Last night was a busy night for taxi drivers. Not only was it Orientation week, it was also the Jazz Festival AND Nuit Blanche and just as an added bonus, it was also a full moon! Downtown Guelph was packed with students, artists and patrons of the arts all taking in the vast array of entertainment.
There were free music shows all day and all night at the Jazz Festival Tent, as well as in various locations around downtown. There was funk in an alley, a brass band in the square and improvised jazz in City Hall. The art installations were also at least as good as anything I saw in Toronto's Nuit Blanche last year. A drum set being played by water dripping from IV bags, paper butterflies hanging in trees by the water's edge, and a video showing how children see the world accompanied by apples and penguin crackers for snacks. Even the gimmicky stuff was cool - an advice booth, an artist drawing portraits through verbal description alone, and fire-breathing buskers.
It was quite a spectacular night to behold and though I wasn't able to do or see everything, I was constantly entertained and amazed by the creativity coming from this great city. I greatly look forward to next year's round of installations and who knows, I might even join in!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Extremists
A close friend and I were discussing people from our past who had radically changed over the years since high school and this brought up a point that I'd like to share. Extremists are making good causes look ridiculous. This happens all the time, for every cause and it's annoying.
The particular evil that these people were combating was sexism. First off, sexism is pretty bad and has led to awful things, but there are worse evils. Like dying of starvation, or the ultimate sexist acts that make us wary of sexism to begin with. Second, there is certainly a scale of sexist offenses...rape being a pretty awful one and say 'mankind' a fairly mild one. Third, descriptions of factual observations are not sexist. Raising money for a women's shelter by selling kitchen products like aprons or oven mitts could be seen by some people to be sexist and may even contribute to the propagation of traditional gender roles...but it's raising money to help women. The overall good outweighs any possible bad. And let's take a look at the bad, shall we? No one is saying these aprons are to be used specifically by women. No one is saying that women must use aprons. But, ya know what? A lot of women enjoy cooking and many of them do so while wearing aprons. Not only that, but kitchen ware is a safe thing to sell because EVERYBODY EATS FOOD. And, might I add that I would vastly prefer buying an apron that I might actually use than one of those ugly little rubber bracelets all those charities are fond of these days.
Also, marketers do market research. It is also widely known that marketers do what they do, how they do it for one reason only and that is because it sells. "Green" products are everywhere these days because it sells. Food is marketed to women because women take up a large portion of habitual grocery shoppers. If you want to change who is targeted by certain products, change who buys them. Targeting a middle aged housewife for frozen dinners is actually progressive; it implies that they have better things to do than to sit around cooking.
I could go on about this, but I grow weary of this tired argument. Think before you complain about the state of the world. No, things aren't perfect, but a lot of people are trying really hard to improve things. Problem is, opinions differ as to what is an improvement. For some, it's all or nothing and for others, it's a slower progression of steady increments. Some people are realistic, and others are not. There must be some give and take, some compromise on some things in order for things to ultimately improve. To be honest, I think things have improved an awful lot, especially over the past century, so I'm pretty happy with things.
The particular evil that these people were combating was sexism. First off, sexism is pretty bad and has led to awful things, but there are worse evils. Like dying of starvation, or the ultimate sexist acts that make us wary of sexism to begin with. Second, there is certainly a scale of sexist offenses...rape being a pretty awful one and say 'mankind' a fairly mild one. Third, descriptions of factual observations are not sexist. Raising money for a women's shelter by selling kitchen products like aprons or oven mitts could be seen by some people to be sexist and may even contribute to the propagation of traditional gender roles...but it's raising money to help women. The overall good outweighs any possible bad. And let's take a look at the bad, shall we? No one is saying these aprons are to be used specifically by women. No one is saying that women must use aprons. But, ya know what? A lot of women enjoy cooking and many of them do so while wearing aprons. Not only that, but kitchen ware is a safe thing to sell because EVERYBODY EATS FOOD. And, might I add that I would vastly prefer buying an apron that I might actually use than one of those ugly little rubber bracelets all those charities are fond of these days.
Also, marketers do market research. It is also widely known that marketers do what they do, how they do it for one reason only and that is because it sells. "Green" products are everywhere these days because it sells. Food is marketed to women because women take up a large portion of habitual grocery shoppers. If you want to change who is targeted by certain products, change who buys them. Targeting a middle aged housewife for frozen dinners is actually progressive; it implies that they have better things to do than to sit around cooking.
I could go on about this, but I grow weary of this tired argument. Think before you complain about the state of the world. No, things aren't perfect, but a lot of people are trying really hard to improve things. Problem is, opinions differ as to what is an improvement. For some, it's all or nothing and for others, it's a slower progression of steady increments. Some people are realistic, and others are not. There must be some give and take, some compromise on some things in order for things to ultimately improve. To be honest, I think things have improved an awful lot, especially over the past century, so I'm pretty happy with things.
Friday, September 2, 2011
I Totally Cry Over Spilled Milk
I've noticed something about myself that I'm fairly certain is a rare trait for someone of my generation. I can't stand wasting anything. It's like I was born during the Great Depression. I once even convinced myself that it wasn't that gross to eat kiwis with the skins on, just so I wouldn't have to throw it away.
What really brought this to the forefront of my mind was this morning's milk escapade. So, here's the story. I've been limiting my dairy and grain intake and trying to increase the amount of meat and veggies I eat, which has actually helped me lose a wee bit of weight. I was trying it out because I had heard time and time again from different sources and for different reasons that dairy and grains aren't as good for you as the Canada Food Guide would have you believe and that filling up on proteins and veggies will basically perform every bodily miracle you can imagine. From beautiful skin, to long, glossy hair to weight loss and even improved mood and mental abilities. I figured it was worth a try at least. Anyway, this ties into the story because it led me to buy a carton of milk as opposed to bags of milk like I usually get.
For some reason I guess I figured it was no longer important to check expiry dates until after I get home and have opened my purchases. I discovered that the milk was to expire the very next day. But it wasn't a tiny carton, it was a big carton of milk. But there was no way I was wasting that $4 worth of milk. So, I made smoothies for my husband and I, which took up a fair bit of milk, but certainly not the whole thing. So I made sure that when I fixed our coffees, we used way more milk than usual. Still, there was a lot of milk left.
This morning was the day past the expiry date and in an act of desperation, I made myself a smoothie. Despite not being sure if it would make me sick or not, I drank that whole smoothie. It tasted weird. But damned if I was going to pour it down the drain. Not only would that waste the expired milk, but also the peach and the mango that I put in it. Then, despite being pretty sure it was expired, I poured a lot into my morning coffee to try to get as much use out of that milk as possible.
Even still, I have yet to throw out that milk.
What really brought this to the forefront of my mind was this morning's milk escapade. So, here's the story. I've been limiting my dairy and grain intake and trying to increase the amount of meat and veggies I eat, which has actually helped me lose a wee bit of weight. I was trying it out because I had heard time and time again from different sources and for different reasons that dairy and grains aren't as good for you as the Canada Food Guide would have you believe and that filling up on proteins and veggies will basically perform every bodily miracle you can imagine. From beautiful skin, to long, glossy hair to weight loss and even improved mood and mental abilities. I figured it was worth a try at least. Anyway, this ties into the story because it led me to buy a carton of milk as opposed to bags of milk like I usually get.
For some reason I guess I figured it was no longer important to check expiry dates until after I get home and have opened my purchases. I discovered that the milk was to expire the very next day. But it wasn't a tiny carton, it was a big carton of milk. But there was no way I was wasting that $4 worth of milk. So, I made smoothies for my husband and I, which took up a fair bit of milk, but certainly not the whole thing. So I made sure that when I fixed our coffees, we used way more milk than usual. Still, there was a lot of milk left.
This morning was the day past the expiry date and in an act of desperation, I made myself a smoothie. Despite not being sure if it would make me sick or not, I drank that whole smoothie. It tasted weird. But damned if I was going to pour it down the drain. Not only would that waste the expired milk, but also the peach and the mango that I put in it. Then, despite being pretty sure it was expired, I poured a lot into my morning coffee to try to get as much use out of that milk as possible.
Even still, I have yet to throw out that milk.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Party Intervention
I've noticed something peculiar over the past few years. People in Guelph don't even consider going to a bar until 11pm. But what makes it even more peculiar is that buses stop running at 12:15am, and on Sunday they stop at about 6:30pm. Taxis are incredibly expensive. There's no way people aren't drinking, so how the hell are they getting home?
I was just at an open mic night (on a Sunday!) which was supposed to start at 10pm, but no one showed up until 11pm -- not even the host! As a result, my husband and I sat around drinking Cokes for an hour and then decided to go home because we were sick of waiting. Not cool.
Normally I wouldn't be able to go because a) I don't have a driver's license, b) my husband hates driving downtown and c) even if I can convince him to drive, he often works early in the morning and therefore wouldn't be up to staying up late. I don't live near anyone who I could carpool with and I don't feel comfortable walking in my neighbourhood alone that late at night (see previous posts about where I live).
Anyways, this is not the first time that there's been an event that takes place later than I can realistically stay. Oftentimes there will be an event that starts at 11pm and doesn't really get interesting until 1am, but, feeling a bit like Cinderella, I have to catch the midnight bus home and therefore end up missing all the good stuff.
I'm sick of it. So, I propose that people start their drinking earlier. Pre-drink with dinner and then head to the bar at 9:30-10ish so that by the time the last bus rolls around, everyone's too hammered and tired for anything interesting to happen anymore.
Sure this problem would also be fixed if the buses ran later on prime party nights, but I don't think that's necessarily the best course of action. A lot of people have to work in the morning and there's nothing worse than having to work a full shift on less than 3 hours sleep.
So let's start a night life revolution! Get out there and enjoying yourselves before you're too tired to stand! Get there early so you can dance longer! You'll be making life easier and more accessible to those who rely on public transit to get where they want to go. It's totally win-win.
I was just at an open mic night (on a Sunday!) which was supposed to start at 10pm, but no one showed up until 11pm -- not even the host! As a result, my husband and I sat around drinking Cokes for an hour and then decided to go home because we were sick of waiting. Not cool.
Normally I wouldn't be able to go because a) I don't have a driver's license, b) my husband hates driving downtown and c) even if I can convince him to drive, he often works early in the morning and therefore wouldn't be up to staying up late. I don't live near anyone who I could carpool with and I don't feel comfortable walking in my neighbourhood alone that late at night (see previous posts about where I live).
Anyways, this is not the first time that there's been an event that takes place later than I can realistically stay. Oftentimes there will be an event that starts at 11pm and doesn't really get interesting until 1am, but, feeling a bit like Cinderella, I have to catch the midnight bus home and therefore end up missing all the good stuff.
I'm sick of it. So, I propose that people start their drinking earlier. Pre-drink with dinner and then head to the bar at 9:30-10ish so that by the time the last bus rolls around, everyone's too hammered and tired for anything interesting to happen anymore.
Sure this problem would also be fixed if the buses ran later on prime party nights, but I don't think that's necessarily the best course of action. A lot of people have to work in the morning and there's nothing worse than having to work a full shift on less than 3 hours sleep.
So let's start a night life revolution! Get out there and enjoying yourselves before you're too tired to stand! Get there early so you can dance longer! You'll be making life easier and more accessible to those who rely on public transit to get where they want to go. It's totally win-win.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Lunchables : Tuna Wraps
So, I decided to make a variant of the Salmon Wraps which turned out amazingly well. Open a can of tuna, mash it up with a fresh avocado. Add some lemon juice and freshly ground pepper. Then wrap it up in a lettuce leaf. Well, to be precise, that amount of tuna mash should be able to fill 3-4 lettuce leaves. Voila! A very healthy, low fat, blabbity-blah, mumbo-jumbo lunch. Enjoy!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Lunchables : Salmon Wraps
I think I mentioned it in an earlier post, but I've been trying to shift my dietary foci from being very dairy and grain based to being more veggie and meat based. The reason for this shift in thinking is that a blog that I follow, Dooce, started talking about the Paleo diet and I thought it had some merits. I think it's a bit extreme, but there are some things I felt could improve my diet.
Anyways, I had read somewhere in my researching that a good thing to do in place of bread or tortilla wraps was to wrap things in lettuce leaves instead. So, I decided to give it a try with salmon. The result was a VERY satisfying meal.
I took 1 can of salmon, mashed it up with some Miracle Whip (though I suspect it would be really good with avocado in place of Miracle Whip), then I distributed the salmon mash onto 4 Romaine lettuce leaves along the spines. Wrap and enjoy.
I particularly like having the crunchy lettuce with the salmon. I used to always add it to my salmon or tuna sandwiches to add a nice freshness to it all, but the bread always sat very heavy in my stomach. Without the bread, I just feel full and satisfied. It's a very nice feeling. I highly recommend it.
Anyways, that's my Friday Lunchable idea....we'll see if I can come up with another one for next Friday.
Anyways, I had read somewhere in my researching that a good thing to do in place of bread or tortilla wraps was to wrap things in lettuce leaves instead. So, I decided to give it a try with salmon. The result was a VERY satisfying meal.
I took 1 can of salmon, mashed it up with some Miracle Whip (though I suspect it would be really good with avocado in place of Miracle Whip), then I distributed the salmon mash onto 4 Romaine lettuce leaves along the spines. Wrap and enjoy.
I particularly like having the crunchy lettuce with the salmon. I used to always add it to my salmon or tuna sandwiches to add a nice freshness to it all, but the bread always sat very heavy in my stomach. Without the bread, I just feel full and satisfied. It's a very nice feeling. I highly recommend it.
Anyways, that's my Friday Lunchable idea....we'll see if I can come up with another one for next Friday.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Right Choice
You know how when you're growing up, you hear time and time again that "if it's the right choice, you'll know"? I don't believe that anymore. I've striven to make the right choices in my life and I'm pretty sure the average person would say I made the right choices, but you never know for sure.
I always expected this "knowing" to be a very real, very visceral feeling that was undeniable. Moreover, I expected I would get this feeling in all situations wherein I must make a choice, no matter how small. What shirt should I wear? Should I walk or take the bus? Do I want to eat an apple or an orange? I figured there was a right answer to everything (e.g. to breathe or not to breathe? right answer: breathe) and that somehow I would intrinsically know what the right answer was.
What I have found to be true is that when it's the wrong answer, or at least when it's the worst answer, you tend to know it but not until after you've done it. But some, in fact many, choices are irreversible. It cannot be undone. So really, the odds of getting things right on the first try are about as good as chance. Maybe a little better if you're particularly logical, however logic doesn't always help.
How do you know what the right thing to do is? How do you live your life to the fullest without suffering horrible consequences? Where is that fine line?
There is no line.
I've found that the world is dynamic and ever changing. I've also found that things tend to work themselves out. When we make mistakes, we suffer the consequences, but the consequences are not always all bad nor are they everlasting. One saying that does tend to ring true: This too shall pass.
So I suppose I'll say that whatever it is that you're yearning for in life, just go after it. See where it takes you. Just try not to be stupid about it.
I always expected this "knowing" to be a very real, very visceral feeling that was undeniable. Moreover, I expected I would get this feeling in all situations wherein I must make a choice, no matter how small. What shirt should I wear? Should I walk or take the bus? Do I want to eat an apple or an orange? I figured there was a right answer to everything (e.g. to breathe or not to breathe? right answer: breathe) and that somehow I would intrinsically know what the right answer was.
What I have found to be true is that when it's the wrong answer, or at least when it's the worst answer, you tend to know it but not until after you've done it. But some, in fact many, choices are irreversible. It cannot be undone. So really, the odds of getting things right on the first try are about as good as chance. Maybe a little better if you're particularly logical, however logic doesn't always help.
How do you know what the right thing to do is? How do you live your life to the fullest without suffering horrible consequences? Where is that fine line?
There is no line.
I've found that the world is dynamic and ever changing. I've also found that things tend to work themselves out. When we make mistakes, we suffer the consequences, but the consequences are not always all bad nor are they everlasting. One saying that does tend to ring true: This too shall pass.
So I suppose I'll say that whatever it is that you're yearning for in life, just go after it. See where it takes you. Just try not to be stupid about it.
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