Saying Goodbye...

Yesterday, it seems like all of Canada joined together to say goodbye to a man who lead a political party that in the past has been all but dismissed. The NDP has never really held any kind of great power in Canada. It's been a party of ideas...dreams of a country of social equality and justice. Dreams of a country that would never leave anyone behind. And Jack Layton was the greatest leader of that party since the first leader, Tommy Douglas who was a Methodist minister until he found a new calling, the calling of his country.

Jack Layton was as much a source of inspiration as Tommy was. I remember during the last election when people thought he was crazy to say that he was running to be Prime Minister. Imagine...a leader of the NDP even *considering* that they could one day take the reigns of power from the Torys or the Liberals. But Jack believed. And he made us believe. He made us believe that we could all be better, more caring and compassionate...that we could do anything. I remember Jack, waving his can after his hip operation at rallys like he was Braveheart and leading us all into battle. And when the dust settled on election night and the NDP had become the Official Opposition for the first time in Canadian history we realized he was right. We could do anything.

Now, in what seems like the blink of an eye...he's gone. It hardly seems real. But in watching the funeral today (as I worked all day yesterday) and seeing the funeral procession I realize he's really gone. This man of such passion and inspiration. This man who spent his life serving the people of Canada and giving a voice to people who had none. This man who made us think about what was possible and who brought such passion and dignity to an arena where such things are so very rare.

Seeing the thousands of messages written out in chalk, covering Toronto's City Hall and the entire sidewalk from people everywhere is so moving. People talking about how they have never voted before but were so moved by him that they voted for the first time. Even a woman whose little son asked her to please go vote for him since he was too young to vote. And then watching Olivia, Jack's widow, coming out to comfort people in the crowd who came out to mourn her husband...I don't know how she's so incredibly strong and full of such grace under such circumstances.

I don't know where we go from here. We've lost such a powerful voice to cancer and so quickly. None of us expected that he wouldn't beat it. He was Jack Layton after all. Our political arena, and our country will never be the same. I hope we've learned enough from him to carry on his legacy and to make him proud of who we become from here.

We'll miss you.

"Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world." ~~ Jack Layton 1950-2011

It's been a rough day. It's not just the screaming, tantrum-throwing back-to-school shoppers (and I'm not just referring to the children) but this day started horribly with the announcement that Jack Layton had died.

For those who don't know, Jack Layton was the federal leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada. A left-wing, socialist party and proud of it. Our first leader was Tommy Douglas, otherwise known as the father of the Canadian health care system. Jack took the reigns of the party about eight years ago when it was struggling to stay alive and lead it from 13 seats to 103 seats and the status of Official Opposition. He was more than just a fighter, he was a force of nature. Turns out the only thing that could stop him, was death itself.

Watching the news coverage tonight, it's hard to keep from tears. The whole country is in mourning for a man that you didn't have to agree with but you had to respect. I however, did both. His optimism was infectious and you couldn't help but believe him when he said something that an NDP leader was thought crazy to say, "I am running to be your next Prime Minister". People kept counting Jack out, shaking their heads at his naive optimism...or delusion...depending on who you asked. But those of us who believed in him, his passion and his policies knew that one day it would come to pass. And now, on the cusp of his greatest victory...all those "one day's" have now become "could have been". The dream of seeing Jack Layton take the keys to Sussex Drive have been dashed and one of our greatest leaders has been taken from us much too soon.

I'm not someone who gets worked up much about people who die. I'm a pagan and I believe that this is not the end of existence, this physical self. But Jack Layton was inspirational. A man who brought a level of dignity and passion to a profession where both are sadly lacking these days. His humour, charisma and compassion touched everyone, no matter what side of the political spectrum you were on. He championed homelessness, violence against women, gay rights and the environment among many other causes. And he had the talent to unite politicians of any stripe.

He was destined to be a great leader. His great-grand uncle was a Father of Confederation. His great-grandfather was a blind activist who founded the Montreal Association for the Blind. His grandfather served in the Quebec Union Nationale government. His father was a Tory minister under Brian Mulroney. And his wife Olivia Chow, is the much loved MP for Trinity-Spadina in Toronto. And his son now sits as a Toronto councillor.

Jack wrote a letter to the people of Canada just two days before he died. I haven't made it all the way through it yet because I know I'll break down in tears when I do. I'm a proud supporter of the NDP and I always will be, no matter what happens in the days and weeks ahead. I will never forget the electric campaigns with people waving orange pom-poms and chanting Jack's name. The wonderful "You Don't Know Jack" slogans when he first became leader.

But most of all, I will never forget the hope that in inspired in all of us. RIP Jack, we will miss you more than you know.

Ok - I think I've now recovered from this year's Mariposa Folk Festival. It was really cool and I actually got to leave the tent this year! It had it's crazy making moments as usual but it went a lot smoother than normal. This was the first year with the co-coordinators so I'm slowly breaking 'em in, lol.

High points...

- Reid Jamieson not only wrote a song about folk festival volunteers but HE CAME AND SANG IT TO US!! He's set the bar pretty high for the rest of the performers. (And the song is downloadable from the main page of his website, you should check it out as it's a fantastic tune)
- Irish Mythen!!! Love her!! She brought me another box of cds on Sunday and couldn't leave the tent 'cause everyone wanted her to sign their cds. She's a wonderful, brassy character with a big Irish accent and her white cowboy hat and she spent the day cracking jokes. "Oh, the Welsh...the Irish who didn't know how to swim" was one of my faves. Along with the site of her giving Del Barber a neck massage while stating she was a little Thai woman in another life. Then she said to Del, "Shame you passed on the happy ending" to which he responded, "I don't recall saying no to *anything* " :)
- Danny Michel...always a good time when there's a cute guitar boy around. And I adore Danny to pieces. One of the nicest guys I know.
- Wendell Ferguson. Really, that's all you have to say. And there aren't even words for how much I love having Wendell around. He's a cornball and a delight which I mean in all the best and the worst ways possible, lol. When someone tells you a joke and says, "Oh, I've got a million of them"...Wendell really DOES. And he's never met a pun he didn't like. Last time he played here, I gave him a pin that said, 'Puns, never explain and never apologize'. He could just come hang out every year and I'd be good.

Now, every year I have a little musician crush. Please...like I'd do this without cute musician boys to flirt with?!?! This year, it was Yeshe. And I had this year's "moment of glory" and it involved him. :)

So, Yeshe is this artist who was born in Germany, lived in Africa for a while and now lives on the east coast of Australia. His accent is amazing and he's got incredible tats on his arms that tell a story in Maori. (Boy howdy, I'd read that story...lol.) He's got this intense, spiritual thing going on and was telling me about the instrument he plays from Zimbabwe, the Mbari. I'd seen them before but never heard someone play it and when it combines with his gravelly voice it's like music heaven. We talked about the role the Mbari plays in tribal life and it's spiritual significance. He's absolutely fascinating and definitely attractive.

So, after he drops off his cds I'm talking with the teens that work with me in the tent and we're pricing...thinking he's left. It's all, love his accent and damn, he's sexy talk...meanwhile he's behind us in the tshirt section where I'm sure he could hear all of it. C'est la vie! :)

I swear to the Goddess that the damn mosquitoes this year are some freakish genetically engineered breed that are impervious to insect spray. Next year I'm thinking mosquito netting over the whole tent.

Summerlicious post to follow!!

So...I left here at 6:30pm on Sunday and headed to the bus station for the LOOOOONNNNNGGGG trip to New York. Got to Toronto around 9:45pm and the bus to New York was running late. We ended up with two buses, one to make all the stops in Ontario on the way to the border and the one that I was on that bypassed that and went straight to the border with a few stops in upstate New York. I was sitting behind a woman who is Canadian but now lives in Florida and a very...Brooklyn woman, lol. Across from us was a woman originally from Puerto Rico who now lives in NY and just got married to a man who lives in Cuba that she met while on vacation. She had a rather creepy porcelain doll that looked exactly like her and was dressed up in a big white dress that looked rather like a wedding dress. The two women in front of me had a lot of conversation about that...

Anyway. Went to sleep and didn't wake up until we hit the Peace Bridge sometime after 12:30am. Customs at the U.S. border is always a hassle but we had some rather hardass guys on this time and as soon as the one guy heard Cuba, all bets were off. Better yet, she told the border cop that she didn't have anything plant related in her bag...but he found a rose cutting that her Cuban boy had given her and figured if she's hiding that, she's hiding something else. So the other 15 people waited for her to clear customs. Nearly an hour. Then there was the 40+ minute wait in Buffalo for the U.S. driver to get there. We *finally* got back on the road at about 3:15am. This is where I go back to sleep, lol.

7:35am I wake up somewhere outside of Syracuse and it is SNOWING! Not a little...a LOT. I haven't even seen snow like this where I live in Canada! Driver says that it's snowing like this almost the whole way and there's not a plow or sander in sight. Yeah, were going to be really late. We didn't leave the rest stop in Bermington til nearly 9am with news of more inclement weather ahead. We got to NY in the 16-17 hour later range.

Still a little early to check in at the hostel so I stowed my bags and went to seek out some actual food. (Dude, I'm here celebrating the 25lbs I lost...I'm so not eating Burger King at 8am.) Thank god I brought travel portions of fibre mix with me. (I drank a lot of orange juice with fibre added this trip, heh.) I sought out Community Food & Juice which was up at 110th St. and ordered the omelette but they were out of spinach and mushrooms! So I was a little bad and had it with cheddar and smoked applewood bacon (but I only ate half of the omlette and only a little bit of the bacon). They use all local and organic produce and it came with this amazing hash they make with potatoes and carrots. I could have just eaten a plate of that it was so good. Plus, I had whole wheat bread with that and a cup of organic Earl Grey tea. Very yummy.

I went wandering Midtown and getting the hang of the subway. Wanted to figure out where the NBC building was for the next day. Did some window shopping and went to bed early all excited for what the next day would bring...

Dr. Oz!!!

~~~~~

Day Two

Set my alarm for 5am to get ready early and allow time for getting lost. Out the door at shortly after 6am to make my way to Rockafeller Center and figure out where I'm going once I get to the building. Since I'm a dork, I naturally had to be the first one there...assuming this would mean I'd have an amazing seat and you'd all have stories to hear about how I was on camera all the time and met Dr. Oz...all that sort of thing. Yeah, WRONG! I have a theory about that that I'll share later.
At any rate, I'm in line at 6:38am (once a very nice security guard directed me to the MSNBC Digital Cafe). I'm totally the only one in the building who doesn't work there. No one else shows up in line until nearly 7am. We wait, as the line gets longer, until about 8am. Then they check your confirmation letter and your ID and let you in to get your ticket and wristband. You are then advised to meet at the escalator downstairs at 9am. And they mean 9am - not 8:58 - 9am. If you try to come one minute earlier they will chase you off...and they mean it. :) They then take you up the escalator and sort you in another line according to the number on your ticket (which, btw, is just the order you get lined up in and does not really have any bearing on how good your seats are when you get to the studio). You wait there and then one of the young people that work there (likely interns) takes you back downstairs to wait by the elevators. You can't go up until they've finished rehearsing the show.

Let me take this moment to state that it is probably either really sad or slightly scary how much I actually know about Dr. Oz. To pass time, the intern played Dr. Oz trivia with us and I actually know more than *I* even thought I did. :-D

By the time our group goes up, nearly half the audience was already seated. I get seated about three rows up, in one of the middle sections and the end of an aisle (about 6 seats in which was too far away when Dr. Oz came up the aisle to say hi especially with the women next to me who jumped up right in front of me). I'm kind of beside a monitor wearing a red blouse with black stitching, as an FYI. The audience guy came by to find out who'd be interested in being Assistant of the Day and a few women in the rows ahead jumped on that. I'm sitting there going, "F*%k that", and in the first pause informed him that I traveled 17 hours by bus to be here JUST for this taping. Ha! Suck on that ladies, lol. The guy took my name and seat number and *everyone* in my section was saying that they were totally going to pick me for AOD and making plans to make sure their stuff was out of the way. Audience guy was emphasizing the importance of being excited and really into the segment...and who's going to be more excited than someone who came all the way down from Canada by the Greyhound?!?!

Then there's Richie Byrnes, the warmup comic who's really funny. He cracks up Dr. Oz several times during the taping by chiding him about stuff he does on the show. "I wonder what food he's going to take away from me THIS week." "I'm allowed to eat walnuts...walnuts is what I've gotten out of this show...I had a walnut parmesan last night." "Dr. Oz likes to soak his nuts...makes 'em nice and juicy. And you can freeze your nuts but it's tough to defrost them." He goes through the thing with applause and telling you not to read along with Dr. Oz when he reads from the teleprompter and emphatically says that, "If Dr. Oz is standing in front of you while doing a segment...LOOK INTERESTED!!" :-) Then he does the whole thing of getting people to cheer when he calls out states in the area if they're from there - New York *cheers*, New Jersey *cheers*, etc. Then he asks who's from out of the country so naturally I chime in and he busts out a couple of Canada jokes and we head into the taping shortly after that.

So, they did a segment on Alzheimer's that was really fascinating! Then they did one on improving memory...then it was time to reveal the AOD!! Which was....totally not me. And not only was it not me...they woman that came down didn't seem all that into the segment. To top it off...the segment was on things that cause foot pain. WTF?!?!?! I'm a shoe fitting specialist...I deal with this every day. That's MY TOPIC!! DAMMIT!!!!!

So, I sit through a couple of game segments and In Case You Missed It with my crushing disappointment about missing out on something that would have been so much fun and so cool to experience (especially when it's right up my alley) and wandered back to the hostel thinking I'd change and wander a bit but then decided to try and get standby tickets and go to another taping. Unsuccessful. But the very nice intern told me that you can only usually get standby tickets for the morning tapings.

Took a moment and made a decision. Still had stuff I wanted to see in NY and I really wanted to see another taping of the show before I left because after I shook off my blues over the first taping...it actually was really fun. You know, if it hadn't been for EVERYONE in my section going on about how they'd totally pick me and the audience guy saying that the fact I traveled that far by bus "really goes a long way", I wouldn't have been so surprised and disappointed over the fact that I wasn't. People blow up that balloon of expectation really far and it's always startling when it pops. I decided to go down to the Port Authority and change my ticket for Wednesday so I could leave at night instead of the morning and try the next day for standby tickets. Got that done, cancelled my hostel reservation in Toronto since I wouldn't be getting there now until Thursday morning and then went to forage for some dinner. Went to Macy's for a while, saw some of the north part of Central Park and did a lot of walking and window shopping before heading to bed early for the next day again.

Day Three

Repeat of the morning before. Got a standby ticket as the weather wasn't great and a lot of confirmed holders didn't show. First standby of the day but had to wait until 8:30am and come back to the MSNBC lounge to make sure they would seat standby ticket holders. Luckily they did. This time about 3/4 of the people were seated before us and I was in the very last section, second row from the top in the very outside aisle where I knew Dr. Oz would never come and I was right. He did great the people there in the front row but didn't come up the aisle so I struck out with the goal of mentioning the OZzomes and how well we've all done to him. I gave it my best shot but to no avail! It would have been great but it wasn't meant to be. But I have to say, Dr. Oz very funny and playful on the set. He was rocking out to a song that was playing in the studio at one point with his fist up in the air. Richie made a comment about the purple gloves (which did not make an appearance at either taping) and said that Dr. Oz is a Prince impersonator on weekends. "Wouldn't that be hilarious if it was true?", he said, and then lead the audience in a rendition of Purple Rain. So, 2nd show they taped a section called "5 Wrong Turns to Cancer", a segment on skin allergies and a game where the two ladies had to wear cheeseheads called "Choose That Cheese". And no AOD at this taping, so they must have shot 2 of those segments at another taping or it won't be part of the show at all. He had to do a couple of pickups from other shows where something must have been noticed upon editing and he did "In Case You Missed It". And for the record...I'm wearing a fuschia v-neck tshirt, lol.

Oh - forgot to share my theory that I mentioned in the blog! It's a viewpoint thing in regards to the seating at the Dr. Oz taping (and a few other things). When I go places by myself I view it as being independent and too impatient to deal with various people's plans...I now think that people at these places say, "Oh, look, here's a single woman with no friends....is there a corner we can stick her in?"

I was going to do Top of the Rock after the taping and went to Starbucks to get a skinny vanilla latte to take up and drink while enjoying the view but Betty, the very friendly woman who works there, told me there was 0 visability right then. Having been inside all morning I had no idea what it was even doing outside. But she and I chatted for likely a good 10 minutes about a whole lot of stuff and then I ventured outside in search of food. My original plan had been taping, Top of the Rock, Museum of Natural History and Central Park. That changed in a hurry as soon as I stepped outside into the rain/slush that was coming down. And it was COLD. So I headed down to Times Square and found the TKTS booth to see what discounted Broadway plays they had for the afternoon matinee. Got 1/2 ticket to "Anything Goes" with Sutton Foster and Joel Grey at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. (For those who don't know, it's a Cole Porter musical. And if you don't know who Cole Porter is...you should be dragged out into the street and shot. Kidding! Mostly...)

The show was *amazing* and it was a thrill to see Joel Grey onstage. A much better way to spend an afternoon than out in that miserable weather. They got a well deserved standing ovation. Afterwards, I went up to see Trader Joe's at 72nd and Broadway. Bought some of the organic popcorn with olive oil that Dr. Oz had on his show (I'm munching on it now and it's really good), some healthy fig cereal bars called "This Fig Walked Into a Bar", and some organic dark chocolate with almonds. I *love* this place...wish we had one here! Then I went a couple doors down and got a fantastic slice on NY pizza (hey, I might be on a weight loss kick but with all the walking I'm doing, did you *really* think I'd pass on a slice of great NY pizza??)

I met so many people while in New York...the really great people who work at Rockafeller Center, Betty at Top of the Rock, a lot of great people in line at Dr. Oz, all the random New Yorkers I've talked to on the subway and while standing in various lines around the city (when I'm excited I'm chatty, I can't help it. It's weird though 'cause I don't normally talk that much.)

I've discovered a few things while in the Big Apple. Midtown has a lot of rather attractive, friendly and extremely helpful police officers. And, it seems that pedestrian cross signals are completely optional. More like a suggestion than an actual rule. Seriously, people will walk right out in front of taxis and whatnot, against the light and barely even get honked at. Around here even if you cross with the light you take your life in your own hands as no one pays much heed to pedestrians.

Went a little early to the Port Authority as Mother Nature has once again decided to throw what is much like hail, down upon New York. Wanted to get down to the subway with my bags before it's too slippery. Sat in a cafe for a little while updating my travel journal until this young British couple got into an argument and he threw her yogurt across the room. Yeah, my cue to leave and wait elsewhere for the bus. Bus came at 10:30 and this time the weather only caused us to be 2 hours late getting to Toronto. So, it was only 13 hours on the bus this time. But I got in my visit to The Healthy Butcher (though no bison this time of year and it'll be 3 weeks until they get Elk), David's Tea and a quick trip to Lush (because it would be 10 kinds of wrong to go to Queen St. and not visit Lush). Then I got a coffee and a 6" sub and heading to the bus station to go home.

It was bittersweet leaving New York. I had such a fabulous time and met so many great people (I missed one though, lol) that I really didn't want to leave!! On the other hand, it'll be really, really nice to sleep in my own bed. Even though I have to go back to work tomorrow and back to my mundane life. No more tv show tapings and Broadway shows, hanging out in Times Square, taking in the lights and sights of the city...I'm going to miss it. But I don't think I'm done with New York yet. I think future plans are already in the making...

So, whilst working on my genealogy this week I found out that I have a distant cousin who is apparently a ghost in Oakville. Seriously! Has to be one of the absolutely coolest things I've found in my genealogy. :)

My 1st cousin 7x removed Rachel Silverthorn is said to be one of the ghosts haunting Erchless Estate in Oakville. I haven't found out much about it yet but it's mentioned online that she dropped dead one day at the garden gate and has haunted the place since. My ancestors in that line were United Empire Loyalists who had a grist mill on the majority of what is now Etobicoke. Rachel married Colonel William Chisholm who was the founder of Oakville (a place I lived in for three years and had no clue that part of the Oakville Museum was in a place my cousin used to live in!)

I must go and say hello to her one of these days. :) The times that I have actually SEEN spirits have been amazing enough...but even the chance to see one that you are related to?!?! I could *never* pass that up.

~~~~~

Still carrying on with 11 Weeks To Move It And Lose It. Some days are harder to fight the temptation though! Gave in and had a good old fish and chip dinner on Friday that was a little high on the fat and calorie scale (but it was DAMN GOOD!!) I'm holding steady as of this morning but hopefully I'll be down a little by Wednesday when I have progress check.

My brother was over for dinner talking all about that damned Paleo diet book. He's now talking about how bread and pasta cause arthritis. *sigh* He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Hello? You NEED whole grains in your diet. Anyone worth a hill of beans in the nutrition or medical field will tell you that you need grains and fibre for TONS of reasons (especially for heart health).

Still making plans for NY!! Can't wait to try out the restaurant that Dr. Oz mentioned on his show, Castle 79. Yes, I am going to a vegan restaurant...which is a sentence I never thought I would utter in my entire life. See what that man has turned me into? ;-)

So far so good! I'm down over 15 lbs so far with Dr. Oz's 11 Weeks To Move It And Lose It. Some days are a real push to get in that cardio!

Next week I'm going to try out some interval cardio classes at the gym and see how they go just to change it up. I really want to make it to my 1st goal before I head to NY at the end of March. Just got tickets for Dr. Oz a couple of minutes ago so it's official!! I'm goin' to NY!!! Maybe I'll get to be assistant of the day. That always looks like fun. :-)

I may have to sew myself something new to wear! Right now though, it's hard to know what size to even make anything in! I doubt I'm going to have enough cash to go out and buy something before I head to NY. Unless I win the lottery before then, lol. Hours are scarce at the store and I haven't had a raise under the new manager which rather sucks. The former manager was always insistent that since I was full-time, I be paid at least slightly more than those hired for part-time. But that's gone the way of the dodo.

I'm so tired of retail but there aren't a lot of jobs to choose from in this town. The job at the festival office (that I waited around for nearly 4 years to open and desperately wanted...to the point of passing up other opportunities in hopes that I would get it), I did not even get interviewed for. Despite being uber-involved in the festival for years. I really, really wanted it and didn't even have the chance to fight for it. Not that I'm bitter or anything, lol. But whatever.

I'd love to go back to school but how the hell could I ever afford to on what I make when I can barely keep up with the bills? But screw it - I'm going to NY and I'm going to have some damn fun because I deserve it. Plus I can do it without spending a lot since I stay at the hostel and I don't do a lot of "touristy" stuff. I just like hanging out in places, taking photos and the like. Think I'll need to take the digital *and* the film camera to Manhattan. :-)

This is actually the end of the 8th day that I've been following the gospel of Dr. Oz for his 11 Weeks To Move It And Lose It. So far so good! Tomorrow is progress day on the site. I had no idea that there was a webcast tonight while I was at dinner and will have to miss the one on Thursday too (though I'd rather be here and watch that then go to my meeting, lol)

Speaking of dinner...it was the staff dinner out and they went Italian, which I have not problem with, but I went through in my head my Do's and Don'ts that Dr. Oz and Dr. Mike have for eating out. Had to really read the menu more than usual and settled on the Basil Pesto Fusilli with pine nuts - substituted whole wheat pasta for the white and added the chicken breast for the lean protein. It was SO good too. I had eaten an apple before going to make sure I did not overindulge like crazy and ate the proper portion and had the server pack up the rest. Didn't give into temptation when the girls were eating that artery clogging garlic bread and cheese either. BUT...I left myself a good 1000 calories for going out tonight so I did indulge in dessert since I've been a very good girl all week. I had a wonderful little piece of baklava and a coffee (no sugar and just a bit of 2% milk instead of cream).

We'll see what happens tomorrow with check-in but it's looking like a really good start. Hopefully I can keep it up for the whole program. I'm even thinking about heading down to NY for a taping the ending week of the plan. Dr. Oz is just so much fun to watch, so informative and incredibly inspirational. I hope he and Dr. Mike know just how much we appreciate everything they do for so many people and they deserve to be celebrated for it.

Day 6 of 11 Weeks To Move It And Lose It!! So, I haven't had a Diet Coke since Wednesday night. Yesterday I could have killed for one but I had a ginger ale as a substitute and had a coffee yesterday afternoon to kill the caffeine headache (with just a little vanilla for sweetness and some almond milk in it).

Bought a digital scale for home so I can kind of monitor my weight a little since I sometimes forget to do that at the gym. Though I might end up taking this back since it's a pain...you have to tap around on it to turn it on which makes me a little batty. But I've been to the gym everyday for the past week and today will be working out at home since buses don't run today. Yesterday I did 15 minutes on the elliptical and a total of 24 minutes on the treadmill (varying incline and speed). Then walked to the grocery store and walked home instead of waiting for the bus. According to my new scale, I am now at 228.6 which means I've lost almost 2 lbs! And there's still 4 days before my progress check at ShareCare.

We are now into day 3 of the 11 Weeks To Move It And Lose It challenge that Dr. Oz started Monday. Keeping up with the 30 minutes of exercise per day and tracking my food in a notebook since I still haven't gotten my confirmation email for the site. I did get an email for a fitness assessment and did that so I've got a start. Went to the health food store and finally tracked down the Inca Peanuts that he mentioned on the show (they call them Jungle Peanuts here hence the difficulty finding them) so my snack food at work now is the peanuts and pumpkin seeds. I might add some dehydrated fruit to that next week.

Took my waist measurement last night AND....I've made it to the magical 35" number!! Wooohoo! :) Now the bottom half has to play catch up. But if I do more focus on muscle building at the gym for my legs maybe it will.

Guess that's all I have on that right now...until I can get going on the challenge site!

So, I am totally on the Dr. Oz bandwagon (I was on it early as I bought You: The Owner's Manual when it first came out but then for some reason I kind of got off the bandwagon for a while...but I am totally back on it now...lol).

Babbling. :) Anyway, I've been working out at the gym and losing a lot of weight so far (I am down from 270 lbs to 227 lbs) and am about halfway to my first weight loss goal. I've been watching The Dr. Oz Show for a while now (in addition to my other favourite show, The Healthy Gourmet) and implementing a lot of stuff that he's been talking about into my routine.

And now...he is introducing...11 Weeks To Move It And Lose It.

So, he launched in on his website yesterday but it's been a slow registration process (I'm still waiting for my confirmation email to get on the site. We're at 24hrs + and counting). In the meantime, I am referring back to what the trainer at the gym outlined for me when I joined and recording my food, water and exercise in a book and making sure I stay within my calorie range. I did the exercise circuit yesterday that Dr. Oz and the Nike trainer had on the show for 30 minutes plus an additional 10 minutes on the Gazelle. Today I did a 30 minute weight circuit at the gym plus an additional 10 minutes on the elliptical.

In two weeks, I'm planning on joining a yoga class. I was going to do it starting tonight but then next week is the staff dinner and I'd rather start it and stay with it than start and stop and go back. I figure that yoga will add a new dimension to my fitness regime and change it up, use different muscles and the like.

I've got a Twitter buddy so far and made a Twitter list for tracking so as soon as I can get into the challenge website, I should be set to go! I have hopes that I can get to my goal weight/size by my birthday (April 2nd) which is just shortly after the end of the 11 weeks in the challenge. I want to get down to about 185 lbs and a size 16 as my first goal and we'll see where we go once I get there.

Brace yourself for a lot of health and wellness talk over the next few weeks.

Wrote this last night...I'm easily amused. The staff was singing it all day, I'm surprised we didn't scare everyone off, lol.

The Becker Shoes 12 Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a Quick Snap on a shoe

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, two
Birkenstocks and a Quick Snap on a shoe

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, three winter
boots, two Birkenstocks and a Quick Snap on a shoe

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, four fuzzy
slippers, three winter boots, two Birkenstocks and a Quick Snap on a
shoe

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, FIVE SMARTWOOL
SOCKS....four fuzzy slippers, three winter boots, two Birkenstocks and
a Quick Snap on a shoe

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, six gift
cards, FIVE SMARTWOOL SOCKS....four fuzzy slippers, three winter
boots, two Birkenstocks and a Quick Snap on a shoe

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, seven Tana
products, six gift cards, FIVE SMARTWOOL SOCKS....four fuzzy slippers,
three winter boots, two Birkenstocks and a Quick Snap on a shoe

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, eight leather
purses, seven Tana products, six gift cards, FIVE SMARTWOOL
SOCKS....four fuzzy slippers, three winter boots, two Birkenstocks and
a Quick Snap on a shoe

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, nine pairs of
gloves, eight leather purses, seven Tana products, six gift cards,
FIVE SMARTWOOL SOCKS....four fuzzy slippers, three winter boots, two
Birkenstocks and a Quick Snap on a shoe

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, ten coloured
watches, nine pairs of gloves, eight leather purses, seven Tana
products, six gift cards, FIVE SMARTWOOL SOCKS....four fuzzy slippers,
three winter boots, two Birkenstocks and a Quick Snap on a shoe

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, eleven
Switch Flops, ten coloured watches, nine pairs of gloves, eight
leather purses, seven Tana products, six gift cards, FIVE SMARTWOOL
SOCKS....four fuzzy slippers, three winter boots, two Birkenstocks and
a Quick Snap on a shoe

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, twelve pairs
of Bogs, eleven Switch Flops, ten coloured watches, nine pairs of
gloves, eight leather purses, seven Tana products, six gift cards,
FIVE SMARTWOOL SOCKS....four fuzzy slippers, three winter boots, two
Birkenstocks and a Quick Snap on a shoe


Feel free to go back to what you were doing now. ;-)

So, took my new measurements today and apparently I'm doing something right as I've lost another 2 inches off my waist and a little over an inch from the hips. Think I'm down a full pant size now which is awesome and might mean a bit less alterations when I go shopping. :)

Taking it to the next level now with eating better. Spent a fair bit at the health food store in picking up items like chia seed, soya protein powder, psyllium and whatnot. I'm taking some of the advice from Dr. Oz (who I've loved since way before he was on tv...I've had You: The Owner's Manual since it came out). I bought a bamboo steamer this week, so I'm going to work on eating more fish.

Breakfast today was oat-based cereal, flax bread with peanut butter and probiotic yoghurt with a cup of tea. Chicken and little pasta for lunch. Cup of white tea with a little more yoghurt for a snack. Dinner will be penne with chicken, brocolli and sundried tomato.

Ongoing process! :)

So, apparently somebody actually read my blog who's not a spammer. Go figure. :) I've been a very bad blogger in recent months, a lot of that due to work and a lot more due to Mariposa organizing. And then there's that trying to have a life thing, lol.

The festival is over for another year - the 50th anniversary went by like a shot. It was so busy inside the Emporium this year that I actually did not manage to get out to hear any music, aside from the one song by The Breakmen I heard at the beer tent when I went out for food. They were awesome, btw. Bought the cd based on that one song...and I hardly ever do that. It was disappointing that I have pimped Fordy for years and couldn't see him play this year. Really wanted to catch at least a little of a workshop with him but just couldn't manage it.

Fordy let me in on a little tidbit of info though for all the little Fruheads out there (and I know you are out there, lol). Mike and Murray are working on a cd based on one of the Fruvous-based bands - The Cocksure Lads. Billed as "the best British Invasion band to never make it across the pond".

I mentioned that it should be told that the tapes were found behind the wallboards of a house that was recently torn down and that these previously unreleased tapes are just now seeing the light of day. We'll work on the backstory. :)

The rest of the weekend is kind of massive sleep-deprived blur. I've still got piles of paperwork to finish and my report to do. Eeep. Hopefully I can make a dent in the post-apocalypse around here on Tuesday when I have the day off. Good news is, I'm going to have help for next year because I really can't do it all by myself anymore, it's gotten too crazy. Looks like the tent will have three coordinators next year so I might actually get out of the tent...and perhaps not have to wait like, five hours to go to the facilities.

I keep remembering that it's Chris Lusty who volunteered me for this job. I'm not going to forget about that Lusty...ever. ;-) Everybody just kept coming up to me saying, "I hear your running the Emporium next year". Interesting year. I do like taking care of the Emporium but I also kinda miss the days when I actually got to see some of the performers play, especially the workshops. It sucks a little being stuck in a hot, humid tent all weekend.

In other news...Green Earth Organics sent me an email on the day that I was going to order my new bin that Orillia has been dropped for deliveries. Massively inconvenient and I've no idea what to do with these blasted bins that they apparently aren't coming to pick up. The email was rather blunt and lacking in information too. Then the woman I talked to on the phone for information said she'd call me back and didn't bother. Nice way to run a business.

But anyway...trying to decide what priority to put stuff in regarding money this fall. I was to take the Arts Administration class at Georgian's Continuing Education. I'd also like to take Tai Chi at the place across the street from work and maybe take tap dancing lessons. Hey, I'm diverse ok?

Think that's all I've got right now. More later folks!

Was in Toronto yesterday for Winterlicious and enjoyed it immensely! If you don't know what Winterlicious is...it's when all the restaurants that you could never afford to eat in normally, offer prix five menus for a low price. There were some very intriguing menus too.

I had to take advantage of the opportunity to have lunch at Canoe. Yeah, everything they say about Canoe is totally true. Fabulous view from the 54th floor of the TD Building, the staff is amazing...and the food was as close to perfection as you can get. And I HAVE to talk about the food.... :)

For a starter I had the Warm Northern Woods Mushroom & Smoked Chicken Tartlette, Winter Root Crudite, Pumpkin Seeds & Flax. Gorgeous - mushrooms and smoked chicken on flaky pastry on a bed of mixed greens. Normally, I loathe dressing of any kind on my greens but this had a nice, almost tart vinaigrette that blended so well with the rest of the dish. While waiting for the main, I had a non-alcoholic cockail called a Stojito - white cranberry juice and mint syrup topped with soda and shaved coconut. Wowza...really, really good. For the main, I had Goat Cheese Tortellini with Broccoli Pesto, Rocket & Preserved Tomatoes. Rich, creamy...likely one of the best pasta dishes I've had in my life. Now, let's talk about that dessert. :) Warm Nova Scotia Gingerbread with Lemon Curd and Sour Cream Gelato. Warm, sweet and spicy gingerbread with a light cookie on top with that sweet and slightly tart lemon curd combined with the creamy and tart gelato was so good, I could have licked the plate. I thought about it too, lol.

Kudos to everyone at Canoe for such amazing service. I'd go back without a moments hesitation...and eat everything on the menu.

Dinner at the Rosedale Diner was good as well. Though the starter was underwhelming - Smoked Wild Boar & Spicy Chocolate Crostini, Carmelized Onions. Ok - spicy might be an understatement. I would have liked to have been able to taste the meat but my mouth was burning. However when I got the main, all was forgiven. Poutine au Canard. Yes, duck poutine. And it was amazing. Let's get it out in the open, I've never had poutine before. Everyone always says it's good but to me it looks like a heart attack on a plate. But after having the poutine at Rosedale...who the hell cares. Delicious shoestring fries in a hot, rich gravy and incredibly creamy and delicious cheese with big pieces of moist duck confit. Yeah, tell me I won't be having this again when I'm in Toronto. (Their regular menu isn't too badly priced actually). For dessert, Madagascar Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee which was just this side of heaven.

Plus, I had some fabulous dinner conversation with Babs from Strombo Show chat fame. :) After dinner, I wandered down to city hall at her recommendation and caught the tail end of the fireworks, watched the skaters and the things shooting fire for a bit until I started getting really cold, did some window shopping while in search of a hot cuppa tea, listened to a really good drumming busker for a while and then settled in a the bus station for the last little bit and read.

Really good day. But I wish I'd brought an order of that poutine home. :-D

I know...I know...bad blogger. I really haven't had anything to write about recently. Most of my thoughts fit in a Tweet lately, lol. It's winter and it's cold so I'm mostly playing catchup.

Had a thought last night that I'd love to see Being Erica flashback and have her run into Strombo as a Much VJ. Just 'cause it'd be cool and really funny. :) I'd also like a crossover episode between The Forgotten, Criminal Minds and CSI: NY. The Forgotten Network starts indentifying a John/Jane Doe only to find out it connects to a serial killer the CM team is investigating. They track down the killer who then flees to NY where they enlist Mac's help in bringing him to justice. OR...we could just have a crossover between The Forgotten and CSI: NY. Alex meets Stella at a party and tells her about the work he does. She tells him about the unidentified street kid she and Mac worked back in season one and the network takes up the case.

Still working for an Aha! moment on my family tree. I'm at a plateau and can't seem to find that little bit of info that pushes me to the next level. My one branch is really causing me issues. Apparently my Snider relatives have Dutch ancestry but I can't even find my info on my 3x great-grandfather.

My 3x Great-Grandfather was John William Snider. Based on various information sources, I have estimated his date of birth as 7 Oct 1876 in Reach Township, Ontario, Canada though his marriage registration puts his year of birth as 1872. His parents names were Alfred Snider and Jane Mills both born in Quebec, Canada. I believe that they had five other children. Emma/Emeline Snider born Jul 1866 in Reach Twp. She married Alfred Ball 25 Apr 1906 in Orillia, Simcoe County,Ontario, Canada. George Snider born abt 1865, Charles Snider born abt 1870, Alida/Lydia Snider born abt 1859 and Edwin Snider born abt 1866 - all in Ontario. I have them on the 1861 and 1871 Census of Canada in Reach Township and their ancestry is listed as Dutch.

John William Snider married Bertha Jane Higgerson 15 Oct 1902 at St. James Church in Orillia, Ontario. She took the name Bertha Louise Higgerson on her marriage certificate, and when she died 11 Jul 1907 she was listed as Alberta/Albertha Louise Snider nee: Higgerson. She was born 9 Oct 1879 so was just shy of her 23rd birthday. They had one child, my grandmother Alberta Louise Helen Snider born 20 May 1907.

I cannot find John on any of the census records, I can only find the family before he was born. I cannot find him on any census after the death of his wife either. I can find her on the 1901 census before they were married - living with her parents Hiram Higgerson (born Higginson) and Elizabeth Higgerson nee: Baker. After the death of her mother, my grandmother Alberta is on the 1911 census living in Orillia
with her aunt Evelyn Borman nee: Higgerson and her husband William John Borman (who was oddly enough first married to Evelyn's sister Charlotte before she died at age 19 after the birth of their son. He died in WW1 in Belgium.)

Not only can I find no trace of what happened to John after the death of his wife...I can literally find no trace of either of them physically. John bought a plot in the St. James cemetery in 1907, the year his wife died and there is no one buried there. I know he purchased it because I have the original purchase receipt for the amount of $10 that has been passed through the family and not a single
person seems to have looked into it. According to the cemetery, the four person plot is still empty. Which makes one wonder...who buys a plot the year a loved one passes and yet never uses it? I've contacted the church and every funeral home that was operating at the time and no one can find any information on where Bertha might have been buried. (The church has a burial record for her but it does not indicate where she was buried.) Did my ancestor simply leave and abandon his daughter or did something happen to him?

Ah...the joys of genealogy...

I am on total dance show overload this year. This is the first year I'm watching Dancing With the Stars and that is only due to the combined lure of Donny Osmond and Mark Dacascos aka The Chairman (or the Cha-Cha-Chairman, lol). Plus So You Think You Can Dance Canada has just finished it's run and then there's the American version of the show. So Mon-Thurs dance shows. Really? I enjoyed SYTYCD US more when it wasn't competing with EVERYTHING!

Hopefully next year I can go back to ignoring DWTS. ;-)

I've got to say though that I was really disappointed with SYTYCD Canada this year. There weren't many routines that made hang on the edge of my seat watching raptly. The only routines that I can honestly even say I remember are the ones that Emmanuel and Kim did together - like the magic act routine. That was awesome and danced incredibly well. Two of the absolute best dancers this season who both got sent home before the final four. Based on who did end up in the finale...I think there are too many teenagers voting for cuteness on this show and not for the quality of the dance. Based on the entire season, my final four would have been Emmanuel, Jayme Rae, Everett, and Kim. I still can't believe that Mighty Mouse won. She's a good dancer but the best of the whole season? I didn't see much out of her that was....authentic...for most of the dances she did.

Most of the whole season was just, forgettable. Not like season one that gave us Nico and Allie who were brilliant and authentic in absolutely everything they did. Allie was cute as a button too but when she danced there was a real passion there that I don't get at all out of Mighty Mouse...ummm...Tara Jean.

Whatever, goes hand in hand with Canada's lack of support for talented musicians I suppose. Go for the flash and not for the substance. Good thing for Nico that he has talent AND cuteness.

Hopefully I'll get better from the US version this year. The crop of talent looks promising - I'm really rooting for that insanely talented krumper Russell as well as Bianca and Phillip (yay tappers!!!), Ellenore and Ryan. Those are the early favourites though I haven't watched last night's show yet. Always open to change. I just hope I get more oommph out of them than I've had from others lately.

RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS ALWAYS GET ME DOWN

So, what did I do with the portion of my vacation that I spent in Toronto you might ask? Weeellll...got up and caught the bus to the Big Smoke on tuesday morning and since check in time at the hostel is 4pm I decided to do my first batch of looking for my Baker ancestors at the Anglican diocese archive across the street first. They had pulled the relevant material for me so I sat down and spent a couple of hours looking through the Markham baptisms, marriages and deaths. And what did I find?

Bupkiss. Nada. Running out of ways to find where in England these people came from. *sigh*

I still had time before check-in and decided to go and have dinner and headed for Shopsy's which is my most visited spot in the city due to good food and great location for me. And I get to the corner of Yonge Street only to find it GONE!!! Dude, this is a landmark! Where the hell am I going to eat breakfast? I don't want to travel blocks for reasonably price eggs and bac-y. WTH?!?!?!!?

But at this moment...I'm hungry so I headed for The Old Spaghetti Factory down on the Esplanade instead. Had a nice chicken parm with mushroom and tarragon whole wheat spaghetti, the usual salad with no dressing, sourdough bread and a cuppa coffee with some chocolate ice cream for dessert. Then off to the hostel, make bed, drop off stuff and decide what to do with my evening. I had contemplated going to a movie but nothing's playing that really floats my boat. Decided to head up to Bloor and locate the Toronto Reference Library for the research tomorrow and then head down and look around in Sonic Boom for a bit and see what music there was to be had. Nothing that really jumped up and said, "take me home!" though that I saw so I then decided to go book shopping as I'm desperately in need of something to read. My copy of "The Family" has been on backorder since August but Tuesday night I wanted something more fun than stories about the misbehaving members of the American right-wing. Off I went to The World's Biggest Bookstore (aka Geek Disneyland) in search of Madeline Albright's book, "Read My Pins: Stories From A Diplomat's Jewel Box" that Rachel Maddow was talking about. Didn't find that but then decided to look instead for Marie Osmond's new book, "Might As Well Laugh About It Now" which looked like a fun read. Can you believe that TWBB was out of it?? So they checked and the Chapters over by Queen and John had one so off I went again, down on the subway and then over on the streetcar...managed to get there about 20 minutes before closing and picked up Marie's book. Was REALLY tempted to pick up Leonard Mlodinow's book "The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives" but thought I'd better hold off for now.

I was getting fairly tired at this point so I headed back to the hostel to get ready for bed, get organized for the morning and read for a while.

Wednesday morning I went in search of a new breakfast place and discovered that there is now a Wimpy's at Church and Dundas!! I discovered Wimpy's when I went to Kitchener to see The Osmonds earlier this year. Crisis averted. :)

Headed up to the library and spent hours going over city directories, books about Markham, cemetery records and the online resources like the newspaper archives. And what did I find about my Baker ancestors. You guessed it...

Bupkiss. Nada. (Though I did find some entries for my Baldry/Bauldry line.)

At this poing I had to rush to get down to the CBC studio for the taping of The Hour. I was getting hungry but didn't really have time to grab food but luckily there's this thing I didn't know about where on Wednesdays at the Bloor subway station, Pizza Pizza has tables selling squares for $1!! GENIUS!! (It's to benefit the United Way too!) I am now happily munching away on the way to the studio...would have liked time to to back to the hostel and change and pretty myself up but I'm running late as it is.

When I finally make it, it's about five minutes prior to the ticket "booth" to open. I'm fairly far back in line this time around but I've been front row often enough. Guests are hockey players that are being taught to figure skate for a CBC reality show and "The Anti-Gore". Little disappointed though 'cause some people in line said that Michael Moore was on the show. They didn't realize that that interview had been a pre-tape. Bummer. But it's still cool seeing Strombo do his thing. He's doing his cold opens from the hall now though. And they've graduated to an actual green screen that descends from the ceiling. Plus they don't give the same fire safety talk that I usually hear. No colour coded elevators and stairs. Now the stairs (or Stair as they apparently say) have a picture of a stickman running down stairs. Some of them, we're told, have the stickman with his hair on fire. *g* Plus, they've done away with the 'cross the street when you exit the building, don't get his by a car 'cause that would suck...to escape the fire and then get hit by a car while crossing the street' jokes.

After the show I went up to G and asked about the radio show. He tells me that he pulled it off the air BUT...he's going to have an announcement coming up about a new show. A nation-wide one. It's not going back to live though (though apparently it will *seem* live). And a voice from the past may be joining this new show. Someone fans of the old talk format might have missed. G is saying it might be starting first week on November so hopefully we'll here definitive news soon!

Also, G mentioned after the show wrapped that he was "doing a thing" with Anthony Zuiker the same night!!

For anyone who doesn't know the name - he's the creator of the CSI shows (though I gave up the original when Bill Petersen left, I still adore CSI: NY) so I decide to head up to it. Went to the hostel to drop my research notes off and grabbed a chicken burger and headed up to the Indigo books at Yonge and Bloor.

Strombo interview Anthony about his book, "Level 26" which is a really dark sounding book with an interesting concept. And he talked a lot about his career and the creative process behind CSI. Very interesting. Would have stayed around to shoot the s&#t with G but he had a bevy around him and I was still really hungry. Headed to Wimpy's again for a good hot turkey sandwich.

It was about 9pm at this point and I decided to do a little more work on an errand I call Project Peanut Butter. I have a deep and long lasting love for Jif peanut butter (choosy moms chose Jif, after all). But every place around here where I have bought it previously no longer carries it. So I turned to the trusty internet machine and found a thread on Chowhound that led me to believe that Longo's carried it. Earlier in the day, I had checked the two downtown locations for Longo's and found that neither had it. So I started scouring convenience stores and foun 1 jar of creamy and 2 jars of crunchy at one on Dundas between Church and Jarvis. 3 small jars is a good start. Head back to the hostel with my booty to get the rest of my stuff packed up and read before bed.

Now, if you travel a lot and stay in hostels like I do, eventually you end up sharing a room with a crazy person. The last crazy person I had was the night before my Stephen Fearing instore when I came up to see his Hugh's Room show. She yelled all night before I lost it and told her to shut the *bleep* up so that I could get some sleep. Last night (this morning really) the woman on the bottom bunk below me tossed and turned on her creaky bed all night, kicked my bed every few minutes and got up about every 10-15 minutes to go to the bathroom. This went on from 2am to 5am when she suddenly jumped out of bed, threw her clothes on and left the room. Then she came back in the room. Then she came back in the room and sat on her bed and packed. Being tired, I made a comment under my breath about being able to sleep now. She accused ME of keeping her awake by snoring! Then she called me a bitch and left the room again.

Ok - let me say a couple of things....

1) I've been staying in hostels for somewhere around 10 years and I have never once had anyone make mention of me snoring or making ANYONE unable to sleep.

2) I'm pretty sure that you have to actually BE ASLEEP to be snoring. (And btw - when I got up on Tuesday morning she was fast asleep so...???)

3) Even in the off-chance that I WAS snoring - get over it. It's a dorm room in a hostel. I've shared a room with snorers before and if they keep you awake, bring earplugs. I'm kept awake by people turning lights on and off and I bring a sleep mask. I don't bitch and complain about it. If you can't take the such hardships then you should have booked a hotel room a private room in the hostel so as not to have to mix with the rest of us.

4) A good way to make yourself unwelcome at a hostel is to piss off a regular that the desk staff knows. Needless to say I made mention of it at check-out.

So I was fairly pissed off at around 5am and knew there wasn't a hope in hell I was going to go back to sleep so I figured, screw it. I got my stuff and left a few hours earlier than I had intended. Made the walk to the bus station, stopped at Tim Horton's near Dundas Square for an Earl Grey tea and some timbits for the bus ride and checked at the Mac's near the station and scored three more jars of Jif! So at least Project Peanut Butter was successful! :)

Got home fairly early, did some errands (as no food in the house) and am now really, really tired since I've had hardly any sleep in the last day or so. Think I'm heading for bed...

So...computer has to go back to the shop this afternoon for the third time (don't ask, lol) due to a driver issue with the cd/dvd burner they just replaced. HOPEFULLY, this will be the last time and I can get back to my normal day-to-day computer use, especially since next week is my vacation and I want to do some genealogical research. I'll be heading to Toronto early next week so that I can do library research in past issues of the Toronto newspapers as well as checking baptismal records at the Anglican church. Trying to take at least one branch back to the specifics in England.

I'll get to more stuff later when the computer is home to stay!

I was going to do a real blog post on the weekend but unfortunately my computer decided not to cooperate with my plans. Everything is on hold until my computer is fixed now and I'll be unreachable by email and not online now until this is done as well.

I'll be glued to SYTYCD Canada, finishing adding recipes to my cookbook and likely updating my Book of Shadows and my grimoire in the meantime. Might do some scrapbooking too. Maybe I'll even get some work done on the book I'm writing that I might just finish by the time I die, lol. Hopefully I'll be back online in a couple of weeks.

Try not to miss me too much in the meantime. ;-)

"Two goats were in the parade and they behaved admirably..."

Yes - I finally have time to blog again. The festival is done for another year, reports are in, paperwork is done and my life is my own...until we start planning for next year's festival. And being that it's Mariposa's 50th anniversary, it should be quite the party. Especially if certain plans work out the way I hope they will. (And if they do, there could be a very cool reunion happening. Maybe more.)

Sales were down a bit this year from previous years - no massive standout in the artists. Not sure if it was the lineup or the way the lineup was utilized but no huge rushes on product after the workshops like usual. You can never predict what's going to break. My personal fave this year? Prosad and his wicked combination of sitar music, western beats and world music. He calls it Trance Sitar and it's amazing! (www.trancesitar.com) He's cute too. :)

Last week was just about all I could take at work with the "citidiots" up to their million dollar cottages to annoy us. Plus, it's been like 2 weeks since I had an actual day off from one kind of work or another. Yesterday I did NOTHING! Read, made pizza and just generally goofed off. Did a little genealogy and some more today. Finally had a chance to get to the library to do some more research and hit the gym (since it's been about three weeks since I've had time). That's where the quote at the top came from - story from 1912 in the Orillia paper about the Orange Lodge parade in celebration of the "twelfth". Which, I don't know what that means yet but that's on the list of things I need to put into context.

I absolutely LOVE old newspapers. I want a microfilm machine so that I can peruse old papers at my leisure. The just don't write like this anymore - this article is a prime example --

NOT A QUIET WEDDING // Nor a pretty one either

The Packet has long been looking for a wedding which was neither "quiet" nor "pretty", and the long looked for has come at last. Some people would not undertake to get married if they thought it would result in putting six men in the hospital and five in the gaol, but that such seems to have been the cost of a wedding that took place at Oshawa last week. Here are the particulars as given by the Reformer.

It is alleged that Storieville was the scene of a bloody riot last Saturday night, when fifty or sixty Poles were engaged in a pitched battle between Roman Catholics and Greek Catholics. The weapons used were knives, plates, beer bottles and empty kegs. Some misunderstanding arising at the wedding seems to be the occassion of the trouble. Just as the dance was in full swing, somebody turned out the gas, it was then the trouble began. A severe skirmish that lasted over an hour ensued, during which time a fair representation of the massacre of Rome was staged. Men were slashed in every conceivable way. An alarm was sent to the police and four constables in charge of the chief soon brought the battle to an end. The casualty was six men placed in the hospital who received attention from Dr. Ford. He stayed with them till six in the morning, and with the assistance of the Superintendent of the hospital and four nurses, endeavoured to bind up their wounds. The amount of sewing necessary made the operating room resemble a tailor shop. One man had to have fourteen stitches taken to repair his wounds. Another received a bad cut in the abdomen an eighth of an inch from his heart. The room in the hospital where the victims of the riot were taken resembled a tent bospital on a battle field. Five more of the rioters were placed in the lock-up, and appeared before Mayor Gibson on a charge of riot on Monday morning and were remanded for three days. In the room where the fight took place, great pools of blood remained on the floor and the blood on the snow gave evidence that the fighting had been fierce in the street.