Fashion for All from Vokt'Nach

I am always excited to learn about new creative ventures and people, in my own city and beyond. Although, particularly in my own city. Luckily there are so many talented artistic people here that there is always something or someone new to check out.

The most recent of these artists that has intrigued me is Victory Okorafor - a local fashion designer who is launching his clothing line, Vokt'nach, this weekend. This is how Victory describes his line in his own words:

"The line is classy and formal, but still appealing to every individual despite their class in society. It will inspire customers to look nice and presentable in their every day lives. The pieces are affordable but designed and made with a mindset to perfection. My goal is to change the perspective people have of the fashion industry, and also to challenge the idea that only the rich can dress nice. My vision is to bring both worlds together and provide a way for everyone to dress with self-satisfaction and confidence, without having to spend a lot."

What has stood out most to me from what I've seen of the line is the wearability of the pieces. You won't find any loud prints or unorthodox shapes in this collection, but a series of simple but tailored items that would be easy for anyone to incorporate into their wardrobe. As someone with a busy lifestyle I appreciate clothes that are versatile (but still cute!).

When asked about what inspires him, Victory says it can be impromptu and come in various ways. "It could be when I am asleep, in the shower, or while at a fabric store. I am inspired by my surroundings, my cherished memories, music, art, nature, culture and religion. I appreciate the little moments in my everyday life."

Here are the details of the Vokt'Nach launch presentation:

The fur stole in this photo looks deliciously warm!

Alas, I am going out of the country and won't be able to attend (*sadface*) but I encourage you to go and admire the clothes for me! Although we have an amazing community of artists here in Halifax, the infrastructure really is not there for them to make a long-term career of it. This makes it all the more important for art-lovers like you and me to support these designers as much as possible. I will be sending Victory some good vibes from the US (although, with a name like that I don't think outside motivation is needed!). 

After all, the art that people like Victory make enriches all of our lives. As this up-and-coming designer states, "I believe style is a way of saying who we are, and we want everyone to have a say fashionably". 

For more information on Vokt'Nach, visit the Facebook and Twitter page or the website.

Update (Oct 22nd, 2013): I received a note from one of the models involved in this show, and I felt his review of his experience with Vokt'Nach was worth sharing. You can read it here. Considering I was not able to attend the show, nor see any of the behind-the-scenes first-hand (and because all of my interactions with Victory were positive), I do not feel I can provide an informed opinion on this matter. That said, I will say that I was disappointed to read this. Also, just to make a general comment without pointing any fingers, I feel it is completely unprofessional to treat people you hire with disrespect and to not compensate them properly. I do not have respect for people that do not give respect to others, especially those that take time out of their life to help you.  

Cookie Monster

Ok, so who does NOT love Sesame Street?! Anyone? Nope, didn't think so.

Yes, I am an adult and I don't even have kids, but it doesn't mean I can't love kids shows. I love that a show that I watched as a kid is still going strong and providing great entertainment for kids even today. And they have definitely done a good job of 'keeping up with the times' by featuring fun vids with popular celebrities interacting with muppets, and getting involved with social media.

The only thing that annoys me about this video is the song gets stuck in my head like CRAZY every time I watch it - it's just do damn catchy! Don't say I didn't warn you:

Two highlights for me are the cookie-shaped crescent moon and the guy rocking out on the toy xylophone - so fun! Cookie's googly eyes crack me up. Besides - check that message out - sharing is good, boys and girls (although don't expect me to share my cookie with you...sorry, I have to draw the good samaritan line somewhere and I really like cookies. Like. ALOT.).

Oh, and on another (completely unrelated note) I am getting a haircut today and I can't wait!! Why is this exciting, you ask? Well, I have not had it cut since DECEMBER. Yes, that's right, the last time a stylist came anywhere near my hair was over 7 months ago. Needless to say, it needs to be cleaned up - I actually love the length so I won't be chopping it all off ala-Anne Hathaway or anything but just injecting some shape and movement into it, that's all.

Speaking of getting a haircut and being excited about it - here is another Cookie Monster moment that I am loving right now (particularly today). Remember this one?

I may or may not have been singing 'Me going to get my fur cut. Me going to look so nice' in my head over and over the past couple of days in anticipation of my salon visit.

Oh Cookie, I'm awfully fond of you (and your namesake).*

 

 

What do you have going on today that's exciting?

Who is your favourite SS monster?

*cookies, not monsters

Sushi Love

Sushi is one of my favourite foods. Luckily for me, countless great sushi operations have opened all over Halifax in the past few years, so there are lots of ways for me to feed my addiction.

The boy and I eat sushi fairly regularly and it just so happens that we have had some cool sushi-related experiences lately that I wanted to share with you:

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* Last month we went to see the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi at the Oxford Theatre. The film follows 85-year-old Jiro Ono, who runs a tiny, hole-in-the-wall sushi restaurant 'Sukiyabashi Jiro' in a non-discrept Tokyo subway station and has devoted his life entirely to creating top quality sushi - so much so that the restaurant was the first of its kind to be awarded 3 Michelin stars. The film is beautifully shot, extremely lyrical, and is a testament to qualities that are all too often forgotten in today's hurried and self-actualizing society - dedication, humility, simplicity, and patience.

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* As part of the continued attempts to explore my new neighbourhood (Clayton Park), the boy and I recently ventured out to Happy Sushi - an All-You-Can-Eat sushi restaurant about 2 minutes from our apartment. Yes, you read that right - ALL. YOU. CAN. EAT. SUSHI. TWO. MINUTES. AWAY.


I'll just give you a minute to let the awesomeness of that sink in...


The concept is certainly an interesting one - you are given a 'menu' that lists every item they have available, and you figure out what things you want to order and write the quantity in a little square next to the item, the waitress collects it and they bring you the dishes one at a time. You can do this as many times as you want, at a flat cost (I think $25 for dinner, $17 for lunch) and it includes non-sushi add-ons such as soup, dumplings, pop and ice cream (I had the green tea flavour and it was delish). The only catch is that if you order anything and don't eat it, you get charged full price for it! So you definitely don't want your eyes to be bigger than your stomach! The strategy we used was to just order small amounts at a time - maybe two or three options - eat those, then if we still had room, order two or three more and continue on that way until we were full. Well, I think we ate something like 50 pieces between us, plus dumplings and ice cream so we certainly fulfilled the AYCE expectation.

* Backtrack to New Year's Eve 2011 - we wanted to have at least a somewhat special meal but who wants to order takeout or try to get a table at a restaurant on NYE? Too. Hectic. We decided eating in would be best, but we wanted to try something new and prepare something we could make together.

So? We decided to make homemade sushi!


Luckily, our local grocery stores now have a pretty good selection of Asian products, so we were able to pick up sushi rice, seaweed wrappers, and bamboo rolling mats with minimal searching. The one downer was that we couldn't find fresh tuna anywhere, and the boy was really counting on it, but we made do with salmon (easily my favourite fish). I was a bit worried the supplies would be costly, but in the end it was a moot point because we ended up with a TON of rolls. You would be surprised how many you can get out of one small fillet of fish (see above)!


And it was so easy - now, we used a very basic technique (we could have gone more fancy with it, I suppose, but it was our first time and we preferred to eat earlier than midnight). We simply laid the seaweed on the rolling mat, pressed cooked rice in a thin layer on one-half of the wrapper, added slivers of fish and whatever other fillings we wanted, then rolled those babies up! A couple of things you have to remember are to wet your hands before handling the rice because it can get pretty sticky, and to not add too many fillings or make the filling layers too thick (otherwise the roll will be way too thick to roll up and cut properly. A lesson we learned the hard way).


Happy New Year, indeed. And now I will leave you with this hilarious lesson about the importance of Unagi:

Ahhhhh, salmon skin roll.

Have you tried sushi? Are you a fan or not? Is there a particular food you are addicted to?

Birds of Paradise

On Friday night, I took my sister to see one of the last performances of La Cage Aux Folles at Neptune Theatre. I had been hearing rave reviews, plus The Birdcage is one of my favourite movies (seriously, Nathan Lane is like my hero in this movie), so I was really looking forward to it.

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It can be dangerous to go into something with high expectations like that but in this case we were safe because the show was wonderful! I can't say enough about the talent of the main actor, who played Albin, Steven Gallagher. He is a great singer and has great comic timing - I just about bawled with laughter during the scene where Georges (played by Ian Simpson) tried to teach Albin how to 'act like a man' (also one of my fav scenes from The Birdcage, funnily enough).

I also couldn't get enough of David Lopez as "the maid" Jacob - his facial expressions and body language were just hilarious. I was quite amused by one tiny detail - that the Spanish 'chorus girl' was from Cadiz (my boyfriend's grandmother was from there - AND to my delight, Georges pronounced it the Spanish way, i.e. "Cad-eeth" - silly, I know but my boyfriend and his Spanish-fluency have trained me to pick up on such things).

Plus, these queens looked 10 times better in a dress and heels than I do (not that it takes much)! Speaking of dresses, the costumes were gorgeous - the six main dancers kept coming out in the most beautiful gowns covered in fun prints, sequins and sparkles. The makeup and hair were also great, as well as the sets - the entire styling of the show was very impressive, in fact.

This number was awesome. Source.

I honestly don't get out to the theatre much, but anytime I make it a point to take in a Neptune show, I never leave disappointed. I have said it a million times and I'll say it again - one of the things I love most about living in Halifax is the vibrant arts scene. You can literally be out every night of the week enjoying a concert, play, dance performance or art exhibit - it lends such an exciting and mind-expanding pulse to the city (and gives me things to do, which is an absolute necessity)!

Next season is Neptune's 50th and they have some really fun, surprisingly commercial offerings - I am looking forward to Elf: The Musical and Sweeney Todd. Eighteen sounds intriguing as well - sort of a cross between Big, Groundhog Day and Tin Cup? - although I'm not a golf fan (I mean who can resist the tagline "What if you had a mulligan for your whole life?").

The only downside to this play is that ever since I have had the opening song "We Are What We Are" running through my head non-stop...ok so that's not really a complaint (although any song gets annoying after a dozen repeats). 

Aren't musicals just the best?

Christmas Kiss

I admit it, I'm a bit of a Christmas freak. I'm one of those dorks that gets really excited about silly things like parades, peppermint treats and holiday drinks at Starbucks. And it's hitting me hard this year - as soon as November 1st rolled around, the sugarplums started dancing through my brain and they only spin faster with every passing week.

One of my favourite things about the holidays is Christmas music! There is something just so comforting about Christmas songs, am I right? They are so timeless - they harken back to the past but can also be interpreted in so many different, fun ways they continue to also be modern in an odd way.

It is sort of a give-in nowadays that any artist who has sold any respectable number of records has to make a Christmas album, which is great and all, but lets be honest this means that many of them are warmed over cheese-casserole - booooring and predictable.

However, I recently downloaded a couple of albums that are anything but boring. They both have a really retro, vintage feel - one more folky and one more swingy/jazzy - and feature singers with super-rich, warm voices that manage to be delightfully 'crackly' and soft at the same time. Both contain some of the most recognizable Christmas tunes ever sung, but they also feature a few that I have never heard before. I have been lucky enough to see one of them in concert here in Halifax (she lives here in fact!) and the other stars in one of my new favourite tv shows (it seriously cracks me up to the point of snorting every week).

#1 A Very She & Him Christmas

This is the one with the more "folky"sound I described before - there is a lot of acoustic guitar and ukulele, which is awesome! It's a little bit vintage country, a little bit Hawaiian luau and I kind of like that! It feels very June Carter and Johnny Cash Christmas to me. Most of the songs on this album have a quieter more relaxed feeling, perfect for listening to while sitting in front of a fire with a hot toddy.

*On a completely unrelated note, I want to steal Zooey D's hair - as noted in my YKYLF post here. Second completely unrelated note - are you watching New Girl yet? If not, you need to do that, like, yesterday!*

Every time I listen to this song it ends up stuck in my head all. day. long. You've been warned.

#2 It Snowed, Meaghan Smith

Meaghan is a singer originally from Ontario but now calls Halifax home - I went to see her perform with Symphony Nova Scotia earlier this year and fell in love with her 40's style voice and music. Her songs have this great old-timey swing feel to them - lots of horn. They make you want to boogie. Her Christmas album has a couple of original songs (one that is really not Christmasey at all in fact, which is an odd addition, but kind of refreshing at the same time). I can't wait to put this on while we put up the tree and decorate at my mom's on Saturday.

I think Christmas Kiss is my favourite so far - SO ADORABLE! Alas, I am not able to find it online anywhere (although you can listen to samples here), so you will have to settle for Silver Bells (which sounds like a pretty good compromise to me!). *P.S. I want to steal her outfit from this video*

For the next 6 weeks, it's all Christmas songs all the time, baby! Just not Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time - god, that song's annoying. 

Mo Money, Less Cancer

I never used to like mustaches. Or any facial hair for that matter. That was until I started dating someone with a beard and 'stache. I never thought I would date someone with facial hair honestly, but I guess people change. Finding the perfect match for you will do that to a person, I guess (cue either "aw"'s or barfing).

And if I wanna stay with my guy, I pretty much have to be ok with facial hair because he's slightly obsessed with it. I swear to god he'd walk around looking like Pancho Villa every single day if that was socially acceptable. He thinks mustaches are the coolest things ever.

I not only am a new convert to mustaches because of my man, but also because of the clever and fun Movember campaign. Now that we are officially into Movember month, I am seeing posts and hearing about guys I know growing 'staches for a good cause and that makes me happy. Not necessarily because there will be hordes of men walking around town all month looking like 70's porn stars, but because they are doing it for a good cause (or at least most of them are, I hope).

Regardless of my love-hate relationship with facial hair, I can definitely get behind a campaign that uses humour, satire and silliness to raise awareness and money for an important cause. Lets be honest - most men get all squirmy when you talk to them about their health and how they have to take care of themselves - so it's great to see so many of them getting on board for men's health. The genius of the campaign is that it gets men on the men's health bandwagon without actually making them talk about the things that make them squirmy. The squirminess is all wrapped up in a funny, competitive and hairy bow!

But what about women? What can we do? We can't grow mustaches (ok, that's debatable for some, I suppose). But we can still help the boys fight cancer, and have our own fun in the process.

Observe:

Like she says: "Cancer is a real a-hole".
It's tough sometimes, but we all have to do our part.

Give a Little Bit

Have any of you seen this commercial yet?

It makes me laugh every time. The first time I laughed because of the silliness of it, especially the pregnant woman's line "I'm going to name my daughter after you". But the next couple of times I saw it, I still laughed but I was also intrigued by the website advertised at the end of the spot. I decided I had better check out Peopleforgood.ca as soon as possible to find out what it's all about.

Well, am I ever glad I did!

The mission of People For Good is as follows:

"And our goal is to make the world a better place, one good deed at a time. It may sound ambitious but it’s easier than you’d think. In fact, you could help make the world a better place right now. Just by doing something nice for someone. Rest assured, we’re not asking for money, we just want you to donate a little generosity." from here

You can sign up through their Facebook page and become part of the movement yourself. Not sure what you - little ol' insignificant you - can do to help someone else? Check out the Good Ideas page and you will see that it only takes one small thing to help another person feel good. To make their day even. These are things that ALL of us can do and they only take a few minutes.

Think about it - what are the things that tend to make your day? I mean, sure, big things such as getting a promotion, getting engaged, buying a home can make you feel pretty awesome. But so can the small things - the things that happen when you least expect it and (as the commercial tagline says) don't happen very often. 

It could be the smile and personal greeting from the barista at your daily morning coffee-shop (I get "Good morning, Kim" every morning at Second Cup and it really starts my day off nicely), someone holding the door open for you, or getting up to the drive-thru window to find out the person ahead of you paid for your food/drink (this actually happened to me one time at Tim Hortons and - WOW. My mom and I were so touched and surprised we still remember it to this day, years later). 

Or it could be something even smaller, such as finding that top you have been searching for for weeks, a cuddle from your cat, surprise flowers (for no reason - which I experienced just last week - lucky me :D) or a Facebook message from an old friend you haven't heard from in a while. 

I remember in Junior High a friend of mine and I were hanging around downtown Halifax and we spontaneously decided to put money in a couple of meters that were close to running out. It's not like we ever saw that person and got a thank-you from them (they probably didn't even take a second glance at the total) but we felt SO good. 

Think about what would make you feel really good and try doing that for someone else. When you are walking around, be aware - look around you at the other people and what they are doing. You never know when you going to see someone who looks lost or who drops their wallet on the ground. I think far too often too many of us walk through life with our heads down, not acknowledging our fellow human beings and that's too bad. It is especially mind-boggling that this happens when doing nice little things for people feels as good as it does. You would think more people would do it more often.

Anyway, I'm not trying to get on a high horse here - I'm just as guilty as most for being self-absorbed. But that's why I joined this movement - maybe it will give me a little boost of confidence to do more small things here and there. This is not a new idea for me anyway - as you can see, I wrote about good deeds, aka. random acts of kindness, before on this blog. All my opinions and thoughts from then still apply now! It's just time to jog my memory.

So join People for Good and do a good deed  today - just one is all it takes. 

*Update: Further to this, check out ImprovEverywhere's latest project - getting New Yorkers to Say Something Nice*

It's Only the R-Word

Retard (as defined here): noun, a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: e.g. a hopeless social retard.

I had an entirely different blog topic lined up for discussion today, and I threw it out the window the minute I read this post.

Rob's post further stewed thoughts that were already in my brain about the same subject ever since I caught the above PSA on tv last week (featuring Jane Lynch and Lauren Potter from Glee). The campaign is called Spread the Word to End the Word and I think it is one that everyone should be discussing. As the campaign website states:

"When they were originally introduced, the terms “mental retardation” or “mentally retarded” were medical terms with a specifically clinical connotation; however, the pejorative forms, “retard” and “retarded” have been used widely in today’s society to degrade and insult people with intellectual disabilities. Additionally, when “retard” and “retarded” are used as synonyms for “dumb” or “stupid” by people without disabilities, it only reinforces painful stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities being less valued members of humanity." (from here)

I think it is safe to say that we have all, at one time or another, used the word "retard" or "retarded", either to describe a person or circumstance. I admit it - I have certainly used it in the past as a way to describe something as ridiculous. I am not proud of that. It is never a word I have been proud to use - I have always stopped myself briefly when I felt it getting ready to leave my mouth and sometimes would adjust my speech. But sometimes I would let it slip out anyway. It's not like I ever received retribution from anyone for using the word. It has become such a normal descriptor in our language that even I, someone who is intimately connected to a person with an intellectual disability, can say use it with barely a second thought.

That's right - I have a family member with an intellectual disability. My sister to be exact, and she has Down's Syndrome. Since my sister is five years older than me, there has never been a time that she has not been in my life, so to say that I am comfortable and supportive of people with disabilities is an understatement.

However, even if you are accustomed to living with Down's or a similar condition that closely there is this sense of discomfort. A sense that you are different from other people with "normal" siblings. That when you tell people about your situation, there inevitably arises a wall between you and them; a wall of misunderstanding, maybe mixed with a pinch of pity or perhaps even respect.

I don't want pity or extra respect because of my situation and neither does she. I just want to be seen like every other family. I want my sister to be seen as a person - a sister, a daughter, an employee, a human being - not just a condition. Not just a face or body shape, a voice or an attitude. Not an IQ level or a community services charity case.

When we go out to the mall or out to eat, I want the people (kids AND adults) who see that she is different but are not sure why to stop staring at her (newsflash: she notices and it makes her uncomfortable). I want to live in a world where she can have the things she so desperately wants - to get married, to have kids, to go to University - things that my mother and I know she will never have, but can't bring ourselves to admit as such. I want to live in a world where she isn't relegated to "special" groups (even though these groups provide wonderful support and resources for her that I am very grateful for), special times, special places, special tasks. A world where she isn't "special", she's just normal.

Sometimes I even want to live in a world where my sister is not so high functioning, so that she wouldn't know that she is different.

But we don't live in that kind of world. We live in a world where my sister is considered "different" and is treated as such by those who don't understand. We live in a world where the word "retard" is used for Hollywood punchlines that make entire theatres erupt into snorts of laughter. Racial slurs are no longer considered acceptable, so why is this? As Sue and Becky say in the video, it is hate speech no matter who it is directed to. It is just as shameful to refer to someone as "retard" as it is to refer to someone as "nigger".

This isn't a perfect world, and it won't be anytime soon. I don't necessarily want it to be either. But, we can make small changes. We can start to think about the context and true meaning of words before they leave our mouth. We can take a moment to stop and wonder whether or not the word we want to use is appropriate and change our language accordingly. I know that I am going to start doing this more, and I will encourage others to as well.

Think about it. A word may be a small thing to you, but it could be a very big thing to someone else.

I know one thing - I will NOT be going to see The Change-Up. Now, I am not some close-minded person who cringes at offensive movies - I am actually very open-minded, believe in pushing the envelope in culture, and am not very easily offended. But I also feel it is possible to go too far. It's too bad because the movie looked funny from the previews and I really like the actors in it, but call me crazy - I would prefer to not hear the comment "this one looks a little Downsy" in person (reading it offended me enough).

I also am not suggesting that you don't go see it - I am not about to start a "Boycott The Change Up" campaign or anything. But if you must, I will encourage you to do one thing - when you hear Ryan's character's comment about the baby, please don't laugh. I realize that might be tough, but think about how tough it is for someone who actually lives with Down's every single day. Then you might not think the comment is so funny.

As Rob says in his post: "'Downsy'"? That's vile. If you laughed at that, please go live in a hut somewhere, far far away from actual human people."

Learn more about the STWTETW campaign at r-word.org. Support the campaign by following them on Twitter or liking their Facebook page.

No, I'm a Weather-Girl

I have heard a lot of chatter lately about high school reunions - a couple of bloggers I follow have attended theirs, and I heard an ad on the radio the other day for the 30 year reunion of a high school in my area.

This got me thinking about my own high school reunion, which could potentially be coming up somewhat soon, considering my 10-year mark will be in 2013 (wow, hard to believe). I am really torn about whether or not I would want to go, as I assume most people are.

On the one hand, it would be really fun to see what everyone looks like, find out what happened to people that were such a big part of your life at one time, and reminisce about the past. It would be like taking a little temporary time-warp back to a time when life seemed really complicated, but was actually quite simple and carefree compared to post-high school standards.

However, in the age of Facebook and Twitter, I feel like I AM up to date about the lives of many people I went to high school with. Even though I don't talk  to them often (or at all - shameful, I know), I can hear about their major life events through status updates and photo albums.

Also, I would not say that high school was necessarily a completely enjoyable experience for me. I enjoyed it, for sure, and I had some great times but I also have painful memories associated with particularly the last couple of years because of some emotional problems I was going through. I would be lying if I said I didn't have regrets about that time - part of me feels that if I could go back in time and make different choices that I might be in a very different place in my life right now. Also, I was not one of the most popular people - I had friends and was involved in lots of activities, but I was also very shy and got good marks so most of the popular kids thought I was a goody-goody, if they even noticed me at all. I had a few core friends, but was sort of friends with various people in different groups, plus I tended to be friends with people no one else would be friends with because I felt bad for them. All of this worked together to make me a bit of an outsider.

But I have taken enough life experience under my belt in the last 8 years that I know that regrets are not really worth it, and there are no guarantees in life no matter what choices you make. Besides, even though I was a very shy, self-conscious person, there was also this streak in me that didn't give a shit about what the popular kids thought of me. Obviously I DID care to an extent, but for the most part I accepted and was happy with my position.

So, I guess in that way, part of me really doesn't CARE about my reunion. What point is there REALLY in getting together with these people for one night and then going back to our respective lives, nothing changed?

I feel like, in a way, reunions are way overrated. I feel like a lot of people go so that they can prove to people that used to make fun of them or that once said or did something mean to them that they are really awesome people now. I feel like a lot of people see it as a competition in general - Who is married and who is single (or *egads* divorced)? Who has the coolest job? Who is the richest? Who has the hottest spouse? Who has visited the most countries? Lets be honest - other people's misfortunes often make us feel better about our own lives.

All of that is SOOOOO lame and proof that regressing back to high school is not necessarily a good thing. So much about high school is drama and status and I feel like getting together with people you went to high school with could possibly transport you back to that environment again, wherein you all sort of morph into the roles you once played.

This all being said, I will likely go to my reunion (if they have one) if for no other reason than curiosity. And I am sure most people go to their reunions in a mature frame of mind and see it only as a chance to catch up, nothing more, and my wonderings above about the negatives of these events are completely silly. I wonder if it depends on the type of reunion it is - for example, I feel like the 10-year reunion is far enough away from the high school experience that you all have grown a lot, but at the same time it is still close enough that some of the insecurities are more likely to reappear (or still be there)? I don't know! What do you think?

Would you go to your high school reunion? Or, on the other hand, HAVE you gone to one? What was it like? What do you think about high school reunions in general? I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this subject...

Happy Hump Day!

PS: Have you seen Romy and Michele's High School Reunion? It's really dumb but funny. I love Lisa Kudrow so much - she's so good at playing the 'flake'. AAAAND did you know that they made a follow-up in 2005 called "Romy and Michele: In the Beginning", starring Katherine Heigl?! That's right, they went there. The funniest thing is they made it for ABC Family (? Yes, because I would want my young children watching scantily-clad, ditzy women stumble around?). I would love to watch that sometime just to see how BAD it really is (oh, you know it's bad). 

This is one of my favourite parts of the movie. I love two things very much about this clip: #1) That the girl in the peach suit standing next to annoying-weather-girl-that-I-want-to-punch-in-the-face  is Pam from True Blood, and #2) Michele's explanation of her Post-It glue recipe. Genius. 

Spread a Little Love

After watching this video on Rock n Roll Bride (which is an awesome blog that you should check out if you haven't already - even if you're not getting married anytime soon), I just had to share it:


n'tima & steven from madeulookphotography on Vimeo.


I'm not normally a romantic, sappy person but this video and this couple's story just melted my heart. You can just feel so much love between them and from everyone around them. You know when you just get that "vibe" from a couple, like they are so connected and have so much admiration and respect for one another?

Perhaps it's so heartwarming to see because it's so rare. Or is it around us all the time and we just don't see it? I'm not sure. One of those mysteries of life, I guess. Maybe it's because I'm a bit in love myself at the moment, but this video just made me think a lot about how much love there is in the world and how we should all embrace it. I don't think we notice it or embrace it enough in general. Probably a lot of people are like me and are almost afraid to embrace love too much in case it is taken away. I've had the love rug pulled out from under me enough times before that I have developed a cynical shell and also a fear of giving myself fully to loving others, I'm sorry to say. It's something I'm working on and I suppose a lot of us are, but I think perhaps many of us (me included) can do better.*

I'm not advocating we all go out and hug trees walk around in a "love bubble" where everything is rosy all the time (that's just not realistic, and lets be honest, weird) but it can't hurt to push ourselves a TINY bit outside of our comfort zones in terms of giving (and receiving) love. And I mean TINY: pay compliments when they are due, say thank-you, smile at people, give a loved one a hug just because you feel like it, pay for the order of someone behind you in a drive-thru (I did that the other day and it felt great!), make a donation, and tell the people you love that you love them. These are such small gestures, but for some reason they are sometimes extremely  hard to remember to do, or even if we remember to do it, the fear of saying the words keeps us mum.

(Think about it: If someone you love died tomorrow, would you be more depressed that you DID tell them how you felt, or that you DIDN'T. Kind of a no-brainer when you think of it that way, ain't it? Trust me, I have been in this situation and there is nothing worse than never having had closure with someone before they are gone).

It's been proven that the more love you give out, the more you get back (ok, I suppose this is slightly cliched, but cliches are such for a reason) so today (and tomorrow and the next day), give out a tiny bit more love than you normally do. Just try it and see what happens.

You never know! I figure even if it makes me feel half as good as I do watching this video, than the experiment will have been completely worth it.

*By the way, I Love you Blog. I don't say that enough. This video was also timely for me because I've been thinking about telling a certain person about my feelings but I've been too chicken-shit to do it yet. I think I might have convinced myself to just go ahead and do it - what's the worst that could happen?!

And if it hurts to be so blind, why don't you try bein' kind?

This video (discovered on this site this morning) made my day:



Isn't that heartwarming? I know, some of you are probably barfing from the cheese-overload, but I admit it, I can't get enough of this kind of thing. These random acts of kindness and fun that you occasionally see in our over-sexed, over-violent, over-isolated world.

Perhaps that's why they warm my heart so much - because sometimes it seems you don't hear about or see them happening very often. Well, I think the truth is that they happen all the time but we just need to pay attention to them more and give them more value.

When was the last time you did something kind for a stranger? I'm sorry to say I can't even remember when the last time was for me. It's funny though because anytime a stranger has done something nice for ME, I remember it ALWAYS (and I have a terrible memory, so that's saying something). For example, I still remember the time a few years ago when my mom and I pulled up to the drive-thru window at a local coffee shop and were informed that the woman in the car in front of us had paid for our entire order! We were both completely dumb-founded, and to this day thinking about that small, tiny gesture makes me grin like an idiot.

Or that time my car got stuck on a hill while driving home in a huge snowstorm, and a man walking by (as well as one from the car behind me) pushed on my bumper until the tires were freed.
These are all incredibly SMALL acts in terms of effort and time. They were not sweeping acts of society-altering reform, but things that only took a few minutes and affected only me. But look at the lasting impact these small acts have had on me! The fact that I still think and smile about them years after they have occurred just goes to show how much gestures of kindness can mean to another person.

It can be so easy to get caught up in our own "stuff" and in the negative occurances that happen in the run of a day, that we often forget that there are other people around us and that they are dealing with their own negative "stuff". Everyone has a story, everyone has something weighing on their mind and everyone needs a pick-me-up now and then.

I don't mean to lecture about how we should all treat each other better, because trust me, I'm very guilty of not engaging with others as much as I could. I tend to be shy and keep to myself and rarely engage with strangers in any case, let alone to do something nice for them. I'm just saying that watching the video above and reading the linked post opened my eyes to the fact that I (and human beings in general) close myself off an awful lot and that is not always necessary. It made me want to go out and do something nice for someone I've never met, and I think this is something we should all consider doing at some time or another.

Who knows if I will actually do this; chances are I'll forget all about this video and lesson in a few days, caught up in those errands I have to run, that car that cut me off, or that cashier that barely looked at me. That's usually what happens with these kinds of lessons, of course; they become overshadowed by life and its everyday annoyances.

But, hey, I still remember that lady at Tim Hortons, don't I? So, perhaps there IS a chance I'll remember this lesson too and do something nice for someone this week. And perhaps you will remember to do this too. Chances are if you and I go through with it, someone else will pass it on, then that person will pass it on, etc, etc, etc. And if that happens, think about how much more love will be out in the world.

Who knows, you might just make someone's day. And isn't that enough of a reason?

For more on how to make someone's day (and yours), visit the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation website (oh yes, it exists).  Or check out this song.

The Awakening

I've been singing in choirs since I was 14 years old, and I can honestly say I've never sang a song as profound as one my current choir is doing.

It's called "The Awakening" by Joseph Martin. It's a profound song because the melody and words are beautifully haunting, but so is the story behind it.

Our choir director explained the story to us one night as such: There was a Jr High school in North Carolina (don't quote me on the location, I honestly can't remember exactly what he said) that had basically no arts program. That is until a new teacher came along and resurrected it - every kid was a part of the choir and everyone in the school became engaged in the arts thanks to her and the entire dynamic of the kids and the school changed.

One night the teacher returned to the school after hours to pick up something she had forgotten and....was murdered in the school.

Ummmmm....yeah I know.

Those are all the details he gave us but they were enough to make everyone in the room gasp with surprise and horror. You can imagine what this tragedy would have done to the students and the school as a whole; from what I know, the progress made in the arts program basically vaporized in the wake of the death of this beloved teacher. However, (and I'm not sure exactly how - again, only got so many details and it is hard to find more online for some reason) everyone slowly got their confidence and passion back and the arts program prevailed.

That's where the inspiration and spirit of "The Awakening" come from. The song starts off very mournful, reflecting the pain, despair and disbelief those directly affected by this incident must have felt immediately following. Their "broken dreams". However, as the song goes on it becomes faster, louder and happier, reflecting the rising of the school out of the ashes of death and deciding to celebrate a life rather than mourn. "Awake! Awake!".

Needless to say, it's very moving to feel like a part of this - even though it's in a very small, indirect way. I feel like our joy and honour performing this piece will somehow float through the air down down down to the school and to the students and remind them how amazing their experience and their strength are. Maybe it sounds cheesy, but sometimes the cheesy thing is the true thing. Besides, it is an amazing example of a subject I feel very passionate about and that I feel is ESSENTIAL and that's arts education and arts programs in schools. I was lucky enough to have access to great arts programs growing up and I'm so grateful for that.

I encourage you to listen to the piece for yourself - really listen to the words and the music - so you can fully understand why I'm so moved.

Manic Monday: Adaptation

This video I saw on the news this morning blew my mind! The amazing thing is not the cute tricks the dolphins are performing but the nature of those tricks. One of the dolphins used to be in a water attraction where it was trained to perform like this and it's believed that he/she has taught the other dolphins to perform the same way. How amazing is that?!

I know it's so nerdy but I just love animals; they fascinate and amaze me sometimes!

They are a hell of a lot smarter than many humans. Also, on another note, it was nice to see a happy, positive story on the news for a change.

Oh hai, lesser lifeform, I mean person