I just found out that the post with all my great finished projects can't be done because Blogger is not accepting uploads of photos at this time. So I went away and sat listening to CBC radio (my favorite morning passtime) while waiting for things to change. The Current was talking to the new mayor of Calgary and it was really quite interesting. In my old age I seem to be becoming quite political.....
But if I put that out of my mind and think about the real issue at hand I've discovered something that I'm having a bit of a head scramble over.
I grew up in Newfoundland..... (I think I might have mentioned that before)... my mother and father both grew up in Newfoundland...... Teapot grew up in Newfoundland and his mother and father grew up there too. What's more is that I can go back 15 generations..... they all grew up in Newfoundland..... before that... before the mid 1500s they grew up in England. That's not normal for most of the people here in Canada. I know.... Newfoundland is part of Canada but only since 1949... and though I'm a first generation Canadian, I'm actually a 16th generation North American.
It's weird to hear people talking about their families... mostly because they think of themselves as old families to Canada and maybe they only came here three generations ago. I'm having a really hard time wrapping my head around that one. My family has been around a lot longer than most... but my parents were British subjects and actually still have their British passports. We had our own money too. Newfoundland is actually very very old while being really really new.
I like the fact that I'm getting a new understanding of Canadians. Even though I was born Canadian... and I feel Canadian.... I'm realizing that the Newfoundland understanding of Canadian is just a little strange.... or at least it is for me.
I'm not really sure what I'm saying... it is still a formulating idea.... I'll get back to you all about this as it gets clearer to me.
Meanwhile Blogger still is not accepting my pictures so I'll wait another little bit before posting about my finished projects....
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sunscreen
I went out for a walk and it was raining and windy and quite chilly. So I came in afterwords and said to Teapot that I really needed to warm up. I had a look on the internet and this is what I found....
which is really neat when you're drinking a cup of hot chocolate..... Teapot says you'd need 45 sunscreen if you were there..... yup!
which is really neat when you're drinking a cup of hot chocolate..... Teapot says you'd need 45 sunscreen if you were there..... yup!
Totally Drawing A Blank Here
Daughter #1 just came into the office. "Are you having trouble thinking of something to write about Mom?"
I was staring off into space. There's actually lots to write about if you think of all the knitting I've been doing. The thing is, I'm not quite ready to show pictures of any of it yet. My scarf still needs trim work done.... my first shawl requires about ten more rows and I've run out of fibre so I have been spinning that in my relaxed hours. And the last shawl that I'm working on which is being made from a commercial yarn is about a half ball away from being finished and last but not least, I've got some lovely yarn dyed that I dyed last week but I really want to knit it up before I show that here too. So basically I'm hooped when it comes to writing about it.
Teapot and the Daughters were out being creative yesterday. It was freezing as it finally looks like winter weather is near. The day was born grey and dull and as it moved along it got cold and windy too. If I actually could see the mountains from the house, then I would probably see that they are white with swirling clouds around the top of them. That is a sure indicator that we will get our first dump of snow soon. Teapot needs to finish the bottom step to the new front veranda, which is coming along nicely but still requires about an afternoon of lifting the stones into position. The Daughters were painting their bedroom doors out on the deck yesterday. Daughter #1 is painting her door two shades of green, but she needs another coat of paint in both shades. Daughter #2 is painting her door two shades of purple and she needs to touch up a few spots where the dark purple dribbled over the light purple. Then we will put up the doors to their bedrooms and we will only have to do the trim in their rooms and we're finished there. But even that is not much to write about.
The wind has come up again this weekend (it has been a very windy autumn) and I expect that I will lose the power with the beetle kill trees swaying around and looking like they are going to fall over at any minute.... no doubt hitting a wire somewhere and causing me to sit in the cold and dark.... but then again maybe not. Still that's kind of depressing and who wants to hear about that.
I'm working on Christmas gifts and waiting patiently for my level 3 homework to come in the mail. I have heard from my instructor that she has put it in the mail so it is on the way to me. I'm living if dread and fear. Hopefully I've done well but it doesn't bare thinking! What if I haven't..... oh the shame..... oh the disappointment..... oh dear..... I just won't think about it. so that is nothing to write about either.
The Christmas gifts that I am working on are for my mother and my sister-in-law and I can't put pictures here because my s-i-l reads this blog. (Forget it girl... you're not getting any information out of me!) I am also working on my sister's Christmas gift and she sporadically reads here so I can't show pictures of that either. So even though I'm not talking about the things that I am working on, there are things being done around here.
The gist of this whole blog post though is that I really don't have anything interesting to write about.
No wonder I'm drawing a blank.
So I will end off here and say to you all, I hope your day is not as grey, not as windy, not as dull, as mine is looking like it will be. Hope you're getting lots done and feeling very productive.
Murphy's law has struck again.....I'm experiencing a dull Monday and I don't even go out to work!!!.....
Hmmm.... wish I were off to SOAR... like someone else I know....
I was staring off into space. There's actually lots to write about if you think of all the knitting I've been doing. The thing is, I'm not quite ready to show pictures of any of it yet. My scarf still needs trim work done.... my first shawl requires about ten more rows and I've run out of fibre so I have been spinning that in my relaxed hours. And the last shawl that I'm working on which is being made from a commercial yarn is about a half ball away from being finished and last but not least, I've got some lovely yarn dyed that I dyed last week but I really want to knit it up before I show that here too. So basically I'm hooped when it comes to writing about it.
Teapot and the Daughters were out being creative yesterday. It was freezing as it finally looks like winter weather is near. The day was born grey and dull and as it moved along it got cold and windy too. If I actually could see the mountains from the house, then I would probably see that they are white with swirling clouds around the top of them. That is a sure indicator that we will get our first dump of snow soon. Teapot needs to finish the bottom step to the new front veranda, which is coming along nicely but still requires about an afternoon of lifting the stones into position. The Daughters were painting their bedroom doors out on the deck yesterday. Daughter #1 is painting her door two shades of green, but she needs another coat of paint in both shades. Daughter #2 is painting her door two shades of purple and she needs to touch up a few spots where the dark purple dribbled over the light purple. Then we will put up the doors to their bedrooms and we will only have to do the trim in their rooms and we're finished there. But even that is not much to write about.
The wind has come up again this weekend (it has been a very windy autumn) and I expect that I will lose the power with the beetle kill trees swaying around and looking like they are going to fall over at any minute.... no doubt hitting a wire somewhere and causing me to sit in the cold and dark.... but then again maybe not. Still that's kind of depressing and who wants to hear about that.
I'm working on Christmas gifts and waiting patiently for my level 3 homework to come in the mail. I have heard from my instructor that she has put it in the mail so it is on the way to me. I'm living if dread and fear. Hopefully I've done well but it doesn't bare thinking! What if I haven't..... oh the shame..... oh the disappointment..... oh dear..... I just won't think about it. so that is nothing to write about either.
The Christmas gifts that I am working on are for my mother and my sister-in-law and I can't put pictures here because my s-i-l reads this blog. (Forget it girl... you're not getting any information out of me!) I am also working on my sister's Christmas gift and she sporadically reads here so I can't show pictures of that either. So even though I'm not talking about the things that I am working on, there are things being done around here.
The gist of this whole blog post though is that I really don't have anything interesting to write about.
No wonder I'm drawing a blank.
So I will end off here and say to you all, I hope your day is not as grey, not as windy, not as dull, as mine is looking like it will be. Hope you're getting lots done and feeling very productive.
Murphy's law has struck again.....I'm experiencing a dull Monday and I don't even go out to work!!!.....
Hmmm.... wish I were off to SOAR... like someone else I know....
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Revolutionizing The S--k World, One Sock At A Time
It's here! I am going to revolutionize my, and my family's s--k issues. I just got in the mail Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi. I am going to knit s--ks.... and they are going to fit, they are not going to pool around my ankles, and best of all, I don't need to turn a heel. That's my kind of s--k!
A few years ago I knit my first ever pair of s--ks and somehow, when I got to the heel, I got lost in the instructions and ended up just winging it and doing my own thing for the heel.... it didn't look like anything you've ever seen in your life resembling a s--k, but when I put them on they fit! After I wore them once, Teapot put them in the wash and felted them and now they look like they would fit a fairy. (I can't really blame him since he's never had to worry about felting s--ks in the washer and dryer before, we always buy cheap cotton sport s--ks). So my s--k experience has never really been very good. Last year, I took a three day workshop on how to spin great yarn for s--ks.You'd think that my relationship with s--ks would be getting smoother/better. Well, it's not. After the 25 pairs of store bought funky s--ks that the Daughters gave me for Christmas (that tiny word is whispered so I don't scare myself and have to go lie down again), I decided that I actively had to try to become normal (if that's possible) about s--ks. I am thinking about offering a s--k loving workshop and how to hug a s--k. I've bought the rosewood dpns that will make knitting anything, let alone s--ks, a wonderful experience.... and I've bought the little nifty dpn savers from Knitpiks so that I can carry my s--k projects without the tips of my awesome rosewood dpns getting broken.... and I've bought the book that will revolutionize my s--k experience. So I'm all set for some wonderful s--k knitting.
Quite frankly I had given up.... I had finally come to grips with the fact that s--k knitting and I just weren't going to be mates. But then I went to Olds this summer past, and while I was back in our apartment on the second day, my roommates (all three of them) were taking a sock building workshop with Cat Bordhi... (the traitors)! When they came back from their s--k workshop they were all, "oooh aaah s--ks, oh Frankie you should have taken it.... it was the best workshop ever...... (forget the cotton one we had done the day before)...... oooh aaaah s--ks, ooooh aaaaah Cat Bordhi..... ooooh aaah," ( I thought that were going to have an orgasm right there (oh gross!!!!). I kept my mouth shut and pursed my lips.... but then they showed me the s--k that Cat Bordhi taught them.... she casts on at the toe, increases as the foot requires it, slips a bunch of stitches onto a holding thread knits another row slips the same stitches on another holding thread, and decreases for the heel. Then she goes back and takes the stitches off the holding thread and picks them up on her dpns and knits the leg of the sock.... simple?!.... right? Yeah well you don't know me with my attitude towards s--ks.... I bet I'll screw it up somewhere along the way... but that is just not the right attitude is it? I will hug my s--k and I will get through it and in no time I will be a professional s--k knitter/lover.
I think God made Cat Bordhi just for me.... (no, not you... me!)
S--ks.... here I come.....
A few years ago I knit my first ever pair of s--ks and somehow, when I got to the heel, I got lost in the instructions and ended up just winging it and doing my own thing for the heel.... it didn't look like anything you've ever seen in your life resembling a s--k, but when I put them on they fit! After I wore them once, Teapot put them in the wash and felted them and now they look like they would fit a fairy. (I can't really blame him since he's never had to worry about felting s--ks in the washer and dryer before, we always buy cheap cotton sport s--ks). So my s--k experience has never really been very good. Last year, I took a three day workshop on how to spin great yarn for s--ks.You'd think that my relationship with s--ks would be getting smoother/better. Well, it's not. After the 25 pairs of store bought funky s--ks that the Daughters gave me for Christmas (that tiny word is whispered so I don't scare myself and have to go lie down again), I decided that I actively had to try to become normal (if that's possible) about s--ks. I am thinking about offering a s--k loving workshop and how to hug a s--k. I've bought the rosewood dpns that will make knitting anything, let alone s--ks, a wonderful experience.... and I've bought the little nifty dpn savers from Knitpiks so that I can carry my s--k projects without the tips of my awesome rosewood dpns getting broken.... and I've bought the book that will revolutionize my s--k experience. So I'm all set for some wonderful s--k knitting.
Quite frankly I had given up.... I had finally come to grips with the fact that s--k knitting and I just weren't going to be mates. But then I went to Olds this summer past, and while I was back in our apartment on the second day, my roommates (all three of them) were taking a sock building workshop with Cat Bordhi... (the traitors)! When they came back from their s--k workshop they were all, "oooh aaah s--ks, oh Frankie you should have taken it.... it was the best workshop ever...... (forget the cotton one we had done the day before)...... oooh aaaah s--ks, ooooh aaaaah Cat Bordhi..... ooooh aaah," ( I thought that were going to have an orgasm right there (oh gross!!!!). I kept my mouth shut and pursed my lips.... but then they showed me the s--k that Cat Bordhi taught them.... she casts on at the toe, increases as the foot requires it, slips a bunch of stitches onto a holding thread knits another row slips the same stitches on another holding thread, and decreases for the heel. Then she goes back and takes the stitches off the holding thread and picks them up on her dpns and knits the leg of the sock.... simple?!.... right? Yeah well you don't know me with my attitude towards s--ks.... I bet I'll screw it up somewhere along the way... but that is just not the right attitude is it? I will hug my s--k and I will get through it and in no time I will be a professional s--k knitter/lover.
I think God made Cat Bordhi just for me.... (no, not you... me!)
S--ks.... here I come.....
Friday, October 15, 2010
Christmas Gifts.....
Yup.... Christmas is not far away.... I'm panicking..... as usual!
So last year after Christmas was over I said to myself, I'm never doing this again. (I said it the year before and the year before that and probably the year before that.) Every year I go through the same thing. As Christmas draws closer I begin to panic because I have nothing done. Money doesn't go far if you don't start buying Christmas gifts in January right after the previous Christmas. But if you leave it till 5 paychecks before Christmas, things can get quite freaky. You know I'm starting to panic when I start to thumb the millions of catalogues that inundate the mail box each day. (Did you know that Americans spell catalogue, by leaving off the ue at the end?.... I just discovered this.) Ususally I'm frantically trying to get ideas for cool gifts for the Daughters that will surprise and astound. Most everyone else I've got covered by now or at least have a good idea of what I'm getting them......
Pops and Mother get a box of everything that they happen to talk about..... they say, "I wish I had (insert here whatever they say for the last three months before Christmas. I even gave my mother a frozen entre one year... yeah well, she wanted it!!!), and I get it, wrap it, and put it in their box.
Gift cards go back east to family members there.... this year I will be adding in a little something with it because gift cards are about as inspirational as snot!
Friends around town here get gift baskets of homemade bread and yummy stuff like herb oils for dipping bread.... sausage,... and cheese....
Spinning and knitting friends get a little something hand made or yarn or knitting needle accessories....
My best friend gets a little something special like racetracks with grannies in wheelchairs as the racers.... (joke stuff that she can share with her grandchildren... and sometimes I get her sensible stuff)...
Gift exchange people get something homemade like a bottle of home made wine or a dozen beer (we make home made beer and wine).
But it is Teapot and the Daughters that I agonize over.
A few years ago, Teapot and I decided that we wouldn't buy anything for each other except we would fill a stocking each and we would just go buy something big like a new TV or a couch or a new mattress and that would be our gift to each other.
The Daughters however, are really hard to buy for. They are not really into technology other than iPods which they both have. They don't do games so that's out.... mostly they want books, movies and clothes.
This year they have asked for boots and Daughter #1 wants a leather jacket.... Daughter #2 wants jeans because hers are all getting to be like flood pants.
And books..... they want books... problem is that they have read everything on the planet. I'm really having a hard time with that. They have also asked for movies. We kind of really enjoy movies. The Matrix series, the Bourne Identity series are right at the top of the list..... there's other movies too.... so I'm starting to think that it is time to get serious about Christmas. Teapot is asking for a lens for his camera this year and I have asked for a simple camera to use for my blogging interests.... no big gifts this year I think...
With this great long list you would think that I'd be alright.... but it is not that simple.
Teapot and I don't believe in getting the Daughters everything they want. That's because we just think that is not teaching them anything other than that Mom and Dad have bottomless pockets, which is absolutely not true. Daughter #1 is really looking at wanting to be cool with her friends, so that's the reason for the leather jacket... (hey, I've wanted a leather jacket forever too.....). But they also need to know that working for things is really important. I really don't want them to start thinking that Christmas is all about materialism... that's just too easy. What I want for my Daughters to understand about Christmas is this:
-that it is important to think about something other than yourself... that life is all about those around you who give a damn whether or not you're breathing....
-that most importantly when you give a gift that's it's not because this is the day that we do that sort of thing but that you are getting a gift from me because it is important that you know I'm doing it out of the joy of my heart and because I want you to understand that this gift is just a small representation of my joy in the relationship that we share.
-that gifts don't equal love..... that gifts are just because I want to see you have something that you really like because you are a really cool person.
If they get all of that then maybe just maybe they will begin to understand that it doesn't matter if shopping at Wal-Mart is the best option because it is the cheapest....... that red and green decorations really don't matter at all... that silver sparkly stuff hanging from the ceiling is a "who cares thing"... that receiving a card from someone with a signature and nothing else is pointless....
Most important I want them to understand that even if we had no gifts at all that Christmas is all about looking around you and saying "you're awesome and I like being around you," and you don't need to have the 25th of December to say that. And I also really want them to remember that a little baby was born 2000 years ago who came to teach us how to care about the people around us. Really the best gifts fulfill our deepest needs, and our needs are met by a touch, a smile, a little sharing of food, and warmth and caring. Christmas is really all about safety and and love.....
It's a lot of pressure to try to get that across in the form of a leather jacket..... yeah.... I don't know if I can handle the pressure!!!! Don't I do all that stuff every day of the year?!..... No wonder I'm panicking.... I think I'll go lie down....couldn't we just skip Christmas..... it'll all be over soon.... right?!
Just 10 more weeks.... argh!
So last year after Christmas was over I said to myself, I'm never doing this again. (I said it the year before and the year before that and probably the year before that.) Every year I go through the same thing. As Christmas draws closer I begin to panic because I have nothing done. Money doesn't go far if you don't start buying Christmas gifts in January right after the previous Christmas. But if you leave it till 5 paychecks before Christmas, things can get quite freaky. You know I'm starting to panic when I start to thumb the millions of catalogues that inundate the mail box each day. (Did you know that Americans spell catalogue, by leaving off the ue at the end?.... I just discovered this.) Ususally I'm frantically trying to get ideas for cool gifts for the Daughters that will surprise and astound. Most everyone else I've got covered by now or at least have a good idea of what I'm getting them......
Pops and Mother get a box of everything that they happen to talk about..... they say, "I wish I had (insert here whatever they say for the last three months before Christmas. I even gave my mother a frozen entre one year... yeah well, she wanted it!!!), and I get it, wrap it, and put it in their box.
Gift cards go back east to family members there.... this year I will be adding in a little something with it because gift cards are about as inspirational as snot!
Friends around town here get gift baskets of homemade bread and yummy stuff like herb oils for dipping bread.... sausage,... and cheese....
Spinning and knitting friends get a little something hand made or yarn or knitting needle accessories....
My best friend gets a little something special like racetracks with grannies in wheelchairs as the racers.... (joke stuff that she can share with her grandchildren... and sometimes I get her sensible stuff)...
Gift exchange people get something homemade like a bottle of home made wine or a dozen beer (we make home made beer and wine).
But it is Teapot and the Daughters that I agonize over.
A few years ago, Teapot and I decided that we wouldn't buy anything for each other except we would fill a stocking each and we would just go buy something big like a new TV or a couch or a new mattress and that would be our gift to each other.
The Daughters however, are really hard to buy for. They are not really into technology other than iPods which they both have. They don't do games so that's out.... mostly they want books, movies and clothes.
This year they have asked for boots and Daughter #1 wants a leather jacket.... Daughter #2 wants jeans because hers are all getting to be like flood pants.
And books..... they want books... problem is that they have read everything on the planet. I'm really having a hard time with that. They have also asked for movies. We kind of really enjoy movies. The Matrix series, the Bourne Identity series are right at the top of the list..... there's other movies too.... so I'm starting to think that it is time to get serious about Christmas. Teapot is asking for a lens for his camera this year and I have asked for a simple camera to use for my blogging interests.... no big gifts this year I think...
With this great long list you would think that I'd be alright.... but it is not that simple.
Teapot and I don't believe in getting the Daughters everything they want. That's because we just think that is not teaching them anything other than that Mom and Dad have bottomless pockets, which is absolutely not true. Daughter #1 is really looking at wanting to be cool with her friends, so that's the reason for the leather jacket... (hey, I've wanted a leather jacket forever too.....). But they also need to know that working for things is really important. I really don't want them to start thinking that Christmas is all about materialism... that's just too easy. What I want for my Daughters to understand about Christmas is this:
-that it is important to think about something other than yourself... that life is all about those around you who give a damn whether or not you're breathing....
-that most importantly when you give a gift that's it's not because this is the day that we do that sort of thing but that you are getting a gift from me because it is important that you know I'm doing it out of the joy of my heart and because I want you to understand that this gift is just a small representation of my joy in the relationship that we share.
-that gifts don't equal love..... that gifts are just because I want to see you have something that you really like because you are a really cool person.
If they get all of that then maybe just maybe they will begin to understand that it doesn't matter if shopping at Wal-Mart is the best option because it is the cheapest....... that red and green decorations really don't matter at all... that silver sparkly stuff hanging from the ceiling is a "who cares thing"... that receiving a card from someone with a signature and nothing else is pointless....
Most important I want them to understand that even if we had no gifts at all that Christmas is all about looking around you and saying "you're awesome and I like being around you," and you don't need to have the 25th of December to say that. And I also really want them to remember that a little baby was born 2000 years ago who came to teach us how to care about the people around us. Really the best gifts fulfill our deepest needs, and our needs are met by a touch, a smile, a little sharing of food, and warmth and caring. Christmas is really all about safety and and love.....
It's a lot of pressure to try to get that across in the form of a leather jacket..... yeah.... I don't know if I can handle the pressure!!!! Don't I do all that stuff every day of the year?!..... No wonder I'm panicking.... I think I'll go lie down....couldn't we just skip Christmas..... it'll all be over soon.... right?!
Just 10 more weeks.... argh!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
2 Years
Ye Olde Batt has now been in existence for 2 whole years. Just a baby when you think about how many blogs are out there and how many blogs posts you can read if you wanted to.... actually that's dumb.... you would be like Rip Van Winkle if you tried to read every blog post out there except you wouldn't be asleep (well maybe you would be depending on some blogs I've seen)!
So why do I blog? Well, it started out very simply. I had a friend who was posting family pictures on hers so that all of her far-away-family could keep track of her close-by-family. It was kind of cool. I thought, well shit, if she can do it then it mustn't be really hard or scary. I looked into what was involved with Teapot looking over my shoulder. Ok!!! So when I realized it would require discipline, I wasn't sure I wanted to set up a blog, but during university I kept a journal for three long years. I was very good about it and pretty much wrote every day. I've always enjoyed writing and have fooled around with the idea of getting some of my stuff published, I've even gone so far as to send off a few of my better pieces in the effort. I've had one poem published in a collection of Canadian poetry and I've had some interest in a children's story. But for all intents and purposes I'm really only fooling around with it. I'm not a serious writer. I don't have the ability to sit for hours at this gadget and think creatively about the English language. It makes my eyes cross over if I try to work at it for more than an hour or two. But a blog seemed to be ideal for my writing interests.
Some days I have felt funny. Some days I have felt daunted by the vast whiteness before me. Some days I've been reflective. Some days I've been weird. But through it all I've learned... and quite honestly that's the best of what I've gotten from this blog. I can now navigate my way through the internet and do things on here that I would never have thought possible when I first started. More and more I am willing to put my a-- on the line and make comments that might tick people off. (Like yesterday!) I really try not to be offensive, but I do try to state my beliefs (and they are mine, rightly or wrongly) with aplomb. It's not always easy because I keep thinking that I might be influencing someone else and that's a huge responsibility. But as time goes by I do feel a little easier about it... though I really don't want to offend anyone. Really! Really!
It also has been a pleasure though to meet some of my followers. As I get to know people I realize that the internet is just another way to reach out to the world around me. Because I am studying for 6 years my Master Spinner program and it takes so much time, because I live in a rural environment, sometimes I feel closed off from those with whom I usually have contact. But it has brought me closer to family who live far away (and don't register as followers but are faithful all the same), it has given me opportunities to meet online some people who have become followers, it has given me a way to share laughs with people who know my family and see me all the time. It has been a way to let you know me too.
Sometimes I will say things here that I am too shy to say in person. Sometimes I get foolish when I would never do stuff like that in person just because conversation doesn't allow you to be crazy (without people thinking you belong in a straight jacket) but in writing, it doesn't have the same affect. I like to make people laugh, but in a crowd I will stay silent and just be the watcher in the corner. Sometimes writing here gets me out of my own mind. (remember that?)
In all the time Ye Olde Batt has been online, I've written over 450 posts. That's a lot. But what's really cool is that I can see the progression of my family, progression of my work, progression of who I am becoming.... and progression sometimes can be a ghostly thing. You think its happening, but you're not really sure. It takes ten or fifteen years before you can see the changes that have come in your life because it is so slow. You know you have changed but then when you think back over the years you're not really sure when the changes happened. But by keeping a blog, there is a record... and it is without a doubt very cool to look back and read some of my old posts. I didn't know I could be so funny. I didn't know I could be so smart... I didn't know I couldn't spell... I didn't know I was so stupid.
I've enjoyed it, am enjoying it, and hope to continue to enjoy it. I hope you will join me in my/our journey...
I really didn't mean for this post to be so serious. I really wanted to say some funny things that would make you all smile. Everyone likes to smile. But hang in there maybe tomorrow I will write about Sammy Tilley's goat.... or the dust bunnies..... or the cow pies that hit my mother's lemon meringue pie... or the time I told my mother that I wanted to get in bed a snuggle with her and God (I was five years old)... or the time Daughter #2 got fillings (in your teeth) and feelings mixed up.... maybe I'll show some great pictures of things I'm making... who knows what will happen next... But I hope you'll come back and join me on this ride.... it's a great ride... you know... you're on it too. It's called life!
So why do I blog? Well, it started out very simply. I had a friend who was posting family pictures on hers so that all of her far-away-family could keep track of her close-by-family. It was kind of cool. I thought, well shit, if she can do it then it mustn't be really hard or scary. I looked into what was involved with Teapot looking over my shoulder. Ok!!! So when I realized it would require discipline, I wasn't sure I wanted to set up a blog, but during university I kept a journal for three long years. I was very good about it and pretty much wrote every day. I've always enjoyed writing and have fooled around with the idea of getting some of my stuff published, I've even gone so far as to send off a few of my better pieces in the effort. I've had one poem published in a collection of Canadian poetry and I've had some interest in a children's story. But for all intents and purposes I'm really only fooling around with it. I'm not a serious writer. I don't have the ability to sit for hours at this gadget and think creatively about the English language. It makes my eyes cross over if I try to work at it for more than an hour or two. But a blog seemed to be ideal for my writing interests.
Some days I have felt funny. Some days I have felt daunted by the vast whiteness before me. Some days I've been reflective. Some days I've been weird. But through it all I've learned... and quite honestly that's the best of what I've gotten from this blog. I can now navigate my way through the internet and do things on here that I would never have thought possible when I first started. More and more I am willing to put my a-- on the line and make comments that might tick people off. (Like yesterday!) I really try not to be offensive, but I do try to state my beliefs (and they are mine, rightly or wrongly) with aplomb. It's not always easy because I keep thinking that I might be influencing someone else and that's a huge responsibility. But as time goes by I do feel a little easier about it... though I really don't want to offend anyone. Really! Really!
It also has been a pleasure though to meet some of my followers. As I get to know people I realize that the internet is just another way to reach out to the world around me. Because I am studying for 6 years my Master Spinner program and it takes so much time, because I live in a rural environment, sometimes I feel closed off from those with whom I usually have contact. But it has brought me closer to family who live far away (and don't register as followers but are faithful all the same), it has given me opportunities to meet online some people who have become followers, it has given me a way to share laughs with people who know my family and see me all the time. It has been a way to let you know me too.
Sometimes I will say things here that I am too shy to say in person. Sometimes I get foolish when I would never do stuff like that in person just because conversation doesn't allow you to be crazy (without people thinking you belong in a straight jacket) but in writing, it doesn't have the same affect. I like to make people laugh, but in a crowd I will stay silent and just be the watcher in the corner. Sometimes writing here gets me out of my own mind. (remember that?)
In all the time Ye Olde Batt has been online, I've written over 450 posts. That's a lot. But what's really cool is that I can see the progression of my family, progression of my work, progression of who I am becoming.... and progression sometimes can be a ghostly thing. You think its happening, but you're not really sure. It takes ten or fifteen years before you can see the changes that have come in your life because it is so slow. You know you have changed but then when you think back over the years you're not really sure when the changes happened. But by keeping a blog, there is a record... and it is without a doubt very cool to look back and read some of my old posts. I didn't know I could be so funny. I didn't know I could be so smart... I didn't know I couldn't spell... I didn't know I was so stupid.
I've enjoyed it, am enjoying it, and hope to continue to enjoy it. I hope you will join me in my/our journey...
I really didn't mean for this post to be so serious. I really wanted to say some funny things that would make you all smile. Everyone likes to smile. But hang in there maybe tomorrow I will write about Sammy Tilley's goat.... or the dust bunnies..... or the cow pies that hit my mother's lemon meringue pie... or the time I told my mother that I wanted to get in bed a snuggle with her and God (I was five years old)... or the time Daughter #2 got fillings (in your teeth) and feelings mixed up.... maybe I'll show some great pictures of things I'm making... who knows what will happen next... But I hope you'll come back and join me on this ride.... it's a great ride... you know... you're on it too. It's called life!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
On Being Canadian
This morning I got up and listened to the news as I uploaded pictures of the Chilean miners coming up out of the mine. (Raw raw sis boom bah! Chile... you rock! No pun intended...)
I was really disappointed to hear about our activities with the UN. Not because we lost but because we have such a bunch of dunce heads in office right now. The opposition is no better.... their dunce heads too. No wonder we have a minority government... none of them are sensible. I've never been so ashamed of those representing me world wide in my life. Even Mulroney was a better world diplomat than these guys. I mean passing out Maple Syrup at the UN to win votes.... my God.... that's just pathetic.
I am a proud Canadian even if I don't like hockey. I am proud that Canada has had the privilege to influence the UN Security council for so many years. But I also realize that it is a privilege. Canada does not own the seat and I am proud that as a Canadian, I can say that Portugal, Columbia, Germany, India and South Africa, will have the same opportunity to hold those positions that we lost now. I like hearing other people's views and I think these 5 countries probably have a lot to contribute. Why shouldn't they hold such a seat for a time? Perhaps hearing the views of countries other than ourselves might be refreshing. It is not a popularity vote. It is a world council that is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action. Its powers are exercised through United Nations Security Council Resolutions. (I got that from Wikipedia.) We need to hear from everyone.
I openly admit that I am not a politician, so for those of you who read this and have hit on it by Googling or searching then please be fore warned.... I have absolutely no influence on others and don't want any. But as a Canadian I like to watch the times.... and the times they are a changing... Canada is not cool anymore.... at least our politicians who represent us are not. Most of the normal Joe Blow Canadians are... (and certainly the geographical country is), but then what happened to the politicians.... somewhere there has to be a real Canadian voice to represent us... and it is not Steven Harper.... nor is it Michael Ignatieff... just too lame by far.
What has become of inspirational politicians who have an eye on the future and not just the economy.... I feel like Canada is adrift.
CBC online news reported this this morning:
Well, I'll agree with him there.... not only is Canadian foreign policy unpopular with the world it is probably pretty unpopular here too, right at home, at least I know it is with me. Maybe our politicians are not hearing the voice of the common fellow any more, maybe the country is too vast and too concentrated in the cities, maybe the politicians have forgotten what small town Canada is like where people still help their neighbours because they know them. I don't know the reason and I sure don't know the answers....
What I do know is that you don't offer Maple Syrup to people when they are about to vote for you... (it seems kind of trashy). What you do... is listen to what others have to say.... you think about what their rights and needs are and then you try to do the best you can for your own without stepping on the toes of others.... it's just polite. (My Grandfather taught me that.) What some of our so called politicians should do is read a little Ghandi, read a little John Locke, read a little Anne Of Green Gables, read a little etiquette (Emily Post's is good) and then call Canadians in the morning.
So, I as one small Canadian in a crowd of millions, would like to hear Portugal stance and the stance of the other 4 too, now that they have a voice with the UN Security Council.... they deserve our respect and our time.
Now, I'm going back to watching those men come up out of the mine... and maybe shed a few tears of joy. (Go Chile, go!!!)
I was really disappointed to hear about our activities with the UN. Not because we lost but because we have such a bunch of dunce heads in office right now. The opposition is no better.... their dunce heads too. No wonder we have a minority government... none of them are sensible. I've never been so ashamed of those representing me world wide in my life. Even Mulroney was a better world diplomat than these guys. I mean passing out Maple Syrup at the UN to win votes.... my God.... that's just pathetic.
I am a proud Canadian even if I don't like hockey. I am proud that Canada has had the privilege to influence the UN Security council for so many years. But I also realize that it is a privilege. Canada does not own the seat and I am proud that as a Canadian, I can say that Portugal, Columbia, Germany, India and South Africa, will have the same opportunity to hold those positions that we lost now. I like hearing other people's views and I think these 5 countries probably have a lot to contribute. Why shouldn't they hold such a seat for a time? Perhaps hearing the views of countries other than ourselves might be refreshing. It is not a popularity vote. It is a world council that is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action. Its powers are exercised through United Nations Security Council Resolutions. (I got that from Wikipedia.) We need to hear from everyone.
I openly admit that I am not a politician, so for those of you who read this and have hit on it by Googling or searching then please be fore warned.... I have absolutely no influence on others and don't want any. But as a Canadian I like to watch the times.... and the times they are a changing... Canada is not cool anymore.... at least our politicians who represent us are not. Most of the normal Joe Blow Canadians are... (and certainly the geographical country is), but then what happened to the politicians.... somewhere there has to be a real Canadian voice to represent us... and it is not Steven Harper.... nor is it Michael Ignatieff... just too lame by far.
What has become of inspirational politicians who have an eye on the future and not just the economy.... I feel like Canada is adrift.
CBC online news reported this this morning:
Well, I'll agree with him there.... not only is Canadian foreign policy unpopular with the world it is probably pretty unpopular here too, right at home, at least I know it is with me. Maybe our politicians are not hearing the voice of the common fellow any more, maybe the country is too vast and too concentrated in the cities, maybe the politicians have forgotten what small town Canada is like where people still help their neighbours because they know them. I don't know the reason and I sure don't know the answers....
What I do know is that you don't offer Maple Syrup to people when they are about to vote for you... (it seems kind of trashy). What you do... is listen to what others have to say.... you think about what their rights and needs are and then you try to do the best you can for your own without stepping on the toes of others.... it's just polite. (My Grandfather taught me that.) What some of our so called politicians should do is read a little Ghandi, read a little John Locke, read a little Anne Of Green Gables, read a little etiquette (Emily Post's is good) and then call Canadians in the morning.
So, I as one small Canadian in a crowd of millions, would like to hear Portugal stance and the stance of the other 4 too, now that they have a voice with the UN Security Council.... they deserve our respect and our time.
Now, I'm going back to watching those men come up out of the mine... and maybe shed a few tears of joy. (Go Chile, go!!!)
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