Here Ya Go, Pop: Baldheaded Men

Eye Opener

I'm off gallyvanting for the next 10 days, so to those of you whose doorsteps I won't be landing on ... see  you on the flip side! I may pop in and make an entry; but then again, I may not.

I'm leaving you with a recommendation for Writing the Revolution. If you think it hasn't been a struggle for the female half of our race to get and keep equal rights in this country, even in the last few decades, this book will make you think again. It will make your guts churn with anger and frustration, but it will also make you proud of the fight women have got in them. In US.

An interview with Michele Landsberg at More Magazine

http://www.themarknews.com/articles/7316-on-writing-the-revolution

Interview with Michele Landsberg

Get it on iTunes

An Interview with Michele Landsberg 

What central issues do you see facing Canadian feminists today?

ML:

The central issue facing women today is that we are still excluded from and underrepresented in every sphere of real power (banks, government, etc) and thus our vital concerns are ignored or trampled on, for example — high quality, universally accessible child care; universal access to reproductive choice; prompt and effective remedies for harassment, battering and other forms of violence directed at women.

I would say that the most grievous injustices are inflicted on aboriginal women and girls, and immigrant and refugee women. The poverty and harms they face are sickening and a disgrace to our democracy.

In your opinion, what news outlets (large or small) in Canada today provide valuable and vital points of view for readers concerned about social justice?

ML:

Among the news outlets that still care about social justice and provide the lively analysis and research one needs are: The Monitor, from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives; Briarpatch; StraightGoods.ca, Herizons Magazine (one of the last feminist magazines in the country), Shameless, Rabble.ca.

Of course, the Star and the Globe and Mail occasionally do eye-opening investigations into issues of the public interest, and these are invaluable.

From Canadian Living

One of my favourite lines in her book is Michele's response to those who say that feminism is dead. 

“Feminism dead? They said that from the beginning, and they were always wrong: Feminism is a passion for justice and equality, and that cannot die.”

Snow Day

Finally, a decent snowfall! We've had several inches since last night. It's nearly noon and I'm trying not to worry about Scott, who struck out on the highway about 7 this morning for a chiropractic appointment. It's still coming down heavily and I imagine the roads aren't in very good shape; the visibility won't be great either.

I was just out making sure the birds have enough seed for the day. The dogs thought we should go for a walk; the weather doesn't deter them from having fun, that's for sure. They were in right playful moods.

Land and Sky

Scott spends part of his Sunday afternoon putting out bales

We enjoyed the most lovely drive home after having supper and a visit with friends about a half-hour from here. Usually I find the night drive long and am anxious about moose and deer stepping onto the road from the dark ditches. But last night the sky was so bright that you could see for miles. The fields and their blotches of dark bush were well lit. I love the views around here.

 It’s not the more obviously luxurious curves and contrasts of hills and valleys and rocks that one sees in other parts of the country, but a more gentle, unassuming expanse that you float upon with the feeling that you can freely go anywhere, do anything, be anyone. There’s an unlimited perspective that encourages the mind and spirit to go great distances, to open up somehow, to feel that anything is possible.

Some of My Outlaws

Scott's "little" brother Bruce on his birthday

Dad sent me a photo that made me exclaim "Oh dear!" when I saw it. He's had a procedure done beneath his eyes that makes him look like one of the guys from Kiss, or maybe like a demon. Unfortunately he won't let me post it to my blog. I tried. I said "But your friends would like to see it!"
Alas, he prefers not.

When we were over at the inlaws' for Bruce's birthday cake, I managed to get a nice shot of Scott with his parents, but he doesn't want me to post that here either. I said, "But there are people who would like to see it! What about your cousin Alex over in England?"

Sorry Alex, no can do. What I think I can get away with is posting the pics of Bruce and his parents ... because I am not aware that they read this blog, and I don't think they'd mind anyway. Unlike some of these shy people.

Pat and Ivan

Sorry, No Moose

My trusty companion while I work at my desk

You'd have seen a photo of a cow moose with a mottled light patch on her shoulder, had I remembered to take my camera with me to town yesterday morning. The long-legged gal was meandering across the driveway in front of an unoccupied farmhouse near the road, oblivious as could be! And me without my friggin' camera. Is that not always the way.

I've been a bit under the weather for the past few days. My neck-migraines seem to come in clusters of several days in a row now, about once a month. I've managed to work, but not to go for my daily walks. Today I feel normal so far, and hope to get out for some exercise, though it's cold out. Like real winter, for a change.

And now ... I put my nose to the grindstone and get some work done.

Show This to Emil, he said

Can you imagine Emil putting on such a show?
It will be interesting to see what he thinks, on the weekend, of this video his little brother sent for him to watch.

Letter from Sifet

My friend Sifeta in Bosnia is raising chicks ...

We have been emailing each other; her son often comes to visit her on the weekends, and that's when she can get onto the internet.
I wanted to know what $30 Canadian (which is approximately what my monthly sponsorship to Women for Women International is) would buy in Bosnia. Here is her recent letter, which she has probably translated into English with Google Translator. The translation leaves a lot to be desired, but we make do:

My chickens will not lay eggs but vendors place, this chickens for meat production. I purchase them for our table. We will send you a photo and chickens. 

I hope Snjezna Olli will be terrible. When we were HLAN, in mountainous areas is missing electricity, fallen logs, covered roads, the people with no real food supplies and fuel, and medicines like it lasted 20 days, terrible. On the rain falls on 3 degrees Celsius.

I received $ 10 and replace them when the Bosnian currency get 14 km. 

25 kg of flour is 18 km in the fall was 27 km. Liltar edible oil is 3 km, 5 kg sugar 10MK, 0.5 kg of coffee 6km (here is the custom to serve guests coffee, the first part of the tradition of the Ottoman Empire who were here about 500 years from 1463 years up to 1889 years when the Austro-specific terms and expressions annexed to our country). Diesel Fuel 2.5 KM to 1 liter. Let me make a pie for lunch while my son was there to be pocastim.

Zelim that you be comfortable at work and that doprineses repair your home. I see that you go to visit her father, sister and friend, and if you do not know them because they convey greetings with us is customary if you were a friend. Now you priatelji and its closest. Before the war the relationship between people is a lot better over the potovali, visited and hung out, now it Nenek net and I was missing.

Lots of greetings from Bosnia Sifet and her family

Want to see the original? If you're one of my many Bosnian readers (ha!! Sifeta, you are the only one!), you may be able to give me the English word for those in bold above.

Moji pilici nece nositi jaja nego dace mesto, ovo pilici za proizvodnju mesa. nabavla sam ih za nas stol. Poslacemo vam i foto pilica. Nadam se da snjezna olija nece biti strasna. Kod nas je bilo  hlano, u planinskim predjelima  je  nestalo elektricne energije, pali stubovi, putevi zatrpani, narod bez prave zalihe hrane i ogreva ko i lijekova, to je trajalo 20 dana, uzasno. Dana kisa pada na 3 stupnja celziusa.

Ja sam dobijala 10 dolara i kada ih zamijenim za Bosansku valutu dobijem 14 KM. 25 kg brasna je 18 KM a na jesen je bilo 27 KM. Liltar jestivog ulja je 3 KM, secer 25 kg brasna je 18 KM a na jesen je bilo 27 KM. Liltar jestivog ulja je 3 KM, secer 5kg 10MK, kafa 0,5 kg 6KM(kod nas je obicaj da gostima prvo posluzimo kafu, dio tradicije iz turskog carstva koji su ovdje bili oko 500 godina od 1463godine pa do 1889godina kada je Austro-Ugraska izvrsila aneksiju na nasu zemlju). Gorivo dizel 2,5 KM za 1 litar. Sada cu praviti pitu za rucak dok mi je sin tu da se pocastimZelim da ti bude ugodno na poslu i da doprineses popravci vaseg doma. Vidim da ides u posjetu ocu, sestri i prijatelju i ako ih ne poznajem prenesi pozdrave jer kod nas je obicaj ako ti je neko prijatelj odmah Ja sam dobijala 10 dolara i kada ih zamijenim za Bosansku valutu dobijem 14 KM. 25 kg brasna je 18 KM a na jesen je bilo 27 KM. Liltar jestivog ulja je 3 KM, secer 5kg 10MK, kafa 0,5 kg 6KM(kod nas je obicaj da gostima prvo posluzimo kafu, dio tradicije iz turskog carstva koji su ovdje bili oko 500 godina od 1463godine pa do 1889godina kada je Austro-Ugraska izvrsila aneksiju na nasu zemlju). Gorivo dizel 2,5 KM za 1 litar. Sada cu praviti pitu za rucak dok mi je sin tu da se pocastimZelim 5kg 10MK, kafa 0,5 kg 6KM(kod nas je obicaj da gostima prvo posluzimo kafu, dio tradicije iz turskog carstva koji su ovdje bili oko 500 godina od 1463godine pa do 1889godina kada je Austro-Ugraska iz5kg 10MK, kafa 0,5 kg 6KM(kod nas je obicaj da gostima prvo posluzimo kafu, dio tradicije iz turskog carstva koji su ovdje bili oko 500 godina od 1463godine pa do 1889godina kada je Austro-Ugraska izvrsila aneksiju na nasu zemlju). Gorivo dizel 2,5 KM za 1 litar. Sada cu praviti pitu za rucak dok mi je sin tu da se pocastimZelim da ti bude ugodno na poslu i da doprineses popravci vaseg doma. Vidim da ides u posjetu ocu, sestri i prijatelju i ako ih ne poznajem prenesi pozdrave jer kod nas je obicaj ako ti je neko prijatelj odmah su ti priatelji i negov1889godina kada je Austro-Ugraska izvrsila aneksiju na nasu zemlju). Gorivo dizel 2,5 KM za 1 litar. Sada cu praviti pitu za rucak dok mi je sin tu da se pocastimZelim da ti bude ugodno na poslu i da doprineses popravci vaseg doma. Vidim da ides u posjetu ocu, sestri i prijatelju i ako ih ne poznajem prenesi pozdrave jer kod nas je obicaj ako ti je neko prijatelj odmah su ti priatelji i negovi najblizi. Do prije rata odnos medju ljudima je bio puno bolji vise se potovali, posjecivali i druzili, sada je to neneko netalo a meni nedostaje.

Puno pozdrava iz Bosne od Sifeta i njene porodice

(Joanne, I made the photo small. Does it make any difference on your screen?)

Give a Dog a Bone

Somewhere in the area, a fuse had blown and a deep freeze full of meat was partially thawed by the time it was discovered. The owners didn't want to risk eating it, so Scott brought it home for our dogs and cats. He has been parceling it out to them every morning for most of the winter; you know, even a little bit of "real" food means they have a much smaller-than-expected appetite for that commercial dry dog food they're usually stuck with.

I tossed a raw bone to Jenna, shown above, shortly before heading down the road for my daily walk. She wasn't leaving it behind for the magpies to pick at, though; she carried it the entire three miles.

Walrus in Saskatchewan

Walrus

When winter came, I soon stopped wearing my eyeglasses — the ones for seeing distant things clearly — when I went walking. It took a while to make up my mind to do it, since I didn't want to miss any wild animals that might happen by. But when you've got a scarf pulled halfway up your face and your warm breath escapes it, the lenses of your glasses fog up and they do you no good anyway.

On the other hand, if you don't wear them you see strange animals way out in the field. Some of them are walruses.

Weekend, What Weekend?

What $185 worth of groceries and $50 worth of wine and beer look like

7:49pm
Who needs a day off, anyway?
I started working shortly after my first cup of coffee and have been at it off and on all day. But mostly on, besides doing dishes a couple times and stopping to make a fried egg sandwich for lunch, and eating sausage & sauerkraut leftovers Scott brought back from his grandma’s for supper.

I worked 8 hours today; more than I do on a regular weekday. Went out for some fresh air but it was cold so I didn’t walk, just took water for the dog and cats out to the heated bowl at the tractor shed, filled a birdfeeder with sunflower seeds, grabbed some meat from the deep freeze in the quonset and came in again.

Tried to get Emil to make cookies with me but he wasn’t interested so I just worked. He was the dj, playing CDs by Jane Siberry and Bruce Cockburn for the two of us to listen to. He loves his music, and moreso when he chooses the playlist and I'll listen with him.

I'm looking forward to Cathy coming out from the city tomorrow but there’s supposed to be a storm in the province this weekend so she may decide to keep off the highway. I’ll have to call her and see what’s happening in the city; it's all clear here so far. Cath, those two bottles of wine are for tomorrow night! Hope you make it.

Fridays are My Favourites

Birdie, not yet one year old

7:24a.m.
Up early, half an hour on the couch with my coffee already, getting the cobwebs out of my head. Trevor A. has just walked in the door and is at the kitchen table with Scott, totting up hours for pay, so I’ve retreated to the office in my housecoat, bedhead and all. With a fuzzy blanket over my lap, I’m cosy in here. I’m actually gungho to get to work, but making myself take time to do some personal stuff first.

And by 8:16 I’m eating a fried egg sandwich on a bun and working!

1:05pm
Usually I'm just starting my office hours, but today I've already got my allotted amount of Friday work finished and will, after taking a break to walk and stretch my muscles, sit back down here and work a few hours ahead. It's good to be ahead of the game!

The forecast is for a snowstorm that includes this part of the province, which means I might get a lot of time in over the weekend as well. The disappointment might be that Cathy R won't be able to come out Sunday afternoon as planned if the roads get too crazy.

Have you seen this TED talk? It's called Can We Eat to Starve Cancer? Watch it online. Well worth a look.

It's cold out there today, I don't want to go............!!!!! And I have to eat something first. It's easy to forget to eat, and foolish.

Home Office Shenanigans

North

You'd never guess, looking at these photos, that they were taken on one of the most beautiful days. The temperature was mild and there was no wind; the air felt soft and welcoming.

South. Whaddayamean, treeless?

I set office hours for myself, to encourage focus and discourage distractions. They change with the seasons. In the summer I start at 10 a.m. and go till 2:30, remaining indoors during the hottest hours of the day except for 10-minute breaks after every hour to go out to the garden and hoe up weeds.
This winter I decided to try keeping away from the computer during the mornings, working only in the afternoons. This past week I’ve adjusted my schedule a little, allowing myself to put in an hour or two in the morning as long as I’ve done other things first — like eating, washing up (myself and the kitchen), brushing my teeth. Otherwise I can easily get caught up here all morning and still be in my housecoat at noon.
To avoid that, I actually set the timer on the stove before I sit down here, to make sure I get up and move around often and don’t let the blood pool in my ass.
Between timed hours I’ve begun in the mornings to pick up the bass and strum it for a few minutes to get my fingers callused up again. I’ve never been able to play and sing at the same time, as I can do with the piano, but suddenly I can croon along with a bass run … woo hoo! How fun is that! It seemed to happen by itself, after all these years, like an unexpected gift.
Later in the day I’ve also started setting the timer for 15-minute increments of working instead of waiting till I’ve got an uninterrupted hour to log in time. Got this idea from The Happiness Project, whose author suggested it as a perfectly good way to get things done. And she is right. Last night while making supper and then waiting for Scott to be ready to go to his mom and dad’s, I got 6 of those little increments in. They add up.

Just Another Day

Emil gets his fresh air and exercise on a weekend afternoon.

9:33 a.m.
He said something notable when he was here, leaning over my chair talking with some urgency, and I thought "I should write this down so I don't forget." But sure as hell, I've forgotten.

Not feeling right this morning. My neck’s out. Have eaten, washed and dressed, and will sit here for a half-hour and see what happens. Sometimes the neck thing just disappears on its own. If not, I’ll take a pill before it gets worse. 

10:58pm

Anti-inflammatory (check), gravol pill (check), busy working on film articles today: Cairo Time, actor Shawn Doyle, stuntman Russell Saunders, sisters Jennifer & Meg Tilly. 

Babette, Beatrix, and Bimbo

What in the heck is it those dogs have got out there?

Trusty Pancakes

I would have captioned that photo "Jealous, Everett?" except that his stomach would turn at the sight of yogurt on a pancake. He could handle the syrup, but that would be it.

Funny who you think of, and why. We're out of maple syrup so I cooked up a quick sauce with brown sugar and water, which made me think of Luanne, who gave me the idea back in the day; and while eating that delicious breakfast (thought I'd taken too much but no, I managed the whole thing! Scott would be proud of me), I thought "I'll give her a call later." Well, it's later and I still haven't. I worked three hours and went for a walk and now have to come up with something for supper.

Or we could just stick the rest of these pancakes into the toaster:

Dogs and Moose Tracks

2:11pm
I am so lazy! I have washed and dried dishes, eaten a breakfast of eggs and toast with Emil, and sat for at least two hours here at the computer, logging two banking hours and then catching up on a bit of email and such. And now it's time to go out for my walk, and it looks like a beautiful day, and I don’t want to go! Silly. I think it’s because I get bored out there sometimes.

There's been a moose out behind my frozen flower garden next to the house. It crossed the road and went through the ditch. I didn't see it — the dog barked up a storm — but I found its tracks, that's how I know:

Change Not Loss

23 yrs ago: Grandpa Emil, me, Baby Emil, and Mom

While Lyndsie lost her beloved grandpa today, I have been thinking of mine because it is his birthday. He’s been gone for many years now, about 17, but I remember his passing and the days around it as if they were yesterday.

First there was the phone call to my home in Alberta, where Mom and Dad happened to be visiting us for a few days. Dad might have done some golfing with friends, as it was in the spring, and Mom would have spent many hours on her knees pulling things out of the kids’ closets to send to the dump. She liked to keep busy when she wasn’t playing with the boys or giving them ice cream (and having some herself), and I was grateful to her for the help sloughing out the unused and no longer necessary junk. I was also relieved that I always had a chance to go through the boxes before they left the house in case there was anything I didn’t want to part with.

Mom took the call from family back in our home town, with the news that Grandpa was in the hospital on life support and that they thought they should do what he would have wanted, which was to let him go, and they needed to ask whether she agreed. As the eldest of the four siblings, her opinion carried weight. (As well it should! Do you hear me, my younger brother and sisters?! I should also inherit the family title and estate. I’m the eldest. You guys can go into the clergy, the army, and the navy.)

I remember Mom hanging up the telephone, visibly shocked and upset, and Dad putting his arms around her there in the dining room while she wiped her nose and eyes with a kleenex. I remember him holding her and saying gently, “It had to happen sometime.”

That seemed a heartless thing to say — but now I know it was the most comforting thing he could have said, because somehow the matter-of-factness of it moves you from — Oh my god this is the worst tragedy ever I can’t stand it! — to — This is a natural part of life, don’t freak out.

So instead of feeling like you’re in a horror movie, you shift closer to a sense of acceptance, which is exactly what helps you get through. The situation still hurts, but you can cope, you don’t have to fall apart completely. My dad’s a smart one. Practical as hell.

And 10 years later, when Mom herself was dying and afterward, I often reminded myself of his words because although her death was a tragic loss for those of us who loved her dearly, I couldn’t afford to think of it as a tragedy or I wouldn’t be of any use to anyone else — they’d end up looking after me. (As was almost the case in the first weeks following Mom’s diagnosis of stage 4 terminal cancer; I wept till my eyes swelled shut for a week, didn’t sleep, developed hives on my arms that near to drove me insane with itching, couldn’t manage simple medication and had to have Scott dole it out to me, couldn’t make simple decisions like what to make for supper; it was weird. I thought I was a centred, sensible gal, yet I … fell apart.)

Eventually I looked out from my own pain, and around at all the other people in the world living through the illness and loss of loved ones, and realized this wasn’t only happening to my family and our loved one; that death was part of the human condition, nothing out of the ordinary, although it felt like a disaster.

It helped.

It also helps (helps me -- maybe not you) to think of it as change, not loss.

Cat Castle

House for a Cat

Joanne P, your cat house awaits!
The inside height of the door (just to give you an idea of the size of the wee building) is 12 inches.
The house, built of scrap lumber, is shingled, insulated, and carpeted.
The retired gentleman in town who builds them sells them for $40. That doesn't even reimburse him fully for his labour, so these little houses for your outside cats are a steal of a deal.

All You Need is Love

So much for hearts and flowers ...

I'm all about recycling, so repurposing a birthday card to suit the occasion is fine with me. I like this kind of resourcefulness, especially when it comes to cards that disappear into neverneverland after they've been seen yet are so hard on our precious and disappearing trees.
Inside the card, which Scott left on my desk this morning while I was still asleep before he went to work, there are a dozen graphic depictions of various sexual activities.
I made a bright red checkmark beside each one and set the card near the phone, where he will see it as soon as he gets home.
Heh!

Meanwhile, I've got these to do:

and then will sit back down here and spend the afternoon working, before throwing together something for supper.

And how are YOU spending Valentine's Day?