The Desire To Do Something Positive

Good Sunday to you blog fans

If you pay any attention to the news, or even just glance over the headlines from time to time, it's hard not to get the feeling that there is nothing happy going on the in the world. Or at least, nothing happy that people feel should be reported.

We live in a culture of fear, anxiety, and pain. It is reported to us via every channel possible, every moment of the day. I often feel like I am drowning in the negative noise of our planet and some days I have trouble seeing the beauty and happiness that is still in the mix of all the bad things that happen in the world.

Please don't think I'm dismissing the tragedies or saying we shouldn't know about them, but I think it's very important to remember that we are all positive and negative. We all have hardships to deal with and moments to celebrate, and I believe that when we focus more light on the positive aspects of all our lives, it will actually give us more clarity and strength to face the negative and be a part of great change.

Over the last 8 years I have become part of a community. I have found a variety of ways to express myself and share my creativity with many people. And I have also been very fortunate to connect with many wonderful people who have passions that they may not shout from the rooftops, but passions, or a love for something that drives them and helps them to keep a positive outlook in life.

On Mondays on this blog, maybe one Monday a month or more than one depending, I would like to feature someone who has love or a passion for something. It could be a love for dance, acting, writing, carpentry, food, whatever! I just want to learn more about what gives people that drive to be positive what they are doing to make their lives and the perhaps the lives of others, a happier place.

I have a list in my head of people I'm going to hit up to be featured on "For the Love Of...", but if yourself would like to be featured, or you know someone who you think should be featured, please drop me a line at

cindy.rule73@gmail.com

Come back tomorrow for the premier post of  "For the Love Of...". Angela Howe will be here to talk about her love for dance.

Here's to being creative,
Cin

Random Passage Tuesday: Say it isn't Sue...

Hello RPT fans

Today's Random Passage Tuesday is genuine in that it's actually happening on a Tuesday and the passage is for definite sure-sies random! I didn't have something happen in my present that triggered a memory about the past. No sir, this post was picked out via grabbing an old dairy from the pile and asking my daughter to pick a number between 1 and 160. (Why yes, since you silently asked, I did number the pages in my diaries.) She picked page number 74 and ooo weeee: It's a doozy!

Enjoy this verbatim passage from April, 11/89. Notes explaining my ridiculous behaviour to follow...

April, 11/89

Dear Diary. You will never believe what happened today!! I was given a 2nd chance! Jamie got off at my stop again! * Can you believe it?! 2 days in a row!! Well I took advantage of it this time, I mean there was no way I was going to blow it again! So I walked up to him & said "Hi" He turns to me with a look in his eyes that could have possibly been suprise & and says "Hi." We then started to talk about our marks & school & that's about it! Then he said "see ya: (He always says that) & I said "Bye" & practically ran into the house! I was so excited! But I'm not going to get my hopes up to much. I'll just wait and see if he walks with me & stuff like that. I mean we proably wouldn't of talked or walked together or anything if I hadn't of said anything. But you never know, maybe Jamie was thinking what I was thinking like maybe she doesn't want me to walk with her ect. Well I dunno! It's not like I'm going to ask him! He was looking at me a number of times when I looked at him in the library today. Or I'd be looking at him & he catch me looking at him. Kim was looking at him to (?) & he caught her about 3 times! Oh Boy! Oh geeze he's go the nicest blue eyes I've ever seen! And he's got such a nice profile!** I'm going to have a cow, Sue won't be hear at school for the rest of the week! Yes!*** Her grandfather died and she's going to Montreal. Aw. Oh I mean I"m sorry her grandfather died but I'm not sorry that she won't be at school! Also today I got my french & history marks. I got 83% in both. My french is up 3% & my history is down 2%. That's ok! Well nothing else to say! Bye!!

So there you are, a little slice of my mind  from grade 10. Now, let's to the notes.

* I had good reason to think he wanted to walk with me since there was another bus stop just around the corner that was actually closer to his house. So there. And for the record, in my next diary entry, he got off at my stop again, walked with me, and started the conversation. So there, so there.

** To be clear, when I said "profile" I actually meant his physical profile...you know the side of his face and not say his online dating profile or Facebook profile.

*** This is one of my greatest regrets. Sue was a girl I hung around with in grade 10 and we had a personality clash. For reasons that at the time seemed justified I took it upon myself to write out a list of things she did that annoyed me  and one day told her how I felt. Instead of kicking me in the girl parts she looked shamefaced, apologized, and tried to tame her ways. I felt awful and still do. What right did I have to do something like that? Okay, yes, she had constantly hit a on boy I liked ( a different by, not Jamie. I liked a lot of boys in high school) even though she knew it bothered me and wasn't interested in him, but I was a very nice person and never liked to hurt people, especially, basically, on purpose. Sue, wherever you are, I'm very sorry. You were vibrant, outgoing, and off the wall. I know now that I was just jealous because I was so shy and didn't have the courage to draw too much attention to myself. I hope the qualities you had then that made you unique are ones that you still possess today.

Random Passage Tuesday: The Specific Passage Friday Edition

Hello Fans of my Random Passages

And welcome to a twisted version of my sometimes happens on Tuesday blog post.

Last week, thousands of girls around the world wept hot, bitter, loud, and ridiculous tears over the fact that the utterly charming Benedict Cumberbatch is no longer on the market. Yes, he is now engaged and set to not marry any his fans.

A few of my concerned friends who know of my celebrity crush on this man, offered sympathy and delicately let me know of his new status. I however, am stronger than many a fan girl, not to mention I am already happily married to a delightful man, and was not moved to even the slightest tear over this news.

You are probably asking, how does this related to Specific Passage Friday? Well, I'll get right to it. Some of you are aware of my almost life long celebrity crush on Michael J. Fox. Like many girls my walls were once plastered with MJF photos from a variety of highly entertaining and factual teen magazines.

My Room in June, 1987.

My room last week. Ha! Just kidding. My room in March 1991. This was 1 of 4 MJF walls.

And, let's be honest, I'm not only one in the world who took those wall pictures and put them in a scrapbook which she still keeps in a bin in the basement, am I right? Can I get a high five for saccharine sentiment?

My daughter likes to say to me, "You've liked him since you were ellllevvven." I can't put into words her tone, but it's full of the kind of mockery that only one raised by parents who work in the medium of sarcasm can master. Anyway, to be short my crush for MJF goes WAY back and has been simmering and keeping it's flavour for over 30 years. AND even though my crush was once mixed with desire to meet him, and have him fall in love with me, and be with me FOREVER I managed to not fall to pieces when he got married. No, it's true. I, who was 15 at the time, managed to face the news with good humour and I have the diary passage to prove it!

As a side note, this verbatim passage includes other interesting tidbits about my enthralling teenage existence.

July, 17/88, 9:30pm

Hi Diary! Today I finally saw Stephan! He got back last night when I was in Quebec. ( & survived when I was there!) He's still gorgeous (meaning he didn't change) except for, well he bleached or did something to his hair! It looks stupid in my opinion but knowing me I'll get use to it! Also Michael J. Fox got married this weekend. (July 16/88) I'm not upset because I like Tracey Pollan & I think they look great together! Wendy phoned today! And like I knew she would she got the $100.00 scholarship prize!  I'm so proud of her! We talked for 21 minutes! We talked about All My Children & how we both cried when Jessie died & we talked about lots of other stuff too! Well Bye!

So as you can see I had a lot going on at the time of Mikey's marriage and so was little moved by the news of his status change. For the record, I've very little memory of Stephan. I can't remember if he was my neighbour to the left of us or if he lived down the road. And wow, I've no memory of purposely watching All My Children while living in Ottawa. And, as I was babysitting full time that summer, I must have subjected the kids I was looking after to all it's dramatic soapyness. Lucky them!

Anyway, that wraps up this week's not so Random Passage. I hope this finds you well and that you too have managed to move on with your lives even though Benedict Cumberbatch is now off limits and no longer spending his life waiting around to not marry you.

Be creative!

Cin

How to Break the Rule in 37 Easy Steps

Hello Blog Fans

I know it's Tuesday and that this should be a "Random Passage Tuesday" post, but I fear peering into my past today would be bad for my fragile state of mind. Instead I hope you enjoy this keen post!

 The following are the steps you will need to have picture perfect kind of day like I had today...and today isn't even over...

1.) Wake up and 9:00am because you stayed up until 12:40am watching 3 episodes of Breaking Bad Season 3.
2.) Make coffee and go back to bed and watch the last 3 episodes of Breaking Bad Season 3.
3.) Crawl out of bed close to noon, make plans to have a shower, and walk down to the store.
4.) Look at your bathroom ceiling and get distracted.
5.) Go to your basement and bring up the step ladder. This will be the first step required to begin the process of painting the ceiling of bathroom.
6.) Lean the step ladder against wall, notice the light in your bedroom is still on, and get distracted.
7.) Decide to make bed.
8.) Fill closet with all those pillows you just can't seem to get to sleep without and get distracted.
9.) Decide to put on music, but instead check your email and facebook. Spend at least an hour chatting online.
10.) Think again about choosing music and get the rest of supplies from the basement to paint ceiling of bathroom (and when you say paint, you mean touch up around the edges where you got blue paint on the ceiling from when you painted the walls of your bathroom blue LAST OCTOBER), but first don't forget to
11.) Make your bed.
12.) And search for your painting clothes.
13.) Take at least 3 tries to put on painting pants. Remember that large hole you have in the knee? You will need time to repeatedly put your foot through the giant hole of your painting pants. If you can almost fall down while doing so, this will add some drama to dressing.
14.) Finally find music to paint by on Songza (Angry 90's music which you will actually find in the "Cooking with Friends" Activity listings).
15.) After you have placed the step ladder precariously in the tub, negotiate your way up it without spilling paint, and successfully deposit white paint on a blue wall instead of the ceiling within seconds. Remember to forget the paper towel.
16.) Carefully negotiate the step ladder (in as safe a manner as you would expect a step ladder to be in a tub) to find paper towel.
17.) Find the paper towel.
18.) Get paper towel that sucks and will force you to once again leave the bathroom (while carefully avoiding falling off your ladder and hitting you head on the shower pole) to find better paper towel that will not smear the successfully deposited white paint on blue paint, but instead take it off.
19.) Once you find better paper towel, negotiate ladder once again, step in puddle of water on the side of your shower, and turn the shower head away from your face so that you don't hit your face or your arm on it while trying to paint.
20.) After you discover that the first brush blows, try a different brush. In fact why not try a series of brushes?
21.) Deposit more white paint on blue wall to add a blast of further exasperation to your painting experience.
22.) When you find that not being able to paint straight loses its edge of fun find a piece of cardboard to hold on wall under where you are painting even though you know that some of it will leak under the cardboard and put white paint on the blue wall.
23.) After proving yourself right, find more paper towel. Try not to get distracted by the amount of grime and dust that you may discover is living on the top edge of your shower.
24.) Have you wiped the cardboard clean of paint? Decided holding is for suckers? Why not search around for some painter's tape and at least make the attempt to do this job properly.
25.) When you can't locate your roll of blue painter's tape, locate 2 empty rolls of masking tape. This will be sure to inject frustration and a sense of  "Why am I trying to do this now?" into your painting experience.
26.) If at this point you realize you are actually angry that you can't find tape and you are now seething while standing in your bathroom with blue flecked ceiling and white flecked walls, why not throw the empty rolls of tape into the garbage in the bathroom?
27.) Excellent, now that you've done that. Do it again because even though you may be standing OVER THE GARBAGE CAN you will somehow MISS the garbage can.
28.) Once the empty rolls of masking tape are firmly affixed in the garbage can, move away and make sure that you ram, with a great amount of speed and conviction, the top of your head into the bottom right hand corner of your medicine cabinet.
29.) This will hurt.
30.) A LOT.
31.) But you'll power through if you then slump to the floor, lean on the closet door and cry, cry, cry for at least...oh say...10 minutes will do.
32.) Once you're feeling better, make a final attempt to paint the blue away from the ceiling with a touch of white. However, after negotiating your way up the step ladder, hit your head, rather hard, the shower bar that you have thus far managed to avoid making contact with and yet this time up the ladder you completely forgot about.
33.) Take the smallest brush in your possession and carefully start the painting process again. Get white on the blue wall immediately. This will lead you to instead clean the grime mixed with dust (and blue paint from last year's painting experience) off the top of the shower wall which is frankly distracting and really gross. As a bonus bit of risk, use a razor blade to help ease the grime off the porcelain...or whatever material your shower is made of...
34.) Let out a huge sigh and decide that you're done. Painting, no matter how much the sight of blue on white bothers you, may not be working in your favour today. You've waited a year, what is another little while going to matter? If you're going to do it, do it right.
35.)  Next, somehow mange to clean up the paint without spilling it or inflicting more injury upon your person.
36.) Make yourself a coffee and go back to part 2 of step 3: make plans to have a shower.
37.) Once you are unclothed, and have run the water in the tub, pull on the shower lever. Ooops! Did you forget to turn the shower head BACK to its normal position? Did you get a shot of freezing cold water land on your back? Did you quickly put the lever down and then pull it up again for reasons that are unknown and you will question later, thereby spraying yourself, and your bathroom floor, with cold water, a SECOND time before realizing exactly why your shower head attacked you? Excellent! When you have completed step 37 to perfection, you will have successfully followed all the steps to a picture perfect kind of day.

I would strongly suggest NOT getting right into Breaking Bad Season 4 this evening, but we both know you're going to do it anyway, right?

Here's to good days, bad days and breaking the rules

Or in this case, just one Rule,

Me

Cin

Random Passage Tuesday: A New Kids Introspective

Hello All

And Welcome to another Random Passage Tuesday!

If you recall, my last RPT was on July, 1st. I took one of my diaries out, opened it to a random entry and found myself eyes to memory with a New Kids concert. However, as it was Canada Day, I decided to do a not so random passage and purposely picked a Canada Day passage from 1987.

Now, the other day at work (and for those who don't know, I work in a fabulous used clothing store called Global Styles) I found this bad boy.

 

There was no question that I had to buy this shirt. In fact, I think I used to own one just like it. When I picked it up and took it home, I decided that my next RPT must be my returning to that above mentioned passage, and transcribing it for your reading pleasure. And as luck or kismet or coincidence or whatever would have it, today, Tuesday, August, 5/14, actually marks the 24th anniversary of the day I went to this New Kids on the Block concert.

As a side note, and therefore before I get to the good stuff, the shirt I'm sporting (oh yes, I'm still wearing it as I write this post) is actually from a different tour...their "Hangin' Tough" tour...which I did go to...5 months before the one I'm about to recall, verbatim, for you. I just thought I would point that out in case there are some of you out there who would know that fact and call me on it. Ok, enough stalling, to the post!

Monday, August 6/1990

...Danny said "This is the time during the show when I strip." & he took his 2 shirts off!! Oh my god! What a body!! Donnie almost always had his shirt off! HE's so good! His sticks* had glow in the dark things on them & lights were all off so all you could see was his sticks! It was cool! Just before they sang "say^with me baby." everyone except Jordon said they were going to use them for a large trick. So they close donnie in the the box they formed with cards. (Joe had a jack on his card & Jordon told him to stop making such a jack of himself!) Then they dropped the cards & donnie was gone but then he suddenly appeared! He had a special belt around his waist with ropes on it & it was attached to a moving trolley thing on the cieling of the stage! It was so funny! He hung upsidedown & everyother position while he sang! It was great! Danny did some breaking+ dancing too! It was amazing he didn't hurt himself on the wet stage. (out of passage interjection: the concert was outside and it was f'in raining. Crazy raining.) Almost at the beginning of the concert they introduced their band. And they have a sitar in their band (which I found amusing because of Paul** at work.) Joe & Donnie kept arguing about whether it was a guitar or a sitar. Donnie would say "It's a guitar." & Joe then yelled "Sitar" "guitar!" "sitar!" "guitar!" "sitar!" It was hyllerious#!

I then go on and on for another 2 pages (in total this entry was 12 pages) and as you can guess, it's all brilliant prose, but before I leave you to think over today's RPT, I have one more passage to share, and believe me, it's worth the read.

He (Donnie) was saying that the other day  he read in the paper that New Kids on the block fans were not very intelligent & he didn't think that was a fair thing to say because were didn't do drugs, we were posotive minded people & we weren't pregidice! So that means that people who aren't intelligent are the ones who say we aren't. Because they're the ones that said New kids wouldn't last  & yet after 3 years they're still #1!!! And they weren't going to listen to them anymore & they were going to always keep "Hangin' Tough!" & and then they sang it!

And so, my friends, that ends this Random Passage Tuesday. Well almost ends. I believe I have some notes...

* I have no memory of what these stick I speak of were.
^ that would actually be "Stay" not "Say". Sorry about that true NKOTB fans.
+ I'm sure I meant break dancing. I was probably just so caught up in my entry that I added the "ing" without thought or reason.
# I think we know that as "hilarious" as that sitar guitar chat battle was, the funniest thing about that memory is how badly I spelt hilarious.
** Paul was a guy (and probably still is a guy) I worked with at Innis Road Golfland (ow-I've got some memories of that place somewhere) and he was OBSESSED with Ravi Shankar.

Ok, I'm am all done. Thanks for joining me today.

Here's to days that are journal worthy.

Here's to ignoring the haters.

Here's to "Hangin' Tough"

Cin

The Accidental Tourist

Hello all

Yes, yes. I know the title of this post is also the name of  a movie starring...I want to say William, no John Hurt and Barbara Hershey I think. And technically when I'm in Ottawa (which is the place from where the facts of this post will be drawn from), I'm not a tourist. I've lived there. We go there often. We stay with family (lucky them!). But that's the title you're getting so enjoy or mope. Makes no never mind to - NO, wait. It is William Hurt.

There's no doubt about it folks, I am accident prone. My body moves about space in such a way that sometimes I think parts of it are magnetically drawn, in a mysterious and disturbing way, to solid objects. I'm not alone in this so please don't think I think that I'm special. It's just that sometimes, it really gets on my nerves.

While in Ottawa, I injured myself three times and we were only there for a week. Once in the bathroom, once in the kitchen, and once in the living room. Let me tell you the tale and for the added ingredient of fun, I've included photos.

Once upon a time there was a bathroom that I have been in about a thousand times.

I was doing my normal bedtime routine (brushing, thinking about flossing) and upon finishing my teeth regime, I turned to use the toilette before retiring to bed because that's what I do. As I turned to my right, I connected head to wall with this.

I have been near this bit of wall the same amount of times I've been in this bathroom. I have leaned on it when my back was sore, leaned against it when I was sick, been near it enough that I am perfectly aware of it's existence in the bathroom. It's a part of the good and bad of my bathroom experience and I thought we had an understanding that pain from it was not on the table. Clearly it felt differently because that night  it decided to get nasty and leap in my way. While half asleep and already feeling moo, I did this...

See where I'm pointing? I slammed my forehead onto the edge of this wall. Let me tell you, it smarted rightly and I don't mind letting it be known that I said some very choice words out loud for the wall to hear. Take that wall!

The next day, while rummaging for lettuce (the only way to look for lettuce) in the fridge, I hit my head again.

Right below the instructions for how to cook Sean's aunt's delicious apple pie to golden perfection, just left of where my poor head had had a date with the edge of the wall, I rammed my forehead mountain goat like into the freezer door. I reeled back and almost cried and not because it hurt, which is did, but because I was highly ticked off that once again, my lack of spacial relations and body magnetism worked together to bring me pain.

For the next few days, I did ok. I managed to walk through the world without hitting everything as I strolled  near it. However, the second to last night we were there, I had an unfortunate encounter with this bit of evil.

Oh yes, my friends. You now what's coming. I had a run in with a rocking chair. Below are pictures of Sean performing a dramatic reenactment of my encounter with said rocking chair.

Now while these pictures are colourful, blurry, and entertaining, they are false. This is what I would call "an exaggerated and controversial retelling" of the incident. The truth of the matter is that as I sat down I somehow manged to get my right foot under the right rung, foot thingy and rocked forward on it as I placed myself fully onto the seat. Boy, bloody HOWDY did it hurt. I tried, I really tried to keep the swearing in, but there was no way to stop the words from bursting forth. I wouldn't say I cursed a blue streak because it was only one phrase, but it was given a lot of loud air. I would post a picture to prove I have a bruise, but I couldn't get a picture that really showcased it. I'm VERY pale and at best picture reveals my unflattering, pasty glow.

The next day, as well as bruise, (seriously, I do have one. Trust me) I almost had an aversion to shoes which made my day challenging as I needed to wear shoes on purpose in order to drive to the liquor store so that I could purchase a most delicious bottle of, not found in my local liquor store, Honey Badger Red Wine. It's the ultimate yum in a bottle.

And there ends my week of injuries. I have managed to not hurt myself too much upon my return home. However, it is only a matter of time before my body feels the pull of sharp, hard things and I - you know, I'm going to stop there. This blog post is taking a turn I hadn't intended.

Here's to being clumsy.

Here's to being creative.

Cin

Random Passage Tuesday: OH! It's Canada Day!

Hello All!

It's been a while since I've done post so let's get on with it!

Danny said "This is the time during the show when I strip." and he took his -

Wait, wait, wait. Hold the post. It's Tuesday and so I should be posting a random diary passage, but it's also Canada Day, so instead I'm going to do "Specific Passage Tuesday" and share with you a passage from July, 1/1987: The day my family and I left Victoria, BC to begin our 4 year stint in Ottawa, ON.

I warn you, that this diary entry, the first entry in this diary (just to lend another layer of learning), may be considered "Too Much Information", but in my first Random Passage Tuesday post I promised to transcribe what was on the page verbatim so verbatim is what you're going to get.

***

Check out the inside cover. Did I have low self esteem 

or was 

I really obsessed with lighters?

Canada Day, July, 1/1987

Today Dear Diary we left the island headed on a long sweaty hot trip to Ottawa wear my new home is now located*. We travelled for about 5 hours. I am now in Salmon Arm and staying at the Best Western. WE we left the island I didn't want to cry or be really happy. I guess I didn't really know how I felt but after I went swimming at the motel I suddenly  start to cry and realized tht I was very sad & that I really wanted to be back in Victoria where I had lived for 14y. 4m. & 15 days. Also today I guess you could say that I became a mature young lady. I got my period after we had dinner. It's not a very heavy flow of blood and not a lot of pain. My Mum & Dad took me out to get pads and pantie liners. Well that's about it talk to you tomorrow.

(* Yes, yes, I know. I was way off on the "wear" and the sentence sounds like my new home was located elsewhere before it got moved to Ottawa.)

 ***

And that, my friends, was my day exactly 27 years ago. Today I expect my day to be a lot different except that, like that July 1st I said goodbye to all I had ever known, it's going to be a very sweaty hot one. And I'd just like to add that this was one of the most significant days of my life. I didn't realize it then and in fact wouldn't realize it until we moved back to Victoria 4 years later that this move away from all I'd known to the unknown gave me the foundation to become very adaptable and good with change. Most change, big change. Small changes can throw me such as putting the vegetable peeler in a new location every time you dry to dishes...I'm not on board with that kind of change. (It goes in the small flower pot that's ON the counter, OK???) But, big changes, I accept and embrace because life is about growing as a person and you don't grow, if you don't accept change.

Now, before I let you get back to your Canada Day Shenanigans, I am aware that some of you, who are in the know, may be hoping for a Canada Day Dress Photo (see the page I've set up specifically for these pictures) but last year, the 10th anniversary, was the finale. I'll still snap a picture of Sorcha for posterity, but the dress has most definitely been retired.

Enjoy your day, my friends,

And Happy "Cindy Became a Mature Young Woman Day" to you all.

Cin