Today I had an incredible breakthrough with my Dad.
We talked a lot about my childhood - things that could have been approached better - family issues and personal issues and the idea that my family has a horrible history of always putting other people before themselves. Sure in life it is good to put others first, but you really can't take care of others until you take care of yourself. I learned this the hard way -always trying to please everyone, no matter how badly it hurt me in the process.
It is a hard cycle to break - realizing that you can't and shouldn't always be the hero.
I love days when you can have a really good cry... when you can actually feel something, especially when that something is the pain that makes you realize that everything is going to be ok.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Dancing in the moonlight
So tonight was a great night out with Mat.
The City of Toronto has so many wonderful things to offer its citizens. (we are leaving out all of the G20 shananigans for another post)
The Entertainment District in partnership with TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival) is running free outdoor movie screenings at Metro Square, each Wednesday this summer till September 12.
Tonight was the first screening of a film called 'Breakfast with Scot.' Not only was their free popcorn (which evidently was not supposed to be free, but was announced as complimentary and therefore became so), but there was a filmmaker intro to boot! The filmmaker is local, and the film was shot on location in T.dot. It was so great to watch a film, under the busy lights of the Toronto Skyline, smack in the middle of downtown...with the one I love.
The film was very cute, a lot of laugh out loud moments and some great moments to cuddle. The film was mostly set in the winter, and the weather outside of the silver screen appropriately reflected the conditions we were watching. Boy was it cold out tonight!
Minus some frozen toes, the night was just peachy!
We ended it with a stroll through Nathan Phillips Square where the Toronto Jazz Festival is in full swing. Making our way to the top of City Hall, we danced to some great live music being performed below us on the main stage.
I heart T.
The City of Toronto has so many wonderful things to offer its citizens. (we are leaving out all of the G20 shananigans for another post)
The Entertainment District in partnership with TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival) is running free outdoor movie screenings at Metro Square, each Wednesday this summer till September 12.
Tonight was the first screening of a film called 'Breakfast with Scot.' Not only was their free popcorn (which evidently was not supposed to be free, but was announced as complimentary and therefore became so), but there was a filmmaker intro to boot! The filmmaker is local, and the film was shot on location in T.dot. It was so great to watch a film, under the busy lights of the Toronto Skyline, smack in the middle of downtown...with the one I love.
The film was very cute, a lot of laugh out loud moments and some great moments to cuddle. The film was mostly set in the winter, and the weather outside of the silver screen appropriately reflected the conditions we were watching. Boy was it cold out tonight!
Minus some frozen toes, the night was just peachy!
We ended it with a stroll through Nathan Phillips Square where the Toronto Jazz Festival is in full swing. Making our way to the top of City Hall, we danced to some great live music being performed below us on the main stage.
I heart T.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Tipsy posts are so much fun to read when sober
Yes, the last two posts were written while at A's apartment pre-drinking before one of our many nights out of dance.
This time we went to a bar in the Q and Ossington area - different stomping ground than our normal Shake a Tail environment.
The music was hilarious, tons of 90s pop which was super fun to dance to. A nice change from the oldies we hear each weekend at Clinton's. BUT.... the guys were sleaaaaaaazy.
Like inappropriately sleazy. I won't get into any of it, but let's just say their was some lift ticket fondling that was not wanted.
It has truly been forever since I have posted anything life related. Basically the rest of 2009 consisted of working 3 film festivals, racing again in the summer with some great women and a butt-load of fundraising. I ran a Trivia Night, a Silent Auction, a Clothing Sale, an Annual Campaign, the December 6th Vigil (this year was the 20th anniversary) and now I am grant writing up a storm before I leave for my trip.
I spent the summer and early fall working for TIFF, which was a great experience. Still it taught me that I like out of office work environments the best. I got to see 15 films, meet and work with some great people and rock my organizational and sales skills to the max!I also worked for the Regent Park Film Festival, once TIFF was over.
I have been teaching First Aid, volunteering at the Toronto Botanical Garden, and doing a lot of ice skating. Ice skating makes me SO happy.
I have been determined to learn to skate backwards, and do backwards crossovers, and today I was successful doing them on one side! It may seem ridiculous that I am so happy about this, but I have worked hard over the last couple of months to make it happen and it feels good to develop skills!
Although the last couple of months have been really hard...ie telling a workaholic to be unemployed...I have filled my spare time with good friends. I have danced a lot, run a lot, skated a lot, taught people a great life skill (First Aid) and cleaned out a lot of my room at my parents house. The last thing being a huge step for someone who is a sentimental schmuck. Now all of my posters are making their way to a recycling plant.
It actually felt good to let go of my "highschool self" through the purge of all of my notes, posters, notebooks, programs and other junk that I had saved for no reason other than to re-live all of those moments again and again and again...
On to bigger and better things!
On Wednesday I am headed to Tanzania! WOOOOOT!!!!!
I am so excited to embark on this adventure.
This time we went to a bar in the Q and Ossington area - different stomping ground than our normal Shake a Tail environment.
The music was hilarious, tons of 90s pop which was super fun to dance to. A nice change from the oldies we hear each weekend at Clinton's. BUT.... the guys were sleaaaaaaazy.
Like inappropriately sleazy. I won't get into any of it, but let's just say their was some lift ticket fondling that was not wanted.
It has truly been forever since I have posted anything life related. Basically the rest of 2009 consisted of working 3 film festivals, racing again in the summer with some great women and a butt-load of fundraising. I ran a Trivia Night, a Silent Auction, a Clothing Sale, an Annual Campaign, the December 6th Vigil (this year was the 20th anniversary) and now I am grant writing up a storm before I leave for my trip.
I spent the summer and early fall working for TIFF, which was a great experience. Still it taught me that I like out of office work environments the best. I got to see 15 films, meet and work with some great people and rock my organizational and sales skills to the max!I also worked for the Regent Park Film Festival, once TIFF was over.
I have been teaching First Aid, volunteering at the Toronto Botanical Garden, and doing a lot of ice skating. Ice skating makes me SO happy.
I have been determined to learn to skate backwards, and do backwards crossovers, and today I was successful doing them on one side! It may seem ridiculous that I am so happy about this, but I have worked hard over the last couple of months to make it happen and it feels good to develop skills!
Although the last couple of months have been really hard...ie telling a workaholic to be unemployed...I have filled my spare time with good friends. I have danced a lot, run a lot, skated a lot, taught people a great life skill (First Aid) and cleaned out a lot of my room at my parents house. The last thing being a huge step for someone who is a sentimental schmuck. Now all of my posters are making their way to a recycling plant.
It actually felt good to let go of my "highschool self" through the purge of all of my notes, posters, notebooks, programs and other junk that I had saved for no reason other than to re-live all of those moments again and again and again...
On to bigger and better things!
On Wednesday I am headed to Tanzania! WOOOOOT!!!!!
I am so excited to embark on this adventure.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Dancing Hoo Ha!
Am going dancing with my film girls
They rock my socks
Love dancing. I am so happy we have gone out so much this year (ie, October 31st)
Kisses
They rock my socks
Love dancing. I am so happy we have gone out so much this year (ie, October 31st)
Kisses
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Killing in the Congo
250,000 women raped, mutilated, tortured
10 month old baby raped by 35 year old man
Almost 6 million dead...
Multinational Corporations plundering of Congo's gold, diamonds, coltan, cobalt and other natural resources.
Something must be done
At the beginning of May I attended a "Teach In" organized by the Toronto V-Day campaign. V-day was started by Eve Ensler of Vagina Monologue fame, and each year she shines a spotlight on women from different countries in the world that are suffering from violence, in-equality and hardship. This year the spotlight is on The Democratic Republic of Congo. I was fortunate enough to hear the voices of those working to publicize the atrocities taking place in the Congo and gain a deeping understanding of the origins of the violence.
This past friday I attended another lecture at U of T organized by "Friends of the Congo". There were four speakers, all deeply involved and one who had travelled to the Congo and shared her experiences.
I would like to share what I learned with you...it is so so so important that we educate ourselves outside of this bubble that we live in. Please read as much as you can and visit the links provided. Be AWARE, because another genocide is taking place in the world, with people dying everyday and it CAN be stopped.
The following are the notes that I took, many of which are not my own words, but those of the speakers...
Many would say that the Democratic Repulic of Congo is the heart of Africa. It has a population of 65 million people, is the size of Western Europe and has $24 trillion worth of natural resources. That is total to the GDP of the U.S. and the European Union. It has the largest agricultural capacity of any country in the world! Has the 2nd largest RAINFOREST in the world. The land of the Congo contains every mineral on the periodic table.
As a result there is a resource war taking place, involving many Western nations, including CANADA. Minerals like Coltan are used to make electronics in the Western world. Multinational corporations are providing war lords with weapons to control the mines and seize resourceful land in order to maintain control over manufacturing cheap electronics. Soldiers are coming in from other countries like Uganda and Rwanda to seize control of land. This has resulted in so many people being displaced and killed. The Congo is being destabilized by using women as weapons of war. Women are being raped systematically, not just by one man, but by many. Raped infront of their children, their children getting raped, and not with intercourse, with knives, and guns and foreign objects.
One of the speakers actually showed us pictures of the vagina's of some of the women who had been raped. We saw a 22 year old woman who had been raped by 5 men, a 53 year old woman who have been raped by 7 men. A 6 week old baby, a 10 month old baby and a 6 year old child.
UNBELIEVABLE.
There have been 10 Canadian companies implicated in a UN report of the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and other forms of Wealth in the Congo.
I invite you to do your own research as this is just a brief introduction to the issue. The Congo has a long history of imperialistic rule, which has played a huge part in the state of the country today.
There is no certified Coltan coming from the Congo ( certified meaning it has been obtained fairly)
Everytime you use your laptop (I am writing on one right now) play a video game, or answer your cell phone, think that there was a Congolese woman who was raped in order to supply you with that luxury.
Foreign countries need to be held accountable for thier company's actions. They should not be allowed to exploit the lack of good governance in the DRC.
Check your investment portfolio to find out what companies you are invested in- specific Canadian companies involved, I will post the names once I get them from the organizers.
Become a "friend of the congo"
Pressure political leaders to practice aggressive diplomacy.
Things that can be done- Spread the word. It is ridiculous that Susan Boyle gets so much media coverage and hardly anything is being said about the 5.4 million that have died and are still being killed in Congo.
10 month old baby raped by 35 year old man
Almost 6 million dead...
Multinational Corporations plundering of Congo's gold, diamonds, coltan, cobalt and other natural resources.
Something must be done
At the beginning of May I attended a "Teach In" organized by the Toronto V-Day campaign. V-day was started by Eve Ensler of Vagina Monologue fame, and each year she shines a spotlight on women from different countries in the world that are suffering from violence, in-equality and hardship. This year the spotlight is on The Democratic Republic of Congo. I was fortunate enough to hear the voices of those working to publicize the atrocities taking place in the Congo and gain a deeping understanding of the origins of the violence.
This past friday I attended another lecture at U of T organized by "Friends of the Congo". There were four speakers, all deeply involved and one who had travelled to the Congo and shared her experiences.
I would like to share what I learned with you...it is so so so important that we educate ourselves outside of this bubble that we live in. Please read as much as you can and visit the links provided. Be AWARE, because another genocide is taking place in the world, with people dying everyday and it CAN be stopped.
The following are the notes that I took, many of which are not my own words, but those of the speakers...
Many would say that the Democratic Repulic of Congo is the heart of Africa. It has a population of 65 million people, is the size of Western Europe and has $24 trillion worth of natural resources. That is total to the GDP of the U.S. and the European Union. It has the largest agricultural capacity of any country in the world! Has the 2nd largest RAINFOREST in the world. The land of the Congo contains every mineral on the periodic table.
As a result there is a resource war taking place, involving many Western nations, including CANADA. Minerals like Coltan are used to make electronics in the Western world. Multinational corporations are providing war lords with weapons to control the mines and seize resourceful land in order to maintain control over manufacturing cheap electronics. Soldiers are coming in from other countries like Uganda and Rwanda to seize control of land. This has resulted in so many people being displaced and killed. The Congo is being destabilized by using women as weapons of war. Women are being raped systematically, not just by one man, but by many. Raped infront of their children, their children getting raped, and not with intercourse, with knives, and guns and foreign objects.
One of the speakers actually showed us pictures of the vagina's of some of the women who had been raped. We saw a 22 year old woman who had been raped by 5 men, a 53 year old woman who have been raped by 7 men. A 6 week old baby, a 10 month old baby and a 6 year old child.
UNBELIEVABLE.
There have been 10 Canadian companies implicated in a UN report of the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and other forms of Wealth in the Congo.
I invite you to do your own research as this is just a brief introduction to the issue. The Congo has a long history of imperialistic rule, which has played a huge part in the state of the country today.
There is no certified Coltan coming from the Congo ( certified meaning it has been obtained fairly)
Everytime you use your laptop (I am writing on one right now) play a video game, or answer your cell phone, think that there was a Congolese woman who was raped in order to supply you with that luxury.
Foreign countries need to be held accountable for thier company's actions. They should not be allowed to exploit the lack of good governance in the DRC.
Check your investment portfolio to find out what companies you are invested in- specific Canadian companies involved, I will post the names once I get them from the organizers.
Become a "friend of the congo"
Pressure political leaders to practice aggressive diplomacy.
Things that can be done- Spread the word. It is ridiculous that Susan Boyle gets so much media coverage and hardly anything is being said about the 5.4 million that have died and are still being killed in Congo.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Funk'ed
Such a funk...
I am going to sleep so late and not waking up early.
Tomorrow I row again at 4:30am...we shall see how I do.
I am going to sleep so late and not waking up early.
Tomorrow I row again at 4:30am...we shall see how I do.
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