My dad needs to replicate himself so more people can have a dad like him. All these thoughtful comments while he is on a cruise ship and should be having tons of fun rather than reading my thesis.
Exhibit A:
Hi Tonia,
I’ve read your thesis over more than once and I find it fascinating.
Knowing that you have given all that you have to writing the thesis and yet have it still not considered finished is more than discouraging. After all the sweat, blood and tears you have put in, you are right to ask, “What else do I have to do?”
It is tough to meld academic rigour with heartfelt comments that bubble up from a subject in response to one of your questions. Cold hard dispassionate quantifiable logic is hard to apply to human actions regardless what a researcher is trying to uncover much less the motivation of people who write selflessly about their own travel experiences to help others.
The summary of all that has been done to add to our knowledge about the topic (your thesis) needs to reflect the amount of work it took to gain that knowledge, which it does, but written in a way that meets the precision and clarity of thought demanded of the academic environment, while at the same time retaining the human touch. A bit of creative tension, to say the least.
It may be one of those times when you have to scream, “I’m tough and I am going to nail this thing!” After all, you are not going through all this to satisfy someone’s notion of scholarly prose, but to communicate to fellow researchers, the subjects you studied, and the wider community of the intellectually curious how the paradigm shift brought on by new technologies has affected a global industry, travel and tourism.
I’m reviewing the thesis starting with Chapter IV and will pass on my comments in the next e-mail. Stay tuned.
Wow. I have never missed two months of blogging since I started this blog a few years ago. It is not that I don't have things to blog about, it is about the time factor. Now that I am in the workforce full-time again, I have a position of management, I continue to write my thesis (despite sacrifices of my recreation time and other life activities), and I moved to a new adult, grown-up, professional apartment. All of this means less time to sit and write creatively for this online space. I don't want to be the type of person that abandons one's blog so I will quickly add this update and a photo from my new balcony and say that after I defend my thesis this Fall (cross my fingers and get to work), I shall be back to blog on a regular basis.
Thanks to my mum, Aunt Arta and others who may read, I do enjoy writing this blog so I shall be back. In the interim, I shall be staring out at this view and I sit and complete my fourth rewrite for my final thesis document.
Thanks to Photosynth, I can give you an almost 180 degree view of what I see every morning and night. Lucky me!
Come one come all to the concert of Women of Note here in Winnipeg on Sunday, May 5. We are performing a variety of songs including ABBA, a song from Zambia, a song written in Mexico called Oye, beautiful French tune by Faure and Rutter, the very difficult piece Laudate Dominum by Hovland, one of Eric Whitacre's lullaby's set to music, spiritual Heaven Bound Train, and finally the interesting and progressive song Past Life Melodies by Sarah Hopkins. You will have the chance to listen and sing along as an audience member. Come and have some fun this Sunday!
Good Friday was March 31, 1972 back on the day I was born.
Easter Sunday is March 31, 2013 my 41st birthday. Easter and, as it turns out Holi, has always hovered around my birthday, gone off into April, then returned to hover. This year it is an alignment that is encouraging me to spend time with my closest friends who have shown long term kindness and mutual consideration with a few fun but subdued gatherings. I will chat with family long distance and enjoy their company further afield since none live in the same city.
Nothing crazy like last year. Just a few sweet memorable moments.
Enjoy your weekend, whatever you do or do not celebrate.
Thanks for reading!
This week has been strange. Many things occurred but in all I am concerned I will never, ever, ever get a job. Ever. Let alone one I enjoy. I expressed my concerns to a full-time instructor from my university, when I saw her at a conference, and she gave me some advice:
"Tonia, quit trying to look into the future and do what you need to do now. Focus on finishing your thesis. Become the typical nutty professor who has documents, papers, and pens all around, writing, reading, sleeping and writing more. Give into this time period and really experience it for the next few months, then worry about the rest of it later. Be in the moment, this moment."
Tough advice for someone who is always looking into the future, who has student debt, and is anxious about the next few steps of life. The more I think about her words, the more they are sinking in. Listen to the people that have come before you and do what they say. They know more than I and this is actually advice I have heard from several people on campus. So I let go. I focus. I trust in those who know more than I, immersing myself in this experience. The only way to enjoy the road and the destination.
What will that destination be? Dang, still looking forward. Need to go back to writing but I will be updating my Nutty Professor posts once in a while. Bring on not showering for four days, wearing the same clothes day in day out, and ordering in food keeping my brain and body in top processing shape (maybe a little cooking would be better for the last one).
This week I received mail from my Member of Parliament (MP) Joyce Bateman. She is letting me know that the "our government wants to strengthen financial literacy across the country". This sudden need for the population of Canada to become more financially literate is in part due to the increasingly large individual non-mortgage related debt load we are accruing each year. So there is this new nifty website that you and I can use to assess our financial literacy and then decrease our individual debt load. It appears to be well organized and have some sound advice and fun ways to determine the users financial literacy.
May I suggest an additional step to decrease the debt load for some Canadians would be for the government to offer more grants and scholarships (not based on GPA as a mark of those who are deserving), rather than hand me out more students loans (which I do appreciate), then charge me interest (which is hogwash). Not sure how me paying interest back to the government on student loans is helpful for recent post-secondary grads and our financial debt load, but at least my financial literacy will increase in having to adjust my payments for such financial intricacies. But, as usual, I digress.
Here is the website and I will look it over to see if my financial literacy is high enough to get out from under the load of debt I have accrued doing my master's degree:
In other, but related news, the federal government has hired a private company to help them increase their financial literacy. The company has been hired by the federal government to find ways for the government to decrease its spending and save money, and for these services the company is being paid $90,000 per day, $20 million in total for the entire contract. In response I just want to say...let me introduce you to a little tool kit of which I am aware ;)......
It is time to get in shape using my shapely form. Going from teaching all day and moving around for 6 hours organizing children, teaching lectures, providing supplies, starting projects and the general mayhem of teaching elementary school, grad school has left me lazy. Yes, I blame grad school. Other than the research I completed this summer at festivals and interpretive centres, grad school required my brain, fingers and wrists to function on overload, but not my other body parts. Hence I am less healthy and fit than I have ever been in my life. A once former athlete, I have been a casual participant in sports and other activities over many years, and several years ago was so frustrated in a crazy job that I began working out 1.5 hours a day, just to deal with the daily stress and bur-ha-ha. I was tighter after that job but the insanity lead me to other paths in my life. I moved to London and started to travel, during which I walked and moved for hours every day, and tried every delicious looking European snack possible (have you been to an authentic patisserie lately?). Then I transitioned to grad school and lost it all, my sleek calves, my Carnival shaped butt, my tighter abs, and my single chin. I want these back and in order for this to happen, and under the pressure of great friends, I joined a running club.
This means I have joined the Running Room for a 10 week Learn How To Run clinic. Now those who know me know I am an athletic person and many of the sports I participate in include running. My shins have always cried out in pain after a long workout, so I am learning how to run properly and will ease into running with this clinic. Perhaps I will share interesting wipe-outs and other such nonsense on this blog. Be prepared for shenanigans!
So far one of the runners this evening told me that there is a new basketball team starting up in Manitoba for women aged 40-49. I have not found the link yet. I will keep looking and share because I would really like to get back into basketball.
That would be awesome....must finish thesis first!
"Somewhere behind my desire to be both a reporter and a stripper lay an impulse to conceal. Stripping - in competition with acting and espionage - is the ultimate job for someone who's instinct is to present different facades of who she might be. There is nothing more illusory than a woman pretending to be a sexual fantasy for money." - p. 5
This book was on the wrong shelf when I entered a university library about a year ago. It has been reminding me it is there waiting to be read for many months and I decided to pick it up over the holiday season. It was on the apartment shelf as a classmate, during my first year of my Master's degree, announced in class one day that she was completing a PhD about women, their bodies and stripping because she stripped to pay her way through her bachelor's degree several years earlier. I work hard to be an open person and I easily delight in meeting people whose lives are vastly different than mine and who are willing to share their stories of their life experience. This book was perfect after I had spent several hours talking with my classmate to begin to build a healthier and more realistic perspective of stripping, the why, who, for what reasons, etc.
"I learned that no one is neutral about female bodies. If they aren't sex objects used to sell every conceivable good, they are political objects, causing bitter debate on how to manage their fecundity. And where not sexual or political, they are imbued with society's ideals with fears, turned into Miss Liberties, Virgin Mary's, and Wicked Witches. Everyone had an opinion on what to do about female bodies, and sometimes it feels as if the only people who get in trouble for holding such opinions are young women themselves. Some of us, though, have to live in them, and we each get by in our own way." - p. 6-7
Eaves explains how she first became involved in stripping and we meet several of her colleagues, who become friends, and their work as strippers, what purpose is serves in various lives, for some the cycle of dependence that is created in this industry, and the rules of safety that are continuously broken by purchasers and strippers alike. Eaves teaches the reader that every woman had a line that she has drawn about the sexual work she is willing to perform, and sees many women move and bend this line under pressure from others and due to economic circumstances.
"And I was tempted to see sex work as more of a symptom of social illness than a cause. The sex biz was nothing more that a sophisticated arbitrage operation, dealing in morals rather than financial instruments...At some point women had become artificially divided into two types - the good and the childbearing ones, carefully trained to disdain sex so that they wouldn't stray, and a separate, pro-sex class. The second group were despised and disparaged so that the good women wouldn't want to join them. One group of women ended up with respect but no freedom, and the other with freedom but no respect. But economics abhors a vacuum, and the whore class...rushed in to fill the chasm between men's actual desires and the social structure that they, with women, had built. I don't think the divide between the two types of women would go away until all the girls were raised to be free, responsible and unashamed of sex. And until society had bridged the sex-ed gap - porn for boys and religion and romance for girls - there would always be Lusty Ladies [the stripper club Eaves worked at]." -. p. 138-139
A book that was telling and a strong mixture of social and political commentary shaken together with the lives of women and how their work infiltrates all aspects of their lives. Give it a read!
May we spend 2013 spending more time learning more about people, analyze and improve how we treat each other, and see the ways that we can improve relationships with each other to coexist with more understanding and equality.
Here are two examples of ways in which people are changing the world to create a more positive, considerate and thoughtful sphere on which we live.
Last year around this time, November 2011, I went to a conference and W. Brett Wilson was the keynote speaker. He told the story of his life, including the ruination of his relationships due to the amount of work he was completing while making millions of dollars (follow link to hear this story). While rebuilding his relationships he has told his family that he will answer their calls at anytime, and then his phone rings during his keynote speaker address. He answers it, tells his dad he is in the middle of a speech in front of 400 people, and that he will call back in ten minutes, then hangs up. I tell this story a lot as, in our society, we are still learning how to interact with people, electronics and social media in socially appropriate ways. Here is an example contrary to much of what I have established as socially acceptable, and yet Brett's decision to put his family first makes sense.
This evening I was asked to attend a fundraising concert at which my nephew was performing with his touring choir. I love seeing my nieces and nephews perform and gladly agreed. My father, sister, brother-in-law and I went to the dinner and concert and the performers were the most eclectic mix I have ever encountered. As it turned out, this was a philanthropic evening organized by Brett Wilson and his staff in order to raise money for the Calgary Veterans Food Bank. Here was this former Dragon's Den millionaire who had made his money in gas and oil doing more work in the community. As I looked around I saw a former mayor of Calgary, a few CBC reporters, a Calgary Stampeder (this person was pointed out to me), and several other faces I knew from around Calgary but could not name. This evening while listening to seven different artistic acts we raised $95,000 dollars, $20 of which was mine. I did not expect such professional and well connected musicians or audience members, instead I was anticipating a junior high school type performance. What a night! This is why I write a little, read and little and get up and live a lot. The living part is just so enjoyable and filled with surprises.
The performers are below with comments about my favourite parts of the evening. What a joyous night to be a part of and I did enjoy rubbing elbows everyone in attendance, and I will return next year.
Boys Choir
They performed several pieces written by Benjamin Britten a challenging composer who wrote in the UK around and after World War Two. They were delightful and Brett Wilson actually won a performance by the choir at another charity auction and used the performance he won to earn more money for even more charities. This is a smart man.
Brett Kissel Official website
He is a talented and young country singer who wrote a song in protest of the NHL lockout on behalf of fans, 'Hockey, Please Come Back'. Rumour has it, it is somewhat viral at this point. An interesting micx of songs with several poignant ones written for his grandparents.
Shane Koyczan
I had no idea who this man was but I have been exposed to modern forms of poetry, including poetry slams and the spoken word. He performed at the Vancouver Olympic opening ceremonies with 'We Are More' a tribute to Canada, and is working hard to spread the word about clinical depression and dealing with bullying. His love poems were equal parts hilarious, thoughtful and enchanting.
One of his funny and brief poems:
The Stellas Official Website
A group whose name I was familiar with but whom I had never heard. We were fortunate enough to hear both Brad and Marylynne and their two children, Lennon and Maisy, who recently made a video that went viral and earned them a spot on Good Morning America. As two duos they are incredibly musical, gentle performers and talented people. As a quartet, they sang a few lovely Christmas songs and brought others up on stage to share the spirit of the season.
Here is one of there most beautiful videos which Marylynne wrote after finding a book of love poems written back and forth from soldiers to loved ones back home during World War Two. A moving piece of work:
Also performing were Christian Laurian and his sister Malia Ashely Kerr. Lastly, we received an operatic performance by Sara Staples along with her accompanist, Nathaniel Schmidt.
Such a delightful night that surpassed my expectations.
This past October I took a chance to drive from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Jasper, Alberta....OK, I was headed to an academic conference and I couldn't afford to fly so 'took a chance' might be over stating a bit. I had to drive. While in the mountains I was reminded how much I love them and how lucky people are who live near them. When they were in my backyard I certainly did not take advantage of them as much as I should have.
During my drive I pulled over repeatedly for about two hours on the way home, taking pictures, feeling the peace and quiet, and watching the daylight play on the scenes before my eyes. Here are a few shots that I played with on my computer that remind me of the old postcards you can buy in tourists shops. Pictures such at these can also be seen on the walls in the old Canadian Pacific hotels as framed tributes to the historical past. These are new though, and mine.
My cousin is having a new stain glass window made with the colours, shapes, and textures from photographs that the family has taken on the family property on Shuswap Lake. I finally added some of my pictures to the medley. I hope they will prove helpful. It is one of my favourite places to take pictures and I shall continue to capture the natural, least altered beauty of one of my favourite places on earth. Enjoy!
After one year in Winnipeg, I joined a choir. It is my second year with them. We are a 70 voice women's choir, with a 25 voice smaller chamber group within. We have our holiday concert on December 2 at Westminster church in Winnipeg. Start time is 3 PM (not indicated on the poster, oops!) Last year I had one friend come. This year more friends have purchased tickets. As a group it turns out we have sold almost 500 tickets for our concert and we are going to print more. Thank goodness our concert hall can handle about 900 people. Come and get in the Christmas and holiday mood while listening to our fantastic voices.
The first half of our concert includes Christmas songs and other works. The second half of our concert is a small string orchestra, soloists and the choir all singing Vivaldi's Gloria. I had never heard the piece before singing it with this choir and I consider classical music something I was raised on. Glad my repertoire and knowledge of this type of music continues to grow. I do enjoy singing Vivaldi (Handel on the other hand.....)
Here is a Vivaldi sample:
Come and listen to us sing and pay attention to the low notes because Alto 2's rock the musical basement!
Twenty years later this book is still a relevant piece of Canadian literature reflecting on the lives of those individuals who live in rural communities. Working hard to survive and communities these people share with McLean what they love about living in small towns, what endures them to their community members, and the various ways in which they are attempting to survive together as urbanization increases and their rural populations decrease. From a hockey town in Manitoba, to the historic town of Maple Creek, to the far reaches of a bay town of Sackville, the reader is taken on a soft and melodious journey through the eyes of those who live and work in rural communities. I wonder if he has written an updated version. I think McLean should.
The most interesting part for me was the meeting McLean secured with the person who created the Canadian flag, George Stanley living in Sackville, New Brunswick. He was asked to create a version of a potential flag by a member of parliament as he had strong interests in history and heraldry (a means of identification, usually focused on country or familial commitment). He based his single maple leaf design on outfits Olympians wore during the 1928 Olympics, the games my grandfather Doral Pilling and his room mate Percy Williams both competed in. "One of the images I have carried with me all my life is a photograph I saw when I was a boy. It was a picture form the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam of Percy Williams breasting the tape and winning a gold medal for Canada. He was wearing a white jersey with a red maple leaf on his chest. It's an image that has always struck with me." Recently a book was written about Percy Williams by Samuel Hawley titled, I Just Ran: Percy Williams, World's Fastest Human. Another book to read especially since the author consulted with my Aunt Arta Johnson who was instrumental in documenting her father's, Doral Pilling's, oral history which included stories about the 1928 Olympics and the athletic tours he participated in as the team returned to Canada. I also have two cousins who have taken this maple leaf motif from their Olympic uniforms and had tattoos made from them. Family stories and choices coming full circle. Thank you McLean for shedding more light on a family story of which I was unaware.
The president's office at the University of Manitoba sent out an email notifying all campus members that he/they were looking for a photograph of any of the University's campuses that display a winter scene that can be used for the University's holiday card. Well, as you can tell from my blog, I really enjoy taking photographs and sharing them with others. I took the challenge and lucky for me over the past week, 42 centimetres of snow fell, which made for better snowy scenes.
On Tuesday of last week I went out at the golden hour of which there are two, sunrise and sunset. My night owl status definitely encourages me to lean towards the sunset side of the golden hour. Having scoped out the campus and noticing the sun set on the opposite side of the campus from where all the historic building are found, I ran about taking about 100 shots, only one set that I really liked. It is kind of spooky and holiday-ish as the same time.
I cropped it a little, I altered the colour as the sun had set by then and the shot was a glowing blue, but I decided to leave the balls of snow in the bottom right hand corner so that the observer who sees the details would notice that the background of the photograph is snow. A hint as to what I shot.
The second shot I was not really happy with and would have rather have sent in a picture I took last year at Assiniboine Park, but the request for photos was specific about campus shots. It is of a piece of artwork near the music building. The piece include holiday red and I do like the snow resting on the top of the graded coloured pillars but not stunning in any way in my opinion.
The last pictures is why the golden hour is so important to exploit, or use, or take advantage of. The University of Manitoba, Fort Garry campus is nestled in a curve of the Red River, at which this picture was taken.
While I was taking this shot and several dozen others, I noticed that I am far more physically adventurous with a camera in my hand. I was meeting a friend of dinner on campus after I finished taking the shots so I was in jeans and healed winter boots. The shots were down a green, snowy stretch of land, then down a slope covered with forest floor dead branches, stumps and other debris. No matter. I had to get down there to see what kind of picture I could get from that perspective. Having taken many shots, I liked this one and enjoyed altering it a little, enhancing the colour, lightening some shadows, and cropping the tree stump out a bit. I am hoping this one, although a classic shot rather than a push the envelope shot, is definitely studied by the panel as they make the final selection.
I am not holding my breath. There is little on this campus that I have ever won, money, awards, or recognition even though I have poured my time, intelligence, heart and soul into my graduate work, but I shan't give up. Especially when photography is involved.
It happened again this year. The Richard and Miranda pig roast. This does not mean we roasted Richard, Miranda and a pig, this means that Richard and Miranda bought a pig and roasted it for some added summer fun, which has been occurring for 4-5 years now.
Usually the roast occurs around the August long weekend and I was one of the lucky many who watched, visited, partook and played at this years roast. First, my sister Zoe and I went over for a peek earlier in the morning to see how the pig was being roasted.
Glen and Jeremy visited at the same time.
Richard explained to Zoe and I that he uses the slow cook method during which the pig is roasted over 7-8 hours but with only 1 or 2 smaller pieces of cedar added to the fire slowly over time. Either way I am glad he cooks the pig. A quick visit was enough for me as I have a woozy stomach. I eat meat but I really don't like watching the raw version in full form being cooked. Hypocrite I know.
Time to carve the pig. Once again, Richard and Miranda have a butcher friend complete this part. Phew! Glad each cousin doesn't have to take a turn each year or I would be carving a tofu pig in 2018 for the family. :)
Bonjour Monsieur Pig
The pig. His cooker. His carver.
Senya and Wyona posing with some food
At about 12 pm it was time to begin gathering all the food that had been slaved over during the course of the day. Our family property now has 5 cabins full of family members in them. Each house was asked to bring two salads. When you consider that in the Bates cabin alone there are 25 people and there are just as many people in each of the other cabins, that is a lot of people and a large amount of food. The picture above is merely one of three large tables full of food on which we dined.
Thomas trying out the fresh apple juice Uncle David made
I can not tell you the deliciousness of Arta's freshly baked bread. I stood for a while trying to capture the texture, the flavour, the smell, and the bouncy-ness of her bread. This picture is not bad but I shall have to try again next summer. Fresh bread, one of the delights of each meal.
My father Greg bragging to us about my mother Wyona's painting skills.
This summer it was decided that we were all going to sit down and try our hands at Chinese Brush Painting. Now you may wonder where in the world a caucasian Canadian family would learn the skills of an ancient art form from a country on the other side of the world. This is a good question. My mother. When my father obtained his job as Canadian Trade Commissioner with the Foreign Service we began traveling. First to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, then on to Manila, Philippines. While we were abroad we had hired house help which left my stay-at-home mother with some time to pursue other pursuits. One she chose was Chinese Brush Painting whose art influence obviously extended beyond the borders of China, and at which my mother excelled. While she was a teacher, and while I taught, she would show her and my students the basics.
Wyona demonstrating the fine art of bamboo painting
One always starts with bamboo and after several months the new learner is allowed to progress to roses. Since time was limited (the summer was coming to a close), we had a 15 minute bamboo lesson, followed by a 15 minute rose lesson. We practiced for several hours and some of us faired pretty well, creating almost realistic foliage.
Zach doing very well with bamboo stalks
One of the main pieces of information that Wyona always tells the learner is that this type of painting is single stroke with diluted paint. You make one stroke, them move on. You do not go over your work again and again, bad, naughty. The depth of the painting comes from the variations in hues of the paint through the single strokes, from dark to medium to light colour contrasts. Two essential art details.
Needed: water, paint, a place to dilute colours
Sabrina showing us the seriousness of art and bamboo
Alicia focusing on her roses
Then there were those of us who may need a few more summers to get to the Chinese painting part, yet enjoyable images were still created.
Chinese-Canadian-American rainbow?
The serious faces of each mini-artist is so perfect
The group is deep concentration with their roses
We did have a great time and learned that you throw away the first 3-45 sketches, even though they may look anywhere from pretty crappy to not too bad. It is tough to let go of ones art when it has just been completed and a part of ones heart is in it. Another summer, after more practice, we shall save and frame several pieces. Only 41 more practices to go. Until then, we have a semi-professional in our midst guiding our learning and visuals of her work to motivate us.
