garden in my head, but actually doing very little to get it going. Being at the greenhouse is inspiring me.

Yesterday, my mom and sis helped me clean the old, dead growth out of my beds. It’s amazing how much stuff is already well up. The lungwort is in bloom. The oregano is mature enough to start eating. Same with the chives, but then they are always early. Marjoram, mint and thyme all are coming. My succulent garden pretty much looks like it does year round… short and sweet. The perennials in the front garden are a bit of a mess. The grasses are very overgrown and there is a ton of weeds. The rose bush is causing me a bit of worry. I think it might have a fungus, but (one of the perks of working at the greenhouse) I have plenty of experts that can tell me how to deal with it. The one upside of not doing this in the fall is that I have a ton of ladybugs in the garden now.

That’s pretty much what I’ve been up to. Haven’t done laundry. Haven’t cleaned the house. Haven’t blogged. I have been keeping up on my blog reading, however. At the height of my school craziness, it was nice to know that life out there just kept going on.

still am...

green magazines

Grist recently had an article on all the magazines out there with "green"issues. And I have some issues with that. Not Grist, the magazines. Consumption is not "green", for one, it is only less or more harmful. Buying so-called green good will not save the planet any more than buying pink goods will cure breast cancer. But what really makes me run for my soapbox is that many of the articles or products they promote are not remotely environmentally friendly, natural, organic, etc.

Case in point is the April issue of Good Housekeeping (hey, I work in a hospital, so these things are just laying around). I was so irritated by their "green goods" section that I was prompted to write this:

Dear GH,
In response to your "Super. Natural." article in the April 2007 edition, just because products look like something from nature, doesn't make them in any way enironmentally friendly, organic, or natural. For example, the "place mats that resemble rain forest leaves" that you label eco-friendly, are made from vinyl. Polyvinyl chloride, in its manufacture, use, and disposal, involves dioxin, phthalates, lead, and other chemicals that are linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, endometriosis, birth defects, respiratory problems, and immune system damage. Your article misleads readers into thinking that this product is not harmful to human health or the environment.
Regards,
Concerned Citizen

Grrrr, I say.

winter, then spring...

Since Elliot is blogging about kissing, and my basement is full of water, I'm guessing it's spring. Heard the whistle of a priarie dog on my way home yesterday, so that clinches it.

Meant to post these garden pictures, taken a mere three weeks ago (sorry they aren't better, but we've had a lot of grey days). Never got around to it. See all that snow? Ya, me and my unbelievably kind sister spent last Saturday shovelling it to the back of the house in order to save my basement. Which ultimatly didn't work, since it poured rain instead. In any case, spring is here, and I'm happy about it. 16 more days and I can actually get out there and enjoy it!

Four posts in one

One
Just flipping through my roommate’s copy of Affluenza. Chapter 5 has a section on time famine, which talks about how we thought technology would free us up and give us more leisure time, but instead, our world is getting increasingly complex and we are working even more. Instead of working 14 to 22 hours per week by the year 2000, as was estimated by a US Senate subcommittee in 1965, we’ve become swamped. As I pondered this in light of my current crazy schedule (working a 9-5, Monday to Friday job while attending university and stupidly volunteering to be on a conference committee), I realized that I could only think of one day in months that I had actually been on time for work. I average 8-12 minutes of lateness every day, a little less once the snow is gone and I ride my bike. Thankfully my boss just shrugs at my unconscious and clearly desperate attempt to find some balance in my life.

Two
An Angus-Reid poll was released a couple of days ago that found that Canadians in general believe that global warming is happening. More, apparently, is to be released in the coming weeks. To quote Pee Wee Herman, “everybody I know has a big but…” I’m guessing that the “big but” in this case will be that, ya, we believe it’s happening, but we don’t actually want to change anything about the way we live in order to make a difference. Maybe switch to compact fluorescents. Maybe.

Three
On the topic of making a difference, for some reason I really dig the latest Sierra Club campaign. Pretty much, I’m doing everything on the list, plus some. But I feel like I could convince people to do some of this stuff.

Four
Or maybe not. Overheard in the hospital gift shop yesterday (where I was buying a stamp, thankyouverymuch), a conversation about Beanie Babies. “Isn’t is amazing? Only $6. It’s incredible to think they can make them that cheap and ship them all the way over here and still only charge $6. Wow.” I said, “How much is a stamp?” Yep, I did nothing. Perhaps it was the memory of the last impromptu information session I conducted at work that made me hesitate (Random person at the opening of the new 911 call centre: “it smells so new!”. Me: “that’s the carpet offgassing.” My boss: head shake, snicker. Random person: blank stare, moving away.) or perhaps it’s the head cold. Or perhaps I’m just overwhelmed by the fact that my home province has the lowest levels of belief in global warming and, from what I can tell, fairly low levels of concern about the environment in general. So what to do? Dust off the ol’ soapbox? Bury head in the loamy prairie soil? Read cartoons? Read cartoons it is…

tagged

Mama D tagged me with a music meme, so here we go. Figured it would be a good way to let y'all know that I'm alive and kicking (though that isn't on the list).

Seven songs I'm really into right now, hey? Well that's kind of hard because all my evenings have been spent transcribing interviews, which means no music playing. But I do listen to CBC at work sometimes and while I'm not a huge fan of Freestyle, they have been playing some great music. So here are seven songs, some of which I'm going to get into once I have a life again. In no particular order...

1. Grace Kelly by Mika
2. Judy by Hunter Valentine (CD to be released April 3)
3. Intervention by Arcade Fire
4. Lived in Bars by Cat Power (maybe I just like her hair)
5. Dani California by Red Hot Chili Peppers (Hearing this about 10 times a day when my co-worker Tanya is in because she likes to listen to the rawk station. Will likely be sick of it by the time I have a life again.)
6. This River is Wild by the Killers (Sam's Town has been my staple on the 12 minute walk to and from work for months now. Liking this song best at the moment.)
7. Every single song by The Police (Thank you Karen for Message in a Box... getting myself primed for May 28th!)

And now, who to tag?
Elliot (of course, my main music man)
Melissa (wife of Elliot, who may actually have musical taste of her own. Shocking!)
Tracy ('cause I'm always interested)

crawling out from under my rock

Just noticed that MinusCar Project linked to me, so I thought I'd better post something. Been suffering with a miserable cold for over a week and have not been able to clear my head long enough to formulate a single thought. So how about a question instead?

I own a car, though I haven't driven it since November, when inspired by a local environmental contest, I voided my license. I have since found out that my car has some serious problems. Heater core has gone (heat in pretty important where I live), rear struts need to be replaced, breaks are on their way out... Probably looking at $3000+ to fix it. Given that it is a 1991 Golf and that I only paid $2600 for it, this doesn't seem like a reasonable option. So the question is, what are my options? What can I do with an old car besides sell it "as is"? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

nothing to say

Basically, I'm so swamped with school that I have nothing else on my mind. And I have a cold. So, I'll just leave it at that for now. Don't expect any inspiring posts until mid-April, but will put something up once in a while so you know I'm still around.

holy, monday

I'm swamped with work, I've got a cold, and the switch to daylight savings time has totally thrown me off. But rather than complain, may I direct you to the new link on my "Other Bloggers" list. My dearest friend, along with 10 other crafty women she's met online, have started a new blog called Sew Green. Check it out!

I've been a walker all my life, not specifically for environmental or health reasons, but because I lived close to school or work. It was only on the coldest days that we were ever driven to school as kids. And even when I've had a car, my vehicle spent much of it's time parked in a garage.

I continue to make the daily trek to and from work. Days and weeks, but rarely months, go by without incident. And then, there will be a near miss. I'm guessing that the drivers just are not paying attention, and it is only through luck, my quick reaction and the fact that I was paying attention that I haven't been hit.

In the steel-toed days of my youth, I would try to kick their car while flipping them the bird. I figued the visual, coupled with a dented quarter panel would make them look out for pedestrians a bit more. I only even actually connected twice, and I have no idea if I did any damage, though I hope I did. This was almost 20 years ago, before I'd ever heard the words "road rage". Now, I take a calmer approach, though the anger is still inside.

Today I heard something on the news that shocked and horrified me. A man out for a morning run in Winnipeg, a city that I've spent half my life in and still visit regularly, was purposely run down. I listened to another jogger on the radio this afternoon. This is how she described what happened:

She was out for a run with a group at 6am. They were running facing traffic when a car coming towards them accelerated and drove at them. They jumped out of the way and kept jogging, thinking it was another asshole like the one who had swerved at them the previous morning. This time, though, the driver turned around and drove at them again. And again. And again. Another car witnessed the fourth attempt and pulled over. He offered his cell phone and the joggers called the police. They continued with their run but didn't get very far before they came upon a pool of blood. They stopped. They couldn't see anyone. They speculated that an animal had been hit. When they saw another person coming towards them, they went to warn him that there was some crazy person driving around. As they approached him, they realized that he was bleeding from a bad head wound. The man, the jogger who had been hit, was in bad shape. The police arrived, and he was taken to hospital where he remains.

In all the times I've nearly been smacked, I never assumed it was on purpose. I can't imagine what could bring someone to do such a thing. Was (s)he high? Does (s)he have a mental illness? The car was stolen, so was this just for kicks? To alleviate boredom or get friends to think you're bad and cool? I can't fathom it. My walk home today was somber. My heart goes out to this man and his family, whose lives have been so terribly affected.