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.

Marco Polo Didn't Go There

Marco Polo Didn't Go There: Stories and Revelations from One Decade as a Postmodern Travel Writer by Rolf Potts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Within the context of being a post-modern traveller and writer, Potts takes the reader through chapters of stories, each dedicated to an individual experience he has had after having vagabonded about the globe for a decade.  This book provides an interesting and didactic structure through which Potts uses current academic research to affirm his narrative choices, as he shares his experiences about travel.  Most of this writing has been published elsewhere and this book is a collection of assorted stories that offers Potts to teach the reader about travel writing within the context of vagabonding, academic research, and individualized learning through experience.  A great read and one that is worth looking at again if you are a travel writer.


View all my reviews

A Little More Understanding and Equality

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.

Idle No More:

Religion and Homosexuality:

A BYU's student review of the new LDS Church website about homosexuality.

May your holidays be merry and bright!

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.

Wyona and Greg's 46th Anniversary

A few weeks ago my parents celebrated their 46th anniversary.  I posted a picture and a blurb on Facebook but neither of them have any interest in Facebook as a communication tool.  I post this here at my mother's request so they can both see the congratulations they received from others.

Love to you both!

Today is my parents anniversary. I think it has been 48 or 49 years. As a friend of mind said recently, every relationship has a shelf life. I guess my parents have worked out how to hang out together like two pickles in a jar, just getting better with time.
Happy Anniversary!

(Love this photo - the one above and below - as it sums up my parents to a T. My mother is doing something fun and hilarious while my dad watches on with a smile on his face, just enjoying the fun personality in the woman he married.)

My talented parents practicing their dance steps.

 These are the comments friends and family made on Facebook.

More evidence that they may have different personalities but they have had many a good time after putting in a hell of a lot of work.  

My mother leading the dance party congo line.

My dad hanging out with my Uncle Glen.

Respect

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

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!

Almost 40!

Ok
I have four days left in my 30's
I wonder what my 40's will be like
I am guessing like most milestones, Sunday morning I will wake up feeling no different than I did Saturday night.
Still
This momentous occasion is worth a wee blog post
:)

Master's Thesis

This morning at about 3 am I sent in my first draft of my thesis to my professor.  Knowing that I still have another 4-6 drafts to write, that I have just started the beginning, and that the research then subsequent analyzing of this research will take time, it still felt good to press send.

My Articles
My Mascot (Funshine Bear)

My thesis is all about the relationship between serious leisure, hobbyist-cultural tourists, and amateur travel bloggers and photographers and their opinions of how their work is influencing tourism.  I have been reading for one year (articles, books, websites), and writing for eight months.  The pictures in this post provide a wee peak at most of what I have read to prepare myself to write.

Leisure, Recreation, Tourism Anyone?

Expanding and Hurting My Brain
(all at the same time)

So much information that my brain started to hurt when I thought about my thesis for the millionth time in February.  To push through, I gave up much of my life over the last three weeks and focused on reviewing my readings, synthesizing information, writing, thinking, reviewing, then writing more.  Forty pages later, I have the first three chapters of my thesis done with 8 pages of references (70 in all) backing up what I have written.  It is my hope that I did not go completely off the rails and that most of what I wrote is usable.

The Articles Organized

Here are the websites I cited in my thesis.  I don't know if they will go or stay but take a peek and perhaps a thing or two may be learned.

Brigitte Eaton

Eatonweb Portal 

http://portal.eatonweb.com/

Blogpulse

http://blogpulse.com

(Site being retired January 13, 2012.)

CamWorld

http://camworld.org/

Gadling

http://www.gadling.com/

Hello British Columbia Blog

http://www.hellobc.com/british-columbia/blog.aspx

Hole in the Donut Cultural Travel

http://holeinthedonut.com/

In The Know Traveler

http://www.intheknowtraveler.com/

Jaunted

http://www.jaunted.com/

Adventures for Singles

Jesse James Garrett

Infoshift 

http://blog.jjg.net/

National Post: Travel

http://www.nationalpost.com/life/travel/index.html

Online Journalism Review

http://www.ojr.org/

Rebecca’s Pocket

http://www.rebeccablood.net/

Solo Traveler

http://solotravelerblog.com/

Technorati

http://technorati.com

TravelPod

http://www.travelpod.com/

Viator

http://www.viator.com/

Visit Winnipeg Blog

http://www.tourismwinnipeg.com/pegcity-lounge/winnipeg-insiders-blog

So many travel websites out there, this is just a peak.  I feel like I have learned so much that one thesis just does not cover what I have observed (mostly) in my brain.  I will keep you posted as to the next stage of this whole process.  Until then, yahoo me!  

Clueless Squirrel

During one of my neighbourhood walks this fall, I happened upon this scene.

I wondered if the squirrel had any idea that a clear, thin piece of glass was the only thing separating it from a game of cat and mouse, with an actual cat.

I wondered if the cat was thinking about all the fun chase and tag games 

it could play with the squirrel.

And then the cat became distracted and it saw me.  

But the squirrel is still clueless.

Remembrance Day, Three Thoughts

Thought One

On Remembrance Day I think about my Grandfather Lester Schmidt and the few stories he used to tell us, his grandchildren, about his experiences in World War II.  He never served on the front lines but he did provide supplies for others in the war.  He used to also tell me not to get old, it was hell.  This comment still makes me smile, like any of us have a choice.  Les dies many years ago and he passed away while sitting in his favourite chair.  I did not have the chance to say goodbye but I am glad that I did learn more about him after living with him and my step-grandma, Marjorie, for a year in Calgary.  If the Oral History Archive project had been around while he was alive, it would have been very interesting to have heard his more detailed stories and to have added them to The Memory Project.  I am of the generation in which people say we are in a war and my life continues as normal.  War is an experience that happens in other countries, is a ceremony we have every year at this time, it is a museum I visit whose exhibits I view, an thing with a name that is remote and distant.  Others, who are Canadian and from other countries, have experienced more personal journey's through war.  My hope for them today is that through remembrance, thoughts, tears, we can find a place closer to peace and farther away from war.

I also wonder about my grandfather Lloyd Bates.  He died due to suicide the year before I was born.  From the stories I have heard through family, he bore the physical, emotional and psychological scares of war, and in the taking of his own life, I wonder if those issues were ever resolved.  What supports were there in the 1950's for returning soldiers, nurses and doctors?  Who was helping those with the yet unlabelled issues of PTSD?  How many others needed help and did their best to make their way in life as best they could?

 

Thought Two

I have memories of my father asking me if I wanted to go to Flanders Fields every November, when my family lived in Brussels, Belgium.  Every year I remember saying yes.  On one particular Day of Remembrance, we approached the fields of crosses, row on row, but could not see due to the hovering fog.  As we quietly approached the ceremony area, a trumpet began playing the Last Post, and as we slowly approached the song we began to see shapes of people, crosses and the gathering remembering those who had fought and died, as well as those who had lived.  As a pre-teen I did not understand the broad scope of the ceremony, the graveyard, the uniforms, the sacrifices, the years of repair, but I am fortunate to have had parents who took me to a place that have provided me with a personal connection to an historic place.

After the ceremony, large planes would fly by and drop thousands of poppies across the graves of the dead.  The children, including myself, would jump and run about collecting as many poppies as we could, but there were always too many to hold.  One year the wind was not taken into consideration and during the first fly-by the poppies landed on the highway next to Flanders Fields.  On the second fly-by, the poppies landed on the graves.  I would like to attend this ceremony again some time during my life as it is burned in my memory and to compare a childhood experience to an adult experience would be interesting.

Thought Three

While living in London (almost two years ago) I took the opportunity to go on a guided tour of France's  northern World War II sites.  We visited the D-Day Beaches, the towns first liberated in 1945, memorial museums, and cemeteries.  It was mind blowing as the guide's knowledge was incredibly extensive and he provided us with a two hour lecture of information as we bused from London to northern France.  It brought the previous stories I had heard, the museum exhibits I had visited, the people I had met who had been part of the war all together and connected to a place.  Here were the craters 60 years later, the cannons, the now clean beaches of operation Overlord, the remaining buildings and pieces of history that the French have left in place to remember.  If you ever have a chance to visit these places, please do.  The type of experience that causes you to think deeply and with great care.  Another opportunity to remember and attempt to understand.  

Standing in one bomb hole at Point du Hoc.
Bomb holes all around this entire field close to the cliffs of beaches.

The American Cemetery at St. Laurant

Juno Beach where Canadians first landed.
The first tank to have landed that became stuck and
remains as part of the museum collection.

Pegasus Bridge, the first bridge to be liberated
between Caen and Ouistreham, in Normandy, France.

Utah Beach, one of the locations where thousands of soldiers
who had just crossed the canal in tightly packed ships that landed
and begin the land attack in hopes of ending World War II.

Arromanches, Gold Beach, the remains of the temporary port
built by the UK government and its Allies as part of the liberation. 

Added Thought:

PS.  Listening to CBC's The Current and five grown men just started talking about what they cry from now after having been in a war: Tim Horton's commercials, kitten and Kleenex adds, one man just said he cries all the time.  Love it.  Men letting down their 'tough guy' guards and enjoying a moment honesty.

Comics and Women

There are several reasons why I have never really been a comics reader, but as I mature and age the obvious reason becomes less subtle and more overt: sexualization of female characters.  To the point at which creators of comics are pushing soft porn images on children and teens; that women become valid and contributing members of society only if their bust size is four times their waist size; the unrealistic behaviour of these women who are doing less and standing about doing nothing more often; slowly being turned into appendages to male characters who battle it out (or she is the token female in a cohort of four); the reinforcement of a very narrow and unhealthy stereotype of female "beauty" and "acceptance" etc, etc etc....

Now not all women see things the way I do and most heterosexual men would tell me to shut up and check out the size of the characters boobs (got my own thanks!).  Sorry.  Can't. Drives me nuts.  So completely neanderthal and dismissive of who women actually are amazing and who contribute an incredible amount of work daily to improve the groups, communities, and organizations of which we are a part.  In continually sexualizing women or in establishing over-the-top unrealistic images of women, we damage how women see themselves and how others see us (see the APA report below).  Drives me nuts.  Fantasy or no fantasy, what we see, read, hear, speak becomes our thoughts and our actions and I am not interested in the fake fantasy of womanhood that does little of us women any good (see APA report below).  

Don't just listen to my ramblings, listen to the words of a seven year old girl who loves female comic characters....well most of the time....

Dear DC Comics

Out of the 278 comments on the blog post above, here is the best one:

Draw Michele Lee's Daughter

If I was an artist I would draw Michele as a superhero without sexualizing a seven year old girl, any other girl, or any other woman.  What would you do?  Contribute to the website with flair and talent.

Sex between two (or more) consenting adults can be an amazing and phenomenal experience. Being sexual and being sexualized are two very different occurrences.  The former is a choice in which pleasure and enjoyment is extended to all voluntary participants.  The latter is an objectification, a commodification of a person for whom a removal of one's humanness is the goal, in addition to the making of money.  My body is not for sale.  I hope more women, teenage girls and female children find an increasing number of ally's (photographers, writers, PR firms, magazine editors, movie makers, etc.) who are willing to halt the sexualization of women within media, movies, TV, online sources, comics, literature, blogs, and video.  To support the sexualization of women after the research that has been conducted (see APA report below) is to regurgitate immature, condescending and destructive images of women, which becomes horrifying when directed at or which are available to children and teens.  We should be more disgusted by and take action against this sexualization more often (much like Michele Lee).  

American Psychological Association's (APA) study of the Sexualization of Girls finds (all direct quotes):

1) Cognitive and emotional consequences

Cognitively, self-objectification has been repeatedly shown to detract from the ability to concentrate and focus one’s attention, thus leading to impaired performance on mental activities such as mathematical computations or logical reasoning (Frederickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn & Twenge, 1998; Gapinski, Brownell & LaFrance, 2003; Hebl, King & Lin, 2004).

2) Mental and physical health

Research links sexualization with three of the most common mental health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression or depressed mood (Abramson & Valene, 1991; Durkin & Paxton, 2002; Harrison, 2000; Hofschire & Greenberg, 2001; Mills, Polivy, Herman & Tiggemann, 2002; Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw & Stein, 1994; Thomsen, Weber & Brown, 2002; Ward, 2004).

3) Sexuality

Sexual well-being is an important part of healthy development and overall well-being, yet evidence suggests that the sexualization of girls has negative consequences in terms of girls’ ability to develop healthy sexuality. Self-objectification has been linked directly with diminished sexual health among adolescent girls (e.g., as measured by decreased condom use and diminished sexual assertiveness; Impett, Schooler & Tolman, 2006).

4) Attitudes and beliefs

Frequent exposure to media images that sexualize girls and women affects how girls conceptualize femininity and sexuality. Girls and young women who more frequently consume or engage with mainstream media content offer stronger endorsement of sexual stereotypes that depict women as sexual objects (Ward, 2002; Ward & Rivadeneyra, 1999; Zurbriggen & Morgan, 2006). They also place appearance and physical attractiveness at the center of women’s value.

5) Impact on others and on society

The sexualization of girls can also have a negative impact on other groups (i.e., boys, men, and adult women) and on society more broadly. Exposure to narrow ideals of female sexual attractiveness may make it difficult for some men to find an “acceptable” partner or to fully enjoy intimacy with a female partner (e.g., Schooler & Ward, 2006).

All told, a choice like this from DC Comics is a form of backlash (conscious or unconscious); for every movement, for every change, there is a backlash.  In this case a backlash against what women have gained, what women continue to want, and what we deserve: a society in which women self-define their bodies and find acceptance in this definition, in which women have ultimate and constant control over their own bodies, and a world that consistently values each human being.  

This is me pushing back against the backlash.

Positive Advertising for Women - YouTube

Positive Ads from Love Your Body

Pro-Age Ad Banned in US

Campaign For Real Beauty - Dove
(not a perfect campaign or company, but a great beginning)

Post-Sexist Society? - YouTube

Sexualization of Women in Magazines - YouTube
(These last two are hard to watch for 7 minutes each and not want to vomit in disgust, but they do reinforce the points made above.)

1000 Words

This what I currently feel like:

Photograph by T. Bates

As you walk down the streets of Prague (Praha), the capital of the Czech Republic, your feet are touching the foundations of the old remnants of four town boroughs (Old Town, New Town, Hradčany and Lesser Town).  Different cities, united in the 18th century, into one urban space.

As you gaze around, your eyes will take in Charles Bridge, Old Town Square,  Prague Castle, open air markets, multiple churches, bohemian crystal, and garnets (many many garnets).

While navigating the narrow, cobblestone streets it is hard not to look up and out at the architecture of the bridges, river walk, concert halls, skinny alleys, museums, and cathedrals which sometimes date back to the 1200's.  While walking along in the Old Town you may have the same experience I had, as I gazed up, yet again, with strained neck to see a man, hanging precariously from a piece of wood.  Thoughts of a man in the depths of sorrow quickly entered my mind and I wanted to yell out, "DON'T DO IT!!!!", only to see, at second glance, that the man was made of steel and the piece of wood, a piece of steel.  I stopped.  I gazed.  I smiled at the trick for which I had almost fallen.  The seriousness and humour of modern art in the middle of decades of history.

This is the current wallpaper on my cell phone as I know how this man feels.  Not suicidal or ready to let go, but feeling that the third term of grad school is pushing me down.  I am holding on, but barely.  So much to accomplish.  Such a short time frame.  Just a quick break to let you know that my right hand is still grasping the beam that is jutting out from a wall of academia.  

Stop Using the R-Word

A PSA announcement to help those of us who have not figured out yet that using the word 'retard' or 'retarded' is not respectful, considerate, kind or acceptable.  Having worked with, taught, been friends with and have family members who have been diagnosed with a disability(ies), language barriers or learning issues, it is time to spread the word and stop the use of language that causes others emotional anguish.  After all, 'language is constitutive; truth is provisional; meaning is contigent' (Peter Barry) and in the case of the R-word being used in modern casual slang conversation, the meaning is not a compliment.






Lately, I have been thinking about the words 'crazy' 'nut job' and 'insane' too.  I use these as common vernacular and technically they can all be referenced back to mental health issues, and in using them as dismissive or as an insult, is not respectful.  It is time to replace some of my colloquialisms with some new, more kind, words.

Surround Yourself With Intelligence

It has been a while.  Over the last two weeks I have written 50 pages of academic writing for 3 papers for 3 different classes on 3 different subjects.  This term was going to be tough and these papers pushed, pulled, squeezed, manipulated and crunched my brain into places that are new.  New knowledge.  New thoughts.  New theories.  New ideologies.  Moments on which to dwell in order to entwine these new concepts into my already formed ideas, thus pushing the boundaries of that which I thought I knew.  Education.  A way to open doors of thought that you did not even know existed.

Over the next few posts I will share with you the basic arguments, ideas and thoughts from the papers I wrote.  This may even include the stacks, and I mean STACKS of articles and books I have read over the last four months.  A small forest is cursing me at this moment.

For now I want to introduce you to Web 2.0.  What you may ask?  The newest phase of the internet, the web, this place, the place that has turned a corner.  An environment in which people are now seeking the thoughts of like-mided individuals to with whom to share their ideas, influence their opinions, solve problems, and improve decisions.  After reading an article about travellers using the internet in more of a Web 2.0 direction, I started seeing this place differently.  In the end, this new information served me well.  While writing one of my papers I became stuck.  Could not think of the correct word.  Completely mind-frozen.  So I turned to Facebook (the beloved and dreaded reference in many current conversations) to ask for friend help in selecting the correct word.  Many brains better than one.  True to

the reputation of Web 2.0, I was directed by many an intelligent friend in choosing the correct word. It was such fun to read through everyone's responses and I am adding them here. I learned again in my life, that selection of friend's based on intelligence, humour, kindness or decency, the best kinds of people to have around. Enjoy!

My Post:
Quick I need a word for a paper: one word that means a reference to the past. I.e. "The modern day temple at this festival is a _________ to historical temples built by all dominant religions around the world." What academic word can go in the blank people?

Within 3 hours I had 22 responses and then they continued:

Sarah
the only word that comes to mind is throwback, but that's not very academic.

Cristy
tribute?

Cristy
p.s. I'm not an academic but gave my opinion anyway. darn bossy teacher you know! ;)

Shelley 
tribute

Sarah
tribute sounds good

Shelley
symbol

Jeff
homage

Bev
obeisance

Deb
nod, acknowledgement

MY BIRTHDAY!!!

'Tis the day of my birth!

39 years ago my mother was in pain as my father looked one in hapless wonder at the 10 pound girl that was popping out of the womb

5 times I have come close to no longer being alive or have to serious injury: meningitis at 4 months old, near drowning at around 5, jumping off the side of the pool backwards requiring 5 different sets of stitches, pulling a large set of tables and chairs on top of me at church as I was trying to use them for a good swing, having a nap in the Regina in the cold shed as no one was home.  Yep, I have been an easy one.  :)

6 is the number of countries I have lived in over the past 39 years.  15 countries I have visited on top of that.  5 provinces in which I have lived in Canada thus far.

2+1 degrees I have obtained or am currently working on.

23+2 is the size of my immediate family.  The Bates family has grown over the years and I love every one of them for different reasons.  (Note the cookie gift from sisters.)

140 posts on this blog since November 2009.  There are approximately 102 million blogs in the Internet.  Thanks to all those who have stopped by here, especially those who have made comments here or elsewhere.

4 active and delightful hobbies that occupy my time: blog stalking, ceramics, volunteering at live musical events, and photography.  I should add spending time with interesting and open-minded people in there too, 4+1.

40 more years of life to live before I am willing to slow down.

39 new, interesting, exciting, different, enjoyable, thought provoking, 

challenging, mind-boggling, wonderful, guffaw causing, outrageous things 

I am going to try this year, the last year of my 30's.  

February 2010: Luxor Temple in Egypt

Feel free to join me!  

Yippee to another incredible year!!!

You Know Big Words

When I finished high school my family moved to Ottawa and I moved from a city of 3 million people (Cleveland) to a city of 40,000 (Medicine Hat).  It actually saw tumbleweed rolling through the downtown bit (too small to be called a 'core') one day when I was trying to get to know the city.  Culture shock in so many ways!  While in The Hat I pretended to go to class and played basketball with the Rattlers at Medicine Hat College.  One day, one of my team mates asked me a question, "why do you use such big words?"  I can't remember my reply but I remember being stunned that someone thought I had a large vocabulary.  It always seemed about normal to me.  (Recently I drove through the hamlet of a town she was from in Saskatchewan and realized why I seemed so odd and perhaps in her eyes.)  Once in a while I drag up this memory as I learn a new word and have a giggle.

This term of Grad School has hit me at breakneck speed like a wall of ruddy, inflexible, unyielding bulwark of responsibilities.  It was inevitable as my last term started really slow.  My class schedule alone is bulky, but add being a TA and a Grader/Marker to the mix, while I begin to hunt down an adequate summer job and the term is going to be over like the flash of a light-bug's bum.  Here I sit taking a break from the 1.5 inches of reading I had to accomplish for this week's classes.  Much, much reading to complete.  It dawned on me that I have been using a dictionary more than I ever had over the last 2 weeks, and had a giggle as my use of large words does not include much of the language I am encountering at Grad School.  Last week while reading an article about consumer culture and the media I lowered the article from my face and yelled at the wall, "who writes like this!"  It seemed as though the thickness of the vocabulary was going to leave me stuck in a quagmire of stupidity.   Thanks to my phone App dictionary.com I have learned even more words and someday someone will scream at me, "who uses such high falutin' big language?"  One can only hope.

Below is the list of words I have had to familiarize myself with in order to understand what the hell I am supposed to be doing.

List of Words
January 4 - 24

• invidious
• emulation
• pecuniary
• conspicuous
• fetishism
• dataveillance
• cathect
• cathexis
• semiology
• fecundity (have heard the word for years but can never remember the definition)
• metonymy
• diasporic
• concomitant
• meme path
• parlysian
• torun
• concupiscent
• phylogistic
• grodno
• tautology
• evenescent
• sanguine
• intransigent
• perspicious
• subsumptive
• subsumption
• occlude
• indefatigable
• eidetic
• contrastive
• hypostatization
• reify
• multiphrenic
• ersatz (I have had to look this one up many times over.)
• aestheticized
• neurasthenia
• cognoscenti
• antinomial
• flaneurs (French)
• typology
• ephemeral
• interpellated
• poesies
• monolithic
• lacuna
• limen
• limina
• threshold
• communitas
• liminality
• serendipity
• discursive
• phlogistic

Yep, that is the list so far.  How did you do?  Do you feel smarter than me because you could actually use one or two of them in a sentence?  Good for you!   Feel free to leave me a comment your favourite word on the list, about a new word you have learned recently, or a story about feeling completely incompetent.  Go!  Learn!  Use big words!

New Year's 2011

This year I am going light.  Too hard to remember many goals.  Just going for three.  Not all of them are set in stone.  Here is what I am thinking for now.

1. Learn to identify and thoroughly immerse myself in moments of joy.

2. Learn. Read. Learn. Analyze. Learn. Think. Learn. Question. Learn.

3. Be healthy with as many personal choices as possible.

Found In a Bathroom Stall

Read the graffiti.

Believe the graffiti.

Follow the graffiti.