Racial healing?

Yes, Obama won and is the president elect in the States.

I'm not big on politics - Canadian or American.

I'm pleased that he won though. He's a fantastic speaker, and I really believe he's got his head in right place. He wants positive change, and he's got a lot of work to do. Repairing international relationships, the economy, the war, the list goes on. I probably would have voted him too, if I were American.

On the MSN website, like every other website today, the presidential election is on the first page. So I read it. One woman had this to say:

"It will be the beginning of racial healing in the country."

Will it? Just because the president is a black man?

I had to go back and read her statement three or four times.

Yes, I think a bright, educated, eloquent black man leading the States will be an incredible role model for young black men and boys all over the world. How couldn't he be? But I just don't see how Obama being president is going to be the beginning of racial healing.

There will always be crazy white supremacists walking the streets, there will always be holy wars, racial slurs and lines drawn in the sand between races. Do I like it? Certainly not.

I believe all races to be equal, with the only dividers being money, geography and opportunity. I am a white Canadian woman, and no better than anyone else on this planet. I don't identify myself as "white", "woman" or "Canadian". I'm a PERSON. Just like you and you and you.

I would love to see racial healing, but I don't think Obama's got the power to erase the pain and memories. It's certainly a step in the right direction, but unfortunately, I don't think there will ever be a time - at least in my lifetime - where race doesn't play a part in society at large.

Weird weather

So strangely enough, we're having really beautiful weather.  This is the weather we should have had in September and early October instead of early November.  It's warm, sunny with blue skies.  Not right now of course, because it's after 7pm, but during the day, it's been beautiful.

And to make it even sweeter, this is supposed to last throughout the week!!  Hoorah!  Finally something positive to post about!

October/November weather here in southern Ontario can be a bit on the bizarro side.  I remember a few Halloweens where I sat on the front step handing out candy, in a t-shirt while sipping a glass of wine.  But I also remember some where the poor kids had 18 layers of clothing stuffed under their costumes, making them all look like extremely fat little versions of whatever they were supposed to be.

My daughter loves Halloween, which is the exact opposite of me.  I hate it with a passion.  What's worse than sending your kids out - the same kids you nag not to eat crap all the time, to brush their teeth really, really well - and then encouraging them to fill entire pillow cases with snack crap full of sugar??  Well, I know its fun, but really - I'm not a supporter.

Anyway, at the tender age of 8, she seems to have shed her girlie-girl ways, wanting to dress up like princesses and pop stars, and decided she wanted to go out like a dead man.  

A dead man, Megs?

Yes mom, a dead man.

So we raided Ger's closet, found a shirt and tie, put her hair up in a hat, did up her face to look 'dead' and off she went with her little friends, returning only when she couldn't stuff one more halloween sized Coffee Crisp into her bag.  (The only acceptable thing about Halloween are bite-sized Coffee Crisp bars.  They make me really happy!)

What she really enjoyed though was that she didn't have to have a winter coat on over her costume, or underneath it for that matter.

I so wish this weather would stick around, but I know better.  Pretty soon we're going to pay for our "Indian summer".

The Death of Common Sense

This is one of my favourite things that gets passed along through emails. It's also something that makes me crazy because it's so true.

_________________________________________________________________

Today, we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
* Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
* Why the early bird gets the worm;
* Life isn't always fair;* and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are incharge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned butoverbearing regulations were set in place.

Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion!!!!!????

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault..

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust his wife, Discretion his daughter, Responsibility his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;

* I Know My Rights
*I Want It Now
* Someone Else Is To Blame
* I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

What community?

So the other day it was raining (what the hell else is new), and so I was watching episodes of various shows from HGTV on my laptop. I found this show I've never seen before where people who are considering buying a house get to stay in the house for 24 hours to "test drive" it. Great concept!

So this one episode features a Canadian family from Toronto who have moved to California for work, have been searching for a house somewhere in the $750-850,000 mark (GASP!). During the show, the family takes a little walk through the community to see what it's like.

As I'm watching, they're commenting on the sense of community of the place, the little cafes, small mom and pop shops etc, which brings me back to why I hate the city I live in.

It's a mid-sized city of about 500,000 people. We're central to a ton of other places, but there's no "neighbourhood" feeling here. There's aren't any little cafes (just Tim Horton's), no mom and pop shops to speak of (big box stores abound however) and no feeling of community. The people on our street don't talk to each other, never mind socialize.

Why do people want to live like this?? I just don't get it.

Which made me think back to our stay in Playa this summer, where I had these great little conversations with a corner store owner every day. I think I spoke to him more in one week that I've ever spoken to a store owner around here! Sad, sad, sad.

What's happened to our lives that we're too busy/private/cautious/guarded/unable/unwilling to speak to people? Where has the sense of "community" and "neighbourhoods" gone???

Meh. Just pisses me off. It really does. For all people say, we could learn a lot from the everyday Mexican people. Is it time to move yet?

Random thoughts

The past little while I feel like I've got Bipolar Disorder. Up one day and down the next. Ugh. I know though, that I'm just incredibly stressed these days by a number of things going on, and that someday things will settle down and I'll be fine. You may have noticed by the topics I've been posting.

Anyway. While I was in the shower this morning, I got to thinking. I do a lot of thinking in the shower. It's a good place to stop and think.

I love the Playa del Carmen area, and could see us living there very happily. Real estate is expensive, but airfair is cheaper.

But then again, I'm so intrigued by the history and architecture etc of the Mazatlan area. Real estate is cheaper, but air fare is much more expensive.

Maybe someday we can afford to go to Mazatlan and check out that area.

Hmmm.... Food for thought.

Another though -

I have one more teacher's college application to fill out. I know very well that I haven't got a chance in hell of being accepted at this particular university, but I'd feel like I was cheating if didn't send in my application stuff anyway.

There is a school in Buffalo where I can apply as well if none of the schools I've applied to accepts me.

Another -

Sitka (Mike and Cynthia's pooch) found her way home, and I wonder if our beloved Chorney was up there in heaven guiding Sitka along her path and keeping an eye out on her. Regardless, I'm so happy that she's been brought home. What a great community in Guaymos!

Stuck in the house

Well, the end of October is fast approaching and winter is quickly barreling down upon us.  Another day of being cooped in the house.  It's still early in the "stuck in the house" season too.

It's cold, grey, really windy.  Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees and are laying in big, wet, soggy heaps on people's lawns.  They're too wet to even rake up.  

No one is outside.  These days you don't see anyone outside other than those running from their car into the house/store/mall/bank/whatever and back again.  No one is out walking, there are no kids out playing, the streets are bare.

Ger knows how badly I want out of here; how much I hate it here.  He's such an optimist that he tries to make everything sounds so much better than it really is.  So I asked him if he'd like to go out for a nice long walk, maybe a find a cafe and sit outside with a coffee.  If it's so bloody great, why not???

First of all, we don't have cafes here.  This is not a city of culture here.  We have 4 million Tim Horton locations instead.  You can go and sit inside and drink from cups made from carton, or from cheap, beige, chipped mugs.  You have the pleasure of being served by cranky teenagers making minimum wage, pissed at having to work there, but willing to do it so they can pay for those 200$ designer jeans.  You rarely get the coffee you asked for.  Ask for milk, they forget and put cream in it.  Ask for sugar, and it's either not in the cup, or all sitting at the bottom because said teenager was too lazy to stick a spoon in the cup and stir it.  If you're like me and drink decaf, you'll be lucky if there's a pot made, and if not, teenager with attitude will ask you if you want a regular coffee instead.  If I wanted a regular coffee I wouldn't have asked for decaf, you moron.  Once you're done, you can run like hell back to your car, battling the wind, pelting rain or snow and throw yourself into your car where you hope the car will warm up before frostbite and hypothermia set in.

Yes, it's great to live here.

I know that once the snow starts, we'll be back to the circus-act we had last year, where my husband had to push my car not only out of the driveway, but down 2 streets out of the subdivision.  Seriously.  I'm stuck with this car.  It's a 2000 Crown Victoria.  It's one big ass car.  My mother was kind enough to give it to me when she bought her 4-wheel drive SUV.  It's drinks gas like an alcoholic sucks back booze.  The best part???  We can't get rid of it!  No will buy the damn thing because with gas at the price it's at, no one wants to spend their money on this gas-guzzling piece of crap.

So I'm stuck with this car I hate.  I need a part-time job to keep it in gas.

This car is also a rear wheel drive.  It sucks in the snow and on ice.  And, believe me, I'm a pretty good driver, having learned to drive in northern Ontario in 20 feet of snow and ice 15 inches thick.  My son is learning to drive, and there's no way I can let him get behind the wheel of this monstrosity of a car in winter because when he does and he gets into an accident, I'll be guilty because I knowingly let him get behind the wheel of my death-trap on 4 wheels.

So, what do we have to look forward to?  The next 5-6 months of being holed-up in our houses, furnaces running full time costing a small fortune, snow that at first looks all pretty and white, but quickly turns brown and dirty because of the sand and salt they spray everywhere so people don't go slip-sliding off the roads.  Constantly shoveling the mountains of snow - sometimes light and fluffy and other times heavy and so wet - until your back aches and blisters form on your hands.  

Yah winter!!!!  But through it all, Gerald will say "It could be worse."  Sure, it could be worse!  But it's pretty damn shitty none the less!  He says this to try to make me feel better, but it just pisses me off.  

Movies

In an effort to reduce monthly household costs, we got rid of all the extra channels on our satellite tv account and have gone with the no-frills package.  No Food Network, Comedy Channel, Hockey channel, HGTV..  none of it.  We get very few channels and very few options.  This is fine with me, because I'm not a big tv watcher anyway.  I have my favourites, All the Law & Order shows, the CSI shows, House Hunters International and.... well I guess that's about it.  

Speaking of CSI - THEY KILLED OFF WARRICK BROWN - the FINEST LOOKING MAN ON ANY TELEVISION SHOW IN THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION!!!!   ok...  I'm better now.

When I get the urge, and the time time, to actually watch something, I look for those shows, and if they're not on, I look for a movie to watch.

I don't like horror movies, although I do enjoy a good psychological thriller - you know the kind that messes up your brain for a few days.  

I love comedies.  Office Space is one of my favourites.  I'm hoping someone will buy me a red Swingline Stapler at some point in my life.

Liar Liar is still, after all these years, one of the silliest movies I've ever seen and gives me the giggles every time I think about it.

Evan Almighty and the fish in the aquarium scene cracks me up.

Some of the Star Trek movies are good for a laugh.

The Airplane movies are classics and speaking of Leslie Neilson,

The Pink Panther is a riot!

My favourite movie of all-time is Under the Tuscan Sun.  It's my favourite for a number of reasons, and all the ex-pats living in different parts of the world could relate.

It's about a successful author, Francis, who's husband cheats on her and wants a divorce.  After it's all settled, her best friend and her partner, who are lesbians, send Francis away on a vacation - a gay tour of Tuscany.

While in Tuscany, Francis ends up jumping off the proverbial ledge and buys a run down villa and never returns to the states.  She hires a group of Polish immigrants to fix up the house, and tries her luck at love all over again with Marcello, a guy who's on the same level of gorgeousness as Gary Dourdan.

The movie is about the re-discovery of herself, healing, taking chances, learning, experiencing and living.  

This movie makes me cry every time I watch it.  I watch Francis (Diane Lane) take the chance of her life, struggle, fall down, get up and shake herself off, learn to love again and in the end succeed by following her dreams.

I love happy endings!