To the Victor Go the Spoils

I didn't win anything, but I still got the spoils... 

I went to the Christmas at the Forum craft/antique fair, and came away with some delicious perishables. I never invest much in the crafty side of things having just taken 3 car loads of cast-offs to Value Village, I don't want to fill up again. 

Anyway, on to the goods - some fudge, some spreadable dutch gouda, Avon Rouge (red wine) and a couple cupcakes. 

I took this picture as soon as I got home. A good idea since the cupcakes and fudge have already vanished...

When All Else Fails

... dicuss the weather. 

Is it really November? October was cold, but this is weird. I wish I hadn't put away my window fan because it's veritably tropical outside these days. For me it really means one thing - flip flops. It's save to keep my toesies exposed without ridicule, since the thermometre is still in the double digits. 

And to round things off nicely this evening, how about a prank?

Can You Lend Me a Feeling?

This blogging everyday thing is a challenge. Especially for someone whose day usually lasts long past midnight. I'm sure the idea of NaBloPoMo is to post something of substance everyday, but my life isn't that substantial so the well of possiblities is kinda dry.

Maybe I'll really post something tomorrow. Or maybe I'll just complain again. 

Yes I can!

Where were you when...

I was watching TV at work, not a very entertaining story. I'll have to glam it up a bit. 

Having witnessed the racism that runs rampant in the Deep South, it's amazing that he was elected. I lived, however briefly, in a place where white people go to one church, and black people go to another. Where you shopped at very specific Walmarts, depending on your race. The segregation there isn't systemic, like it once was, but still very palpable. 

For me, being a Canadian, that kind of racism is almost unreal. I've seen the movies and read the books, but had not really seen it for myself. I'm sure that if you asked an African-Nova Scotian the same question, they'd have a difference answer, but I can only speak from my own experience. I don't think a lot of Canadians really "get" what living in that kind of cultural environment is like.

When I lived in Alabama I worked with a girl whose grandmother had been a slave and had told her stories about it. That's recent memory for people there, while for us up here it seems distant and disconnected from our modern life. Not so for Southerners. 

All that is just to say that this is a monumental moment (regardless of your political leanings), and I'm very jealous. What do we have in Canada to get as excited about? I'd like to be in the "greatest country in the world", it looks like fun! It's a challenge to feel that glowing pride for your country when all the cool stuff is happening elsewhere, everything seems to pale in comparison. Where is our Oprah? 

I Give Up

So I'm a bit of a sucker for major world events. As much as I'd like to continue to casually ignore the american election, it's impossible, and it has impossibly sucked me in. I guess ignoring it for the past two years was a good idea, so I could save all my attention for the day that really counts.

Some thoughts will undoubtedly wander across my mind throughout the day, so maybe I'll add them to this post should I feel so motivated...

- I don't like the villification of the candidates. It's an old, old practice that goes back to the beginning of elections (ostracons, anyone?), but it's unhealthy, unhelpful and should go away. That however, would require the rewiring of the human psyche and that would take some effort. How many other presidential candidates have been labeled the antichrist? How many other candidates have been accused of hypnotising the electorate? There is nothing new under the sun...

- One fear I've heard is that if Obama is elected, then Christian morals will be threatened. Good! Bring it on! Since when has a little opression been a bad thing? Christianity started going downhill when the Roman emporer made it legal. What's the good of being faithful when it's easy? The government hardly has the track record of authentically defending Christian values. Maybe it'll force people to think about their faith instead of blindly accepting what they're told or what they grew up believing. Think! Come, let us reason together.

- I can't believe how differently the networks are covering this election... How you can say either side is unbiased it beyond me. You have to watch it all in order to get a full picture (I won't say accurate, that would be stretching things).

- I have a renewed appreciation for the Canadian electoral process. Not only is it shorter, but the actual physical process of voting makes more sense, is well thought out, and isn't nearly as prone to problems as the American procedure... People were voting using other people's backs... that's ridiculous!

- New word on the hate list: "problematical"

- Just got a facebook message from an Albania group I'm a member of congratulating Barack Obama on getting elected... I guess they are ahead of things there? Who knew?

- Alright, so he's really elected now. I don't care what side of fence you're on, it's still a significant moment and that speech was pretty darn good. I'm interested to see how the next four years play out!

Almost....

So the election will be over tomorrow. How nice for them.

What hurts us Canadians and the democratic process is the decided lack of pop culture around here. If we had late night television and day time talk shows that people actually watched, I think politicians could be more influential. We don't have celebrity endorsements (at least that anyone cares about) or major political gaffs with any air time (or any real comedians to perpetuate the joke). The political pop culture that is currently inflating the ratings of shows like Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show doesn't exist in Canada.

How can Canadian politics thrive in the current cultural climate?

Squeeze

So my little sick nephew is here for a sleep over, and he's asleep about 4 feet away from me. You don't realize the difference and hour makes when it comes to daylight savings until you're around a baby. 

For those of you following along at home you may recall me mentionning something about a Fall Cure for the apartment. In lieu of a real post, here's a photo of my progress. That progress was deeply affected by a now mobile 7 month old... but that's ok, he's cute.

NaBloPoMo

National Blog Posting Month.

It means 30 posts in 30 days. 

I doubt I've had that number all year. 

We'll see how it goes. This counts as #1.

Gratuitous Nephew Photo:

375

There's this website called Apartment Therapy. It's a design blog from les Etats-Unis, and I've become moderately obsessed with it - you could, perhaps, call it my new temporary obsession.

Twice a year this blog hosts "The Cure", and right now we are currently at the end of Week 2 of the Fall Cure. The idea here, is that many of us live in sick homes that need to be cured. Not literally sick (though they could be), but more like sick as in a state of dischord - disorganized, disclean, disharmonious. The goal of The Cure is to change all that through a guided 8 week process. Each week focuses on one room or area of the house and there are certain tasks such as buying fresh flowers, taking one thing out of your apartment, and defining your style. 

I've been all up in it (as the kids say) and enjoying myself. I've had some extra time away from work and have spent my days cleaning kitchen cupboards, reorganizing furniture, visiting the market, and taking cast-offs to Value Village (two trips to date). 

It's been fun. But this time, just like every other time I've gotten obsessed with interior stuff, I always get the nagging thought of how ridiculous this all is. How spoiled am I that I get to think about new curtains? That my task for the day is to get matching hangers? Who cares! I know it's important to take care of the places where we live for our own well being, but it's such a unique Western problem... Most of the world can't have a drink of water and I'm going out for a new Brita pitcher. 

How bizarre is it that the new wave in decorating shows is teaching us how to simplify and value what we have? Why do we need to be taught that? It goes hand in hand with this new recession business. Suddenly the boom is over and we have to start thinking like our grandparents did - learn how to be more self-sufficient, how to be stewards of our environment, figure out how we can contribute. It's about doing for ourselves to help the greater good.

I for one am kind of glad we're in an economic bust. I always find it interesting how we react to large scale change, it's usually predictable but still fun to watch (ask me if I'm still glad once the government cuts funding for my non-profit job, then I'll likely be singing a different tune). 

Who else will be relieved once that American election is finally done? It's been going on for soooo long... is it all necessary? I can't ignore it anymore like I was trying to near the beginning. It's saturated everything everywhere and youcantavoidit. I'd just like to know who wins and go from there, all this drawn-out preamble stuff is redonculous.

Who are the losers?

In case you hadn't noticed, Canada had a federal election yesterday. Not much changed. The Atlantic provinces voted against the tide like we usually do, and ended up mostly Liberal, while the rest of the country swayed a little more to the right re-electing the conservatives to power with a slightly more major minority government. 

What gets me, is that it was the worst voter turn out in history. Fewest ever! Crazy! The last worst was 2004, so we're not seeing super positive trends at the moment. 

I don't think it's because people feel there is no real choice. Like in most things, Canadians tend to drool over all things American, and I think it's really going to hurt us. America's a nice place and all, I've even lived there once upon a time. They're also really, really hard to ignore. Canadians are convinced we don't have a clear identity. We do, and always have. But it's not as neat and nicely packaged as that of our neighbour's, so we get confused. 

We demean Canadian culture because it's Canadian. We laugh at our history because it's not important enough. We can't compute a strong dollar (that statement might be a bit outdated by now...). We don't applaud our athletes because they didn't win as much. Our unofficial national sport is played in a forgein country. Our weather is "worse" (I happen to like winter). We label ourselves as bland, boring and ordinary because we don't get noticed by our American friends that much, if at all. 

We get excited when David Letterman mentions Nova Scotia when interviewing Ellen Page and when Regis talks about his trip.

We don't even vote for our own government. 

I'm flabbergasted. Canada is superfantastic and it's no wonder no one else knows it, because we don't seem to even know it ourselves. 

Onwards and Upwards

The conference is done, and it was excellent! 

We presented on Wednesday morning during the first session, and it was really nice to get it out of the way early. I wasn't too nervous going in, but I was definitely feeling some adrenaline... I don't feel like I did it the way I wanted to, but I received good feedback, so I'm pleased with that. 

I ended up spending a gazillion hours on the powerpoint and not as much on what I actually said, so if I had a little more time in that area it would have gone differently. 

I may have some future presentation projects on the horizon as a result of this, which is also quite exciting. I don't know much about this kind of thing and kind of figure it out as I go along, but I like it, no matter how much I complain. :)

I've been to a lot of conferences in my day - mostly the churchy kind, but I'm very familiar with the post-inspiration high. I'm looking for more sustainability out of this one though. There's no way I can continue to accept the way I had been doing things, that would be a huge failure in my books. 

Regardless of what transpires from here, I'm excited about the prospects!

What's Business Casual?

I'm going away for a conference this week (at which, I am presenting with 3 co-workers), and I think it's going to be great. 

I'm in such anticipation of it's greatness that I've decided to let my immune system take a break so I could deal with a stuffy head, scratchy throat and try to remember my flash drive at the same time. 

So awesome I can't even tell you.  I'm only a little sick now, but by Wednesday it should be "fierce" only not in a fashionable way. We present in the morning, so I hope no one minds the pile of kleenexes that will undoubtably grow as the time wears on. 

The real loser in all of this is my roomie for the week. As I was telling her a while ago, I don't snore much anymore (that I can tell), except when I'm sick. There's snoring, sneezing, snotting, all on top of nyquil induced blabbering... It's not a good time, and I'm the only one in the cottage who won't remember it. I'm hoping there's a couch I can sleep on to avoid any conflict. 

Work conference means business casual. Business casual means I have to buy some clothes because all I got's casual without the business. I have clothing issues anyway, in that I never have enough (literally, not in a hedonistic way - I don't have a lot of clothes) and it's always when I'm looking for something that I can't find anything. 

There's going to be a link to the super awesome powerpoint presentation I spent too long on on the company website, but then you'd know where I workm and we can't have that now can we. 

Kleenexes used during the writing of this post: 4. 

Echinacea is a lie! 

Huzzah!

Yeah, so the storm was nuthin', just some rain and wind. Not good if you're a recent Red Cross volunteer like myself, but awesome in that the leaves are still on the trees and there are hints of vibrant reds poking out of the woods. 

I loves it when the leaves are more red than yellow - yellow leaves are a slice boring, but thanks to a ridiculously wet summer the woods are fire-y. Maybe I'll go for a walk in the woods, maybe I'll just take a picture from my balcony, depends on how adventurous I feel I guess!

I'm super happy to have Thanksgiving weekend off this year! We spend Thanksgiving at my Aunt's cabin just outside of the Keji national park and the drive down is stunning. Nova Scotia isn't exactly known for it's mountainous terrain, but the little bumps we do have are simply decadent this time of year! The cabin is on a little lake that's usually too cold to go canoeing on but we do anyway, and the food is awesome. Mmmm, cheesy potatoes, turkey, stuffing, homemade wine............ It gets a little boring once the cribbage breaks out, but hopefully there are enough little cousins to keep me entertained. 

And then there's Sheamus.

I'm smitten. He's six and a half months already?? Geesh... He's still awesome and growing like a weed. He's just over 20 pounds, eats anything his momma gives him, including spinach and artichoke dip, he's conquered crawling backwards and makes silly grunt noises when he's trying to go forward. His eyes are still bright blue but his hair can't decide if it's red or brown. 

I used to have more to write but he's.... just.... so.... distracting......  

Batten Down the Hatches

Five years ago today I missed Hurricane Juan. But five years to the day later we get Hurricane/Tropical Storm Kyle, so maybe I'll still get in on some excitement.

As of 10pm it's really not that bad. I drove over the harbour bridge a couple of hours ago and that was pretty nasty, but we'll see how much damage we actually get. I work tomorrow at 11am - regardless of whether or not the city shuts down, so I'm really hoping the roads are at least driveable.

I Give Up

I can't help it. More and more lately I find myself listening to American election stuff. How can I avoid it? And though I am a patriotic Canadian, our current election campaign is unyeildingly boring. We're All-Bran and they're Fruit Loops. 

Honestly, is anyone paying attention anymore? 

I ran across our local Conservative candidate the other day. He was standing outside a gas station during rush hour waving a Canadian flag... it just seemed so sad...

Then there's Sarah Palin. I have no words. Granted, I haven't been paying much attention, but really - is it true that proximity to Russia counts as experience? I'm all for the underdog, but sometimes there's a reason why the big dog wins.  

Moving right along - 

I don't have anything to talk about. My nephew is still awesome and has been labelled "advanced", at least by the country bumpkin doctor. Still counts, if you ask me (and you did).

Work's going good. My scores are going up and I'm presenting at an international conference in two weeks, so that's fun. 

Two weeks? Wha? Me? That's crazy talk! What shall I wear?? 

Yeah, that last thing is probably a little nerve wracking - I've never really tried to be "inspirational" before, so we'll see how that goes. 

Let's move on. If I'm not your facebook friend, you can go follow this link and get to some photos from earlier this month.   

I have tomorrow off, so maybe I'll be clever then.

Bye George

I knew he was very sick, and very old. I even knew that he had gone to that part of the hospital you don't come out of. But I thought someone would tell me when he was gone, so I could go back and say goodbye. 

George and his wife Juanita are hallmarks of my growing up, and I frequently think of them. They were an older couple from the church I grew up in and had taken a special interest in the kids and young families, having adult children themselves with distant grandkids. 

Driving through the country just this afternoon, images of old country roads travelled at the onset of fall came to mind. I remember hiking through the woods and listening carefully for the distant hum of water falling into nameless brooks and rivers. They weren't nameless to George and Juanita. They took us to places we would never have seen or known about otherwise. Places where the snow holds on well past the logical end of winter. Where ragged ropes wind around the trunks of birches to steady a ten year olds descent to the water's edge. 

My family went to visit them fairly often, less as we got older. Juanita always had paper and markers for us to make her a picture. I was shocked as she pulled them out when I went to visit the weekend before I moved away to university. All of them were there, and not only mine, but that of every kid that had visited.

I remember walking by the river behind their house, listening to stories and learning the names of flowers and watching for the faeries at their apartment building (an old stump with mushrooms growing up the side). I remember my brother carelessly picking a ladies slipper and Juanita's honest reaction - she let us know gently that you're supposed to let these things grow. I remember their dog Sandy dragging me up the hill through the brush and hearing Juanita giggle at the top. 

When it got dark, we would go inside and chew on homemade maple syrup candy and squint at the thousands of slides they had developed over the years. Every flower, every insect, every rock on the shore was painstakingly catalogued, and they loved sharing it with us, even though we'd smudge them. They used to paddle down the river in the morning and photograph the flowers as they opened for the sun, and then again in the evening to watch them go to sleep. I remember talking in their living room after supper (or more likely listening to them talk) with their siamese cat Ming curled up on my lap.  

George and Juanita's flower garden was a masterpiece. I went to visit once after I had moved away and she showed me an easel she had set up so that when you looked through it the purple and white flowers were framed in such a way that it looked like ocean waves. There were hidden treasures like that everywhere. Little animals hidden behind trees and plants that in any other yard would be tacky, but there they were perfect.

Everything about their house was perfect and it was all up for sharing (I think I still have a book of theirs...). George had been a paratrooper during WWII and was an expert carpenter. Juanita was a painter, cook, reader. There have never been two people more meant for each other, and I can't imagine one without the other. 

George had dealt with cancer for a number of years and I knew he had been moved into palliative care, but I had assumed someone from the church would call us and let us know when he passed away. Tonight I was looking around the local paper's website and ran across his obituary. Needless to say I'm a little upset that no one let us know back on August 5th, but that's how it happened and here we are. 

In the little flower garden beside their front doorstep there was a small statue of St. Francis of Assisi with little ceramic animals gathered in front of him. In a frame leaning against the wall was this prayer. I think it fits perfectly.

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

looC s'tahT

So I was reading a book a little while ago (I know, shocker). I think it was Margaret Atwood's Robber Bride. I haven't finished it (again, a shocker) but I bought it at Value Village a few months ago, which is helpful since I had to break up with the library. Again.

Anyway. One of the characters could write forwards and backwards. For whatever reason, that came to mind sitting here at work, so I picked up two pens and went to town. Guess what! I can write backwards!

I doubt it is a sign of genius (is that appropriately self-deprecating? cuz if it turns out I AM a genius, I don't want to come off too gloaty), but I do wonder how common it is. Basically all I'm doing is writing forward with my right hand and mirroring it with my left. The left is a little squiggly but since it is the devil's hand, I've been ignoring it's potential and it's out of practice.

Can you write backwards with your non-normal writing hand? I think I've seen my mom do it, but I probably just put that in the crazy file and moved on. This was back when I thought typing without looking at the keyboard was crazy and she'd freak me out by looking in my direction whilst happily ICQing away.

Of course, she never used ICQ, but I enjoy the late 90's reference to the then new fangled social media.

Makes Me Smile

Don't Let Your Sons Grow Up to Be Cable Guys

At least not with Bell...

Oh how I wish there was more competition in Canada. Here you get to choose between two companies. Two! One is run completely by monkeys and it's been a while since I was with the other guys but I'm sure they at least consult with monkeys.

So I have Bell ExpressVu, but I want Eastlink digital cable because the satellite goes out too often and it's annoying. I called Bell to cancel, assuming there'd be issues. Sure! says chipper lady. You can cancel! That'll $249, please. I told her the reason I'm canceling, and she said that they can send a tech out to readjust the satellite, and if it's still a problem then they'd waive the fee.

So tech guy arrives today and tells me he can't readjust the satellite because he doesn't do that. Oh, and he's with the wrong contracted company. But, just for fun, he takes a look at the set up and sees that it's working fine, then it's not, then it is (it comes and goes, hence the problem). He calls Bell and tells them they sent the wrong guy. He presses another button or two, apologizes and leaves. Only now the satellite doesn't work at all. Thanks dude.

Bell calls me and tells me to call the contractor company I've always dealt with. Thank-you have a nice day. I call them, and another dude is coming over tomorrow at 4pm to take a look. Hopefully it'll at least get back to the level it was before the guy came over here and broke everything, that'd be swell.

I'm sure you find this as enthralling as I do...

I Can Go for Miles and Miles

So the yardsale thing was a dud. I think we started too late and missed most of the good stuff, because when we hit the scene it was all junk... There were probably about 100 miles of yardsales dotting the old highway. We were pretty worn out by the time we got to the "official" 50 mile stuff. I think I spent about $3.25 altogether, but I was successful in finding some new cat dishes:

I think it's awesome, though Steve (pictured) tried to tear down the picture about 30 seconds after I put it up. She's such a diva. 

Coming Up

Stay tuned for full coverage of the annual 50 Mile Yard Sale happening tomorrow. It runs from Dutch Settlement to Sheet Harbour, and since you don't know where those places are, just believe me when I tell you that's a lot of miles of junk. Hopefully some of that junk will find a home with me.

I'll have my eye out for:

White Ceramics
Lamp(s)
Interesting storage/display thingy to replace my press wood bookshelf
Floral Sheets - used sheets are sketchy, this may or may not happen
Vintage Fan
Fabric that catches my attention
Mid-Century Occasional chair/Desk Chair

What I expect to find:

Thousands of VHS tapes - give it up people! They're garbage!
Thousands of Harlequinn Romances
Lots of Kitchen Gadgets
Figurines representing the minutae of human and animal life (or a mix of the two)
A plaque telling you to stand closer, because it's shorter than you think
CD's representing the various stages of Britney Spears
Plant pots with eyes and mouths glued on them and baby's breath for hair.

Oh wait.

Fine, I'll Do It

I'm not sure why this blogging thing has been such a chore lately, but I've been avoiding it. I do however, feel obligated to do something, so here I am. 

So it looks like there'll be an election in October (in Canada, that is), but who'd know it! It's either a really, really good idea for Stephen Harper to call an election before the Americans do their thing, or a really, really bad idea. On the one hand, no one will be paying attention and or be fully informend, or on the other hand, no one will be paying attention and or be fully informed. It good go either way for Steve-0. 

I'm trying to choose to be informed and concerned about the goings on in my own country, but things are definitely overshadowed by the States. I can do something about the things here, I can have a say - this is where my brain should be (and my patriotism). And it is, it's just hard to figure out what's going on. Maybe if one of our party leaders was pregnant they'd get more attention. 

So this weekend there is a gazillion mile yard sale through Musquodoboit (I bet you said that wrong), and up to Truro. Yes friends, I will be there. There is quite a junk racket going on the rural parts of Nova Scotia. Absolutely everything is for sale. I'm not quite sure how anyone is surviving, but apparently selling crap is quite lucrative (ludacris?). What would be ideal, is for there to be some way to melt all this junk down and use it's power for good. How much of it does one person need? Hopefully things are a little more promising this weekend, but I'll bring my camera just in case. So you should be my facebook friend :)

Who? Running for What?

I'm doing my very best to avoid any and all coverage of the US election, and I must say, I'm doing a fine job. Obama who? McCain what? Like the fries?

Well maybe not that good, I know who the running mates are, I know they're having those little convention thingys at the moment, but quite frankly, if I were to truly avoid the whole thing I'd have to remove my frontal lobe and watch Danger Bay reruns all day (I used to have a crush on Jonah... don't know why looking back, but I also had a crush on Roger from Tarzan, who incidentally enough, was on Danger Bay for an episode - the more you know).

Anyway, I'm well aware that whoever wins this horse race will have some affect on me. We're neighbours, co-dependent economies, they have bigger guns, blah blah blah. But that doesn't mean I have to care about whatever happens from now until November, because, given the emblem on my recently expired passport, I don't have a vote, a say, or any leeway, nothin', nadda. And that my friends, is the way I like it.

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

I will, however, be following the Canadian election campaign which will likely be happening in the fall. I haven't been able to vote for one reason or another (last time I wasn't Canadian enough cuz I had been in the states longer than 6 months, and had only recently returned) and I'm going to take advantage of the opportunity.

I'll probably vote Conservative. Since none of the other leaders appear particularly competent. I believe my current representative is Liberal... but Halifax has a strong NDP streak, so I'm not sure what's happening up in this hood.

I just visited the NDP site, and whoa on the trying to be hip factor. That picture of Jack Layton is ridiculous. Looks like he'll be breaking into song a la "From Justin to Kelly" (go ahead, click on that link, I guarantee you will not be disappointed). They have widgets and facebooks and podcasts and youtubes. Then again, none of the parties have a particularly impressive website. After visiting the Conservatives it's evident that they have a hate-on for Mr. Dion. I bet that's an awkward conversation at the urinal.

So as for America... not that interested. It's a little too over the top for me, and I can only handle hearing about the same things for so long. They'll each be villified by their respective "unbiased" news networks, and frankly I don't care whether or not Obama refilled the Brita filter after drinking the last glass.

I'll listen for the winner in a few months, and tick off another box on the list of things I know, but other than that, I'm going to continue changing the channel when coverage comes on.

Look Ma! I Cleaned!

Before

During

After

So the Olympics are over, and that should mean we're back to regular programming, but I've been distracted and unmotivated lately and a lot of things aren't getting done. I firmly believe the cure is running away to a foreign country, but they say that's "avoidance". Not that I have anything to avoid, really. But being somewhere else would be a great place to be right about now. Know what I mean?

But at least my closet is somewhat organized, that's something.

Oh Yeah, You

I'm unmotivated. For everything I have to do, I have a reason not to do it.

Scratch that. I have no reason not to do these things, but yet, I continue to not continue or persue.

Be the change you want to see in the world. If you change nothing, nothing changes...blah, blah, blah, etc. etc. etc. You know that thing that's deep inside that you have to dig down to to excel in moments of adversity? The thing advertisers tell you can be found in the bottom of a sugary drink? "It"? Are you familiar with "it"? I can't find it, so if you could point me in the right direction, that'd be great.

It's not like I have to do something fantasticly difficult - I can't even "push" myself to take a book back to the library.

I think I need an epic journey... travel TV has ruined me. Not that I even watch TV anymore... my DVR is almost full, but for that I blame the Olympics.

Ah, the Olympics. That great unifying sporting event that holds the world captive each Olympiad. Even the Americans are getting into it this year, with NBC pulling in huge ratings. CBC is doing a great job, this being their last kick at the can before it goes over to CTV. It helps that the Americans have the greatest Olympian of all time... that's a pretty good for the marketing department.

The Canadians however, are a different story. Here we are heading into day 8 with no medals, whatsoever. It's really hard to stay patriotic and optimistic when Azerbaijan has won more events than we have. The countries that are doing well are those with major government funds dedicated to athletic success, i.e. China. When the Olympics are hosted by a dictatorship the host country always does well. It happened in 1936 when Germany was winning everything, and it happened in Moscow.

If Canada wants to be competitive on the world stage, we have to change our tactics and spend a lot more money... Is it worth it? What's the purpose of winning everything at the Olympics? It makes us feel good? Those with the success now are the biggest violators of human rights... how do we find a better balance? Can we, or should we?