Me, me, me

Innerestin'

If you like learning about word origins, have a look at this.

'Tis time

It's that time of year again, the time when I bite the bullet and go for a haircut. Actually the haircut is usually quite painless, and I feel pretty sexy afterwards, so the "biting the bullet" part only has to do with money and time. I don't have enough of either to make a haircut a guilt-free and hassle-free experience. But it must be done!

Talked to my mom yesterday. She's a theologian, and she was on her way out to see you-know-what movie. She didn't want to see it, but she's the sort of person who gets asked about things like this in popular culture, and so she felt an obligation. I haven't got her review yet, but we had a good pre-viewing conversation about it.

One thing that kills me is that Mel Gibson is a "literal biblicist", who even said on the interview with Diane Sawyer that, basically, you either take the bible as literal truth in its entirety or you don't accept any of it. To me, in saying this he basically said "I'm willfully ignorant", because it only takes a little reading and thought to realize that nothing written is ever literal truth -- that everything written is written through -- and read through -- a filter of cultural context and personal and societal experience.

But that's not what gets me. What gets me is that he makes that claim, and then takes total license with the biblical story of Jesus' passion, adding elements that were not in the Gospels and embellishing. Now, embellishment and embroidery are good things in film-making, but you can't exactly claim that the bible is the literal truth and then do whatever you want to it to tell the story. You can't have it both ways. A movie shouldn't be a slave to the text, but you can't deny that your own bias enters into it when you add to and distort the text.

I was pretty shocked to hear that it is also very violent and dwells on the pain and suffering of Jesus almost throughout. This is a legitimate choice, if that's what you want to focus on, and that's obviously what interests Gibson about the passion. But it seems to me that Jesus' suffering is not what Jesus was about. The importance of the Jesus story for Christians is in the teachings and in the resurrection. Also in the fact (or belief) that Jesus died for the sins of humanity. Thousands of good, gentle, wise people have been tortured and killed in the most brutal ways imaginable and unimaginable. That Jesus is a martyr is not what makes his story special.

Damn. It think I'm gonna have to go see this thing now. I thought I'd wait for the DVD, but I can't exactly spout off about it and not see it, right?

post-mortem

Well, actually I don't feel like a post-mortem. Let's just say it didn't go the way we had hoped, but it wasn't an unmitigated disaster.

What I would like to say is that the party afterwards was totally fun. There were many writers and cultural celebs there, but it was fun just because I was sitting with a group of fun, intelligent, interesting people having a great time. The canapés were fab, all the drinks were free (though I only had one glass of wine), and best of all, D. was there with me and he had a blast. He is good in social situations, although maybe the free mojitos loosened his tongue a tiny bit too much! I don't care. I never care about that kind of thing anymore, and besides, people seem to like D. wherever he goes and seemingly, whatever he says.

And we stayed in a beautiful hotel and had a very good breakfast next day.

And my wonderful sister came to stay with the kids in our absence and they loved it, and she did a great job.

But now I'm totally exhausted and I have a cold. But it's over! Yay!!!

Wish me luck!

Well I'm off to this big event I've been organizing for the last two months!

Let's hope it goes well. At this point I just can't wait for it to be over. There will be a very funky after-party where all drinks will be free and I can hob-nob with famous and literary types. If only I could imbibe! I have a feeling I'll be in sore need of a drink...

Actually, maybe it's better this way!

I'll let you know how it went on Thursday, mes amis...

Sun, sun, sun!


It's a beautiful morning, with a feeling of spring in the air. Sure, I know that more snow and cold and wintery stuff is coming, but the sun is higher in the sky, and it's still light out when I leave work in the evening...

I like living here. There's something elemental about life in an extreme climate, even with central heating and insulation and buses and metros etc.. You feel yourself responding to the changes in the weather, in spite of reason and intellect.

Change is good, especially the change from winter to not-so-winter, and finally to spring.

It's just around the corner!

Oh man, do I need a drink. How I would love to sit down with a bottle of fat red wine, my hubby and two glasses, and just get mellooow.

Somehow, warm milk and oreos just isn't the same. It's good -- Oh, it's powerful good, but it's not dee red red wine make me feel so fine.

y'know?

"Heart-Day" report


Valentine's Day was very nice, with everyone in the family surprising each other with nice gifts, and of course we all received wonderful hand-made gifts from our very creative, very crafts-loving daughter. D. gave me a beautiful necklace and earrings, and a perfect card. He chooses the best cards, and always knows just the right things to write in them.

Yesterday we went to a Valentine's skating party at our local arena. This is a party thrown every year by my daughter's Home and School association. It was fun! Everybody skated around the rink while music played, and there was hot chocolate and snacks for all. I had a huge smile plastered on my face the whole time watching my daughter gamely attempting to skate. All of her little friends were way better than she, but did she let that stop her, or get embarrassed? Hell no! She's so funny, and not a big baby like I was at her age. My son has actually taken skating lessons, so even he was better than she was. It was all very nice, and made me appreciate once again this wonderful community we have moved into.

Back to work. Only six working days left 'til our big event!

Survivor All-Stars Update

So Jenna decided to give up the game and go home to her dying mother, throwing her tribe and the others into a bit of a tizzy and eliminating the need for an immunity challenge and tribal council.

Now, I don't like to judge, but doesn't it seem a bit greedy and shallow to agree to go on a second Survivor, which last 40 days, when your mother is on her death bed (she died 8 days after Jenna returned home) and you already won a million dollars when you did it the last time?

Who knows what her motives were, and she did the right thing in the end, and admitted that she made a "bad judgement call" coming out to a remote island during her mother's last days. And she's young, and probably not all that smart. But it was her mother for godsake!

Well, I guess Survivor is not really the place one goes for lessons in values and decency. I shouldn't be surprised.

Work Work Work.

As I move toward the end of my pregnancy, unfortunately my job is increasing in difficulty and general craziness. So the more work I have to do, the less I feel like doing it.

I'm working on a huge event happening in less than two weeks, and we're at the point where we seem to be drowning in sea of details.

Needless to say, this is not the best thing for my insomnia; but I've resigned myself to it until this damn event is over. Then it will be just a few short weeks until I find myself with another baby.

So much for sleep!

February's monkey

It's time for another monkey, where bloggers wax philosophic on a monthly topic:
This month it's "Times in your life when you felt really alive"

I feel lucky to have experienced an intense life so far, with mostly positive "moments of being".

There are certainly too many, and some too private, to enumerate here, but here's a sampling. Feel free to share your own in the comments below!

Grade one arm-break
By definition, childhood is a time of intense experience. Once I slipped on black ice while walking to the bus stop and broke a bone in my forearm. I remember everything about it: the ice, the pain, the embarrassed explanation to my bus dirver and his kindness and attention; sitting in the gym playing with a badminton birdie that the gym teacher gave me to occupy me 'til my mom came; the cast, the cast removal with bizarre flaky skin and a weird smell (feeling like my arm was a separate entity), showing my x-ray for show-and-tell. Not the first and not the last broken bone, but a show-stopper.

Tripping on drugs
I had a pretty drug-warped adolescence, and experienced many frightening and memorable experiences that are bizarre and unbelievable even now. The best drugs for feeling totally "alive", albeit in an artificial way: THC and coccaine. (Oh, and just say "no" to drugs, kids!!)

Sleeping in a cave on Crete
My whole Europe experience was one of feeling truly alive, but one very strong memory is from the four days I spent with my two pals and five randy Australian guys (gorgeous!) on Crete. Our accomodations were in a cave, and one night I came back from the bar before the others and crashed. The darkness was so complete it was like having my head in a black velvet bag. Out of nowhere I felt my head brutally nudged, and I was totally spooked and jumped straight up in my sleeping bag. I heard the receding sound of a bell: the one belonging to the displaced goat who normally frequented the cave. He must have been checking to see if it was time to come back.

Love
Of course! The time when D. and I were first together is, again, full of those moments. An early one was when, after weeks of sitting and talking in my living room, we got close on the "clam couch" (remember those rattan seats from Pier I?) and he kissed me -- well his lips brushed my cheek, seemingly in passing. That was all it took, and we've been together ever since. I will never forget seeing him walking around in my purple satin robe the next morning (we didn't make love that night, but he did sleep over), looking like a stick-insect in drag, and thinking "He's a total geek, but I'm crazy about him". Still true fifteen years later.

Everything about having babies
But childbirth is definitely the most intense experience imaginable, where you are returned to your animal self in no uncertain terms. I really felt that there was no difference between myself and any cow or horse or seal or other mammal that labours (good word) to get that thing out of her body, finally! And I did it all, both times, without any pain killers. And I'll do it again in approximately 2 months! Incidentally, I have a new love and affinity for animal mothers of all species.

These are just a few of those moments that you touch and roll around between your fingers like pearls on a necklace. Raising my children I pretty much always feel really alive, with show-stopping moments occuring with amazing frequency. I just said to D. last night "We're in heaven here, right now!" and I believe that it's true. But I also believe that the worst moments of pain and of fear are beautiful in the way that they open up your mind and your spirit to a new way of understanding what you are and where you are in the universe.

Talk about waxin' philosophical! Hooooo-weee!

I came to work late today, after a doctor's appointment, and as I was walking along in this balmy, beautiful weather, I smelled one of the happiest smells in my world: Snow melting on warm sidewalk.

Do you know this smell? For me it is the first reminder that Spring will come, that warm weather does indeed bless this blasted sub-arctic region.

The weekend was great. Beautiful snowy weather and visits with family and friends. Had a work friend and his family over on Saturday for the first time, and the visit went very well. Their kids got on well with ours, the adults had plenty to talk about and apple pie and chai latte to eat and drink. They liked our house, too, which always makes me feel good. I like our house too.

Took my dad out for a birthday lunch on Sunday, which was relaxed and fun. He actually listened to my daughter when she spoke after I drew his attention to the fact that he had failed to do so. They enjoyed one another's company after that; I think he never realized that she could actually have a conversation!

Still not sleeping (boo!), but everything seems to be going well with the pregnancy. And to my utter shock and amazement I found out that I've gained only two pounds in the last month! I was expecting it to be more like ten, so... fries for lunch!

Like PMS all the time

I'm not cranky today! Not so far, at least. Maybe it's because it's Friday, I don't know, but it's unusual for me these days.

I just seem to have very little patience lately. Not that I fly off the handle, but I seem to be incapable of pretending. This is a dangerous thing, and it certainly points up the extent to which we pretend on a day-to-day basis in order to keep the social order in order. Lately, if someone says something that bugs me, or is obviously full of crap, I just turn right off.

I don't like being that way. I like to think of myself as a reasonably generous and loving person, someone who is tolerant of other people's foibles. Because hey, not many people have more foibles than me, right?

I am still tolerant and happy around my own family, ie. my husband and my kids. So fortunately things are fine when I'm at home. I'm just trying to avoid social situations where I may be tempted to say: "that's bullshit", or "Give me a friggin' break!"

But today I seem to be like my old, pre-pregnancy self (well, on a good day): optimistic and happy to talk and listen. It's fun!

For now.

Janet Who?

Is it just me, or is the so-called "scandal" about Janet whoever just the stupidest, most flimsy pretext for media attention imaginable?

If one tenth of the media attention that went to that fool's nipple ornament were spent drawing our attention to serious and important issues, maybe the US would actually have a moderately well-informed voting public.

What am I thinking? The media doesn't exist to inform the public! Silly rabbit!

Snowy-day thoughts

Ah, the snow. So easy on the eyes.


For my work, I have been given the interesting assignment of putting together a list of "CanLit trivia you can use to impress your friends at parties".

I've solicited the help of a couple of my CanLit-professor friends, who have in turn asked their colleagues for suggestions. It's been so cool getting their responses! I'm amazed at how willing they are to share their arcane and not-so-arcane knowledge, and I'm learning some funny and weird stuff along the way.

I am gathering this for an event on Feb. 24th, and after that's over I will post the list here.

In the meantime, see if you can guess the following:

What Canadian poet claimed to have been born circumcised, and thus that he was the Messiah?