Limbo for a Prize

TK Richardson is having a party to celebrate the upcoming release of her book, Return the Heart! And everyone is invited! I know, and it’s happy hour AND it’s Friday. AND for Americans it is a long weekend. AND there are prizes. AND I am doing the limbo over there! I know! You didn’t know I could limbo, did you? So go on, go check it out! You could win some writerly yummies. And if you aren’t a writer, they are still yummy.

See you there!

Why I Drink Water

While reading over my husband’s shoulder as he surfed the net this evening, I got a little freaked out.

And no, he wasn’t watching various versions of ‘Peanut Butter Jelly Time‘ or those crazy Finlanders singing YMCA in Finnish (and wearing really short shorts) or even laughing at photo bombers.

He was reading Men’s Health Magazine’s 20 Worst Drinks in America.

That’s right. 20 of the worst drinks in America. As in, more calories in one drink than the average person should consume in the WHOLE day. And more sugar than, well, I don’t know, but it’s enough to rot your teeth! And more fat than found in a DOZEN filled donuts. My stomach is turning just thinking of this stuff–and I’m not some whack job health nut. Yes, I prefer healthy food, but I can also (easily) find it within myself to enjoy a nice (small) ice cap from Tim Horton’s on a hot, hot day.

But can I just pause for a second and say, holy crap? And–What the heck are we doing to ourselves?

Worst Juice Impostor–sugar equivalent–7 bowls of Fruit Loops

Just. Completely. Horrifying.

Tell me what you think.

P.S. More drinks here.

Book Review: Push

Book Review: Push
By Sapphire

Written like an ongoing journal (without date entries), a girl from Harlem tells the story of her life. She is sixteen, expecting her second baby (by her father) and is barely literate. She’s in grade nine and has the mouth of a sailor. Her story starts out like it is being written by someone who has troubles with spelling and grammar (however, it isn’t difficult for the reader to decipher) and as the story progresses, so too, do the writing skills.

While this book deals with difficult topics (incest, poverty, racism, abuse–physical, sexual and emotional) there is something inspiring and freshly real about the main character that makes it not just an important story that may open your eyes, but also a compelling and entertaining story as well. Will she get to keep this baby? Will she graduate high school? Will she be able to get her own house? Will she be able to break the cycle of abuse? Will she get off Welfare? Will she ‘get away’ from her abusers? Will she be a good mother? So many questions and so many possible answers.

P.S. This book has also been made into a movie called ‘Precious.’

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Book Review: Miss O’Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved

Book Review: Miss O’Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved
By Chris O’Dell with Katherine Ketcham

I’ve often wondered when reading memoirs… what do you leave in? What do you leave out? What might not be exciting to you, might be exciting to others. But how do you know? Where do you begin? Where do you end? How deep do you go? And how on earth do you choose?

Now, say you are someone like Chris O’Dell who worked with three of the major bands of the ’70s. You are touring with the big names and every day is something out of a movie for the average person. How on earth do you decide what to focus on?

O’Dell focuses on plenty in her memoir but keeps the action going and generally flows from one thing to the next with few holes left for the reader to leap over (or knowledge gaps to fall into). O’Dell begins with her first touch with fame–The Beatles and how she landed a job working in their company. From there, the whirlwind picks up speed as she meets more and more famous musicians, the drugs and alcohol get more serious, and the names just keep on getting bigger. (And maybe a few big names write you a few songs along the way as well.) Before long, O’Dell is best friends with several of the Beatles and their wives, is sleeping with Mick Jagger, on first name basis with Bob Dylan, and borrowing a place to crash from Eric Clapton. Yeah, a little bit like something out of a movie for someone like me! (I shook hands with Prince Charles–is that worth anything? Okay, not in this context, but I just wanted to bring it up.)

An interesting look into the lives of musicians (being on tour is a lot like I imagined! Okay, a little more hectic and crazy!), their wives, lives, and those that keep them all together. (In some cases, that would be Miss O’Dell, thank you very much.)

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Favourite Week: The Smell of Rain

Smells. Some are great–like the smell of rain (and right after rain)–and some, not so much (I’m thinking feedlot and buckwheat honey (actually smells a lot like feedlot).

I think one of the reasons I like spring so much is that I get to experience that fresh rain smell fairly often. Plus, that new-grass green is pretty spectacular.

(I have to say, chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven also smell pretty darn divine.)

What’s your favourite smell?

P.S. Happy Mother’s Day to the moms out there!

Favourite Week: Beautiful Days

There is nothing like a beautiful day to lift one’s spirits. It always makes the world seem brighter. You can feel your spine straighten as you pull in a deep breath, mood renewed.

Rundle Mountain, Banff, Alberta

Favourite Week: Making a Difference

Have you ever had that feeling? That feeling that you’ve made a difference and improved someone else’s life–even if just temporarily? It’s a good feeling.

And I’m not talking about faceless charities. I’m talking about seeing the whites of their eyes and knowing you had a hand in changing this person’s life.

I started small. You know, things like instead of selling our used baby clothes and carseats, I took them to the local outreach school for the teen moms who are trying to make it on their own. Little things local like that.

In the past few years, our family has broadened our ‘making a difference’ borders. We still do things around our community to to show our appreciation for all that we have and to help others, but we have also begun to think and act globally.

For the past four years we have sponsored a girl named Aklima in Bangladesh through Plan International. At first it was a ‘Yeah, we are doing something good for them way over there. Not sure exactly what. Education, food, maybe some animals and drinking water. It’s all good.’ But now, I put those annual pictures of Aklima and her mom side by side and I can see where we have helped make a difference in their lives. The biggest difference isn’t in how Aklima has grown and how their clothing has become more vibrant. The biggest difference is in her mother. In the first picture, her mother’s cheeks are sucked right in, her skin a greyish colour. In the latest photo, her cheeks have been restored to a healthy roundedness–the pinched look is gone–and her skin has taken on a healthy colour, and her eyes sparkle. The woman is almost even smiling.

When I look at those pictures I can feel it. Our $32/month is making a difference. And what’s $32 these days? That’s like getting 6 Starbuck’s coffees or going out for supper. The other day Plan International was looking for help to buy some mosquito nets for children in Malaria ridden areas. I threw in $40. Boom. I just saved dozens of lives.

Last night we tried something new in terms of making a difference. We went to Kiva’s website and slapped down 50 bucks. Kiva is an organization that arranges micro loans for people around the world. For example, Sayda in Peru needed $200 USD to expand her business of selling fuel canisters. Last night, when we looked at her profile, she had five people (you can loan in increments of $25) from all over the US who had loaned her a total of $150. She needed $50 to complete her loan. My husband and I asked each other, “What’s fifty bucks? A breakfast out with friends costs sixty. (For the seven of us–we’re cheapsters.) We haven’t been out in two weeks, consider her loan filled.” Click. Ka-ching! She has the money to change her life.

Six strangers just got together and loaned this Peruvian woman $200. Sayda promises to pay it back over the next eight months and we will see it trickle back into our Kiva accounts. (As lenders we don’t get interest. When the money is paid back, we can either loan it to another entrepreneur or keep it.) And yes, just like in loaning money to friends, there is a possibility that we might lose our $50 USD ($53 CDN). But there is also the possibility that we may make her life (and that of her six-year-old girl) that much better. She might even be able to expand to the point where she is able to employee other mothers who are seeking ways to support their families.

So I ask you: At the end of the day, what are you doing with your $50?

Favourite Week: Chocolate Mousse

Need I say more?

I can recall the first time I had chocolate mousse in a restaurant. (Usually I had to wait until my mom whipped some up and being a busy lady, she didn’t usually have the time. And then one day–trauma. She’d learned that her recipe with the raw eggs might be a ticket to giving the family Salmonella. And that was the end of chocolate mousse at home–my only source in those days. I can still recall the feeling of disappointment when I heard the news. I was the very definition of crestfallen. Textbook case of traumatized youth. That was me. I still am when I think back to that moment. <sniff, sniff>)

Chocolate Mousse. Rich and decadent. Melt on your tongue. Tantalize your senses. An explosion so wondrously smooth and thick.

Nothing better.

Chocolate Mousse could bring world peace.