My mom spent a little time when I was younger doing cross-stich (this is before she discovered traditional rug hooking) and one of the things she made me was this alphabet (see image on right.) She used to say the marks on it was blood from pricking her finger with the needle, but then recently mentioned it was just from the age if it, so I don't know what is true.
I was showing it to Maya today, while Jason was holding it up, and she said, "A is for apple, B is for stuffy" and I was so confused until I saw that it was a teddy 'B'ear image. She is very young and not strong with letters or reading yet. She also pointed and said, "R is for bunny."
So it is more than a week past New Years but I decided to make a resolution, in fact I am stealing one that I heard. Watching Stephen Colbert (The Late Show) this morning, as they post content online, and he had Larry David on who mentioned making this resolution a few years ago. I think it is brilliant.
Pee Before You Leave - Anywhere! Don't be ashamed to go to the bathroom. Just say, "I have to go to the bathroom before I go," you know. People aren't going to look down on you for doing that! No. go to the bathroom, then leave, you'll be so much happier than sitting in the car cursing yourself, going "Well, I don't know why I didn't go to the bathroom?" --- Larry David
I have gotten good about doing this at restaurants before leaving, mainly at Trivia Nights in Oakville because many times I have been on the highway driving home - mad at myself for not peeing at the bar before heading out. But this year I am going to try to extend it to when I am visiting people and here at home before leaving to go somewhere.
Ok, this will be quick because it is late but I wanted to post about it right away. First, a bit of back story, I am a little late to the game, but I have recently discovered The Baroness von Sketch Show, which is hilarious (and Canadian.) Over the past few weeks I have watched pretty much all of their clips on YouTube, including this one about 'Land Acknowledgement:'
I thought it was very ridiculous and totally feel like the woman in the audience, "Oh, should we go?" Because I don't feel like this type of acknowledgement actually DOES anything. But at the same time, I hadn't ever seen one happen. ERin had mentioned that they are done ahead of government related meetings, events, and conferences. But for me that makes sense, she is often working on projects that have direct impact on aboriginal groups and making this type of speech hopefully starts conversations off in a positive direction - seeing that she is often involved in land claims/disputes.
Well, this evening at the Nutcracker, which Jason and I went to with ERin and Matt actually, they did a land acknowledgement ahead of the performance! It also mentioned the desire to make The National Ballet of Canada a more diverse company, which is a great goal. A quick flip through the program, which had photos of all the dancers, showed that they have a ways to go on this.
A longer version of the land acknowledge given verbally at the start of the performance was included in the program, it says:
The National Ballet of Canada acknowledges out creative home on the sacred and traditional territories of the Anishinabek, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Haudenosaunee and Huron-Wendat. We acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit and the Williams Treaty signed with multiple Mississausgas and Chippewa bands. We support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The National Ballet recognizes the enduring presence of Indigenous peoples and that Toronto (Tkaronto) - which means "where there are trees standing in the water" - continues to be home to many Indigenous nations. Toronto has also been called "the Dish With One Spoon" which means all were and are invited and able to share, including the responsibility of ensuring the dish is never empty, taking care of the land and the creatures we share it with and that there are no knives at the table, representing that we must keep the peace. The National Ballet is grateful to have the opportunity to work, dance and create on these lands and we thank the past, present and future caretakers of this land for their stewardship. We take this as a moment to reflect on our own activities and how the National Ballet can be part of a community of sharing as we take steps to ensure our practice, artists, staff, volunteers, Board members, patrons and audiences are open to engaging all people who live in these territories today and in the future. To this end, the National Ballet is now developing action places to support this direction.
I am interested to see what these action plans include, hopefully more than just words said or written. Also, how long have they been working on these plans? Not to pick on The National Ballet, but words can only go so far and I hope they don't spend too much time saying things and hurry up with these supposed 'action plans' that are mentioned.
A while ago we were at a games night playing Codenames and Jason made a comment that showed just how well he knows me - and how my mind works (or doesn't work.) Every time we play the game I remember the moment and it makes me smile.
The game involves a layout of 25 words, which a single player trying to communicate to their team, using a single word only, which words are assigned to the teams colour. It the goal is always to have your team guess correctly multiple words in a single turn. It is surprisingly hard to tie together a series of vastly different words using a single word hint, followed by a number for how many fit that hint.
Here is what happened:
Looking at the layout, as the player giving the hints, I said: Animals, three.
This means that my team members, Jason and Teri, needed to look at the words in the layout and guess three that fit with the word Animal. They choose: "Giraffe" and "Dog"
Then they started to struggle, as there were no more obvious animal words.
So Jason adds for their third guess: And, "Papyrus"
Everyone was confused: What? For animals? Papyrus?
Jason continued: Yes, because she probably thinks it says "Platypus"
And, he was right, I totally did!! I have a Masters in English.
Watch the clip above, or go check it out on YouTube. If you don't have sound then at least read the lyrics. Afterwards, see my thoughts in the comments section of this post.
Hanging out on the couch in Palm Springs: Mom has her laptop out and is working on her blog, I'm on my phone, Avery is beside me on his iPad. He looks over and notices that Mom is scrolling through a lot of photos. Avery: Nana, why did you taken so many pictures? Me: Actually Avery, the past tense is "took." So you should say, "Why did you took so many pictures?" Wait, nope, that isn't right. Okay, I don't know what it should have been but there was something messed up with your tense there. Avery: You have four eyes. He proceeds to count my eyes and the lenses on my glasses. It didn't seem like an insult at the time, just a well timed observation, that I totally deserved.
What is he smiling at? Well, if you notice the pale fur in the foreground that is Clancy, his parent's Golden Doodle, but it is actually for the black floof which is Biscuit, their new little Shih Tzu puppy.
I don't know if I have ever mentioned on Always Standing that Jason has a "Shih Tzu Smile." You can see it in the photos from when we visited Jessie as a puppy. Almost any time Jason sees a Shih Tzu, even sometimes when he is talking about them, he gets the biggest/sweetest smile. This smile is only seen in this specific context, nothing makes him smile this way but Shih Tzus. They are his favourite, obviously, look at that smile.
I like bigger dogs, and consider Shih Tzus part of what Eddie Izzard calls, "small yappy type dogs." However, Jason insists that they look like little Ewoks, which for certain colours and markings kinda true. Look at her little nose:
As I mentioned before, Jason and I went to Alberta this weekend. We flew out Friday evening and came back overnight Monday to Tuesday. It was a quick visit but I got to see my GeoConnection girls, their spouses, Mike, Aimee and the babies. Here are some quotes from the trip that I found amusing:
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Pointing out the car windshield... Jason: Oh God! How cold is Edmonton? Is that a penguin?!? Me: Huh? What? Jason: That black and white bird that is waddling. Me: Oh! That is a magpie, they are like my favourite! I don't understand how everywhere has them except Ontario.
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(Said at various different times) Coming out from the changes rooms at the resort spa, wearing the hooded plaid bathrobes provided: ERin: Ooo, I feel like I am at Hogwarts Matt: Totally lookin' like a boxer here Anne: Reminds me of Dementors Sutik: Is this some sort of Illuminati thing?
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Me: Are you just the cutest thing ever?! Maya: I'm Maya!
Decided to check out the statistics for Always Standing since I haven't done so in a while and I was blown away by what I found.
Firstly, I just used the little Stats tab on the Blogger homepage instead of going through the full on Google Analytics route so I don't get as much information as usual.
Secondly, as has been true for the past few years, Puns For Anna consistently gets tons of visits. I don't know how or why people find it but they do.
Alright, onto the shocking thing, in the past week my post about the municipal election got 45 page views! I did post about it on Facebook and in the past that has meant a decent uptake in views, maybe double the normal amount but nothing close to that number.
I have about 244 Facebook Friends (I think I need to cull that down) so does that mean that one fifth of them clicked the status update? I hope they decided to become (or return to being) regular Always Standing readers.
Throwback Thursday - Scroll to the bottom of the month and read up. Or click on the earliest post in the month (to view the post and the comments) then keep clicking Newer Post until you finish the month.
Settling into a full-time job, at GeoConnections, and going to school in the evenings (I am going to meet Erin AH and Jenn soon ... pretty sure they are both in the class I mention attending.) Looks like I signed up to help Kristen at The Charlatan and that I quit Subway, did I end up going back to Subway later? I have a hard time leaving that chain.
There is a quote from my dad! I don't exactly remember where or when or the context in which he was saying it but totally sounds like something he would say. Probably was on the phone. Sadly, I can no longer hear how his voice sounds in my head, it left quickly and I hate that it is gone.
Noted Post: The I Can See!! post describes one of my favourite personal anecdotes, I remember it happening and I still laugh about it to this day.
We pulled out chicken from the freezer this morning to make for dinner tonight. We tend to do this without really thinking about what we were are planning to do. Part way through the day we realized we were feeling lazy and uninspired - but had onions and peppers! We decided on fajitas and while we normally have a kit or two as back-up, there was a chance we were out. Jason mentioned that if we didn't have it he would run out and pick one up at some point.
The day continued, and eventually I had a short nap. Later I was woken up by Jason saying that dinner was ready. While eating dinner I asked if he had needed to go pick up a kit, and if he had gone while I was sleeping. I am always so amazed and how much happens around my while I am sleeping. Such a deep sleeper, nothing seems to wake me up. He said he had gone and I asked if he had also gotten more Cadbury Mini Eggs, which I had asked for earlier. He said, "Yes, among other things."
I was confused. We hadn't really needed anything else so I asked what else he had picked up. Sheepishly he replayed, "Salami, chips, and sour keys. It is like a 12 year-old went shopping." Yes, fajita kit, lunch meat, sour keys, chips, and a $16-bag of mini eggs - that is not an adult's grocery list.
Looking through the photos from Iceland that we took with the 'good' camera (our recently purchased, mirrorless Fujifilm X-T20.) Jason and I try to figure out which of us took which ones. We figure out pretty quickly that the first one was taken by Jason, and he starts admiring it:
Jason:This is why we paid the money to get a nice camera - great shot. The parking lot against those mountains. I really knocked it out of the park here - it is obviously a commentary on the invasion of man into nature, the comparison of rock against machine. The cars, the snow. So good.
Photographic Masterpiece
Taken by Jason, with the Fujifilm
Iceland, 2017
I am sure National Geographic will be calling any minute now. (Though he has a level horizon, so can I really judge?)
A couple of months ago people were making fun of the fact that I wasn't posting very much on Always Standing, and that at New Years I would probably make my usual resolution to start writing more. I don't want to give myself that type of pressure and just hope that I get back to it naturally, especially with my trip to Africa coming up and the posts that will go with that.
I have just gotten through That Awkward Time Between Christmas and New Year's that is super weird. (Though I worked a from home so that kept me a bit on track with the days passing.) I am back to work in the office tomorrow, and I have caught a cold - so not a great start to the year, hopefully it will pass quickly.
Sitting on the couch watching TV together Spots something on the floor next to him Jason: What's that? Oh, it is a gummy coke bottle We had got some Bulk Barn candy over the weekend An hour or so passes, we have dinner, still watching TV Me: Where did that coke bottle go? Jason: I threw it out Me: Hey! I would-of eaten that! Jason: I know.
This weekend, on October 28, 2017, the first annual Isaac’s Trek for Treats will be taking place at the Tanners Drive Park, in Acton, Ontario, to raise money for Jesse’s Journey. Isaac’s Trek for Treats is a family friendly costume trail run. This is a really exciting event and I wish I could be there (but I am running an event at work the same day - thankfully it is the last year that the BIA is running it so I will be in Acton for Isaac's Trek every year moving forward.)
The Isaac named here is actually our nephew, who was diagnosed with Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy last year. His mother, Jason's sister, is organizing the event - here is an article written recently about the family.
Jason is going this year, and has registered as a participant to help raise funds. The funny thing though is that it is a family event that is mainly for children - so he had to sign up as a 'parent with tot,' hopefully he can borrow a baby to run the race with. Please sponsor Jason and give to this worthy cause!!
Younger colleague at work brings some shopping bags into the office and says, "So I bought this weird shirt. I don't know if I like it. It is like an adult baby-onesie." And she pulls out a bodysuit to show me. So I guess those are back in style again - I didn't really like them that much the first time. I think I was in elementary school when I last had one, it was waffle fabric.
"It’s as clear cut as this: Treat all women like you would treat Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson." And I think that is perfect and the examples she gives are hilarious. It reminds me of the Caitlin Moran quote, "I realised that what I really want to be, all told, is a human. Just a productive, honest, courteously treated human. One of 'The Guys'. But with really amazing hair.”
So, mine is White Coke, which is the perfect stripper name!! I hadn't heard this one before and it is pretty good. I knew the porn star name was -- Your first pet + The street you grew up on -- which for me is Sally St. Andrew, also awesome. Love that they all work out. What is yours?
A note on the fact that the last thing I ate was Coke Zero, I was able to leave caffeine for just over a week thanks to a big bottle of Caffeine-Free Diet Coke that Noah brought to The Cottage on Labour Day weekend. I used it to ween myself off the need for Chai Lattes, Coke Zero, and even in a pinch I will have a coffee - at least once, sometimes twice, a day. I held strong for over a week but one bad night of sleep drove me right back to it.
Seen today on a chalkboard outside a convenience store near The Junction (technically a few streets away from the BIA). This really captures the neighbourhood:
