Buddhist Philosophy

I had to share this:

In his book "The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching", the monk Thich Nhat Hanh writes: “When I have a toothache, I discover that not having a toothache is a wonderful thing. I had to have a toothache in order to be enlightened, to know that not having one is wonderful. My nontoothache is peace, is joy. But when I do not have a toothache, I do not seem to be happy. Therefore, I look deeply in the present moment and see that I have a nontoothache; that can make me very happy already.”

Toronto Livin'

Wow, the last few months have been a crazy roller-coaster ride - I feel, like Ron Burgundy, that I've been stuck in a "glass-case of emotion." However, now that I'm starting to feel good and much more like myself again, it's time to make a change.

That's why this move to Toronto probably happened at the best possible time. New scenery, new people, new job - it's all very exciting (and slightly overwhelming). I can't say I know what all this will lead to and, for once, I'm not going to sweat it and just enjoy the ride.

I still feel like I'm balancing too much - the thesis has definately took a slide in productivity since I've moved here. But I write all day - the last thing I want to do when I get home is write more. I've gotta keep plugging at it, though, I can't move on professionally until I get this damn thing out of the way.

But for now, I'm just going to enjoy all a summer in Toronto has to offer. So far its been offering a lot of great food, good beer, patio's and lots of nice people. I'm off to a good start! Plus, I get the best of both worlds - I can go home to Dover on the weekends whenever needed. Really, I can't complain.

Anyway, this is going to be short - but I felt like I've been neglecting this thing so bad (again) that I needed to write something.

Try Telling this to The Mooner...

From Huffingtonpost.com:

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:

● 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months;

● 1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year;

● 70 million gallons of gas--enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare;

● 3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware;

● 33 tons of antibiotics.

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would prevent:

● Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2, as much as produced by all of France;

● 3 million tons of soil erosion and $70 million in resulting economic damages;

● 4.5 million tons of animal excrement;

● Almost 7 tons of ammonia emissions, a major air pollutant.

My favorite statistic is this: According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads. See how easy it is to make an impact?

Other points:

Globally, we feed 756 million tons of grain to farmed animals. As Princeton bioethicist Peter Singer notes in his new book, if we fed that grain to the 1.4 billion people who are living in abject poverty, each of them would be provided more than half a ton of grain, or about 3 pounds of grain/day--that's twice the grain they would need to survive. And that doesn't even include the 225 million tons of soy that are produced every year, almost all of which is fed to farmed animals. He writes, "The world is not running out of food. The problem is that we--the relatively affluent--have found a way to consume four or five times as much food as would be possible, if we were to eat the crops we grow directly."

A recent United Nations report titled Livestock's Long Shadow concluded that the meat industry causes almost 40% more greenhouse gas emissions than all the world's transportation systems--that's all the cars, trucks, SUVs, planes and ships in the world combined. The report also concluded that factory farming is one of the biggest contributors to the most serious environmental problems at every level--local and global.

Researchers at the University of Chicago concluded that switching from standard American diet to a vegan diet is more effective in the fight against global warming than switching from a standard American car to a hybrid.

In its report, the U.N. found that the meat industry causes local and global environmental problems even beyond global warming. It said that the meat industry should be a main focus in every discussion of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortages and pollution, and loss of biodiversity.

Unattributed statistics were calculated from scientific reports by Noam Mohr, a physicist with the New York University Polytechnic Institute.

First Stop: Bittertown

Last night I ate dinner with a couple friends and quickly realized something I've been denying for the last week: I have recently become a slightly - okay, more than slightly - bitter person.

Am I not allowed this after a break-up and the pain of moving back in with the 'rents? I think most would agree yes. The question, then, is for how long?

I say a month. There's no particular rationale for this proposed length of time, except for the fact that staying in bittertown for longer than a month seems depressing. And if I give myself that length of time, I'm nearly half-way through my narcissistic wallowing. Go me! What's next on this train ride of emotion? I hope it's 'merriment' - that sounds fun. That or alcoholism...

Small Town, Big Dreams, Non-Existant Wallet

Wow, the name of this blog is more apropos than ever. Here I am, after two and a half years of living in Calgary back pretty much where I started out: in Dover, a student, broke, unemployed, recently single and (ugh) living with my parents.

Now, while this may sound like I could use a prescription for antidepressants (and there's days when I definately wouldn't mind a few), I'm going to try to resist the temptation of prescription drugs and/or self-medication through alcohol and far too much Oprah-viewing and use this blog to rise above and grow as a person mentally, physically, and professionally. (It must be mentioned, of course, that this project of personal growth does not preclude the use of the above tools of self-medication, just in moderation...)

This won't be easy, my present situation and surroundings do not exactly inspire. But when better to start a life-altering personal project than when your emotionally damaged with few personal or professional prospects on the horizon? Time to turn that frown upside down!

So where does this blog fit in? Well, basically it's a tool to keep me on track and in check. In other words, get me through the next few months. Here I'll write my goals, challenges, experiences, opinions on things in the news, and, in general, personal musings. So, really, there's no particular focus to this blog, just the ramblings-on of a woman having a quarter-life crisis and trying to find her way in life...

To begin, here's my first goal: Keep up writing in this blog!

Thoughts...

I'm bored and am spending way too much time thinking in my head, so why not write it down?

Just read an article in the Globe and Mail that the Liberals and NDP are preparing to come together and form a coalition government to bring down the Conservatives. The reason they're citing is that the Conservaties have not offered a stimulus package to jump-start the economy but, of course, is as much about the fact that the Conservatives want to abolish the taxpayer subsidy to political parties - effectively crippling the cash-strapped Liberal party. Trust me, I recognize this and who knows if this coalition government thing would be going down if this hadn't been put on the table.

But, please, as much as one may harp at the Opposition parties, taking away subsidies from the other parties is completely underhanded and opportunistic on the part of Harper. First he calls an election that was completely self-serving and engineered to dissolve a "dysfunctional" government, meanwhile pledging to work with the other parties in victory and then the first thing he does is try and bankrupt every other party? Taken any lessons from Machiavelli lately Harper?

Then, last week, he says the country needs unprecedented stimulus and then this week say "oh just wait a while" and then proposes spending cuts? "Two-faced" doesn't cover this guy.

I can't talk to the economic of this - although I do think that when every other democratic country has passed a stimulus package, we need to jump on board or be left behind.

What pisses me off, as he often does, is Harper's reaction to this - the Conservatives "won" thus this is undemocratic. Sorry, buddy, most Canadians didn't vote for your party. More people voted to the left than the right or, in other words, against you then for you. And, by the way, we don't vote for PM's, we vote for our local representatives. In a minority government situation, you are dependent on the 'confidence' of the house. You should have tried to work with the majority of the parliament - as you said you would - then press for actions that are purely based on the self-serving interests of your party.

The talking points for Conservative MP's to spew on talk-radio and local TV were leaked to the media - hmmm, a sign of fracture in the usually leak-free Conservative bureaucracy? Either way, they will be out talking to the people who voted for them anyway. Preach to the choir all you want.

No one wants another election but lets put the needs of the country ahead of our frustrations - as legitimate as they may be. Either way, we're doomed to have one - even if this coalition government forms, it won't last too long. Back to the ballots but hopefully with a different result this time!

Pictures from Calgary

I write all the time so forgive me for not writing here. Just pictures for now!

They're mainly just of scenery or us standing in front of scenery. Forgive us, life isn't exactly a constant party out here. Hopefully the next pictures I post will be from our vacation (*fingers crossed)!

Lorne's baby (looks good eh?)

Right Side

Left Side

Badlands

Prairie Dog

Horsethief Canyon

Me infront of World's Largest (and Cheesiest) dinosaur

Tyrannosaurus (sp?) Rex in Royal Tyrell Museum, Drumheller

Horseshoe Canyon

More highlights from the past year . . .

Milan and I at conference in Nelson, B.C.

In hotel room

At a ferry stop near Nelson

Pretty . . .

More Scenery . . .

View from Ferry

On the ferry to Nelson, B.C. (2008)

Milan, Concetta and I

Glenn, Jean, Fiona, Milan, me, and Lorne

A park near our house (Autumn 2007)

A pond . . .

Lorne at Johnston's Canyon, near Banff (2007)

An Ink Pot at Johnston's Canyon

Mountains (of course . . . )

Normel, Claire and I (friends from The City) on our last day of our internship

A Cheetah Lorne painted for a company whose name we won't mention (2007)

Invermere, B.C. (2007)

Panorama B.C. (2007)

Panorama, B.C. (2007)

Glenmore Resevoir, Calgary

Yup . . .

Just a pic from the ski trip we took to Fernie. This is a place where this huge rock slide happened about 100 years ago and killed an entire town. Cool eh? And sad too, of course.

Here's an oldie I found from Mike's wedding that I like just because we all look so nice. No other reason for posting it. This is, of course, before I became utterly plastered. Seems like not that long ago, but now baby #2 is on the way. Hard to believe . . .

That's about it. Just surviving the next few weeks till school is over. Got an A in one class for the term - kick ass!! Also, Lorne just brought home a crap-load of free stuff from M&M, finally some iron in the ol' diet. Ahhh, it's all about the small stuff in Calgary . . .

Photo's

Well, hello all. It has definately been awhile, yet, I still don't have much to stay. Still busting my butt in school, I've had a stressful few weeks and I've got an even more stressful month left to go. But then I'm done - yahoooooooo! I can almost taste the celebratory beer that will be drank. I can't wait. Calgary's starting to show its potential too. The last few weeks have result in a few spring-like days, reminding us that, hey, maybe it won't be so bad this summer. In fact, it should be quite nice. That's why people should come out and visit - c'mon!

Anyhoo, I'd thought I'd post some pictures up of some of Lorne's work that he's been doing over the past few months. First his artwork and then his baby, his aquarium which, if you've seen the past pictures, has definately made progress. Enjoy!

One of these things is not like the other . . . can you guess which one?

Marilyn Manson fits well with our ethnic decorations

I sleep beside this . . . nightmares anyone?

Sleeping and Skiing

Lordy, this long Calgary winter is starting to get to me. I've never been a big sleeper but lately I can't seem to get enough sleep, even weekend nights I'm in bed pathetically early. Anyone know a way to get energy? I've started yoga and pilates (not nearly as fun as yoga) but I still can't seem to get my act together. Maybe once the days become longer than 6 hours I'll finally get that charge . . .

Anyhoo, nothing much to report here from the West. School's already back to being busy-central. Prof's are starting to get on us to pick a thesis topic and I'm the most clueless of the bunch. One cool thing this term is that for my one class, Communications Management, instead of writing a paper full of useless theoretical bull, we get to develop a communications plan for a business in Calgary. I'm doing one for a vintage clothing store that raises money for women in need so I'm kinda pumped about that. I think the first thing they need is a new website, this is crap: http://www.myspace.com/vintagecatseye.

Other than that, things are pretty quiet-as-usual, as evidenced by this boring blog entry. Lorne's been happy, he's taken the last few weeks to develop his painting skills and save his precious aquarium from its near-disaster over Christmas. Next weekend we're off to Fernie to ski with some of my school friends, which should be interesting, seeing as I haven't skied in 4 years and the last location I skied at was Chicopee in good ol' Kitchener, Ontario. I hope my pride doesn't get too scarred when all those 5 year-olds fly by me . . .

Oh, an who's paying attention to this presential bid 2008 crap? I'm all for Hilary, I find her cold and a little too calculating, but the woman's got guts - she wouldn't take any shit. I'd be all for Barack Obama, but he's got no experience. If I were him, I'd wait another 4 or 8 years and then take a stab at it, right now he's just all talk and no substance. Although, his dad was a goat herder and that's gotta count for something.

2007, here we go

Well, back to the grind. Just finished my first week back at school. 9-5 class + homework for 5 days in a row ain't fun. But I survived, now one class is done only 2 more to go.

Had a great 2 weeks back home - lots of drinking and, perhaps, a bit too much Norfolk. It was awesome to have Erin and Kevin back. The only person missing was a certain person in Saskatchewan. But we'll let that go . . . Shout-out to Sinkowski and Mitchell for throwing a kick-ass New Year's party! I'm waaaay too tired right now to write more so you'll just have to do with some par-tay picks. They speak for themselves. If I look drunk, it's just because I was.