photos

I thought I would post something new for a change -- I don't have much to say so I decided to put a photos I took recently. I have been playing with the camera in different lighting...

dining room vases

this is a wreath in my mom's front hallway

a yummy candle on my mom's kitchen island

wristlet

C has been 'bugging' me (not really she only mentioned it twice) to make her a wristlet. I finally got a pattern to make one and have chosen some fabric from my bin -- I just need some interfacing and a zipper and away I will go!

I'm excited for this new project.

christie pitts

the bright lights shine off the catcher's helmet. A fan calls out from the crowd. the first pitch is thrown. 'strike' is called, only it sounds more like a harsh grunt. A horn bellows out in the distance. #6 hits a single. 'bases loaded; one out.'

someone keeps farting and the faint smell of garbage lingers in the air.

A woman sells raffle tickets to the scattered fans on the natural bleachers. 2 boys kick a soccer ball up and down the hill.

A ball is hit to the crowd behind home plate -- a boy grabs it for keeps, but is asked to throw it back

A photo of the in-field is snapped catching the delicacy of the fluffy, evening clouds

the pitchers switch after a mistake is made in the outfield; the ball exchanges hands. It doesn't feel like the City down here.

#11 of the opposing team hits to centre field, the ball soars to the fence. As it flies over the fence, cheers roar. 'He should have had that. He's a tall guy. But it's a tough play.'

An overweight kid sits in a navy camping chair eating Sunchips. The soccer kids become restless. A man and his son to the left each bend a finger so it appears as though they are missing it. At the back, a group of 20 somethings drink Molson One Shots. 'Don't get caught,' one of them jokes as he heads down the steep hill towards the canteen. The soccer kids wrestle until one of them gets hurt and falls to the ground crying.

'Raffle tickets? We're about to draw.'

'Over the fence.'

'How much are they?'

'Let's go Newfie!'

'1 for 2, or 3 for 5.'

'That guy has the worst swing I have ever seen.'

'I'll take 3.'

'They're ball players cause their chewing.'

'Anyone else for tickets?!'

'...how'm I supposed to know??'

'Let's gooooo Hogieeeee!!'

jewels

It's been a month now since my best friend carol got married and it was truly a wonderful wedding -- everything was beautiful and the weather was perfect. I hope she doesn't mind, but I wanted to share a photo of her jewelry. I made her necklace and my friend Vanessa Conner made her earrings. Vanessa makes some great jewelry and I'm trying to get her to create a website to show it off! The photo is care of Melissa Howlett-- she was one of the very talented photographers at the wedding.

here it is!

my new logo!

TTC pet peeve #1

when the ttc goes on strike and doesn't tell anyone

it made me realize just how much i take it for granted - even though i hate it

TTC Pet Peeve #438

gum smackers
what's worse: a 7-year-old-hubba-bubba-gum-smacker, who insists on tearing apart TTC transfers and leaving them on the ground
i was going to say something to her, i swear, but all I could picture in my head was her mother, who was sitting beside another 7-YOHBGS, coming after me and wacking me over the head with her purse, while she chomped on store bought coissants -- then she would get crumbs all over me; or worse drool, and I would jump up, simultaneously hitting the man's coffee beside me, giving him 3rd degree burns to his face and he sues me for all my non-millions...

it just didn't seem worth it to me

Top 10 Signs You Might Be Addicted to Blogging

I found this on a marketing site I read -- this could be you!

TTC pet peeve #537

inconsiderate people that leave the following anywhere they wish, only to be tripped over and trampled on by other passers-by:

newspapers
wrappers
chip bags
saliva
empty bottles
orange peels
newspapers

people are disgusting

blech

why oh why is it always raining?
i should have joined an indoor soccer league

somewhere in south africa

I just read a really great, albeit depressing book called A Blade of Grass by Lewis DeSoto -- it's part of girlie book club. Carol can't get into it (she may have by now) but I loved it... more on my review shortly...

tulips

i'm very excited to see my tulips coming! i planted them a little too close together i think but i'm excited nonetheless. i love that everything is growing -- i just want to spend all day, every day back there.

pauvre chaise

we got this chair from our neighbour -- the one that died recently. it was sitting out in her front yard so we took it. i want to have it reupholstered but i'm am realizing that it is five million dollars to do this. carol says that you don't get something reupholstered to save money, you do it to keep an antique... i guess she's right but it's not like it's a fancy wing back chair or anything -- i might as well get a new one for the price i'm going to spend on this one. then i was thinking i would do it myself, but i know how i work and it'll sit in my sitting room upstairs and i'll stare at the '60s era gold and brown flowers day in and day out mumbling how i should really get to my sewing machine... i really like the chair so i have to suck it up and pay to get it done -- that's what it really comes down to...

sisters

--stacey, kate and me at dinner for stacey's bday

my extended family is going through some turmoil right now and it makes me really sad because it is between my mom and her sister and her family -- they're not talking and haven't talked since Christmas, when this turmoil kind of began... it makes me so sad to think they're not talking because I couldn't imagine not talking to my sisters. we have our stresses and arguments and differences but overall i think we have good relationships and we aren't afraid to talk to each other about things... i'm a firm believer of not going home/to bed angry because if anything were to happen to one of the parties during the time no talking was going on, I'd have a hard time living with it... I hope they work things out eventually.

habitat

I recently joined the communications committee for Habitat for Humanity Toronto -- here is my first published assignment with them! I'm also going to be working on an urban silent auction to be held in August at the Gladstone -- it sounds like it's going to be a fun gig.

start

things i have to do soon:

-finish my speech for carol's wedding
I was thinking of making it action packed but I think that carol might be scared so I might stick to something with less movement :)

-begin my article on "The Summer of Weddings"

-write an article on "anticipation" for Mosaic Minds

I'm going to write on waiting for my garden to grow because I feel like I'm waiting forever -- I have to realize that it's only April 18.

-clean the fridge, wash the floor and make a Goodwill run

-buy some pots for the yard to plant herbs and other flowers I don't know the names of

-work on the menu for carol's weddding shower and buy a couple mini-gifts for a giveaway

lang

we met friends of ours last night for drinks -- abbey and dave live in Belfast now and have for two years. we haven't seen them since then -- well dave came back for work last year so we hooked up with him for a beer. it's crazy that you can go two years without seeing someone and when you get together again it's like they've never left -- they're the same people with the same personalities with the same funny humor. it's neat to listen to abbey now because she has a slight irish accent. M says it's cause she talks fast now but I think it's an adoption of the language. I wonder if eS will have an accent when she gets back from South America -- probably not but she will definitely know more spanish!

goals of the week to do by the end of the year:

finish my skirt
taking a sewing course with Andrea
learn Italian
write an article
finish my maid of honor speech
make a new dish a week
pay off my debt (that's the biggie!)
take more pictures

little look

I feel like I have this little obsession of looking into other people's lives. I love going to other people's house's to see how they live. Where do they keep their fruit bowl, their Kleenex box or their tooth brush -- do they sit at home and read all night or do they watch tv until midnight. I think that's why I love being out at night so I can walk by all the houses just to imagine what people are doing.

M used to send me pictures of what he was doing during the day -- he'd send me a picture of his lunch or a pair of new boots he bought that week -- I used to love it just because it was something different. I love when people who post pictures of their messy desks - it intrigues me and motivate me at the same time.

today

• it's snowing when it should be sunny and 5 degrees


• booked our trip to NFLD!


• fell asleep again on the bus


• drank a coffee when I shouldn't have


• someone fell on the stairs out front -- someone called 911 so the firemen and EMS came


• got lint all over my black shirt from the sheddy sweater I wore yesterday


• ate a bagel


• procrastinating... again...


• forgot half of my lunch -- I'll have to eat it tomorrow


• meeting my accountant to do my taxes

j.jobs

A girl that worked for me last summer is just finishing her first year in journalism at Carleton and is looking for a job for the summer to get experience. I gave her a few options and thought I share them:

Although it's tough to get jobs in this field, there are a few things you can do to get experience:

Jeff Gaulin Journalism Job Board
This is a great site for jobs. Most of the jobs require more experience but there are some entry level positions and it'll give you an idea of what jobs are available. www.jeffgaulin.com

Community Newspapers/bulletins/newsletters
One of the best thing you can do is volunteer for a newspaper to get some writing experience. Put a package together with your resume, any clips you may have garnered from your school newspaper and other article type news pieces and send it around to some community newspapers in the area. Tell them you're looking at getting experience in the field and that you would love to do some research or look after the community calender, writing up article briefs etc. I did my internship at the Mirror newspapers in Toronto and it was a really great place to get experience and lots of clippings! They might not pay anything but the experience you'll get will be well worth it. Check out this url to search for community newspapers: http://www.ccna.ca/

Volunteer at Rogers
This is a really great way to get amazing experience. Rogers television always has something for volunteers to do -- again not paying positions but you can put this info on your resume and no one needs to know you didn't get paid for it. Check out any opportunities here: http://www.rogerstelevision.com/option.asp?lid=25&rid=16

Charities
One thing I'm doing this year is volunteering for the communications committee for Habitat for Humanity. This is another opportunity to get some good experience, while helping others at the same time. Just search for charities in Google and look at the various press releases etc. to get contact information to see if they need any help.

Freelance Opportunities
Of course freelancing is always a good thing to get started in. It's tough to get into but if you have a good idea you should pitch it to a newspaper to see if you get get your article published.

Here are some other resourses to consider:
http://www.campusaccess.com/campus_weB/educ/e4grad_jopro.htm
http://www.pwac.ca/resources/infores-jobs.htm

The most important thing is to stay positive -- having a career in journalism is tough but rewarding if you stick with it and love what you're doing. I think the best bet out of all these is to volunteer at a community newspaper covering the small community type issues and listings -- it'll get your foot in the door and give you great experience. Also, make sure you write for your school newspaper because the more clippings you get, the better it is for your resume.

Happy Hunting!

yummy

more people seem to be using the subway and bus as a spittoon and they all seem to be sitting near me.

bag lady

pic care of www.sfist.com

For awhile now I've tried to be as environmentally conscious as I can, but it's a tough battle when we live in such a throw-away society. I've never really been one to buy the disposable cleaning mops/cloths and have tried to avoid buying those items caked in layers and layers of needless packaging (I distinctly remember my grade 12 geography teacher telling the class that any time he purchased something with excess, unnecessary packaging, he'd open the product at the cash and leave the garbage behind). But this stuff is so convenient it's hard to get around it.

Many things irk me about all the crap we throw away, but the biggest beef for me right now is the problem with plastic bags. Most times when we buy groceries, we bring with us several canvas bags and back packs so we don't have to shove yet another plastic bag in our Ikea caddy under the sink. It's already bursting as it is. It annoys me all to hell when I go to a store and they want to put one item in a bag -- I buy a pack of gum and cashiers reach like zombies for a bag (on top of that the receipt for this pack of gum is a mile long which can't help the earth either...). What makes it tough to stick with the canvas bag regime is when you decide to buy something while you're out for something else and you don't have a bag handy. I have to get one of those bags that folds up into the size of a playing card so you can put it in your purse. That way I always have something with me.

Another beef is the coffee cup - it seems to have become almost a status symbol -- millions of people buy coffee everyday only to toss their cup in the nearest bin (...or on the ground, or as what I witnessed two weeks ago, on the floor of the bus...). I have to admit I've been very guilty of the coffee cup conundrum. I have a travel mug but it's so big -- how is it possible to keep it with you all the time? My purse (bag) is already stuffed with books and a cellphone and a pda and pens and notepads and tampons and change and a wallet... it takes me half an hour to find my gym pass. What I need to get is a collapsible coffee mug that doesn't take up as much room.

I don't really know where I'm going with this - I guess only to say that we need to be more conscious about what we're buying and how we're bringing it home -- and we all need to get bigger purses so we fit all this reusable stuff.

naked conversations

--eS on her Grand Manan trip

well my sister has made the big trek -- first to LA and then to South America where she'll spend a bit less than two months. I'm really proud of her -- I know it's cheesy to say but she's so brave to head to a land that she knows only what she has read in books -- and by herself. You can read about her travels here.

I went to a lunch seminar on executive blogging today and although the lunch wasn't that great the presentations were interesting. I honestly didn't know what I was going to get out of it because I thought executive blogging was common sense but I learned a few things. Shel Israel was one of the speakers -- and although he says he's more of a writer than a speaker he was excellent. Attendees got a copy of his book Naked Conversationswhich I'm looking very forward to reading. Jim Estill was another speaker -- his presentation was a bit dry at first but he is a funny guy so he was able to put in a few comments that really struck a cord with the audience. I would like to implement a corporate blog at work but it will likely be tough because of the legal and marketing departments. I'm thinking of just bringing the book up to the CEO directly so he can give it a read when I'm done. We'll see -- after I read a bit more about it and do some research on other corp. blogs I'll put something together to see if I get a bite.

back

i threw out my back saturday afternoon after i had been helping carol make a sample wedding invitation. i reached over to grab something and it pulled. i kept walking around when i should have been laying down. we ordered pizza. mark grabbed a piece and was talking as he walked back to the sofa. i reached for a piece and my back seized up and i crumpled to the floor in pain. i couldn't move. tears were streaming down my face. mark came over and asked what had happened. carol came up from the basement. we all stayed still because we didn't know what to do. is this something you call an ambulance for?

the kitchen floor looks so much dirtier from this angle.

we called tele-health and after several questions about if i had control of my bowels and bladder or if i could feel my legs, the woman told me that if i couldn't walk i had to go to the hospital. she would forward my file there -- it wouldn't get me in to see a doctor any faster but at least they would have my file. i decided to stay home. it sounded better than spending three hours sitting on an old orange vinyl chair waiting to see a doctor, only to be told to go home, rest and put a hot water bottle on my back.

the bedroom light isn't centred in the middle of the ceiling.

the pain will go away after a few days -- hopefully -- i'll call the doctor finally, because i've had this chronic back pain for at least seven years on and off and i should really take care of it. i might have to get an operation. i might ignore it altogether -- isn't that how i was raised? I don't have time for __________ (fill in blank) is my mom's favourite saying... considering i feel 80 most days i should probably call the doctor.

neighbours

we thought we killed her because we called her The Devil, and because we said we were waiting for all the old people to die so we could get some more young people in the neighbourhood. but really she died because she had cancer for five years and her poor body just couldn't take it any more. she was 82. she was just our neighbour until we saw that she had a daughter and a son-in-law from nova scotia -- she became real then.

we don't know why we called her The Devil -- we thought she was pretenting to be really old and senile. one minute she'd claim to be old; the next i would see her moving swiftly to and from her house with her heavy clothes basket.

she thought I was a boy when she first saw me strolling up the walkway from the back yard. when she saw that I was female she told me she had strong beliefs and if it scared me that she had strong beliefs. no should it? you just seemed like you were scared when i said it is all. i thought she was telling me she had strong beliefs about two people living together who weren't married, but mark said it was all in my head. she had someone chop our bush down in the front yard because it was hitting her in the face. she thought mark was a little boy when she saw him for the last time before christmas.

they're cleaning out her house now; they had a big dumpster on her front lawn and it was full. there is a lot of work to be done on the house and it will go up for sale in the spring her son-in-law said.

may she rest in peace