Zoe at the Special Olympics

Life is really busy right now with a new job, finishing thesis, and now a flood in my hometown and I am making sure my house is not being washed away.  The good news is, my sister competing in Alberta' Special Olympics this weekend in Devon, Alberta.  Despite the flooding, the event is going on as it is further north and not in the flood zone.  Here is a blog post my mother wrote about the event.  More to come later.

Zoe at the Special Olympics

Apparently the Olympics went very well and Zoe won a silver medal and three bronze medals.  One medal for each event she entered.  Very cool Zoe!  I shall call in the next few days to hear her stories.

Zoe Wins Four Medals

Born to Run

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Running is not something that I like doing unless I have a basketball, am running bases, or playing some sort of sport.  Having started running in the Running Room clinics a friend lent me this read.  After devouring this interesting novel about a tribe of people who run as their more used form of transportation, the Tarahumara, several well known American runners organize a race down in the Copper Canyons of Mexico.  A fantastic read that will make you think you too can run for miles and miles.  While I continue to plod along, I shall allow this read to motivate me as I learn to run for the sake of my body and its abilities.


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Holi Easter Birthday

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!

Crunch Time 2

Update on how thesis is going.
Well.  Quite well.
Then I had a colleague that came to the grad student office sick.
Sick people should stay home.
Then I got sick.  For a whole week.
I stayed home.  Still recovering.
Still managed to get some work done in front of my computer.  Productivity down however.
Will persevere.

A few years ago a good friend introduced me to this blog:

Crazy Aunt Purl

She is a hilarious blogger who is living a different sort of life than she had planned.  I read her blog in early January and she had decided not to make any New Year's resolutions.  Instead she was creating monthly goals that she wanted to try to achieve.  Well, some were daily, some weekly, and some monthly.  Purl even made herself a beautiful (and tacky in a fun way) Kindergarten version of a star chart on a piece of large clipboard paper.  Turns out it worked for her and she remembered her goals all month, plus she now has an almost fully decorated chart full of shiny, red, happy stars.

I am in.
I made my list.
I made it twice.
Here it is:

Daily Goals:

1.) 1 hour of exercise

2.) 5 servings of veg & fruit 

(called 5 A Day in the UK; picked this up while traveling)

3.) 3-4 hours of work on thesis

4.) to bed before 11 PM

Weekly Goals:

6.) 1 shopping/grocery trip

7.) 2 healthy dishes made

8.) do 1 large cleaning job

9.) 1 fun night out planned 

One of my awesome sisters (I have a few) made family calendars and every day I write down the number of the goals I achieved in the day's respective calendar box.  

You might wonder about the simplicity of some of these goals.  I am in grad school and basic self cleaning, eating and care takes a back seat to many other projects.  You've been there.  You know what it's like to wonder if you neeeeeed to shower one day, or if you haaaave to buy healthy food this week, because it takes time and that time could be used on one of those projects.  You've been there.  This is to keep me clean, healthy, happier, and keep my energy hustle level up to get my thesis done.  February went well.  Very well.  March has slowed down because I am sick.  Once I am over this, I am back.  Full force.  

If this is your thing, give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Thank you Purl!

Canada Reads! Yes We Do!

It is Canada Reads time!

Five more books to add to my reading list.

One or two are twenty years old; several new to literature.

I love Canada Reads, in particular the radio debate.

Keeping books and radio alive!

The contenders:

(Excuse the fuzzy books.  Read them anyway.)

Against the Grain

I have a friend who is having some troubles lately.  I am having some troubles with a few friends. Love this song because it reminds me that I don't have to fix everything, but I do need to be honest and follow my own instincts and heart.  A dedication to both of us.



I have seen City and Colour in concert twice, once at a festival and again at a performance hall.  Both times I come out having spent several hours just pondering his lyrics and feeling a melodic calmness make its way through my body.  Mind, body and music.  Wonderful.

Welcome Home: Travels in Smalltown Canada

Welcome Home: Travels in Smalltown Canada by Stuart McLean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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.


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On the Road

Once again an inspirational song.  Many year ago a friend of mine, let's call him Joe (because that's his real name) introduced me to a new band after mocking my old school musical tastes.  Yes he did.  So I updated my music library (much like I had updated my wardrobe and bra selection several years earlier....another story...) and have purchased every album/CD/digital release since.  Oh yes, the band is Keane, a harmonious group with poignant lyrics, musical speed, a baby-faced lead singer, and songs that encourage you to ponder and question life.  Great motivators.  Love them.  Thank you 'Joe'.

Here is one song called On The Road from the album Strangeland, about finding your own road of life and helping others down theirs.  



P.S.  Keane, stop touring Europe and the US.  Come to Canada, more specifically, Winnipeg.  Thank you.

Summer 2012: Pirate Invasion!

This is my sister-in-law Cheri.

These are the types of cakes Cheri dreams up and creates.

A pirate ship arriving from a water land of cupcakes to a desert land of 'sand' cupcakes on which the pirates will fight with the skeleton crew who have a treasure.  Yep.  She makes the fabulous creations and then we, her grateful family-in-law, have the audacity to eat them.  Truly they should be encased on glass and put on display in a museum.  Instead, we eat them.  We (un)grateful lot.

The pirate ship is made from rice-crispie treats wrapped in moulded tootsie roll.  The masts are cookies.  

The water and sand are cupcakes with delicious icing and candies on them.  The desert has icing which is them dipped on pulverized graham crackers.  So yummy!

In addition to the cake she made cross-bone cookies...because they are so simple to create (?).

The skeletons guarding their treasure

'Come get us and our treasure pirates!'

The pirates descend in a ship to advance towards the booty.

Prepared to fight!

Who will win?!?

This summer I confessed to Cheri that I have a fantastic business idea.  She is going to make cakes like these and I am going to sell them.  Thusly she and my brother must stay together always, and she needs to make cakes faster...or we can hire minions to create the cakes while she dreams them up.  Either way my plan will take some convincing and she just laughed every time I mentioned our new joint venture.  There is some work and convincing yet to be done.  Wish us luck with our booty!

Summer 2012: Pig Roast

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.

Summer 2012: Goth

My niece decided to scare me this summer.  She dressed goth.  Several days in a row.  She is far too cheery, positive and happy a tween to go goth.  But she did enjoy scaring me.

Thanks Alicia!
(don't ever do this for reals)

Trying not to smile

Pensive and creepy, at the same time

Thinking of sad, listless things

Listen Up!!!

Here are the websites of some of the bands, musicians and people I have seen perform while I have been in Winnipeg these past two years.  I have to say, of all the places I have lived (and there have been a few places), I have never lived in a city with such a plethora of musicians, who are so approachable and friendly, who create such a variety of sounds, and who have so many opportunities to perform in such a wide variety of venues, which creates opportunities for people like me to attend concerts.  Quite intense and incredible.  Wish I had more money and time to attend all of the events but alas, I can only attend 4-6 per month.  Poor me.  :)

While not all these musicians are Winnipeg or Manitoba based, they have visited here through various performance theatres or festivals and I have had the pleasure of seeing them.  Click on the name of the band or musician to be directed to their website and enjoy!

Joys Kills Sorrow
A delicious blend of musical skill and a sonorous trickle of vocals.  Just delightful.

From Google Images

Sarah Jarosz
A melange of traditional tunes with folk interpretations.  A person I would like in the corner of my house as my personal live musician as I have a huge crush on her...and I love her music.

Mary Gauthier
In your face sassy and political with a gritty, purposeful voice.

Dry Bones
Blue grass-ish for a lazy, quiet day....or dancing about alone in one's living room...or at a festival.

Dan Mangan
A mix of folk and rock.  Hard to sit still when listening to his works.  Easy to crush on as well.

From Google Images

Natacha Atlas
Electronica keyboards, Arabic sounds, dance beats, sultry lyrics, a good time.  She was born in Belgium, how cool is that!?!

David Francey
Meaningful.  His lyrics are so meaningful and purposeful, I just can't get enough of his music.  Live in concert, he is witty and honest, willing to call attention to inequities as he sees them.

Romi Mayes
Rock and roll coiled together with jazz and blues.  I am taking credit for the title of her last CD as she announced in her concert while live recording ten new songs that she did not have a title, as of yet.  She had just finished playing "Lucky Tonight" and I yelled out, 'how about 'I'm Gettin' Lucky Tonight'?'  She responded, 'that's a good idea, I'll think about it.'  Well she did and the CD is titled, Lucky Tonight.

Ruthie Foster
Her voice is reminiscent of the 1970's old guard of rockin' female musicians but with more rock n sassy.  Her cover of Adele's tune Set Fire to the Rain is hot.

From Google Images

JP Hoe
A musician I was introduced to in Calgary when he opened up for a Jann Arden concert, and here in Winnipeg, we have been re-introduced as he is from here and maintains this city as his home.  A delicious voice with lyrics that avoid cliches and stereotypes.  'Always' is one of his best.

Matt Andersen
He sings with the voices of thirty men, but it all comes out of one man.  Deep.  Billowing.  Incredible.

iron and wine
These musicians play a mean folk tune full of thoughtful words.  Truly songs that you perk up to and remember.

Kim Churchill
It's hard not to have a crush on this young man.  Speedy songs with bursts of instrumental sounds.  Thank you Australia!

Chic Gamine
A group of women that take turns sharing their vocal skills through an eclectic mix of songs.  From rockin' it out to soft French ballads, these musicians keep you wondering what sounds the next song with produce.

blind pilot
Indie folk in the cavern of a barn attic.  Yep.  That good.

From Google Images

MonkeyJunk 
Who calls themselves monkey junk?  These men do and they swamp, boogie and stir your soul until your body follows your feet, that are already dancing.  You can thank me later for this intro.

May you try out a few of these performers and never forget that intimate shows with honest musicians is always better than lights, sparkles and coordinated pre-fab dance moves.  Go local and enjoy!

About To Make Brownies

While I was living in Calgary in the early 2000's I purchased a book by a Calgary based recipe author, Julie Van Rosendaal.  Having a very sweet tooth, I immediately loved it as it is called, One Smart Cookie: All your favourite cookies, squares, brownies and biscotti...with less fat!  A few years later I bought her Grazing recipe book too.  Over the years I have made several dishes out of both books, granted the sugar content is not super low in the cookie book, but the results are delicious and you can scrumptiously indulge with a little less guilt.

After having curled today, completed some errands, and accidentally did some laps around a near-by mall who has taken down all its directional signs (I almost didn't make it out), it is time for a treat.  There is zucchini in the fridge from my aunt and uncle's garden in British Columbia (it had a long drive out to Winnipeg) and I shall be making Julie's Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies (p. 134).  Since I fly solo, I will eat to my heart's content, then divide up the pan of brownies into healthy size portions, wrap them up in plastic, and freeze them for when I have a chocolate hankering another day.

Can't promise any photos.  Do you really want to see chocolate and zuch in my teeth?  I didn't think so.  But here is Julie's more recent blog which appears to have developed beyond desserts.  Mmmmmmm.....

  DINNER WITH JULIE  

I changed my mind.
I took picture.
Warm. Dense. Chocolatey. Decadent.

Travel As A Political Act: Part 2

As I really did enjoy this book, I was even more impressed that a travel novel, written by an approachable individual with accessible language, finally presented many of the difficult topics that have been debated within the academic and practical spaces of tourism for decades.  One of the first papers I wrote for an basic introduction to travel class concerned the sex trade and the use of young girls in countries as captured sex slaves for the purposes of pleasing middle and upper class Canadian, American and European travelers in order to draw and increase tourism.  I believe my professor handed me back my paper and said, 'interesting topic'.  That was it.  I think he was surprised about the topic and the criticisms that were evident in the paper.  I wish I still had it, I would give it another read, redo and update as sixteen years later, these countries continue to enslave young girls, boys, women and sometimes men as sex slaves but now have begun to reward them and provide them with an understanding that they are contributing greatly to their country's economy in the best way they possibly could (even scarier really).  Well, in my opinion this is crap and the institutionalization of the poor and down-trodded through ideologies of slavery, misogyny and seeing women/people as sex objects, but I digress...again...

Rick Steves within the last chapter of his book Travel As A Political Act shares with following idea with the reader then proceeds to share a list of books he has read that has influence his opinions about the economics of poverty and the politics of power and corporations.  I am sure he would be OK with me sharing this quote and list (even though I don't know him at all personally) and I have added to each book title a link to the book, a related website, or the authors webpage.  Voila!:

"Read books that explain the economic and political basis of issues you've stubbled onto in your travels.  A basic understanding of the economics of poverty, the politics of the empire, and the power of corporations are life skills that give you a foundation to better understand what you experience in your travels.  Information that mainstream media considers "subversive" won't come to you.  You need to reach out for it.  The following are a few of the books that have shaped and inspired my thinking over the years" (p. 203):

Bread for the World

Arthur Simon

Food First: Beyond the Myth of Scarcity

Frances Moore Lappe

The Origins of Totalitarianism

Hannah Arendt

Future in Our Hands

Erik Dammann

Manufacturing Consent

Noam Chomsky

War Against the Poor: Low-Intensity Conflict and Christian Faith

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer

Unexpected News: Reading the Bible with Third World Eyes

Robert McAfee

The United States of Europe

T.R. Reid

The European Dream 

Jeremy Rifkin

(Click here for Rifkin website and foundation)

The End of Poverty

Jeffry Sachs

Several of these shall be added to my reading list as I have only read the last one while I was living in London.  Off I go...

Get Along

As I was living in Cleveland, Ohio attending high school I remember the Rodney King beating and subsequent riots in Los Angeles as one of my first racial, social justice and political lessons as I saw that life was far more complicated than I understood.  Many of us, from a distance, saw that there had been progress throughout the decades with regards to relationships between races, but we were reminded during this time that the institutionalized, systemic racism and violence towards black people (as well as towards many races and between races) continued.

Recently I was in a conversation during which two people told me that racism happens, sexism happens, homophobia happens, classism happens, it will always happen and there is nothing that can be done.  It is part of life.  Of course I completely disagree.  Racism is a choice.  Sexism is a choice.  Homophobia is a choice.  Classism is a choice.  Agism is a choice.  Colonial ideas are a choice.  An inappropriate comment, a joke meant to demean, and a conversation during which we blame people for their experiences the subsequent traumatic fallout.  It is important to look for, watch and name instances during which we see people making excuses for intolerant behaviour.  Some ideas, words, and comments are so often repeated within a group, society or culture, that they become institutionalized and we believe them to be truths (called doxa by sociologists and anthropologists), but when looked at critically, they have merely been repeated so often that we assume these ideas to be truths.

Most recently I had an individual direct several accusations towards me.  Thank you to some strong and intelligent individuals, we were able to limit his destructive and bizarre behaviour.  Several people told me that this was a case of sexism.  At first I balked at the idea and rejected this notion.  After a few weeks, and in hearing the word domineering directed at me from this person, I conceded.  Upon closer observation I realized that this individual has rarely seen women in positions of leadership, and most certainly is not used to and does not agree with a women reminding him of his responsibilities.  Part of his doxa has been men are leaders, women are not.  It was difficult for me to admit that this was a sexist experience because part of my doxa is women (although few) as leaders, women in authority, and women from whom I have received and accepted advice.   His inane and immature response to me, being in a position of leadership above him, has been an interesting experience.  Doxa's clashing I suppose.      

My experience is nothing close to the trauma and far-reaching aftermath of Rodney King's, but having seen, heard and talked about the LA riots twenty years ago, I am able to identify, as many are, that experiences that parallel his still occur and we each have a choice to contribute to racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, agism, etc.; make excuses for these types of behaviours; ignore these types of behaviours; or have the courage to name them as intolerant and work to remove these inequitable ideas from our societies as doxa which we will no longer believe.

"Long after I am gone, people will remember me saying, can't we all just get along."

Rodney King

Taken from Google images

I shall add his book to the words I want to take the time from which to learn.

Taken from Amazaon.com

Porcelain Moon and Pomegranates

Porcelain Moon and Pomegranates: A Woman's Trek Through Turkey by Üstün Bilgen-Reinart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Being methodical feels constricting to me so I avoid it and stick with spontaneity.  This includes my selection of reading materials.  I go to the library, head for the travel section, start pulling books off the shelf, judge it by its cover, then synopsis, and keep it in my arms or put it back on the shelf after my discerning judgment :).  Over the past year I have read some wonderful books that have taught me about places I may never visit.  This book, with an unsuspecting cover, an acceptable synopsis, and yet more importantly a travel book written by a women, was left in my arms which was an exceptional choice.

This book was an amazing teaching tool that took me into the depths of thousands of years of history, race relations, conflict, change, and the current lives of many people in Turkey.  Of all the travel books I have read in the past year, this is the most moving one from which I feel like learned enough to be a four month university course that I received for free.  Lucky me!

Perhaps I feel closer to Ustun because she was born in Turkey, moved to Winnipeg, then returned to Turkey as an adult to learn about her culture all over again.  I was born in Calgary, Alberta, but did not live in Canada for any length of time until I was an adult, and I had to learn about my home country year after year when I moved here at the age of eighteen.  As well, I am currently living in Winnipeg.  An interesting coincidence.

This book is for people who want to learn about the deep moving power of travel, history, worship, cultural change, power structures and their influence, the complicated lives of women, goddesses, and to understand how old some parts of the world truly are, all situate in the context of travel, discovery, and making connections between the past and present.  A magnificent read!

I just realized that I will be probably be buying this book.  It is so full of information that I am going to want to come back to it a couple of times just to make sure I hear all of its messages.  Delightful as it stretched my thinking so very far.


The best parts of the book:

But deep inside me there was a division and there was a loss.  There were chambers that had to remain closed.  My Anatolian self was suppressed, my memories of that land - its rhythms, its smells, its temperature, its ancient joys and pains (for what is culture if it is not collective memory that is somehow transmitted through the generations?), the pleasure if my mother tongue - all these lay buried under the psychological layers that formed an efficient, adaptive Canadian self.  p. 14

Ecological balance represents survival - the human race can't live without air, land and water,  I knew that in Canada, too.  But it is only here that I begin to discern the relationship between ecological damage and the loss of distant memory.  So many layers of civilizations have lived and died here that I feel as if spirits hover over Anatolia.  But if their traces are destroyed, if no one remembers those who once lived and died here, we are not even going to know what we have lost...I notice that I often turn to women for stories about taboo themes and about the buried past.  It is true that women are the bearers of collective memory?  That questions leads me to the issue of the suppression of female voices, female memories, and female sexuality in Anatolia, and I see another connection that should have been obvious all along: the killing of nature and the suppression of ancient memory are related to the silencing of women's voices.  Perhaps women could have defended the earth of they hadn't been robbed of power thousands of years ago...On this land at the dawn of history, a different vision taped human societies.  An ancient great goddess reigned in Anatolia for thousands of years.  The traces of her worship remain all over this mountain our land...People often feel an urge to understand their own past in order to gain insights into the present.  I feel complicated to delve into Anatolia's past.  A long and loaded human past must affect the people who now live on this land in the same way that a family history going back many generations will affect someone who knows nothing of the secrets bored with those generations.  p. 17

Ustun continues to discover the thousands of years of goddess worship, provides a historical context of terrorism and her idea as to why it exists, describes how one religion is replaced by another as one culture is conquered by another group with a different culture, provides the history of prostitution and it modern day experience, explains killing ones daughter in the name of honour and how this practice is changing (a difficult chapter to read), and how the people of Turkey are rising up against Western multi-national companies as they destroy the landscape of the country, take their money and run away.  What a read!  It won't be the last time I peruse its pages.  So much more to understand and learn in the second and third readings.

Find it and learn from the words on its pages.  



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Gonna Be An Engineer

Cattle research done!
Thesis version two, almost done.
Sharing another video, below.

Last year I took the Smithsonian Folkways: American Roots Collection CD collection out of the library.  What a treat!  So many songs I had never heard but were the backbone of folk music, one of my favourite genres.  There were some really cool songs to listen to, some really weird ones, and one that I need to share with you.  It popped up on my playlist today while working and it makes me smile.

When I hear the lyrics I pretend I am a hippie woman at a Folk Festival with my long hair braided (its never long enough to do that, but hey, let me have my dreams), a daisy chain around my neck, a flowing hippie skirt, and maybe even a tambourine gently beating against my hip.  A woman by the name of Peggy Seeger appears on stage with a simple guitar.  She says hello at the microphone and dedicates this to all the women in the audience and beyond who want more choices in their lives.  Access higher (or well) paying jobs, be acknowledged for their intelligence and gifts, for others to see and thank them for their public contributions to the community, be provided with the space to make healthy choices, and live a full life in and outside their homes.

It is a sassy little ditty.

This is for all my engineering female family and friends out there (all 8 of you), and all the rest of us living better lives due to the work, lyrics, marches, sit-ins, folk festivals and potlucks of the 1960's.

I am now in graduate school due to your work.

Thanks!

Doral Pilling In London

I have just spent the last hour scanning parts of Doral Pilling's autobiography into a computer.  I am in the process of sending this information to Dr. Bruce Kidd who is a professor at University of Toronto and researcher the history of athletics, amongst other topics.  He was at the University of Manitoba several months ago and I went to his presentation then provided him with the family story of Doral (my maternal grandfather) helping Percy get through his Olympic events without throwing up etc.  When I read the account in his history (thanks Arta for all your transcribing and work on that book), I can't help but think that Grandpa Doral was using sport psychology techniques with Percy long before the term was even identified.  A forward thinker for sure.

Having just taken a peek at a website dedicated to Percy Williams created by Samuel Hawley, I came across several pictures of Grandpa Doral that I have not seen in any relatives houses.  Once again, I look at these pictures and wonder why my brother Trent is there (or several of the Wood's boys), give my head and shake and remind myself I am looking at Doral.  Here is my favourite shot mostly because many of us have now been in London and here is Doral in the same city long before the rest of us even existed in the flesh.

Taken from website:  http://www.samuelhawley.com/percy1928olympics2.html

From left to right: Doral Pilling, Percy Williams, Stanley Glover

I just love this shot!  Take a look at the website to find even more information and amazing pictures about Percy Williams, with Doral Pilling often hanging in the background.

Travel as a Political Act, Rick Steves

Rick Steves, a travel guru who has opened up and interpreted European travel to North Americans for 30 years, has written a new book titled Travel as a Political Act.  It is on order at the library for me.  I am the first person in line and very excited to read it.  In addition to the book there is a blog and a video and audio recording of a speech given in California, available through ABC TV.

While I did not agree with everything he said in this video, I do agree with the ability travel has to remind us that our human condition is far more similar than different, and other people who appear different that you or I are not scary and to be feared, but interesting individuals from who we can learn a great deal.  Different lives.  Different choices.  Travel changes your perceptions if you are willing to open to its lessons and get off the beach of a first world resort supplanted in a developing nation.  Get off the beach.  Be brave.  Go further.  

I shall write more when I have read the book.

40 Fun or New Things in 40 Hours

Over the years I have had many friends and family members organize and celebrate wonderful birthdays with me.  Twenty-one roses and 10 helium balloons, a wake, surprise dinners, distracting movies to a surprise party, 24 cupcakes a cake and many family members, and many more wonderful events.

As my 40th birthday approached I wanted it to be memorable and a real celebration of life and the many wonderful experiences it can posses.  As my brain is wont to do, it connected the dots and in a flash I decided I was going to try and do 40 new and/or fun things in 40 days.  Since that seemed a little long and I am poor (in graduate school), the idea shrunk down to 40 fun or new things in 40 hours, faster, zippier, smaller time frame, shorter things.  The planning began.

I sent out invites asking friends and family to send me ideas and let me know if they wanted to do something specifically with me.  Many friends contacted me and participated in the planning.  At one point I was ready to give up but my Love Manitoba friend's, Christa and Stephanie, would not let me.  They planned much of the last minute new things and saved the day!  As well, my sister Lurene flew in from Calgary for the weekend and things I had done before became new because I was doing them with my sister for the first time (freebees).  See how this works.  None of these new things have to be huge, they just have to be inventive and creative.

So in the end, this is the list, most of which occurred the actual evening of my birthday, March 31 at King's Head Pub in Winnipeg.

40 Fun New or Fun Things in 40 Hours:

1. Drinking Chololate

2. Eating Manitoba

3. Eating Bacon Bark

4. Backwards lunch (started with dessert, ended with main course)

5. Wore steel coloured nail polish

6. Had Henna done on my hands

7. Went rock climbing in Manitoba (indoors, there are no mountains or hills to climb here)

8. Attempted geo-caching

9. Received a flower delivery at home (thanks Marcia!)

10. Visited the crazy purple poster shop at the end of Osbourne Village
(turns out it is not my type of shop)

11. Walked down Osbourne Village streets with one of my sisters

12. Received a mug from my sister (caveat: Marcia - another sister - gave me a mug when I was 19 with her picture on it so I would not miss her.  I still use this mug but I received it on Christmas morning, not on my birthday.)

13. I was hit on by a random stranger on Facebook on my birthday (thank you some guy named Richard or Raymond or something)

14. Ate at the Bonfire Bistro

15. Ate at La Bamba (this is where I had the backwards lunch and the item below)

16. Ate tequila ice-cream

17. Purchased rainbow tights (ready for Folk Fest and other exciting events)

18. Tried Don Jolio tequila (wow, smooth as silk)

19. Played with interactive lights in Central Park, Winnipeg