What Next....!?

The other day I saw something that shocked me so much, I haven't been able to forget about it. It's one of those things that filled me with astonishment and disbelief, all at the same time.

My favorite store for shopping is The Bay in downtown Vancouver. It's an upscale department store, and it has everything. If I can't find an item somewhere, I know I'll find it at The Bay. Last Sunday I needed some new pillow slips, and where else to get them but at my favorite store. They were 300 count Egyptian cotton, marked down 65%, and in the color I wanted. How could I go wrong? When I shop at the Bay, I like to take the elevator to the top floor and make my way down through the various departments. As I stood waiting for the elevator, a woman with a stroller came past, and everyone -- including little old ladies and little old men with canes -- graciously stood aside so she could enter the elevator first. She pushed her stroller past everyone and into the elevator. Once we were in the elevator, we glanced down at the woman's stroller to have a look at her baby, and in unison, we all gasped.

Inside the woman's stroller was a dog. The woman was receiving preferential treatment from everyone, for wheeling a dog around in a stroller. She was talking to it as if it were a baby, and she gingerly pushed the stroller the way mothers do with new-borns. I didn't know whether to be disgusted or to burst out laughing. I looked at everyone else, and all I could see on their faces was amazement. Has the world really come to this? The next day when I was chatting with my brother, I told him about the doggy stroller, and he said he had seen quite a few of these around the city, and it shocked him too. He said he used to see lots of dogs on the beach, chasing sticks and being dogs -- but now they're being wheeled around in strollers, completely sedentary. I looked on the Internet, and you can buy strollers for 50 lb. dogs. My gawd, that's insane. People don't even put 50 lb. children into strollers.

This is Bailey -- a real dawg dog. Bailey would probably laugh at you if you tried to put him into a stroller and wheel him around like a baby. "Whaa ...? Who ... me? Yah, okay, I'll sit in your stroller. Just hang on a minute while I go over and roll in this raccoon poop first, and then I might chase some cats for a while."

Dogs in strollers ... Oh, goodness, just when I thought I had seen everything.

What's Your Excuse?

I am notoriously late for work every day -- not by much, only a couple of minutes, and I make the time up. But it's a rare day when I can actually get there on time. I think it's subconsciously my way of rebelling against the fact that I have to work. But occasionally there are valid reasons why I am late, and my reasons always sound completely ridiculous. Strange things happen to me, like the trolley buses come off the trolley wires, and everything is stalled. A couple of times my dishwasher flooded the kitchen, the living room, and the suite below me. On one occasion we had a false alarm fire at 7:00 a.m., and I was standing outside on the street in my nightgown, when I should have been at work.

True story!

So, today, I laughed when I clicked onto the CNN website and read 12 creative excuses people had invented used for why they were late for work.

1. My heat was shut off so I had to stay home to keep my snake warm.

2. My husband thinks it's funny to hide my car keys before he goes to work.

3. I walked into a spider web on the way out the door and couldn't find the spider, so I had to go inside and shower again.

4. I got locked in my trunk by my son.

5. My left turn signal was out so I had to make all right turns to get to work.

6. A gurney fell out of an ambulance and delayed traffic.

7. I was attacked by a raccoon and had to stop by the hospital to make sure it wasn't rabid.

8. I feel like I'm in everyone's way if I show up on time.

9. My father didn't wake me up.

10. A groundhog bit my bike tire and made it flat.

11. My driveway washed away in the rain last night.

12. I had to go to bingo.

Number 3 makes perfect sense to me. I think I might use it the next time I am late for work.

Blog On...!

Vancouver has a couple of small, free newspapers, 24 Hours and Metro, and I think they're great. I love to read them every day, and during my afternoon break I like to do the crossword puzzles, while one of my co-workers does the sudoku. These little newspapers are perfect to read in the bus or the skytrain during the transit to work, and they're handed out free on the street corners. They cover news, entertainment, lifestyle, fashion, business, sports. They have regular columnists and editorial sections where people can e-mail in their opinions about things.

It occurred to me the other day that these little newspapers are very much like blogging. The lines between journalism and blogging have blurred considerably over the past few years. Often it has been the ordinary bloggers who have held the journalists' feet to the fire about various issues. In many ways, blogging has changed the face of the media. In October 2007 a Polish immigrant landed at Vancouver International Airport. He was lost, he did not speak English, and he had a full-blown panic attack. He was tasered -- five times -- by the RCMP, and he died.

The entire event was recorded by Paul Pritchard, another traveler who happened to be in the airport. Pritchard handed his camera and the video to police who told him that they would return the video within 48 hours. Instead, they returned the camera with a new memory card and kept the original with the video, stating that they would not release it in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation. They claimed that witness statements would be tainted if they viewed the video before being interviewed by police. Pritchard went to court to obtain the video, which he then released to the media in November 2007. The Braidwood Inquiry is currently investigating the case, and the four RCMP Officers are being questioned. Since the video evidence has been made public, these four officers will have to tell the truth, which so far they have not. In my opinion, none of them deserves to wear the RCMP uniform.

My point is this -- most of us have slice-of-life blogs. We are able to talk about anything and everything, as long as we follow the basic rules of freedom of speech, which is a right in Canada under the The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is also a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. I believe in the US that freedom falls under the First Amendment, but you may have to correct me on that.

Every once in a while I like to post things that express my opinion about music, art, politics, religion, lifestyle, fashion -- whatever. I know when I do, that there may not necessarily be people who agree with me, and that's the fun of blogging. I don't mind if you disagree with me -- I'm okay with it. I'm not always going to agree with you either. Wouldn't it be terrible if we all nodded, "Yes, yes" to each other all the time? It's fun to mix it up once in a while. All of you have such fabulous blogs -- I am really impressed with all of them. What an incredibly versatile, talented and intelligent bunch of people inhabit the blogging world. And I always find it refreshing when someone feels strongly about something and blogs about it. Sometimes it takes courage and a little bit of thick skin to post something that you know may not be popular. But every once in a while, one single person can be a voice in the wilderness -- and what a fabulous opportunity that we are given a free forum in which to be that voice. Blog on!

Canajun, Hey?

I saw this guy today, and I just fell in love with him. I wanted to take him home with me, but the owner of the store wanted me to cross his palm with many, many Canadian Loonies first, so I thought I would leave the moose Mountie there. Don't you just love the expression on his face? Complete indifference. I have that effect on all the men. The store is called FolkArt Interiors, and they have the most wonderful things there.

Gosh, you can't get any more Canadian than this, can you?

Good Morning

Good morning, everyone. It's a beautiful sunny day here today, and I'm heading outdoors to enjoy the sunshine. The weather channel is predicting 20 degrees Celsius (that's 70 degrees Fahrenheit). Two of my next-door neighbors have invited me out for coffee, so the three of us are going to see if we can get into some trouble find something fun to do on a beautiful spring day. I'm taking my camera with me, and I'll report back with photographic evidence. This is my favorite time of year -- everything is so new and fresh. The tulips and daffodils are blooming, and new green leafy buds are sprouting on all the trees. Last weekend I strolled around my neighborhood taking pictures, and a robin pooped on me. Ah, yes ... a sure sign of spring.

Catch you later...

Marigold

Today is Marigold's birthday. My daughter doesn't like me posting pictures of the Munchkins or talking about them on my blog, and I respect that -- this is the Internet. But without being too specific, I wanted to do a little post about Marigold, so if my daughter reads this, I hope she doesn't mind.

Marigold is a character. If I were to choose one word to describe her, it would be "spritely". She reminds me of a sprite. She loves to climb the tree in her back yard and sit up there, and she loves to create little pieces of art out of "found things" in the garden. She has definitely inherited the art gene, but she is also very athletic. She has a little interior motor that keeps her moving all the time. She never walks along the sidewalk, she skips or dances.

For the first few years of her life, Marigold rushed to keep up with her brother, who can tend to "take over the room" at times. I think Marigold felt she was in his shadow, but not anymore. She has found her own stride. She's very bright with a sense of humor more subtle than her brother's, but razor sharp.

Marigold has been blessed with beautiful hands and long slender fingers, like her mother and her great-grandmother. (It skipped my generation...) I have a plaster cast of her hand on my desk, and I often look at her hands and think what wonderful things they are going to do throughout her lifetime.

I remember once, a few years ago, Marigold stayed with me overnight. It was just the two of us, and when I was walking her back home the next morning, she said to me as she was skipping along the sidewalk, "Oma, I love you, and even when you're up in Heaven, I will still love you." Omigosh. That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. And believe me, when I'm up in Heaven, I will still love Marigold too. But let's wait a while for that yet...

Happy Birthday, Marigold!

The 100 Mile Diet Challenge

I have decided to take the 100 Mile Diet challenge. The idea is to eat food grown only within 100 miles of where you live. I like the idea of eating food that is fresh and locally grown -- for all kinds of reasons. I would have one problem though. I am addicted to oranges. I love oranges, and I eat at least one orange a day. Where on earth am I going to get oranges that have been grown 100 miles from where I live? Right away I can see there is going to be a problem.

The idea of local eating began when Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon were visiting their cabin in northern British Columbia in August 2004. Their food supplies were nearly exhausted so to feed their dinner guests they scrounged the surrounding land for food. Their dinner of Dolly Varden trout, wild mushrooms, dandelion leaves, apples, sour cherries, and rose hips, along with potatoes and garlic from the garden, so impressed the couple that once back home, in their Kitsilano apartment in Vancouver, they pursued the idea of eating only local food. ... Wikipedia

When I was growing up on Vancouver Island, we ate only locally grown food. If it wasn't in season, we didn't eat it. Strawberries in December? Goodness, no. But when the strawberries were in season, they were the sweetest, most delicious strawberries I have ever tasted. Fresh fish and other seafood was caught in the ocean that day, and was never frozen. Everyone made their own jams and fruit preserves from the fruit they grew in their gardens. The Christmas turkey was picked out and fattened up months ahead of time. Eggs were fresh from the farms along Cherry Creek Road, and so were the chickens. Many people on the Island still grow their food and produce that way, and there are all sorts of wonderful vineyards there now as well. Lucky for me, some of the best wine in the world is grown within 100 miles of where I live.

In Vancouver, the families who participated in the 100 Mile Diet challenge not only felt healthier and more energetic, they also lost weight. It wasn't the purpose of the diet, but it was an added bonus for those folks who needed to lose weight. I think the 100 Mile Diet is possible to do, if I can just figure out where to get oranges.

PDAs, PANs and Twitter

Catch Me If You Can
Edgar Hunt
1945

I love this picture. It's painted by Edgar Hunt who was an Edwardian artist, and he painted wonderful pictures of animals. I think at some point in our lives, all of us can identify with this poor little turtle. We can feel the dogs nipping at our heels, and we just want to pull our head into our shell.

Modern life can be very hectic and stressful, and with each new convenience, life becomes more demanding. There doesn't seem to be any such thing as time anymore. There is only right now. One quality we are all expected to have is the ability to multi-task. With e-mail, faxes, phones, computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and cell phones, we have the Internet in our pockets or our purses. Personal area networks (PANs), otherwise known as Bluetooth, are fastened to our heads, we are all inextricably hooked up each other, and there is no escape. So-called social networks such as Facebook scare the tar out of me. Everyone is connected to everyone else. Do any of us really have 381 friends in real life? Who are all those people, and why do they want to poke us or send us a teddy bear? And why would I want to follow you on Twitter? Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? I don't care what you're doing, and moreover, I certainly don't want you to know what I'm doing.

President and Mrs. Obama are in England right now, and they had a personal meeting with the Queen. As a gift, they took her an iPod, but she already had one. So now, the 83 year-old Queen of England has two iPods. And a Wii. Ya gotta laugh.

About a year ago I read a posting by a Blogger who said the best advice he could ever give anyone is that when they get into high school they should take typing classes and learn how to type. I thought, "Is he kidding? What is this guy, 100 years old? I guess he doesn't know that most six year-old kids nowadays know how to type. The April Fools worm was probably designed by a 12 year-old."

I love technology and gadgets. I'm the "go-to" person at work if anyone wants something technical done. I enjoy it. But I also look forward to going home at the end of the day, locking the door behind me, and turning off all the connections to the outside world, except to those people with whom I want to communicate. And if you really want to know what I'm doing, I'm off to watch the final segment of "Life on Mars". *sigh*

A Riddle...

Question: What do you call March 31st in Vancouver?

Answer: Spring.

Yesterday was a gorgeous spring day here in Vancouver, and I noticed all the magnolias are blooming, the tulips and daffodils as well. But today it's cold and snowing, and that's no April Fools joke. One of the TV announcers this morning said, "Gosh, how cold would it be if we didn't have global warming?" Well, I know it's called climate change, and this cold weather is an indication of that, but really -- snow in April, in Vancouver?

I love magnolias. I did this little sketch when I made a birthday card for a friend of mine who lives in England. I kept a copy, but I thought I had lost it and yesterday I was searching through some Picasa photographs on Google, et voila! there it was.

March 31st is also fiscal end, and I have been crazy busy at work, so I haven't had a chance to respond to your lovely comments on my previous post, or to visit any of your fabulous blogs. I will be there once the dust -- and the snow -- settles. Last night I was so exhausted I dragged my carcass went to a movie after work -- "Monsters Versus Aliens". I wanted something light-hearted and fun. The monsters and special effects were amazing, but the movie itself was a total bore. Too much action is just ... well ... too much action. It could have been wonderful, but they just missed the mark somehow. But check out "House" (Hugh Laurie) as Dr. Cockroach. He steals the show.

Happy April 1st, everyone. Can summer be far behind?

First Ladies - In America And Beyond

Every time the United States elects a new President, they also elect a First Lady. Well, she is not officially elected, but she is part of the package deal. In my own personal opinion, I don't understand all the media fuss over Michelle Obama. They seem to be making her over into some sort of fashion icon, à la Jacqueline Kennedy. Just as with the Obamas, the whole country -- and indeed the world -- wanted to fall in love with the Kennedys, and so they did. But, really, apart from their service to their country they're all just ordinary people, and I don't think they -- or anyone else -- should be bestowed with qualities they don't possess.

My favorite, and in my opinion the most attractive of the First Ladies, was Rosalynn Carter. She was exquisitely pretty, and had a sweet, southern belle persona. She was quiet and unassuming, but her nickname was the "Steel Magnolia". Rosalynn Carter was one of the most hardworking of the First Ladies. She attended Cabinet meetings and major briefings, frequently represented the Chief Executive at ceremonial occasions, and served as the President's personal emissary to Latin American countries. She was indeed a steel magnolia, but she didn't crave the spotlight.

Svetlana Medvedev, the wife of the President of Russia, has a worldly, European charm. European women have a certain je ne sais quoi that is not often seen on this side of the Atlantic. Svetlana Medvedev has a degree in finance and economics, and she is often credited with forging the contacts that enabled her husband to break out of his life of academia and into the world of commerce and politics. Svetlana has chosen to immerse herself in social work, for which she has won awards. She heads the board of a church-backed educational program that brings more spiritual and moral discipline to Russia's youth.

Canada's own Laureen Harper is no shrinking violet, either. After Laureen graduated from university, earning a degree in journalism and photography, she spent six months travelling in Africa where she visited 13 different countries, and she has been interested in African topics since that time. She also rides a motorcycle and drinks beer from the bottle, but she's very smart and in her husband's inner political circle she is known as the "Secret Weapon". She's charming and extroverted.

Michelle Obama, through a stroke of good fortune, is married to the man who is President of the United States. But apart from that, I don't get what the is the big deal. Whatever else she may be, she is not a fashion icon.

I will now put on my flak jacket and head for cover... *heh*