Newtown, Connecticut

How can someone walk into a store and buy an assault weapon or a handgun in the United States? The NRA says "Now is not the time to talk about gun control, now is the time to mourn for the victims". I may be flawd, but I say this is the BEST time to honour the dead... by talking about gun control.

Gun advocates are now saying "Let's arm the schools! Better protect our children!". I may be flawd, but I say guns are NEVER the answer. Some are saying "Where's the money for the mentally ill?? I may be flawd, but mental illness can appear in unlikely people in an unpredictable way. BUT WHAT IF YOU COULDN'T BUY A GUN...

Some will say it's not my country, I have no right. But it's my world too, OUR world. Imagine all the people...

end of the world

How do you write about the last month of the Mayan calendar with a one word title? Yeah... I couldn't think of anything. Besides, as far as the Mayans were concerned, this is a big month! More than one word in the title? Befitting! Now, I don't actually believe that 3:11 a.m. Vancouver time on December 21, 2012 is going to be the end of the world. I've seen the movie, and predict this won't be the case. But suppose you are just a teeny bit superstitious? Will this little bit of fear motivate you to change your behaviour in any way? I'm experimenting with trying to change mine. Life is too short to not be happy and helpful to others way more of the time. Life is too short...



So... for the next month, I will be trying to do something intentional to make me or someone else happier as often as I can. I started on November 21st. Work, 9:00 a.m. meeting, something about The Second Era of Limbo (see October 3, 2012, tale). In a year's time, this meeting will likely be irrelevant and an extra long hot-tub with my beau seemed like a better idea. Much happier!! Always wanted to take voice lessons, do a restorative yoga class... signed up and signed up! Stay clear of the haters (or make them the recipient of a random act of kindness). Spend more time with people I love. Move more, sleep more, stress less.

Spent the evening playing Scrabble with my son tonight. While we watched SNL and listened to songs from the H.M.S Pinafore and Pirates of Penzance. He's winning so far. Sent flowers to my mom on her birthday today. Happy, happy, happy.

Tomorrow, who knows? Sleeping, eating a good healthy breakfast, some work I need to catch up on at the office (only for a short time), some gym time on the elliptical, the Grey Cup game and a salmon cooking lesson. Trying to find happiness doing laundry, happiness doing anything. Maybe I'll get some early secret Santa presents for the secretaries at work. Another big thing that's happening is all the planning for our "We survived the End of the World Party" on December 21st! What a better way to spend the end of the Mayan calendar than with great friends and family.Or the beginning of the world without the Mayan Calendar. One door closes, another door opens. You just have to be close enough to have a chance of making that door. Keep your eyes open. You never know when one random act of kindness may change the course of the universe. Or change one person's life. Or yours. Seize this day!

dogs

How do you handle having barking dogs as neighbours? Not easily as far as I'm concerned. The dogs bark when I chop broccoli. They bark when I turn on the shower. When the dishes get done, when the recycling needs to go out, and when I ride home on my bike from work. When I put on the kitchen fan. Bark, bark, bark. Our neighbour is a cop, and he doesn't really seem to care all that much if the dogs disturb us. In fact, I think he wants these family pets to be kinda guard dogs. Even though they are yellow labs.

They get let out at 600 am in the morning on the weekends, and the dogs bark at squirrels, raccoons, crows... and when I flush the toilet. Then eventually they get let back in. But only after our mornings to sleep in and catch up on sleep from the work week are long gone.  I've taken to feeding them chicken bacon, you know, when they are quiet. Training dogs that aren't mine. Because they bark when we watch TV, when we have guests over for a BBQ, and when we turn on the lights at night. When I sneeze.

I even got aggressive this summer. Had just had enough. Shouted back at the dogs and the neighbours, (after a glass of wine or three.)... as if that would help. All I did was embarrass myself in front of dinner guests. Bark, bark, bark. There really is no moral to this story. I could end by saying I have found compassion for the dogs and our neighbours... but that would be a lie. That I have developed patience and tolerance. That I have risen above the din. Alas... that would not be the case. So... who knows. Maybe they'll move. Maybe our neighbour will get tired of the barking too. Maybe my chicken bacon training will work. Bark. Bark. Bark.

tale

How do you write a story about a grave injustice happening to a patient group who cannot protect themselves, when you have been forbidden to talk. You write a fairy tale....

Once upon a time, there were people helping people. People with passion helping people in need. These passionate people travelled far and wide to find new potions, new spells and become the best helpers they could be. They even discovered their own spells and incantations and more of the people in need felt better about themselves and began to thrive. The Gods smiled down on them and gave them riches to continue their good work as they were pleased. The passionate people thrived as well, and this inspired even greater work.

But then, after a great mayor had died, a New Mayor came from a foreign land and had the favour of a New Evil Lord. The Gods were blinded and dazzled by the New Mayor. The New Mayor cast a powerful spell of old, dark magic and the Gods could only see the work of the New Mayor as pleasing and good. The New Mayor's sinister ways were hidden from the Gods. Dark times fell on the passionate people. They were told to stop inventing new potions and not to challenge the authority of the New Mayor and the New Evil Lord. Their pleas were met with shunning and banishment. The New Mayor conjured another dark spell and the passionate people had their voices taken from them. They fell silent and the long Era of Despair was upon them.

Eventually, New Mayor tired of this land and found a way to be elected to the High Court of the Realm. The Next Mayor was chosen from among the passionate people and the spell of the taken voices was broken. This led to the Era of the Lull. There was some passion to found again, and some cautious optimism permeated the land. But alas, this was not to be. The Evil Lord, sensing the return of the good works of the passionate people, turned to the Gods and prevailed upon them to see the folly of the passionate peoples' ways. The Storms fell on the land and the Great War on Passion was upon them.   The Gods mood darkened and they too forbade the passionate people from talking about the the Great War. No more troops could be rallied. The Evil Lord dictated what spells and potions the passionate people could use and the people in need began to suffer. The Great War on Passion led to the Second Era of Limbo. The passionate people knew they must find a way out of Limbo, but how? To. Be. Continued...

grey

How do you write a book review without reading the book? You have a lengthy, spirited discussion with your women friends who are already reading, or have read it! Plus you have no shame.   Shades of Grey ... it has called to me from many a bookshelf in several airports over the past few months. I have heard... it's about sex, it's about spicy and taboo sex, it was a quick, light read. Almost everyone at work has read it or is reading it. I was starting to feel out of date and out of the loop... so was very, very tempted. Temptation... I'm pretty sure you can read about this in the book as well.

Spoiler alert... I had ASSUMED it was about older individuals... you, know, my age group. Much to my horror, I learnt yesterday it was about young adults, perhaps not even in their 20's. What are we to make of this? Is this just fluff or a real assault on humankind's hard fought battle for equality of the sexes? (maybe I'll actually have to read it for myself.)

And so what if it is someones fantasy that just happens to take us back decades as far as womens' rights are concerned? Do we older women need to protest, demonstrate and boycott (again) so that younger women get the message that we don't have to be objects to have satisfying, committed relationship? Or, maybe, they know this already, and that's why a book like this can outsell Harry Potter. Because it's nothing new, nothing to get upset about. Maybe we (I) need to trust that enough change has happened in relationships between people (men and women, women and women, men and men) that the readers don't think of this as something to be emulated, just as the fluff it is. Hope. Fingers crossed.

signal

How does one navigate the streets (be it driving, cycling or hoofing it) when a fair number of folks seem to have forgotten their drivers-ed? If they ever even had any to start with. Signalling, that's what I am referring to.

My, my... these poor folks are under the delusion that there are no other cars on the road, that it's all just for them. Sure, they check their blind spots, but then they don't signal?!? I don't get it. Rules of the road, man. And ya don't see the police out there in force handing out tickets for this.

I've tried the little "reminder honk" (not when my husband is in the car mind you) to no avail. Like they haven't got a clue. I've tried my imaginary bazooka that pops out of my hood. I no longer attempt to drive around in front of them and wag my finger and point pointedly at their signal lights. It's too late by then and I look crazy. At least in my car, I have the security of several airbags and a ton of steel should anything really come of it, but as a cyclist or pedestrian, I wouldn't be so lucky.

So is this a broader kind of signal for all of us to pick up on? In this "me, me, me" society, can't we look out for each other just a little bit more? Maybe I should stop bitching and make sure at least I am signalling. Try to care about those on the road behind me and signal my intentions. Maybe that lack of a signal from those other cars means they are stressed, troubled, or depressed and I should give them a break. Fire my bazooka of compassion at them. Take my foot off the accelerator and coast (until someone behind me starts to honk.) Be a leaf in the river of traffic. Save gas. Signal... more... care.

biking

How sore do your knees have to get when you start biking to work before you realise you're too old to make this kind of commitment? How sweaty do you have to get? And how short of breath? It's only 20 minutes, I told myself... and back... later. But the hills that seemed inconsequential in a car, or even by foot, feel like Mount Everest (to me) on a bike. (ok, I exaggerate, Mount Kilimanjaro).

It started out innocuously enough. Just back from two weeks of vacation when I was active most days. Walking, swimming, cycling. It seemed easy to exercise when it was all you had to do in a day. (other than read good books, watch the Olympics, cook, eat, and sleep.) A trial run to work by bike revealed many tune-up needs that were swiftly dealt with at the local cycle shop. (everyone gets their bikes tuned in the spring, I discovered)  Then, the learning points. Too tired to get ready the night before. (error number 1). Alarm clock set in the dark. (error number 2) Missing bungee cord (did have one though), indecision about shoes (Teva sandals had to do double duty on the bike and at work), attaching my purse and bundle of clothes to the back of the bike before locking the door, (extra time to dig the keys back out that I didn't have) and not leaving enough time to cool down at work before having to get into a dress and head off to the first meeting (sweat dribbling down my back, double yuck). Error, error, error...

Or is that the point. It's hard to get things right the first time in lots of things in life. There's always tomorrow. Lots of work colleagues seemed impressed (?!?). Cheered me on. Little did they know how hard it was. Or was it? I am home now safe and sound. It's ok to to sweat and cool down while you're plunking away at your own computer. The weather tomorrow is forcast to be sunny and a high of 23 degrees. Perfect cycling weather. You just never know....Trial. Error. Repeat.

moving

How do you start moving again after a long, dark, rainy winter? No, this blog isn't about packing up and relocating. Even though lots of people are doing just that at this time of year. It's about what to do when the aches set in and keep you on the couch even when the sun peaks it's lovely head out from behind the clouds. I haven't totally retreated to the couch. There was some amount of skiing that happened as well as the occasional power walk on the beach and a few snowy walks (along with icy falls) during the xmas holiday break to see the mom. But today I have the day off and I had absolutely no excuse to not hit the pool or the seawall, on foot or with my bike.

Instead, I set about to try to read those darn "new and improved" google privacy rules. The ones they keep telling you are not to be dismissed and are really important. The ones that came into effect on March 1, 2012. The ones that are supposed to be shorter and less complicated to read. After a good hour I have determined that I need a techno geek to help me decipher them and figure out what is important to me and what is not. Do I want ads geared to my age group and sex? If not, will I get fewer or more ads? Do I have to get ads at all? Google seems to even know my hotmail account user name I use to play MSN games on-line. How creepy is that?

So, the internet seems to be moving forward in some strange direction and I can't figure it out. I started out on the world wide web at the very beginning of it all. I always thought I'd be able to keep up, protect my identity and escape the perils of how interconnected we all are. Reap the benefits. Miss the down side. Alas, I fear this is not to be. Google has up and changed the rules, and I can't figure them out! (Repetitive, aren't I) Rather than worry, I think I'd be much better off getting up and seeking out people who have read the rules and understand them. Give me the Coles notes version, or the "Google's New Privacy Rules for Dummies" book. I know, I can go out for an early morning walk with my wonderful running (er, walking) group tomorrow. They'll know. Get moving, catch up. I hope. Maybe. Move. Learn. Connect.