Origami

Perhaps it's an odd diversion, but I've been trying my hand at origami. It's mindful, yet non-verbal, a nice diversion from my heavily language-driven days. I think I enjoy choosing paper combinations almost as much as the creations themselves. These are Level 1 and 2 projects according to my book, The Simple Art of Japanese Papercrafts by Mari Ono. The book goes up to Level 5. We'll see...

Dirty Hands

When we moved to P-town, I was happy to have found a home in a fairly new neighbourhood with some old trees out back. While I've been told that the previous owners were enthusiastic gardeners, they also had four boys, three dogs and a divorce to plan. The back garden, therefore, had the look of an incomplete thought. Six trees line the back fence, the last vestiges of what was once the property line between two farms. The land beneath them was wood-chipped in one area and sparcely covered with decorative rock in another. The north fence line was planted with day lilies, peonies and dreadful prairie grasses. (When plants send you running for an inhaler, they quickly lose their appeal.) The south side was cleared, bricked in for planting, but bare. A blank pallet! To some this would come as a Godsend, but to a novice gardener like myself, it feels tantamount to being handed a length of rope tied in the shape of a noose. It's taken me a few years to come up with a sustainable idea for the area. As you can see from the following pictures, the plants are still babies, but try to imagine them two years from now,  when they will be about two to three feet taller and filled out with new growth. I've enough space left to plant some pretty annuals, should I ever be able to rise from the couch. 

A combination of purple and gold burberry interspersed with dwarf honeysuckle line the south fence line.

A line of yellow-green and variegated hostas get a little late day sun beneath the trees. 

Roger, Chaz and Friends - a talk worth talking about...

You Lift Me Up

New Yorkers: Share Your Fresh Air

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle en Vogue

Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I'm not the most fashionable person.  The last copy of Vogue I bought was in in the early 90's and even the Captain prefers when I shop for clothes with friends who have a better eye for style than I do. That said, I have to admit this handbag hits all the right buttons in my book: it's small, stylish, completely recyclable and mine.

A good friend of mine has the exclusive Swiss importation rights to these bags (in various styles and sizes) and, for a short time only, they are available at Globus in downtown Geneva. If sales are good, they may soon be found in Globus and Bon Genie across Switzerland. These bags, made in Brazil, are an immediate conversation piece and as easy on the eye as they are on the conscience.  She also carries bags woven from plasticized map and label misprints. A personal favourite of mine is the London Tubes shoulder bag. Waste not, want not, as they say. 

So, if you're looking for a new accessory and are game for a little attention, head to Globus on the rue de Marché. It will make her day and, perhaps for this mother of four, a new career. 

Reality Check

We all have our challenges...some more than others. What follows is a video montage in honour of the Hospital for Sick Children's annual Change Crusader fundraising campaign. Ashley's my cousin and, in every way, a hero. Way to go, chickadee! You've come so far.

 

Children from all over the world come to Sick Kids for medical care they can't either receive or afford any place else. 

Give you what you can. They change lives.

Santa Hats Off to Four Go on an Adventure

A dear friend of mine over at Four Go on an Adventure has started a Musical Advent Calendar. Being of similar 'vintage' myself, I can't help but get a kick out of her early choices. Here's one of my personal favourites I only discovered last season, courtesy of Straight No Chaser.

Hit it, boys!



FYI: Last year this video was uploaded to You Tube by one of the members and received over 6 million hits. Thanks to their overwhelming popularity, the original members of Straight No Chaser have put together their first album entitled Holiday Spirits. It's wonderful. Way to go, guys!

A Long Story Abridged

"Oh, thank God!" These were the first words that escaped this morning when the radio announced that Barack Obama had won the 2008 US Presidential Election.

"What? What is it?" the girls asked, pausing their spoons mid-bite.

"Sshh," I said, straining to hear more.

He'd won. The American people had decisively elected a person of colour to the White House. "He won!"

"What, Mommy? Who won?"

I turned off the radio and sat down at the table between them. "A long time ago people with dark skin were stolen from Africa and brought to America where they were forced to be slaves. Slaves are people that are bought and sold as like animals. The people who owned them made them do hard work and often treated them very meanly. A man named Abraham Lincoln put an end to slavery in America, but people with dark skin continued to be treated poorly. White people wouldn't let them use the same bathroom or go to the same schools. Slowly things have changed, but until today there has never been a black president of the United States. Now there is--his name is Barack Obama."

"Oh," said Emma, putting down her spoon, "Can I have some more cereal?"

28 Years Ago Today

It was November 4, 1980--the day I turned nine-years-old. I was living in Dearborn, Michigan and spoke with a born-and-bred Midwestern accent despite having moved there only two years before. My best friend's parents were out of work and they weren't alone. The majority of families whose children attended my suspiciously all-white elementary school earned their living from either GM or Ford and both had invoked widespread layoffs.

Despite our young age--or, more likely, because of it--the teachers at Snow Elementary staged an election. The ballot was simple: Ronald Reagan versus Jimmy Carter. As far as I could tell--remember, I was nine--Reagan's economic platform would get my friends' parents' jobs back. I entered the school gymnasium that morning a decided voter. I made my choice and, to this day, I don't regret it. An educated choice is one's responsibility, right, and privilege. I pray that the American public has risen to the challenge.

Until tomorrow...

Canada's Two Cents in the US Presidential Election

Ava-what?

A few posts ago I made my first avatar. By definition, an avatar is a 2- or 3D image which a person uses to represent themselves in cyberspace. I was introduced to the trick in a post from Earth to Danie and decided to try it out. Here's how it works:

1. Go to meez.com
   
2. Click on the pink banner in the center of the page which says 'Create an Avatar'
3. This brings you to the Meez Maker where you can change your look (i.e. skin tone, face shape, eye colour, etc.), get dressed, and add an animation or background. Some of these cost 'Coinz,' but don't worry. You'll get 2500 of those babies when you register, a necessary step if you want to save and share your Meez Avatar.
4. Once you have your Meez Avatar the way you like it, click save and register. Be sure to take time to check or uncheck any boxes that would put you on a mailing list automatically. Leave them checked if you want some extra Coinz.
   
5. Now it's time to export your creation. Click on 'Export' and then on 'Get Codes.' If your Avatar is animated and you want to publish it that way, choose one of the first two 'sizes.' I always go with the smaller of the two. Then click on 'Copy to Clipboard' to get the necessary code in the format you prefer. I choose HTML.
   
6. Then go to your blog's compose screen and paste the code into the body of your post. Center it if you like. When you click on 'Publish Post', it should look something like this:

I challenge you to do better!

Trapped Under Something Heavy

You'd think I would have seen him coming--him wearing a one-piece purple and pink ski suit with a jester-style, leopard-print hat. The thing was, I didn't. Instead, all 200 pounds of him hit me from behind, slamming me down-hill onto my right hip. We slid at least 10 meters, me his Gortex-clad sledge. My head bounced and I heard my neck crack as his skis popped off along with one of mine. When we finally came to a stop, all I could manage to say was @#$%!

The thing was, he wasn't one of the testosterone crazed youth who pepper a hill like Les Gets every Sunday. He was just an ordinary 50-something man on a pitch a tad too steep for his abilities. And as for me--a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a nasty accident my butt won't soon forget and, by the look on the man's face, nor will he.

But here's the upside: he didn't hit one of the girls who were 10 and 20 meters behind me; I was wearing a helmet; and we both skied away.

Play safe, everyone!

Back in the Saddle

I had a diet cola around noon today and nearly eleven hours later I'm still wired. What is that? I had a cappuccino last night that I'd bet my life was not the decaf I'd ordered and I still fell asleep watching The Golden Compass. Maybe it was the movie. As I'm unwilling to pay another 17 Swiss franc to get some shut-eye, I'll take it out on you.

It being the season of resolutions, I thought I'd share a few of my own:

1. To complete one triathlon in 2008. (I'd like to promise more but my physiotherapist has advised me against it.)
   
2. To complete Draft 4 of 'the novel' plus a synopsis and then let the poor thing rest for a few months.
3. To volunteer three months at a nearby school to determine if teaching is really my calling. Writing is great, but it's awfully isolating.
   
4. To publish one fictional short story to my blog on the 15th of every month. (I am not above writing stories about talking animals, so take this as both an invitation and a warning.)
5. To write a review of all the books that make it onto my 2008 Reading List. I've just started The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards. If this caffeine high keeps up, I may have my first one for you tomorrow.
   

That will have to do for now. I think I need to do some yoga or something. Jeez!

2007 Reading List

• A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
• Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam
• Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
• Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver
• For One More Day by Mitch Albom
• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
• Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver
• Jamie's Italy by Jamie Oliver
• Just as Long as We're Together by Judy Blume
• Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
• Le Petit Prince by St-Exupery
• My Brother, My Sister, and I by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
• My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme
• No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty
• Offshoots 9 - Writing from Geneva and Beyond by the Geneva Writers' Group
• Oscar et la dame rose by Albin Michel
• P.S. Longer Letter Later by Paula Danziger & Ann M. Martin
• Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm
• Rules by Cynthia Lord
• Stories from the Vinyl Cafe - 10th Anniversary Edition by Stuart McLean
• The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton
• The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
• The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
• The Triathlete's Training Bible by Joe Friel
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
• Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar

It's All in How You Accessorize

Emma the Brave and I are on the chair lift. Beneath us a snowboarder with relatively novice skill is descending the modest piste . He's riding goofy, his right foot forward. His turns are wide; his speed, reasonable. But he catches his front edge while facing down hill and slams face first into the hard-packed slope. He doesn't move.

A skier stops. She speaks to him. Nothing.

The skier flags down other skiers by waving her poles. Our boarder friend still hasn't moved.

He's wearing a lovely blue wool toque.

In the beginning...

The bise arrived today stripping the trees of their leaves and sending chestnuts catapulting from the treetops, more than a few onto Honey's poor head. In its glacial breath there is no denying winter's impending sting. But in the field, the wheat is none the wiser, defiantly sprouting tender green slips in the face of the sun's ever-lengthening shadows. Here, there is an kindness: a beginning in the midst of all that must come to an end.