Tales from a Travelling Broad

Lululemon Photo Shoot with Bruce Zinger

2009-02-08T04:16:00.008-05:00

For my work as ambassador with the Bloor St. lululemon athletica, I was treated to a photoshoot back with award-winning Toronto photographer, Bruce Zinger. We choose the ROM for the setting as it's really representative of the unique qualities of the neighbourhood. It was a real pleasure working with Bruce - he was so professional and quick! (Which was ideal, given that it was December and nippy outside. )

Watch for these photos to appear soon on my revamped website, Lightfooted.

Tweet Tweet

2009-01-23T09:30:00.005-05:00

At first I resisted: what's this new Twitter thing? Another time-waster? Best wikie it. Okay, so now people can find out what I'm doing at every moment. Why should I join it?

Then I forgot about Twitter for a couple of months, and just last week, it dawned on me: I could use Twitter to promote Lightfooted. Specifically, to share my daily nutritional choices and fitness routines. I had just completed a 6-week Elimination Diet, losing 10lbs, gaining clear skin and consistent energy. I found that my clients and friends were asking how I did it and what I was eating now and I was spending a lot of time talking about my nutrition.

Twitterland is a great place to share my knowledge and routines in little, bit-sized bit of info. Okay, so I joined.

You can find me at Lightfooted.

Now that I'm on, I'm hooked. Last night, I was able to pull out three or four nuggets of current event trivia at a dinner party just from reading 2-second tweets from the likes of Blog TO and CBC World News and Lance Armstrong. It's seriously fun reading the small snippets of news from all these various sources.

Hope to see you there. Tweet tweet!

Movember

2008-11-27T16:37:00.005-05:00

I've anabashedly copied the following straight from Nicholas' email. For a more elloquent and humourous account, please visit Jeremy's blog. Nicholas Handcock

For the month of the month of November I've been taking part in a fundraiser called Movember. It's pretty simple really, for the month I've been growing and grooming a moustache (Mo) while raising money for prostate cancer. This is my first Mo and I have to say I'm pretty happy with the results at this point. I was going for Chuck Norris but I've been told that it's really more West Side Story or creepy french guy... well, you be the judge. So if you like the Mo and you'd like to support the Canadian Prostate Cancer Research Foundation click on the link below to donate a few dollars and who knows, if I raise enough maybe it will stay on until Christmas. [God, no, please! <-- my addition]

To donate, click this link https://www.movember.com/ca/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=1683111&country=ca and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account.

Just a small-time renegade vigilante

2008-10-08T15:26:00.004-04:00

I just recieved a $1,839.02 adjustment to my VISA bill today for simply writing the following letter.

You too may want check if you been paying for this optional service.

---

C/O Lisa P.
Canada Life Insurance
Balance Protector Department
Fax: (416) 552-6633

Dear Lisa, September 4, 2008

I am writing to you to request a full refund of my Balance Protector Insurance on my RBC Visa card. Without my clear understanding of what this insurance is, or that is was optional, I have been paying for it since my very first statement from my very first Visa card in 2001. Since the insurance charge shows up alongside the interest charges on my monthly bill, I had no reason to question it, or to consider it a hidden charge.

It wasn’t until after a self-imposed Visa ban last month that I noticed a continuing charge to my Visa. The Balance Protector Insurance. I phoned Visa today, to find out what it was. To my horror, I was told it is an optional service that apparently I verbally agreed to sign up for seven years ago. There is, however, no signed contract and I have no recollection of verbally agreeing to this insurance.

In 2007 alone, I paid $424.47 toward the Balance Protector Insurance. To think of how much it has cost me since its instigation– with no return on this ‘investment’ – I can’t help but feel betrayed by my bank, which has otherwise treated me wonderfully. By my estimation, I have been charged over $2,000 for services I do not want on account of this misunderstanding.

I therefore request that this hidden charge be retroactively revoked in its entirety.

Thank you very much for your consideration and attention to my request. I look forward to your response and encourage you to contact me if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

__________________

Ms. Jody O. Lightfoot

Our Common Grounds: Toronto Parks & Recreation Strategic Plan

2008-09-18T13:29:00.002-04:00

I found this a very interesting read...

Toronto is the largest city in the country, and the wealthiest. Our economy produces 20 per cent of Ontario’s GDP. More than 89 per cent of Toronto’s children under 12 say they prefer swimming to any other form of activity. Youth aged 13 to 24 (the same youth we’re trying to lure back to physical activity) place swimming at number three on their preferred list. Yet Toronto has only one public, competitive 50 metre pool. We have only one indoor diving tower.

Skateboard parks have been the coolest thing in male youth recreation for a decade, yet we have only four. BMX, a special kind of bike track, is the latest thing. We have only one BMX park.

And what about women? We have worked hard to break down gender barriers: many more girls now play ice hockey, but we haven’t built a new arena in 20 years. There is no prime ice time available in the city. We can’t pull youth into our programs if we don’t offer them facilities they want to use. And we are inhospitable to top athletes, the kind of people we want to train, and hold on to.

Abandoned

2008-09-16T21:30:00.003-04:00

Saw this abandoned horsey on my way into my apartment yesterday snapped a photo of it with my iPhone. Only now did I realise it's an apt little metaphor for my Travelling Broad blog...

'There's Mommy, riding a bike'

2008-05-28T16:10:00.004-04:00

This article appeared in the Toronto Star on Monday and I just had to share it. Tatiana Kachira, a good friend of mine, is one of the best CAN-BIKE cycling instructors in Toronto.

Interested in learning how to ride? Contact her at canbike@toronto.ca.

'There's Mommy, riding a bike'

Class for adults helps ease woman onto the seat of a bicycle and into fulfilment of a long-held dream
May 26, 2008 04:30 AM
Daniel Dale
Staff Reporter

Thirty-seven years after this race started, Grace Ramos stood, holding a video camera, at what her mother called "the finish line."

In Ecuador, men told a teenage Enma Ramos in the 1960s, girls couldn't ride bicycles: they'd lose their virginity. So Ramos didn't – until, one day at 16, she waited until her brother left the house, then hustled his bike onto the street.

She ended up in a ditch. Her father sold the bike. That was that.

Until Saturday.

After Ramos, 53, immigrated to Toronto in 1985, she "cried day and night." But she learned English, got a George Brown diploma and then a job as a food-service supervisor at a hospital, and raised four children as a single mother.

"Now," she said at Trinity Bellwoods Park, her perpetual half-smile fading for a moment, "it's my time." A few years ago, she said, she decided she wanted to do two things before she died: learn to swim and learn to ride a bicycle.

"She's my inspiration," said Grace, 20. "I look to her for everything. It's like, if she can do it, I can do it."

Ramos looked attentively at Tatiana Kachira, the instructor of the city's CAN-BIKE adult class, who stood beside her atop a small grassy incline. Kachira straddled her bike, hopped on, and rolled easily down the slope.

Ramos tried to do the same. She careened left, straight toward a tree. "Oh my God," Grace gasped.

Ramos stopped two metres before impact. Then she turned around, laughing uncontrollably, and smacked herself in the head. "Imagine me! Boom!"

Ramos tried again. This time, she nearly hit two barking dogs.

More attempts: a slight improvement; another near miss of the tree and another "Oh my God"; a slight improvement; the tree once more – and, after Kachira asked her to pedal instead of merely rolling, a near collision with a second tree. "Definitely, I like trees," Ramos said. "I have to live in a treehouse."

Then, finally, progress. Ramos pedalled for 10 seconds, then 15. Grace and her brother Bryan, 17, applauded. But, on her next attempts, Ramos again faltered quickly – after yet another encounter with her nemesis-tree, she gave it a hug – and when Kachira moved her from the slope onto a flat cement path, she lost her balance within seconds.
Ramos smiled. "I believe in myself."

Kachira walked her to the top of a second path, this one sloping. Grace stood at the bottom, near the bend Ramos called the finish line, holding the camera. And, after several more failures, something clicked.

Ramos's pedalling, so uncertain minutes earlier, became confident. She gained speed. Sure enough, 53-year-old Enma Ramos passed her beaming daughter, turned left, and continued around the bend.

She stopped at the end of the path. Grace ran, almost skipping, to give her a hug. Ramos smiled. She raised her arms in triumph – for a moment. Then, slowly but steadily, she headed back up the hill.

Grace followed, smiling, camera on "Record." "There's Mommy," she said quietly. "Riding a bike."

Lightfooted Launches

2008-05-17T23:47:00.007-04:00

Lightfooted is blazing along now that my boot camps are 13 days away from starting. I just picked up my brochures on Friday and will be hitting the streets this to hand them out. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out (see above.)

Website update: It's finished!

Thank you to the many few who let me know the Sign-up for my Newsletter wasn't working, and that the site had a few spelling errors. My web designer, Nicholas (check out his other work here) spent his holiday weekend finishing it all up and I won't lie... it looks fantastic (in all internet browsers!)

I also sent out my Press Release to various individuals, local newspapers and magazines.

Things are falling into place now. Still so much to do, but it's all manageable now. Yip, yip!

Preemptive Indeed

2008-05-07T19:26:00.003-04:00

After about the fourth email from my mother with yet another spelling correction on my business website Lightfooted.ca, I started to regret announcing it before it was tweaked, tweezed and beautified.

So I set aside a whole evening yesterday to edit, just edit. And boy - there weren't just spelling mistakes, but a whole lotta of stuff to adjust. I had a field day, being the chronic perfectionist that I am. Spelling aside, the major fault is that if it's viewed on Internet Explorer (as opposed to Mozilla or Firefox or Safari) the layout is all messed up! I don't have a clue how to fix that (beyond googling "Why does my website look different in IE than Firefox?", so luckily our resident website builder, Nicholas, is on the case.

The forms all work now, so that's great! The first five people to sign up for my monthly newsletter will get a big, squeezy, joyful hug from me. So sign up now as hugs are going fast!

Lightfooted

2008-04-28T08:53:00.004-04:00

LIGHTFOOTED - FITNESS FOR YOUR EVERYDAY, REAL LIFE

I'm a little preemptive with this, but my website is live! Click on the image/text above to get there. It's got a few kinks, and I've got to edit a whole bunch of text and finalise the layout (esp. on the homepage), but Nicholas stuck it up online to check out which forms works (most do) and which still need to be tweaked (like the registration page) and while it's up, I couldn't help but want to share it!

Check it out, and let me know what you think of it at first-glance: the flow, the ease of navigation, the content - does it make sense? I'll be working on it this week and by next, it will be up and running for business.

Weeeeeee! Lightfooted begins.

Juvenile Past-times

2008-04-22T09:46:00.004-04:00

Last night while creating my Lightfooted flyers online, I came across one of the funnest things you can do with the internet: collect fonts!

While this may not be revolutionary to others, the elementary school teacher in me thought this was the ultimate in fun. And simplicity. Including new fonts into Microsoft Office is as simple as downloading the font to your desktop and then dragging the .ttf file into your fonts folder (Start --> Control Panel --> Fonts)

What fun!

When life gives you lemons...

2008-04-21T10:47:00.006-04:00

...shove them down your bra and make your breasts look bigger. (So says artist Melia Dawn)

But in my case, I was making the good ol' fashioned lemonade. Alas, mine had no sugar.

Since Sunday, I've consumed the juice of 16 lemons in a brutal attempt at detoxifying. Although the 'lemon and cayenne pepper detox program' is supposed to go on for a minimum of 8 days, today I've happily downgraded to simply including a lot of lemonade in my clean eating diet, while severely restricting the amount and type of food I consume. I found after one day of no real food I was depressed, unable to concentrate and experiencing flu-like symptoms. But boy - was I clean.

It was interesting that I didn't lust after junk food; after 16 hrs of fasting, I would have done nearly anything for a serving of pan-seared salmon on brown rice with a side of broccoli.

Apparently, the symptoms are my body's attempt to rid itself of the sugar-craving parasites and candida (yeast) that live in us all, as well as the toxins (environmental, chemical and natural - think: pollution, artificial sweeteners and caffeine) that I have un/knowingly ingested and have accumulated in my body. A friend of mine once told me that before a dirty pan becomes clean, it actually appears to get dirtier as you scrub at the grease and fried bits with soap and water. It's a nice little analogy for what's happening in my body.

So, for the next 8 days, I will:

Eliminate, or severely limit my sugar intake, including sucrose, fructose (fruit sugar), syrup, brown sugar, honey and artificial sweeteners - basically anything sweet-tasting. Wah!
Eliminate pop, alcohol, coffee, fermented beverages, milk and cheese products and processed foods from my diet.

I will eat 6 times a day at 2-hr intervals (8am - 6pm) and include:

Copious amounts of water, lemon juice and detox tea (8 glasses minimum)
Yogurt, lots and lots of plain yogurt on everything
Raw nuts and seeds (bought a pound of almonds) and essential fatty acids (flax, and fish oil)
Eggs, chicken, turkey and cooked fish (no raw fish or shellfish)
And, of course, all the veggies I can handle.

I'm looking forward to seeing the benefits of my disciplined diet. This will include:

Clearer skin, disappearance of the dark circles under my eyes
Better quality sleep
More energy, better digestion and an increased metabolism
Greater mental alertness and memory-retention
Increased immunity against colds and flu viruses

This morning, I awoke excitedly at 4am to the cravings of oatmeal porridge with Golgi berries topped with plain yogurt. I had to hold off, but when that steaming hot bowl of porridge hit my empty stomach at 8 o'clock, I swear it was the best-tasting dish I've have ever consumed.

Here's to good health!

Hiatus

2008-04-17T10:22:00.005-04:00

After a month hiatus, I'm happy to be back to blogging. I missed it! Not that it was a planned break, just kind of happened amidst the spring's chaotic and bumpy awakening. Now that I'm back, there's so much I want to talk about: how getting back on my bike was at first scary but now completely second-nature; how building my business Lightfooted has taken over much of my life, but is immensely satisfying; how making the habit of going to the gym with my boyfriend has increased our satisfaction tenfold.

Spring is really the time of change and metamorphosis. It's a great time to turn one's thoughts to transformations. Even our lovely city is on board, as this appeared in my inbox this morning:

City staff to join in the 20-Minute Toronto Makeover 2008
Mayor David Miller and Shirley Hoy are asking all City of Toronto staff to take 20 minutes off work at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 18 and do a 20-minute clean-up blitz around your office.

Bags and gloves can be picked up from information desks or security desks in civic centre lobbies.

It's just 20 minutes, but it makes all the difference.

Wouldcha touch this!?

2008-03-12T13:11:00.005-04:00

Things have picked up around here since Nicholas came home. I don't seem to have so much free time any more to hang around my computer (and that's a good thing!)

That said, I miss blogging! ...and sharing the silly stuff I find online with you ...and knowing you still check my site out once in a while.

So here's a little teaser from a BBC study I recently stumbled upon that made me laugh. Try it for yourself to gauge your disgusted quota.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/disgust/

How would you feel about touching this?

Leisurely thoughts

2008-02-21T13:56:00.003-05:00

Tucking into bed last night, after arriving home from a most relaxing holiday with Nicholas and his family, I picked up from my bedside table Patricia Lovett-Reid's latest book, Get Real: 26 Canadian Women share The Secret to AUTHENTIC SUCCESS. (I happen to have an autographed copy from when I volunteered at the Woman's Post Courage to Lead Seminar last week, where Patricia, a senior VP of TD Waterhouse and host of MoneyTalk, was the guest speaker.)

I was thisclose to buying her book, so that volunteer opportunity saved me $24.95 and earned me the chance to slip Patricia a CD of my Financial Independence Workbook while she was signing my copy. She gave away three copies that night, one to me when, responding to her question of, "Who would like a copy?" I jumped up and down and waving my hand, squealed "Ooh, me! Oh, me!" Sometimes making a fool of yourself pays off.

She said she'd email me her comments on my Workbook, so finger's crossed that happens soon. If it doesn't, I'll be sure to email her.

But back to my cozy bedtime read.

Not 30 pages in did I come across a fact that made me sit up and pay attention.

According to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, women making more than $100,000 per year spend 19.6% percent of their time on passive leisure, compared to 33.5% for women making less than $20,000. (Leisure activities were defined as socializing or watching television.)

Do I take too many holidays? Does my lust for leisure activities hold me back? Keep me poor? Shall I throw the TV remot out the window? Something to ponder, that's for sure...

No Comment

2008-02-11T19:19:00.000-05:00

In the last three months, Travelling Broad revived 1,161 'hits' to its homepage. That's about a dozen visitors a day, although today it was 21. Of these 1,161 visits, only 19 comments were generated, leaving me to ponder the impact of my blog.

In the past, comments were frequent. I loved them as fodder of further discussion and as proof that my site was being enjoyed. I can't help but wonder - is it something I've done?

However, a perusal of other blogs out there alleviated my concerns somewhat. There seems to be a general decline of commentators on all our blogs. The blog's content or quality didn't seem to impact the number of comments, or lack thereof.

Is it an issue of you'll scratch my back if I scratch yours? Is Facebook somehow to blame?

What would it take to rouse the passions of our readers to share with us their incredibly valuable thoughts and opinions?

Any comments?

The Hidden Costs

2008-02-11T12:25:00.000-05:00

This is circulating around the office today, sparking little waves of comments...

Fat people cheaper to treat, study says

The article starts with: Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save money, researchers reported Monday.

One comment:

"It reminds me of when a fringe pro-tobacco group claimed that smoking was good because it would save the government spending as much on social security benefits when smokers died early."

Happy (belated) Chinese New Years!

2008-02-09T15:15:00.001-05:00

We intended to send out Christmas cards, we really did. Then, as the business of the season caught up with us, we though New Years would be a more realistic date. So, ahem, er - here's our Happy Chinese New Years wishes to everyone!

We went with the campy family look, repleat with homespun sweaters and our best 12-year-old impressions. Jeremy pitched in with a coxcomb cowlick; Nicholas with an 80s 'fro, and me with my Mary Jane locks. Mind you, only the sweaters were planed...

Zero

2008-02-07T12:26:00.001-05:00

Passing through the 7-11 last night. I picked up a Zero chocolate bar, lured in by its circa 1980s sparkly wrapper and the word "cool" scrawled across the label. While attempting to savour the four little squares, I had a few short moments to contemplate what it would be like at that Hershey's brainstorming session:

Zero - what does that make you think of?

Zero degrees
Zero calories
Zero guilt
Zero nutrition
Zero flavour

Doing a quick online search, I discover that it's not even a chocolate bar - it's a "candy" bar. It also provides the nutrition facts per square, so at first glace - "Oh, 80 calories isn't bad at all!" really means, for the mathly-deficient, a quick punch on the ol' calculator, says that it's 320 calories - comparable to a MacDonald Cheeseburger. But it's too late: you've ate it by then!! If only you did the math before you laid down your pocket change for this heart-attack in a shiny wrapper.

And to think it's made in Belgium.

(I'm feeling I may have been a little bit harsh on this innocent chocolate bar, especially since its enjoyed a loyal fan base since 1931, but I encourage you to take a good, hard look at your favourite chocolate "candy" and wonder a few things...like, oh, for example: how does the marketing of this chocolate bar compare to the marketing of say... a cigarette brand. Do I really enjoy its flavour or just eating it coz I've always ate it. Is it the thing causing my afternoon crash, or my headaches, or my weight gain? You know... unsavoury thoughts like that.)

Whiplash

2008-02-07T11:09:00.000-05:00

I might have been a little pre-emptive with the whole spring thing...
This is what it looked like outside, before the day-long snowfall yesterday.

But how are we supposed to know? On Monday it was nearly +9 degrees.

It's all small talk to me.

2008-02-04T22:24:00.000-05:00

Interesting commentary from Arch Lustberg:

The lack of animation that has snuck into “small talk” now dominates the world of spoken communication. And our role models offer little or no help. Pay attention to the way the politician or the CEO delivers a speech. The way the correspondent reads the news on television. The way the “expert” analyzes in the public forum. Or worst of all, the way the movie star delivers lines. If you pay attention, you’ll notice how little color, enthusiasm, or vividness are communicated. It all sounds exactly like “small talk.” A keyboard kind of dullness has taken over the whole world of communication. It’s not unusual that when a TV reporter says, “Three thousand people are missing in the flood,” the words come out exactly as though they were, “I had a rotten cup of coffee on my way to work.” Monotony reigns supreme.

WHAT?!?! Is THIS really true?!!?!??? Perhaps our media needs to look to the 14-year-olds of today for inspiration. There's, like huge, massive, thiiiiiiiisbig inspiration from that group of communication experts.

Merit Marks

2008-02-04T16:05:00.000-05:00

The OED defines Merit as having any admirable quality or attribute; "work of great merit"

So I had to roll my eyes when I came across this little ditty from a highly ingenious, forward-thinking and creative company based in the UK.

Merit Marks

If you do something nice (empty the dishwasher, comment on Jenny's new haircut) you get merit marks. The person with the most merit marks gets a great prize at the end of the year.

This style of thinking - rewarding 'good' behaviour with 'Merit Marks' is indicative of a failing school system, bent on demanding outwardly 'nice' behaviour through offering rewards for behaviour that should simply be expected, and encouraged, naturally. In reality, Merit Marks runs the risk of breeding contentment, competition and worse of all... insincerity amongst employees.

Besides, there are many other ways to foster a community of positive, relaxed and productive employees than watching over them, ready to drop a "Jolly good, Smith! I see you've emptied the dishwasher. Here's a lolly pop."

Unfinished...

2008-02-02T16:12:00.000-05:00

I found this while downloading old documents from my hotmail account. With just a wee bit of regret, today I said good-bye to over 10-years of hotmailling... ms_laiah@hotmail.com is no more.

November, 2005

It’s early November when Jeremy and I head off on another cycling adventure through southern France. This time, it’s a short 3-day cycle to the Cirque de Gavine.

I’ve been steadily cycling uphill (or, rather: up mountain) for two hours when I experience the psychedelic effect of cycling under so much exertion: the beginnings of a cycling bonk. I’m no longer grinding up through the Pyrenees range between France and Spain, but rather, floating through an old crushed-velvet picture. The landscape pops out like a giant 3-D miniature, all carefully crafted and delicately placed, but certainly not real. The colours appear florescent, tinted with autumn’s black brush. The art teacher in me wrestles with the cyclist and it isn’t for another half an hour that I realize I’ve been looping this thought, repeating with awed realization, that I am cycling through a black, fluorescently crushed-velvet painting. After that, I pull over to give my over-stimulated brain a break .

Brain aside, it’s my body that takes the biggest beating that day. We covered roughly 60 kilometres from our journey’s start in Lourdes to the only hotel open at Gavine. 60-km is nothing miraculous or particulary tough. That is, unless it's the '8 hrs of climing up a mountain' 60-km kind. In altitude we gained nearly a kilometre. Picture taking a straight stretch of road and yank one end so it dangles from the clouds. Then imagine cycling up that for a whole kilometre. Of course, in reality, it's not straight-up, it's a much more gradual accent, so move the cloud in your imagination 60 km away and you get the idea: a giant ramp.

Of course, it’s not really like that or else I might as well stayed home and cycle at the gym. The rewards, besides the physical exercise of cycling, are the breath-taking view of the Cirque at the top, the delightful little village to explore, and the ability to experience something I've never experienced before.

The Power Within

2008-02-01T14:11:00.001-05:00

Ohmigwad - I would do anything in my power to see this man speak, to take his 3-day challenge, to unleash the power within.

My mom must have picked up his book, Awaken the Giant Within, the first year it came out, for I have the vivid memory of seeing its alluring red cover on our bookshelf for most of my formative years. He was my first brush with the self-help genre, and is still my favourite. I'll listen to him on my iPod whenever I'm feeling bleh and his loud, goofy voice delivering these incredibly empowering messages gets me out of my funk every time.

His course is (ridiculously) priced, but I will find a way to get myself there - just you see.

(I'm taking donations now, please see my paypal site below.)

Just kidding! ...but not really. If you'd like to send me there, I would like, die, of gratitude.

Hmmm... not so springy out there

2008-02-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

>>> Media Relations 02/01/2008 1:27 PM >>>

News Release February 1, 2008

City of Toronto closures and cancellations due to winter storm

Due to the current weather conditions all City offices, including City Hall and civic centres, will close at 2 p.m. today.

...

Man, it is white out there! Can't wait to see how the meteorologists will dramatize this on the news tonight.

Spring is in the air

2008-01-31T14:17:00.001-05:00

Thought I'd throw in a frivilous photo in celebration of Spring.

Words of Wisdom

2008-01-23T12:05:00.000-05:00

... from Dr. Seuss.

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

Awww... what a talent: he philosophises in rhymes. A modern Buddha, he be.

"Life sucks, get a touque and embrace it."

2008-01-21T22:52:00.000-05:00

Ha ha ha! Rick Mercer is such a smarty-pants.

(Click to play)

Frequent Flyer Health Points

2008-01-18T12:40:00.000-05:00

In honour of Nicholas' upcoming aeronautical adventures, in which he will cover Canada in a series of 17 flights over 40 days, here's a quick guide to obtaining Frequent Flyer Health Points.

+24hr Points: Skipping Jet-Lag
Beat jet lag by setting your watch to your destination time-zone and spend as much time outside as you can, because daylight will help you acclimate more quickly. It usually takes two good nights to reset your clock, but it can take as much as a day per time zone.

+1:1 Points: Staying Hydrated

Airplane cabins are between 10-20% drier than outdoors, so keep hydrated. Even slight dehydration can cause headaches and fatigue. Sip about 250mL (1 cup) of water for every hour of your flight.

-8 oz. Points: Drinking Dehydrates

Avoid dehydrating drinks, such as coffee, tea, pop and and alcohol. They may dangerously dehydrate you, due to the dry cabin air. Also, the low cabin air pressure doubles the effect of alcohol, due to hypoxia, or a decreased oxygen flow to your muscles and brain. One drink in the air is equal to two on the ground.

+45 - 60 Points: Airbound Exercise

Blood flows through your veins by means of contraction, such as when you walks or just plain move around. If you sit too long, your blood in your legs may pool, and can form a clot. The real danger is if the clot breaks off and travels to your lungs, forming a pulmonary embolism.

Get up every 45 - 60 minutes and walk around. In between walks, flex your feet under the seat ahead of you, rotating your ankles and alternating raising one foot and then the other, while keeping them both off the ground.

- 12 Points: Wearing Restrictive clothes

To help with blood flow, dress in loose-fitting, comfortable clothes. Layering is best, as airplanes are typically cool, and being cold for several hour can lead to a break-down in your immune system. Whatever you do, dress appropriately, so you don't have an Kyla Ebbert moment, and then have to go work for Richard Branson and pose nude in Playboy.

Cragslist job posting: DO MY HOMWORK $$$

2008-01-15T22:52:00.000-05:00

Date: 2008-01-12, 8:45PM EST

I HAVE SOME HOMEWORK THAT MUST BE COMPLETED ASAP, PREFERABLY BY SUNDAY NIGHT. IT IS SOME GRADE 11 WORK PLACE MATH, WORLD ISSUES, GR 9 HISTORY AND INTRO TO ANTHRO. ONLY SERIOUS INQUIRES.

YOU WILL BE PAID.

THANKS

Location: TORONTO
Compensation: $100
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

...

Here we have a budding entrepreneur, albeit lacking a little perspective in history and world issues...

Smooth moves of the 07's

2008-01-15T17:13:00.001-05:00

In a cost-cutting move, Circuit City lays off all sales associates paid 51 cents or more per hour above an "established pay range" - essentially firing 3,400 for its top performers in one fell swoop. Over the next eight months Circuit City's share price drops by almost 70%.

McDonald's launches a "word battle" against the Oxford English Dictionary to amend the definition of McJobs, which the OED currently describes as an "unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects." The goal, according to a company vice president, it to change the citation to "reflect a job that is stimulating, rewarding, and offers skills that last a lifetime."

A worker in a German screw factory smuggles out 2,000 to 7,000 screws per night, ultimately stealing more than a million units. He sells the screws below cost on the internet, artificially depressing the entire screw market.

In Auguest 2007, Johnson & Johnson sues the American Red Cross for infringement of its trademarked red cross. “For a multibillion dollar drug company to claim that the Red Cross violated a criminal statute ... simply so that J&J can make more money, is obscene,” said Mark Everson, the Red Cross president.

And the smoothest move of all...

Australia's Toy of the Year a bead toy called Bindeez made by Moose Enterprise, is pulled from stores after scientists discover that the beads contain a chemical that converts into the date-rape drug GHB when ingested.

(These smooth moves were brought to you by Fortune Magazine and the letter "Ha!")

When the situation calls for...

2008-01-14T17:02:00.000-05:00

I ran to work this morning through a slight drizzle, chased on by the Killers blasting out my headphones. It wasn't until showered and settled in at my desk that I realised I forgot my wallet. No chocolate milk recovery drink and no lunch equals no fun at all.

It was only 10:20am and my stomach was knotting and gurgling. Although I had two runner's pancakes just an hour and a half ago, they were long gone after my 250 caloric burn of a run.

Beg? Borrow? Stea- er, ...Find? I contemplated my options while I filled up my 2 L Nalgene water bottle from MEC, and gulped it down; resentful that the little bit of estrogen I was consuming with my water wouldn't go far towards satisfy my hunger. Indra, the most mothering around our office, stopped by a few minutes into my water binge, offering homemade cookies and I took two, thanking her gratefully. They were the size of toonies but bought me an hour.

I was imaging that I would have to scavenge through the staff kitchen, experimenting with condiments and expired food, when the idea came to me: I grabbed my change purse, which ironically held just six TTC (Toronto Transit) tokens and asked if anyone wanted to buy two tokens for $5. They would get a 50 cent discount, and I would get my lunch.

And boy - did that grilled tuna wrap with a side of homemade barley soup hit the spot!

My image!!

2008-01-04T16:03:00.000-05:00

So, Nicholas and I -well, mostly Nicholas, spent one evening last month perusing royalty-free images from the iPhotos website, searching for an 'active + women + weight' picture for my Lightfooted Adventures website. Finally, after about a thousand rejected photos, we found the perfect one.

Unfortunately, she apparently was perfect for a few others looking for a royalty-free image of a fit woman, because we spotted her smiling off the pages of December's issue of Oxygen magazine, and today - I found her here:

It certainly is frustrating being ahead of our times... and yet not fast enough to capitalize on our painfully cutting-edge sixth-sense of setting trends. Siiiigh...

2008-01-04T14:06:00.000-05:00

Hmm... a bike union. I'm undecided. Would a union be what it takes to get our paths plowed?

What are your thoughts?

Moguls made of powder puffs

2007-12-30T00:37:00.000-05:00

Okay - so I'm from Alberta, right, and there we get snow. Snow deep and thick and dense - compressing like layers of sedimentary rock. However, for as much snow as I've seen in my life, I've never skied snow like the powder of Silver Star on December 28th. Fluffy, dry and malleable - gently forming new deep, thick moguals with each one of our voracious turns. This snow was pure alliteration: fresh, forgivable and fantastic!!

(Front to back: Nicholas, Jodie, and Jeremy - Photo credit: Bruce Handcock)

Cross-Canada Crazy Adventure

2007-12-19T11:13:00.000-05:00

Well, the $137 price tag was appealing... and I romanticised the distance by imagining the oodles of free time to be singularly productive and to take in the wonders of this great country, but in the end, 48 hours on the Greyhound is as bad as it seems.

Highlights: Snow, snow, and more snow! Like I've never seen before. 24 of the 48 hours were spent heading north through Ontario and on the Saturday morning, I went for a quick run across Thunder Bay, where grated snow sliced in thick layers as tall as my waist cut a narrow path, opening up the sidewalk from the surrounding white landscape.

Lowlights: No surprises here - the inability to get any real sleep on the bus. That, and an extremely irate bus driver who threatened to kick me off "at the next stop - don't care where you're going" because, apparently, if you spend more than a minute in the bathroom, you must be sneaking a cigarette. Try convincing him you were doing stretches!! Definite lowlight.

Although Greyhounding it across the country was an adventure, I will, from now on, gladly take my free package of nuts and security check-in hassles of flying over the trials of 48 hours and the lure of a $137 cross Canada bus trip.

CAN-BIKE Romances?

2007-12-12T15:42:00.000-05:00

Upon checking my CAN-BIKE junkmail box, this letter jumped onto the screen:

Hello Dear!

How are you? I hope that all good for you and you will read my letterwith a interest. Ok. I got your e-mail through internet datingcompany. I want to arrive to USA and I have good chance for this.I need only man who can meet me in USA and probably we can to developour relations.

Ok. My name is Alina. I'm from Warszawa, Poland. I'm 26 years old. I am ready for creation family and want it very much.I cannot find the man in Poland for myself because it very hard in Poland.I want to create family and to live in your country because the government to care about people. I want to live and be sure in the future.In Poland it is not possible to live easy.

I want to tell about myself a little. I live in city Warszawa. It's capital of Poland.My city is very beautiful. I work as the seller in shop home appliances.I'm cheerful woman who like to go for sports and do all what like are usual peoples.

My history: I'm with my girlfriend were going to go in your country as tourists for search of men for serious relations.But my girlfriend could not go with me. She had problems with your family.But very soon I will receive visa and I don't want to lose a chance toarrive in your country. I will receive visa in 7 days for your country.Now I'm waiting for reception of my visa. It willbe great if you can meet me and we can to have relations with you. I'munderstand that it very strange, but probably it's desteny for you andme. I understand that you will ask me "Where did you get my e-mail?"I'm right??? ;) I got your e-mail through internet dating agencyin my city. I gave them my letter and they told me that they will sendmy letter.

And I will be very happy if YOU will answer to me.I will be very happy if you will write me and we will have our meetingvery soon. And it is possible we a meeting in 7 days because I can arrive to you. Please tell to me about yourself a little!

What is your full name?
Your age?
City?

I hope that you will answer to me back...I will wait your answer so much...Write to me on e-mail

Yours Alina

I have to wonder the legitimacy of it all: is there really a poor Alina in Poland, waiting with baited-breath for CAN-BIKE's response?

Lane Rights!

2007-12-12T13:30:00.000-05:00

Triumph, really, is the only word to describe the sight of this sign.

("About time!" would be two words.)

Unfortunately, I have yet to see it on an actual street... just in a powerpoint presentation from BTAC (the Bicycle Trade Assoc. of Canada).

Domestic wonders

2007-12-11T23:43:00.000-05:00

So, I tried picking up this little trick a couple of years ago, after purchasing a ridiculous 'house-keeping from the pros' book, but understanding the written instructions for folding a fitted bed sheet seemed beyond me. With a toss of the book, the sheets - and the dream to have rows of them perfectly folded, were put on the back shelf.

Until tonight, when I had two of them to tackle and the thought sprung to mind - youtube!

Yes, I looked up 'folding fitted sheet' on youtube... no - not dorky at all... 6,902 people watching it means it's definitely not dorky.

The first one is waaaay too professional and quick, causing me to hit pause a dozen times and curse a wee bit. Then I tried this video by a bloke just doing it from home, and he explains it quite nicely.

Happy folding!

The best ideas...

2007-12-10T14:44:00.000-05:00

Soon after my big problem-solving blog post, I came across this little ditty from a City of Toronto lesson plan, describing the decision-making process surrounding bike safety for children.

I was amused with the simplicity of this process.

That is a great IDEA!

I Identify the problem
D Describe all the possible solutions to the problem
E Evaluate each solution (what is good or not good about each solution)
A Act on the best solution (choose the best solution and try it)

3.99%

2007-12-09T15:05:00.000-05:00

Done it! My visa debt is now sitting at a sweet 3.99% interest rate - that's a lower rate then what you could get from any personal or student loan from a Canadain institution.

Ask your bank - these offers come around three or so times a year and they're good for four months. Why pay 19.5% when you could be paying 4%?

Cooking with fire

2007-12-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

It's always a treat to discover that our government provides a support system or two for for budding Entrepreneurs. A few months ago, I came across a free Interactive Business Planner that enables you to bang-out a cookie-cutter business plan, which is a great place to start cooking, if you have no idea what ingredients go into creating a business plan. (Okay, enough with the cooking analogy.)

After you get the meat and potatoes of your plan laid out (ahh, couldn't resist!), then you can start looking around for ways to spice up your material.

Then you'll truly be cooking with fire!

Business Week's How to write a winning business plan was fairly inspirational.

It's a good time to be making your own dough around here.

I Googled

2007-12-07T15:59:00.000-05:00

Once again, the internet has capitalized on its exceptional ability to vacuum up time you didn't even know you wanted swept away, and has created iGoogle, your very own custom homepage. (Okay - this may be old news for many of you...)

After a couple days of initial feng-shuiing the layout to include my horoscope, inspiration quotes from Dr. Seuss and Jane Austen, the latest news from Globe and Mail, a daily nutrition checklist, Toronto weather, currency converter - and much more - it's finally set up to reflect all the aspects of daily life important to me.

I've found it's actually quite functional for work, especially when I created a tab called 'Communications', where I can look for new mail in both my gmail and hotmail accounts discretely at a single glance.

Organising online has never been so fun!

Asking the Right Questions

2007-12-04T12:28:00.000-05:00

I've been listening to that ubiquitous guru of personal success, Anthony Robbins during my 7- and 10-km runs these days, burning through his 26-day Personal Power "Transformation" mp3s in a couple of weeks. This means I haven't really been completing the 'assignments' he suggests, as I would have to stop and freeze instead of running warmly to work. All the same, I think I've been absorbing some of the stuff he says...

One thing he shared yesterday on Day 25: How to solve problems quickly and effectively that really resonated with me is how we ask questions of ourselves. Do any of these sound familiar?

Why does this always happen to me?
What's wrong with me?
How come I can't do, or get, or afford.....?

Well, it seems that asking these apparently 'hypothetical' questions, your brain gets to work on finding answers - even - and especially if you don't actually want to know why! It'll search your databank of past situations to justify and explain why you once again have found yourself in a situation you don't want. If it can't find a reason immediately, it might even make up a ramdom one like, "coz your dumb."

These questions also presupposes some pretty limiting things:

That this situation is part of a pattern.
That there is something wrong with you!
That you actually can't do, or get, or afford whatever it is you want to do.

By asking these limiting questions, your brain will always come up with answers - but not solutions.

So instead of asking questions that just make you feel bad about yourself or your situation, use these:

5 questions that will prompt your brain to find Solutions:

What is great about this? (Or, what could be great about this?)
What is not perfect yet?
(The presupposition is that it's going to be perfect!)
What am I willing to do to make things the way I want?
(The presupposition is that you're already willing to make changes, and that you can!)
What am I not willing to no longer do in order to make things the way I want?
How can I do what's necessary to get this job done and enjoy the process?

So, by asking these questions, your brain will begin to search and find solutions for yourself - even if you don't want - or are unable to feel positive about your current situation.

Try it!

How fast can you break out of limiting patterns?

Financial Literacy Part II

2007-12-02T16:54:00.000-05:00

This financial planning stuff has got me really thinking. Last week, when I had a bit of time recovering from my accident, I laid out some ideas I'd been reading about into some concrete goals. When I came back to work, I shared my goals with a supportive colleague who inspired me to put these ideas into a workbook. I thought it would be fun to share it wtih you.

Here's a little sample:

Feel free to download the powerpoint presentation from the Widget Box on the right sidebar. Hope it gets you thinking too!

(If you do download it and find it useful, could you please give my google adds a click once in a while? That would be great!)

Happy Wealth-building!

Bikes all day

2007-11-29T14:40:00.000-05:00

Biking to a Different Beat

NYC kids on their mobile beat machines

One of the best things about working in the Bicycle Division of the City of Toronto's Transportation Safety Planning Department, is that looking at articles like the one above, is completely encouraged - in fact, can even pass as research.

This one definitely passes as research:

Toronto's Michal Kapral in his "Twinkie" Velomobile

OMG!
I so want one of those!!

Kapral says:

"I live 10 kilometres away from work; driving takes me 47 minutes [parking included]. The streetcar takes me 47 minutes, but the streetcars are normally late or delayed in some manner. When I was in really good shape I could run home in 35 minutes, but I would need to shower and change afterwards. Now the Velomobile takes me 20 minutes, plus another 10 minutes answering a mob of questions from people on the street while I lock it up. But still, I get to work in less the time then it would take me to drive in half the effort of running, and I get my exercise for the day, all while enjoying the comforts of a car without the need to pay for gasoline or insurance."

And even this article from the BBC News has been circulating around the office.

Bike sex man placed on probation.
(Oh, dear. Can't a person get a bit of peace these days?)

I love my job!

Financial Literacy

2007-11-28T13:19:00.000-05:00

It all started when I learned on Monday that my RBC Visa interest rate had been increased to 24.5% back in September. Further investigation revealed that this penalty was the result of 3 late payments over the period of 12 months.

(A late payment strike against you is levied the day after your 'Statement Due Date.' This strike goes against your credit rating and can hinder any future attempts to get another credit card, a cell phone, a loan, a car, a mortgage, etc.)

After my initial shock, I protested, I pleaded, but - "No, this a 'delinquent' payment pattern," the RBC financial advisor state firmly, "and will require 6 months of consistent payments before the interest rate can be reduced."

There must be something I could do! That evening I complained to Nicholas, who exclaimed, "Aren't there laws against that? 24.5% are what loan sharks charge!"

It was time to take matters into my own hands; my financial illiteracy was costing me too much.

I went back over each Visa statement of 2007, (luckily, online banking allows easy access to electronic versions), and wrote down the date and amount of each payment I made towards my Visa. As the real picture emerged, I became more and more sure in my belief that this was totally unfair! My sleuthing revealed that:

I missed Jan and Feb's payments because my balance was $0 or near to $0;
For 8 months this year, I had made two payments on my Visa, rather than just the required one;
and, that during September, the third 'delinquent payment period' I had made a payment - one day outside the statement period.

At this point, I called the number on the back of my Visa card, and explained the real picture to a very sympathetic representative named Michelle. I added, my voice surprisingly thick with emotion, "A 24.5% interest rate is something a loan shark would provide, and I will no longer bank through RBC if an alternative cannot be provided."

I did it! I stood up to my bank!

"Let me see what my manager can do for you." She replied, gently. "Please hold the line."

I waited 10 minutes, feeling super-empowered and very hopeful.

When Michelle reconnected, Here is what she offered me:

An immediate decrease in my interest rate back to it's usual 19.5%
A $100 rebate for the difference in interest charged since September
An opportunity to take advantage of the "3.99% Transfer Balance Interest Rate"
(Which in a nutshell, means: I first transfer the amount on my RBC Visa to another card ("from another bank", Michelle noted in an undertone) then 4 days later, call RBC and say, "Hi, I'd like to do a balance transfer of $-- from my -- card onto my RBC Visa card." and they'll transfer the amount right back onto my card at a 3.99% interest rate for 4 months!)

I was ecstatic!!

I'm going to pay off as much as I possibly can until April, at which point, I will change my Visa plan to a 11.5% fixed interest rate.

(I also set up a minimum payment to automatically be taken out of my chequing account, so I ensure I never miss a payment due date again!)

Who knew becoming financially literate could be so much fun?!

Merry Birthdays!

2007-11-27T13:36:00.000-05:00

Although none of us will be in Toronto for Christmas this year, we still wanted that 'Christmas feel' about the house. Sunday night was a festive occasion of Decorating the Tree to remixed house/lounge versions of our favourite carols: "Have, have, have yourself...a mmmmmm- mmmmmerry little... have, have have yourself...."

So, perhaps that's why our little Canadian Tire tree turned out to be a much more of a Charlie's Angle affair than a Charlie Brown. Or perhaps it was the sparkly green apples that Nicholas adored and which inspired our tree's apple-bedazzled adornment. Or perhaps the recent cinematic outing to "Breakfast with Scot" where I was the only female in the audience full of couples, might have had some influence. No matter the reason, this be the happiest little tree around. And she's wonderful!

Right now, she is merrily watching over a miniature mountain of presents for the birthday boys, - for Nicholas and Jeremy are 25 today! Merry Birthday!

(This might possibly become the best new tradition of the season. Who wouldn't want to open their Christmas Tree presents a whole month early?!)

Adventures of a Chipmunk

2007-11-21T11:09:00.000-05:00

Monday afternoon was dreary - typical of Toronto this time of year. Drizzle and shadow prevailed, with a few lonely lamps scattering fuzzy pockets of yellowed illumination through the rain. I was nearly home from work: two blocks away, all down hill, picking up speed on my bike. I was planning ahead since it's a left-turn onto Shuter St and rush hour traffic can be tricky to navigate. One shoulder-check behind me in preparation for switching lanes - road all clear behind - and as I looked forward again, it was just in time to see an on-coming vehicle fling left in front of me, cutting me off completely. One gut-wrenching scream, one valiant attempt at a quick-turn along side the grey van, and my entire left side ate metal panel - a big t-bone steak.

Rolling around on the ground, (I can use this word legitimately:) in 'agony' I didn't have to wait more than perhaps 20 seconds before people were all around.

"Ohmigod! Are you okay?"

"Hello, 911? I'm here on Sherbourn and Dundas with a cyclist who's just been hit..."

"Does anyone know first aid?"

"I know first aid." I groaned, kinda laughing, "But that's not gonna help me." I couldn't open my eyes for long, I was just too nauseous with pain, but I knew the efficient man on his cell phone was standing above me, and two or three others - women, I think, were knelling around me.

"Let's cover her up. Collect all her things. Is this what's left of her helmet?! Where's her bike?"

"My baby! My baby!" (That was me.) "Is she okay? Could someone please lock up my baby?"

A few chuckles, I smiled in relief, it must be okay if we're laughing, right?

"She's fine. She's okay. I'll lock her up. Where are the keys?"

"In my uh... left... uh, pocket." I couldn't remember which was left or right. I tried to move my hand towards my right pocket, but my shoulder said "no way!" with little stabbing jolts of pain.

"My right pocket, sorry"

I could feel people shuffled around me, gently reaching into pockets for keys and carefully removing my courier bag, which was strapped securely my chest. I wasn't making it easy for them, as the pain caused me to roll around an awful lot.

"Shhhh, stay still. Don't move, okay? Just stay still."

It wasn't more than six or eight minutes before the siren and lights of an ambulance arrived, and everything went very fast from there. I understood then that I really did need to stay still when the spine board and neck brace were applied. It was just a series of lifts and rolls and bumps and a few more lifts and rolls before I arrived at the hospital.

Everyone was so kind - I know I was babbling random things as the collision jumbled and tossed my thoughts as if a dresser caught in an earthquake. I like to think I was entertaining, as I told the paramedic that my wallet was in the 'grey lightweight silicon-impregnated waterproof draw-string sack' inside my courier bag, but it was mostly to force myself to keep remembering things. There was always someone around me who would talk with me, in very kind, gentle voices.

My phone rang while I was laying in Emerge, eyes closed and squirming , I knew it was Nicholas. He usually calls just before he heads home from work. I asked one of the kind voices around me if they could please get my phone from by bag, and holding it up to my neck-braced head, that's when I started crying. I could barely hear Nicholas through the brace, and tried not to be dramatic with the details, but I wanted him with me. Now!

He arrived at what seemed like Superman time and everything went very smoothly from there. I was either in x-rays, giving my statement, getting an EMG, holding Nicholas' hand or seeing a Doctor. I got gravol and percocet for the pain and laughs from my still-random conversation. I shared with the radiologist the story of a pin my mom gave me years ago: "Warning: wearing dirty underwear. If in accident, just let me die."

Nicholas was amazing - so patient and soothing, he kept me relaxed, and waited patiently through hours of testing. Jeremy stopped by too, and babysat my bike, which the kind policeman brought over from the scene. Thanks Jeremy!

So, story nearly done, what's left is a torn AC ligament in my left shoulder, some puffiness and bruises in my left jaw, coccyx, and knee, and general aches and pains all over. No spine injury but a heck of a lot of whiplash. The pain will away soon enough, I'm sure. What remains is an overwhelming sense of gratitude for those who helped me, and a wee bit of resentment for the bloody van that hit and ran.

Going round and round

2007-11-16T08:39:00.001-05:00

Reading through my one of my old London journals, I came across a moment which made me laugh:

[Heading off to a dermatologist appointment, after a two-month wait to procure a visit to this particular specialist.]

Had I taken three minutes before rushing out the door to look at my A-Z*, I would have noticed that the Hammershmith Hospital is just a three-minute walk from East Acton, and a 15-minute walk from my door. Instead, I ran out and caught the first bus heading to Hammersmith Hospital and sat for a watch-checking, toe-tapping agonizing half an hour of stopping, starting, crawling forward before I had enough, got off the bus at the next stop and phoned London Transport for directions. I was told that the bus I should be on – a now 20-minute extension ride from where I currently stood - would make me nearly 20 minutes late. Hence, I hastily caught a cab. The £10 cab fare brought me back to where I started – in East Acton, five blocks from home.

*A-Z (London street map guide)

2007-11-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

We were just watching a Planet Earth on endangered wild cats and look what I came across.

That's right ladies and gents - this is one cat that's off the wild species list.

Kids can - indeed - bike

2007-11-14T18:43:00.000-05:00

This summer, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the perfect summer job: a camp counsellor for the Kids CAN-BIKE Camp, an innovative week-long bicycle camp that runs through the City of Toronto, and by the generous donations of local sponsors like Canadian Tire, Children's Aid Society and MEC. It provides children who are at-risk or low income with all the equipment and training needed to bike safely in their neighbourhoods at no cost to themselves or their families. The best part of it all is that at the end of the week, the 10 campers take home their bike!

In order to teach this camp, I had to quickly get my qualifications up to spec (CAN-BIKE 2, First Aid and CPR, First Alert), plan a summer schedule with Idi and Sarah (the other counsellors) and before I knew it - 80 kids, 80 bikes and oodles of fun riding in the sun zipped by before I could say, "Kids can indeedy bike!

I loved it so much, I requested to stay on and am now involved in the expansion of the camp. One of my projects was to prepare this website for the Camp; a snapshot of our summer with an emphasis on our sponsors and agencies. It just went live yesterday, and I'm hoping to hear some feedback, so if you're curious - (especially if you might consider this to be a fun job to have next summer!) please have a look.

"I see money opportunities everywhere"

2007-11-13T08:36:00.000-05:00

So you might have seen someting new on my blog recently. Like the unavoidable adverts on the top. My visa bill ran up a little higher this month and I'm trying to offset my costs by renting out my blog. I'm expecting to generate at least 25 cents a month from clicks. That'll pay for my visa in about 6700 years. Happy clicking!

The Runner's High

2007-11-09T18:24:00.000-05:00

It all started the first week of September, in reaction to being relegated indoors after a summer of being active outdoors, teaching kids how to bike. I plotted a 7-km route from my door to the office on MapMyRun.com and ran it one sunny autumn morning.

I wore my heart rate monitor and I recall my heart rate average being somewhere around 171 for the 43 minutes it took me to navigate up and down over the river valley and past the morning rush of streetcars. The run burned around 300 kcal too, if I recall.

I didn't plan ahead so ended up wearing my sweaty running kit all day. Luckily, my office is the Transportation Planning Bicycle Safety division so sweaty apparel is normal, although even there I was pushing the definition of "normalcy." Come 5pm, I ran home, covering the distance more quickly - 40 minutes.

Two days later, I was ready to go again and this time came prepared with my iPod, water bottle and debit card strapped to my hip, and a change of clothes waiting for me at work.

I took this 'alternative mode of transportation' twice a week until two weeks later, I discovered the office has a shower room and to my delight, it mimics a rain forest in volume and warmth. I just need the caw of a parrot and a pina colada waiting for me afterwards. These 10-minute showers have become a luxurious addition to my workday since.

It's a thrill to track my progress on my heart rate monitor. I'm now down to 34 minutes, up to 35 km a week and burning between 400 and 500 kcal each run. I'm also down to 130lbs, which I haven't seen since grade 12!

The most telling indicator of my muscles acute adaptiveness is that my heart rate average has decreased to around 160 - 165 beats per minute while my speed has increased. My cardiac output, the amount of blood pumped to my working muscles per minute, is determined by the amount of blood ejected from the heart with each beat (Stoke Volume) multiplied by the number of beats per minute (Hear Rate). My heart rate has decreased, but by means of the Frank-Starling mechanism, the walls of my heart have stretched, allowing more blood to be ejected with each pump. Less beats but more blood getting to my muscles, and more oxygen being absorbed means I'm running more efficiently.

I've also started to take a 10-km route twice a week, as the lure and rush of endorphin from running is addictive. My work is flexible, so if I show up at 9:15am, after an hour of running, I'm still able to have my shower, my 500mL of chocolate milk (a fabulous recovery drink) before settling down to work for a 9:30am – 5:30pm workday.

It was today I realised that this is truly not a common thing to do. It was cold, zero degrees and lightly raining, but I dressed warmly with a light-weight long-sleeve Marino wool base-layer, a wind-proof toque and light running gloves. But today I only saw two other runners in my 53-minute 10km run, when often it's a dozen or so sharing the route.

Tonight, running home in the dusk, it was just me and my reflective light pounding the sidewalk. Hed Candy blasting smooth tunes through my earphones, the heat radiating off my shirt gently smelling of clean laundry, the rain refreshing on my cheeks, my arms and legs pumping in time, all parts rhythmically aligned. I had hit my stride: a meditative weightless state.

Up a steep incline, I remind myself to decrease the amount of time each foot contacts with the ground. Faster feet, higher knees, arms pump, elbows up and behind. A slight burn of lactic acid in my thighs; heart rate spiking to 182, but still much lower than the 191 when I first took this hill in September. No rest at the top, push it, split-time style - 12 minutes until I'm home.

I will take the weekend to recover, but come Monday, I'll be back on that hill, getting another dose of the runner's high.

New Keyboard!

2007-10-11T21:18:00.000-04:00

AAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Yes. I'm back in business.

So exciting: I finally replaced my keyboard - by myself... at a fraction of the cost had I turned my laptop over to a technician. So what it took me seven months to finally do it, and so what if my fingers now automatically type Ctrl "v" for "A", and so what if the new American keyboard doesn't conform to my UK configurations and I've lost the pound key somehwhere.

All that matters is I'm back in business. I think I'll start every sentence with a capital "A" from now on in honour of my full key-board status. Or, at the very least, I won't drink or eat overtop it anymore.

Look forward to seeing you here more often!

A Lightfooted Adventures Survey

2007-10-05T18:26:00.000-04:00

Hi folks!

It's been ages - almost a quarter of a year since I last blogged, but if you do happen to come across my blog, please take a moment to fill out my little survey to help me start my business: Lightfooted Adventures! Here are the details:

I'm in the beginning stages of launching Lightfooted Adventures, an urban adventure company, and I'm interested in gathering your opinions to help shape my business.

Please take a moment to share your thoughts on this short Online Survey.

It's completely anonymous, requires no personal information, and will take under 5 minutes to complete (I timed it!)

Thank you very much for your time and consideration!

This made me hoot

2007-05-31T13:32:00.001-04:00

Shy a Day

2007-05-15T10:35:00.000-04:00

Ohmi goodness!I've abandoned my blog for nearly a month, shy a day. I've never let it go this long. What a shame.... how many of you still check it?

anyone? anyone?

(Ferris Bueller moment there.)

Well, part of the problem is I still haven't yet sucked-it-up and paid for a keyboard replacement, so every time I need to use the letter "a" I have to hold down the Ctrl key and hit "v." It's tedious and akward especially if my left hand is a bit slow to release the Ctrl key and my right types the next letter and then annoying stuff happens all over the screen, esp. if the next letter is an l, or d, or v or b, etc. and just forget about finding a capital "a" to paste!

I've got a few pictures from the last month. Mostly involving food. Nicholas is amazing
at dreaming up great food ideas and combinations. His latest inspiration was our 5ft by 4ft balcony and on the weekend we went out to our local Candian Tire and got us a BBQ, two folding chairs and some cute little flowering plants. and so, 14 floors up on a Sunday night, we had ourselves a grilled steak and eggplant dinner. Complete, of course, with a couple bottles of beers. Mmmmm!

Lululemonnite II

2007-04-16T23:02:00.000-04:00

So I'm going to be wearing this new Kyoto tech shirt in Jewel and Jellybean colours to work three times a week for the next three weeks (at which point it's "free" for me - I'm demoing it as it's a new item that's not selling as fast as it should be.)

It's actually great for running and other rigorous activities as it's woven with silver-dipped threads (using Silverescent technology) which is anti-stink, anti-static and very light-weight. I'm sure after three weeks of continual wear on me, its properties will be tested to the max.

The Velocity Gym bag in Macc and Lawn colours is designed to carry a yoga mat on the outside and everything you need for the gym on the inside. The mat pictured is my hot yogi mat, which is cotton instead of plastic to provide an anti-slip and super absorbent surface for Bikram or Moksha yoga styles. (You can read about how much Nicholas and I love hot yoga on his blog post of "Near Death and Detox at Bikram." We're actually going twice a week these days.)

... and it's almost too dorky, but my water bottle matches!!!

Lexi the Tramp

2007-04-13T10:43:00.000-04:00

Farm life is fun, too funny actually. Last night, my dad informed me that their miniature Doberman Pinscher, Lexi, just had four puppies.

What?! How was that possible? Dad and Hilde were so diligent at keeping their Border Collie herding dog away from the two females. Then I remembered... there was just one occasion in January where my Dad has his back to the dogs, only to turn around and catch Glen and Lexi in the act.

Apparently when Dad hollered at them, Lexi freaked out and froze up and they got stuck. Really stuck, with Dad trying to pull them apart (the dogs ended up bum to bum, laying on the ground, but still stuck.... try to figure that one out.) The dogs yowling, Dad hollering for Hilde and out from the house she comes running with a bucket of ice water to pour on their stuck bits (apparently an old wives remedy) which only made Lexi squeal more. Although by this time Glen figured his life was finished and was staring glassy-eyed straight ahead without moving. Hilde, now rather concerned, went back to the house to get some other remedies (cooking oil?) and on the way she whistled hard for Glennie to come fetch the ball and that did the trick: as soon as Glen heard he was called to "work" any amorous thoughts left in his one-tracked little mind vanished and out he popped and came running to the house for one throw of the ball before he spent the rest of the afternoon licking his wounded member - and his pride. Dad and Hilde had something to say about the priorities of the male dog, which I found particularly amusing, and which was when Lexi earned her nickname.

So.... the one and only time these two virginal pets were to meet, and four little butterballs the result. Nature is funny... and awfully determined, don't you think?

It's been much, much too long..

2007-03-31T22:33:00.000-04:00

... since I've posted here. It's a real shame, really.

But I've got excuses, and good stuff has been happening, which is why I'm not here so much these days.

Here's the update in brief:

I'm working full-time at Lululemon on Bloor Street for now. It's a really fun, fast-paced little world there, and although it doesn't exactly challenge me the way my own classroom would, I'm working lots, learning lots, shopping lots and having fun doing it all. For instance, I'm (re)learning how to work in a large group of people without being able to automatically assume a leadership role... Humility required!
Which brings me to my second update: I just got my license to teach in Ontario so I'll soon be looking for a part-time or summer position, because...
I'm studying to get my Certification in Personal Training through the National Strength and Conditioning Assoc. The exam in June 2nd in Montreal so and the material is surprisingly in-depth (starting right from the actin and myosin myofilaments that are the contractile units of a muscle fiber - right out of first year's bio and chem classes.) Personal training is something that has always interested me, so I would like to include in it the list of things I enjoy doing - and for which I get paid!
Otherwise, things are pretty fun around here. Nicholas is working long hours but we're really committed to spending time together when we can: going to yoga classes (I get two free classes a week through Lululemon), seeing new movies (Premiered 300 and of Blades of Glory) and making dinners at home (I cook too!)
And lastly, I'd like to say that I've finally destroyed all traces of Ambiases that was hanging out in my body. Turns out, though I thought I had fully rid myself of these pesky micro-parasites last summer, I mustn't have finished the job properly. It wasn't until February, when I started needing 10 hrs. of sleep a night because I was feeling drained all the time that I went for a recheck. I endured two weeks of strange and violent detoxification (and Nicholas bared the brunt of my complaints) and now I feel 100% better. My body feels clean, my energy levels returned to normal, and even my mind feels sharper. Hurrah!!
Oh yeah, and I dyed my hair blondy-ish...

ode to gret lptop

2007-03-18T13:33:00.000-04:00

lst night
feeling shkey
fter long run with nichols
i mnged to spill te ll over my poor precious lptop.

it wsn't until this morning,
when googling bnn pnckes recipies
i sw my computer could no longer crete
tht first, most vluble letter of the lphebet.

nd the shift key doesn't work too good either...

oh, tht mkes me sd. very sd.

How come I just discovered this Now?!

2007-03-02T16:27:00.000-05:00

So I'm determined to finish up the ESL course work that I started (and abandoned) this time last year, and during my perusal of American vs. British English webpage, I realised that I've been repressing my instincts for my entire written life!

Burnt, dreamt, smelt, spelt, and spoilt are all correct! I wish it was the same for equipt, but no luck there; I just spell that one wrong.

Burned, dreamed, smelled, spelled, and spoiled are all dead to me now.

The Secret is out THERE!

2007-02-28T16:27:00.000-05:00

Wippie - you can now watch The Secret online. Gotta love the internet!

Watch it! Watch it - Watch it now!

Random Art Attack VI

2007-02-28T15:58:00.000-05:00

So today's art attack is a piece that attacks on a different level than the others (okay, so most of them aren't all that aggressive.) But this one is a sculpture of me...

I started working with the Edmonton-based artist Richard Tosczak in 2004, after we acted together in Arthur Miller's The Crucible at the Walterdale Playhouse. He was John Proctor; I was Abigail Williams. Interesting dynamic there, but the professional relationship we established
carried over to our many artist-model sessions during that summer. I left for England before he could finish but I have hopes now that I'm back in the country.

Our sessions were intense and I came away exhausted, like I had just finished a gym work-out. It took great concentration to hold this pose, but my muscles developed a memory and Richard's frequent exclamations of "Hold it! Did you move your hands? It looks different. Move your elbow out again!" certainly pushed me to get into a greater state of stillness.

It was remarkable seeing the clay take shape; muscles and sinews, tension and weight coaxed alive under Richard's master touch. I would look over at Richard working away on the inanimate form and imagine my clay doppleganger rising to her clay feet and towering over me. It was definitely a unique experience!

Richard was recently commissioned to create a sculpture for Hawrelak park so look for that next year.

Watching TV

2007-02-25T01:20:00.000-05:00

Thunking aloud

2007-02-25T00:44:00.000-05:00

Q: Ironically, studies have shown that criticism has often the exact opposite effect than entended. I'm someone who is very self-critical, and yet often find myself repeating same mistakes again and again. What can I do?

A: The best environment for success is one where we allow ourselves to relax, to let go of what we assume others expect of us and just accept ourselves as we are - at this very moment.

True acceptance comes from the acknowledgement that we have created each and every situation in our lives. We all have arrived at the exact spot we are standing because of the culminated effect of every single one of our past actions. And our actions are a direct result of our beliefs and expectations about ourselves and our opinions of how we must behave.

But here's the secret: our beliefs are simply thoughts and a thought - any thought, can be changed right this very minute. We choose our thoughts, be it that we're fantastic or that we're failures. And we have the ability to change that thought right now!

Then, when we acknowledge that we can change our thoughts about ourselves, then we find that we don't need to hold onto our old mistake patterns or react harshly to others' criticism. For they are simply criticising us because of their own fear of rejection (the opposite of acceptance.)

So what does this acceptance look like?

These statements are acceptance. Repeat them until they come automatically and you belive them whole-heartedly.

My thoughts are who I am. It's not I think, therefore I am, it is I am who I think I am.
My actions are the product of my beliefs. Every thought I have is creating my future.
I believe I am perfect just the way I am. I am at peace and harmony with the world.
I am responsible for where I am. There is no one to blame and I am the one who can change any situation.
I let go of all resentment and forgive every one in my life who I have been angry at.

Wee - that was fun! Hope you enjoyed the ride and thanks for reading!

(For more of this great stuff, you can check out Louise Hay's "You Can Heal Your Life")

Words

2007-02-22T17:27:00.000-05:00

Sick of using the verb "to obtain" on my resume objective, I went in search of a more enthusiastic and active word to use.

I liked the idea of 'procuring'... I have always thought it to be a rather romantic and swashbuckling way of getting something.

However, the Cambridge Dictionary did a mighty fine job of squashing my lust for procuring. The second definition listed was:

"to obtain a prostitute for someone else to have sex with"

(But apparently, if you are in procurement of something, you're just in the act of getting supplies.)

Like a fairy tale... or a classic car aficionado's wet dream

2007-02-22T15:53:00.000-05:00

This is incredible!!

"So imagine you live in Portugal and you're moving house. You find a lovely farm house set in a decent plot of land. The place has been empty for 15 years.

Whilst exploring your new property you find a large barn in the trees. The door is padlocked shut and its all rusted solid so you grind the padlock open.........

(Click on the photo for the rest of the story.)

From an era when chesterfields were Chesterfields

2007-02-21T08:10:00.000-05:00

I was skeptical at first, mostly because of my previous, and rather tumultuous experience with a used couch (might have been the cats, though) but now there's no doubt in my mind how fabulous this "find" really is. It's definitely one of comfiest, retro-hip couches ever. The past owner, before it was modeled in the display case at Bungalow's, was an elderly woman who didn't smoke and didn't own cats. And it's 100% wool!

Great choice Nicholas! (and a big kudo goes out to the gang who spotted it first.)

Ramdom Art Attack V

2007-02-15T19:01:00.000-05:00

Fantasy abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters: united with her, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of their marvels.

Francisco José de Goya

Snow storms, old friends and escapism

2007-02-14T10:06:00.000-05:00

Where did the CN tower go?

It's a veritable snow globe out there and here I am, toasty warm with a cuppa mint tea, good tunes and an old friend on msn. It's 5am her time but she hasn't headed to bed yet and the topic of our discussion for the past half an hour has been generally around what we're reading these days.

P: At present I have an unfinished Beagle, Scalzi, and Eschbach at my right. Of course, I have a finished Isobelle Carmody in the pile as well. To my left is the ill fated Bernard Cornwell. And behind me is the as yet to be started Elizabeth Haydon book which I don't want to read because Ashe is still alive at the end and that irritates me.

J: I'm slogging my way through Thomas Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree.

P: Good grief! Why on earth would you read someone that forces you face reality?

(P prefers her reality heavily coated in science fiction.)

...

What are you reading right now?

The View from Here

2007-02-06T08:03:00.000-05:00

They will see us waving from such great heights,

'come down now' they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away,
'come down now' but we'll stay...

- Postal Service

The view from Nicholas' apartment is stunning. Massive, and oh, so metropolitan. Invigorating, and awe-inspiring; you could enjoy it forever and not get bored. But the best part of it all can be found inside the appartment... when he's not at work, that is.

Ciao for now.

Get Fuzzy is always a good giggle

2007-02-02T15:06:00.000-05:00

Today's Horoscope

2007-02-01T20:13:00.000-05:00

I'm not a huge believer of these things, but I do enjoy an uplifting and accurate horoscope....

Virgo, Thursday, February 1st, 2007

Cut yourself some slack, even if you think that you made a mistake. No matter how much you have to do today, make some time for yourself. Being alone now can begin an important healing process for you. Treat yourself gently and allow yourself to feel good. And even if you don't feel like you deserve it, act as if you do until you get the hang of it.

Action-Orientated

2007-01-27T19:13:00.000-05:00

January 27th, 20073:24pm

Thought: "Dang it - there doesn't seem to be an easy way to get my bike to Toronto. Why could that be? Perhaps there's another alternative...perhaps...I could sell it and get myself a sweeet touring bike later... a bike Friday perhaps...ooooOOOOOoooh."

January 27th, 2007 3:25pm

Action: "Hello, Richard? It's Jodie L- here, I bought a Guru from you in 2005 and I'm back in town again and I was wondering if..."
Action: "Nan? Could it be possible for you to drive me over to Cycle Logic sometime today?"

January 27th, 2007 4:32pm

Consequence: Guru'classic 2003 is left at Cycle Logic to be commissioned off for just $200 less then purchased price.
Emotive Reaction: "Oh, it's really gone. Oh. Oh.... I'm going to miss that ol' gal. Oh. I hope I did the right thing! I pray for someone to come along and love it and use it as much as I did. We sure had some fun times together.
Defensive Reaction: I couldn't attach panniers to my Guru so it was strictly for racing through town. I find I carry waaay too much stuff on my back and it isn't practical. Besides, the Guru isn't exactly what I need for what I love doing: cycle touring.
Rational Reaction: It'll all work out okay in the end.

Thank you, Guru, for two seasons of surpurb cycling.

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” Henry Ford

2007-01-25T16:40:00.000-05:00

Gack: I can't believe it's Thursday. Already! I'm sitting amidst boxes and suitcases full of my life's possessions, considering how I'll get it all to Toronto. I move in 8 days and 18 hrs.

Careful consideration must be given to the important questions, like:

Should I bring my knitting? Will I have the time?
Do I have to leave my ski equipment behind? (Waaah!)
How many comfort books do I need to bring? Can I possibly do without Tim Moore's French Revolutions? or Timothy Finley's Not Wanted on the Voyage?
The breadmaker takes up a lot of room but will bring great joy. Is it worth the weight?
My bike - my poor, poor Guru - can it survive another jostling journey?
Can I make it on only six pairs of shoes?
Must I resort to shipping boxes across the country?

But two questions supersede all others:

1. Where will I put it all when I get to Toronto, and;
2. How much do I really need?

Makes me think of that famous song...

All you need is love, love... Loooove is all you need... everything else can be picked up along the way, I suppose.

With these hands...

2007-01-22T05:09:00.000-05:00

It's 3am and I just have to share this with you:

So I'm leaving Invermere, B.C. tomorrow, er - later this morning and was just packing up after a lovely, rousing round of crib with Jay and Christine (just you wait until next time, Christine) when I was struck by the thought that I was leaving with something left unfinished. Then it hit me: I said I would varnish the railings on Jay and Christine's loft before I left. Good grief!

Now, I should explain something here. I have been visiting with my brother and his wife since the beginning of the year and we worked out a pretty sweet deal: I got a place to stay, good food to eat (I didn't realise how much I missed steaks!), and best of all, free ski passes and they got a laborer. For those who don't know, Jay and Christine have just finished building the house that they designed and constructed themselves - with the aid of a great many friends and family and a few professionals (mmm! We all like toilets that flush and lights that light up.) It's been quite a process, which happened very quickly, but they're at that finishing-up stage that seems to take much longer than it should.

Now herein lays the interesting part. I had a few tasks around the house, one being to stain a built-in bookcase (yeah, no: that's not the interesting part yet.) It took me two days, having to wait between coats and a heck of a lot of sanding. I was going to stain it all one colour, a dark brown, but after finding the trim had a coating that wouldn't take stain, I had to sand it all off and that's when I decided I really liked the contrast of the light wood with the dark stain. So after asking Jay and Christine's approval, I just varnished the trim, and this was the effect:

So I was in the midst of admiring my "brainchild of a laborer-job" when my brother comes up and smiles in a somewhat distracted way, and with a "Thanks Jodie, good job." it dawned on me: he built the whole house with his own two hands. He and his wife had a part in every decision and every process of this entire, huge house.

Imagine the creative liberties and awesome decisions they held in their hands... imagine the brute physical labor that was required to live out those complex visualization and plans. What a project!

Awakened to that perspective, I realised that at some point I just have to get on with the work, without the creative perfectionistic hang-ups that often prevents me from enjoying being a laborer, as with a project like this, there is just so very much work to be done.

And so, tonight, at midnight I crawled up into their loft and got down to varnishing the railing. It was a summbich of a job really, being so close to the ceiling, requiring me to hang one-handed off the ladder, and at several points resorting to sticking my brush through the railings to blindly slap at the top. But the end result is a shiny rail to match the shiny ceiling (that took Jay and Christine six evenings to put two coats of varnish over every slate that form the ceiling over the entire house.)

I'm just happy I could help out, and even though I haven't yet mastered the art of quiet appreciation of my efforts, I will say I sure had a fun time doing it!

(By the way, the working model of a carriage in the first photo was made by my Gramps, a vertran of the wood arts.)

Let the feathers fly

2007-01-17T23:54:00.000-05:00

Kay, what happens when you live in a small town and you don't have many opportunities to wear your fanciest clothes? Why, you just make the occasions. In this case, a volleyball tournament banquet. Here Jay and Christine come out with their finest feathers flying. What a hot couple!

Hunting and Gathering

2007-01-16T17:53:00.000-05:00

Right. So it's time for this chickie to grab her bow and arrows- er - I mean, her resume, and go a-job hunting. I know a few of you who are in the same boat at this time and I found this little exercise from the Gov. of Alberta (who knew!) really helpful for me to focus on a vision. Rather than just searching for something that might work just for now, envision where you'd like to see yourself in 10 years time. Try it out.... and use the pauses to think about your responses.

It's quite some time from now, maybe 10 years, maybe 20 and you're just waking up from a good sleep. You wake with the realisation that your life has gone almost exactly the way you've wanted it to... you get out of bed and begin noticing what's around you. You take notice of where you're living and what your home is like... you look outside and notice where you're living... which town or city, which province or state, which country...you pay attention to your immediate surroundings as you get ready for the day, taking special notice of who you're living with...a spouse, partner, children?... You also attend to your lifestyle - your accommodations, furniture and hobby equipment - as you walk around your place getting ready for the day...Now, you take a moment to think about the upcoming day, examining what you will be doing, who you will be with, and what you will enjoy most that day...Then, as you go outside for the first time, you come across a friend you haven't seen in a long time, and the friend asks about what you've been doing. You answer, describing your life and the things you've been doing since the last time you saw this friend...and you describe two or three things that you have done since you last met that you especially proud of...

I look around my home and see ____________________

I'm living in ____________________

I will likely spend today with ____________________

Today I look forward to doing ____________________

Since I last saw my friend 10 or 20 years ago, I have been ____________________

My hobbies include ____________________

My work is ____________________

I am living a lifestyle that could be described as ____________________

The things that are really important to me are ____________________

The things that I am most proud of are ____________________

Warm enough?

2007-01-14T17:26:00.000-05:00

Skiing at Panorama yesterday was cold. Very cold, -25º at the top of the hill. At one point, a liftie told me that I should go in for a break, as she noticed white spots on my cheeks and nose. I laughed and told her this was our first run since coming out from lunch!

Today I rediscovered that my fancy ski coat actually came with a balaclava that attaches to the collar. I think I'll wear it tomorrow on the hill if I need to, sans the rabbit fur hat.

I'm just worried it might not be fashionable enough....

Joking! Just joking. I know skiing isn't about what you look like, or if you match.... right Nicholas? *wink* It doesn't matter what you wear if you ski like a hot damn.

Bright Eyes

2007-01-12T01:20:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate enough to be invited up to Big White several times over the Christmas holiday to enjoy skiing with Nicholas and his parents, and by happy coincidence, to catch up with Loren and Tiara and their new baby girl, Liv! She looked so sweet and sleepy in her bassinet but I guess she was saving her energy to howl at me when I held her for the first time. Tiara came to the rescue and after Liv got an early dinner, I tried again and this was the result, much to my enjoyment and relief...what a sparkly, bright-eyed girl!

Motherhood suits Tiara amazingly and even more amazing is that she'll be starting on a masters in international development next month at the University of Kwa-Zula-Natal in Durban, South Africa! They are in the midst of preparing to move back to Africa (they spent nearly all of 2005 in Tunisia, and have a terrific record of it here.) Little Liv is lucky that she'll have one of the most attentive fathers ever to care for her while her mother is attending University. I'm sure she'll love watching him create the extremely expressive art he's known for painting (and her little colourful handprints all over the canvases will lend a care-free and innocent feel to your
work, right Loren?)

I am very pleased to see how happy, contented and calm they all seem and wish them the very best in their 2007 adventures. Félicitations sur tous vos nouveaux développements, et bonne chance!

Greetings from British Columbia

2007-01-09T20:13:00.000-05:00

Happy New Years!!

Wow - so much has happened in the last two weeks I hardly know where to start. Here's my attempt:

I moved home from the UK
I arrived in snowy Edmonton on the eve of Christ's birthday
I celebrated Christmas with my family for the first time since 2003. What a wonderful treat (Pictures should be accompanying this post but they're stuck on a defective memory card. Grr!)
I celebrated New Years in Kelowna with Nicholas and his parents. It was such a warm, homey affair full of great meals, fantastic company and outstanding ski conditions.
I then headed to Invermere, B.C to hang out with Jay and Christine
And now I'm moving to Toronto!

Here are a few pictures that Nicholas' father took on the last day of the year from atop Big White mountain. It was a Seriously Fabulous Day.

Santa's Visit Application

2006-12-14T10:47:00.000-05:00

One of my grade five students gave this to me the other day. Cracked me right up until I noticed the Refreshment details had an uncomfortable lot of emphasis on alcohol. The "Where will these refreshments be found?" would lead my young children to think about where Mommy and Daddy keep the liquor, what types were available and why might Santa be so interested in it?

The English culture nurtures this obsession with alcohol into its citizens at a very young age.

On a lighter note, the "Accss details" is a hoot!

Whimsical Moment

2006-12-14T10:26:00.000-05:00

With Christmas coming up, and my mind almost completely occupied with the onslaught of a million micro-details involved in relocating myself, I need moments to decompress and rejuvenate. Sometimes all it takes is looking at a picture.

The face of wonder

2006-12-14T08:23:00.000-05:00

Oh, for the times when everything in life was this new and strange and mesmerizing.

Little Liv turned one month old yesterday. Yay! She's a little superstar, you know... having been made famous on YouTube with her little waking-up video that's been viewed over 1,160 times. It's adorable! Seriously, I've watched it five times at least and it makes me giggle every time.

Check out Loren and Tiara's website for more pictures and videos.

Paint the Town Chelsea

2006-12-12T14:29:00.000-05:00

My girlfriend Elena invited me to join her for the Chelsea vs. Levski Sofia match at the Chelsea Football Club last Tuesday and I jumped at the chance, having never seen a live football match before. Here we are before the match, all dolled up in case a footballer notices us.

As for the game itself, well.... hm.... it's really difficult for me to be gung-ho over a sport that is so relatively uneventful when compared to, say, hockey, where there's something going on every second. I've heard this complaint several times by North Americans who just can't wrap their head around all the hype that Europeans, Africans, and South Americans make over football.

That said, it was actually great fun cheering when the teams almost scored and during the three times goals actually did occur and in the meantime, it gave us plenty of opportunities to gab and catch up. Good fun!

Mind the Gap

2006-12-12T13:16:00.000-05:00

"We're sorry to announce that the Northern line is delayed in both directions due to a p...zzzzzt unnnnnd... the train."

Although muffled through the subway speaker system, the crisp English voice came clipping our way and efficiently put a halt to our escalator dash down to the 'underground.' Whatever the reason, we would have to wait for our train and there was no point running.

"Did you catch that?" I asked Nicholas, as we found a spot to wait on the Northern line platform. It was already thickly crowded as only an London platform can be during rush hour: no one is looking, touching , or acknowledging any one else. Newspapers and iPods pose as essential urban camouflage as etiquette deems that no one shall be interrupted whilst reading a London Lite or zoned out to one's tunes.

"No, I didn't catch it. Sounds like a train failure or something." In the past week, Nicholas had had the pleasure of hearing several of the reasons as to why our train could possibly be delayed yet again. Mmm... quality time stuck on the underground. He's oddly familiar with the London system, as the Hong Kong metro was modelled, almost precisely, on its' English contemporary. The major difference being that in Hong Kong, the people are packed in like sardines. The English could not possibly tollerate all that contact.

....

Well, it's now been almost a month since Nicholas came to visit and yesterday I finally learned what that disembodied voice was saying:

"We're sorry to announce that the Northern line is delayed in both directions due to a person under the train."

Yes, that's right. It came as a shock when I heard it clearly, as the same muffled voice has made that announcement at least three times in the last month that I've been on the underground.

What is with the Christmas holidays that brings people closer to the edge?

Disconnected

2006-12-01T06:38:00.000-05:00

Sorry folks, this blog is sadly neglected at the moment, but that's going to be remedied soon. Please don't give up on me!

I just gotta get through one more Christmas season in London - woof - just a few more weeks of work. I can do it! Just gotta keep working hard....

Correction: I just gotta make it until the Christmas season... I'll be Canada-bound in just a couple of weeks, if all goes as planned.

Mmmmmm! So excited!

Rainy evening in Paris

2006-12-01T06:33:00.000-05:00

Errr.... that's the Eiffel Tower behind us - that little vertical squiggle. Photo taken atop the Champs Élysées

And here's a close-up of the famed phallic symbol of France. Nicholas and I hiked for 20 minutes to reach the second story - some 1,665 steps to be astounded with a stunning view of Paris. But in typical French fashion, we had to endure a merciless frenzy of wind and rain, sniffles and whiplashed hairdos to reap our reward.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace also known also as the Goddess Nike, is one of my favourite ol' gals. We go waaaay back - to uni days where I spent hours on end in the art studio with her. I know the lines of her gown by heart - having drawn, painted and sculpted her likeness over and over. So when I saw her for the first time at the Louve, it was like meeting an old friend.

Nicholas and I only had 30 hrs in Paris, but spent a good five in the Louve. You simply get lost in there - in between time and space that completely belongs to Art.

A Baby Part IV!

2006-11-24T16:56:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled to bits to announce that Loren and Tiara Letourneau have just increased their incredible family to three! Little Liv Elizabeth Grace Letourneau was born on 11:05am Tuesday November 14th. Congratulations to your beautiful family!

More photos

Doors

2006-11-12T16:43:00.000-05:00

I've developed a slight fascination with doors and doorways since I started travelling. Wonder what that might represent? Hmm....

Here are a few of my favourite photos...

Surprisingly, my ten favourite photos come from just three countries. Guess which ones... (10 pts rewarded to the person to guess my all-time favourite door.)

Foggy coast of England

2006-11-08T18:26:00.000-05:00

I went away to the coast for the weekend, thanks to an invite from Brad and Mandy to join their little soiree of twenty of their closest friends who headed out of town to celebrate Brad's 27th birthday in style. They gathered at the Poplars Farmhouse (seriously check out this link!) Stunning house, so picturesque - or picturess, as the Mayor of Sangudo would say (ouch!)
Anyways, I digress...

The weekend was perfect.

More to follow but it's well past my bedtime and I've got to be chipper for work tomorrow. Coz with those rascally kids you really gotta be on your toes or they will wear you right down... it's gradual, with their finely-honed sense of sarcasm and innate ability to feel out the small fissures in the shield that we supply teacher all tend to build-up over our depressingly short careers.

Just three more months... and Nicholas is coming soon so I'm taking the week off. Woohoo!

Cycling

2006-11-03T21:33:00.000-05:00

I love cycling in London!

Seriously, can't explain it really well, but there's something mind-boggling thrilling about getting lost in a bog somewhere in Wimbledon park and then finding yourself five minutes later, cruising between miles of backed-up traffic and thinking "Mugs!" as you go whizzing past them all.

It's a real rush for me. (Not the name-calling part, though... *wink*)

Some of my best moments here are when I'm cycling home from school or from visiting friends in the evening and the traffic has thinned out and the night is lit brilliantly with stars (yes! you can see the stars in London) and the familiar landmarks stand solid and magical and the air is crisp and clean. I could stay here forever on those nights.

Addendum: I could just jump up and down in glee. Well, actually I did. I got these sweeeeeeeet racing shoes off of eBay at a ridiculously low cost. They're the second-from-the-top Carnac model (Quartz) and are made of kangaroo leather uppers with carbon enforced sole. Their biggest selling point is how comfortable they are (I've been known to wear my Specialized Sonoma all day at school as they're about the comfiest shoe I've got and saves me from packing another pair.) Can't wait to see how these puppies perform. They so flipping pretty that I'm actually a bit nervous to use them. But that's how I felt about my bike last year and now look how I throw it about.

Will give them a go at my first group ride on Saturday out in Surry. Will be good fun, I'm sure.

Random Art Attack IV

2006-11-03T20:48:00.001-05:00

Well, this is definitely considered to be "Art" as it is currently displayed in the Tate Modern Art Gallery in London, but I was skeptical at first. It seems more akin to a Disneyland ride than to be appreciated as a work of art alongside, say, a Picasso, or even a Duchamp sculpture (slash urinal?) But that was because I wasn't looking at it from the right perspective.

All I saw were the ridiculously long queues that formed at each of the five slides - queues of a-typical art aficionados (i.e. lots of children who seems not to give a toss of what else was at the Tate); and that the slides were responsible for this general ambiance of loudness and activity that filled the vast Turbine Hall gallery. It ruffled my classical gallery-going feathers.

But stepping back, which I did when I purchased this postcard at the gallery shop, there was an immediate recognition that the instillation piece by Carsten Höller possesses a great deal of artistic merit. Stunning in size, remarkable in the fluidity of its movement, and so naturally, organically inspired... It's truly remarkable how it uses the space, the columns, supports and walls to propell its movement. So graceful! So massively prominentt, yet delicate, yet voluptuouss, filling the space with an almost electric current of expectancy and excitementt. It's like the space of the gallery was waiting to be filled with these slides! The silver steel and glass materials work well with the rest of the Tate and the overall effect is of looming anticipation. Stunning...

Nicholas the Cat

2006-11-03T20:29:00.000-05:00

Oh, rar! I just discovered that I saved this precious picture as a draft and didn't post it. Well, it's never too late. Priceless, honey.

I'm soooooo lucky!

2006-11-03T19:55:00.000-05:00

Guess who decided to come visit me in less than two weeks' time? He's cute, he's curly, he's funny and light-hearted. And he's gonna take this city by storm!

Go on, just guess!

I can't wait! I've got so many ideas for us to do during his eight-day stay, so much I want to show him, so much, so much, that he's already said "Woah! Don't plan every second; let's leave some up to spontaneity." And he's right, of course, so I'll try to contain myself.

But boy, am I thrilled!

London Life

2006-11-02T05:55:00.000-05:00

I've been sucked into the busy busy that is London living. Which is healthy for me, of course, as it's better than pining over the summer past, but it also means I become neglectant of my blog.

What a shame...

I realise that I no longer look at London through tourist eyes and therefore haven't shared any happenings or news or idiosyncrasies outside of my own small sphere. I'll dedicate the next few posts to the kaleidoscope of people and events that make London so addictive.

Mad Cows in Brighton

2006-10-23T12:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, two cows named Ryan and Kathy were spotted riding in the pouring rain. Apparently they rode all the way from London to Brighton in an epic eight hour journey to raise money for their ultimate frisbee team, the Thundering Herd, which is going to the World's in Australia in 17 days.

Ryan, the crazy Bear, would of course make it even more of a challenge by taking his single-speed bicycle. There is this hill right before Brighton which is such a killer that I crashed out on my 21speed the first time I did it, and had to stop to rest twice the second time around. I can only imagine how fit Ryan must be to make it up on his single-speed! He said, "I got to the top and was thinking, cool I can coast, then I get hit by this 30mph coastal headwind which was soo strong we had to pedal down the hill to keep moving"

The best part? "Mooing at joggers as we passed."

Oh those mad, mad cows.

For more photos of their journey go here.

La Maison du Jour

2006-10-23T08:51:00.000-04:00

et, Vola! un petite peek dans notre maison de divine

The Backyard... perfect for bbqs and gatherings on warm days
(of which there are still a few!) Here's a photo of the Smook clan san papa, over for a Sunday roast.

The Living Room....

A comfy, cozy den where you can always find a friendly ear (attached to an equally friendly Roomie or one of their many posse) who'll invite you to join them in enjoying a glass of wine.

The Kitchen (door leads to the backyard patio)

Note the very full fridge. I've never had so much space in a London fridge before and so quickly filled it with the fruits of a massive grocery shopping spree and a home-cooking binge.

NB. My first home in London, back in 2004, my fridge space was considerably smaller: I shared the top shelf of the fridge with another Canadian teacher, Caley for three whole months.

And of course, there's my bedroom!