One Minute Writer #37

Write about a memory you have that involves swimming.

I actually just told this story to a co-worker and I am pretty sure I have told it to most people who have spent a decent amount of time with me, but I will say it here again.

I am afraid of sharks. To be more specific, I am afraid of large amounts of water, vast oceans and whatnot. Growing up, we always had a pool. This pool had a shallow end that had a slight ramp that lead into the deep end. When I was younger, I imagined that the ramp would open up and all sorts of sea creatures could then swim right into my pool, including sharks and large whales. They of course would eat me. Though sometimes, they were mermaids and they would play out the Little Mermaid with me.

Super Ex

Sunday Dave and I got a phone call from my brother asking if we wanted to join him and Lynn at the Super Ex. It was rather unexpected, a random phone call and invite from my brother, but it sounded like fun.
We headed to the fair and took a tour of the rides to decide the best way to buy coupons. You could get a wrist band for $36 and go on an infinite number of rides, or you could get 22 coupons for $30. Both couples chose the latter as Dave is really the only person who can go on crazy rides and would therefore be the only one who could benefit from the wrist band.We went on the Scrambler (or Sizzler) first as it is apparently Lynn's favourite ride. I think it is also my favourite now, though I remember when I was younger I like the tilt-a-whirl and its many variations. I have learned in recent years, however, that my stomach is weak and can no longer enjoy the crazy rides, so I must now stick to the tame ones.
We then went on a really pathetic Haunted House ride. The 'scary' elements wouldn't have been able to scare a five year old, let alone some 20-something year olds. Also, the seats were so tiny and cramped that Dave with his long legs, could barely fit in. The seat belt barely went around us since his legs had to be so high up. Luckily, or sadly since we paid three coupons for the ride, it lasted only about two minutes and the pain was short lived.Dave was the most daring of the foursome and went on one of the aforementioned crazy rides. I forget what it was called, but it basically you sat in this seat, with your legs dangling. You were then tossed around, upside down and all over the place. I couldn't even imagine being able to go on a ride like that - even when I was younger I don't think I could have done it.
We also took a walk through the 4H/farm area where we saw many adorable animals, like baby goats and bunnies. We also so some male goats practicing their head rams, it was kind of neat. There were also these dyed chickens - seriously, green, pink, yellow and blue chickens - it was very odd.We watched the predator and prey show and got to see some big cats outsmart their trainers and be super lazy in general. But who can blame them really, it was really hot out and I don't think that was their first show of the day. And there were of course baby lions, that's right, lion cubs. Unfortunately, I was so overcome by cuteness that I didn't get a very good photo of them.
All in all, it was a really great day. I did get a sunburn and a case of sun stroke, which was solved later on by some gravol and gravol-induced sleep, but it was still a really fun day.

Double Decker

Double Decker buses have come to Ottawa!
The buses were initially tested as part of a pilot project back in 2006 and 2007. The pilot project was predominantly for operational and performance testing as was apparently deemed successful by the City. They purchased three double decker E500 buses from manufacturer Alexander Dennis Ltd. Standing 14 feet high and 40 feet long, the double decker bus carries more passengers than an articulated bus. They will mainly be used on Transitway and express routes to take advantage of the increased capacity. The new buses can carry 96 passengers (82 seated and 14 standing), compared to an average of 70 passengers on articulated buses. The bus is obviously accessible and can accommodate two electric wheelchairs. Other features include quiet noise levels (inside and out), improved ride quality and large windows for better views of the city.
Today on the way back from a site visit I saw one running the 112 route near my work and was pretty excited. I tried to limit my excitement level as the new employee was in the car with me and I didn't really want to seem that odd. Since it is the bus that a few coworkers take to get to work I want to see if any of them have ridden the new buses and what they are like.

Gone Again

Dave is away again for work, this time for a week. He is working on asbestos update surveys and later on in the week he is doing some waste audits. But instead of a hotel or a rented house, he is staying with my parents. I like the idea because I know he will be comfortable and get some luxuries too, like the pool and hot tub, not to mention the adorable puppy.
He is only away for a week but it is still a very lonely time for me and I can't wait until Friday when he comes back home.

Puppy Love

Another adorable post from Cute Overload. From what I have read, there was a dog, a Japanese (natch) Chihuahua, born with a marking shaped like a heart. His name is Heart-kun and it brought great luck to its owners. Well the tiny dog now has an even tinier brother named Love-kun with a similar heart marking. I just think they are tiny and adorable and I want to squish the little baby one. *squish*

Apparently this story is so news worthy that it appeared in the LA Times. The breeder has no intentions of selling either dog, and why would they?! *squish*

One Minute Writer #36

What would be your perfect night out?

My perfect night out is actually a night in. Sitting around watching movies or playing games, hanging out with Dave and possibly friends if they are available.
If I have to go out at night, it would likely be photography based or to see a movie in theatres. Perhaps a dinner out with friends, though if I have my way, this is done during the day and consists of shopping as well.
I am a homebody, I accept this.

One Minute Writer #35

How do you feel when you walk into your home after an out of town trip?

This summer Dave and I have gone on a few trips and he himself has been away for business a couple times as well. Usually when we return from some time away from the house, we feel relieved, though tired. I usually feel more relaxed as I have my things around me in case I need them and I am anxious to get whatever photos I took during the time away onto my laptop. Lately though, I have become restless upon arriving home. I think this is due to the state of our house. We usually try to clean up the house before we head out for a trip, but we pretty much always fail. Before heading out to the cottage, we had no time whatsoever and did absolutely nothing to clean up. Therefore, when we got home, the fridge was full of spoiled food and the kitchen was a mess. Fortunately, it did not smell as we did take out the garbage before leaving. If the house is not clean or at least tidied up a bit, before leaving for a trip, coming back to it afterwards isn't as relaxing as it should be.

Beauty

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye." - Miss Piggy.

Beauty is an odd thing when you think about it. Many years ago women of larger size would have been a man's number one choice when it came to marriage. They were beautiful. Then came the corset, which in my opinion, was one of the first main contributors to today's body image problems. I am sure everyone who knows me knows how much I detest the way women are portrayed in the media today - what with all the retouching and editing, it is simply disgusting. It is hard enough trying to live up to the standards of beautiful women strolling the streets, but to now have to live up to completely edited and retouched ones on the magazine covers makes things so much worse. Even the stars portrayed on the covers can't do it.

Kelly Clarkson appears on the September cover of Self Magazine a significantly slimmer version of herself, see image on left. She has fought with her weight in the past and even within the pages of this magazine, she declares that she has come to terms with her weight and likes her curvy-self, see image on right. This photo had created an uproar and was even on Canada AM this morning. Lucy Danziger editor-in-chief for the Magazine said “Kelly Clarkson displays self-confidence, and she is a role model for today’s women, regardless of their sizes and ethnicity. Kelly Clarkson is a strong and healthy woman and is working out regularly, and all our magazine did is to display that confidence, self esteem and beauty. We love this cover and we love Kelly Clarkson.”. Now, even the critics are saying that magazines such as this one aren't really photo-journalism but really just images used to sell their magazines and therefore lean more towards creative art, I still don't think there should be a highly edited photo on the magazine cover when inside that same person is quoted saying things like "When people talk about [it], I’m like, ‘You seem to have a problem’ — I don’t, I’m fine!’ ” the pop star says of her larger size. “I’ve never felt uncomfortable on a red carpet or anything.”. If this is the article you wish to write and have in your magazine, then the images shown about it, should portray the same message.

Those who know me, know I have a weight problem. I will be the first to admit that I am overweight and need to do something about it. But unlike others, I am trying to do something about it and I believe I am going about it in a healthy and mature way. There are no diet pills involved and no unrealistic goals to achieve. I am not saying I am perfect in my weight loss, trust me I am far from it, but I am doing the best I can while still enjoying myself along the way. But to be honest, images of 'perfect' women do not help me. I get frustrated and angry that I cannot look like them and I am a 25-year old woman who knows a great deal about Photoshop. Think about those 13-year old girls who might actually think that these women look like this, or at least close to it. The expert on Canada AM this morning said that eating disorders are the third most prevalent disease in teenage girls, which worries me greatly. I personally have never had an eating disorder (I love eating food too much to be anorexic and hate throwing up so much that being bulimic never really crossed my mind), but have known girls who fought these issues and the hardships they went through to overcome them.

I realize that my blog and those of other angered people out there aren't going to stop the extensive editing done today. And in all reality, it may never end. Technology is so great, and you can make the people look so wonderful, why would it stop? Companies can make so much money selling magazines with stellar people on the covers and then have weight loss ads within, why would these money hungry people want to discontinue their outlandish incomes? But I can do something about it in my own photography. Since I started I have never edited someone to be a smaller size than they were and I like to think I will never be swayed to do it. In classes we have learned how to decrease one's age or figure and I have learned that these are things I do not want to do. I believe there are better ways to capture and portray a persons'best-self. At most change lighting or angles, at least then you are still capturing that person as they are and not how you or someone else wants them to be. Go ahead and get rid of that pimple, it is not a permanent feature of anyone, but leave most everything else.

Haiku #6 - WoW

World of Warcraft game,
Addictive drug for many,
Nice pastime for me.

Growing Up Today

While at the cottage this year, Dave and Justin got into a discussion about children and values. I am not entirely sure how it started, as I entered the conversation after it had begun, but it definitely got me thinking. They were questioning how you raise a children with religion in their life. Do you impose your religion upon them? Do you allow them to chose for themselves? And if so, at what age to you do this? How do you do this correctly? How do you enable yourself to give them all the information they need about the different religions in the world and how they may or may not fit in with their life?

I found this blog through 'The Secret is in the Sauce' site (you may have noticed the new button on my blogs), and found this particular post very interesting. I feel that her delimna of teaching a child good morals and values in a world that is often lacking them, is pretty much universal across religions. Also, as she is actually a parent dealing with these problems now and the three of us are just a few steps away from that stage of life (to say the least), I therefore feel her opinion has a better viewpoint to it than ours. Anyways, check it out if you are interested, there are also some interesting comments from other mothers and bloggers alike.

Three Amigos

The leaders of the North American countries met in Mexico for what is called a Little Summit. They discussed issues pertaining to our continents and the countries on a whole. On the agenda are issues such as the 'Buy American' provision set out by Obama, the immigration regulations for Mexicans instated by Harper and general concerns and plans for the economy and violence. According to CNN, the themes of the summit are: one, economic recovery and competitiveness; two, citizen safety and security; and three, clean energy and climate change. There are no major announcements expected, and CBC has claimed that, for Canada, it is really just important to get some face time with our neighbour.

OMG (Little) Ponies!

Cute Overload had the post title right on this one!

They first posted this picture of a baby mini horse that was born dwarf:

They then countered that post posted this one:

Seriously, these things look like toys. In fact, they look just like the My Little Pony toys that I loved growing up - well if they were purple or blue with pink hair! I just want to cuddle them.

Follow Me

Blogger allows you to follow blogs you enjoy reading on a regular basis. You can receive updates on them via your own blogger account about new posts. I follow several blogs, most of which are linked from this one on the right hand side. It enables me to read the first few lines of a post and see if it is something I want to continue reading - which it usually is as I only follow blogs I actually like.
I know have a spot where the people who follow me are listed. You will notice that for this particular blog, it is blank. I have one follower of my photography blog (and had a second at some point, but I guess they stopped) and one on my weight loss blog (from one of my forums). Anyway, it is there if you want it - for now I just enjoy having more features on the side panels.

Bird in the Hand

As many of our friends know, Dave's dad is a fire fighter in Peterborough. He risks his life to save others on a daily basis but the other day they saved the life of a crow.

According to the email he sent us, they often get calls about cats stuck in trees and refer, amongst themselves, to an ongoing joke of a bird stuck in a tree. And then it happened - they got a rescue call for a bird stuck in a tree.

The crow had apparently gotten caught in the tree via some fishing line and could not break free. The homeowner who made the call had waited a couple of days hoping it would come free on its own but eventually called for assistance.

When the fire fighters arrived on scene they cut down the branch the bird was tied to and brought him down. They then cut off the tangled line and released the bird back into the wild. The really interesting thing is that the homeowner said the bird's family (other crows) had been bringing it food over the past couple of days while it was trapped. The birds then reunited once the bird was freed. (Thanks to John Koning for sharing this story and the photos.)

John Hughes

John Hughes, Jr - February 18, 1950 - August 6, 2009

John Hughes made some of the most memorable (and successful) movies of the 1980s and 90s. He was the writer and director of cult classics like National Lampoon's Vacation, Uncle Buck, Sixteen Candles and Home Alone. He understood the American teenager like no other filmmaker in the industry at the time, or arguably ever since.

My personal favourites of his films are Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Uncle Buck, Pretty in Pink and of course, The Breakfast Club. I can remember watching these movies on my VCR and then time and time again whenever they appeared on television - which was quite often. For a full listing of his films visit either Wikipedia or IMDB. He has not made a movie since 1991, but really, when your resume holds classics such as his, do you really need to give into Hollywood's new movie standards?

I really like the following article entitled 8 Things in John Hughes Movies You Won’t See in Today’s Teen Movies. All the points mentioned here are why Hughes' movies are such classics that can no longer be duplicated or remade to be any better than they already are.

The Dog Ate It

Saw this quote today and thought it was pretty clever:

"Home computers are being called upon to perform many new functions, including the consumption of homework formerly eaten by the dog."

-Doug Larson

Post Cottage 2009 (aka Vacation #3)

The receipts have been counted and tallied, the car has been washed, vacuumed and generally de-sanded and the photographs (for the most part) have been downloaded to the computer. Now comes the process of editing and retouching and displaying the memories.
Cottage 2009 was a very successful trip and was definitely a great vacation #3. It did well as the final summer vacation of 2009 and, like every year, I am very thankful to Chris and her family for allowing us to join them at their cottage.Friday afternoon we headed out of Ottawa with a very full car and drove Erin out to Belleville. We then had the worst Pizza Hut experience ever as it took 2 hours to get, eat and pay for our food, for which they attempted to overcharge us. Driving the rest of the way was pleasant and we got into Paris at about 11 after picking up Justin from Brantford. Saturday morning we drove to Long Point and arrived at the cottage at about lunch time.
I love Chris' Cottage - it is so pleasant and peaceful. The moment you walk through the door you are instantly calmed and all the troubles of the real world are lifted from your shoulders. Sunday morning Dave and Justin headed to his family reunion while Chris, Jerrica and I went sailing with Chris' family. It was an incredibly windy day and despite the fact that I was perfectly fine on the boat last year, I got sea-sick. I did not get physically sick though, which is good because according to Chris' uncle no one has thrown up on the Meridian yet (he would know since he is one of the owners of the boat). When the guys got home we made a fire and had delicious smores. (pictures to come at a later date - stupid SD card).Monday was the Too Late for Canada Day party, an event we usually miss as we have to head back to Ottawa that day but since we were staying extra long this year, we got to participate. Dave made a little buddy very quickly and learned even faster that this particular little buddy was not the type you want to have. We ended up hiding out in our room playing Guitar Hero for a little bit to relax and by the time we came out, the little buddy was gone. I practiced my night photography a bit more this night but am not entirely pleased with how they came out.Tuesday was pretty low-key. We went swimming as we had every day and played a fair bit of Settlers. We went grocery shopping and made Pad Thai for dinner, which I am told was pretty good. A little more settlers later and the night was over.Unfortunately we have come to Wednesday, which was the day we left. We drove back to Ottawa sad and tired. Dave and I had to keep switching as we were both really tired and neither of us could drive for very long. Oh and as a side note, never go to the Brantford bus station unless you really have to - that place is so sketch!

One Minute Writer # 34

If you could have one talent that you don't naturally have, what would it be?

To be more charismatic. I would love it if, while in a conversation, I could make people think or even just be able to keep the conversation going in a non-awkward way. I am not a very social person and when I am around those I am not really close with, I tend to come across mean or elitist. I do not think I am actually either of those things, but have not yet learned how to properly portray myself to others. Since I am already 25 I have a feeling I will never be great in social situations, but I do still believe that I could better myself in this department with a bit more practice.

Google Docs

I used Google Docs when I was in school a fair bit - particularly when I was completing my fourth year project with three other classmates. That report was massive and had to be worked on by all team members at all times. Google Docs enabled us to all have the report open at the same time and be editing together. At the bottom of the shared report, it would state all the other users who had that document open. You would then be able to write away in whatever area you desired. Upon saving the document it would be updated with all the other users information. If there was a conflict between user (ie. two people had made changes in the same location) you would be given the option of which changes to accept. It works in a similar fashion to the shared documents within the new version of Microsoft Office, which is also a handy feature I have become accustomed to at work.

One Minute Writer #33

If your walls could talk, what would they say?

Man, those people sure do like video and computer games.

And the walls would be right.

Site Visit Buddies

As previously mentioned, Dave and I spent about a week and a half completing designated substance surveys at CFB Rockcliffe. Though there are still a few families living in these homes, the vast majority of them are vacant and they are all scheduled for demolition. The entire area has been taken over by animals - predominantely groundhogs. They watch our every move while we are on site and are absolutely adorable despite the massive amounts of damage they are doing to the houses, roads and driveways with they underground tunnels. I couldn't help but take a few photos of them eventhough I only had my little work camera which is beaten up pretty badly and set to a ridiculously low picture quality setting. Aren't they cute?!

Scheduled Posts

Blogger has this amazing feature I like to call Schedule Posts. Well, it isn't really called that, it is just what it is. When writing posts for your blog(s) you can schedule them to post at any time. I love this feature because I often feel very creative and like writing several posts in one go. I think it would be a little annoying to come to this site, however, and find that I wrote 7 posts the day before. So I schedule them to appear over the next few days. It also helps in keeping my posts regular as now when I have time to write several posts, I can and then have them appear on the site on days that I know I will be too busy to write new posts or days when I am out of town and incapable of posting.
For example, I am currently on a beach on Lake Erie enjoying the sand and sun with my friends (and my camera) but I have been able to keep the posts coming as I sat down a few days before my departure and wrote as many posts as I could. I know, since it is the August long weekend, very few people will be visiting this site, but I still felt it necessary to have something here for those that did find a few minutes to come see me.

One Minute Writer #32

Write about something you made as a child.

I made lots of things when I was little as I was a very crafty child. I often made my parents Christmas gifts rather than buying them things as I thought it would mean more to them. Shortly after my grandmother died when I was 5, my grandfather gave back all the childhood pictures of my brother and I that my mom had given them. He wasn't a very sentimental person and was selling the house and living basically in his motor home as we drove around the states, so they were not going to be of any use to him. When I grew up a little, my mom gave them to me. I then proceeded to use them in crafts for my parents as my mom didn't mind if I cut them up or glued them into things. I made all sort of frames for them with our baby pictures in them and whatnot.
A really memorable gift I made my dad also relates to my grandfather. He used to make wood objects, like ducks and whatnot. He made a duck one sort of like a puzzle. There were about 14 different pieces to it and I painted each one a different mallard duck colour and then pieced and glued them together. I then gave it to my dad as he, like me, loves ducks and we often made trips of going out and watching them together. He had it in his office at work from then up until he retired. It now resides in their bedroom right next to the stand that holds his watch, wallet and wedding ring every night.