Thesis is Done!

I defended my this on June 3 and it went well.  I am currently in a state of exhaustion and subdued elation.  It feels good to be done even though I have some corrections and improvements that need to be completed before I can hand in the final draft to be printed and bound.  So glad to be done.  A three year and nine month journey that I did not think would take that long.  At least I loved my topic and really enjoyed the travel bloggers who participated.  I need to send them thank you emails as well as an official copy of the thesis when it is published online.  Now I am going to enjoy my summer then return to blogging myself.  But an enjoyment of summer comes first, including a trip to Europe starting next week.  A well done pat on the back from me to me.  Going with my mother and I am excited!  Congratulations to everyone graduating during this spring season.  Well done to all of us who pushed through the difficult times and joyous moments to experience the end.  Yippeeeee!

Crunch Time 4

My body crashed and burned this weekend.  It appears that both my brain and my body realized that major parts of my life are ending and both decided to just stop and rest.  I am very lucky that I get to take the time to relax and recuperate as most of the weekend was spent cleaning my apartment and being exhausted.  I am hoping I get my energy back early this week.  My exhaustion level has been ridiculous.  So tired.  3.5 hour nap today and I may even go to bed on time.  To all you people thinking of grad school, do it but know that, like with other large projects, utter exhaustion is inevitable multiple times throughout the process, especially at the (almost) end.  Something productive will happen tomorrow.....

Crunch Time 3

So I did it.  I handed in my thesis to my professor earlier this week.  Now begins several months of re-writes.  I wonder how sick I will be of my thesis before it even goes to my committee?  While I await the first set of re-writes I am hearing horror stories of both the length of time other grads have experienced for re-writes and how many people cry either during or after their thesis defence.  Despite some harsh criticism of two parts of my thesis, I did not cry during or after the proposal, but I was in shock for about a week.  Walking around thinking about how I could have made the proposal better to have avoided the criticism, as well, wondering where a university's responsibility begins in teaching about their students how to complete research, and where the individual grad student's responsibility begins.  Besides, open verbal group feedback is a very difficult experience and chilled me a bit to the bone.  Then again, that is the whole point of a thesis committee, the group that gives you ideas about how to improve your work, your abilities as a researcher, and your writing.  A bit of a double-edged sword, pointing out the weaknesses while at the same time helping the individual to improve through little tiny repetitive cuts to the top layer of skin.  Hopefully I can handle what comes.  The end is near, I just have to sustain my level of progress until the very end.

Towards the end I looked like every other crazy student's space: papers everywhere, books piled in each other, pens, pencils and highlighters all over the place, cups of leftover beverages strewn about, piles of dishes in the sink, semi-rotten food in the fridge, running out of clothes to wear, few clean towels left, and a dirty apartment that scared me.  The picture below is the cleaned up version of my study space (you will not be seeing the rest of the apartment).  Should have taken a shot before I organized.  It was a hilarious, academic mess.    

Worry, not, I was not bored after I handed in my thesis as my student political career winds down at the end of this month as well.  What a strange and eclectic ride that has been.  Full of the interesting, bizarre, and overwhelming experiences that can crush one's soul or bend you in ways you thought you were not flexible.  I had to have a long conversation around January with a colleague about the sacrifices I was making to complete this political work and the tole it was taking on my academic progress.  At the time I was being steam rolled by a colleague and it was exhausting and disappointing, but not worth delaying my academic progress.  From this and other experiences I have learned that democracy is illusive and hard to work through as a process.  I am willing to interpret rules in order to serve people and ensure their needs are met, but there are multiple interpretations of rules and critical thinking is always necessary.  We serve people, not words on a piece of paper, but the ideas attached to those words are important and subject to interpretation.  This makes democracy challenging and formidable.  It has been an interesting few years.  

As these two main pieces of my life come to a close, work that has occupied my life for three years, I wonder about the next steps.  I am lucky as I have already had several job interviews for work in both the tourism and recreation fields.  This weekend I am spending time thinking about what I want from life, and I wonder what the future holds for me and what choices I will be asked to make.  All unfolding uncertainties.  Exciting and a bit scary at the same time.

Off to create a poster and re-read my thesis just for improvement sake...again.
I'll keep you posted.

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!

Nutty Professor

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).

Nutty professor.  Here I come.  In costume?!?

Canadian Geographic Nod

We take a break during this regularly scheduled thesis writing time to make an important announcement.  About one month ago I was re-introduced to Instagram, one of the big 2012 website explosions.  This website is a photo sharing site on which those who post retain the rights to their own photos (unlike Facebook and others sites), can use quick filters to alter shots, and look at other people's creative talents.  I only have about 52 pictures up so far but I am finding a great place to post current pictures and past travel pictures that are sitting on my hard drive but deserve to be seen.  Here is my Instagram feed: toniavoyage (pics also on the right hand side of this blog).

Like all social media there are tricks and tips on how to increase traffic to your pictures and connect with other photographers.  By photographers, I mean people who actually take interesting shots with creative perspectives and interesting compositions, not people who take selfies (pictures of themselves) or food pics (just eat it, don't capture it every single day).  So I have been connecting with people, making comments, learning what hashtags connect with the type of people I am trying to connect with, etc.

This week I received a nod from a magazine that I look at on a regular basis and have a goal to be published in some day, Canadian Geographic, one of the premier photo magazines in Canada.  They liked the following picture that I took back in early December:

Art Books Architecture

The photo is a combination of a new art installation on campus near the University Centre, winter and architecture.  In the foreground on the left, the art installation includes old brown and black books encased in decorative plexiglass or plastic, suspended in a larger decorative rectangular prism also made from plexiglass.  The gold, dark yellow and brown leafing and designs set around the books and prism enhance the artwork's details and compliment the colours of the books.  The middle ground leads the eye down a lightly snowed on path, lined with planter boxes and trees, until the eye extends into the background, the Administration building enveloped in a sunset, the most iconic structure on campus.

This small but significant nod made my week.  Approximately 80 million photos are uploaded onto Instagram on a regular basis, and I was LIKED by Canadian Geographic.   Go me!

Back to thesis work I go.  More photography later!

Crunch Time

So it is crunch time for me and my thesis.  I have nine weeks to complete the document and can't afford to take any longer, not professionally, not financially, and not personally.  The number of participants I have is great, if I get a few more, then fantastic.  The data has been organized and now I will sit at a computer for nine weeks and try to find themes, relationships, patterns and create categories to organize all the information.  I hope this part goes well and I complete a thesis of which I am very proud.

Since I take on too much and stretch myself a bit thin, mostly because life is worth experiencing and living, I have had to remove everything from life that would be a distraction.  No work for my faculty, no favours available for friends, and some time away from other responsibilities so I can get this done.  It is interesting to me the number of people I have met in the past three years who have said they started a Master's degree but never finished.  Now I know why.  It is all on the individual in the end.  No one can make you do this work.  There are no due dates, they are self imposed.  You forgo an existence of participating in the world around you.  No one really cares as much as you about finishing.  It is not relevant to others if you have money or not to finish.  And in the end, you have to want to finish this document and move forward with your life.

Hence, I will not be blogging as much in next few months.  I have to save all my good thoughts, words and ideas for my thesis, as there are only so many that go around ;), so all 10 readers, bear with me.  And if you are travel blogger who has participated in this research, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Grad School Lazy = RUN

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!

My new New Balance shoes:

Love New Balance, always have.

My new ICEtrekkers:

So I don't fall down and go boom!

My new underoos care of Costco and Paradox:

Note: my legs are far more luscious and curvy :)

Holiday Greeting Card

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.

Good luck to all entrants and especially to me!

Second Week of September

We all have busy lives and wonder sometimes if I can actually squeeze more into my life and not fall over from exhaustion.  Well, it was another week that I knew was going to be crazy.  All the responsibilities and signs were evident and I knew it was going to be a commitment and a doozy of a week.  For all you graduate students out there, you may have had similar weeks.  Ones that you know will take every ounce of survival skills you have and every ounce of energy.  Here is my seven day extravaganza week.   One I will look back at this post and wonder how I survived, remind myself what I am capable of, and be proud of how much work I have completed not only to get a degree, but in truly engaging with the many communities at this University:

Monday
- finish and send my supervising professor seven documents related to the methods section of my thesis (up until 2 AM doing this)
- organize supplies and freebees for graduate students attending orientation
- apply for a professional job
- meet with a professor about a new teaching assistant position
- three hour meeting with grad students executive team
- continue buying food, prizes and thank you gifts for orientation

Tuesday
- day one of grad student orientation (that I planned): four presenters, two meals, one open house, one social activity
- purchase more prizes and thank you gifts for orientation
- meeting two with a professor about a new teaching assistant position (prof forgot the meeting, the grad students did not)
- a two hour sustainability meeting to improve University campus
- work on paper for a conference, due on Friday

Wednesday
- day two of grad student orientation: five presenters, two meals, one open house, one social activity (a quiz night that was hard to organize and not well attended)
- order food for orientation party on Thursday evening
- meeting three with a professor about a new teaching assistant position (all present)
- purchase more food for orientation
- work on paper for a conference, due on Friday

Thursday 
- first seminar class for a term long course
- day two of grad student orientation: six presenters, two meals, one open house, one social activity (presenters fantastic, food great, much support from the mature and team focused executives)
- run about replenishing food, drink and snacks for bar-b-q orientation meal
- work on paper for a conference, due on Friday
- fell asleep on couch in GSA Lounge between open house and social activity due to level of tiredness
- kept the party going at the social, then moved it to a local pub, arrived home at 3 AM (not the best choice I made all week)

Friday
- first seminar class for another course taught and the group organized
- taught a lecture for a professor on monism, dualism, materialism and physicalism (thank you philosophers for both asking people to think deeply about our lives and confusing the crap out of us at the same time)
- cleaned up grad office from craziness of orientation
- organized and handed in receipts for reimbursement (much money spent, good times)
- slept for two hours
- went to bed at 9:00 PM exhausted (it felt like 3 AM...again)

Saturday
- headed out to Farm Food Discovery Centre (FFDC) two complete research for six hours
- work on paper for the conference, now due on Monday
- write a report about my grad student activities this month
- hang with a friend in this evening (she has a hot tub)

Sunday
- complete research as part of Open Farm Day at the FFDC (100 people expected, extra activities on the go)
- complete paper for conference due on Monday
- do nothing in the evening after all responsibilities are complete (so exhausted)

Monday
- do as little as possible
- sit around
- read
- go for a lovely walk
- buy some groceries
- clean my apartment
- do a little as possible (repeat as needed)

Yep, this is my week and right now I am half way through Saturday.  Good luck to me for finishing off this week and only have one strongly worded conversation with two people (whose immaturity was more than evident throughout grad student orientation).

May we all survive our weeks.  May we all keep going.  May we find the meaning and moments of joy in the constant demands on our time, talents and energies.

Manitoba Prairies

For the past two months I have been conducting visitor and learning experience research at the Farm Food Discovery Centre (FFDC).  The only centre of its kind in North America spreading the knowledge of the world of agriculture, one visitor at a time.  It is part of the larger Glenlea Research Station, and the station has been situated south of Manitoba since the 1960's, but the interpretive centre itself is celebrating its one year anniversary this year in September 2012.  We have adults who grew on farms and in rural communities bringing their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, who often live in urban spaces, to teach them about rural life and where their food comes from.  Your food does not just show up in a gigantic store wrapped in plastic and cellophane.  Shocking!   The FFDC is one place you can learn about agriculture, farming, food processing and the like, processes far more complicated than freezer-ed cellophane wrapped meat.

The research is similar to the festival work I have been completing all summer, asking people to create mind maps.  Most of the children know exactly what I am talking about because schools, through the work of teachers, have been asking students to use mind mapping to connect ideas and broaden their thinking for about 8-10 years now.  Previous to this, mind maps were not used in schools, so many adults are unsure about this research technique and look at me funny, except for the teachers, they know mind maps.  I am getting all sorts of interesting responses and it is fascinating to see people really think about what they have learned while walking around, reading, talking with others, touching objects, looking at animals, asking questions and engaging in a casual learning environment.  We forget that we are learning all the time, this work reminds people of this.

On the way to complete research today, the Manitoba prairie put on a show.  A stunning view of the sun, barely peaking through clouds, but spilling its rays over the clouds onto the barrels of crops below.  Of course I pulled over to a side road, stopped my vehicle and began taking pictures.  I was trying to figure out how to get all of the sky in one shot when I remembered an App on my iPhone that let's me take 6-8 pictures in succession, stitches them together, then presents the viewer with a panorama of beauty in one photo.  It's called Photosynth and very fun to play with.  

Photosynth by Microsoft

After you take the first picture, you don't have to take anymore as you simply drag your phone/camera to the next section and when the box on the screen turns green, you pause the phone/camera and it clicks a picture automatically.  Move the phone/camera again and continue with this process until you have a series of panoramic shots.  As I said before, the program stitches them together and you have a wonderful shot ready to post, email, save and enjoy.  I then imported into my iPhoto area, cropped it and posted it to my blog.  Oh the joys of technology!

I have not had the time to look at all of the pictures I took this morning but here is one that turned out quite stunning, I must say.  Manitoba prairies showing off.  The beauty on the intricate flat ground.

Check out the Farm Food Discovery Centre next time you are in Winnipeg.
Check out Photosynth.
Keep taking and playing with pictures.

Busy Busy

Just letting all three of my readers know that I am very busy.
Trying to have my thesis ready to go out to my committee within the week.  It is already at 50 pages so I think I have already gone overboard as the research has not started yet.
Working for professors over the summer trying to complete several tasks with very short deadlines.
Still doing some student political work.
Visiting family for a week coming up soon.
Volunteering at festivals again this summer.
Starting the professional job search as well.
This summer is going to move quickly by, I will be learning a lot of new skills, and I am going to have to get myself on a regular schedule.  Not a big fan of those.
Will post when I have the chance but that is not until June sometime.
Busy Busy Busy!

Sapphire Bound! Add It!

While I am reading methods books to pump up the research section of my thesis, and I have delved into the thick and hearty text, The Handbook of Qualitative Research by Denzin and Lincoln (Sage Publications, 1994).  This is the big mama of qualitative text books so that I can write a methods section and complete my mixed methods research with some flare and accuracy.  As I have been reading through the first section I came across a quote that caused me to pause and ponder.  Then ponder more.

Viola the quote written by Regina Austin (1989) in her book Sapphire Bound!:

"When was the last time someone told you that your way of approaching problems...was all wrong?  You are too angry, too emotional, too subjective, too pessimistic, too political, too anecdotal and too instinctive?  I never know how to respond to such accusations.  How can I legitimate my way of thinking?  I know that I am not used to flying off the handle, seeing imaginary insults and problems where there are none.  I am not a witch solely by nature, but by circumstances and choice as well.  I suspect that what my critics really want to say is that I am being too self consciously black (brown, yellow, red) and/or female to suit their tastes and should "lighten up" because I am making them feel very uncomfortable, and that is not nice.  And I want them to think that I am nice, don't I or "womanish"?" p. 76-77


I am adding this book to the list of 'To Read' in my mind and on GoodReads.

APA Formatting: In Love

Turns out the best people to teach you how to format in APA style in academic writing comes from the blog of the very same group.  I love this blog!  If you too are formatting a paper, thesis, document using this style, the blog has up-to-date information about how to format blogs, websites, press releases, internet video broadcasts, and how to format all other documents needed to refrain from plagiarizing (which I would like to encourage you to do, not plagiarize).  If there is something missing, ask them a question.  The answers are well written, easy to understand and short.  Can it get any better?  Probably not.  Use it.  Use it well.

APA Format Blog

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!  

Recreation Connections

As part of my graduate studies I am at the network and meet new people portion in attempts to eventually be a productive member of the recreation, leisure and tourism community, as well, to obtain gainful employment.  This past week I attended the Recreations Connections conference in Winnipeg and enjoyed all the keynote speakers and the break-out sessions.  Usually there are one or two presenters that don't meet the expectations that you may have, but this conference was an exception.  We heard about the National Recreation Summit, the first of its kind held in Lake Louise in October 2011.  Professionals, students and educators met to discuss the future of recreation and leisure in Canada, in hopes of developing a vision and strategy to improve the current commitment and understanding of the field by governments, organizations and the general public.  It was an interesting review by one of the key-note presenters Brian Johnston.

At Recreation Connections I also learned the difference concerning the roles and responsibilities of volunteer boards, the High Five program, and continued to learn about nature deficit disorder.  A term coined by Richard Louv, it addresses the broadening gap between nature and humans.  We as humans are not spending enough time in nature and this is most evident in our teenagers and children.  Not only is  little commitment to including natural spaces in large urban development an issue, but children are playing on concrete courts, with plastic swing sets and slides, and metal play structures.  There are some schools who are moving to create nature gardens in order to alleviate the issues that nature deficit disorder can cause, but we need to ensure that children, teens and we are accessing nature in its most basic forms in order to continue to develop into healthy, productive, understanding individuals.

These are the two books written by Richard Louv and I would suggest you grab a copy, give it a read, then take a group of friends and family out into nature.  Then again, a solo trip is also as enjoyable as an excursion with others.   We also need to ensure that our neighbourhoods make natural spaces a priority, including natural parks, forests, rivers, streams, etc.

Below is part of a paper I wrote last year based on Parks Canada and the need to study why people visit our provincial and national parks in order to create experienced based recreation that meets visitor needs, in order to increase the number of people visiting our amazing parks system.  Have a read, then get up and go out and enjoy some nature today!

Nature Deficit Disorder

In essence, as our world becomes more urbanized with fewer natural and groomed spaces therein, and access to larger, natural spaces appear more remote, we begin to experience what has been labeled nature-deficit-disorder or biophobia (its opposite is biophilia).  This is the discomfort or aversion to nature and the natural world, which is on the rise in post-modern society, and is subtle as this disconnect is slow for many adults and children (Condon, 2008).  There are individual and social repercussions to the loss of contact with nature, particularly when studying children, which may influence children to have poorer co-ordination, loss of self-discovery, antisocial and aggressive behaviour, less unstructured play, loss of boundary formation, and less physical knowledge about the world (Condon, 2008).  These skills are important in the development of the individual and point to a new continuum identified to help researchers understand the divide between biophobia and biophilia.  This model places the individual on a continuum with people who focus on and enjoy living things and life like processes at the biophilia end; as compared to the biophobia’s end, the people who “culturally acquire…[the] urge to affiliate with technology, human artifact, and solely with human interests regarding the natural world” (Orr, 1993, p. 416; McVay, 1993).  The two most important points to grasp about this continuum is the ability to make regular, learned, culturally influenced choices about one’ degree of contact with nature, which leads to the second choice, one’s individual movement along the nature-contact axis.      

Urbanization is not the only forerunner to this social change (Condon, 2008), as researchers have pointed to the causes of the lack of contact with nature.  These include the removal of nature from community and school playgrounds; fear or injury or loss of a person; potential litigation of a person is hurt on public or private property, lack of government initiatives to preserve space; undervaluing of childhood play; commercial entities that advertise to children (Condon, 2008).  As North Americans we are also spending more time inside structures and buildings (ie. home, work, school, cafés, restaurants, movie theatres, etc), and less time in the natural world.  A large portion of recreation and leisure time for many people has become electronic-based with computers, video games (online and console), movies, Internet, which requires access to electricity, objects of play, and demarcated inside places of entertainment.  Another influence is the aestheticization of people’s lives as we begin to use objects of consumption as signs and symbols to demarcate ourselves from others, for example, the public wearing of ear-buds or large earphones, the café culture and free WiFi use therein.  These elements of life also distract a person away from the outside environment to spend more time in the inner sanctuary of the mind or gazing at small objects such as mobile devices.  These changes in our social world have widened the divide between the inner lives we lead through technology, and increasingly insular world in which we ignore or do not find significance in the natural world around us.          

Interestingly nature and parks can have positive influences on individual lives and the social world.  Research has demonstrated that visual images of nature have the power to calm the physiology of people including lowering stress; interactive zoo animals held the interest of children diagnosed with ADHD who began to associate with the animals as kin; and children asked adults to teach them respectful ways to treat animals rather than fear or revile them (Katcher & Wilkins, 1993; McVay, 1993).  It is these kinds of stories and academic research that Parks Canada can use to set the stage for healthy and enjoyable visits, which will lead to an increased sense of place in national parks.

References

Condon, M.  (2008).  Why Kids Don’t Run Free?  In Play and Folklore, 4(50).

Katcher, A. and Wilkins, G.  (1993).  Dialogue with Animals: Its nature and culture.  In S.R. Kellert & E.O. Wilson (Eds.), The Biophilia Hypothesis (pp. 173-200).  Washington, D.C: Island Press. 

McVay, S.  (1993).  Prelude: “A Siamese Connexion with a Plurality of Other Mortals”.  In S.R. Kellert & E.O. Wilson (Eds.), The Biophilia Hypothesis (pp. 3-19).  Washington, D.C: Island Press. 

Orr, D.W.  (1993).  Love It or Lose It: The coming biophilia revolution.  In S.R. Kellert & E.O. Wilson (Eds.), The Biophilia Hypothesis (pp. 415-440).  Washington, D.C: Island Press. 

Winnipeg Weather 1

Before I moved to Winnipeg I looked up some information about the city so that I could be more prepared, for what, I am not sure, but I figured more information was better than none.  One of the first pieces of information I learned was that for its size (about 634,000 people) it is the coldest city in the world.  Yep, you read that right.  In the WORLD.  I moved here anyway.  Let's just say that the 'training' I received in Edmonton back in 1991, as my first real Canadian winter, was long and hard, but last winter, of 2011, was absurd.  Six weeks of -25 to -45 degrees Celsius!  So crazy!  Not only that but my apartment overlooked a major intersection of two week used roads and a large parking lot.  Every week a large dump truck and tractor with bucket would appear to scoop up the snow and release it outside the city limits.  I could not believe winter actually existed like this.  So much snow.  So long cold.  So very crazy.

The dump truck leaving its load at the University of Manitoba

Piles and piles of snow

There was so much snow that the snow ploughs did not head down the major city arteries one at a time.  No.  They convoyed down the street three and four at a time, gunning anything down it their wake, including snow, ice, and winter debris (like slow people running out of the way).  Sadly, I did not have the courage to jump in front of this careening vehicles to take a picture so your imagination will have to do.  Needless to say, it was quite a sight, especially at night.  

I learned during this long winter that the sun is deceiving.  It was out almost every day for six weeks, blazing brightly, making the snow sparkle on the sidewalk, but there was no warmth.  Some cruel celestial being had turned off its heat and left its light as a taunting joke.  Several times I left my apartment, ready to enjoy the hot, yellow, burning sun, only to have my eye lashes freeze my eyes together as I attempted to stumble out of the way of the snow ploughs.  Thank goodness they have spinning lights that are stronger than emergency vehicles or I would have been thrust aside like a snow bank.  I had to trudge on.  

My bad holding up a Winnipeg size snow drift.

Around the first week of March, my parking neighbour who had learned that I had just moved from Calgary and missed Chinook winds, joked that Winnipeg was having a Chinook.  It was -15 degrees Celsius.  Sadly, it felt warm and delightful as with the windchill, it had been up to -50 for several nights in a row during February.  How did my ancestors ever survive without down filled jackets, central heating and on occasion a hot toddy?  I honour them and their will.  They must have survived based on pure will, cuddling or hiding in the innards of their dead farm animals.  Ok.  I went too far.  I survived and somehow many of them did, as I am here, still living in these crazy winters.  We must all be crazy.  

Off to buy garbage mittens as they are the warmest and fashion at -50?  Ha!  Only for fools.  Give me the bright yellow and the tight wrist bands.  At least I will match the sun.

Oranges for Dessert

Many years ago when I was naive, lacked understanding and knowledge of the amount of work required to complete certain types of work, I had just finished eating a meal at my Aunt Arta and Uncle Kelvin's house.  Arta does not just serve a meal, she coordinates a feast.  Be in Indian food, turkey dinner, a concoction of salads (couscous, greens, etc), or other assortments of themed delights, she is a host of the culinary arts.  At the end of dinner I asked where dessert was (re-read post's first sentence now).  Arta looked at me and said there was none.  I laughed then said of course there was dessert, there was always dessert.  Arta stood up, walked to her fridge, moved her body about, then returned to the table and plunked an unpeeled orange down in front of every person at the table.  I laughed again (re-read first sentence of post again).  I asked her a second time where the REAL dessert was.  She laughed and told me that the orange was dessert, sat down, began to peel her orange.  I remember being confused because at my house growing up we always had dessert and here, in this house, there was none?  How odd.

Over the years, as I have matured, I have come to know that my mother is a baker of delightful goodies and others are cookers of delightful savoury things (caveat: my mother can cook sweet and savoury in all its delights, but she shines while desserting).  Not everyone eats dessert.  Arta is not a dessert person.  I am.  Many jokes and teasings have been made over the years by both of us about dessert, oranges and the like.

Fast-forward to 2012 as I read for my thesis.  I am working within a framework called Serious Leisure Perspective, a series of concepts developed over 40 years by a University of Calgary based sociologist, Robert Stebbins (or as my recent quantitative sociology statistics professor put it this last term, "Old Bobby Stebbins?!  He is a well-known leisure researcher?!?  Really?!?"  Yep, very much so).  Reams and reams of researchers have built on his work about serious leisure and in the 2010's more is being completed.

As I am reading one of his many books titled, Serious Leisure: A Perspective For Our Time, I come across this as a book summary:

"Let us think, for a moment, of the serious leisure perspective as resembling a serving of Bananas Foster.  Serious Leisure [the banana] is the central ingredient in this confection, which however, is greatly enhanced with the complementary ingredients of rum, salt butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, banana liqueur, and vanilla ice cream...All this prepared to perfection in a flambé pan, where the rum serves as fuel for the fire that cooks the bananas, themselves bathed, as they are, in a sauce prepared from the aforementioned ingredients.  In metaphor or in real life, the bananas alone (serious leisure) are insufficient to constitute this dessert.  Rather it needs for its completion and perfection the other ingredients...for an optimal leisure lifestyle.  Such a lifestyle is Bananas Foster, exquisitely prepared.  Serious leisure is enhanced and blended with judicious amounts of appealing [forms of] leisure...Bananas Foster, sans bananas, is just not Bananas Foster.  Every New Orleanian knows that."

As I taunt my Aunt Arta once again about oranges for dessert sans toppings, perhaps I have not grown up that much at all.  Then again, next time we are in the same city perhaps we shall share in the making of Bananas Foster, a New Orleanian dessert I have never tried.

Bananas Foster care of Joy of Desserts and More! blog:

Picture and recipe from Joy of Desserts and More! blog

Bananas Foster   
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
8 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced lengthwise
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup banana liqueur
9 ounces dark rum

She melted the butter in a skillet, (you could also use a chafing dish), then added the brown sugar. Stir until it melts. Then in went the bananas to saute for about 3 minutes on each side. She sprinkled cinnamon and poured the alcohol over the bananas. Once the alcohol is warm (you can't light cold alcohol), carefully light it with a match or lighter. Gently tilt the flaming sauce to baste the bananas until the flames die out when all the alcohol has burned off. Serve hot immediately, over ice cream.

Writing Your Thesis/Dissertation in 15 Minutes Per Day

Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day by Joan Bolker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An interesting and quick read for those beginning and thesis or dissertation.  I was able to quickly read through it during a two hour plane ride and pick out the best pieces of advice and tips for completing a thesis of which I am proud.  Now, to get to the writing!


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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.