Hmmm, I guess I did promise a post after last weekend, didn't I? I guess I should get on that.
Flippancy aside, I have a very good reason for missing last week's promised post. It was a very busy weekend running back and forth between the city and home, I think I made the drive to Cowtown or back at least once every day. Visiting friends, attending workshops, dropping people off at the airport...on top of which, I got some serious news (my father was taken to hospital on Friday - precautionary measure, he was released the next day). Needless to say, I was VERY tired after all that. I also received some exciting news which quite honestly has had me preoccupied the entire week.
One of the events I went to that weekend was a belly dance workshop with some of the girls in the local troupe. It was my first workshop, and my goodness, what an experience! I've never danced that long all at once or learned a new choreography in such a short amount of time. I was hiding from the videos at the end, because after 2.5 hours of non-stop dancing, my muscles just were not responding anymore and I was a hot mess. A hot, tired, sweaty, uncoordinated mess. But it seems the mess was worth it, as I've been invited to dance with the troupe for the annual Canada Day performance!! *squee!*
I've been hoping and dreaming that one day I'd be good enough to dance with these wonderful ladies, every since I moved here and first saw them perform. It is a venture not to be taken lightly, if nothing else buying your costume is a significant financial investment (~$400..eek!). It's intimidating, but I think I'm up for the challenge. So this past week I've been doing what I do best: obsessing over costumes, hair extensions, and working on getting this body into graceful, midriff-baring shape. This mostly involved cruising belly dance forums on the internet, but I did make a point of being more active and practicing with some of my DVDs. July 1 is a ways away, so I've got time to work on the graceful thing :P
So yes, I've been more than a little distracted. Also, the BF was out of town for the week so I was keeping myself busy with things around the house so I wouldn't go crazy with loneliness...while my the house is now clean all the way up to the bathroom ceiling (yes, I did bleach it) it didn't leave much time for blogging.
I did watch Bill Maher last night, and it got me thinking about faith, the supernatural, and their compatibility with science and the rational mind. There's a post brewing in my mind on those topics, but I haven't quite fleshed it out yet. Perhaps I'll have one ready for you all* in a few days.
Hope you have an excellent Monday tomorrow!
*all 1 of you. Yes, I actually have one follower now!!!*
**yes, the excessive use of exclamation marks is justified in this situation.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Beware, Canada!
Ah Rick Mercer, how I love thee! Another witty video from the Rick Mercer report on our favourite Canadian broadcasting corportation.
Several friends have been sharing this on Facebook, and given it's particular relevance to my last post I thought I'd share it again here. You know, for my masses of readers :P
New post coming next week after I make it through this weekend. It's going to be action-packed... I'll hit the ground running at 4:30pm today and it probably won't let up until Sunday afternoon. Hope everyone's weekends are good ones!
Several friends have been sharing this on Facebook, and given it's particular relevance to my last post I thought I'd share it again here. You know, for my masses of readers :P
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Today's post feels very I'mnothannah-inspired. Though I lack her enviable wit, humor, writing skills, and talent for making lists, I shall do my best. And I may have to throw in a y'all for good effect :)
I'm having one of those days where I look at the world and think "we are all so screwed." It makes me want to knock heads together, scream, throw up, and hide all at the same time. Today is energy-related.
I mean, I get it. I live in Alberta, and the reason I don't have to pay an extra 12% in taxes on every purchase (or whatever HST is at these days) is because of the oil and gas industry. It is what funds this province, and keeps many many people employed, including, in some part, myself. It is an essential part of this province's current economy. I get it. Really. I do. However, we are a smart nation, and (despite my redneck Albertan jokes) a pretty smart province, too. So when are we going to realize the oil really isn't worth it?
The oilsands have a deservedly bad rap. It's dirty oil, that's a fact, though feel free to argue exactly how dirty it is. The extraction and shipping of oil and gas is polluting, destructive to the environment, and absolutely devastating when there is a spill. We all know this, yes? And yet, this is the poll I saw in the Calgary Herald today:
Are you in favour of building the Northern Gateway Pipeline? 82.24% yes; 17.76% no (at last check)
For those of you who haven't been following the CBC, Enbridge wants to build a pipeline through British Columbia to bring Alberta oil sands oil to the west coast, where it can be loaded on to tankers and shipped to Asian markets. To do so, it would pass through one of the world's most diverse and precious ecosystems, the BC coastal rainforest, where a spill would be catastrophic. For more info, you can visit the CBC website: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/01/10/f-northern-gateway-pipeline.html
This is what I find so frustrating. Yes, currently we are addicted to oil and gas products. We need them.Yes, they support our economy. Yes, Enbridge has promised that they will respond as quickly as possible to any leaks or spills. But really, is it worth it? The coastal rainforests, waterways, ocean, and BC's interior are amazingly diverse places that support an incredible amount of life and greatly benefit the health of our planet. I had the chance to explore them for the first time this past fall, and they blew me away. (Pagans, want to get connected to the earth? Try a 6 day sea kayaking trip. It's like nothing else I have ever experienced.) I just cannot imagine the devastation that any sort of leak along the pipeline, or worse, spill in the coastal waters of British Columbia, would have. Actually, I take that back. I can imagine it, and it makes me sick. Like actually, my stomach is turning.
On a similar vein, I heard a report on the radio today (As It Happens, CBC Radio 1) about some folks down in Pennslyvania who can no longer drink from their wells due to "fracking" - hydraulic fracturing, a process used to drill for gas. All the water coming out of their taps is now contaminated with methane gas. Earlier this year, my BF's mother met some people south of Calgary who have had the same problem - gas now comes out when they turn on the taps, and they cannot drink the water. I hear these things, and I am furious. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?? Here? In CANADA - a country with the most clean fresh water in the world - we can't drink what comes out of our taps???
I get that right now, the world relies on oil and gas. Trust me. It was almost -20 C this morning when I left for work, and the idea of taking the car was very tempting. I'm sure the light that's on beside me and this laptop are not fueled by wind-generated electricity. But we as a country and as a human race are never going to move beyond our reliance on oil until we are forced to start changing our ways. At what point are we going to say "enough is enough" and make the choice to stop chasing after more and more elusive sources of oil or gas. At what point are we going to decide to make the change? How much are we willing to sacrifice before the change is forced on us?
There needs to be a reality show for the Earth: Extreme Makeover: Environment Edition. We need that someone to come and knock our heads together and show us the truth: we just can't continue this way. Put us on an energy diet, help us source out and consume cleaner, greener options, and if we could have some fun little challenges along the way and wrap it up in a nice little one-hour parcel, we'll that'd just be peachy. Oh, and of course the ending where we get weighed in, have been wildly successful, and finish with lots of tears of happiness. Can't forget that bit.
In the mean time, I don't know what else to do. People like myself are vastly outnumbered (see above poll for proof) I feel like I'm constantly butting my head against a brick wall. At this point, I'm just crossing my fingers and praying that the pipeline will not be approved. 4,300 individuals have signed up to to speak at the review panel, I can only hope that the panel's mind can be swayed in the environment's favour.
Before I go, I have to share what I heard yesterday. Apparently, all the opposition to this pipeline is coming from "environmentalists, and other radical groups" according to Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver. The are funded by "billionaire socialists" from the States who are all trying to derail the Canadian economy.
"Oliver says the groups "threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda," stack the hearings with people to delay or kill "good projects," attract "jet-setting" celebrities and use funding from "foreign special interest groups." " Puh-LEEZ. Y'all, I am an environmentalist and I support the David Suzuki Foundation, but that must be some special math Mr. Oliver is using...that, or I've misplaced all my billions.
I'm having one of those days where I look at the world and think "we are all so screwed." It makes me want to knock heads together, scream, throw up, and hide all at the same time. Today is energy-related.
I mean, I get it. I live in Alberta, and the reason I don't have to pay an extra 12% in taxes on every purchase (or whatever HST is at these days) is because of the oil and gas industry. It is what funds this province, and keeps many many people employed, including, in some part, myself. It is an essential part of this province's current economy. I get it. Really. I do. However, we are a smart nation, and (despite my redneck Albertan jokes) a pretty smart province, too. So when are we going to realize the oil really isn't worth it?
The oilsands have a deservedly bad rap. It's dirty oil, that's a fact, though feel free to argue exactly how dirty it is. The extraction and shipping of oil and gas is polluting, destructive to the environment, and absolutely devastating when there is a spill. We all know this, yes? And yet, this is the poll I saw in the Calgary Herald today:
Are you in favour of building the Northern Gateway Pipeline? 82.24% yes; 17.76% no (at last check)
For those of you who haven't been following the CBC, Enbridge wants to build a pipeline through British Columbia to bring Alberta oil sands oil to the west coast, where it can be loaded on to tankers and shipped to Asian markets. To do so, it would pass through one of the world's most diverse and precious ecosystems, the BC coastal rainforest, where a spill would be catastrophic. For more info, you can visit the CBC website: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/01/10/f-northern-gateway-pipeline.html
This is what I find so frustrating. Yes, currently we are addicted to oil and gas products. We need them.Yes, they support our economy. Yes, Enbridge has promised that they will respond as quickly as possible to any leaks or spills. But really, is it worth it? The coastal rainforests, waterways, ocean, and BC's interior are amazingly diverse places that support an incredible amount of life and greatly benefit the health of our planet. I had the chance to explore them for the first time this past fall, and they blew me away. (Pagans, want to get connected to the earth? Try a 6 day sea kayaking trip. It's like nothing else I have ever experienced.) I just cannot imagine the devastation that any sort of leak along the pipeline, or worse, spill in the coastal waters of British Columbia, would have. Actually, I take that back. I can imagine it, and it makes me sick. Like actually, my stomach is turning.
On a similar vein, I heard a report on the radio today (As It Happens, CBC Radio 1) about some folks down in Pennslyvania who can no longer drink from their wells due to "fracking" - hydraulic fracturing, a process used to drill for gas. All the water coming out of their taps is now contaminated with methane gas. Earlier this year, my BF's mother met some people south of Calgary who have had the same problem - gas now comes out when they turn on the taps, and they cannot drink the water. I hear these things, and I am furious. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?? Here? In CANADA - a country with the most clean fresh water in the world - we can't drink what comes out of our taps???
I get that right now, the world relies on oil and gas. Trust me. It was almost -20 C this morning when I left for work, and the idea of taking the car was very tempting. I'm sure the light that's on beside me and this laptop are not fueled by wind-generated electricity. But we as a country and as a human race are never going to move beyond our reliance on oil until we are forced to start changing our ways. At what point are we going to say "enough is enough" and make the choice to stop chasing after more and more elusive sources of oil or gas. At what point are we going to decide to make the change? How much are we willing to sacrifice before the change is forced on us?
There needs to be a reality show for the Earth: Extreme Makeover: Environment Edition. We need that someone to come and knock our heads together and show us the truth: we just can't continue this way. Put us on an energy diet, help us source out and consume cleaner, greener options, and if we could have some fun little challenges along the way and wrap it up in a nice little one-hour parcel, we'll that'd just be peachy. Oh, and of course the ending where we get weighed in, have been wildly successful, and finish with lots of tears of happiness. Can't forget that bit.
In the mean time, I don't know what else to do. People like myself are vastly outnumbered (see above poll for proof) I feel like I'm constantly butting my head against a brick wall. At this point, I'm just crossing my fingers and praying that the pipeline will not be approved. 4,300 individuals have signed up to to speak at the review panel, I can only hope that the panel's mind can be swayed in the environment's favour.
Before I go, I have to share what I heard yesterday. Apparently, all the opposition to this pipeline is coming from "environmentalists, and other radical groups" according to Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver. The are funded by "billionaire socialists" from the States who are all trying to derail the Canadian economy.
"Oliver says the groups "threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda," stack the hearings with people to delay or kill "good projects," attract "jet-setting" celebrities and use funding from "foreign special interest groups." " Puh-LEEZ. Y'all, I am an environmentalist and I support the David Suzuki Foundation, but that must be some special math Mr. Oliver is using...that, or I've misplaced all my billions.
A change in content
I was super excited to start this blog back in July. I had so many ideas racing around in my head I couldn't write them down fast enough. However, my excitement for exclusively pagan-exploration themed topics quickly waned and I've been left with a very empty blog. Not to say that I didn't have ideas for posts...it's just that many of them didn't fit in the very specific focus I'd set for this blog. So, as any good writer does, I've decided to expand my focus a bit and move beyond a pagan specific blog, and write about what interests me. Often, the things that interest me are pagan-related, but I will be writing more than just that. So stay tuned, my readers*, and expect more expansive topics coming soon!
*"regular readers"....it's a goal to which I aspire :)
*"regular readers"....it's a goal to which I aspire :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)