Canadian girl out and aboot

I need to do these more often as I'm still really far behind.

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Not much to report lately. I had a pleasant Canada day at my friend Amanda's house. We sat in the backyard around her fire and drank wine and in my case, cider. Then a group went off to see the fireworks and a few of us stayed behind to watch the fire.

I got a free ticket to see "The Comedy of Errors" and ended up going by myself. I've decided that I don't really LOVE Shakespeare. I like some of it, but really, it's not my favourite thing. I just feel that I should learn about it as it is so historically significant. That said, I've definitely got a hankering to go see "Antony and Cleopatra" in Saskatoon when I go.

I finished watching Season 1 of "True Blood". I love it, especially all the sexuality of the show, but I sometimes wish it wasn't so gory.

My weekend was rather quiet. I'm still catching up on work, and didn't have much to do over the weekend. On Monday night, I drove out to Barrhead to stay overnight so I could catch a bus and go to Athabasca. Athabasca is a gorgeous area that I haven't really explored.

Yesterday I went on a tour of a farm called Big Coulee Farms. The man who owns it pasture raises all his animals, including turkeys, pigs and chickens. It was a pretty interesting operation. I ended up getting home pretty late. I was supposed to go out of town again today, but there's a thunderstorm warning. I don't mind rain, but I'm not driving 3 hours to stand outside in a thunderstorm.

I meet a lot of new people. Generally, when I'm meeting new artistic types, I tell them that I'm a writer/journalist. I talk a bit about my job and then I say that I write poetry and fiction, teach a teen writing group, etc. Sometimes I mention my book, depending on the context. This is the part that makes me feel conflicted. I want to bring it up because I think it indicates that I am a professional and serious writer, but sometimes I feel like I'm bragging. In some ways, I feel like I'm entitled to mention it, since I did work damn hard on it, and it's not something that I want to just push aside. I suppose it's a question of context and depends largely on the situation. At the same time, it also serves as a way of letting people know that I am actually a professional writer.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

So I returned to Edmonton at about 5 p.m. yesterday evening. I travelled to the Richmond airport via the 98B line, which I would highly recommend. It was really fast and cheaper than the airporter. The flight was pretty non-eventful, except for a crazy dip at the end that felt like a ride on a roller coaster.

Once I arrived home, I started doing some unpacking and arranging, and then went to a party downtown. My friend Roger has a loft in a building called the Arts Hab studios. Every year, the residents of the studios throw a party. The building is part living space, part art gallery and is inhabited by a bevy of artists and musicians and has studio space and working space. The part attracted a lot of artists and musical types. It was pretty good, but then my closest friend in attendance left and I felt a little lost. After wandering around talking to various people, I finally called it a night.

My trip to Vancouver was wonderful, but it also made me realize that I'm pretty happy with my life and what I'm doing right now and where I'm living.

Apparently I've been so remiss in updating my reading lists that I'm still posting books I read in May. I tend to mark everything on goodreads, so the people who aren't reading that miss out. My apologies.

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Friday- I stayed at farpotshket's house because I needed to write a paper. I wrote the paper, hung out on the Drive, and then we went shopping for supplies to make pasta. Booze was consumed and movies were watched that evening.

Saturday- We both slept in super late, and went down to watch the festivities at East Side pride. Then we headed out to watch a play called "Mixie and the halfbreeds". I ran into about 4 people I knew in the theatre. The play was about mixed race identity and was surreal and strange. Some of it was a bit over the top, but I really liked a lot of it. They were talking about many mixed race identity issues that are rarely discussed. The visuals of the play were fantastic!

Sunday- Got up and met a group of about 15 friends for dim sum, which lasted about 3 hours. Much talking, laughing and eating ensued! I got invited back to the Coast for a wedding in October. I'm hoping to attend. I love my friends here. After our long lunch, farpotshket and I went downtown to try to catch a movie. Unfortunately, we missed it, so I came back and had gelato and fruit for dinner. Yay.

Today I'm heading out to Richmond so I can go tour a Buddhist temple. Tomorrow I head back to Edmonton.

So I'm here! And freezing, for some weird reason. I think it might be the dampness. I took the airporter into town and could not believe all the construction. It's kind of gross, actually. I went through part of downtown and Chinatown on a whim and ended up bumping into my friend Arthur. I ate three shrimp turnovers and then headed to farpotshket's. She's not here, so I am just hanging out in her very cute little apartment, waiting for her.

Yay Vancouver!

Off to Vancouver this morning!

I have a dirty soap scum build up around my tub. Does anyone have any environmentally friendly suggestions (vinegar, baking soda) of ways that I could get rid of this?

Today I taught my last teen writers' group. I was debating whether or not to continue teaching next year, but I have decided that I would like to continue if the Writers Guild will have me. I thought I should consider stopping as I wanted to concentrate on my own fiction. However, I can do that while teaching and I have a bunch of new ideas for our group next year. I want to bring in more guest speakers/writers.

Today we had a visit from playwright Marty Chan. Canadian theatre types might recognize Marty's name from his most well-known work, "Mom, Dad, I'm living with a white girl."

I read this play a few years ago and really loved it. Marty came and shared his wisdom about playwrighting with the group, and things went really well. The kids asked some good questions. Then we did an evaluation of the group sessions we'd had and things we could do to make the entire mentorship run more smoothly.

I feel very fortunate to have worked with this group.

*****
Yesterday I went on a pint ride. Pint rides were organized by my friend Tess. The group (organized by facebook) meets at a downtown location for a pint or drink. Then we bike en mass to a south side location for more drinks. It's quite a lot of fun and a great way to socialize, bike and meet people. Yesterday I had to bike home from the event in the rain, which was pretty damn chilly, but good.

Edmonton is currently hosting an art and design festival called "The Works." There are currently two feature films screening as part of the Works series. Yesterday my friend Mari and I saw Who does she think she is?

If you have any connection to art and motherhood, I strongly recommend that you run to the theatre, videostore or Internet and try to get a copy of this film as soon as possible. This documentary looks at the challenges and lack of recognition faced by women artists, and the struggle for balance between creating art and raising a family. Sometimes it's a very inspiring film, sometimes it's painfully sad and depressing. It'll make you think and raise a lot of issues for you. It's a beautiful and powerful film.


GO SEE IT!

I am definitely going to need a vacation from my vacation. It's going to be 8 jam packed days of fun! I have so many people to see. I'm really looking forward to it and to be honest, it makes me feel incredibly loved. I only lived there for 2.5 years, but feel like I have a real community of people who want to see me. That makes me feel really special.

I haven't been socializing this week and have been laying low. On Wednesday night, I fell asleep at 10 at night and slept for about 10 hours, which was much needed. I've had to do two major trips for work. I drove to Caroline, which is a tiny town down South. There I went to a store called Ravenwood Farm Fresh Meats . I met the young couple who runs the store about a year ago. They started off raising Berkshire pigs and meat goats and then decided to open a butcher shop and deli. Their store has done really well. They've managed to buy food from about 20 farm families within a 100 mile radius and won a best practices in ag innovation for their efforts. They really wanted to be able to raise their kids while working, which is why they opened the store. They were really great and quite inspirational.

Last night I had to drive to Ponoka for a meeting about drought management. We've got a really bad drought in the province and nothing is growing. However, it seems that people working in the government can't say the "d" word until the minister of agriculture says it himself. Once he's declared drought, recommendations will go forward to federal bail out money. People were pretty pissed at this. One person said that the minister needs to get in his truck and go for a ride with a large soil moisture probe to check moisture levels throughout the province.

I'm completely in love with this.

Adam Marenko's mysterious world of bees

I had a great weekend. I spent Friday having lunch and visiting with a friend from Vancouver that I hadn't seen in a long time. That evening, I walked down to the movie store and ended up running into two poet friends. We went for gelato together, which was pretty awesome. I then came home and watched "She's just not that into you." I enjoyed some parts of it, while other parts made me want to tear my hair out. All women want to get married! Chasing after married men is acceptable! (Ugh)

Saturday morning I had an all day reiki training seminar. This went extremely well. I spent the whole day giving and receiving reiki and went into a very deep state of trance when it was my turn on the table. Following this, I went to a bar to meet up with my friend Anique who is an accomplished folsinger who I've known since Saskatoon and Montreal. She was playing a show with some Edmonton based musicians and so I met a bunch of people and spoke in French with them despite my tiredness and reiki buzz. Anique is a great performer and I loved that I got to see her.

On Sunday, I went to get Mari and go to a local park to see a cultural extravaganza. That's Edmonton for you was a rock opera featuring seven of the city's local musicians. The event was funded by the ICLEI, an international sustainability conference that was taking place in the city at the same time. The rock supergroup, which featured members of local bands, performed 7 original songs about the city of Edmonton. The entire show can be streamed or downloaded for free off the website. It was a great idea, and brought over 2,000 people out. Success!!

Following this, I recovered from the sun and then went to my friend Leah's to eat kebabs. A nice end to the weekend.

Holy crap, this week is busy and good.

Monday- Work during the day and dance class at night.

Tuesday- Work, get haircut, meet up with visiting coworkers, attend Beef Producers banquet with boss.

Wednesday- Work during the day and dance class.

Thursday- Drive to Smoky Lake, attend Grazing school for women, meet cool women and learn about composting, alternative energy sources and how to kill coyotes.

Friday- Visit with friend who I haven't seen in two years, who is in Edmonton to take a leadership training course. Hang with her. Finish assignment for school. Visit accountant.

Saturday- Take reiki level 2 course. Hang with other friend visiting from Montreal. She's an old friend from Saskatoon who is a folk singer. Attend her show in the evening.

Sunday- Go to free concert in park with Mari and dogs. Go to bbq at my friend Leah's that night.

Shortest it's ever been. I took this pic with me and my hair dresser cut it like that.

This is a minor character from Friday night lights.

My new hair


Frick, do I love it.

Please forgive yourself if you've ever subjected me to either of these items. I forgive you.

1. When friends or people I know sign emails with "Best". I fucking hate "Best". The only time you should use that is when you're trying to be extra formal. If you're a professor, or a writing contact, you might be able to get by with it. If you're a friend, please don't sign your email with "BEST". AAAAARGH.

2. Ultra sound pictures. I know that people like to announce their upcoming babies with ultra sound pics, and that this is the big reveal, but I really dislike them. It just looks like an alien to me. I DO NOT FRICKING CARE. Just show me the pic of your pregnant belly or the baby when it is born. I love babies. I do not love pictures of blobs.

I feel somewhat better now. This unscheduled rant is over.