flying colours

well, i passed my allergy test and i am officially allergy free.  so what causes my constant congestion and ickiness?  dust, dryness, the environment.  none of which i can get rid of.  the allergist suggested that i move to hawaii.  hmpf.  as positive as this is, i really did want an answer to my congestion, but i suppose not having a problem is good news.  and it means that sinus rinses are the way forward.

he also checked my lungs for asthma and i scored 100% on all three measures that they test for.  he said that that rarely happens, which is music to a type a personality's ears.  all that running, never smoking a cigarette in my life, and not being overweight are sure paying off!

beginning to understand why it's called a pandemic

my newest question for the universe is: how much snot can one body produce?!

so gross, but i have been sick with what seems to be some sort of manifestation of the piglet flu that i picked up, along with all my great buys, in thailand before returning home. it has been over a week since this cold started and it still does not seem to be improving one lick.

i think i am feeling better so i get up and do something, only to end up right back on the couch within a few hours.

my symptoms include: congestion (as always), aches, intermittent fever, lack of energy, chest tightness and inability to get a full, deep breath, and constantly plugged ears and muffled hearing.

sounds great, doesn't it?

i was banished from my office and told to work from home so as not to infect anyone and although i have toyed with going to the doctor, i was told by one such professional that there is nothing they can prescribe for the h1n1 flu, if that is what this is, apart from rest and isolation.

and this shouldn't have been a surprise as i was mildly concerned i would be quarantined when arriving in canada, hacking and sneezing, which earned me some skeptical and accusatory looks from the canadian customs agents.

so here i am, on a gorgeous afternoon, stuffy and snotty and hoping that i regain my health so that i can enjoy a hot, sunny albertan summer weekend at the cabin.

lots of learning from a nobel laureate

another good book about africa, development, and the fight for better governance and democracy is Wangari Maathai's book Unbowed. she is the woman who won the 2004 nobel peace prize for her work promoting environmental conservation while simultaneously fighting for women's rights, good governance, and human rights, demonstrating that they are not mutually exclusive nor attainable in isolation.

i liked reading the story of where Maathai came from, how she became a professor, and how she found herself in the middle of a civil rights movement. i had always wondered why she had won the nobel peace prize, but after reading about her struggles and what she had to get through just to plant trees with her organisation the Green Belt Movement, i am utterly impressed that she continued to fight corrupt officials, the undemocratic system in kenya, and cultural moors that said she should not be a divorced, single mother working in academia.

as i read about the corruption rampant within ngos and the government of kenya, i totally related to this frustration and as Maathai fought to overcome the barriers to sustainable economic and social development in kenya, i felt vindicated that i had struggled with similar challenges, but saddened that there are not more Maathais who can withstand such pressures and bullying to create lasting organisations and programmes that are homegrown, grassroots, and owned by the people at whom development is always targeted.

i now know why there is a sign at freedom corner in uhuru park and why there are green belt signs in the green spaces between the roads throughout nairobi. i understand what happened to the parcelling out of land after colonialism and after moi finally stepped down from power. the book was published after the post-election violence of 2007-2008, but it does shed a lot of light on the history of the violence that erupted after the most recent irregular election. i now know a lot more about the place i called home for 2 years and i think that even people who've never visited kenya would also enjoy learning a thing or two about Maathai and her life.

plast-eek!

i watched a most interesting documentary last night on The Passionate Eye. it was all about plastic (i cannot remember the exact name, but 'plastic' was in its title) and did you know:

- that plastic was invented during wartime and then was pushed into the common market in the 1950's to keep up the petrochemical industry that boomed during the wars?
- that plastic cannot be broken down?
- that very little of recycable plastic is actually recycled?
- that when plastic is recycled, the plastic is reconstituted and is not usually as strong?
- that there is vegetable-based plastic that dissolves in water?
- that our oceans are chockablock full of plastic bits that will never dissolve and end up in our food chain when small fish mistake tiny pieces of plastic for food and then are eaten by the bigger fish and so on and so forth?
- that things in landfills will never decompose because they are hermetically sealed?
- that manufacturers and recyclers are not communicating effectively, because manufacturing products with a variety of different plastics (think a pop bottle and it's cap) cannot be recycled together?

to think about the amount of plastic that i go through in a day (disposable coffee lids, shopping bags - even though i try to remember to bring my own, clothes and jewelry, cosmetics, all the packaging that covers most of the consumer goods i buy...), it is mind boggling for me to think of how i am contributing to the masses of plastic crap that are floating around in the ocean.

i had a thought that perhaps some of you have already had whilst pondering my participation in the plastic mess that we find ourselves in - how are you to shop ethically and green at the same time? i know that some vegans will only wear shoes like converse because they are completely animal product free and that handbag designer mat & nat makes bags that are supposed to be ethical because they are totally composed of manmade materials.

but then, isn't that just contributing to the environmental bru ha ha that all this plastic is creating by making more plastic that cannot be broken down or recycled?

if it comes down to it, i would rather wear a pair of leather shoes for which a cow had to die, than contribute to the environmental catastrophe that is plastic.

anyone who has spent any length of time in an african country can attest to the incredible amount of useless, cheap, plastic bags that clutter nearly almost any landscape. however, rwanda seems to have it right - they have banned plastic bags from their country entirely.

things about which i am excited

• i booked a flight to san francisco! i am going from june 2th - 7th and i am very much looking forward to it. i have never been to the city and with any luck, i will get to have a reunion with this lovely lady, which would sort of be achieving one of the goals i have this year (#7 - visit friends who live in other places). i plan on stopping by dynamo donuts, miette cakes, and at least a few organic/slow food restaurants.
• more dates!
• temperatures that allow me to wear my new spring coats, one green, one yellow
• my hair growing out in a way that doesn't look like a mullet. but do i cut it or keep growing it?
• copywriting jobs
• an invitation to a conference on migration tomorrow where i will pass around my new, most loveable business cards that were specially designed por moi.
• the arrival of my new shoes in the mail, tell me who does not love a pink ballet flat? (and they were only $19.99 when i purchased them, so it is a bit strange that they went up in price)

a dairy experiment

anyone who has lived with me knows i am often congested. i remember having 'allergies' since i was a kid but have never been tested for any. i also recall being young and never really enjoying milk unless it was really very cold. and when i was old enough to make decisions for myself, i stopped drinking it all together. since then, i have also noticed that when i drink anything milky or eat something creamy, i tend to become more congested and hack a lot more, which is as lovely as it sounds.

and although i love them, if i eat a dairy queen blizzard, 9 times out of 10, i will have a wicked stomach ache immediately afterwards. i am pretty sure my body has been telling me something to which i should be paying more attention.

i got a cold before christmas and am still fighting the remnants of it. or at least what i think is the last of the bug, but maybe it is just the general congestion that i have become so used to. either way, i am really quite fed up with being all stuffed up with all the snot and mucous that lives in my sinus cavities.

so i am going off dairy for 7 days to see if i feel any different. i did a little research on the www this morning (so you know it is true) and it seems that the doctors are out on whether or not dairy causes congestion, but some believe that the protein casein causes some bodies to produce histimines which then stimulate your body to overproduce mucous. which makes a lot of sense to me.

and these effects can take over 24 hours to present after having consumed dairy, so i could essentially be continually charging up my body to be snotty without even realising it. ew.

i did make an appointment with an allergist to figure this out once and for all (i hope), but that won't be until may so until then i am going to keep relying on the internet and self diagnosing! and in true blogging form, i will keep the trip dub posted on my mucous situation.

we're doomed!

i've just started some reading about ecologically friendly beauty products and have already learned:

• dying your hair darker is more dangerous than bleaching it, because the darker dyes have been linked to bladder cancer
• the most commonly used anti-dandruff shampoos usually include irritants (SLS) that dry out your scalp
• antibacterial products have triclosan and triclocarbon, which could create a carcinogen if in contact with sunlight but are not completely filtered out of our water systems so may end up back in farmer's fields, essentially fertilising our food with the nastiness
• body sugaring or threading are the most environmentally friendly method of hair removal (i've been meaning to talk to you about my moustache...!)
• all b.o. preventors seem to be bad for you, but what is the option? to stink? sweat stains?
• 'hypoallergenic' is not a government regulated term so it means nothing. same with 'allergy tested' and 'dermatologist tested'

all these interesting bits come from a book entitle Ecoholic, a good source of information even if a little simplistic and narrowly focused. the cbc also covered this story years ago and still has hods of info on their website.

weather karma

i was having a thought on my run today. i was running on the road because i get these shin splint-type pains if i run on hard surfaces like sidewalks and i was noticing how wide the roads are here, but how drivers are still noticeably nervous when i am running on their turf.

this brought me around to some other thoughts i have been having lately - that our culture is so afraid of so many things happening. or, possibly, that companies, corporations, or any type of authority does not want to be held responsible for anything and then push safety and security down our throats. thank you, litigation.

so we wear helmets, reflective running jackets, and now we can't eat tomatoes. it just seems a bit obsessive. perhaps i feel this way because i have been living in a place where the options are a) go for a run on the road and risk getting hit by one of the cars that regularly speed by you on narrow roads, potentially rabid dog bites, or twisting an ankle on uneven surfaces or b) stay at home. staying at home gets old after a few weeks.

not that i do not think that any of these precautions are bad ideas. bike helmets keep your skull intact, reflective jackets allow you to have a less worrisome run, and salmonella is no fun (although the chances of dying from salmonella are low and it seems a bit alarmist to pull my favourite vegetable off the shelves after a sort of warning that they might be responsible for a salmonella 'outbreak').

in a way, this is linked to the craze about 'going green' and again, i believe some of the principles behind it, but i struggle with the idea that eating organic is 'going green.' actually, i downright disagree. growing things organically is not better for our environment, but i will save that for another post.

during these running thoughts when i was thinking, 'calgary, what a city of wimps!' it began to pour rain and i was thinking, 'i love running in the rain.' and then it hailed on me. and hail hurts! like lots of tiny bee stings all over your exposed skin, including the sensitive skin of the neck, ouch! i think that is what you call weather karma.

and i hope that weather karma does not rear its ugly head on me next time i try to be healthy, active, and non-wimpy.

red and yellow and purple and green...i can sing a rainbow

i woke up today feeling rather blue because my parents left yesterday and they went home to be with the rest of my family and i have papers to write. then i thought, will i ever stop wondering if the grass is always greener on the other side and if i will ever stop wanting what i don't have simply because i don't have it. cause right now calgary sounds pretty terrific and i'd love to be there.

i have effectively self medicated with some pleasant springtime coloured m&m's, but now my tongue is sore cause i like to suck them rather than crunch them so they last longer.

it is bright and sunny outside though and my african violet is photosynthesizing away and hopefully tomorrow i will be able to get outside some more and enjoy the daffodils and the smell of liquid fertilizer. if ever you have smelt that stuff, you can appreciate how i am reluctant to open my mouth for fear i might actually eat sh*t.

spring is definitely in the air!

a bright green scarf

how does one go into town to shop for tin foil, paper towel, a birthday gift, and face wash and come home with all that AND two pairs of shoes?! well if i knew how it happened yesterday i would tell you. but neither of them were very expensive and both quite cute, if i do say so myself.

i also came across the most fabulous little soup bar yesterday during my alone time. i had carrot and lentil soup and fresh bread and don't think i have eaten something quite that healthy or fresh that i haven't made in a long time. and the company of the woman running the shop was just as nice. i love a woman who wears a bright green scarf.

inspiration struck last night and i crafted little valentines packages and filled them with homemade cookies to give to people in my classes today. i felt rather good doing something for other people and it reminded me that when you are having a bad day that often the best way out of it is to do something nice for someone else. it really does work.

i had a class today where it was so incredibly theoretical that my brain is still trying to unravel itself from the confusion it managed to get into. but i did walk away with this quote, which i quite enjoy although i do not know for certain who said it: you are obliged to inhabit that which you critique.

and on a lighter note, someone outside my window is singing some sort of opera aria and it is not exactly what i want to hear when the sun has just peaked through the clouds on a tuesday valentines afternoon. maybe i should request something a little more upbeat?