in not so new news, I have a new job. My last day at riddoch was on July 30th then I took a week and a bit of time off and ta-da, now I am at the new agency. So far so good with week 1. There's a lot of stuff going on so I've been tossed into it rather abruptly, but that seems as good a way to learn as any.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

We moved at the end of February from the condo we were renting at Front & Blue Jays Way into the top floor apartment of a duplex near College and Dufferin. Neither Anil or I were ready to move, but we didn't have much of a choice given that our landlord, Chris wanted to sell the condo in the spring. On the other hand, we hadn't ever really enjoyed the downtown "neighbourhood"; we just couldn't beat the rent price and convenient location of the condo. The news that Chris was selling was the motivation we needed to start the hunt for a new place. We promptly combed through the good, the bad and the ugly ads on Craigslist and Kijiji and wound up visiting nearly ten apartments in or near the West End, the area we had had our sights on for a while. One of the places we were more interested in said in their Craigslist ad that they were looking for environmentally conscious tenants which we thought was really interesting as we consider ourselves fairly environmentally aware (I used to think re-using milk bags as sandwich bags was really lame when my mum did it when we were kids, but now it just seems practical). We went to check out the apartment and meet the landlords one evening and were pleased... the place was nice and the landlords seemed normal. We did a quick inspection: checked water pressure, the laundry facilities and scoped out the deck. Everything was in order and we ended up signing the lease and moving in about 2 weeks later. Shortly after we moved in, we realized that our landlords were a little more than eco-friendly, they were ecoholics. Among other things, it turns out that the shower is low-flow meaning that there is very little water pressure coming out of the shower head and then the landlords asked if it would be alright if we did laundry on the weekends when it's cheaper to use water. Coming from the condo where I basically didn't even have to run my fingers through my hair to rinse out the shampoo and conditioner because the shower pressure was so strong, this was something I was was going to struggle with. The biggest annoyance though wasn't the water pressure, or lack thereof, it was that we didn't know we were signing up for it when we signed the lease. We ranted for a little while to our friends and family, but we both appreciate what they're trying to do and can sacrifice the small luxuries, even if sometimes it feels like they do what they do to save money rather than the environment.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Other than a few boxes still lying around, we're pretty much settled in our new place. I still want to buy a few pieces of furniture and I have a few do-it-yourself projects in mind, but all of the immediate things are done so that we can live comfortably.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

3 years ago I fell in love... with a winter coat from Zara. It had was just above the knee in length, had a high collar, chest pockets and was on sale for $99. It was exactly what I wanted and how often does anyone go shopping and find exactly what they are looking for. Anyhow, I had that magnificent coat until I let it go this past spring. I was clearing out my winter wardrobe and noticed that it was showing its wear and tear. I realized that the best thing for me to do was move on. (I won't lie, every time I go into Zara, I see if that same coat has made it back to the rack. I am one of those people that believes that if it works, stick with it.) So this year I needed a new winter coat. I decided I would do it right and I splurged and bought myself a nice one -- a duck down-filled Canada Goose. If you live in Toronto your probably familiar with the brand. A lot of people wear them because they've become quite trendy. But, I didn't buy it because it was trendy, I bought it because it's practical. Although I do feel like a bit of a sissy because this type of winter coat would have been a lot more practical while I was living in Montreal where winters are colder and longer.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I watched a documentary on bears this afternoon. It seems to be a recurring thing that when I watch documentaries about nature, I get nostalgic and frustrated. I can't help but think about how much nature has been affected by our (human) presence and feel guilty and angry about it. And what I find the most interesting and disturbing is that we have found ways of demonizing certain animals in order to validate our fears which stem from our lack of knowledge and understanding of them. This is especially true for predators like bears which we have painted many different lights and have persecuted for centuries. The documentary opened with this quote from Chief Dan George of the Burrard Indian Reserve No. 3 in North Vancouver:
"If you talk to the animals, they will talk to you, and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them, you will not know them, and what you do not know you will fear. What one fears, one destroys."
It took a chance encounter between a bear cub and the president of the United States of America to spark a change in the public's perception of bears. In 1902, Theodore (aka Teddy) Roosevelt, while on a hunting expedition, came muzzle to muzzle with a cub and in a moment of compassion, he chose not to shoot the defenseless animal. The Washington Post ran a editorial cartoon created by the political cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman that illustrated the event. The story spread and lead to the creation of a new toy in his name, the Teddy Bear.

About a year ago I watched an episode of CBC's The Nature of Things with David Suzuki called The Bear Man of Kamchatka. It chronicles a bear expert by the name of Charlie Russell as he rescues two orphaned cubs destined for death in a squalid Russian zoo. He either buys them or takes them away to his home in the remote wilds of the South Kamchatka peninsula, in the former Soviet Union. He keeps them in an enclosure at night, a sort of coop, but during the day, he takes them on adventures in the wild to teach them. These two little cubs know nothing about how to be a bear so Charlie becomes their surrogate mother and shows them the lay of the land in their new home territory, what plants to eat, how to catch fish and how to escape from predatory male bears.

Charlie loves the bears, but ultimately must let them go so they can be free. He has done all he can to help them survive in the wild. But bears are like humans – they need their mothers. At one point in the documentary, trouble arises when two strange bears come back to Charlie's cabin. Upon closer investigation, he realizes that they're two of the cubs Charlie thought had died –  they've returned to the only home and the only mother they know. Charlie sees that they're too thin and appear to be malnourished so he grabs his walking stick and with familiar sounds and calls to the bears, leads them to the shoreline where weaker or sick fish are a quick dinner. After an afternoon of feeding, Charlie says goodbye again.

In a world where “might makes right” and aggression becomes the only way to deal with conflicts, Charlie Russell is proving that it is possible to live peacefully with one of the world's most feared and misunderstood creatures. At many points, Charlie's compassion, patience, bravery and dedication brought me to tears. If only there were more people out there in the world to help educate the uneducated, to help paint a different picture of these animals so that we understood they aren't unpredictable, savage beasts, but powerful wild animals that should be treated with respect.

"… you have to have a basic understanding to know where you cannot go. This is the edge. You cannot step over this edge. The edge was a way back there behind me somewhere, I thought. But I've been going ahead and finding, no, the edge is a way out here somewhere… So I'm exploring out there… in the unknown…"
Charlie Russell

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Canadian politics are dull, dull, dull. The leaders of the parties are all a bit creepy-looking. And, I would argue, they're all phony, with the exception of Elizabeth May who's pretty real-deal. It seems that Harper and Ignatieff can't help but spend the majority of their time making the other look bad and don't even get me started on Jack Layton. He's the least sincere of the bunch. He lacks charisma and eloquence. Last week on CBC's The Current, I heard him use the words "by golly" to reinforce his point on the topic. I just can't take him seriously.
Canada needs at least one exciting political leader. We've dealt with mediocrity for too long. What happened to the Pierre Trudeau types that brought some personality, confrontation and diplomacy to the table? It seems that in our current political landscape strategizing has been replaced with smear campaigns and policy analysis and development with personal opinions.
America had to suffer for 8 years before smart and interesting candidates came along and spiced up politics, but will we ever get the chance to re-engage in politics like Americans did during the '08 presidential elections?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

You can look at our latest pictures (minus any of Vietnam) by clicking here.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Just 3 more days and we will be in Vietnam with Val, Adam and (bonus) Sheila (Val's sister whose visit we're overlapping by 2 days)! The past week has been unbeliveable... we've been hanging out in the Himilayas which are breath-taking and awesome. Part of me really wishes we had alloted more time for the North because it is just so peaceful and beautiful up here and I could spend days just looking at the mountains and thinking to myself. The other part is super excited for Vietnam, a change of scenery and some relaxation with friends. Plus, the weather the past 2 days hasn't been all that great either so we're kind of happy not to be traveling those windy, rudamentary Himalayan roads during monsoon when there are daily landslides and mud puddles the size of backyard pools.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Afterwards, we said to Baba that he must have been really mad to loose it that bad on her. He said that he was just giving her a hard time... just for jokes.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

For many reasons my parents shared with me as I was growing up, I was brought up an aethiest. Christmas and Easter were family traditions rather than religious holidays. Going to church on Christmas Eve was about singing carols more than it was about the psalms or sermons or whatever the right term is and Easter was about the aluminum wraped chocolates my mum would leave on the rugs throughout the house before Arianne and I would wake up. Long story short, I do not believe in a/any God. Too often, the religions of the world separate people rather than bring them together. In many cases, religious beliefs and ideologies turn into people's realities and then prejudice and conlict ensue. Just think about how many stories on the 6 o'clock news are rooted in religion.

My experience Hare Krishna Consciousness (a worldwide religion started by an Indian) started in Bombay while visiting with Anil's paternal side of the family. We had been visiting with his maternal side for a few days already. Anil had told me that the two sides of the family were quite different, which I was assured was a good thing. Quite a few of his paternal relatives are Hare Krishna devotees whereas the rest of the family is Hindu. He and his cousin Pavitra arranged that we would go with her to the Hare Krisha temple one morning. The morning we were supposed to go was the morning after we were up all night being violently ill so quite obviously we cancelled our temple visit. The next morning we were feeling slightly better, but were still quite weak so we again declined the temple ceremonies, but told Anil's cousin that we would come with her so she could show us around at least. She reassured us that we'd only be there for 5-10 minutes. Now, for those of you out there that aren't Indian or don't have any relatives or friends that are Indian, you'll first need to be introduced to what is commonly known as IST (Indian Standard Time). IST is the time that Indians go by. It explains their formidable lateness and their typical under or overexageration of time. So, what we were promised would be 5-10 minutes turned into a 2 hour affair. I honestly didn't think I was going to make it. I could feel the colour drain from my face and my legs tempting to buckle. To bear it, I had to go into a kind of trance mode. All I could hear was Hindi music blaring through poor-quality speakers and I saw flashes of bangles and yellow gold. My nod of comprehension became automatic and I was wondering how obvious my suffering was. Clearly not obvious enough. I probably could have fainted right then and there as she was preaching about falling in love with Krishna and she would have continued on about it. Not even the most blatent social queues or body language is picked up on. So typical. After the drawn-out explanations and enough nodding to give me a kink in my neck, we were taken around the various parts of the temple including the gift shop (of course there is a gift shop... there's always a gift shop). Trying to be poilte, Anil asked about a few of the items for sale which was taken to mean that he wanted them so the next thing we know, she's at the checkout counter with all of these items in her arms. So we got out of there with two Krishna nightlights, two cloth bags, a calendar with Krisha in different scenarious and poses each month (some of you are bound to get these as re-gifts... sawee!) and enough ras malai, an Indian sweet to rot our teeth to the roots! When we finally left the temple, we got into her and her husband's car and were driving back to their house with the Hare Krishna music blaring and her chanting continuously. I looked over at Anil and we shared a look of hopelessness. Pavitra made us a delicious Hare Krishna lunch (they cannot cook with garlic or onion) which we couldn't enjoy to its fullest as we had little to no appetite. After lunch, without instigation, the preaching ensued. We listened patiently while she attempted to convert us, or so it seemed. Then after another 2 hours, we were told we should probably get some rest (you think?!) and were shown to the guest room. Needless to say, we slept well (after some whispered venting). The rest of the evening was quite nice as more relatives came over and the atmosohere loosened up a little. That evening we stayed with Anil's aunt and her husband (also Hare Krishna). We realized that there is so much talk of Hare Krishna because they have completely devoted themselves to it. In this case, they have basically stopped seeing much of their immediate family, their old friends and given up their careers, etc. all because they want to remain completely and utterly focused on Hare Krishna. It seems as though they don't/can't relate to the outside world anymore. They said that the other devotees are now their family, a concept that is still hard for me to swallow. They also told us that they are the only ones that truly worship God because everyone else worships in vain, meaning that they are not truly dedicated and aren't in love with their God(s). As an example she talked about Hindus. She argued that Hindus practice their religion very naievely because they carry out religious ceremonies and activities "just because their mother told them to" (which seems to be somewhat true based on my experience) and praise many demi Gods. You see my point about religions separating people?? I just don't get it. Anyhow, to avoid being a hypocrite and to remain unprejudice I must say "different strokes for different folks" and leave it at that. That being said, I am quite content being an aethiest.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

It took me about 2 hours, but I managed to sort through and upload more pictures. You can view them by clicking here. We've taken quite a few hilarious short videos, but unfortunately I won't be able to share those with you until I have a better computer and faster internet (I'm missing my mac book these days). For now, these 109 photos will have to suffice. Enjoy!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »