things i have learned recently

• nest shopping is FUN (although i suspect it will get stressful when decisions must be made)
• when i don't run, i really miss it (and it's only been 5 days)
• dairy queen blizzards continue to rot my insides (that was just a confirmation)
• eharmonising is FUN
• if you back into a parking stall at the calgary transit stations, the park plus ticketing system can't get you
• my sister gave me a day at the spa for my birthday and i had forgotten until i tidied my room and found the card, she's the best!
• all my years of defending canada as not being as cold as people assume it is was all for naught as it is bloody cold and i am sick of having to brings scarves with me to cut the chill
• i didn't love the book Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones, i felt it was rather sad and i am not sure if that was my own mood reflecting on the story or the story reflecting on my mood
• opi's nail envy really works. pricey, but effective at strengthening your nails and preventing them from cracking or breaking

acknowledgement that i will never understand

almost exclusively, i take the train to work. sometimes, i am annoyed by other people's conversations or i feel my personal space is being violated, but i generally enjoy the time to reflect, read my book, or sip my coffee.

this morning, however, i drove in to work because i have a meeting later today that i must drive to. there i was, thinking i would have an easier commute down crowchild trail when i saw a truck that seemed to be promoting alberta beef or some other meat product.

it wasn't until i was driving right beside it that i realised that it was covered in photos of aborted fetuses and was advertising the website unmaskingchoice.ca. it instantly made me upset that something so graphic would be driving down the street in rush hour and that the images are meant to be gruesome and disturbing.

the reason i was so upset by the photos isn't because they made me feel ill or question my belief in a woman's right to choose, but because i thought of those women who have chosen to have abortions or those men whose partners have had abortions or even pregnancies that were miscarried and i felt sad that those people would have to be faced with that on their city streets. to me, it seemed the photos were intended to make those people feel like murderers. and yet abortion is not a crime and it is an accepted and regulated medical procedure.

i looked at their website and my distaste for this vehicle was heightened because not only is one of the founders motivated by his christian values, which to me seem incongruous with my understanding of the christian ideals of acceptance, tolerance, and love for all people. but, they call this shock marketing 'the genocide awareness project.'

i may not be able to speak to the christian debate with much authority or knowledge, but i can make a comment on the misuse of the word 'genocide' and feel pretty confident in my argument. a genocide is the intentional decimation of a specific ethnic group or nationality. it is not the same as mass murder (assuming that is what the anti-abortion organisation intended) and by using the word genocide, i think it perpetuates the misconception of what a genocide truly is and when the word should be used.

unfortunately, the word is not used by our politicians and leaders when it should be (i.e. darfur), but i think it should also be reserved for the gravity of that specific crime and not thrown around to describe an activity, that whether or not you agree with it, is not a crime in canada.

the logical reaction to my argument would be that in canada, we value free speech and have it legislated in our charter of rights and freedoms. i suppose my thinking here is not that the truck should not have been allowed to drive down a busy road, but that why would the people driving it want to make other people feel badly about decisions they might have made?

i feel the same way about the campus pro life group at the university of calgary that is currently in a battle with the uni about having their freedom of speech muffled - i agree with them that just because i don't agree their message, they still have to right to speak it, but i still will not understand why you'd want to hurt other people and i know that these groups would never agree that inflicting harm is not their intention, but i suspect that that happens more often than they change people's opinions on abortion.

not bad, for a wednesday

yesterday, jana, ayer, hier:

• i ran in -11 degrees and hated every minute of it. it does not compare to this miserable run, but i sure felt the same way afterwards.
• i went on a date. i ate steak. i got a new mix cd. i had a glass of wine. it was really nice.
• i could not find any reasonably priced flights to vegas, so my plans of visiting sin city were thwarted. which is sort of ok because i just wanted a cheap getaway anyways.
• my little bro got knocked out in game 5 of a 5 game series.
• i collected the clothes i no longer wear to give to a refugee family who has recently moved to canada. (if you have any you would like to donate, contact me and i will get you the information to do the same).
• i continued to battle the congestion. which i am convinced is directly linked to dairy consumption. but i cannot imagine a life without mini eggs and cheese.
• a man offered me his seat on the train and before i could say 'no thank you,' he was up and i was sitting and then i felt a bit awkward for the rest of the journey.

not so sweet potato pie

while i wouldn't give it as much praise as other reviewers have, i quite liked the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. it took me one week of train rides commutes to get through it and contrary to my regular opinion on the format, i enjoyed the letters, notes, and telegrams that went back and forth between the characters.

i absolutely adored the main character of Juliet Ashton in all her imagination, idealism, and wit. she travels from post WWII london to the island of guernsey, which had been occupied by the germans during the war. as always, i loved the elements of history in the story and it covered a lot of ground and pieces of the plot without rushing or oversimplifying, which i think was the result of the authors (Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows) choice to use the letter format.

and perhaps i enjoyed the book so much because i do love sending and receiving mail, especially that which comes through the letter box (although my inbox excites me too) and this book allows you into the personal writing and receiving of the various and diverse characters.

need an easy, lighthearted read about the acute effects of the the second world war on a small island in the united kingdom? pick it up!


i also must read more about oscar wilde. read the book and you will see why. (i did kiss his headstone in a cemetary in paris, well pretended to anyways)

hopeful dreams

in my dreams last night:

• i had a visit from an ex boyfriend who was on a roadtrip and it seemed as though we were in kenya. or some other semi-tropical locale. we were bustling around trying to find fresh flowers in an old buick. or what i think was a buick.
• i went to a private concert to celebrate obama's inauguration and i danced with him. i wonder how many other people in the world dreamed of uncle barry last night?

on the train this morning:

• a lady fell down the stairs, launching her t ho's in the process, and was more than mortified. i really felt for her, i hope she knows that.
• there was a big black dude sitting across from me in an obama t shirt and he was just happy. i wonder if he suspected that i am also feeling very hopeful today.

me and my brilliant ideas

• why doesn't the city of calgary rent out retail space in their train stations? they would gain some revenue and not have to charge their patrons for the use of the parking lots AND there would then be coffee and nibblies available in the stations for people like me who could really use a little caffeine for my morning commute. the european train stations have realised the beauty of this idea and i used to love having a croissant and a coffee for my journeys.
• i am totally weirded out when people talk to me when i am in the bathroom. picture this - you run into a colleague in the bathroom who is washing their hands and you greet them then slip into the stall to have a pee and then they start a conversation with you. i don't know if i should feel shy and uncomfortable with this, but i do. especially when you have to go back to your desk and sit next to the person!
• day 3 of no dairy is going pretty well. i am not sure if my cold is finally clearing up or if it is the lack of dairy (apart from that cream cheese and milk in my coffee yesterday) that is responsible, but i hope to have a better picture by the end of the week. too bad soy milk tastes so awful in lattes, because i really do not have that much dairy apart from cheese (mmmmmm..... cheese) and lattes.
• i thought i would stop by the mall on my way home from work last night. i did not intend to be running around the shops, trying to sneak in their doors before they closed at 9 in my mad quest for a bright coloured skinny belt. but there i was. 3 dresses, 2 sweaters, 1 ring, and 1 brightly coloured skinny belt later, i finally made my way home.

rush hour madness!

on my way to work this morning i had to yield to the bus coming down the sidewalk. shortly after i had to move my head to avoid it being clipped from the side view mirror of a matatu driving down the grass meridian.

kenya and i are not getting along so well this week.