Elizabeth is the best once again and reminded me of the delights of being dyonisian. Remember when Nita, Linds and I all worked at the dionysian bakery in West Vancouver where butter was the secret ingredient and where when a customer ordered an eggwhite omelette without butter or cream it was considered INSANE...
West Vancouver is positively dripping with healthy fat. The streets rarely sport paved sidewalks and the houses are draped with grape and passion vines while the gardens are filled with textured greens, mosses and black grasses. The air is fresh, salty and clean. Waves crash over the seawall and drench tracksuit clad women from Persia and Eastern Europe and Japan and Canada.
The nights are deep blue while the moon casts a shadow over the Lions Gate bridge and the Haida sculpture in Ambleside stones the horizon that is chalked with sailboats and large vessels. I once heard of thousands of Chinese people being trapped on one of those huge ships; they longed to land but were sent home in their suffocating circumstances.Their desperation might still linger in the salty night air, like the thirst that you wake up with after a garlic infused meal.
Walking around, you are oppressed by the dark beauty of the enormous trees that cleanse the air and shade the avenues. Bright yellow streelights occasionally spotlight telephone poles where squirrells and rats crisscross the wired heights.
Beneath the North Shore mountains, on the edge of the Pacific, surrounded by cedars; West Vancouver is drenched with beauty, rich, decadent, natural beauty.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Elizabeth
Well, I just got off the phone with Elizabeth and I have to tell you that she is a friend that actually changes the world, and by the world I am referring specifically to my world but not exclusively to it. After talking with her you feel like prior to your conversation your eyes had been caked with mud and gravel 5 inches thick that you were somehow oblivious to and then her words magically scrape it all off and out of your eyes and then sweeps it into an eye-vac professional.
http://www.infomercial.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=Eye-Vac-Professional
(I am new to blogging and don't how to imbed a video yet:)
Other good things about today:
-I discovered wiretap on cbc hosted by Jonathon Goldstein. How could I have been so blind? Inspired somewhat by Chuck Klosterman's: "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto", today they discussed the power of banal/absurd hypothetical questions in uniting people.
For example a question like: "If there was a magical VCR that could play all your dreams you've ever had for you to watch in your own living room, would you watch it knowing that the only caveat is, all of your friends and immediate family had to be there to watch them with you?"
A question like that could be a lot less divisive or contentious at a party or family setting than a question about whether someone was a democrat,a george bush sympathiser, a feminist, a misogynist, or what religion they belong to. Yet, these hypothetical questions can be just as revealing about someone's values.
Another example: "If you won a contest and you had to choose between these two prizes, which would you select? The choices are: 1) spend a year in Europe with a monthly stipend of 2000 dollars or 2) spend ten minutes walking on the moon?"
(I would chose Europe without even considering the moon, although it would be special)
and my favourite: "Would you wear spandex cheetah print pants all day every day for nine months if it meant you could determine the outcome of the 2008 presidential election?"
Listening brought me back to my family and circle of friends long tradition of "would you rather questions" such as the famous underbite or sarcastic speech impediment question, the bum backwards, adult mouth chock full of baby teeth, eyebrow that extends from temple to temple and is 1 inch thick, the invisible midget that demands you feed him sauer krout every 45 minutes or the shin kicking begins, the community of centaurs, etc....
-I ate a delicious meal of fresh cole slaw (cabbage, fresh pineapple, walnuts, lemon), a zucchini egg patty concoction and chicken.
-I listened to this song on youtube, it is Sunday afterall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uslytyVrWFw
-I have a life mission, it's been found and the plans are being hatched. That is exciting!!!
Life is pretty good, especially when you have friends like Eliz.
http://www.infomercial.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=Eye-Vac-Professional
(I am new to blogging and don't how to imbed a video yet:)
Other good things about today:
-I discovered wiretap on cbc hosted by Jonathon Goldstein. How could I have been so blind? Inspired somewhat by Chuck Klosterman's: "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto", today they discussed the power of banal/absurd hypothetical questions in uniting people.
For example a question like: "If there was a magical VCR that could play all your dreams you've ever had for you to watch in your own living room, would you watch it knowing that the only caveat is, all of your friends and immediate family had to be there to watch them with you?"
A question like that could be a lot less divisive or contentious at a party or family setting than a question about whether someone was a democrat,a george bush sympathiser, a feminist, a misogynist, or what religion they belong to. Yet, these hypothetical questions can be just as revealing about someone's values.
Another example: "If you won a contest and you had to choose between these two prizes, which would you select? The choices are: 1) spend a year in Europe with a monthly stipend of 2000 dollars or 2) spend ten minutes walking on the moon?"
(I would chose Europe without even considering the moon, although it would be special)
and my favourite: "Would you wear spandex cheetah print pants all day every day for nine months if it meant you could determine the outcome of the 2008 presidential election?"
Listening brought me back to my family and circle of friends long tradition of "would you rather questions" such as the famous underbite or sarcastic speech impediment question, the bum backwards, adult mouth chock full of baby teeth, eyebrow that extends from temple to temple and is 1 inch thick, the invisible midget that demands you feed him sauer krout every 45 minutes or the shin kicking begins, the community of centaurs, etc....
-I ate a delicious meal of fresh cole slaw (cabbage, fresh pineapple, walnuts, lemon), a zucchini egg patty concoction and chicken.
-I listened to this song on youtube, it is Sunday afterall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uslytyVrWFw
-I have a life mission, it's been found and the plans are being hatched. That is exciting!!!
Life is pretty good, especially when you have friends like Eliz.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
NYC Marathon
Okay, so a while ago I decided I needed to finally make my dream of running a marathon come true by signing up for the NYC marathon which is on Sunday November 1st.
I started running when I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints about 5 years ago now. Running really changed my life. I felt the endorphins streaming through my brain, I realized I could accomplish goals, and I had a lot of adventures at 5:30 am running through snow and rain in the beautiful neighbourhood, the avenues, in downtown Salt Lake City. My running partners were women from South Africa, Brazil, the U.S., Austria, Sweden, Canada and New Zealand.
I hadn't run since highschool (when I was forced to in gym class- Erin and Briony and I would lament to our teacher: Murdy nooooo!!!) and I didn't think that I would be able to but Sister Howden said human beings are made to run and that if you can walk, you can run. She did not except any excuses and when I told her that the predawn winter Utah air was burning my throat and that I tasted blood she said "that's normal".
But she was right, it didn't harm me and I felt amazing after 2 weeks of running. We had two main routes; the first was a loop in the residential area which could be extended a mile or two by going all the way to "the tree". "The tree" was at the top of a long incline and represented the tree of life spoken of in the Book of Mormon. We dreaded going there.
The second main route, reserved for once a week, was Ensign Peak. The entire way there is a steep incline from our pink apartment building. It took us an hour and a half to go there and back. It represented our goals of going home with a skinny butt (I actually lost weight on my mission, which is not typical of those who serve in Utah) and our individual spiritual goals. Ensign Peak plays an important role in Mormon history. When early members of the church were abandoning their communities in the eastern U.S., pulling handcarts and searching for their zion, vaguely described to them as being in the West, it was the silhouette of Ensign Peak that the prophet Brigham Young recognized from a vision and subsequently declared his famous line "this is the place", indentifying the Salt Lake Valley as the desert that those early members of the church were to call home.
Some of my favourite running memories come from reaching the top of Ensign Peak- staring with huge eyes at the city below me and feeling like I was on sacred ground. Then we would run down the hill home, sometimes in pouring rain and I would feel alive and that I was really experiencing my surroundings.
Here in Toronto is a lot harder for me to run. I have joined the Running Room twice, I have coached a 5km clinic once and I had a brief stint with a running partner when I first moved here. But I mostly run alone and I really miss the companionship of my sisters! (even though it's been 4 years!)
So here I am now, trying to be more proactive about feeling good and enjoying my surroundings, even if the Toronto air smells like cheese that's gone off; unfortunately this is only in part due to the recent garbage strike!
The point is, running can help me remember how good it felt to breathing in every moment of each day. And I am running for a charity that Paul Newman started called "Team Hole in the Wall". It sends children severely affected by illnesses to summer camps. Here is my website:
http://www.teamholeinthewall.org/SeeNatRun
I am looking for donors to reach my goal of 3,000 dollars so that I can make a difference in someone else's life. What else is there to run for?
I started running when I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints about 5 years ago now. Running really changed my life. I felt the endorphins streaming through my brain, I realized I could accomplish goals, and I had a lot of adventures at 5:30 am running through snow and rain in the beautiful neighbourhood, the avenues, in downtown Salt Lake City. My running partners were women from South Africa, Brazil, the U.S., Austria, Sweden, Canada and New Zealand.
I hadn't run since highschool (when I was forced to in gym class- Erin and Briony and I would lament to our teacher: Murdy nooooo!!!) and I didn't think that I would be able to but Sister Howden said human beings are made to run and that if you can walk, you can run. She did not except any excuses and when I told her that the predawn winter Utah air was burning my throat and that I tasted blood she said "that's normal".
But she was right, it didn't harm me and I felt amazing after 2 weeks of running. We had two main routes; the first was a loop in the residential area which could be extended a mile or two by going all the way to "the tree". "The tree" was at the top of a long incline and represented the tree of life spoken of in the Book of Mormon. We dreaded going there.
The second main route, reserved for once a week, was Ensign Peak. The entire way there is a steep incline from our pink apartment building. It took us an hour and a half to go there and back. It represented our goals of going home with a skinny butt (I actually lost weight on my mission, which is not typical of those who serve in Utah) and our individual spiritual goals. Ensign Peak plays an important role in Mormon history. When early members of the church were abandoning their communities in the eastern U.S., pulling handcarts and searching for their zion, vaguely described to them as being in the West, it was the silhouette of Ensign Peak that the prophet Brigham Young recognized from a vision and subsequently declared his famous line "this is the place", indentifying the Salt Lake Valley as the desert that those early members of the church were to call home.
Some of my favourite running memories come from reaching the top of Ensign Peak- staring with huge eyes at the city below me and feeling like I was on sacred ground. Then we would run down the hill home, sometimes in pouring rain and I would feel alive and that I was really experiencing my surroundings.
Here in Toronto is a lot harder for me to run. I have joined the Running Room twice, I have coached a 5km clinic once and I had a brief stint with a running partner when I first moved here. But I mostly run alone and I really miss the companionship of my sisters! (even though it's been 4 years!)
So here I am now, trying to be more proactive about feeling good and enjoying my surroundings, even if the Toronto air smells like cheese that's gone off; unfortunately this is only in part due to the recent garbage strike!
The point is, running can help me remember how good it felt to breathing in every moment of each day. And I am running for a charity that Paul Newman started called "Team Hole in the Wall". It sends children severely affected by illnesses to summer camps. Here is my website:
http://www.teamholeinthewall.org/SeeNatRun
I am looking for donors to reach my goal of 3,000 dollars so that I can make a difference in someone else's life. What else is there to run for?
Friday, August 14, 2009
Lio
mes cheres,
j'ai decide que je dois commence un projet creative ou peut-etre ma vie n'a pas une chance. Lio m'a inspire alors je commence mes "posts" en francais. J'ecrit en francais comme une tres jeune fille anglophone...malheureusement!
Lio est vraiment mon inspiration aujourd'hui alors voila une video pour vous:
Mais j'espere que mon blog va servir comme une boite de tresor pour moi d'ouvrir quand je suis triste et quand mes sanglots sont trop lourdes.
j'ai decide que je dois commence un projet creative ou peut-etre ma vie n'a pas une chance. Lio m'a inspire alors je commence mes "posts" en francais. J'ecrit en francais comme une tres jeune fille anglophone...malheureusement!
Lio est vraiment mon inspiration aujourd'hui alors voila une video pour vous:
Mais j'espere que mon blog va servir comme une boite de tresor pour moi d'ouvrir quand je suis triste et quand mes sanglots sont trop lourdes.
Anyway, I know I am a dork for writing in my simplistic and flawed french but there is something about the french language that always soothed me and helped me to feel that life is more beautiful.
So it begins with Lio, she reminds me of how great it is to have brown hair. I am also in the midst of finishing my summer semester at Glendon College, York University and am finding a new way to procrastinate! Back to reading...
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