Where Flowers Bloom

Why Canteen Tacos in a Bag Fail

2012-02-01T12:08:00.000-06:00

Problems:

1. Not enough product to meet demand.
2. Not enough salsa and sour cream to match up with number of product sold.
3. Not enough chips per bag. (Used 55g individual Dorito bags)
4. Not cost effective.

Solutions:

Assuming a 60 pack of Dorito individual chip bags the cost would be about $43. This is 2640g of chips total.

Had store brand large bags of tortilla chips been bought instead at 2 for $7, only 3 bags would be needed. This would be $10.50 and the equivalent of 2940g.

Given the large price difference 4 bags could be bought for only $14, allowing for larger portions. In addition more salsa and sour cream could be provided to meet demands.

The student body would see that they were getting good portions for their dollar increasing demand even further. That means even more product should be bought to compensate for increased demand. Meanwhile a larger profit margin could still be attained.

I am nerdy.

2012-01-14T19:10:00.001-06:00

Winter Explained

2011-12-09T10:59:00.000-06:00

Living in the prairies has given me a unique view of the season. The wide skies are perfect for viewing changes that occur throughout the year. So here it is... the explanation for why winter (in the Northern Hemisphere) is colder than summer!

Behold Summer...

The sun rises around 4 or 5am. The sun reaches its highest point at noon. The sun is in middle points between 8am and 9am and then again from 4pm to 5pm. The sun sets around 9 or 10pm.

Now Behold Winter...

The sun rises around 8am and sets around 4 or 5pm. The sun reaches its highest point at noon, but wait...

The sun at noon in the winter is at the same position it would be around 8am or 4pm in the summer. Therefore the sun never reaches center sky, it clings near the southern horizon throughout the day! That means we are getting less light and therefore less warmth!

Release

2011-12-04T19:14:00.000-06:00

I was watching a documentary earlier where they were interviewing different people about meditation and yoga and how they shifted the way they looked at the world. I was inspired by one man's experiences with transcendental meditation. He was talking about how after just two weeks of meditation he had changed so much that his wife actually asked him what had changed and where all the anger he had before had gone. In watching this I thought about how long it had been since I had tried to meditate and decided it would be good for me to try it. The reason for me stopping had been because every time I tried for a long time I just fell asleep instead. So I set an alarm for an hour and a half. That way if I fell asleep I would have a short nap and then continue with other things I needed to do. Then I started the initial pattern of relaxing mind and body. After that I sort of hung in the empty space of the meditation until a very clear vision came into my mind's eye. I was in a grocery store, running to the end of each aisle and shouting loudly, "I don't need any of this! I don't need this, or this, or this!" Other shoppers stopped to stare at me and I felt a tension of fear from their opinions building inside of me. But I just did this at the end of every aisle. Then my vision shifted and I was at the cash register. A mountain of groceries and other items piled up at the end of the conveyor belt. The cashier rang in the last item, hit the total button... "$239.86!" she requested. "No thanks," I said. And I walked away leaving all of those items I didn't really need and only thought I wanted sitting there on the counter and the cashier staring after me with confusion painted all over her face. My body felt such a real sense of relief after that that all that tension that had built up inside me was gone and I felt wonderful. I opened my eyes feeling amazing.

Octopi, Lemon Gatorade, and Sweet Nostalgia

2011-11-23T23:40:00.000-06:00

So I was at the grocery store today looking for something for lunch, when what did I find but baby octopus salad, like the tiny red octopi I ate on top of sushi in Thailand. Of course this lead me to feeling quite nostalgic and I had to get it and some lemon Gatorade as well. The octopi were better than expected although the soya sauce they were doused in was clearly low quality. I'm thinking the never-ending strike at the University is giving me just too much time alone with my thoughts. People were saying just after I came back that I was homesick for Thailand, which would require me to have some sort of semblance of home there, which I guess considering how little of a semblance of home I have even here might just be possible. However, I feel it is not home so much that I was missing but some sense of purpose. I feel when I am here as though my skin is stretched to tautly over my bones. There is this sort of constant sickness of having too little, and the pull of capitalism urging me to feel inadequate even if I might have otherwise found happiness. I need to escape. It doesn't really matter where. Thailand is just convenient. If I was able to escape my thoughts entirely perhaps I wouldn't have to run off to somewhere warm, tropical, and distant. Then again, I might anyways.

They say sometimes that once you get the traveling bug you just can't stay home too long. You need to keep going places, and seeing things. I think perhaps it is because traveling fundamentally changes you. You become something extraordinary in the sense that you mature rapidly. You gain confidence and life experience. You learn to problem solve. You experience new things, and become more open to different ideologies. I think that traveling can make you grow apart from loved ones, and also can bring you closer to others. You can never be the same person you were before you stepped out of your front door, and left the familiar world behind. You have to experience it to understand. You become so much more than you could have even imagined for yourself before you left. It's not a traveling bug so much as a soulful yearning to return to the place that made the whole world shift beneath your feet. Each place you travel is somewhere you leave a part of your soul behind. You can go on forever trying to search out those tiny shards and piece them back together but more break off along the way. And supposing you could collect them all up, you could never piece them back together just the same. No. It is better to admit to yourself that you have changed, for better or for worse. (I like to believe it is always for the better.)

Traveling creates memories, that are pasted in your mind's eye. They can never be erased. Tearful images, images of beauty, images that change you, move you, drive you. They send you on quests to find meaning. You want to understand. The truth eludes you, or turns out to be more complex than you had ever envisioned. There are no answers to satisfy your questions, just more questions. You are broken, or perhaps fixed. The wool that was pulled over your eyes before is now lifted. You are learning to see again, little by little.

So go traveling. Leave the things you know behind. Pack a small bag with sunscreen, and bandaids, and a camera. Take the next flight out. Go anywhere. Escape. You will never come back home again. If you do, you will not find it there. To find home you must look within, and come to terms with what you see. Traveling is about learning to live with yourself, and look past your own flaws, build something positive. Become like the turtle, carry home upon your back. Trust your feet to find your way along the path ahead. Leave behind only footprints.

Elephant

2011-11-21T15:07:00.002-06:00

What is your Balinese sign?
Your Balinese Sign is: Elephant

Character:
Good worker, smart, has a lot of knowledge, takes life in a light way and is satisfied. Has a lot of influence, able to forgive.

BU Strike - Education Forum

2011-10-14T12:20:00.001-05:00

Dean:

-status of student teacher vs volunteer, all students will NOT be volunteers

-must have a Faculty Advisor

-check email that was sent around

-no students should be at a disadvantage (not thinking about the context and what this means for the strike, thinking only of the students)

-you have the choice to go on practicum or not, no special accommodations will be made

-lock out vs. non-lock out

-all students will be evaluated, although some will not have a face-to-face faculty advisor - this is personal experience and research that this is an appropriate way to deal with this at the moment

-the dean will be our faculty advisor if we don't have one

-we will trouble-shoot as we go along if this does not work for everyone

-of primary importance is our relationships with CTs

-self-assessment component for non-face-to-face advisory

-dean thinks that assessments are equal, will look at it again as it unfolds - evidence based decision

-the senate is the one making the decisions of penalty to students for not crossing the picket line

-that is his answer at this time but it may change in the future

-you have to follow your conscience - with that comes responsibilities

-he would love to hear from us if we have anymore concerns

-MTS and Dean are in conversation (not necessarily in agreement but in advisory with each other)

MTS President:

-is impressed with how seriously we are taking this matter, and is very hopeful for the future of the MTS

-MTS concerned about quality of education

-public schools act requires schools to welcome student teachers

-labour relations - another worker could refuse to do anything not related towards their job

-this is a non-issue because no CT should end up being a faculty advisor or doing their work

-if a CT does please call dean of ed or MTS

-labour laws prohibit them from a definitive

-province does not allow strike action by teachers, we are an essential service

-if there is a dispute with your school then they should call MTS and student should call the Dean/MTS

-it is up to BUFA to ask students for their solidarity and up to the individual to decide their stance

-this is a BU/BUFA matter, this is not a joint undertaking.

-you will have some form of FS, but some are not the traditional sense of the word - MTS will not judge at this time if this will be valid - this is up to the department (dean)

-supervised student teaching is mandatory - have supervision from CTs and faculty of education - the liberty model is partly a faculty choice, partially a discussion - this may be flagged (seems to think it is mostly up to the discretion of our faculty however)

-feels unprepared to give clear answers, normally it takes at least a week to look over the facts and he has had only 2 days

BUFA:

-BUFA/faculty do not want you to lose out on here

-they want you to have a successful practicum

-you are pawns in this situation

-Faculty advisors will be crossing the picket lines if they go into the classrooms because they are BUFA members

-this sort of communication with staff and students should continue

- the union has been very helpful to her in her own life

-interrupting the practicum would cause everyone to go back to the table

-it is not required that a different union not go to work in support of different union, there are different ways to show support

-is shocked the administration is threatening students about their education

BUSU:

-all students will be protected in the protocol and not penalized for classes missed

-if this doesn't happen then the Administration are the ones that didn't agree

-please contact if you have questions or are concerned that you are being taken advantage of my Administration or BUFA

-you should not have to compromise your values for your education

-BUSU will advocate for all students

-be confident in your decisions for next week, whatever they may be

Strike Information Forum #2

2011-10-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

Today we had another forum where we had members of the Administration team and the BUFA teachers' union at two separate back-to-back meetings to discuss student concerns about strike-related issues. Here are my notes on the key issues discussed during the forum. (They may be slightly biased as I have omitted the details of what was said by certain individuals when I felt their comments were unprofessional.)

Session 1 - School Administration

- Administration get the same settlement as BUFA teachers in regards to the raise in pay scale increments discussed in the contract

- University President says Administration are suggesting a pay scale increase of 13% over 3 years (this contradicts the statement made by BUSU yesterday about -14% for pay scale)

- Dean of Education says student practicums will start on Monday and all Education students will receive an email later today. Dean says he has been in communication with the President of the MTS and that student teaching should not be affected by the strike. He says that he is working on a contingency plan for any students who may have Faculty Advisors who will not work in a show of support for BUFA.

- BUSU says that they, as an organization, stand with BUFA although this may not be representative of the opinion of the student body. BUSU suggests a meeting at a future date to discuss this in more detail.

- University President says she wants to hear student opinions on these issues.

- University President claims she wants to meet somewhere in the middle with negotiations with BUFA but that this has not been happening so far.

- University President says both sides always have a lawyer in negotiations. She justifies her choice of lawyers by saying they needed a new dynamic in order to try to prevent these negotiations from going in the same way they had in the past. She picked someone from out of town in hopes that they would be unbiased and act as a new voice. She justifies the cost saying he is a highly respected lawyer and she hoped hiring him would make negotiations go faster in the long run, thereby equaling out the cost of his fees. She says he does not charge for his travel time.

- Member of Administration states that questions related to the quality of education received by students during the strike should be addressed to the University Senate. It is stated that Senate meetings are generally open to the public unless dealing with a sensitive issue. The date and time of the next Senate meeting could not be given.

- Student asks about why the President will not meet with her. The President skirts around the question. In the process it becomes clear that this student has tried to meet with her many times before and has successfully at least once. The President claims she would love to meet with students but cannot give suggested office hours... continues avoiding addressing the issue appropriately.

- The Dean of Education says that all the Deans are also willing to talk with students and to please drop by. He makes a comment about appropriate discussions only, which is somewhat confusing as to what was meant by it. He also suggests that more meetings like this forum should take place between students and Administration.

- Member of Administration says that the Administration has been fair in its bargaining with BUFA but claims that specific details of what is being bargained are private.

- Member of Administration talks about conciliation stating that both parties are fairly far apart in opinions. A collective agreement has to be reached at the table. The current issues have to do with wages and benefits but more importantly with reconciling the language being used in regards to these money-related issues. (Example: Sabbaticals and how it costs the University and extra $1 million annually for a replacement for someone on sabbatical. These replacements are the sessional professors.)

- Dean of Education says the Administration and his department want to see quality of programming for students.

- Member of Administration states that tuition would double if the faculty get the increases they are asking for. They also state that an 11% increase from the government is required just to maintain the status quo. 90% of the current budget is going towards paying staff and there is nowhere to cut away more fat from the budget. It is going to start affecting the staff. Fingers are pointed at the provincial government because it is claimed that we live in a setting created by provincial mandates on university funding, etc.

- President says that the disability coordinator will remain available to aid students during the strike because she is an essential service. A tutor is also available for these students. When a student tries to clarify whether this would mean students have to cross the picket line to access these services the President chooses to question the intelligence of the students present with her remarks. She proceeds to define what an essential service is while effectively avoiding the question.

- Student asks about why a new Admin position is being created when there is no room for it in the current budget. Member of Admin says that our university has one of the thinnest Adminstration teams in the country. Our university chooses to put any excess in the budget towards improving classes. The position that will be created is an Associate VP research position. The Admin claim it will be an income generating position as it will give them more negotiation power and interaction with the government. They claim our university will fall behind if this position is not created and that even the neighbouring college (ACC) already has this position.

BUFA is met with arguments from the President.

- No answer is given when students ask if the Admin have a contingency plan to keep future strikes from causing similar problems for students at the end of the next contract.

- Students from BUSU ask why the President will not provide them with a copy of her contract which they claim should be publicly available. The President responds that she feels that names and earnings are public-domain but not the terms and conditions of her employment. She refers to the office petitioned by BUSU in order to get a copy of this document and says that it is up to their discretion now. She says that the house she lives in as part of her contract is one that she has to pay rent for and that she would prefer to live elsewhere.

- International Student asks what broader issues need to be addressed to create a more permanent fix and restore harmony to negotiations between Administration and staff. An Admin member answers in such complicated language that the regular student body would have difficulty understanding the implications, let alone a student with English as an additional language. The just of the argument was that 3 different Presidents have been unable to come up with a way to prevent further strikes, and that they are uncertain that there is a good solution. A comment is made about it taking two to create this sort of situation.

~~~

Session 2 - BUFA Teachers' Union

- Negotiating Committee says that although negotiations began in the spring when their contract expired in March, the issue of money was avoided by Admin until the last couple of weeks. The reason for the strike is the Administration's unwillingness to discuss this part of the agreement. It is admitted the some concessions were made on both sides but the strike resulted from the Administration not giving a new counter-offer in regards to salary/benefits.

- Member of BUFA says that tuition pays less than a quarter of the university operating costs so it in unreasonable for the Administration to say that tuition would double if BUFA gets the salary they ask for. In addition the government regulates tuition.

- Union Members voice concern that asking students to cross the picket line to go to class on Monday, and asking teachers to cross the picket line to teach is an attempt to break the Union. It is stated that a broken Union will create a broken institution and that students should not support this. There is some concern about the President's previous political agendas and her approaching this negotiation as a politician and with the same ideals. Professors encourage students to continue to use the library, and gym, and other related services and say this will not be seen as crossing the picket line.

- Union Members express concern for student equity in regards to students choices to cross or not cross the picket line in order to attend classes. (This is concern the Administration is not acting with equity in mind and that they are putting students in a bad situation.) They urge students to consider the long term implications for the university if the Union is broken. The History department states there will be no classes held by any of the profs in their department.

- Negotiating Committee says that they have not been informed in the strike protocol that the disability centre would be open as an essential service but state they will be willing to work with that. They encourage students needing this assistance to access it.

- Negotiating Committee briefly outlines some of the issues currently on the table for the negotiations. They include procedures related to hiring, firing, and tenure as well as financial and benefit related concerns (ie. pensions). They say that they are not aware that any of the issues being brought to the table are private and that there are summaries of their negotiations on their website. This information is publicly accessible and the same as what is provided to all union members outside of the negotiating committee.

- Profs express their dislike for not being able to teach and say no one votes for a strike because they want one, but that their hands are bound because the employer holds more power and not providing a service (ie. teaching) is their best tool at this time to get negotiations to move forwards. They wish there was another way, but only the government can change this process. They stress that their working conditions inevitably affect students' learning conditions. They allude to compromises they have already made which are greater than those the Administration is willing to make. They also point out their working conditions have been going downhill over the last 10 years.

- Union Members say that when a concession is made a protocol will be signed that states that no penalties to the faculty will result from the strike actions. Union Members say they want to see the same clause in this protocol with regards to students who choose not to cross the picket line to attend classes.

- Negotiating Committee says the negotiations so far have been mostly over documents and procedures. The Administration wants to completely change the documents related to hiring, firing, and promotion procedures. There are "dozens if not hundreds" of changes proposed, which is what has been taking so long with negotiations. The Administration wants to remove protections from the faculty in regards to these procedures and place the hiring power completely on the Administration team and the Deans, with no input from the Union. There is some concern about the language of the documents excluding people the university actually wants to hire, which will result in the Administration hiring people that may not be "qualified" for the position based on the document of qualifications.

- Students ask why a conciliator was not brought in before the Union went on strike. The Union responds that this was because they were still talking up until 5am that same morning.

- Some students express concern that their professors obligations to certain activities go beyond their teaching normal classes at the University (ie. band performances) and ask how these issues will be addressed. The Union states that the Line Captain can give passes to professors who have justified causes for crossing the picket line.

- Students express concern about profs who do not have a PhD and their futures at Brandon University. A Union Member says some professors have been hired in the past based on having the equivalent of a PhD through related experience in the field, and that it has gone towards their tenure. She goes on to say that some areas taught at Brandon University (ie. Aboriginal Studies) do not yet have related PhD programs so the Admin will find it very difficult to find a qualified PhD for these positions.

- Negotiating Team says the Admin are not keeping open dialogue with them which is why negotiations have stretched since March. (ie. 3 and a half weeks in July when Admin were unavailable to meet.) They state that a concession must be made by next March because once their current agreement is 1 year expired they will no longer be protected by it. They point out the employer has the power and that they have been trying to work on them with logic. (Also, they are unable to strike in the summer because they cannot withhold a service.) Union expresses concern about the unwillingness of Administration to negotiate in the last few bargaining rounds.

- Union states that all professors at the university, including sessionals, are members of BUFA

- Professors support small class sizes in order to keep more options open for students. (Plus small class sizes are just "better.")

- Union states that they have never used outside lawyers for negotiations on their side of the bargaining and that their negotiating team is made up of volunteers who have made themselves available for negotiating whenever they are not teaching.

More from the Admin

2011-10-13T14:54:00.000-05:00

From the Brandon University Website:

Brandon University Position on Locking out Faculty

October 13, 2011

The Brandon University Students’ Union (“BUSU”) has recently issued a communication to its membership and to the wider community urging the University to lock out its faculty rather than allowing them to return to work, should individual faculty members choose to work during the strike.

Prior to this communiqué, representatives of BUSU met with the Administration and expressed the same request. We provided our reasons to BUSU orally, but these have not been passed on in the BUSU press release. We offer the following explanation.

There are a number of reasons why the President and the Board of Governors decided not to lock out faculty during this strike:

1. A lockout is a weapon some employers use to get concessions from the union and employees to accept lesser working conditions than they previously enjoyed. Brandon University is not seeking concessions from BUFA at this time.

2. Many professors have told the Administration that they do not support the strike and want to teach during the dispute. Consistent with this, according to BUFA’s announcements, over 28% of those professors who voted on whether to give the Union a strike mandate voted “no”. Taking into account those who did not vote, the Union’s mandate is less than 70%.

3. If professors want to teach and students want to be taught, it is difficult to justify denying them their right to choose. The Labour Relations Act gives employees the right to work during a strike conducted by their union, unless they are locked out by the employer. If all of the professors support the strike, then the opportunity to teach is a non-issue.

4. Although most universities do not ever lock out their faculty, BU did this in the last round after a strike was declared, and it led to the longest dispute in BU’s history.

5. The option of locking out was thoroughly discussed with all aspects of the administration of the University and the unanimous choice was not to lock out.

6. Each student makes a contract with the University that they will pay their tuition fees and dedicate their time and effort to pursue their course studies, in exchange for the University providing them with the instruction outlined in the calendar. The University feels honour-bound to fulfill that contract to the extent that it reasonably can, despite the withdrawal of service by the Faculty Association.

Hopefully, this provides some insight into why the University will not lock out its faculty. We remain committed to make every reasonable effort to achieve a fair and equitable collective agreement.

Information from BUFA

2011-10-12T16:33:00.000-05:00

BUFA has released information on their website related to the strike which is too detailed to post here. If you are interested in viewing it please go to:

http://www.bufa.org/

Please note that information labelled October 9th or later was not publicly released until sometime this afternoon (October 12th) adding to my concerns about transparency from all parties involved in the negotiation process.

Documents from BUSU

2011-10-12T16:03:00.001-05:00

Strike Notice Email
Sent via university web-mail at 5:53am. Received at 2:15pm.

Attention Fellow Students!!!

We have JUST been informed that there will be a job action by the Brandon University Faculty Association. The strike shall commence today at 7:31AM as they outlined in the deadline notice.

No job action is taken lightly and although we have not yet spoken with members of the bargaining team about the negotiations today, we can tell you that they met from 1:00 PM yesterday until a few minutes ago with minimal break in between. What this shows is that both sides came to the table to try and reach a resolution but in the end they were still too far apart on the issues.

We do not know at this time how long the strike will last and our staff and council will be heading into work to start doing research on the reasons for the strike and how it will impact students. Most specifically, what will happen with education students heading out to student teach, and health studies students who have clinicals. We will do everything in our power to try and answer all students questions and will keep you informed as it progresses.

Likewise, this is not a holiday for students and you don't want to see yourself in a pinch when the strike ends. For example, if you had a midterm scheduled today then nothing says that the strike doesn't end tomorrow and that you won't have to write it on Friday. So please, keep on top of your homework, continue with assignments, contact others in your classes to set up study groups. When we return to classes after the strike, you don't want to be in a situation where you are behind in all of your classes.

BUSU has already met with the Brandon University Faculty Association (BUFA) and the faculty is COMPLETELY supportive of students who wish to cross the picket line in order to go to the library and study, those who already live on campus, etc. The faculty does support students and recognizes that we are in some ways the innocent bystanders in this whole situation. If you chose not to cross the picket line it is also fine and respectable as. In the past, your building, the Knowles-Douglas Student Centre, has been neutral territory in which it is the only building that the faculty are allowed to enter on campus during a strike. So, if you are in SUDS (which will be open!) or in the Mingling Area you may see some of the professors in the building. This means that it is also a neutral space for students as well who do not want to cross the picket line otherwise.

Now, how to we best represent your issues and concerns? Well, today at noon in SUDS we are planning a student forum. The format will include a chance for students to talk about the details of the strike negotiations, what it means to be a student during a strike, and there will be a separate portion where the faculty and administration have each been invited to address the student population. SUDS, as we mentioned will be open and will be serving food and drinks so stop by for the forum and hopefully we will be able to have many of your questions answered.

Likewise, anytime through the strike please feel free to contact or stop by the BUSU Office at [information omitted for privacy] and we can try and address all of your concerns.

Together we will get through this, and know that we are here for you.

In solidarity,

[Name omitted at blogger's discretion]
President
Brandon University Students' Union

Documents from Administration

2011-10-12T15:59:00.000-05:00

FAQs

Q: Who is on strike?
A: The Brandon University Faculty Association (BUFA) is on strike. This union represents Faculty including sessionals, Professional Associates, Instructional Associates and Administrative Associates.

Q: During this strike period, will the University be closed to students?
A: No. Though some classes may be cancelled, all possible administrative and student services will continue. In particular:
• Some professors will continue to teach their courses, including some field experience for students in the Faculty of Education and the School of Health Studies.
• Some professors may return to teaching duties after having been on strike for a period of time. It is important that you keep well informed.
• Library facilities will continue to be open and all library resources including electronic resources will continue to be available.
• Classroom buildings, including study rooms, will be open.
• Practice studios will be available to students.
• Computer facilities and resources including Moodle for students will remain in operation.
• Residence and Food Services will continue.
• Financial & Registration Services will remain open.
• Other student services will be available to the best of our ability.

All non-BUFA employees of the University are expected to come to work and perform their
duties. Regrettably, due to the strike action by BUFA, the University will likely have to cancel
some classes.

Q: During the strike by BUFA, is the University planning a lockout of BUFA members? Will
some classes continue during a BUFA strike?
A: The University has no plans to initiate a lockout. Some professors will continue to teach their courses including some field experience in Education and Health Studies.

Q: Because of the strike action, are students likely to lose their academic credits or year?
A: The University takes its responsibility to students very seriously and will do everything possible through administrative and University Senate channels to ensure that students are able to complete the classes in which they are enrolled. This may involve special make-up classes or an extension of the term, but this would be a last resort. Most faculty strikes are very short. In over 30 years, no student at Brandon University has ever lost a semester due to a strike.

Q: What impact will all of this have on students' ability to complete their classes, get their credits and graduate?
A: That will depend on when the strike ends. As mentioned above, most faculty strikes are of short duration. There is some flexibility in most teaching programs. There is a short break between the end of classes and the start of exams, and some ability to compress the examination schedule. Beyond that, examinations could be delayed if necessary. In general, the adaptations that can be made will depend on the teaching program and evaluation practices involved and cannot be prescribed in advance. However, there are some options that would allow the University to conclude the academic term on or near schedule, in spite of a strike. Senate will play a key role in establishing the overall principles that will guide the completion of the academic year after any strike, and there are many student
members of Senate. The University will do everything possible following the strike to ensure that students finish their classes, terms, and the year as close to the original schedule as is feasible. Indeed, at this point, students would be wise to assume that all classes and examinations will occur on schedule and manage their time accordingly.

Q: What about essays or assignments which are due during the strike?
A: Due dates and tests may be deferred until after the strike ends. For those classes that continue throughout the strike, please check with your professor regarding deadlines.

Q: Will a strike affect students' eligibility for student loans or other student aid?
A: A strike will not affect students' eligibility for university or government financial aid. Where
necessary, the University will assist students in dealing with appropriate agencies or government
departments.

Q: Can I get a financial refund if I choose not to return to the university?
A: It is our intention that no student will lose their semester or year because of this strike. The deadline for refunds has passed for the fall semester.

Q: Does the strike affect University residences and meal plans?
A: No, residences and food services will continue to operate as usual.

Q: During the strike action, will students in field placements (i.e. Education and Health Studies) be able to continue with their placements?
A: Education – There is no change to the roles and expectations for teachers and student teachers (Faculty of Education Field Experience Handbook 2011-2012, pp. 12-14). Students should check to confirm whether or not their faculty advisor is on strike or continues to work. If they are working, student teachers will continue with the scheduled field placement. If the faculty advisor is on strike, the Dean of Education will provide assistance and advice to assist student teachers with self-evaluation using the reflective process (Faculty of Education Field Experience Handbook 2011-2012, p. 15).

Health Studies – Health Studies students in their Senior Practicum placement can continue with this experience. The Dean of Health Studies will maintain regular contact with the practice agencies and student mentors. In all other field placements, students should check to see if their faculty member is working or is on strike. If they are working, the student can continue with the scheduled practice experience. If the faculty member is on strike, students may contact the Dean of Health Studies.

Q: Will students who work on campus be affected?
A: Students who have employment on campus should continue to report for work, including for the completion of any marking that has been assigned. Normal terms and conditions of employment will apply. Student employees will not lose remuneration for which a commitment by the University has been made.

Q: If students come on campus, will they have to cross picket lines?
A: Students can expect that during the strike, members of BUFA will establish picket lines. This is their legal right. At the same time, students and others have the legal right to cross a picket line if they wish. Those on picket lines are entitled to distribute information and speak to persons crossing the line but may not interfere with their legal right to cross a picket line. In a strike situation everyone is expected to show courtesy and respect to others exercising their legitimate rights.

Q: Should students delay making travel arrangements for the end of term?
A: It would be sensible to avoid making travel arrangements that cannot be cancelled or changed.

Q: Where can students get more information?
A: Further information will be included in future notices. These will be distributed on campus and will be available on the BU web site (www.brandonu.ca).

Q: During the strike will Admissions remain open?
A: Yes, all regular services of the University will be open and operating.

Q: During the strike will the voluntary withdrawal date be moved?
A: No. Beginning with the current fall semester the voluntary withdrawal date has been extended to a much later date in the semester. Please consult the University calendar for specifics.

~~~

Letter from the President

October 12, 2011

Dear Members of the Brandon University Community,

On October 12, 2011, the Brandon University Faculty Association (BUFA) went on strike. While the decision of BUFA is regrettable, the University is committed to our students. Consequently, the University remains open for all members of the university community, students, faculty and staff. In order to give members of our community time for organization after a holiday weekend, the University will be cancelling classes from October 12 through 14, 2011.

During the next few days, we will be contacting our faculty and will communicate in a timely fashion to students which courses will resume the following week. The information will continue to be updated and we ask students to check their BU email account for information concerning classes. As well, this and other pertinent information will be available on the university’s home page.

We sincerely hope and are committed to an outcome that will promote the future viability and success of our university.

Sincerely,

[Name Omitted at blogger's discretion]
President and Vice-Chancellor

About the Brandon University Strike

2011-10-12T15:25:00.002-05:00

Today I attended the first hour of the student forum organized by BUSU (Brandon University Student Union) and here is the information I have gleaned before and during this event... (Keep in mind I do not support the opinions one way or another in this section, and they may be biased because of the sources they came from. My own opinion will follow in a separate section. If any of the below information is incorrect, I am sorry. It is only what has been given to me.)

Arguments

BUFA Teachers' Union:
- the administration wants higher contributions to pension plans but will not match staff contributions
- are asking for a raise in salary to match inflation
- sessional professors who have been at the university for years have still not been offered contracts
- the hiring process for new profs should still include the BUFA Union

Administration:
- want more research conducted by profs, and published in higher caliber publications
- want more profs hired in the future to be required to have a PhD so that the university can capitalize on research grant money from the government
- want to create a new administrative position (Vice President)
- want the hiring process taken out of the hands of the BUFA Union and given to faculty councils, with the final say coming from university Administration
- want to offer more distant ed courses and internet courses (which cost more to students and give students less face time with profs)
- expect sessional profs to offer more courses so that other profs can conduct more research
- want profs to have a heavier course-load to offer students more selection (while not being properly compensated for this course-load difference)

BUSU Student Union:
- states Administration hired a lawyer from Winnipeg at $330/hour to help with negotiations (estimate of $100 000 of legal charges to the university last week alone)
- Brandon University is already in budget crisis which is resulting in programming cuts, especially to the smaller departments on campus
- continues to support the tuition freeze
- the President of the university is getting paid $261 000 annually which amounts to $83 per student. This is higher what is paid to the presidents at many other larger Canadian universities
- claims the President of Brandon University is not releasing information that should be made available to the public (ie. Brandon University students)
- argue some of the best professors at the university do not have their PhDs and that a PhD does not necessarily make a quality professor
- argue there are not enough facilities to accommodate increased research and the grants the Admin want to take advantage of
- argue there is not enough government funding available, so where will the extra $$$ come from to pay for more research?
- students are being put in a bad position because they will be asked as of next week to choose if they will cross the picket lines in order to attend classes, in the Administration's divide and conquer strategy (issues for students include: needing extra face time with profs, not wanting their tuition $ to go to waste, and if they should cross picket lines and snub the teachers' union)
- profs are put in a bad position by being asked to cross picket lines to teach students if they did not vote in favor of the BUFA strike

Faculty of Education/Nursing Faculty:
- Education Faculty members expressed original concern about student practicums being cancelled if there were to be strike action
- Concern about strike action negatively impacting students in these faculties due to the difference in how these professional programs are run compared to other university programs
- many profs in these faculties voted against the strike and some refused to picket at the expense of their own paycheck
- Dean of Education offers to act as Faculty Advisor for education students so they can continue with their practicums during the strike (practicums are off-campus field experience so no picket lines will be crossed)
- concern about how long this strike will last

MTS Teachers' Union:
- Education students in practicum are seen as volunteers but will not meet teaching requirements unless they have a faculty advisor overseeing their placements (Student teaching is not forbidden)
- MTS supports BUFA Teachers' Union

~~~

As I See It...

My main issue with this strike is transparency, from everyone involved. My understanding is that these negotiations have been going on since this spring. However, in the past 3 weeks we have been continuously told that there "might" be a strike but no dates were being given until the last minute. The issues being discussed were not available to most students until the last couple of days. This resulted in a large amount of misinformation about what was actually going on. In addition, as an Education student, I was of the impression that this strike would compromise my field experience, as it had in the 2008 strike. As it turns out that is not the case.

Technical difficulties may have resulted in lack of information about the strike. For instance, the Brandon University webmail tends to be incredibly glitchy. Notice of the strike was supposedly sent to all students as of 5am this morning, when the negotiations ended in a stalemate. However, I did not receive any of the notices sent by various parties notifying me of the strike until 2:15pm! This is something that should be looked into after the strike is settled.

Students should have been given proper information up front about the issues being discussed and the exact date strike action would occur within a more reasonable time frame. Students should not have been forced to wait until after the mandatory withdrawal date for courses to know if there would be strike action, because if they choose to withdraw now they will lose significant amounts of their tuition dollars in the process (which most students cannot afford). In addition, this strike very neatly coincided with the Manitoba Provincial election which seems like a dirty move on the parts of both the BUFA teachers' union and Brandon University Administration.

While I do not necessarily support the BUFA union's request for a salary increase that would amount to about a 37% increase over 3 years (according to Brandon University Administration), I also do not support the Administration's projected figures that seem to ask staff to accept a 14% decrease in salary over the same period of time. My concerns are that the BUFA union received a pay increase as a result of the 2008 strike, however, inflation and pensions must be taken into consideration (as said by BUSU). The problem is where is this money going to come from? Our university has already been cutting programming and more cuts are projected for the upcoming years. Students will have less access to the valuable programming that was previously offered at this university. BUSU urges us to point fingers at the government, but I find that unsatisfactory. Yes, we need to get more government funding, but I am paying $3,600 this year for tuition. I paid $5,000 annually for my college tuition in British Columbia... college, not university. Clearly the tuition freeze is not helping matters. I love cheap tuition, but Brandon University has one of the cheapest tuitions in the country and you can't say our programming won't suffer as a result. A small tuition increase may be enough to stop some of this madness! (I am sure I'll get some negative feedback for that statement, but so be it.) So yes BUFA, I don't support your request for a salary increase, but on the grounds that I do not believe the money you are asking is available at the moment. Your other requests seem reasonable from what I have seen of them. I did hear a rumour that BUFA also wanted to do less teaching, but if this was a spin on wanting to do less teaching than what the Admin seems to be proposing in the future then I support that also.

Now the Admin... well, hmmm. I will try to be civil. Let's just say this straight. We need better programming. We don't need more research at the expense of good programming. Research has its place but we cannot afford more research at this time. It has been my opinion over the course of my time at Brandon University that the Administration has never truly been interested in the concerns of students. This Elitism has to stop. Oh and for the record, this university is run with such a lack of organization it is appalling. Offices seem incapable of contacting each other or sharing information. (Email is not expensive, please utilize it!) It cost me $10 to send my transcripts from one department to another, and I had to walk them there myself! Not to mention the humiliation our university had to endure when our President gave a speech at an event we hosted that had members of faculties from universities all across Western Canada. Our President decided she was going to talk about the possibility of extraterrestrial life during her speech. I am sure there is a time and place for that but it is not when representing our school at a conference completely unrelated to the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Also, couldn't you find a cheaper lawyer if indeed you needed one?

Now that the matter of my practicum not being affected has been cleared up I find myself in general to be in favour of this strike. I urge other students not to cross the picket line and attend classes; however, I understand that your tuition dollars are disappearing as we speak and you may be unable to afford to do otherwise. I urge the BUFA and Administration to be more transparent in the future, and hope that everyone keeps student concerns in mind during these negotiations.

Microwave Cherry Crisp

2011-09-07T17:54:00.002-05:00

Adapted from an apple crisp recipe at: http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/microwave-apple-crisp-for-one-fid-1139313

1/2 cup cherries, pitted
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp quick-cooking oats
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 Tbsp white sugar

Place cherries in a mug. Toss with white sugar. Combine remaining dry ingredients in a separate bowl, until well mix. Stir in melted butter and pour over spiced apples.
Cook in microwave on high 2 - 3 minutes. Let it rest for a few minutes and the topping will get crispy.

TGIF!

2011-08-12T12:02:00.001-05:00

Today I spent 3 hours working serving coffee to a large portion of Brandon residents. Friday is Pay Day which means full bellies for everyone! Me, my car, the government, local merchants, farmers, and factory workers. I chose to buy local so that most of my money would stay in the community some highlights of today's purchases include: Alpine Grain bread, cottage cheese and dill perogies, and cabbage rolls. This afternoon I need to find a new pair of shoes for work and see if I can acquire some fresh grown corn from one of the farmers. It is raining so they might not be out selling. I really would like corn for dinner! Only a six hour shift tomorrow lies between me and my weekend! Hurray!!!

How did you spend your Friday? What are your plans for the weekend?

The Orange Haired Man

2011-08-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

I had the weirdest dream last night. There was a family reunion and it was full swing, with strange relatives and the usual mayhem, but something was really odd about the town where we were having it. People started disappearing at night and during the day people were shot at. My brother and I, and two of my friends (or perhaps cousins) ended up hiding in a cave. We couldn't really trust anyone outside our small group. In the dream my brother and I were children, my brother still a toddler who was not yet steady on his feet. One time when we were hiding in the cave with no light because people were coming inside looking for us I saw a man in the back of the cave and he disappeared down a tunnel. So we followed him. We came to the man's house which was peculiar and full of machines and strange items. The man had bright orange hair like the Mad Hatter in the new Alice in Wonderland and he was tall and thin with an olive green trench coat. He ended up taking in my brother and I. I have no idea what happened to our family. My two friends still had family in the village and would do a paper route. I'm afraid it might have been safer for them had they lived with us. We were not allowed to leave the orange haired man's walled house because there were dangerous things outside. When I followed the orange haired man to one of the gates one day he went out to retrieve a birthday present for my brother and had to be very careful because there was a motion sensored tank stationed outside the gate aiming to hit anyone who might come out. The present for my brother was a red plaid book bag. The only time we were allowed to leave was to go to school and the orange haired man would take us there directly and pick us up afterwards. That was the only time I was allowed out. But sometimes I would end up out anyways. I had a high awareness for the paranormal. I would see ghosts and things and end up outside the gates after following them. During the day I would be thinking I was afraid to go outside and agree fully with the orange haired man, but strange things happened at night. At night nothing was the same. One night I ended up out and I saw a baby boy alone in a cellar near some shops with a giant vulture. I asked the vulture what it was doing but it was the baby who answered. "Go away, you'll wake it up! I am looking for my father. You are ruining everything." I should have left but I wanted to know what he was talking about. I was with my two friends because I had seen them out on their paper route. A ghost came and took my two friends in a golden light and they all disappeared. Whispers started in the town. About the orange haired man and his walled house, about me and my brother and how everyone would disappear when we were around. About how I stood alone in the school yard. One day the orange haired man showed me a project he was working on. He was a scientist and inventor but also sometimes he was a vampire and he had once been batman. He still had all the things from the movies like the car, etc. He had two pools of water. One was salt water from near the village and one was the village tap water. He was throwing different food items in and they disappeared at different rates. Junk food and vegetables disappeared slowest. Fish and meat disappeared fastest. We saw that there were long, almost translucent worms in the water. They were like leeches or parasitic worms except their feeding was more frensied. We realized they were after blood. Because we were aware of their presence we became engaged in a deadly game with them. It was like tic tac toe on a huge board, but using spikes and chains of two colours as the pieces. we drove in spikes to try to get 3 in a row. If we got 3 in a row a chain would go across and the enemy pieces would try to pull on the chain and dislodge the pieces or snap the chain. If unsuccessful we were able to pass but if successful they we would not be able to get back in and they would get us. The worms were behind most of the disappearances. They would sometimes take on human hosts and become vampires. Our house alone was safe. Luckily we only had to worry about the worms at night so we could pass in and out during the day with only the danger of being shot at. But I could not help getting caught outside at night. Because I was trying to get my friend back from the ghost. The worms liked salt water most so we figured they had come from there but they were now in the tap water, except ours. Because the orange haired man had his house off the grid.

Back in Canada?

2011-07-05T13:22:00.002-05:00

First a little technical note: As soon as I get internet at my house I will fix all the pictures on my previous entries.

Now back to regular programming...

So what is it like to be back in Canada after my life-changing experience in Thailand. Well hmmm.... am I really back in Canada? I feel like I am still in Thailand and may be part of me is... and WHY do people drive on the wrong side of the road here?! I tried to get into the passenger seat of a taxi in Winnipeg and couldn't remember where it was.

I also have no idea where my clothes are! I have clothing from my last student teaching placement in my drawers... long pants, collared button-up shirts, and sweaters! Where are my t-shirts? What clothes do I even own?! I am so sick of wearing the same t-shirts for two months whenever I wasn't at the school wearing my uniform. I managed to find one black t-shirt to wear but my capris and shorts are still elusive.

And what did I eat when I lived in Canada? It took me 30 minutes to write a simple grocery list. I am going back to being vegetarian but I have no idea what to eat and my body is so confused it hasn't been hungry since I got back to Manitoba. So far I have ate pizza, 2 pizza pretzels and a muffin over the past 2 days... mostly because I figured I should eat SOMETHING even if I wasn't hungry! I bought orange juice. It is so nice I can get it without any sugar added in Canada! I am going to have to cook my own food for the first time in two months. Maybe I will have pasta with black bean pasta sauce, or stir-fry. I find myself looking at the food in the grocery store as if it is completely foreign.

I keep waking up at bizarre hours. There is nothing to do because I have yet to hook up internet to my apartment. I guess I can fill out my student loan application or fix my resume for job-hunting.

I came home to find out one of my roommates took my car joy-riding and the other roommate caught her and kicked her out. The pipe attached to the muffler is broken but my remaining roommate is going to help me fix it. It also was completely empty on gas. She stole my other rooomate's 2 televisions too. Good riddance! I need to also switch my car to its summer tires because there was still snow on the ground when I left! Once I get the muffler things sorted out I'll be out to Souris to fetch the tires I guess.

My remaining roommate is moving to Winkler at the end of the month because he got promoted at work. I will stay in the apartment but I am uncertain what roommate, if any, I will end up having. I kind of enjoyed living alone in Thailand and I can afford this place on my own, at least until it starts to get cold. It is a big apartment to have all to myself though! And I have no furniture to speak of. I might buy the beat up old futon off of my current roommate. Also there is either water or sewage leaking into the bathroom from the apartment upstairs. The landlord is being his usual unhelpful self. Overall, I am relieved that my car is mostly intact and that my stuff wasn't all sitting out back in the alley when I got home. I am going to have to work something out with him about fixing the holes in the wall in the living room. He needs to at least pay for the mud. I am kind of excited about the prospect of picking a new paint colour for the wall, although I don't want anything too bizarre or I'll have to redo the whole room and it would be a big and expensive job!

Well, all in all, I am feeling more confident and things are starting to sort themselves out around here. I feel the rest of the summer and the following year look promising! I have got everything sorted out for my courses for the fall and even if the electives kind of suck they are good from a business perspective and I am beginning to see the value of seeing things from a business perspective. That is something Thailand has taught me. Spending a lot of time on my own figuring out how to do things in a foreign country made me realize I really have a whole lot of power over my own life, even more than I previously thought. Right now I am working through the steps to get where I want to be, and even if I don't like ever single step I understand their merit. Step one, find a job and apply for student loans. Step two, sort out all remaining things with the apartment. Step three, pay my car insurance. Step four, complete the remaining year of school. After that, back to Thailand? Time will tell! With any luck two years from now will see me working in Thailand and planning to spend school vacation Down Under!

Thailand, In Retrospect

2011-07-04T08:59:00.109-05:00

(entry is still missing some of my Chiang Mai photos)

I think I will write a blog on Chiang Mai still but I want to look back at before I went to Thailand and revisit my entry 10 Things I Hope To Do in Thailand. Here is the list of things I wanted to do and some commentary on how I completed each of these goals.

1. Teach some wonderful students.

This one was easy. I had a wonderful class that included four grade 6, and twelve grade 5 students. The kids were incredibly smart, artistic, and endearing. I am not posting any pictures of them because I don't believe it is right to post pictures of my students on the internet. I will post some pictures of me teaching where no students are facing the camera though.

2. Spend some time relaxing on the beaches.

This one was more difficult than I thought. I am not very good at just sitting still when there are some many exciting things to see! I spent some time walking the beach in Hua Hin and I attempted to sit on the beach in Pattaya but only managed to sit there restlessly for about an hour. Next time I go to Thailand I would like to head south to some of the islands that have beautiful water and lots of fish!

3. Hold a tiger.

I held a baby tiger in Sri Racha. It was an active little thing. I also got to pet a full grown tiger at the same place.

4. Ride an elephant.

I was able to ride elephants 3 times. The first was in Hua Hin, the second was in Kanchanaburi, and the third was in Chiang Mai. I also saw elephant shows in both Sri Racha and Chiang Mai, and a baby elephant in the streets of Hua Hin. In Hua Hin I fed an elephant bananas and in Chiang Mai is saw elephants paint pictures, play the harmonica, play football (soccer). In Kanchanaburi I saw elephants bathing. I have grown a love for elephants in my time in Thailand. They are intelligent and generally gentle creatures worthy of our respect.

5. See the Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha are definitely the highlight of Bangkok. I would suggest everyone visit them. The beauty will throw you into a sense of awe. There really are no words to describe them properly!

6. Eat some delicious bugs.

I ate bugs on two occasions, at Khao San Road in Bangkok, and the Sunday night market in Chiang Mai. I tried locusts, crickets, and giant water bugs. They really were not as bad as I thought. In fact the locusts I might even eat again if given the opportunity. I also tried frog near my apartment in Thonburi.

7. Go to an open-air market.

I went to many open air markets throughout Thailand. In fact I bought dinner at the night market near my apartment almost every night.

8. See some Buddhist Temples.

Again, there was no shortage of opportunities for this. All I had to do was walk down the street to find a temple. The architecture is so grand and beautiful!

9. Take in the Natural Beauty.

I did this on many occasions. The best to places by far were Kanchanaburi and Chiang Mai. And my train ride from Chiang Mai to Bangkok allowed me lots of time to see the mountains, as did zip-ling outside of Chiang Mai. I think when I wrote this I was thinking more of the white sand beaches but I realized that the mountains drew me more.

10. Visit Bangkok Museums and Gardens.

I went to the National Museum and National Gallery in Bangkok. I also went to Buddha Mountain which had spectacular gardens! Next time I go to Thailand I would love to try to get to some of the Botanical Gardens dedicated to the King. They look amazing!

~~~

When I got to Thailand I soon realized that while my goals were a good start, there were so many other things to do! I tried so many new foods, took over 10 methods of transportation, and generally had a good time. I will write more about the highlights soon and add photos to all of my entries! Right now I need to catch a bus back to Brandon. Thanks for following along with my amazing adventure overseas!

A Thought in Progress...

2011-06-28T11:47:00.002-05:00

It is difficult to give an accurate portrayal of the last few days. I have met so many new people and tried so many new things. I guess I need to stress that while this is a physical journey, it is also a spiritual one. The life lesson is one of balance.

I decided to try meditating during my Thai massage today, which was rather ambitious of me considering all my trouble with meditating in the last couple of years. Something that once came naturally to me was thwarted by the way I had come to view the world. The effects of today's experiment, however, were amazing. It seems the massage lends itself to the meditative mind quite readily. Such clarity! It helped me to appreciate my own gifts and the gifts of others more, and to understand the importance of unity among people.

Chiang Mai is by definition a melting pot. People I have met here are from all over the world: England, the USA, Austria, France, China, Ireland, Australia, India, Greece, and of course the Thai people themselves. People here are so friendly compared to in Bangkok. There is very much a small town mentality. Their English seems better too, but it is Thailand and I am here to learn from the Thai culture, or perhaps more broadly, Eastern Philosophy. The East has a certain sense of balance that the West fails to achieve. The West is far too focused on the mind alone and I am beginning to see how that creates social illnesses. Everyday we see the horrors of sick and unrealistic sexual fantasies, wars based on fear, and television taking the place of a god. These things root themselves in the very nature of our condition, which is to forget about our physical and spiritual desires in favor of our minds. We ignore these needs for so long that they finally erupt in unhealthy forms, having been unable to capture our attention in any other way. This needs to change. There is a lot that Westerners could learn from the East.

When I first came to Thailand there were things about the very structure of the society here that deeply disturbed me. I was horrified by things that my Western mind could not understand. As I became more aware of the cultural contexts and beliefs that created these things I realized that there was really nothing fundamentally wrong with any of them. My limited Western view had caused me to find imagined problems in what I was seeing. These differences are just that, different from what I have been accustomed to in the past. In the West we hold high the idea of the individual and this shapes our worldview. In the East the ideal holds the benefit of the community at its core. To this end the whole society works like clockwork. What seemed bizarre and perhaps "wrong" is a perfectly fitting cog within this system. Everything runs as it should under this worldview, and I am beginning to wonder if it is not a healthier worldview.

Morality has proven subjective and therefore cannot be trusted. We must throw away this idea of how things should be and focus on why, instead, they are the way they are.

Kanchanaburi

2011-06-25T22:37:00.003-05:00

One of my absolute favorite places in Thailand is Kanchanaburi and there is so much to see there, I would not hesitate to go back again. The first thing you need to see is Erawan falls! It is at a National Park just outside of town. You could spend the whole day there hiking and swimming in the pools at the base of each of the 7 tiers of the water fall. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are supposedly the best. If you make it all the way to 7 you will be in serious need of a dip and the water will look so inviting to you! It is the perfect blue colour. The hike gets difficult after the 3rd tier and increasingly so. Sometimes it is hard to tell if you are still on the path because there are huge boulders you have to climb over. It is well worth it! The scenery is spectacular and if you pay close attention you will see a good deal of the local fauna. I saw armies of ants, a millipede, giant spiders, monkeys, fish of all sorts, a crab, a lizard, butterflies, and birds. Beware the monkeys. They are vicious pests at this particular site. Do not leave your belongings unattended at the lower levels of the trail and do not feed them. Your guide will remind you.

The lower levels have fish in the pools. They will bite your feet if you do not continuously move. This tickles. They eat the dead skin off your feet. It is what is called a Thai pedicure or fish massage. If you are into that sort of thing take advantage of it because they will charge you huge amounts at massage parlors for the same treatment.

Other highlights are the Bridge over the river Kwai, and the Death Railway. These sites are reminiscent of World War II. There is also a war museum near the market in Kanchanaburi, that is worth a visit if you are interested in the history. Take a ride on the Death Railway. It is a thrilling ride along the precarious trestles and passing many fields with bright red soil. It is well worth the trip. I was especially fascinated by the bomb shelter cave that was near the station where we got onto the train. It has old barrels and cots still in it. Prisoners of war built the railway under the Japanese. Thousands died from hard labour and malnutrition. I could not believe there was a huge golden Buddha inside the bomb shelter. I wonder if it was built there at that time or put there later.

If you have not seen elephants there is elephant riding or elephant bathing. There is also bamboo rafting. It is suggested you BYOB or cold soft drinks. There are hotsprings or you could take a trip to the tiger temple. Remember to wear proper clothing for the tiger temple, long pants and shirts that cover your shoulders for the women. I think if I was to go again I would go on a jungle safari. A friend went and they had amazing close-ups of zebras. You could spend a week or more in Kanchanburi and not be bored.

The Jolly Frog hostel has a wonderful restaurant worth checking out. If you are into the nightlife there is lots of it. Phong Phen guesthouse is lovely and rustic. It is right along the river. It is affordable and has a good restaurant and a nice big pool. I absolutely adore the wooden furniture. The only thing I did not like was the talking birds that made noises like sirens at their own discretion. I am not a bird person, however, so some people might find them endearing. Kanchanaburi is about an hour and a half bus side from the Southern Bus Terminal in Bangkok. It is not suggested you take the number 81 city bus from Phetkasem as I did on the way back. It stops at every stop and they turned off the fans randomly halfway through the trip. If you take the bus from the terminal it is nice and they will give you complimentary water.

Pattaya

2011-06-25T22:08:00.002-05:00

Two weekends ago I took a bus to Pattaya by myself. I should say that first I took a taxi and then the BTS (skytrain) to get to the Eastern Bus Terminal. Getting off at the correct stop I was unsure where the bus station was because it was dwarfed by the other buildings. I followed the only other Westerners, who were speaking German, figuring at least I would be less likely to get lost. It turned out we were all headed to Pattaya. One of the Germans sat next to me but could not speak English. He slept most of the way and I took pictures of the jungle-covered mountains. It was between 2 and a half and 3 hours to Pattaya. I ended up finding a hotel because I just missed the afternoon tour of the Sri Racha tiger zoo by 30 minutes. The hotel cost me an arm and a leg. I would've found a cheaper one had I not gone through a travel agency. The room was huge, at least 2 times the size of my apartment. This was only a 3 star hotel. I spent the afternoon on the beach and then went to the Hard Rock café for dinner. Their Pad Thai was wonderful and they had a special for Singha. The meal was expensive because it was the Hard Rock Café. I went back to the hotel room and watched Australian zoo rescue shows until I could not stay awake any longer. I am not very good at being alone. I have never really lived alone for very long and I find that I do not know what to do with myself. This trip is becoming a test of how well I can be alone. It is good for me. If I want other people to feel comfortable around me I first need to be comfortable around myself.
The next day bright an early I was up for my tiger zoo tour. I went downstairs for the complimentary breakfast buffet. It had Thai breakfast items, fresh fruit, and western options. The only thing they were missing was scrambled eggs. I like them better than eggs sunnyside up so I built myself a breakfast sandwich instead. The tour van driver was very late and I'm not sure why. There were only 2 people in the van when it got there. I suspect he was on Thai time. We picked up another group. I was the only one who spoke English. We arrived at the zoo and the English map and signs were very confusing. After getting my picture taken with a baby tiger and some crocodiles I wandered around aimlessly trying to find the tiger enclosure. It was raining pretty hard. I found the place to get my photo taken with a big tiger so I did that. Then I saw the place to see the Scorpion Queen but it had an entrance fee so I didn't go. Then it was time for the shows. They were amazing, especially the tiger and elephant shows. I did not care for their treatment of the crocodiles because it was clear they kept them very cold so they would be sluggish. Afterwards I had only 20 minutes before I had to go back. I realized the tiger enclosure was along a dirt road that was so muddy from the rain I would not want to go there that day. I could see it looked extremely jungle-like in that direction so I decided it would be a comfortable enclosure for the tigers. Because it was raining I decided to head directly back to Bangkok.

Khao San Cuisine

2011-06-24T13:24:00.001-05:00

And you thought you'd seen enough with the frog! If you are queasy (or vegan) you are advised not to watch!

Tastes Just Like Chicken!

2011-06-22T07:19:00.003-05:00

So I have been unable to find bugs so far. However, I have been eyeing up the BBQed frog at the market for 3 days now. Here goes nothing:

Grade 11 frog dissection never prepared me for this!

Blissful Bangkok

2011-06-19T08:36:00.003-05:00

There is little hope for it. I just cannot keep up with all the exciting things happening to me lately. I will tell you about this weekend and then attempt to post separate entries for past events that occurred in the last few weeks.

On Friday night I walked over to my friend Gale's house. It is about a 10-15 minute walk from my house. This was not so bad as it was relatively cool from the rain that had fell earlier in the afternoon. However, it was also very muddy and slippery at the edge of the road. I was carrying a watermelon because it is customary to bring a gift when going to visit someone's house. Generally acceptable gifts are flowers, chocolate, or fruit. I figured fruit was the easiest to find and safest (since some flowers symbolize death). I did not factor in the weight or slipperiness of the roads when I decided on a watermelon, however. The watermelon made it in one piece, but my toenail did not. I was wearing sandals, as I always do when not walking to or from school. I slipped in the mud and the top of my foot went skidding across the cement before I regained my balance. The result was a blood-covered toe, and broken toenail. Luckily the toe did not get infected.

I spent a lovely evening with Gale and her husband. They asked me many questions and fed me rambutans, mangosteens, and pork dumplings. And then a dessert of pickled santol fruit is an icy soup. Gale said she would take me to the market and sightseeing on Sunday at 10am. I decided this was a great idea.

On Saturday I got up bright and early to make the morning journey by taxi, BTS (skytrain), and foot to the US Embassy apartment block where we would meet a friend of a friend who was in the SCA. For those of you not familiar with the SCA here is the website:
http://www.sca.org/

There was to be a fighting tournament, but first came the usual mad rush of last minute organization that precedes these sorts of events. The event was to be held at a university nearby. The issue was getting all the gear from the apartment to the university... there were only two cars. It was made even more difficult because as it turned out there was a graduation going on at the university and students were all out in their silk grad gowns getting their photos taken on every set of stairs on campus. There were were in street clothes, hauling armour through their shots. The room the group had rented was fabulous, with carpet and huge red curtains. We made a throne-like setup that was extremely good. I borrowed a dress from the baroness, the first long sleeves I had worn since arriving in Thailand. I became the score keeper for the tournament, which was lots of fun, apart from me not knowing everyone's name. People were really cooperative with helping me out though so that was nice. We drew a large crowd of spectators. After the fighting we had dinner and there was gift-giving for the winning team. The dinner was huge, and like a multi-course banquet. The set up was extremely ideal for the event. I was very impressed. Then there was a video conference with the King of the Far West, who lives in Japan. It went very well, and was really neat to see. This barony of the SCA covers three countries, which is madness to say the least. Overall, a very exciting and wonderful day. Oh and below is a video of a Viking Birthday song I learned. The SCA members were quite interested in Vikings, among other things. :-)

Today I went with Gale first to Buddha Mountain, which is like a huge set of gardens, with a giant Buddha image, and temple. Gale showed me some of the Buddhist ceremonies and told me more about the Buddha, and how this site was very similar to the one at Buddha's birthplace in India. She had me do a ceremony with wax, where I prayed for my family. Then we went out and fed the catfish in the ponds. She says the Thai people will not eat the catfish. I think they are sacred, although I do not know the details. Many temples have ponds full of catfish here.

Then Gale took me to a huge outdoor market that was apparently extremely small compared to other markets in Bangkok. I would have no trouble getting lost in this one. We spent 3 hours there. 2 hours alone in the plant section. Gale was looking at ferns, which she collects. I was looking at orchids and taking pictures for my grandmother. We ate authentic Pad Thai for lunch with banana flower and something similar to green onion that Gale said was not onion. Gale told me that the south of Thailand has very spicy food, but central and northern Thailand does not. She says she does not like spicy food. There was so much to see at the market but it became too hot in the afternoon so we ended up leaving.

I cooled off at the apartment and then went and bought mangosteens, the queen of fruit (durian is the king of fruit) and sushi for dinner at the market. I waited until it was late enough I could call dad for father's day because he would no longer be sleeping in his part of the world. All in all, a good weekend! Next weekend I will go to Chiang Mai!

Temple Tour

2011-06-07T07:38:00.001-05:00

There has been so much going on since I last updated here. I have been literally run off my feet. I went on a temple tour in Bangkok weekends ago. The first stop was Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. I have never seen anything quite like the luxury displayed there. The buildings were the most ornate I had ever seen. There were buildings and monuments to house Buddhist relics and manuscripts surrounding the temple. One of the buildings was made of 1 inch aquare tiles in a moziac. These tiles were made of 24kt gold! Other buildings had gold, mirrors, coloured, stones, and paint in the most intricate patterns imaginable. There were entire doors made out of abalone shell in picture designs or mother of pearl. The floors were all marble. In buildings around the outside of the temple were hand painted images. (Somewhere around 167 in total) These floor to ceiling images told the mythology of the first Rama king defeating the demon king. There was a scale model of the old capital city which had been beautiful but was destroyed in war. Monkey guardians were situated all around, because in the story they came to the aid of the Rama king. There were also golden statues of angels. Male angels are half bird and half man. Female angels are half woman and half lion. The emerald Buddha was relatively small but considering just how much emerald it was made of that made it no less amazing.

Grand Palace itself was huge and ornate. Guards all in white stood at all the entrances. Like the guards at Buckingham palace they are not allowed to move or smile. In front of Grand Palace was a garden of giant Bonsai trees which my guide refered to as "beautiful topiary." There were many buildings all around in different architectural styles. One in particular looked like a big Victorian style mansion.
The next stop was the Reclining Buddha. The actual temple was closed for a ceremony of some sort but the reclining Buddha was in a separate building. It is huge and has designs in Mother of Pearl on its feet. Some people were dropping coins into pots along the side of the building. I don't know what the purpose was but there were many pots and they dropped a coin into each one. Standing guard at all the archways in the courtyard surrounding were statues that looked Chinese in style but some seemed to be wearing top hats.

The last temple was the Temple of the Rising Dawn. We took a ferry across the river to see it. It was huge and looked much like an aztec pyramid except it was covered with all sorts of designs and statues. There were two different levels with viewing platforms, accessed by any of four sets of stairs. The stairs were so steep that when I reached the top I actually considered staying up there rather than getting close enough to the edge to attempt climbing back down! The view was quite spectacular. We then caught a long-tailed boat, also referred to as a "James Bond" because they were used in a James Bond movie. We toured through the floating market, and got a good view of life along the canals in Bangkok. We then headed for lunch.

After lunch we visited a place were they polish gemstones and make and sell jewellery. They tried to sell us jewellery, and although it was quite a good deal the cheapest items looked too much like engagement rings for me to considering buying one.

Durian Video 2

2011-05-24T11:26:00.001-05:00

Due to the comments on Facebook I thought I'd give it a try.

Me Eating Durian (with vid)

2011-05-23T08:22:00.001-05:00

The video says it all! If you want me to eat a bigger chunk, leave a comment!

Pirates of Bangkok

2011-05-21T06:14:00.003-05:00

I decided it was about time I went to the mall... and I'll admit, it having a movie theatre was the deciding factor. I wanted to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4. I also needed to get a phone. I asked one of the girls where to catch the bus to Mall Bangkae and there is a stop about a block from my house. As it turns out the bus is the most affordable method of transport I have found yet that doesn't involve walking in 36 degree Celsius heat, just 6.50 Baht was my fair. Armed with only the knowledge that Mall Bangkae was 7 floors high and had a waterslide on the roof, I set off. As it turns out the waterslide is not visible but there are tents and foliage on the roof. There is also a huge sign that reads "Paradise at the Mall" with a giant pink flower. I only counted 6 floors of actual mall but perhaps the waterslide on the roof is considered a floor. On top of all this is another 4 floors of offices. The fourth floor, where I spent most of my time is home to 2 arcades, Karaoke rooms, clothing shops, a food court, a bowling alley, a fitness centre, conference rooms, and movie theatres... oh and one of the arcades just happens to me in a mock village called "City Walk" and includes a flying pirate ship tram that runs along the roof. There were at least 4 Japanese restaurants alone on this floor (and more on other floors). There were also all manner of other restaurants and food vendors. One of the Japanese places had the rotating sushi bar, so I will be back to sample that when it is less busy. Lunch looked not too busy but when I came out from my movie at 4:30pm there was a huge line of people waiting for seats.

A few notes about seeing movies in Thailand. First of all you get to pick your seats in advance so you can buy your ticket then shop until 5 minutes prior to the movie and still have a good seat. It cost 140 Baht, so that is just a bit less than I would pay in Canada but very expensive by Thai standards. Concession food was overpriced just like in Canada. They don't sell butter with popcorn but they have salt or cheese. When you go in to take your seat there is a security check point to make sure you don't have a video camera or food that was not purchased at the Concession. They also will keep any bulky bags safe for you. Before the movie there are lots of credits but also a time when you must stand to show respect for the King. If you know anything about Thailand then you will know this means you MUST stand. Pirates of the Caribbean 4 was in English with Thai subtitles. I thought it was funny that the guy at the counter stressed to me "English Only!" when that was the language we were conversing in. I chose the non-3D version because 3D often makes me sick because my eyes try to correct to normal. There was a stand outside the theatre that sold Pirates t-shirts and notebooks. And you could buy the Pirates combo and it came with an action figure of Jack Sparrow on the lid of the drink. I just stuck with popcorn. The movie was excellent. It was about 2 and a half hours long.

Before heading home I bought a phone and then took a peak at each floor in the mall. I think I will be back just because if I take the stairs and walk around it will be good exercise and also it is air conditioned. Now that I know how to use the bus this opens up more possibilities for travel. The bus on the way back cost more. My tickets said I paid 14 Baht but I paid 8. I only had my address card for the school on me so they dropped me off at the market instead of the stop near my house. This was okay, except I was dressed in my green summer dress which has no shoulder straps and my neighbourhood is ultra-conservative. It felt like my skin was burning with all the stares, and I am used to stares being a farang. I went home to change before going to get dinner because I didn't want to cause more offense than I already had.

BIF (Bangkok it's Friday)

2011-05-20T06:49:00.005-05:00

Another productive day... or not. As usual the highlight of my day was going to the market. The market I go to most often is about 3 blocks from the apartment complex. On Fridays it is bigger and better than any other day (although I cannot vouch for Saturday yet as I have not been there on a Saturday. This will be my first full weekend in Bangkok.)

Let me give you the run down on the Friday Market. It starts with my walk to the market. This is a leisurely stroll in the 36 degree Celsius evening air. It was about 5:40pm when I left the apartment complex, and I was sure to stay to the edge of the sidewalk/walkway to allow motorcycles (and heaven forbid, cars) to get past me without running me over. There was the occasional bicycle that passed me too. I nervously looked in all directions before crossing driveways and alleys to further avoid being hit my a fast moving vehicle. They can come out of nowhere. I weaved around obstacles: phone booths, poles, shrubs, street-dogs, and their droppings. Closer to the market motorcycles are parked along the walkway making the way even narrower. The good news is once inside the market there are no motorcyles. The area is further congested with heavy foot traffic: anxious mothers with hands filled with bags of goods, smiling fathers holding small children, school age children still in school uniforms.

A huge square tent serves as a roof over the area that sells foods of all sorts. You can get raw or cooked foods, spices, produce, fish, bulk items, candy, desserts, and drinks of all kinds. It is legal to walk around in public with open alcohol so this is not out of the question. One popular stand sells bubble tea and drinks with slabs of jello in them. I gaze at them curiously, but unable to order these drinks with ease due to the set up of the stand and my lack of Thai, I move on. Other booths sell juice, pop, and mixed alcoholic drinks with ice in clear plastic bags. There are tables sprawled with fresh vegetables and fruits, some that I have no names for.

(I suggest if you are squeamish or vegetarian that you skip this paragraph.) There are tables with fish on ice, and others that are stainless steel with fish and eels wriggling on their surfaces gasping for air. A particularly strong looking Thai woman is standing next to them with a cleaver. Crabs are sitting with their claws held against their bodies with elastic bands. Whole squid soak in tubs of water. I gaze into a huge bowl covered with a net to see some of the yellow toads that live in the apartment complex breathing shallowly. Disgusted, I move on. A woman is chopping up bits of animals I don't recognize. Goose necks hang on strings. Some booths sell whole chickens. Other chickens lay with the meat taken off, organs exposed on the skeletons. Other tables have salted and dried fish. Hot dogs, meat balls on skewers, crab skewers, and sausages wrapped in bacon cook on grills. Meat marinated in more types of sauces than I can name are sold on skewers as well.

Vats of bubbling soups and curries assail my nose with delicious smells. Stir fried mixtures sit in tub after tub, each one different. A woman sells meats, eggs, and vegetables over noodles or rice. 10 Baht. Another woman sells noodles of all varieties mixed with delicious looking vegetables. 12 Baht. I did in my wallet, pointing to what I want. She points at parmesan cheese, then chili peppers, and hot sauce. Do I want these? I decline the hot sauce knowing there is about a 75% chance the food is already very spicy. (It would be more likely 95% had it been a stirfry type dish.) Two women sell round cakes of sticky rice of different colours. A man stands by what looks like a row of candy machines filled with bulk items. Women sell bags of spices and condiments out of tubs. "Sawadee krab" my favorite fruit man greets me as I eye his ripe rambutans."Sawadee ka" I return, sad that I must not buy anymore fruit until I finish the last of my yellow mangoes. Another woman selling noodles greets me also. There are pots of corn on the cob boiling. Steam from huge metal rice steamers washes over me at waist level, as I walk further I am hit by a cool breeze from a fan. The market is packed because it is Friday. I wrack my brains for the word for excuse me but it has slipped my mind. I feel foolish and have to wait for people to move on their own. The people behind me are not impressed and pass me as soon as they can. There is a man selling fresh spices and strange looking funghi. Eggs from unknown animals are also sold. I am slightly surprised not to see any bugs. A few women sell doughnuts, cakes and pastries. Other women sell puddings and custards in squares.

There is a woman singing. I am not certain but I think she might be blind. She has a beautiful singing voice. Every night she is there. Another woman walks around selling lottery tickets. A man with a prosthetic leg sits on the ground, begging. I am sad but do not give him money. Often there are people who drop off people with disabilities and profit off whatever money they make that evening. If I could know this money would actually go to this man I would give him something.

Out in the open air smaller tents are set up, and tables without even an umbrella. One sells goldfish in plastic bags. Another sells showerheads. One sells belts and hunting knives. Many sell clothes for men, women, and children. 10 Baht for a pair of underwear one sign displays boldly. A large stall sells laundry detergent, paper towel, and other cleaning supplies. Other stalls sell jewellery, and still more sell candles, incense, and little Buddhas. There are pots and pans, cooking utensils, spoons, forks, and chopsticks. There are teapots and pitchers for iced tea. There are cds and dvds and stands playing music. Merchants call after me, trying to sell their wares. There is everything you could want or need. Having found food I head back towards the apartment. Families are sitting in the grass between the walkway and the busy highway enjoying picnic dinners of items from the market.

The sun is sinking low in the sky and the clouds are a vibrant pastel peach colour. I stop for a green tea latte over ice at a vendor outside the gates to my complex. A few small vendors sell their usual items from in front of the 7-11 a block down. Motorcycle taxis with drivers in purple or orange vests wait to take people home. I smile at the two boys of the security guard, sitting in the little booth by the gate still in school uniforms. They babble at me excitedly in Thai, which I wish I could understand. I walk past the swimming pool and the water filling station. Past the meditation area and the main office. Some of the other teachers are playing outdoor table tennis. The basketball court is empty as usual. I walk across it to my building.

There Was an Old Woman Tossed Up in a Blanket

2011-05-19T02:22:00.002-05:00

There was an old woman tossed up in a blanket,
Seventeen times as high as the moon;
Where she was going I could not but ask it,
For in her hand she carried a broom.
"Old woman, old woman, old woman," quoth I;
"O whither, O whither, O whither so high?"
"To sweep the cobwebs from the sky,
And I'll be with you by-and-by!"

To Market, To Market

2011-05-18T07:19:00.003-05:00

Being back in my apartment means a desire for fresh fruit. This morning I found a vendor who sold me fresh pineapple for just 10 Baht. It made an excellent breakfast but I knew I wanted to go to the market in the evening to get something more exotic. The market sells everything... food prepared or unprepared, clothes, electronics, cutlery, footwear, religious items, toys, shower-heads... seriously anything. Mostly it sells food and clothes. The night markets near my apartment differ from the ones in Hua Hin in a few ways... first of all, they are in big vacant lots instead of narrow streets. Second, they are less of tourist traps and more functional. Third, they are way less expensive. I bought myself some dinner for 12 Baht and dessert for 10 Baht. Then I went in search of fruit. Fresh yellow mangoes were only 25 Baht a kilo. Langsat were 40 Baht a kilo at the cheapest booth. Good deals all around. My hands are still sticky and smell of the tangy Langsats despite my washing them. Tomorrow I will take a mango to B's for breakfast. She has a bigger menu now that school has started so I will be having lunch there if the cafeteria is not running yet. She also has peach iced tea now.

At school I finished my bulletin boards today and made an icebreaker worksheet that is designed like a celebrity interview from a Teen magazine, except the students get to be the stars. I thought about playing Human Knot but Thai people have a lot of etiquette around space-bubble issues so I thought maybe it would not be so wise. I thought I was meeting my students today but it turns out it was only Kindergarten start. Tomorrow my students will come. Many of the Kindergartens were bawling downstairs while I was working on the bulletin boards. And it was funny to watch them all in a line with their hands on the railing going down the stairs. That is a lot of stairs for such small children. Hopefully by the end of the week they will be settled into the school routine.

I realized in the market today I needed to learn a few more Thai phrases, so below are the words/phrases I will be working on this week:

I'm sorry = Ko-Thod-Ka (if female), Ko-Thod-Krab (if male)

How much? = An-Nee-Tao-Rai

1 Neung
2 Song
3 Saam
4 See
5 Haa
6 Hohk
7 Jet
8 Paet
9 Gaao
10 Sib
20 Yee Sib
30 Saam Sib
40 See Sib
50 Haa Sib
60 Hohk Sib
70 Jet Sib
80 Paet Sib
90 Gaao Sib
100 Neung Roy

Sa-wa dee

2011-05-17T04:45:00.003-05:00

Sa-wa dee, hello. Back in Bangkok. It is important to stretch out the syllables in Thai because as a farang (foreigner) they have difficulty understanding you.
It is one heck of scorcher out there today. I am hoping it decides to rain soon to cool it down a bit. Rain is inevitable but not always convenient. Rain hardly ever lasts long than 20 minutes in one go and it often comes out of nowhere.
I am feebly trying to grasp on to some Thai phrases to ease transactions at the market and the 7-11. You may think 7-11 is an odd place to go when in Thailand but the 7-11 will save your life... seriously. There is one about every 2 blocks usually. They usually have an ATM outside and are willing to give you change for big bills that the street vendors can't handle. They also sell the 2 liter bottles of water I am always talking about, and as a farang in Thailand you should never go anywhere without your giant water. If you dehydrate you get all sorts of weird ailments you can't even imagine. I felt like I had pins and needles all over my body for a day and a half and then broke out into a rash on my belly before I managed to get enough water back into my system. It is advisable you drink 2 big bottles of water every day. I am lucky now I'm back in Bangkok that I have a free refill station and I can save $1+ CAD a day on water purchases. Big bottles of water range from 13-20 Baht depending on brand, which averages at $0.50 CAD per bottle.
On top of the need for hydration you must intake enough salt to counteract the sweating for someone who watches their diet as closely as I do back how this is not easy. I have to intentionally buy junkfood in order to get enough salt. I find I do not like a lot of the Thai junkfood because it is too salty or too sweet. I bought orange juice at breakfast today and it was seriously like tang with added pulp... and I think the pulp was actually orange rind. They sometimes even sweeten fresh fruit, although it usually doesn't need it because it is so fresh compared to what I am used to in Canada.
After purchasing something you should say kob-khun-ka (if female) or kob-khun-krab (if male), which means thank you. That is sadly about the extent of my Thai so far. I can definitely sympathize with immigrants to Canada who have to learn English. It is very overwhelming to be immersed in a new culture and language all at once and try to figure out how to do everything associated with moving on top of learning to speak to people around you and not do something that offends someone. It really is terrifying, and excited, and sometimes it is just too much and you can't take the over-stimulation.
Tomorrow I will meet my class and finish decorating the bulletin boards (hopefully).

The Elusive Garden

2011-05-16T11:17:00.002-05:00

So today I thought it would be nice to kick back and relax... but of course I have little practice in that area and turned out not to be any good at it. I decided to go looking for some butterfly gardens that were supposed to be across the street from the King's palace... shouldn't be too hard to find right?! Well I found the King's palace no problem but after wandering around in circles and asking people, who tried their best to be helpful, I decided it was a lost cause. The King's palace is heavily guarded and there is supposed to be a viewing area for tourists... I couldn't find that either, or the supposed temple nearby. Hot and bothered I stopped at a nearby shop for some cold pineapple-guava juice.
I then began the long walk back into town. I knew I had managed to sweat off most of my sunscreen and was burning but the sun was nearly directly overhead and there was nowhere to go to hide from it. When I finally got back into town I was starving and needed to find somewhere cool and shady to sit. I also needed to replace some salt so I headed for the local McDonalds. Now normally I don't condone eating at McDonalds, even in North America but it was an air conditioned building and I wanted to take a picture of the wai-ing Ronald McDonald. In Thailand a wai is a sign of respect. There are huge etiquette rules about who wais first and how low, etc.
In the afternoon I walked down to a used bookstore. The owner is a Kiwi and he is quite an interesting gentleman. Being the intellectual sort we hit it off well and he invited me to join him for sushi after he closed up. I was very sad to decline because I already had another dinner obligation.
At 6pm a group of students from my University headed down to the pier for what turned out to be an absolutely wonderful meal. My mouth is burning just thinking about the spicy squid and sea mimosa salad I ate. It came in a little bit spicy, medium spicy, or too spicy. I really like spicy foods but the medium spicy was even a bit much for me. I thought the roof of my mouth would break out in blisters any moment. After dinner we road up the glass elevator to the 17th floor of the Hilton hotel, the fanciest hotel in Hua Hin. There we sat in the outdoor bar overlooking the city. The view was spectacular. The margaritas were okay, but not their specialty. There was a weird guy walking around performing some sort of acrobatic stunts with a teapot... the teapot had the longest spout I have ever seen. He then poured tea out of the pot he had practically been juggling! It was something to see.
Finally, we finished off the evening at a little gelato bar. The lady did not like my 500 Baht bill even though she clearly had enough change in her cash register. I did not have any smaller change so she took it grudgingly. The coffee flavoured gelato was truly excellent but I think nothing can beat the goat's milk gelato I had in Kelowna when I went on the wine tour with my friends. Tomorrow afternoon we head back to Bangkok and Wednesday I will meet my class!

Monks and Monkeys

2011-05-15T04:15:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I went on an elephant ride. It was 1000 Baht for the morning, during which we also visited a temple and fed giant catfish. The transportation to and from our hotel was included, as was fish food, and a snack of water and pineapple. Of course they still sold us a basket of bananas for 100 Baht to feed to the elephants and the professional photos of us on the elephants were 200 Baht each. They tried to sell us two different ones but I only bought one. The elephant ride was thrilling. Most of the time we sat on a sort of saddle-seat but we were able to ride it bare-back for photographs. It is very scary when elephants walk downhill... it feels like you will come toppling off.
The tour took us through the farmstead of our guides. It was hard to see how they lived, in pieced together shacks with no walls. As we walked by on the elephants I was able to see a baby sleeping in a hammock, and a paddock full of cattle that were all skin and bones. They had chickens also and there were many dogs because there was a dog shelter nearby. I even saw a white cat sitting on a rock. There was lots of construction going on to fix the statues of the nearby temple. One statue had all scaffolding around it. After we trekked out of the farmstead we went through the jungle. I saw some bright red beetles and some trees with huge thorns on them. We walked down through a pond.
When we went to see the catfish some were 3 feet long and there were other fish too. Some were really ugly. There were turtles and a lot of hungry street-dogs which we fed some of the fish-food to.

Today I decided to go see the monkeys at Monkey Mountain. I was given bad directions but a motor-taxi picked me up and took me the 8km. The motor-taxi driver was crazy. He drove in the wrong lane to get around traffic and laughed like an adrenaline-junkie, which probably was not too far off the mark. Still, it is safer than the van-taxis and makes me less motion-sick. I am yet to ride in a Tuk-Tuk (3-wheeled taxi). The ride was pricey but still a good deal by North American standards. I spent about 2-3 hours taking photos of monkeys and visiting the 2 temples on the mountain. I then began the long and arduous journey back to the hotel. The motor-taxi driver had suggested I go along the beach, but I was unable to find a way down there. It is about a 7-8 km hike back to the area of Hua Hin where my hotel is, much confused by the fact that the sign will claim that 5 streets in a row are all Road 88 and the like. I need to get to Road 46. The heat was intense and I stopped at a 7-11 (which are plentiful in Thailand) and bought a 2 Liter of water. The whole trek took about an hour and a half and caused me lots of looks from the locals. Normally someone like me would take a taxi, I guess. The roads were quite safe except that some of the power-lines hung down low over the sidewalk.
I was relieved when it rained for a bit, but soon it was hot again. I thank my SPF 60 for only getting a sunburn the size of a loonie on my arm where the sunscreen must have worn off because of my watch. My feet are very sore and I am thinking tomorrow I will check out the used bookstore a few blocks down or perhaps get a massage.

Hua Hin (with video)

2011-05-13T11:58:00.005-05:00

The night markets in Hua Hin are amazing. You can buy anything from toys to music to clothes to ice cream shaped like eggs and you can haggle on the prices of anything that is not already marked. I finally found postcards for 5 Baht each. I hope I bought enough. I didn't do a thorough job of counting. I can always go back and get more another night. I also bought a pair of fisherman's pants to wear to the temples and a turtle shaped bag for the beach and for hiking to Monkey Mountain... I have also heard it called Monkey Island, which is hilarious.
My plan was to hike to Monkey Mountain tomorrow. There is supposed to be a Buddhist Shrine and also a place that gives wonderful massages. And there are lots of monkeys. However, perhaps that is a plan for Sunday because a group of us is headed elephant riding tomorrow! We are getting up bright and early and busing to the riding location. More details to follow!
This morning I oriented myself with the town. It is relatively small but busy and touristy. The beach was decent. My understanding is you need to watch out for jellyfish. I did not swim today because I had not brought my swimsuit down to the beach. There are also horses to rent, which might be fun. I spent the midday heat indoors, gecko-watching and lazed around by the pool until dinner. We went to a small restaurant called Bam Bam. It doesn't look like much but the seafood is superb.

Mai Pben Rai

2011-05-11T22:11:00.000-05:00

There is an expression in Thai, "Mai Pben Rai" meaning "It's all good" or "It's okay." This expression can be frustrating to foreigners because it becomes more than an expression, but a lifestyle. It was explained to me as follows: In Thailand there is an abundance of everything. People do not have to work hard to get food or water or any necessities. As a result there is little need for schedules and things are quite flexible. Plans change unexpectedly and people adapt easily to any situation. Westerners get frustrated when plans continuously fall through but there is no use being angry because Thai people do not know how to act if you get angry and it will not get you any results. If you get angry with a Thai person they will probably laugh it off. It will be a nervous laugh, but you will get nothing for your efforts except more frustration. When a Thai person laughs like this it means they have lost face and they are trying to come to terms with it so they will be embarrassed and beyond that not respond to your criticism. There is no reason for them to change a system that has worked well for them up until when you came along.
Don't be offended. Thai people are some of the nicest and most friendly people you can meet anywhere. I have had no trouble at all here. They are wonderful and gracious hosts. But you need to work like you are on vacation all the time. Things take longer than expected. Plans change like the weather. Mai Pben Rai.

Life in the Marketplace

2011-05-11T18:17:00.000-05:00

Last night I could not go on the water-taxis because the person who was taking us had his turn with the jet-lag fever. Instead I went to Carrefour, the department store to get laundry soap, a little trash can, and some sandals. In order to get to Carrefour I had to cross the Petkasem Road, the busy highway in front of the apartment complex with 3 lane traffic in each direction. Now by North American standards this might not seem hard... but once you see how these people drive you would understand. I kept to the sidewalk until I came to the footbridge over the road. I must point out that during this 10 minute walk to the footbridge I almost got ran over by a car that decided to drive on the sidewalk. Motorcycle traffic on the sidewalk is common and possibly legal but cars not so much.
In Carrefour I got a taste for what it would be like for an immigrant in Canada. I felt completely disoriented. I could not tell laundry detergent from fabric softener. I walked around aimlessly and almost bumped into a few people.
On the way home from Carrefour I stopped at the outdoor market for dinner. I saw a woman frying fish on a grill so I bought a bag of fish and mixed vegetables. One of the vegetables was a white, round root that tasted rather starchy. It was interesting. The fish was very spicy because it was mixed with chili peppers. I also bought a package I speculated was rice but it turned out to be raw meat mixed with onions. I think it is either pork or dog, but no way of knowing since I can't read Thai. Finally, I bought the rambutans that turned out to be quite tasty... just as well because I have to eat the whole bag before going to Hua Hin tonight.
Hua Hin is famous because it is the site of one of the King's favorite beach houses. It is not the most spectacular beach in Thailand but it is one of the safest. We spend 5 days there over the Coronation Day weekend as there is also a Buddhist holiday this weekend.
What you don't know is that the apartments where I live are smack dab in the middle of a market. Also there is the morning market and the night market. In the morning I can buy coffee, fresh fruit, and waffles. In the evening I can buy meat skewers, and slushees, and fried plaintain. (Among other things.)
Here are a few pictures of the classrooms in the school. It is truly amazing!

May 10, 2011

2011-05-11T03:11:00.000-05:00

Nothing much new to report for today. I had intended to take many pictures and buy some sandals. My jet-lag had other plans. I managed to sit through the morning with a headache so bad I couldn’t see straight. I must have wrote all of 3 sentences and managed somehow to sit through a meeting on Thai culture. The rambutan was out of the question. I went home at lunchtime and slept away the afternoon and right until 11:00pm. It was too late to hit the markets so I have confined myself to my room. I will go back to bed after I finish unpacking and writing a shopping list. Tomorrow after school we are going into the downtown and taking a water-taxi up the river to take in the view.

I did learn some new things. First of all, everyone here knows about the flooding back home. Most of the Canadian teachers are from Winnipeg and read Winnipeg FreePress online. I was hit with many questions about that at breakfast. Second, often Thai people don’t want you to speak Thai. (Probably because we butcher it.) Third, Buddhist monks are not allowed to touch a woman. There is a story about a monk long ago who watched a woman drowning because he was not allowed to touch her. Other things include it being inappropriate to rest leaning against a desk, there are bathrooms adjoining every classroom because we should never leave during the day, and shoes are not to be worn in classrooms. This is the hot season and it is the coldest hot season on record for 35 years and that it rained yesterday bothers locals. It does NOT rain during the dry season.

Thailand, an Intro

2011-05-09T15:45:00.004-05:00

First of all, Thailand is amazing! I have never made a better choice than coming here. Not all of my group is as adventurous and me and honestly they are missing out. as a result the people I am becoming friends with are mostly the Canadian teachers who have come over here to teach for a year or more and are really into the Thai lifestyle.

Yesterday morning when I woke up I was very confused as to what to do. No one was in sight. As it turns out the 3 others at Campus 1 slept in, perhaps jet-lagged. I found a student from the University of Manitoba who had been here a week. He showed me the quickest way to walk to the school. 10 minutes later, having navigated the street-side vendors, and detoured around a Buddhist shrine we arrived at the copper-coloured school building. I think it is 7 or 8 floors high. The numbering is a bit strange. The staffroom is on the 5th floor and it looks like something out of a police show. It has whitewashed walls and a desk with a computer for each teacher to work individually. Interactions are usually only with those in your general vicinity. To offset this police station feel guests sit on plastic lawn chairs as they are much cheaper than office chairs. This first week is for planning. The students will arrive next week but I will not start teaching them seriously until the 23rd. This weekend is a long weekend due to Coronation Day and a Buddhist holiday. The first week of class the students go to Ethics camp to learn the correct way to behave in school. I will see them only for introductions during this period.

My class consists of 4 grade 6 students and during English and Social Studies we join with the grade 5s, making 16. The students in the program which I teach are paying extra for 85% English immersion rather that only 50% English immersion. This results in smaller class sizes. Everyday I must be at school from 8am until 4:30pm. Class starts at 8:40am and goes to about 3:30pm. After this, students who pay extra go to Homework Club where they have help with the mandatory 30 minute daily homework. the day starts out with Candle Ceremony, which I will describe more once it is explained to me. I teach core subjects from Manitoba curriculum: English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Students do not have recess apart from lunch recess. As a result they have time for extra classes. They take Thai language, Ethics, Music, Gym, Swimming, Computers, and Scouts. They have to learn Canadian history but also Thai history. They celebrate Canada Day. There are two pools inside the school for swimming but they don't swim past October because it is "too cold."
Teachers are greatly respected here because of the hierarchy. It goes Buddha, then the King, then parents, then teachers.

The teachers here hardly ever cook. We can buy food at the street vendors, usually for less than 30 Baht (~$1 Canadian). For breakfast I had scrambled eggs and toast for 30 Baht. For lunch I had Thai Chicken Curry for 30 Baht and a big glass bottle of Pepsi for 14 Baht. Dinner consisted of fried plantains in Carnation milk caramel sauce for 20 Baht. Once school actually starts I will have the option of free lunches. Tap water is not safe to drink but a 2 litre bottle of water costs 14 to 20 Baht and there is free filtered water at the school. I drank 3 litres and a 1 litre Pepsi yesterday.

Most streets here are narrow and lined with street vendors. People drive motorcycles mostly and even drive them on the sidewalk. Children as young as ten can be seen driving motorcycles and sometimes whole families sit on one motorcycle. Other people drive cars and public transport consists of buses, trains, and taxis.

Oh and it is safe! Women can walk alone at night here, although groups are still suggested. My apartment has 24 hour security. To walk into my apartment it goes as follows. First you enter through a big metal gate guarded by a security guard. Next you find the correct building, to get in it requires a fingerprint scan and password. Providing you are able to complete this there are high quality locks on both my apartment door and bathroom door. (By the time you figure them out I will have escaped out the window!) No stalkers, please!

10 Things I Hope To Do in Thailand

2011-04-17T17:31:00.008-05:00

Things I want to do in Thailand May/June 2011.

1. Teach some wonderful students.

2. Spend some time relaxing on the beaches.

3. Hold a tiger.

4. Ride an elephant.

5. See the Grand Palace.

6. Eat some delicious bugs.

7. Go to an open-air market.

8. See some Buddhist Temples.

9. Take in the Natural Beauty.

10. Visit Bangkok Museums and Gardens.

No Internet

2011-04-10T18:45:00.002-05:00

I am currently at the library because I have no internet. I moved into a new apartment (again) at the beginning of April. Because my roommate and I agreed it would be silly to get internet when he doesn't use it and I will be going to Thailand in a month for now I will just have to do without. Hopefully I will have internet at my apartment in Thailand and then definitely when I get back for the summer! Updates then!

Hearty Perogy Soup

2011-03-21T19:50:00.002-05:00

Makes LOTS!

1/4 cup olive oil
3 medium onions, diced
1 package bacon, chopped
6-7 small to medium red potatoes, diced
1 1/2 cup water
4 large carrots, chopped
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 tbsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp Montreal chicken spice
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp parsley
1/4 cup cheddar, diced
10 bacon and cheddar perogies, chopped
2 cups half and half cream

Sautee onions with olive oil and bacon in the bottom of a large pot. Add spices, potatoes, and water. Let simmer. Add carrots and broccoli and 1 cup of cream. Let simmer, stirring ocassionally. When potatoes are almost cooked through add cheddar and chopped perogy. Stir and cook on low. When potatoes are fully cooked add remain cream and remove from heat.

What is really going on?

2011-03-12T21:17:00.003-06:00

What is really going on with me? Well, as it turns out this new living situation is not working out as I had hoped. I will be moving again at the end of the month. I am starting in my student teaching placement next week and then at the beginning of May I will be headed to Thailand. Once in Thailand I hope I will get set up to give some wonderful photo entries. I will be in Thailand for 7 weeks and then returning and looking for a summer job. Hopefully I will then conduct a new story contest or some other sort of contest. It was a lot of fun to have reader participation.

What is really going on in Brandon? There was a big snowstorm last night. My work got cancelled this morning because the roads coming into town were really ugly. What is really going on in Manitoba? Winter is going on. The Education system needs serious work. It is at least 5 years behind the times and it is frustrating.

What is really going on in the Canada? I must say... I haven't the slightest clue. The amount of hush-hush going on with the government is beginning to bother me. It makes me wonder what they are up to. I must say I am not impressed with the police issues at the G20 thing in Toronto. I am not saying the police are the issue necessarily. Someone told them to do something along the way there and it seems to me they must have been scared to do the things they did. That really is why anyone does anything horrible, because they are scared. We all get scared sometimes. I think the police need forgiveness. I hope that with forgiveness they will realize they don't need to be scared anymore.

What is really going on in the world? Japan was hit by a huge earthquake and tsunami. I hope the people I know over there are safe as I am unable to contact them. There were issues with the nuclear power. It makes me wonder why any country is still using nuclear power. Canada still uses some nuclear power. It should stop. We should be switching to greener power sources: solar, wind, and tidal. Japan is surrounded by ocean; it should try tidal power. What else is going on? Revolution. In Egypt, Libya, London, the USA... everywhere. People want change. People are angry with their governments and with the institutions. People want freedom. People are afraid. People are hurting. People havel ost jobs, are worried about their next meals. People are realizing the current system is failing. We need a system built on community and caring about each other. We need cooperation and teamwork. We need power to the people.

What is really going on? What do you think?

Cold Places, Warm Spaces

2011-02-26T12:14:00.005-06:00

You may want to huddle up in a blanket with hot cocoa before reading this entry so you don't get virtual frostbite just reading about this icy topic! I was having a discussion with Tami Jackson about cold temperatures. We were comparing Temperatures in Anchorage, Alaska to temperatures where I live in Brandon, Manitoba. Tami told me that she did not think that temperatures got to be -50 degrees Celsius in Anchorage so Manitoba was colder. This got me to thinking about cold temperatures. According to Tami the record for coldest recorded temperature in Anchorage is −38 °F (−38.9 °C) on February 3, 1947. Now I cannot find the record for Brandon, MB but I know in the past two years the temperature has gotten as low as -40 (which is the same in both Celsius and Fahrenheit). So maybe Brandon does get colder, but I was interested in the coldest temperatures in both Canada and the United States as well. First, I knew that Winnipeg, Manitoba which is a 2 and a half hour drive from Brandon is known to be one of the coldest cities in Canada. It has a record of −47.8 °C (−54.0 °F). However, it does not hold Canada's record breaking cold temperature. It doesn't even have the province of Manitoba's record temperature. That goes to Norway House. A temperature of -52.8°C (-63° F) was recorded there in 1899. The coldest temperature recorded in the USA is -79.8°F observed at Prospect Creek Camp in the Endicott Mountains of northern Alaska on Jan. 23, 1971. Canada can beat that! The coldest recorded temperature in Canada is -63 degrees Celsius (-81 degrees Fahrenheit). It was recorded at Snag in the Yukon territory on February 3rd, 1947.

Now for the world record... Scientists recorded the world's lowest temperature, -128.6 °F (-89.2 °C), at Vostok Station in Antarctica. I do not know the year but it replaced the existing record of -126.9 °F which was also recorded in Vostok on August 25, 1960! Now that's cold!

Although Brandon, MB was -34 degrees Celsius yesterday I feel some relief that it is not as cold as any of these temperatures! I am perfectly happy to snuggle up with some tea or hot cocoa and dream of spring!

Results for the Vampire Short Story Contest

2011-02-19T10:23:00.004-06:00

Yes! It is the 19th! The day is finally here! And one of fourteen talented and daring contestants will be chosen to receive a free copy of Tami Jackson's new e-book Ravena & the Resurrected! It was a difficult decision requiring narrowing down the contestants many times. I went from 14 to 12 in the first revision. (They were just that good.) The second time through I narrowed it down to 7. After that I went down to 5, and finally down to 3. At this point I must say again that every single entry I received was great. What separated many of you from winning was mostly spelling and grammatical things, or awkwardness of wording. The more times you made it through my scrutiny, the more nit-picky these mistakes were. If you want to know what grouping you fell into before being eliminated please email at the same address where I received the submissions. (And yes contestants, I am stalling somewhat for suspense purposes but I truly mean everything I say.) Please keep writing everyone, and please come back and enter in some of my future contests. Due to the success of this one I may have a similar contest in July or August!

The last thing I want to say before moving back to talking about my top 3 contestants is that I was impressed with the depth and breadth of the interpretations of what makes a vampire. One entry in particular had vampiric person/creature that is similar to a mythological creature we have in Canada called the Wendigo. Out of interest if you do not know what a Wendigo is here is a brief description:
"... among the Algonquin [tribe] it is the spirit of a lost hunter who now preys upon humans in a cannibalistic manner." - John & Caitlin Matthews The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures

Thank you to the writer who submitted the story that reminded me of the Wendigo; I am sure you know who you are.

Alright back to the top 3! With my top three contestants, I could no fault at all with their spelling and grammar. It came down to who had the most imagery, simply because that had been one of the points I was looking for in my rules. Even looking at the imagery it was very close, and for that reason I encourage my contestants to check the comments section, where I will list my two runners up. I think they deserve to know that their stories really were polished and nearly won this contest!

The Winner is ... (drumroll) ... Anastasia Fermin, with her story "Monster." She will be contacted in the next couple days, by Tami Jackson or myself, with the details of her prize! Congratulations Anastasia! Without further adieu, here is the winning story:

Monster

Eyes like twin navy pools pierced into mine, I couldn’t move or breathe as his breath whispered to my skin. His cold hands were vise gripping my shoulders. Hot searing pain shot through my veins and I screamed. He was killing me. The calm pools had turned into turbulent, stormy waters. Images of death and blood and insanity flashed before my eyes. I heard the wails and shrieks of faceless people, who clawed at me, begged me and fell at my feet and I crossed over them, a dark god. His warm sticky kiss made the sounds blot out and the images fade till there was only darkness.

When I opened my eyes, I became aware of a sharp stabbing pain in the pit of my stomach. Grimacing, I clutched my mid section as a fiery spasm shot through me. I gasped and looked around wildly. The last rays of sunlight filtered through a small dirty window, casting a dull yellow glow. And I saw a staircase to my right leading upwards. I jumped to my feet and dived blindly for the stairs, stumbling up the wooden steps. Hot tears trickled down my face and I was filled with unexplainable fear. With trembling hands I reached for the rusty doorknob, turned it, shook it, pleaded with it, but it wouldn’t budge, I was locked in this dark dungeon, and he would return soon to finish me off. I sat, crouched against the door, sobbing.
I must have drifted to sleep again. The door must’ve opened, spilling me out onto cold concrete, and the night air on my face revived me. I looked up, dazed, at the violet sky. Strong hands embraced me and set me on my feet. His face was porcelain smooth, his raven hair fell softly to just below his ears. The fear welled up inside me again and I backed away from him, breathing heavily, I ran. “Wait!” he yelled after me. The wind whipped through my hair. He remained at the door, watching.
I bumped into something warm. “Watch it lady!” came a disgruntled voice, I looked down and saw a young girl, getting to her feet dusting her jeans. Something stirred within me and I grabbed her. She screamed. I felt my gums rip apart. Before I knew it I was sinking my fangs into her neck. Fangs? I thought. Sweet, salty elixir rushed into my mouth, gushing like a geyser out of her, an explosion of red. Suddenly, there was sunshine and kite flying. The sound of laughter and the feel of an ice cube on my face in the summer heat, a first kiss and a dip in the pool. An orgasmic thrill ignited every fiber of my being. Slowly, the girl stopped struggling, the flickering images disappeared and she slumped limply against me. And I realized as she fell to the ground with a soft thud, that she was dead because I drank her blood.
I touched my mouth and felt sharp pointy teeth, my hands were bloody in the moonlight and the pain in my stomach had vanished. He was at my side, every bit a monster as I was. My mind was ablaze with questions. “We have to go, before someone comes down this way,” he said. I nodded, my heart raced and I let his fingers envelop mine as we ran, faster than the blinking eye into the night.

_____________________________________________
By: Anastasia Fermin

Blithering Bats, Tami Jackson is Here!

2011-02-18T08:38:00.006-06:00

Tami Jackson writes from south of Seattle, WA (USA). She is author of "Ravena & The Resurrected," http://tinyurl.com/4zuew8m, $9.99 in all e-formats

Michelle: It is wonderful to have the opportunity to work with you on this interview, Tami.
Tami: I feel very honored to be your guest, Michelle. Thank you, for hosting today. It's fun being your friend on Facebook and I feel like I've always known you, I've been following your blog for so long.

Michelle: Authors have many ways to approach the initial stages of outlining and writing their first drafts. How did you put your ideas to the page?
Tami: As a former news correspondent, I never outlined a breaking news event before knowing how the story was going to play out. I might have an idea of what the general topic would be, but I'd have to drive to location and observe whatever was happening, do the research behind the scenes, and take copious notes, before I could ever think about creating an outline. My book was written very much in that same manner. Perhaps my writing style is similar to how a wood carver begins whittling on a log by shear instinct. The more she carves, the more a unique shape begins to evolve and pretty soon the whittler feels like he's merely freeing the statue from its excess wood and bark. What gives my writing its more coherent and logical format is a very rigorous editing process. Regarding your reference to writers using pen and pad to record their thoughts, I have a Smart Phone, iPad, and computer for doing that.

Michelle: You took a different route to publication than most writers. Do you want to explain?
Tami: The entire publishing industry is racing so rapidly toward more change, I feel as though the wind is always in my hair and maybe I should keep my lips shut about it or risk catching bugs in my teeth. There doesn't seem to be a common route to publication anymore. Change is not simply in the air, Michelle. Ever since technology introduced eReaders, the electronic book market has just exploded. The old way of publishing only exists as shrapnel nowadays. Even that shrapnel is struggling to survive in the present world economy.

Michelle: How did this affect the finished product and the book's editing?
Tami: When I worked as a news correspondent, for local papers, I'd have as many as 5 editors reviewing my reports before publication, and still the paper printed errors in the story; errors that weren't in the original copy. A common saying on that job was "even editors need editors" because having editors simply means more people are tweaking the manuscript. I honestly believe that having too many editors throwing their ingredients into the pot can really spoil the stew. While I had plenty of proofreaders reviewing R&R, and I took counsel from qualified editors, I was able to maintain the book's authenticity by having the final say on the finished product.

That being said, I really like to fantasize about stodgy old editors, labouring feverishly over my work with a can of furniture polish and a dusting rag. Having a big publisher print your book is no guarantee the book will be carefully edited. It's not even a guarantee that the book will ever sell, or that the right audience will even get to see sample chapters. It is individuals (and not brick-and-mortar buildings) who strive to release a high quality and professional product, or not.

Michelle: You chose to publish in e-book form. What do you want to say to people who are reluctant to read your book because they prefer to read from hard-copy?
Tami: First? "Get with the times." (I say that with tongue in cheek because I'm the only member in my extended family with an iPad.) Meanwhile, eReader sales are soaring and they have been for a while now. Here's proof:

• From "The New York Times:" Amazon's third generation Kindle has become the best selling product in Amazon's history. (http://tinyurl.com/69j6btg)

• From "MSN:" Apple released the iPad in April 2010 and sold 3 million devices in 80 days. (http://tinyurl.com/6eo2m6m)

• From a reputable technology blog: Barnes and Noble stated record breaking post-holiday sales for Nooks, NOOKcolor, and digital books. (http://tinyurl.com/6hdmsqg)

Second? I have to ask, why would someone NOT want an eReader? They eliminate magazine and book clutter. You don't need more real estate to accommodate more bookshelves for future book purchases. You can take your library with you, everywhere you go (unless you're going swimming or sitting in the bathtub). When you buy an eBook, the download is instantaneous. There's no more waiting for the delivery truck to show up, weeks later, when maybe you're no longer in the mood for reading that particular book.

Third: People don't need an eReader to enjoy an eBook. They can peruse such from their laptop or home computer as readily as they spend hours playing Vampire Wars or World of Warcraft from there. The hot item in technology right now enables television viewers to surf the Internet on T.V. so pretty sure some people will be reading their eBooks on the big screen!

Finally, it's the twenty-first century. Educated people are aware of the environmental impact that all of our purchases make. Hardcopy books require the cutting down of trees, printing with ink creates more pollution, and shipping hard copies burns fossil fuels. (No matter how you look at it, eBooks prove much more environmentally friendly).

While I personally love the smell of a new paper book, I fully appreciate my iPad with all its capabilities. When I get tired of reading - I can shop eBay or update my Facebook page quite simply. Doug (my spouse) also loves my eReader because its back lit. That means, I don't need the night lamp on to read at night interrupting his sleep.

Michelle: This might be a rather obvious question, but why vampires?
Tami Jackson: Just thinking about vampires causes my imagination to rise above any sense of common mediocrity. Vampires represent power, victory over death, and a wonderful sense of mystery. Vampires are the antithesis of human frailty. (What's not to like?)

Michelle: Vampire fiction is very popular in the media today ...
Tami Jackson: Is vampire fiction really more popular than, say, 30 years ago? Or has the means for marketing books, movies and electronic games merely changed? Being a woman of a certain age, I grew up watching The Adams Family and The Munsters on T.V. Count Chocula cereal was all the sugary rage. Then, there was also a most compelling vampire soap opera called "Dark Shadows." "The Dark Stalker" came out in 1973. Finally, have you ever watch "Fright Night?" That teeth-chattering presentation came out in the 1980s.

Here's a link, provided by Washington State University, listing the most popular vampires featured in books and in movies since the 1920s: http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/vampirefilms.html

Michelle: Do you feel as though your book stands a chance against the Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series? Do you feel you have published “in the shadow of" her media sensation?
Tami: This question made me laugh. Instead of deliberating about whether or not Ravena & The Resurrected "stands a chance" in the boxing ring against big gloves (with all the marketing dollars and publicity stunts poured into the Twilight Series) I've got to ask: when did authors suddenly begin to compete with one another for fame?

R&R was a labor of love for me. I feel in my heart the book will be very successful because something about it sticks with the reader. Hardcore vampire fans will certainly identify with the story, and feel entertained by the twisting, turning plot. Certain aspects of Ravena Doomlah's story will also feel very deeply real - as though the story might not be fantasy after all.

The Twilight Series, with its vegetarian-sparkling vampires, was not everybody's cup of tea. My "Resurrected Series," will continue to feature more sophisticated characters, realistic relationships, and vampires that would prefer to kill a cruel imbecile than drink from an unsuspecting poodle (like vegetarian vampires do).

Michelle: Does the book draw on some of your own experiences in Seattle?
Tami Jackson: Yes. I was born in Seattle. I grew up around here. I know the city intimately. Even still, I did quite a bit of historical research before writing the scenes for Ravena & The Resurrected. The book also includes nonfiction aspects from this great city's past.

Michelle: Is there some special message you want readers to take from your book?
Tami: I just want readers to have fun and enjoy the experience of reading. My job as a fiction author is to thoroughly entertain my audience. If there is a message, in Ravena & The Resurrected, I hope it's to encourage people to think for themselves and not just follow along with the status quo, blindly.

Michelle: Do you have any more books in the making? Are you planning to release a sequel to Ravena & The Resurrected?
Tami: I am currently working on book two in The Resurrected Series. It's barely started (since I just released R&R). Since you've read my debut novel, Michelle, you know how the werewolves yearn to be released from their curse, so they can return home to their human families, fully restored. Book two begins with one such werewolf's abandoned wife and two children. (I'm not sure, yet, if this will become a book that's appropriate for a younger audience, or not. That's all I can say about that for now.)

Michelle: Last question: What advice do you have for budding authors regarding the writing process and about getting published?
Tami Jackson: Just start. A great cliché for new writers to quote as their mantra is "Rome wasn't built in a day." Begin your project and do something daily to move closer toward publication. My dad (deceased) also continues to inspire me with a quote he constantly repeated while I grew up: "The difference between winners and losers is that losers quit." If the pyramid of book writing looks too steep to climb, just take the first step. Focus on what you will accomplish today. Tomorrow you take another step and, before you know it, you've traveled a million miles all by your own power.

Thank you, Michelle, for a wonderful interview and for being a wonderful host.

Michelle: Thank you for joining me in this exclusive interview, Tami. I am excited to see this series take off for you!

~ Tami Jackson
Author, Ravena & The Resurrected
Publisher: SunTiger MOJO (http://SunTigerMOJO.com/)
email: SunTigerMOJO [at] gmail {dot} com
Follow the author to other blogs during this book tour: SunTigerMOJO.com/book-tour-author-tami-jackson-blogs.html

Creatures of the Night, Unite!

2011-02-17T19:57:00.002-06:00

Good evening everyone! I am pleased to say my revisions for the Short Story Contest are nearly completed. I have narrowed the list down to 5 submissions. It will be more tricky from here since all of these entries are very good! In fact, all the entries I received were well written but many of them had spelling and grammar mistakes, or awkward wording in some parts. Spell-Check does not catch everything, so you should always get a second opinion from a friend, relative, or colleague! I was thrilled with all the styles and the different interpretations of what makes a vampire. I encourage each and every participant to continue writing. Don't be discouraged if you do not win this contest. If this was a Creative Writing class I would have given every single one of you A's and B's.

I am very excited about my interview with Tami Jackson tomorrow and I hope everyone will stop back to read it! So in honour of Tami Jackson's visit and the wonderful submissions I received for the Short Story Contest I am going to post my own Short Story. I am writing it here on the spot, as Vampires have become my muse.

The First Vampire

Ailya heard a strange high-pitched hum. She plugged her ears but it did not go away. She felt her body shudder as it dematerialized. This might have come as a shock last year but nothing really surprised her anymore. 9 months ago she had met her Aunt Heather, who turned out to be a vampire. In fact, there were very few members of her extended family who were not vampires living in the Vlad Estate in Romania. Ailya currently lived in Romania as well after her relatives had decided it was unhealthy for her to live with her neglectful parents. It might have had something to do with them being vampire hunters as well.

Ailya breathed a sigh of relief as she felt her body rematerializing. She wiggled her toes, glad all her pieces were intact. She then realized she was in some sort of ancient structure. In her mind she heard a whisper. Come here child.

She stepped forward, only to realize where she was. She had heard of this place. It was Mohenjo Daro, City of the Dead. This is where the first immortals had been made. In front of her was a tomb of sorts. She recognized the inscriptions from books in the library back at the Estate. This was the tomb of Shastra Nahi Upata, or Lord Sha, the first of the vampires. Of course, he was immortal and therefore simply in a deep slumber called the Unrest. She knew at once he had summoned her to wake him.

Slightly fearful, she started the ritual. She pulled red tea-lights from her pockets and lit them around the tomb. She chanted the words that came to her. They were an ancient tongue. Then she dripped a few drops of her blood over the tomb. She was frightened, because she was both mortal and human. There were stories of Lord Sha before he had been sent to the Unrest. He had murdered many of the scientists and greedy investors who had made the Experiment possible. They had realized that despite being so close to creating a perfect immortal, it was too dangerous to continue.

As Ailya stepped back Lord Sha rose before her. His eyes glowed red in the dim light. She trembled, but he darted past her. She turned as quickly as she could to see where he was going, but her dull mortal speed was ridiculous in comparison to his. She saw clasped in his arms a young boy. The boy must have stumbled into the ruins by some mistake, and a deadly mistake at that. Sha had nearly torn him to pieces. Blood ran down his body and coated the floor beneath him. Ailya stood paralyzed watching him, but as he finished she heard his voice in her mind again. Do not be afraid. I will not hurt you. I know that in the time I have slumbered the ways of my brothers and sisters have changed. Immortals no longer kill mortals, as we once did. This was my last monstrous act. Now tell me, where do I find the others?

Ailya managed to find her voice, “I do not know where the Immortal Council is convened, but you will find brethren vampires in Romania.”

“Then that is where we shall go.” Rumbled the ancient vampire, and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her body through space once again.

Video About Love

2011-02-14T14:55:00.002-06:00

Here's an interesting video for Valentine's day:

Reviewing Submissions

2011-02-14T08:48:00.005-06:00

Thank you for all the wonderful submissions I received for the Vampire Short Story Contest. As you know the deadline was last night at midnight, so I am now reviewing the submissions. The winner will be announced on February 19th. While you are sitting waiting impatiently at home don't forget to check out my interview with Tami Jackson on the 18th or check out some of the other events featuring Tami Jackson!

Oh and Happy Valentine's Day, although I think Happy Vampire Day would be way more awesome!

Why we shouldn't hate.

2011-02-11T23:38:00.003-06:00

I have been thinking lately that the reason that people hurt each other is because they are actually self-destructive. We are attracted to people in which we see a part of ourselves. The people we dislike are those with traits that we dislike in ourselves. Those we love, have traits we hold in esteem. Think about that next time someone hurts you, or the next time you are about to hurt someone. When you think you want to hurt someone, you are really hurting yourself.

~~~

Don't forget to submit your Short Stories for my contest! The deadline is Sunday at midnight!

Giving You Hope

2011-02-06T20:14:00.000-06:00

Just a little song by one of my favorite musicians, Eightsense.

Microwave Banana Brownies

2011-02-03T16:23:00.003-06:00

Here's a little treat that is really the devil in disguise!

Ingredients:

1 banana, mashed (I used two)
3/4 cup sugar (I subbed 3/4 cup honey)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
nonstick spray
semi-sweet chocolate chips, to taste
pecans, chopped (optional)

Mix all ingredients (except pecans) in a microwaveable dish. I used a Corningware serving sized dish. Top with pecans if desired. Microwave for 4-5 minutes depending on the power of your microwave. Best served with a tall glass of milk or a mug of tea! Dangerously delightful!

Here's the music to go with them:

Out With The Old, In With The New!

2011-02-02T20:31:00.004-06:00

I suppose I have had some exciting changes in my life since I last updated, so I should catch you up with what is going on and why I have been gone so long! First of all I just moved into a new apartment and I am still unpacking. I am so excited for this new place and my new roommate, because we have been good friends for about a year and a half already. My internet situation is a bit rocky still. My router is being difficult and I have misplaced the box with the instructions. I am hooked up to the signal of a friend who lives in an apartment 2 floors down. I hope to post pictures of my new place shortly. (Just as soon as I finish unpacking.)

Another big change right now is that I just received acceptance to go to Thailand for a student teaching placement in May. I will be teaching at a private school in Bangkok for two months! Of course I am hurrying to get my paperwork in order and to get the appropriate vaccinations, etc. There should be a meeting in the next week or two so that our group can cement the details. More news about that soon, I am sure!

Tonight I am working on a couple projects for the Education program. The first one is a critical review of an excerpt from Ross Greene's Lost at School: Why our Kids with Behavioural Challenges are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them. This is for my Child Development class, and while I love to write reviews I learned from my last submission that my prof is not really looking for my opinion on the piece despite the assignment description saying so. Not wanting to lower my A+ average from last term I will tread lightly this time around. Luckily, I am finding this particular excerpt more agreeable anyways. It is entitled "Kids Do Well if They Can."

My other project is to create an Illustrator Study for my English Language Arts class. I chose Canadian Illustrator Michael Martchenko. He is most famous for illustrating books by Robert Munsch and also Allen Morgan. I was fascinated to learn that Michael Martchenko has written 2 books of his own. I loved his book Ma, I'm a Farmer, although I think it would have been a more effective story if he had left out the last line.

Here is an interview with Michael Martchenko about his work with Robert Munsch:

In my spare time I am instructing workshops for youth every Saturday, creating a website for my grade 5 class, and preparing for a 45 minute workshop on Engaging Modern Readers (with Technology) that I will be presenting at WestCast student-teaching conference at the end of the month. Oh yes, and Saturday is my nephew's birthday! I think he will love the Thomas the Tank toy I found for him. (Luckily he is turning 2 and as of yet cannot read this.)

I have been thinking about some interesting ideas lately and will share them with everyone very soon. As for today, I feel my entry is almost too long to hold everyone's attention much longer! But before I go just a reminder to enter my Short Story Contest if you haven't already. I have received a few entries already but I would love to see more. (Check out the details below!) Also, don't forget to stop by on February 18th when I will post my interview with Author Tami Jackson as part of her virtual book tour! Peace everyone!

Ravena & The Resurrected

2011-01-18T03:33:00.002-06:00

I am thrilled to say I was able to read the e-book Ravena & The Resurrected by Tami Jackson over my Winter Break. I loved this book so much that I wrote the following review:

This book is sensational! Tami Jackson takes vampire pop fiction into an entirely new direction. (No sparkly vampires here!) She captures the true essence of vampire in this upbeat modern tale of vampires in Seattle. Ravena & The Resurrected spares no gory details in the bloodbath that is vampire life but it also captures the Seattle landscape in a meticulously detailed and exciting form! The adventure leaves you breathless right up to the end. This tale fits like a puzzle piece, building on older vampire mythologies. Tami Jackson is truly up there with famous modern vampire writers Darren Shan and Anne Rice. Tami paints a new portrait of the relationships between vampires and werewolves and goes into depth about the mythologies surrounding both. You will find yourself in a world of strict rules and taboos where mythical creatures roam city streets in the broad daylight trying to avoid detection. Fall into step with Ravena Doomlah as she discovers a complex community of fantastical beings, each more bizarre than the next, living right outside her front door. This unique e-book form is eco-friendly and easy to use. The numbering of lines makes it easy to find the spot where you left off, but that assumes you will be able to stop yourself from reading the whole book in one sitting! There is romance and spine-tingling, page-turning action takes place from cover to virtual cover. Tami Jackson’s style is witty and charismatic making her in line to be the next R.K. Rowling with the proper publicity! Read the book and join up on the fan-site; this is one literary event you do not want to miss!

Check back here soon for a chance to win your very own copy of Ravena & The Resurrected! Or purchase your own copy now at:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/27776?ref=SunTigerMOJO

Ravena & The Resurrected Book Trailer:

Short Story Contest!!!

2011-01-18T03:08:00.007-06:00

On Friday, February 18th, 2011, I will be hosting an interview with Tami Jackson, author of the new e-book Ravena & The Resurrected. That's an interview here! On this blog! In honor of this special event, a short-story contest now begins! The winning prize is a copy of the urban-dark-fantasy novel which has a lot of Seattle in it, modern and historic. ($9.99 value)

Writing Contest Details:
Deadline: February 13th, 2011, midnight.
Format: MS Word Document, or .RTF file.
Specifics: Write a short story (250-600 words), any style, about vampires!

The contest will be judged for:
- spelling and grammar
- engaging writing
- solid ending
- imagery/language
- excessive use of clichés

All entries must be submitted by Sunday, February 13th, at midnight. The winner will be announced the evening of Friday, February 19th (day after the interview is posted). I gain first time rights, and will publish the winning story on this blog for everyone to read. The author will maintain all other publication rights for their work.

Submit contest entries to panademona[at]gmail{dot}com

For more information about Ravena & The Resurrected, and to peruse sample chapters, click here: http://tinyurl.com/4zuew8m.

---

http://indigoblooms.blogspot.com/

How To Make Middle-Eastern Meatballs

2011-01-17T19:06:00.003-06:00

Ingredients

* 1 3/4 pounds ground beef
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 1/4 cup raisins
* 2 eggs
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 slice bread, diced (or bread crumbs)
* 1 tablespoon cinnamon

* 3/4 cup oil for frying
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 1/2 cup raisins
* 3/4 cup water
* 2 tablespoons honey

* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon cardamom
* 2 teaspoons cumin

Mix ground beef, onion, raisins, eggs, bread, and cinnamon. Form into balls. Heat oil, onion, raisins, water, and honey in a frying pan; fry meatballs in this mixture (covered) on medium heat until brown. Sprinkle on spices and flip meatballs. (Add more of these spices if desired.) Let simmer on low heat. Great by themselves or with a little shredded mozzarella.

Row, row, row your boat...

2011-01-08T23:33:00.002-06:00

... gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.

Time Lapse Flower:

Life is a Dream:

Food, Work, Play.

2011-01-07T21:04:00.001-06:00

Me with my lovely new hat.

I had a wonderful holiday in BC. The weather was good and I met many new people on the bus rides there and back. On New Years we played Risk until 4 in the morning and I would have won if the others hadn't decided to quit.

Awesome Mayan pyramid shaped chocolates from my brother and his girlfriend!

Our Risk game.

Today I had a workshop about running records for elementary school reading. It was actually entertaining but I thought I was going to pass out during it. I have been sick with bronchitis most of this week and although I feel a lot better I am pretty weak at the moment. (I am sure my insomnia doesn't help either.)

After the workshop I started looking for curriculum material for grade 5 Science. I am planning a unit about forces and simple machines. I took out 13 books from the school library, printed out curriculum requirements for the unit and general Science outcomes. I wrote down information from 2 more books and information for finding another 2 later. Now for the creation of my Masterpiece! (Mwahahaha.) ... Well after I finish paperwork for my job.

Pancakes.

I made yummy pancakes for dinner. Here is the recipe:

buttermilk pancake mix (plus necessary ingredients to add)
chocolate shavings

banana and chocolate flavoured flax oils

natural peanut butter
cocoa
icing sugar
water

blueberry syrup

whipped cream

Mix up pancake mix and chocolate shavings. Cook pancakes in flavoured flax oil. Mix peanut butter, cocoa, sugar and water to make a chocolate, peanut butter spread. Spread between pancake layers. Top with whipped cream and blueberry syrup.

The healthy way:

* 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 egg
* 1 cup milk, plus more if necessary
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1/3 cup pureed banana

* banana flavoured flax oil

* natural peanut butter
* cocoa
* honey
* water

*fresh blueberries

*vanilla yoghurt

Mix up flour, milk, egg, b. powder, salt, honey, and banana puree. Cook pancakes in flavoured flax oil. Mix peanut butter, cocoa, honey and water to make a chocolate, peanut butter spread. Spread between pancake layers. Top with vanilla yoghurt and blueberries.

So it is New Years!

2010-12-31T11:52:00.002-06:00

Another year passed! And my resolution is definitely to be going to the gym! Not only did I eat way too many holiday sweets but also I have a year and a half to make sure I am slim and trim for my bridesmaid dress for my friend's wedding! Nothing more embarrassing then being up in front of all those people with my current belly! Luckily the girl I am moving in with in February loves to go to the gym so maybe we can work out together!

Tonight I plan to be tame as far as drinking concerns and beat my friend at Risk. (Last time we played our game lasted almost 24 hours!)

We had our Christmas yesterday and it was awesome. now I just have to figure out how to pack up everything I need to take back! Grr the days are getting away from me and so much work for when I get home. I can hardly wait though because I am sick of the local guys hitting on me. I have absolutely no interest in dating at the moment.

I just finished reading a wonderful book called The Birth House by a Canadian Author, Ami Mckay, about midwifery and the life of women in early Canada. I recommend it!

I also read Ravena & the Resurrected, a pop vampire novel by my friend Tami Jackson. It was terribly witty and the historical information about Seattle was intriguing. I intend to write a review on Amazon once I get home to Brandon.

And I read Inside Out Girl by Tish Cohen, a book about an autistic child and her family. It is truly heartwarming!

Happy New Years everyone!

Activity Update

2010-12-08T16:44:00.003-06:00

I have not been very active lately. For professional reasons I cannot talk about a lot of what I have been doing, but also I am waiting until the end of term so that I can post some of my lesson plans currently being graded so that other teachers may borrow them if they wish.

I have a week left of classes and then I will hop on a bus back to my hometown in British Columbia for 3 weeks of holiday fun! I can hardly wait! I am also likely going to be moving in the beginning of February. More to come about that once I know for sure! You can also check out my journal The Compass That Doesn't Point North where I have been updating with poetry more recently. I hope to have more time to work on the children's stories I started in the summer as well but I can't guarantee that any time soon. I am currently writing up a 45 minute workshop for WestCAST, a conference for student teachers in Western Canada. This likely will eat up more of my holiday time than I would like. I also am trying to sort out the paperwork for going to Thailand in the spring to student teach. And I have been named honourary aunt for my friend's first child who is due in March! (As well as Maid of Honour for my friend's wedding the following year!) So there is plenty going on. Right now my main concerns are finishing up the last few projects of the term and starting on some Christmas baking.

A Playlist Ideal for Sleep

2010-11-29T22:56:00.000-06:00

This is so beautiful I had to share

2010-11-28T09:21:00.001-06:00

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.

Check Out In Legend

2010-11-19T12:18:00.000-06:00

A Look At This Week

2010-11-17T23:35:00.003-06:00

This week has been a busy one in a lot of ways. With my first student teaching placement almost at a close I can't help but reflect how wild it has been the last 5 weeks. I would say I had about one normal week with the kids, the others were either shortened for some reason or crazy due to some holiday. (ie. Halloween.)That said I am going to miss teaching, and I am dreading being the student again next week.

I have been busy in many other ways too. Mostly cooking and baking! Yesterday I made up some Donelli's stuffed spinach pasta. For a sauce I chopped up red and yellow tomatoes, red peppers, and onions and mixed them together with some Heart Shape flavoured flax oils and random spices from our shelves! The result was a very tasty meal!

Here are some of the flavoured flax oils we have. As you can see there are savoury flavours and dessert flavours too! My roommates and I agree the savoury flavours are the best!

Last week I baked cinnamon buns for the first time. They turned out really well. (No picture available because they were eaten too fast!) Then this week I made up some gluten-free shortbread for my class. I used a combination of rice flour and gluten-free all-purpose flour.

I am loving my Saturday instructing job, although I wish I had a little more free time. I guess I will once I get back to class next week because my days will not be nearly as long. Anyways the kids are great and it is wonderful experience to add to my resume.

I am planning for my winter vacation. I can hardly wait! It is almost 3 weeks long this year!

More soon, but for now sleep!

First Science Lesson

2010-10-20T17:12:00.004-05:00

Today I taught my first lesson. It went reasonably well. Classroom management issues were not any higher than I expected for an exciting activity. (We went outside to observe the wind.) The children will tell you what they think though. Apparently they don't like my writing. I wrote very legibly but the class is very set in routines and that was likely the issue. The was a glitch using the overhead projector so we defaulted to using the whiteboard. I am relatively pleased with how things went and acknowledge today was likely bad timing for this lesson because a number of the children have come down with a cold or flu and were not feeling well at all. I am hoping we will have time for the tornado tube experiment on Monday. Tomorrow is already packed solid with activities and then Friday is a Pro-D Day.

I made bread pudding after school and now I am exhausted and ready for a nap. So much to do though! Halloween planning.... Social Studies planning... maybe I will just go to bed early.

As for yesterday's picture, it is of Halloween coloured pumpkin seeds. We will be using these in Math as manipulatives for Addition using Ten Frames and also for patterning!

Projects

2010-10-20T00:01:00.002-05:00

So I have been working on a number of projects recently. Last Thursday I made homemade bread. It turned out pretty well for my first attempt.

I also started student teaching. I am working on lesson plans for Grade 2 math, science, and social studies. In science we are studying Air and Water in the Environment. Since we are reading The Wizard of Oz in English I thought a tornado-tube experiment would be only fitting!

Today I went to Bulk Barn to get orange and black dye. Judging by my conversation with the cashier she was guessing I was making a cake with orange and black icing. Here's what I actually made:

I'll let you try to guess what they are and what they are for! Answers to come in my next entry!

Holiday Yoghurt Treat

2010-10-12T16:43:00.002-05:00

Thanks to my cousin I have a lovely jar of homemade plain yoghurt! Normally I mix plain yoghurt with no-sugar-added jam but I was out. Instead I tried something new and it was amazing! I added 1/2 a teaspoon of honey, some powdered cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and a handful of pecans to a bowl of yoghurt. Then I added granola. The result was absolutely delicious! Next time I will leave out the honey because it was sweet enough with just the cinnamon and cloves! What a treat!

Personality Tests

2010-09-26T23:29:00.002-05:00

In my Classroom Management class we asked to complete a Myers-Briggs personality test. As I had already completed one I just dug my results out of my cardboard box of papers I need to keep. Our assignment was to write a paper on how our personality type might affect our classroom management style. While my personality test results sound a lot like me I do not really see them as the sole factor contributing to how I deal with any situation. Nothing is ever that black and white. I view the results of personality tests quite similarly to how I view results from IQ tests, they are good for some things but are generally over used. I hear some companies will hire employees based on their personality type. This seems like discrimination to me. Then again my personality type is apparently "The Idealist." I guess I'll sit here surrounded by my positive affirmation quotes, listening to tranquil music, and imagining a perfect world.

Cold Remedy Tea

2010-08-29T14:33:00.002-05:00

I invented this recipe as a teen and it seems to work well as relief for cold symptoms. (And it even tastes pretty good).

1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon dried or fresh mint
a sprinkle of ground cayenne (optional)

Put all ingredients in the bottom of a mug. Add boiling water and stir.

Apple Raisin Crisp

2010-08-05T02:39:00.004-05:00

ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp half and half cream

8-10 apples
1/2 cup raisins
3 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup granola
1/4 cup pecans

method

cut and core apples. mix in a 9" by 13" glass casserole dish. cover with 2 tbsp of cinnamon then oats, then the remaining cinnamon.

in a saucepan combine butter, water, egg and brown sugar over low heat. stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved and mixture begins to thicken. add vanilla and cream. stir and let thicken a bit more. pour half the mixture over the layer of oats. cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake 35-40 minutes or until apples begin to bubble.

remove foil and add granola and pecans. pour the remaining half of the sugar mixture over the crisp. cook and addition 5-10 minutes without foil.

Picture Update

2010-07-17T20:33:00.003-05:00

Ok so here are some pictures of the last week.

First I went hat shopping and here are some of the highlights:

And resulting silliness:

Pirate Me:

Fun with the sticker off my bandana:

Here's me out at the farm where me and my boyfriend were learning about vikings. Dad said I looked like an alien when he saw this picture. There may be some truth to that!

And look how long my hair is already!!!

Beautifully Bald

2010-07-09T22:23:00.002-05:00

As you know, earlier today I got my hair shaved off at the hair salon and then I sent it away in an envelope to the Canadian Cancer Society. I wasn't satisfied with my brush cut though... sometimes the curiosity just gets the better of me for better or for worse!

So I decided to shave my head completely. About halfway through. I reached the "uh oh" stage!

I label it as such because this was about the time I realized I probably should have bought a home hair shaving kit from Walmart and used the electric shaver to cut my hair a bit shorter before I went at it with a razor. Of course it was too late because I looked like a complete idiot and did not really want to have my photo getting taken and posted on the People of Walmart webpage!

About an hour and three razor blades later I looked like this:

And yup I nicked myself a couple times with the razor but that is part of the fun right? (I am still uncertain how I nicked my ear... as it was not my ears I was shaving, but that is off topic).

Thanks again for all the support and I leave you with this music video of Christina Aguilera entitled "Beautiful". Because you are all beautiful and don't you forget it!

Rocking the Brush Cut!

2010-07-09T14:42:00.003-05:00

Okay, due to my nocturnal schedule at the moment I am in dire need of a nap but I needed to share this first! As you well know I decided to shave my head and donate my hair to the Canadian Cancer Society so it could be made into a wig for a cancer patient going through chemo therapy.

What you may not be aware of is that this journey started 3 years ago. Back then my hair was pretty short. I'm talking about to me ears. I had it cut short like this shortly after my graduation and continued to keep it this way through first and second year college.

But that didn't satisfy me. What I really wanted as a 19-year old was to shock my mother by shaving my head bald. However, I wasn't going to do it without a bit of hype. At the time my best friend and I were talking about a road trip across Canada and I decided I was going to shave my head when we reached Nova Scotia.

As many plans do, our road trip hasn't happened yet. (Hopefully it will one summer in the future.) I was still bound and determined to shave my head though! As it turned out my mother is much too supportive and was not at all shocked to discover my plans. The shock value gone, I decided if I was going to do this I'd do it right. So two years ago I decided I would grow out my hair and then donate it to the Canadian Cancer Society.

There are many reasons why I shaved my head. Some of you might be troubled to learn my initial reason was as selfish as a teenage whim to get a reaction out of my mother. That of course wasn't the only reason or I wouldn't be where I am today! Another reason I shaved my head was to do with the movie V for Vendetta. For those of you who have seen the movie you will know that V shaves Evey Hammond's head as part of his process to give her no fear.

As a young woman this idea was very striking to me. Perhaps it was not possible to be without fear, but certainly the shaving of ones head could easily be used as a symbol for courage. At this point in my life I was going through some very trying personal issues. The idea of the personal meaning that shaving my head would have for me was something that helped me grow out my hair over the last two years. There was something powerful about growing out all that hair just to have it gone in less than an hour.

And of course I was inspired by G.I. Jane as well...

I mean what girl wouldn't be?

People have been asking me was I inspired to shave my hair for Cancer Research by a special person in my life? A close family member or friend? There is no simple answer to that. My grandfather died of cancer when my mother was 15. I never met him, but I know my mother loved him very much and his death shaped her choices over the next few years of her life. In some strange way this headshave is still about mom, because even if I am a troublemaker at times I really do love her.

But I can't say this is just about my grandfather, or even just about the many other friends or relatives in my life who have had benign cancer that they were able to remove. Maybe it is about my old manager at the Tim Horton's I worked at in BC who recently passed away when her cancer came back. Maybe it is about my mom's boss when I was a kid who also passed away, I remember being touched by what a beautiful person she was right up until the end. Maybe this is about all the people who aren't remembered when they suffer through the horrors of cancer.

I think that this is about the statistics. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, "an estimated 1 out of every 4 Canadians are expected to die from cancer." Their website also says, "Based on 2009 incidence rates, 40% of Canadian women and 45% of men will develop cancer during their lifetimes." I want to raise awareness and encourage donations because I want to see the Canadian Cancer Society find a cure. And think you all do too. Because if a quarter of the people you know are expected to die from cancer, that is definitely worth fighting for!

This morning I had about a 12 inches of beautiful brown hair on my head.

Now I have a brush cut!

I want to thank the wonderful women at Euphoria hair salon in Brandon, Mb for not only doing such a wonderful job of shaving my head so that the Canadian Cancer Society could get the longest amount of hair possible but also for providing their professional expertise free of charge today!

Their donation was truly touching, as were the donations I have received on my profile page for the Canadian Cancer Society. http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/mcorbett And all the support I have had from friends and family, including my aunt who agreed to come with me today and take all these wonderful photos!

I still plan to shave myself fully bald today. Partially out of curiosity and partially because I want so much to raise awareness for this cause and of course my friends are all imploring for this course of action! I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone! I plan to shave my head fully after my nap. Hopefully by then someone will be around to be my eyes when I am trying to shave the back! I will post more photos then.

Just one more thing I want to say before I sleep. I have had so many people today tell me how beautiful I am. Thank you. And don't forget that each one of you is beautiful too. It doesn't matter who you are, or what you have done. We are all beautiful. Sometimes we don't feel like it when we look in the mirror, but each one of us has a beautiful soul. It can be said our actions define us. You may not feel beautiful today but if you let your love shine through, if you do something beautiful today, then you will remember how beautiful you really are. Let your love shine! :-)

Learning and Books

2010-07-05T21:05:00.000-05:00

My mind is a bit foggy. Switching to nights means my schedule is a bit messed up right now and I feel rather tired. That said I had a good weekend. I didn’t end up going to the 4th of July fireworks because I got landed with and overtime shift and spent most of Sunday asleep. I spent the rest of Sunday with my boyfriend and his best friend. Made for good conversation. Lots of ideas flying back and forth between the three of us. Then this afternoon I was at my aunt and uncle’s farm. I cut the grass and my aunt and uncle had a friend over. We were talking about schools, which is one of my favorite subjects as I want to eventually open my own school. It is very interesting to me to hear what people like/dislike about the school system.

While I was mowing the lawn I was thinking how I wanted to do some writing and that it would be interesting to write some children’s books and illustrate them. Eventually I would love to write a novel but right now children’s books would be a lot of fun and I can just imagine the excitement if I handed my cousin’s kid a book I’d written that was dedicated to her.

Must be getting ready for work now... another night shift tonight.

July 1st, 2010

2010-07-01T11:45:00.002-05:00

Happy Canada Day! Due to my very important job at Canada's own Tim Horton's where I will be serving fellow Canadians coffee and lovely treats like this Canada Day Donut, I will be missing out on tonight's fireworks show. Luckily for me I get the weekend off so my boyfriend and I will be nipping across the border for some 4th of July festivities instead!

My roommates are all out rafting down the Little Saskatchewan river on air mattresses and likely getting very sunburned. I opted to stay home and do dishes so I wouldn't end up late for work this afternoon. I made myself pasta for brunch but have tons of leftovers because I was not nearly as hungry as I'd anticipated.

I wanted to get out in the garden and do some weeding but there is a guy installing a fence right in the area I wanted to work in so it will have to wait. Instead I will work on my Canadian History course.

About my morning...

2010-06-30T11:41:00.002-05:00

Photos speak for themselves.

View out my window

2010-06-27T17:38:00.002-05:00

This is the church across the street. I was watching the crow perched on the top from my window before it began to rain. :-)

I love the beautiful old buildings around here. They are very inspiring.

Join Me in Fighting Cancer!

2010-06-21T16:28:00.000-05:00

I will be shaving my head in early July and donating the hair to the Canadian Cancer
Society. If you would like to support me and make a pledge you can follow the link below! Thank you everyone!

http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/mcorbett

The perfect school

2010-06-17T19:53:00.002-05:00

In the movie Matilda the Trunchbull says, "My idea of the perfect school is one in which there are no children at all."

We all have ideas about what schools should be like. Hopefully most people do not share the same ideas as the Trunchbull. Based on my own experience growing up it seems to me that public schools are only really good for the "average" student. Any student who is above or below average is going to start to slip through the cracks of the system unless they are lucky enough to get a teacher who takes their jobs so seriously that they go above and beyond the curriculum to make sure every one of their students succeeds.

My own experience as an above average student, was an unpleasant one. I was used as a crutch for the below average students a lot of the time and not given the things I needed to succeed. I surfed through highschool with a ton of half-hearted A's and B's and graduated grade 12 with absolutely no direction and no study skills. University was more interesting but I was more interested in learning stuff not taught in highschool than in picking a direction of study in the first couple years. When I finally picked a direction I had to cram all the necessary components into one year so I could get into the program of my choice the next year. It was a painful experience, but a worthwhile one. I realized what I wanted to do was make sure no one else got put in my situation. I am currently entering into teacher certification in the fall with the eventual goal of opening my own school in which I will target the individual student rather than the "average" student. The idea is that no student will fall into the cracks of a broken system.

I am very interested in Waldorf and Montessori schools as well as other private and public schools with similar philosophies. I hope to incorporate some of their principles into my eventual school.

What ideas do you have about schools? What do you like about them? What do you think needs to be improved? What do you think of home-schooling? I am interested in your ideas!

Gazing at Literature: An Exploration of Laura Mulvey’s Feminist Film Theory Through Her “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”

2010-04-23T20:04:00.001-05:00

By Michelle L. Corbett

Please note: This was my term paper for my third year Contemporary Critical Theory (of Literature) class. I have not polished it since I received it back from my professor as it received an A grade.

Laura Mulvey is a feminist theorist who applied psychoanalysis to film theory. Mulvey’s work was more successful and unique because of her feminist perspective and it laid the foundation for feminist film theory. Her most well known theory was to do with male gaze in film. This can also be applied to other literary works. This paper will focus on Laura Mulvey’s theory in “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” and its strengths and weaknesses, and then use the poem “Lamia” by John Keats to show how this theory is useful for literature.

It is necessary to give a brief introduction to feminist theory before discussing the role Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” plays within this school of theory. Feminism arose out of the necessity for females to be given voice in society. Up until the recent past women in many cultures have been excluded from positions of political, social and economic power. Women were dismissed as less important than men and these views were fuelled by notions such as the mythology of witches through which women and men were stuck onto a binary in which women were associated with evil and men with good. It is easy to see how this might happen because the two sexes lend themselves to binaries simply by their duality. It is impossible to completely erase binary in literature but feminists put forth the notion that it should not be completely trusted. Feminist theorists also have the idea that literary discourse is often the result of males projecting their own insecurities onto women, making them appear less credible. Women work as literary symbols rather than as people in many cases. In other cases there is split discourse which condemns females no matter how they act. For instance in the case of the witch hunts if a women acted too purely it could be seen as a disguise for her true evil nature, whereas if she acted badly she would immediately be seen as a witch. Feminist theorists attempt to debunk male devices in literature in order to create a new discourse free from old stereotypes.

Laura Mulvey’s essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” was written at a time when feminist ideas were only beginning to be considered seriously and studied in universities. Therefore, her essay had a revolutionary effect. Chaudhuri boldly states that “[f]eminist film theory almost became the orthodoxy of film theory, such was its influence in the field” as a result of Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” (1). John-Louis Baudry and Christian Metz had previously attempted to apply psychoanalysis to film theory but with nominal success. The basic principle of Mulvey’s theory is the idea of the power of the male gaze in film. What is meant by this is that film has a patriarchal lens attached to it. Women are often portrayed as submissive objects to gratify males. Mulvey suggests that this sort of lens is incorporated into the very mechanism of how films are made. But it can be deconstructed by removing the scopophilic gaze of the audience and forcing an environment in which the audience must engage with the film instead of being the invisible spectator. According to Chaudhuri, “Mulvey’s concept of ‘male gaze’ subsequently became the main talking point of feminist film debate.” (31).

For Mulvey, females and males have very distinctive roles in film. In “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” Mulvey describes the presence of the women as “an indispensible element of spectacle in normative narrative film, yet her visual presence tends to work against the development of the story line, to freeze the flow of action in moments of erotic contemplation.” (715). The female is associated with spectacle, submission and exhibitionism. Females are the objects of male gaze and work as icons or bearers of meaning within the film. On the other hand, males are the agents of action in film. They work to move along the plots and have dominant roles. Males are associated with the camera’s gaze and function as the bearer of this voyeuristic gaze. What happens when a spectator views a film is that they must unconsciously sift through scopophilic notions like the norms of patriarchal society. The spectator becomes bombarded by these images, the result of which is that it provides the “pleasure of identification with the projected images, in particular with that of the male character, who makes things happen and controls them. Woman is, however, also a source of unpleasure since she represents the threat of castration.” (Braudy and Cohen 661). This identification with the male undermines the importance of women and causes a sense of scopophilic pleasure in viewing the film. In “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” Mulvey says that, “By means of identification with [the male protagonist], through participation in his power the spectator can indirectly possess [the female spectacle] too.” (718). Mulvey calls the spectators voyeuristic because they watch but do directly participate and she calls the actors and actresses exhibitionists because they perform their roles in order to be watched by the spectators. The sense of voyeurism is heightened because the spectator can see the exhibitionist but the exhibitionist is unable to see the spectator.

Mulvey defines spectacle as the points in the film where the narrative is interrupted by an image of a woman. According to Cynthia Freeland, “[t]here is a dual analogy between the woman and the screen (the object of the look), and between the man and the viewer (the possessor of the look). A tension arises in the viewer between libido and ego needs, and this tension is resolved by a process of identification, whereby the [male] viewer identifies with the [male] protagonist.” (628). The spectator focuses their attention on the female in a way that ties the spectator with the (male) protagonist. This causes the female image to become objectified.

Mulvey’s work was influenced by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. In particular his theories of penis envy and his ideas of “scopophilic” pleasure (viewing another as an erotic object) shaped her work. The idea of scopophilic pleasure translates into her notion of voyeurism in film. In “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” Mulvey says, “Freud isolated scopophilia as one of the component instincts of sexuality ... At this point he associated scopophilia with taking other people as objects, subjecting them to a controlling and curious gaze. His particular examples centre around the voyeuristic activities of children, their desire to see and make sure of the private and forbidden.” (713). It can easily be seen from this quote how the application of Freudian psychoanalysis leads to the concept of the voyeuristic male gaze in her film theory. The idea of penis envy affects her theory so far as that the male gaze in film encourages people to see male as the position of power and therefore the better position in society. In this way the female spectator will still want to identify themselves with the male position and see the female position as weaker. This lends itself to creating submissive female roles. Even in the case of female heroines in films they often become objects of the male gaze and require male assistance to come in and move the plot along.

She was also influenced by Lacan’s ideas about the mirror stage. Lacan’s mirror stage is defined as the point in the life of an infant where the infant becomes aware that their image in the mirror is a reflection of themselves. With this realization comes the formation of Ego. The Ego is created out of the discord between the perceived self and the internal understanding of self. The infant begins to objectify themselves upon the discovery of their image. This dissention between the perception of self and the image creates a fragmentation of self. Mulvey’s idea of how the male gaze operates in film is very closely linked with Lacan’s mirror stage theory. The spectator is in the place of the infant and the spectacle is in the place of the image. The spectator identifies themselves with what is happening in the film although they are actually separate from it. This vicarious behaviour displays itself in the form of voyeurism. The connection between the spectator and the spectacle is fragmented and yet within the moment of watching the film the two are connected in a sense as well. In “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” Mulvey states, “[C]inema has structures of fascination strong enough to allow temporary loss of ego while simultaneously reinforcing the ego.” (714). The male gaze becomes an action through voyeurism, tying the spectator to the male view within the film and keeping the spectator from fully identifying themselves with images of the objectified feminine.
Lacan referred to the image in the mirror as the symbolic realm. This image causes the separation of the infant from the unconscious. Entering into the symbolic realm the infant is no longer able to connect their selves with the real. The real is the self that exists purely in and of itself before the infant is able to perceive of their self. The symbolic realm is the world of the masculine in which people conduct their business, fully conscious of their perceived image. A person may try to go back towards the real but all they are capable of reaching is the realm of the imaginary, which is connected with the perceptions of Freud’s pre-Oedipal stage. The imaginary is more real than the symbolic but at the same time is incapable of fully reaching the real. Mulvey applies this in her film theory, saying that the film moves towards the imaginary but is full of images based in the symbolic patriarchal realm, implying the power of the male gaze over everything happening within a film.

One of the strengths of Mulvey’s theory is that it gives a woman’s perspective on theory. There were not a lot of female theorists before Mulvey and the few that there were often were not taken seriously. One of the more well known female theorists previous to Mulvey was Cixious, whose theory seems more of a satire than an actual theory. Mulvey appeared at just the right time for her work to get noticed. Feminist theories were beginning to be taught at universities. Writing on film theory, which was a relatively new area of theory, allowed her to carve out a spot for herself among male scholars. Her feminist slant on film theory was revolutionary and paved the way for many more feminist theorists. Her psychoanalytic perspective helped to tie her theories to theories of literature that were well known and therefore made her voice more reputable.

Another strength is that Mulvey’s theory lent itself well to the silent film era where action was limited due to the superimposing of the actor onto backdrop. The result was that even performances in a setting that should require little movement, such as the confined space of a car were “self conscious, vulnerable and transparent.” (“A Clumsy Sublime” 3). This allowed for many strategic shots that focused on the female body as an object of desire, while limiting the shots containing action that would further the narrative. In “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” the woman in patriarchal society becomes a “signifier for the male other, bound by the symbolic order in which man can live out his phantasies and obsessions through linguistic command by imposing them on the silent image of woman still tied to her place as bearer of meaning, not maker of meaning.” (712). This image of the woman as an image onto which male discourse can be projected creates a very strong sense of the male gaze although the limited capability for realism in film during this era made the fragmentation between reality and the world of the cinema more pronounced, not allowing the spectator to be fully engaged in the act of voyeurism. It is for this reason that Mulvey’s theory did not lose its ability to apply to the modern film industry and in fact is possibly more effective in describing it than it was the silent film era in that the film itself has a greater sense of realism and less fragmentation. Mulvey states in “A Clumsy Sublime” that “the artificiality of the studio scene heightens the sense of temporal dislocation” in the case of rear projection cinema. (3).

A third strength is that Mulvey’s theory can easily be applied to other works of literature. While the male gaze in other literature is less pronounced because the voyeurism is not as extreme as it is in the case of film, it is present and able to affect the way the reader frames the characters in narratives in relation to themselves. In the case of poetry, which is often devoid of narrative it is possible to see the female depicted as spectacle, especially in the case of erotic poetry and love poems. The main difference between film and other literature in regards to Mulvey’s theory is the gap between the spectator and the spectacle. It is very easy in the case of film to see things through the lens of the male gaze when the mechanism of the camera itself, and the shots produced lends itself to being interpreted through male gaze within patriarchal society. With the spectacle of film splayed out in front of the spectator’s eyes it is easy to fall into the trap of seeing it through a male lens. This is because the speed at which the information reaches the spectator’s senses requires much less time than in most other forms of literature. In the case of a novel the reader is likely to pause and think about a passage before continuing. This allows for more time to disrupt and contradict the male gaze. Despite this much of the highly reputed literature has been written by men and within the bounds of patriarchal society and is therefore subject to the male gaze.

One weakness of Mulvey’s theory is that it is based in psychoanalysis, which is flawed. One problem with psychoanalysis, particularly in the case of Sigmund Freud is the way it is applied. Freud would use lead in questions in his sessions with clients, cause them to respond in a certain way that would tie in with his theories. In this way it would be impossible to disprove the effectiveness of psychoanalysis. This lack of objectivity also leads to a lot of criticism and for good reason. Another problem with Freud’s psychoanalytics is how phallocentric his theories are. This is also very evident in Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema”. She seems to take Freud’s ideas too seriously, and this is particularly obvious when she fails to give female spectators credit that they may enjoy a film without actually seriously agreeing with the patriarchal position of the male gaze. In fact it is strange that Mulvey would take Freud’s work seriously in any fashion as a feminist theorist because it causes females to be viewed in bad light. Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” remarks on “the ‘beauty’ of psychoanalysis in the way it renders the frustration women experience under ‘the phallocentric order’” according to Chaudhuri. (33). This analysis is a poor one, because Freud’s psychoanalysis attempts to undermine women rather than identify with their feelings. The idea that women are supposed to have penis envy is not something that should be taken seriously, and yet Mulvey seems to incorporate this into her own theories. It is likely that this background in Freud’s well-known psychoanalysis gave her an edge in the field when “Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema” first was written, but it undercuts her whole vision of empowerment for women through the medium of film.

A second weakness of Mulvey’s theory is that she assumes that people must always identify with the males in films. Laura Mulvey herself addresses this in her book Visual and Other Pleasures. She states “I have been asked why I only used the male third personal singular to stand for the spectator. At the time, I was interested in the relationship between the image of woman on the screen and the ‘masculinisation’ of the spectator position, regardless of [their] actual sex.” (29). Laura Mulvey decided to pursue the question “What about the women in the audience?” in further detail. (29). She believes that there are a few possibilities as to how female audience members can react to the male gaze created my film. One possibility is that as a result of the masculinisation of the spectator position a woman “may find herself so out of key with the pleasure on offer ... that the spell of fascination is broken.” (29). Another possibility is that she would not and instead “find herself secretly, unconsciously almost, enjoying the freedom of action and control over the diegetic world that identification with the hero provides.” (29). Mulvey is more interested in the latter.

Another issue Mulvey addresses in Visual and Other Pleasures is how having a female lead in a film effects how spectators identify with males in the film. She focuses on “films in which a woman central protagonist is shown to be unable to achieve a stable sexual identity, torn between the deep blue sea of passive femininity and the devil of regressive masculinity.” (30). Mulvey describes the female heroine’s identity crisis in this sort of film as “echoed by the woman spectator’s point of view.” (30). She thinks that the female spectator who has identified with a male hero in another film and then identifies with a female heroine is problematic because she views the masculine point of view as equal to a more female gaze. It seems that Mulvey neglects the fact that the female spectator is perfectly capable of enjoying the film for its plotline and identifying with a male hero’s human emotion rather than just focusing on a film with a masculine gaze. Female spectators (or any spectators for that matter) are able critically evaluate what is going on in a film or piece of literature and take only what is meaningful from it. Mulvey attempts to band-aid this part of her theory by using the pre-Oedipal stage in Freud’s theory to describe the role of the female spectator. According to Chaudhuri she suggests that “during many women’s lives, there are frequent regressions to this phallic phase, leading their behaviour to alternate between ‘passive’ femininity and regressive ‘masculinity’.” (40). Through this digression the female spectator is able to take on the masculine role of spectator and derive pleasure from the film.

This leads right into a third weakness of Mulvey’s theory which is that she assumes that people are child-like and do not comprehend the implications of what is depicted in film. As human beings we are able to see that film is not the same as reality any more than theatre is. We are perfectly capable of making critiques of film and often do. It is easy to move beyond the film and see the falsities of the male gaze. Mulvey’s suggestion of female spectators regressing into a pre-Oedipal state undermines their ability to look at films in a critical fashion.

While Mulvey’s theory is tailored to film and works better with it than other forms of literature it is possible to find the influence of patriarchy in many works of literature and to see how the male gaze exists in these works. In the poem “Lamia” by John Keats the character Apollonius has a particularly powerful gaze. The nymph Lamia had Hermes transform her into a beautiful woman so that she could capture the affections of Lycius. At their wedding Lycius’s mentor Apollonius arrives and warns Lycius about her. He is able to see Lamia’s previous serpent-like self when Lycius seems blinded to it. When Lycius still cannot see beyond Lamia’s beauty Apollonius stares at Lamia until her serpent shape is exposed to Lycius and then Lamia vanishes, leaving Lycius to die of heartbreak.
Looking at the poem through the lens of Mulvey’s theory Apollonius can be seen as cutting through the male gaze and exposing Lamia for what she truly is (a serpent-woman). Lycius seems incapable of seeing Lamia as anything except spectacle. This is illustrated by how he did not notice Lamia before she had Hermes make her beautiful. This concept of beauty as attracting the attention of a male gaze is echoed in Mulvey’s discussion of the film Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock, in which Lisa is “continually putting herself on visual display for Jeff so that he will notice her.” (Modleski 725). Lamia’s beauty objectifies her, making her become noticed by the people of Corinth as well. Lycius wants to show her off in public because of her beauty and so she becomes a spectacle. Worse still Mulvey would point out that Lamia tries to tailor herself into becoming the object of a male gaze for Lycius’s love. Modleski criticizes Mulvey for seeing Lisa in Rear Window as “only a passive object of male gaze” saying she ignores the “full complexity of woman’s contradictory situation” and “risk[s] acquiescing in masculine contempt for female activities.” (725). In the same way Mulvey’s theory would condemn Lamia, who is working to empower herself with in a strongly patriarchal society.

The name Apollonius suggests the sun god Apollo, so it can be deduced that Apollonius serves as a light (like the sun) that exposes truth in a world that is veiled by shadows and lies. Despite this when Apollonius exposes Lamia as a serpent-woman this paints Lamia in a bad light. Apollonius makes Lamia into a monster, claiming that she is trying to deceive Lycius. In a patriarchal society any woman who does not fit the bill exactly as to how women should behave becomes just such a monster. Apollonius destroys Lamia in a very real way. No one is going to love or trust a serpent-woman. The connection with the Adam and Eve story makes the spectator as uneasy as Lycius upon this revelation.

However, looking at the poem solely from this angle would be problematic. It seems no matter how the poem is read though it results in Lamia being the object of the critical male eye. If the poem were to be read as Apollonius possessing the male gaze this would work also. Apollonius sees Lamia’s serpentine form, but we cannot be sure this is her true form. Lamia tells Hermes at the beginning of the poem that she “was a woman” and asks that she may be restored to “a woman’s shape, and charming as before.” (lines 117-118). This suggests that if her true shape is that of a woman, she has for some reason been cursed with her serpentine form. If this is true (and the male gaze in the poem makes it hard to trust Lamia’s words) then Apollonius does not expose Lamia for what she truly is but instead destroys her by making Lycius see her in the wrong light. Within the poem itself it is said,

Philosophy will clip an Angel’s wings,
Conquer all mysteries of rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine –
Unweave a rainbow, as it erewhile made
The tender-person’d Lamia melt into a shade. (lines 234-238).

Lamia is compared with an Angel whose wings are clipped by philosophy. The image of an Angel with clipped wings suggests a demonizing of it. Therefore the poem is saying that philosophy has the ability to make what is beautiful become monstrous. As Apollonius is a philosopher he can be seen as a force that will destroy Lamia’s beauty.

Either way Lamia is under a critical male gaze which depicts her as either a beautiful object of desire or a monstrous manipulator. Both of these depictions are very common ways depict women in literature, which was for centuries dominated by male writers. Women were to be mistrusted and feared when they acted to set their own goals in motion. When they remained submissive to men then they became objects of desire, satisfying the role of sexual partner, wife and mother. In a submissive role women did not challenge the authority of patriarchal society. This depiction of women who defied the patriarchy as monstrous reared its ugly head in creating harsh consequences for women, sometimes taken to their logical extreme such as in the case of the practice of witch hunting. It is often the case in literature that women “who become aligned with monsters, are typically shown themselves to represent threats to the patriarchy and hence require punishment.” (Freeland 629). In the case of Lamia is capable of getting things for herself and so she might be seen as a threat to the patriarchy. Also her love threatens Lycius’s relationship with philosophy (represented by Apollonius) and is keeping Lycius from the male sphere of society. This could be seen as problematic, forcing Apollonius to expose Lamia as a serpent-woman.

Mulvey’s theory works better with some literature and films better than with others. Films that Mulvey’s theory works well with are police films and films to do with the justice system. The action is often disrupted in these by the introduction of female characters. Alfred Hitchcock films also lend themselves to Mulvey’s theory. In fact she used a couple of them in “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” to illustrate voyeurism within film. She wrote, “Hitchcock has never concealed his interest in voyeurism, cinematic and non-cinematic.” (719). Mulvey’s theory works well with the film and literary genre of horror because of the over-dramatisation of female characters. Mulvey’s theory also works well with love poetry, although it is often devoid of a plotline. Females are often objectified in love poems. A good example is Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 in which he is describing his lover’s appearance. Films that do not work as well with Mulvey’s theory include Tim Burton films, children’s films and films such as Bend it like Beckham, in which females are allowed to play a dominant and empowering role which does not rely on a male coming in to save the day. An example of a literary genre in which this theory does not work well is the romance novel genre. In this genre it is usually the male that becomes the object of a female gaze. This is likely because these books are often geared towards a female readership. In many cases poetry also does not lend itself to Mulvey’s theories because it often has no plot and the object of the gaze is very fluid. Love poems are an exception because of the way they objectify women.

In “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” the problem has always been “how to fight the unconscious structured like a language (formed critically at the moment of arrival of language) while still caught within the language of the patriarchy.” (712). Mulvey herself attempted to create films devoid of the male gaze with the help of her former husband and fellow film theorist, Peter Wollen. To do this they used avante garde film techniques, such as causing the spectator to be forced into realizing they are viewing a film, which is separate from reality. This process has been repeated by many avante garde film makers. An example Laura Mulvey uses in her article “Repetition and Return” comes from Kiarostami’s film And Life Goes On, where it is scripted that one of the actors cannot find a prop necessary for a particular scene and so he calls “the script girl, [who] runs on set to give it to him.” (22). Kiarostami’s films commonly work to undermine the male gaze in order to give voice to those who are usually undermined. In “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” Mulvey states, “However self-conscious and ironic Hollywood managed to be, it always restricted itself to a formal mise-en-scene reflecting the dominant ideological concept of the cinema. The alternative cinema provides a space for a cinema to be born which is radical in both a political and an aesthetic sense and challenges the basic assumptions of the mainstream film.” (712). It is also interesting then to see that more recently men are beginning to become spectacles in popular films, causing a disruption of the male gaze in these films. An example of this is Jacob in New Moon, the second film in the Twilight series. Many women flocked to the theatres to see Jacob’s “hot body” while completely ignoring the rather thin plotline developed in the Bella’s whiny narrative voice. The male image as a spectacle seems to have real marketability leading to the creation of new films that are able to move beyond the male gaze. It can be hoped that their plots will blossom as this trend progresses. If they do this may well be a way through popular film and literature are able to move beyond the restrictions of the scopophilic gaze.

Works Cited

Chaudhuri, Shohini. Feminist Film Theorists: Laura Mulvey, Kaja Silverman, Teresa de Lauretis, Barbara Creed. New York: Routledge, 2006.

Freeland, Cynthia A. “Feminist Frameworks for Horror Films.” Film Theory & Criticism. Eds. Braudy, Leo, and Marshall Cohen. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009. 627-631.

Keats, John. “Lamia.” (1820). Excerpt from British Literature 1780-1830. Ed. Mellor, Anne K., and Richard E. Matlak. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1996. 1298-1308.

Malleski, Tania. “From the Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory: The Master’s Dollhouse: Rear Window.” Film Theory & Criticism. Eds. Braudy, Leo, and Marshall Cohen. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009. 723-725.

Mulvey, Laura. “A Clumsy Sublime.” Film Quarterly. 60.3 (2007) 3.Mulvey, Laura. “Repetition and Return.” Third Text. 21.1 (2007) 19-29.

Mulvey, Laura. “Repetition and Return.” Third Text. 21.1 (Jan 2007) 19-29.

Mulvey, Laura “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory & Criticism. Eds.
Braudy, Leo, and Marshall Cohen. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009. 711-722.

Mulvey, Laura. Visual and Other Pleasures. Eds. Heath, Stephen, Colin MacCabe and Denise Riley. Hampshire: Palgrave. 1989.

“Spectator and Audience.” Film Theory & Criticism. Eds. Braudy, Leo, and Marshall Cohen. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009. 659-664.

Awesome Jazz Piece!

2010-04-18T14:06:00.003-05:00

This is my boyfriend and his little brother and dad playing. His little brother is majorly talented! Check it out! :-)

Link if the embed isn't working for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LpTfDZZo4A

Check out Eightsense!

2010-03-13T21:24:00.003-06:00

This is my good friend Eightsense who is a hip hop artist out of Baltimore. He is currently hosting an online live show every Saturday night at 9:30pm Eastern time. During his show he plays hip hop that he has been involved in making or songs that have been sent into him by other artists. Also he plays a few songs by well known artists. Definitely worth a gander!

Here is a link to the page where he broadcasts:

http://www.justin.tv/eightsense

T'ai Pu in Performance

2010-03-03T12:56:00.003-06:00

I was privileged to see a wonderful beat poet called T'ai Pu the other night. He was born in Trinidad and now is based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). He was wonderful at working the audience, getting us all feeling involved and upbeat. I got the chance to go up on stage and hold up a poster of words the audience had brainstormed when he was free-styling. He was wonderfully appreciative. I wish I could find a video of him to share with you but the ones I found so far had poor sound quality and did not do him justice.

He incorporates his own Shamanistic beliefs into his poetry which perhaps makes him unique to any other beat poet I have scene. His excellent sense of humor and on the spot witty comments kept the whole audience amused. Definitely worth checking out if you ever get the chance!

Wintry Weather

2009-12-26T20:23:00.002-06:00

Driving in wintry Manitoba I realize I do not have a sufficient vocabulary to describe Manitoba winter weather. For instance I do not know the word for the weather condition where the wind blows the pre-existing snow across the road in front of you causing you to be unable to see. I am also uncertain the term for when the wind literally begins to blow you off the road. In fact I'm not even sure the word for the type of snow they get here which is so devoid of moisture it is more like white dust. The drive to Winnipeg took me 3 and a half hours instead of 2 and a half. I am glad I left early enough so it wouldn't be dark when I got here. The streets were full of Boxing Day traffic. I found my cousin's house relatively easily and made myself some eggs for dinner. The cats looked at me suspiciously when I entered the building. We are good friends now though. I tried to sleep because I have to be up around 3 but just couldn't do it. Finally I gave up and played some Sudoku and read part of one of my books for next term. Then I found an internet signal. I will have to plug in my laptop soon though.

Happy Monday!

2009-12-14T16:39:00.003-06:00

Here is a picture taken from the hallway window outside my sixth floor room. One of the advantages of living in the tallest building in town is the spectacular view. (Although the view from the hall is very much better than the one from my room right now as my entire window is covered with a thick layer of frost.)

Currently we are sitting at a comfortable -22 Celsius (-8 F) with a windchill of -35 C (-31 F). The sun is setting and it is beautiful. It was quite windy earlier in the day and when I went to retrieve my x-country skis from the car (I didn't have enough hands last night) the cleaning lady was washing floors and looked at me with a horrified expression, "You weren't actually skiing were you?" I assured her I was just bringing the skis in from my car. I am sure my face was bright red from the wind. Certainly I would have worn a few more layers under my down jacket had I been skiing! And a scarf across the face!

We are currently in 22 hour lock down at the University until the end of the week. (Meaning all hours except between 5pm and 7pm must be absolutely quiet so people can study for exams. The loudest noise is the wind beating against the building and people's keys jingling when they unlock their doors.)

This morning I picked up most of my books for next term except 2 that haven't come in yet. I am thinking I better bring a couple on my flight home later this month judging by the stack!

I am thinking I should go find some dinner and then work on some drawings. I am trying to design a bookmark for my boyfriend to go with the book I bought him for Christmas!

It's Growing On Me

2009-12-13T20:36:00.002-06:00

There is something wonderful about living here despite the cold. I know that whenever my path pulls me away to warmer climes I will be forced to leave a part of me behind. There is something truly magical about watching people pull toboggans full of groceries home from the corner store, snowmobilers taking an evening ride, the way during winter dusk the white of the sky blends with the white of the snow on the horizon so it feels you are driving a narrow strip of asphalt into a place between earth and sky. It is truly spectacular how the snow drifts like a swirling smoke across the road and the way the trees are bare and white with frost. The way the air shimmers with ice crystals and the horizon goes on and on forever leaving you with an exhilarating sense of freedom. Yes, it will definately be hard to part with this strange landscape. But for now it seems if all works out I may be given more than ample opportunities to stay here for another 1-4 years. If I finish my teaching degree here and then work here as a teacher for two years it sounds like the government will reimburse me for my schooling. And that would be wonderful. But for now baby steps. We will see how I deal with January's -50 Celsius weather before considering that too hard!

Good Literature

2009-12-07T15:09:00.004-06:00

Today in Literary Criticism class our professor asked us each to come up with 2 books we thought everyone should read. They could be fiction or non-fiction. (In some cases they were identified by author not title.) Here was what we came up with...

Official suggestions:
The Bible
Faust
1984
The Making of the English Working Class
Seymour
Huckleberry Finn
Aesop's Fables
Jane Eyre
East of Eden
Oscar Wilde
Infinite Jest
White Noise
Qur'an
The Hobbit
The Communist Manifesto
Zarathustra
Crime & Punishment
Brave New World
Borges
Slaughterhouse Five

Unofficial Suggestions:

Fight Club
Shakespeare

Our Prof then asked us to look over the list. He asked whether we thought we would get a good education taking a class that had these works for the book list. We all agreed we would. I thought to myself it would be a very heavy course!

Looking at this list there are a lot of religious, social and political themes. However, I feel a lot of areas are unrepresented. This seems like a very useful book list in a course based in a Caucasian, Middle-Class, Western neighbourhood. For sure we are not being biased just to look within the Christian faith for our texts but how far are we willing to expand these limits? The Qur'an is not that far away from The Bible in many senses. Also there is very little literature representing women, people from different culture groups, gender minorities or even local or Canadian authors. We might learn a lot about the classics, about European and North American history... but what type of education are we really receiving by reading this book list? A good one we say... but good how? Good because from a viewpoint of a literary critic these books are important milestones in literature? Good because these are some of the titles that we would expect to see appear if someone asked you what books you think everyone should read? Are these books good for expanding our horizons and making us more open to our fellow man? It is important to ask ourselves these questions I think.

It is also important to realize that of these books there is very little pop. fiction. Most of the books are intellectual or literary landmarks, many are classics. If you asked me my favorite book it would not be on this list. However if you asked me what book I thought everyone should read I would hum and haw for a bit (just as I did) and then say (as I did) Huckleberry Finn or Aesop's Fables. These aren't my favorite books. They were good books for sure and significant landmarks in literature. But what does that mean exactly? I certainly would not have said Harry Potter or Twilight or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or The DaVinci Code or any book of that nature when adding to this list... the question is why. I think perhaps literature is still stuck in an elitist notion. Good literature is about structure, aesthetics and big ideas that are portrayed in an intelligent and well thought out manner. Good literature is art. Pop Literature is entertainment. Basically literary critics are book snobs and terribly biased. Something important to think about. Or at least I believe it is.

What two books would you choose?

It's that time of year again...

2009-12-06T12:54:00.002-06:00

Snow is everywhere, the air is cold, people who didn't do their holiday shopping early are stressing and I'm stressing over end of term stuff. It is this time of year that I turn to my favorite online seasonal stress reducer game: Penguin Baseball. So if you are feeling stressed at this busy time of year take a whack at it! (pun intended)

Have a great Sunday and hope your weekend was fabulous!

Exams and Term Papers

2009-11-26T12:15:00.001-06:00

As some of you may know I am in my third year of University. I likely won't have anything to write here for the next couple weeks due to all the exams and papers in my near future.

To my American readership Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Artists and Music Lovers!

2009-11-19T17:42:00.002-06:00

I have been asked by my good friend Sleepy from Baltimore to post this around. It is a live internet broadcast he and a friend are working on. Check it out! (And send your music if you want.)

Saturdays
9pm est - 1am est.

Indie artists...send your mp3 to be played. styleons@gmail.com

Include track name, artist(s) name, and location and contact info.

All videos are archived at:
http://www.justin.tv/eightsense

Need to advertise your website or business, email me at styleons@gmail.com

Come support me and join in the chat and in the discussions.

Peace

Sleepy

http://www.justin.tv/eightsense

Best Blog Award Nominees

2009-11-18T09:31:00.004-06:00

You will see that I received the "Best Blog Award" from SunTiger in the below entry. I will now nominate 15 new recipients. In order to claim this award you must post the blog award pic below, give a link to the blog of the person who nominated you and pick 15 new nominees. Here are my 15 nominees for this award:

Vegetarian/Vegan Cooking Blogs:
Although I had to temporarily give up my vegetarian eating habits due to the mandatory school mealplan that does not support healthy eating for vegetarians I have found many great recipes on these blogs!

Herbivoracious Excellent recipes and pictures that leave you drooling for more!

Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen Enter the kitchen and see what is cooking! Specializing in Indian cuisine there are definately some keepers among these recipes!

Vegan Lunch Box Great lunch ideas for vegetarians and vegans. Elegantly presented!

Fun Blogs
These are themed blogs and otherwise all-around fun blogs!

Coffee Messiah A blog of coffee and art. Appealing to distinguished coffee drinkers!

Uniquely Tea A blog about tea as the name would suggest. So grab a cup and sit down and read!

The Unexpected Life of the Green Frog The photographic journey of a world-traveling frog.

Presurfer The Presurfer surfs the net for the awesome and unusual and then posts links so anyone can take a look! Great fun!

Personal Blogs

Life's Free Treats A wonderful blog about life and its free treats! Take a gander!

Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker A personal life journey through pain to find light. Another wonderful blog!

Roll Call A great blog of heart-warming stories and sometimes jokes and personal life stories as well!

A Life in Indigo A personal blog of pictures and poems.

Another Dumpsite A blogger I have been visiting since the days of journalspace. Sometimes opinionated but always a great read!

Photo Blogs

Island Blog A photo blog of life on British Columbia's coast, particularly Gabriola Island.

Charleston Daily Photo I have followed Joan Perry in her blogs since the old days of journalspace. Her amazing photography brings joy to my heart each time I visit her blog. Also Check out her other blog: Concrete Thoughts

OutHouse Capital of Canada Photo blog of a Canadian blogger! Absolutely fabulous!

Another Great Tea Spot

2009-09-12T15:13:00.002-05:00

The Plum. Souris, Manitoba. This little tea shop and museum used to be part of a church. Full of history, with beautiful stained glass windows and plum and chocolate decor it is well worth a visit. The woman who runs it is charming and animated and the young girls who work there bake all the goodies sold there from scratch. I recommend tea and the strawberry rhubarb cake!

baked apples

2009-08-31T21:39:00.002-05:00

Today my uncle and his friend were out getting a start on the canola harvest. My aunt was at work so I cooked up supper. I made a chicken stew with a mixture of leftovers and some veggies that needed using up and a can of mushroom soup. I made cornbread to go with it and then started brainstorming desserts I could do without running to the store. I found this recipe for baked apples at Kitchen Parade and it sure hit the spot! (I did add a bit more spices than it suggested though and a bunch of raisins.)

BAKED APPLES
Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Total preparation time: 1 hour
9 servings

* 1-1/2 cups brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons cornstarch
* Dash cinnamon
* Dash nutmeg
* 1-1/2 cups water
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 9 small or medium apples

In a 1½-quart saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and spices; stir together with a wooden spoon to remove any obvious lumps. Add water and stir. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add butter. Cook until thick, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, rub a 9x9-inch glass dish with butter. Wash and core the apples and place right side up in the dish. Pour the sauce into and over the apples.

Bake 45 minutes at 325F. Halfway through baking, remove from oven and cover the apples with hot syrup again. Return to oven to complete baking. Serve hot or cold.

Life on the Farm

2009-08-29T16:08:00.000-05:00

I have been on the go nonstop for the last month and finally I have a day sort of to myself just to relax. It is easy to fall into the pace of the farm. My aunt and uncle were my legal guardians as a child if anything had happened to my parents. Although this is only my third time staying on the farm it feels like home. Actually in some ways it feels more like a home than my parent's house. It is definately a less stressful environment. Things are not expected to be perfect on the farm. A little bit of mess is allowable and everything gets done, but at its own pace. My aunt and uncle are very busy people. My uncle works in town on the base. He works nights. I think he is a handyman/night watchmen. I am not sure. It sounds like a boring job; sometimes he brings work from home to do at his work. My aunt is a baker in Brandon. On weekends my aunt grabs her viking stuff, loads up the truck and heads out of town for practice with her viking reinactment group. My uncle tinkers with machines in the shed or processes more bio-diesel. All the vechiles belonging to my aunt, uncle and cousins run on biodiesel including the farm machinery with the exception of one pickup truck. My uncle makes his biodiesel out of grease waste from fastfood restaurants in town. He has made it from canola oil in the past but he finds that his current method is a better way to recycle. He recycles all the waste products created during biodiesel production. He condenses methanol gas and reuses it and he uses glycerol either as fertilizer or (more recently) to make soap products. On top of all this the crops are late this year so my uncle's Canola needs to be harvested in the next week. I try to help out where I can but being I am ignorant still of how the farm runs I can get in the way more than I can help sometimes. I do make sure I pick the peas in the garden and walk the dog and brush the dog and two cats. I make meals sometimes too. The general rule of meal cooking around here is that the first person to decide to make a meal should make enough for everyone.

Tonight my aunt is away at another viking gathering and my uncle is out trying to get his machines ready for harvest. I will find a recipe for chicken as it needs to be used up. I am letting my vegetarian eating slide while I am here because I don't want to cause extra work for my aunt and uncle. My uncle wants to have a fire tonight so we can make banana boats for dessert. (This is where you make a slit in a banana and put in chocolate chips and then cook it in the fire wrapped in foil).

Tomorrow is Sunday which means we will have pancakes for dinner (dinner=lunch and supper=the last meal of the day on the farm). It is tradition on the farm that my uncle makes pancakes every Sunday... mounds of them. Some of them he cooks cheese into the center. Yum!!! We can always expect guests for Sunday pancakes. Usually my cousins and their significant others or my uncle's mother. All meals on the farm are served with tea. This makes sense because the water comes from the resevoir and comes out a muddy brown colour. It is perfectly drinkable but looks gross so the tea disguises the colour. My uncle drinks exclusively green earl grey tea and the tea cupboard is full to bursting with packages of it.

Today I am doing laundry because all but a weeks worth of clothes are packed still. We have hardwater so I had to buy more soap. I like the earthy feel of the water on my skin in the shower but it sure wreaks havoc on my hair! Luckily good fashion and neat hair are not expected on the farm. (Viking fashion however is perfectly acceptable.)

My cousin, Andrew might be stopping in tonight if his plane gets in early enough. His wife and baby are staying in the other farmhouse until they find a place closer to the city to live. Andrew was recently hired by Apple and has been away for training. I am curious to see him as last time I did he was an antisocial teenager. It sound like he has changed a great deal. I am not sure I would even recognize him it has been so long since I saw him.

Well that's about it for now. I am just charging batteries for my camera so photos will have to wait for the time being.

Great Tea Spot

2009-08-08T21:34:00.000-05:00

The other day I went with my bestfriend to a tea and coffee shop in town. We got to pick the tea we wanted from jars on shelves against the wall. We could even take the jars down to smell them. I choose a tea with maple in it and my friend chose "bella coola" which smelled of fruits and flowers. It was a lovely little modern looking shop and reasonably priced. It had a friendly, comfortable atmosphere and we didn't even have to pay until we'd finished our drinks!

Smoky With Sun

2009-08-02T21:33:00.000-05:00

Today was another scorcher and as is common in the summers here, the air was filled with smoke. Even though we are only in a moderate risk zone for fires at the moment at least one has broken out locally. This is small and the fire services are quick to contain it so it likely will not be much of a concern. Here are some pictures taken over the river this afternoon.

bbq shrimp wraps and spinach raspberry salad

2009-07-31T00:13:00.000-05:00

bbq shrimp wraps:

serves 2

soft tortillas

1/2 cup frozen shrimp
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
2 green onions chopped

1 Tbsp honey mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tbsp bbq sauce
a dash powdered ginger
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
3 Tbsp water
1/2 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
parmesan cheese garnish (optional)

in a pan fry shrimp and vegetables. add seasoning. let simmer until sauce thickens. place portions in wraps. garnish with parmesan cheese and fold.

--

spinach rasberry salad

baby spinach
green leaf lettuce
sliced cucumber
raspberries
hemp hearts
a dash lime juice

mix veggies. garish with raspberries and hemp hearts. add a dash of lime juice

Old Friends

2009-07-13T14:16:00.000-05:00

In my grade 12 year we had an exchange student live with us named Emy. She was from France. This summer she has come back to Canada to see all her friends here and to attend the wedding of one of her Canadian friends. Last night she came to our house for a visit.

Below are pictures of her and I at our graduation. We had matching prom dresses but in different colours.

Me with my prom date and my mother

Emy and her prom date

Try it!!!!

2009-06-18T22:37:00.000-05:00

	420

11

lab.drwicked.com

Toasted Mediterranean Sandwiches

2009-06-04T19:55:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:
-sesame seed hamburger buns
-leaf lettuce
-tomato paste
-chopped yellow onion
-olive oil
-garlic powder
-basil
-oregano
-black olives
-smoked gouda slices

Toast hamburger buns. If the buns won't fit in your toaster, flatten them first. (Or use a toaster oven). Fry onions in a pan with olive oil. Add garlic powder, basil and oregano to taste. Add olives and stir. Spread tomato paste on the top half of the bun. Stick gouda slices in the tomato paste. Place onion mixture on the bottom half of the bun. cover with leafs of lettuce. Close bun. Enjoy!