Red Letter Year

Last night I got the chance to see Ani Difranco live in Edmonton (even though I was on shift)! She sang this new song titled "Red Letter Year", which is about New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. This isn't a video from last night, however. The audio quality isn't that good on this video, but I really wanted a good visual of her guitar playing. I love how she pulls the strings down on the neck of the guitar. I love to watch her play.




new years eve we dropped mushrooms
and danced around the house
making music with everything that we found
incantation replaced resolution
and we vowed to allow each perfection
that we could be
and the goddesses sent word
that this would be a red letter year
they didn't mention how much shit was gonna change around here

it's just as well we weren't swollen with unfocused dread
we had visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads
dancing in our heads

first you go under and then coming up gives you the bends
and when you break the surface
all you see is your friends
so you grab your purple crayon
and flesh out the picture behind
and finally the whole world is made of one unbroken line
one unbroken line

and when you wake up sick as a dog
with dull eyes and really bad hair
standing under a lit sign with the words on air
and the water is rising
it's coming in everywhere
just remember you are there
you're always, always there

and representing the white race
a man with a monkey for a face
is flying over in a helicopter
whistling dixie and playing dumb

in a town that might put a gun to your throat
or rip the roof right off of your place
there's a mold crawling up the walls
and falling asleep in your lungs
and you and i both know how to drink so
we will always have work in this town
besides the police are stationed at the bridge
and they're preventing passage to higher ground

so let's pull up a barstool
and get ourselves a ringside seat
for the one unnerving moment
they're gonna show the truth on TV.

I've Joined the Working World...

At least part-time, anyway. I have been applying and looking for part-time work in the evenings and on weekends, so I can get out and mingle with adults and earn some extra cash. It was challenging to find something that I could start at 6pm on weeknights. Not to mention, I was feeling out of touch with the world of paid work, and insecure about my abilities as a skilled worker.

My friend, Erin, had been mentioning for years that she could get me a job at the Winspear where she works. I was reluctant to do that b/c I didn't want to suck at the job and look like an idiot in front of someone I know, or make her look bad for hiring me on! I was intimidated by the uniform, too. It's something I've hated about every job I've had, where I must wear a uniform... which is almost all of them. I dread telling them the size I require, or better yet- being measured to fit a uniform... Which is what I had to do for this job. I have to wear a black tux shirt, black tux pants (mens with pleats) and a formal vest with a tie!

Aside from the uniform, I am loving the job. There are perks, for sure! Last night, for example, I was paid to usher the Ani Difranco concert!! Instead of paying $50 for a ticket, I made $50 and still got to see the show! ... Which was awesome, by the way!! I got to see Jann Arden & Serena Ryder perform at the Intl. Leonard Cohen Festival last week... If I wasn't going away this upcoming weekend, I'd be seeing Weird Al!

I'm really enjoying the work. I'm looking forward to working, I am in a good mood when I come home. I am loving working!! It's nice to feel like something more than a nanny, maid, cook and a baby-machine. "I have a brain and a uterus, and I use both"

Summer Storm

Here is a video of last night's storm that I took with our Canon digital camera!

Summer Strorm- July 22/08

We took these pictures from our back porch last night... it took a long time before the storm hit us. I could hear thunder all night and into the morning (about 8am)!! Quite a storm! Amazing!!

Summer Time

Here are some random pictures taken throughout summer, so far... Some are from our backyard and others are from geocaching around the city!

I can't seem to get the pictures to go in a decent sequence... So, they're not flowing very well. One of the last pictures of Fiona, is her working in a gr 1 workbook. She's quite excited to get back to school and begin grade 1! She loved kindergarten, and knows that even though she won't get to play dress-up at school, she's eager to learn how to read and write more than just her numbers and letters!

Disenchanted

So, I've been wanting to write something on my blog with a bit of depth. I just haven't had the time to sit down, and put the thoughts into words. There has been something looming on my mind quite a bit lately, and there's no one word to sum it up.

I'm really disappointed with the youth in my neighbourhood, and in our city. Anyone in Canada surely knows that Edmonton's crime rate is skyrocketing. With a big boom of industry and wealth, comes more people migrating to the west. With that comes housing shortages (and rent increases), an increase in house prices, labour shortages (in the service industry, specifically- which leads to horrible service across the board), and a higher crime rate.

Two times in as many months, I have been leaving or entering a shopping centre, only to be knocked off balance by a teenager running away from security for shoplifting. Almost every day something happens in this city that is horrifying, and I don't always hear about it on the news... b/c it's getting to be common-place.

For the past 3 nights, there have been teenagers setting off fireworks in the back field behind our house. Usually, around the 3am mark. What would most people do? Phone the police, right? Complain and request that an officer come and send the kids on their way. I am sad to admit, that there is no point to doing that here. I know that if I phone the police, they are going to ask for the closest intersection... It's in the middle of a sports field. No intersection is "close". Still... they want an intersection. For some reason, an address doesn't suffice. I know this from phoning the fire department last summer b/c teenagers had lit a fire on the soccer field behind our house. So, once you have made the call-- the wait begins. The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is extremely busy! They have to prioritize phone calls. So, surely a violent altercation between drunken idiots on 118th Ave is going to win out over some stupid kids lighting fireworks behind my house.

On Canada Day-- late in the night, around 3am... some stupid MOFO decides to drive his pickup truck onto the sports field and gun it through the grass and slap on the emergency brake so his truck spins around a few times, tearing up the grass. I'm telling you, this fucktard was about 100m from my back fence. Not far at all! I said to Jason, "We should phone the police! That idiot could be drunk and drive right into our house!".... to which he replies... "why? The police won't come, and if they do, it'll be too late". It's horrible to think that way, but sadly, it's true. I felt helpless as I watched him drive all over the grass, leave and come back again. Sometimes, he turned off his headlights while he drove. The sound was loud and quite scary. Our windows don't keep out much noise.

I should mention, that the neighbourhood we live in, isn't a "rough" neighbourhood! However, I'd venture to say we are on the cusp of upper-middle and lower-middle class areas. Our area is quite mixed- no real division of rich or poor. We have massive amounts of new houses and subdivisions being built all around us. We've also got low-income and co-op housing nearby. Once upon a time, living in a townhouse was seen as being one of those low-income families. However, with the housing market as it is in Edmonton, many middle-class families have purchased townhouses... condos, actually, b/c buying a regular 3 bedroom house is unaffordable! Oone could expect to pay $350,000 for such a house ( a bungalow that was built in the mid 70's)! With the rise in the housing market, it makes the neighbourhood even more mixed in terms of socio-economic standing. You have people who bought 15 yrs ago... paying maybe $50,000 for their townhouse. Then you have people like us, who bought less than 2 yrs ago, paying $190,000 for the same layout. There's no way to tell the rich from the poor.

Last summer, I called the fire department twice b/c of kids lighting fires on the back field. Our fence has been spray painted several times with graffiti- linked to youth gangs. I constantly hear kids walking on the path behind our house, in the late hours of the morning, swearing and drunk out of their minds... Likely under 17 yrs of age. This is a common occurance during the summer months around here. I have to say, these behaviours are getting worse.

A few weeks ago, I heard a GRADE 6 girl repeatedly shouting the F-word in mid-afternoon, as my kids played in the back yard. I know she's in gr 6, b/c she goes to Fiona's school, and I've seen her in the hallways. She was yelling at some boys, with whom she angry! I was getting in my car, and said "Watch your language! There are kids playing around here!", to which she replies with open arms, a snarled up face as if to say "what?!" like a Ricki Lake guest, ready to do battle! I admit, I wanted to tear a strip off that girl. I cannot believe the behaviour of kids, and how young they are! She glared at me the whole time as she walked by me, staring with hate. I held my gaze, and didn't back down. Ooh, that made me furious!

Jason warned me later that I should be careful, b/c they know where I live and might come back to get revenge. Dammit. I am so tired of being afraid to stand up for myself and my kids!! He's right. It's quite possible, and it does happen. So many people just turn a blind eye to things they see happening for fear of that very thing. Why are these kids being given such POWER and control!?! It all comes down to the reality of the situation. I don't want to endanger my kids or my house. It's a reality that they might come back later and set a fire, damage my property or smash a water bottle full of urine at my siding!! That latter of the 3 has happened to us. Many people I talk to, including my neighbours, are afraid to confront kids-- even young kids about their behaviours. My next door neighbour was even threatened by some young kids, smoking pot behind the fence in MID-DAY... They warned him that if he didn't go away, this young boy would "kill him". That silenced my neighbour immediately. Of course, a phone call to the police would have accomplished nothing.

With every day that goes by, my desire to leave Edmonton increases. If we were renting, I'd be willing to pack up and move before Fiona starts a new school year. However, it's not as easy (or quick) to jump ship due to the fact that we own a house now.

Jason and I have been talking quite seriously about our next move. . . a 5... no! A 2 year plan! Whether it's to leave for a teaching opportunity overseas or to move to another part of Canada is uncertain. We do know, that we don't want to raise our kids here.

It's a shame, b/c I really do enjoy living in Edmonton.

Soundtrack of Your Life- purely for fun

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie



Opening Credits: Paradigm by Ani Difranco

Waking up: Means to an End by Joy Division

First Day at Highschool: Talk of the Town by Jack Johnson

Falling In Love: In A Cave by Tokyo Police Club

Fight Song: Superstar by Sonic Youth

Breaking Up: Tears and Rain by James Blunt

Prom: Track 3 (?) by Anna Guo

Life: Names & Dates by Ani Difranco

Mental Breakdown: Situations by Jack Johnson

Driving: Sleep Through the Static by Jack Johnson

Flashback: So Hing by Faye Wong

Getting Back Together: Napoleon by Ani Difranco

Wedding: Save Your Scissors by City & Colour

Birth of Child: L'amour Ne Dure Pas Toujours by Feist

Final Battle: Blame it on the Tetons by Modest Mouse

Death Scene: Glass by Joy Division

Funeral Song: New Dawn Fades by Joy Division

End Credits: Atrocity Exhibition by Joy Division

This 'randomization' was really picking repetitive artists. Funny how it picked Joy Division for all the death/end of life songs!! I'd like to try it again, when I have everything in the playlist that is on the computer. We had a crash a while back, so we're having to add it all back in again. Haven't had the time to really go through and do that!!

My Newest Cookbooks!

Just picked this one up at Costco today... $6.69!! Can't go wrong with that price! Inside are step-by-step instructions on how to make hundreds of asian dishes!! We eat a lot of Chinese-style foods, so many of the ingredients I have on hand!! Some good staples in the cupboards/fridge are: hoisin sauce, sesame oil, green onions, crushed chilis (or chili paste), soy sauce, ginger, garlic... I'm impressed with all the yummy foods that are in here, and can't wait to make some really good stir frys!! I tried to find this book online for a picture, but only found this one, and it looks great, too!!


Got this one at Costco, too for under $7!! It's loaded with super simple, mostly slow cooker only recipes!! I hate when you have to cook things in pans and pots before transferring to the slow cooker!! Haven't used this one yet.

I received this book as a gift from my lovely friend, June! She knew I wanted a good recipe book for my slow cooker, since I use it ALL the time!! Can't wait to try some of these recipes out!! There are recipes from all over the world: Greece, India, Mexico, NA & Italy!

Appropriate for kids??

Are we too protective of our kids these days? I know this song wasn't inappropriate at all when I were young. Now, when I hear my kids sing it.. it bothers me!! Maybe b/c even though, they're calling out a bad behaviour... it's laced with teasing.

I must say though--- the DANCE is a little too freaky for me!! I was shocked when I watched this episode with the older 2 on Treehouse last night!! He's gyrating and thrusting his pelvis!! Ewwwww!!!

Random photo update...

Father's Day... We got Jason "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein.... He's always really liked that book, and it seemed to fit since he is always giving so much of himself to all of us.

The shirt Jason's wearing was made by Fiona and I for his first Father's Day! It has Chinese characters on it, hopefully meaning "#1 Dad!" lol

Fiona and Dad jamming... Fiona is pretty good on the harmonica! I wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch that one. I love listening to them do Neil Young tunes!

Rosheen and I having a little laugh... I'm sure she's telling me something important...

My two trouble makers!! Even at 17 mos, Rosheen can be quite mischievous! She has a great teacher!! lol


We even had a little bug hit these two sparkplugs one day!! Kieran and Fiona, both catching some z's MID AFTERNOON! You know they're not feeling well when.....