Sunday, May 08, 2005

A Schmallmark moment

Step-parenting has got to be the most thankless job in the world. Even counting those jobs which sniff out underarm odor, or test other people's turds for signs of disease. But then these are paying jobs so perhaps they shouldn't count. I can't think of any parallel to step-parenting. Wait a minute. Being a worker bee comes close. Slave and toil to make honey and along comes some schmuck in a net and steals it, puts a lid on it and says he made it. Yeah, that about covers it.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

A letter to Peter Mackay

Today I wrote a letter to Peter Mackay, who I believe is the deputy leader of the Conservative Party. I wrote it in frustration at the Conservatives who are threatening to force an election and spend even more of our tax dollars just because they want to be right.


Hello Mr. Mackay,

You seem to be the only voice of reason in the Conservative party during these frenzied days so I am appealing to you, as a very concerned citizen and frustrated taxpayer, to please, please convince Mr. Harper to get down off his high horse and think before he drives this country into another election all because he wants to be right.

Us little guys - otherwise known as ordinary citizens - feel totally helpless when we see what is going on in the halls of power.

Yes, we are totally repulsed by what has gone on under the Liberals. Mr. Gommery is getting to the bottom of that. But we also have no assurance that what has happened under the Liberal mandate didn't previously happen under the P.C. mandate, and all other mandates since Confederation. In other words, to us little guys, it looks like the system is broken. Plain and simple.

What we want and need is someone who will fix the system, not just grab the reins of power of the current broken-down, lice-infested system.

What we want and need is someone who cares enough about this country to make things right - and what better time to effect change than when the opposition has the government on the ropes. Mr. Harper could do so much good for Canada by sitting back, putting on his thinking cap and coming up with solutions for how this country is best governed. For that matter, under a minority government, we could have some of the best government this country has ever seen. All it takes is for people to care more about the country than they do about their political careers.

The prospect of another election when my vote will once again not matter one hoot under the first-past-the-post system, is discouraging, depressing and downright scary.

I would personally like to see the party system disbanded. Let every MP be elected on his or her own merits.

If we can't have that, then, for the sake of all that is fair and decent, then we at least need Proportional Representation. Why is it that neither of the two main parties will espouse that view? Probably because they have too much to loose. The country and democracy is the biggest loser.

Mr. Mackay, please, get your leader to stop screaming media-sound-bites that sound good but mean nothing. Please get him to stop wanting to be right and instead get him to think of Canada first, not his political future. I wrote to him very nicely last week to express my concern for the direction he seemed to be taking. I never even got the courtesy of a reply. This does not auger well for his future as a leader. My letter to him is attached.

Signed,
A concerned and sad taxpayer.

Sunday, May 01, 2005

What a weekend!

Last night someone came ringing our doorbell and hammering on the door at 10:30 p.m. I was immediately wary. Hubby was prepared to open the door to see who was there until I screamed at him to just look out the window and only open if we know who it is. He looked out. Nobody there. I looked out from the stairwell window. Saw nothing. Nobody. Hmm. We pondered a bit, looked out some more and then went to check the back door and the garage. Nothing unusual there. Back to the front door. Still nobody about. We opened the door and ventured out. Nothing to be seen. Could smell cigarette smoke though. Could also smell it in the hall and the kitchen. I was spooked by this time. Called the neighbour across the street to see if she'd heard anything. She hadn't but appreciated the heads up.

Hubby went to the bathroom. I went to water some flowers. While I was filling up my jug, there was light knock on the door. I panicked. Hubby said I was hearing things. That it was just him in the bathroom. I said if it was only him if he was knocking in there. He wasn't. We ventured to the front door again and looked out. Saw nothing. Eek. Then saw our neighbour's husband standing away from the steps. Phew. He said he hadn't wanted to spook us.

He said he had been in the garden doing some odd jobs and saw two fellows at our door. They had torn off down the side path (which is not visible in the dark so they had to have known it was there.)

Today one of the stone steps was overturned so we didn't dream this.

I hate living here. I hate having to be afraid to open my door. I can't wait to get back to Newfoundland where if someone will hammer on your door only if they need your help badly or if they're mummering.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

A letter to Stephen Harper

Today I wrote a letter to Stephen Harper who, at the earliest opportunity, is going to bring down the government. Someone must stop him. I tried to be polite and not let my distrust (and okay, dislike) of the man show through. Did I succeed? You be the judge. (I'm not hopeful that it will do any good. The last time I wrote him about something, he never even acknowledged my email.) Here's the letter:


Dear Mr. Harper,

With the testimony coming out in the Gomery inquiry, it is evident that the political system in Canada is broken.
- Taxpayer's money is not accounted for.
- MP's and cabinet ministers curry favour with their friends using government (taxpayer's) money.
- Ordinary citizens become millionaires at the public trough (i.e. taxpayer's wallet).
- Campaign workers are rewarded with plum jobs at taxpayer's expense.
- All and sundry lie, cheat and steal at taxpayer's expense and there is no mechanism of checks and balances to prevent, uncover or punish this in a timely manner.
- The system that we trust to give us good government is at the mercy of political parties.

I could go on but you know all of these things already. And I am troubled.

I hear you saying that you want to force an election, possibly as early as next week. I hear you saying that this government doesn't deserve to be in power. I hear you saying that the Liberals need to be swept away.

What troubles me is that I have not heard you say anything about how you would fix the system, what you would to to prevent this kind of thing from happening again.

What is needed now, Mr. Harper, is for a man of vision - you, perhaps - to come up with ideas on what can be done to fix the system. We need someone of vision to make parliament work. You are in a position to extract much from the government, to make things work as you think they ought and to do much good for Canada. It has long been my opinion that minority government is the best government for the country.

The people elected a minority government last year and that's what we still want. We want you to make it work. We want the people we elected to talk, to discuss, to negotiate, and to come up with the best plan for this country. We do not want you spending another half a billion dollars just so you can replace Paul Martin as the head of a broken system.

You have an opportunity here to effect real change, to be a man of vision that Canada needs more than anything right now. I am sorry to say that so far, Mr. Harper, all I see is another politician - and we have far too many of those already - who is eager to spend even more of the taxpayer's money to further his own political agenda.

Signed,
A sad taxpayer.

Monday, April 18, 2005

Is it better to know?

On the weekend, I got talking to a neighbour who said that he no longer listened to the news or read the newspaper. There was just too much negativity in the world and the media dwell on it. I agree with him.

We also talked about our little neighbourhood park which is currently under threat by a mega-grocery store being built nearby. I mentioned that while I like the park, I almost never go there, even as a shortcut because the few times I have done so, there have been older kids lurking there and I feel unsafe.

Now. If I didn't read the newspaper or listen to the news, I probably would not know about the swarmings that happened in this town last year, or about the fellow who has been exposing himself to young girls this last few weeks. I would not know about the man who was attacked for no apparent reason while walking home in broad daylight and left seriously hurt. So. If I didn't know these things, I might go to the park more often, in fact, I might even go and sit in the park by myself and read or watch the birds or something. It would not occur to me that the kids lighting the fire a few yards away might not want me to see what they are doing. I'd be a Pollyanna. Would it show on my face and keep me safe?

I've stopped reading newspapers before -- I particularly remember during the Gulf War. I had had it up to here with killing and death and resolved not to watch any more. Maybe it's time to stop again. The problem is, I'm already cynical (like you wouldn't believe), so I doubt it would make me a more trusting person. Certainly, everything I hear now only serves to reinforce what I believe about human nature. That it is inherently self-serving and destructive to anything and everything around it. But more about that another day.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Things to do before I die

With all this talk about dying lately - Terri Shiavo in Florida - my thoughts have understandably turned to that ultimate act. However, I just came across a site in which the author lists things he wants to do before he dies.
I think that I've somehow lost that enthusiasm for new things. Between keeping house and cooking meals and trying to write even when I don't feel like writing, I think I forgot that life is supposed to be fun. I think also because somewhere in there I started to feel old, I somehow assumed that because of time limitations, I will likely not do many of the things that I at one time assumed I would find the time for in the future. Things like - going back to university for another degree, becoming a truck-driver (semi), becoming proficient at the piano - like getting my Grade 10 in piano, visiting Japan (although in theory that could still happen assuming I could afford it.) I think it boils down to weeding out the things that are not as important as I used to think they were. Prioritizing.
So, I'm going to start a list of things I want to do before I die. It might contain some very frivolous things but that's okay. Will probably start a new page on my site for this. But not tonight. Right now I want to go finish reading the Da Vinci Code while I'm still halfway interested enough to want to find out what happens.

Monday, February 21, 2005

Shiny Candy Girl of Canada

Someone on a list I belong to wrote a message this morning about blogs. She says that if you throw the words 'shiny', 'candy' and 'girl' into a blog together with the name of a country other than the US, your hit count is going to go up, up, up. So I'll give it till the end of the week and then check my web stats.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Onward, Forward

CEL (CopyEditor's List) has a thread today concerning the misspelling of 'forward' when used to mean that section of a book that comes at the front and provides background or other elucidation to the book itself. I was reading along and guffawing at the thought of all those authors out there who self-publish their memoires or histories of their communities and churches and then misspell Foreword. Teehee.

I sobered up when I realized I didn't know whether the book I'd self-published (a biography of my first husband) contained a Foreword. I rushed to get the box that contains the remaining few copies and, with a good healthy fear of what I might find, begin to leaf through the first few pages.

There's a dedication page ("To Marcus") followed by a Preface. And Glory be, there's no foreword. What a relief. I know the difference between 'forward' and 'foreword' but my fingers don't always obey the inclination of the brain and since the mistake would survive a spell-check, I've been unpleasantly surprised before by errors that creep through to the final draft.

I would have caught it in the final copyedit/proofread. But of course I would. Mon dieu, oui! Don't be absurd.

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

What's on my mind. Not Georgia!

Well, maybe Georgia would be a good thing to think about today. It's certainly warmer there than here. -40C. Am driving the kids to university today and I don't do that just for something to do.

I read recently that our city has been inundated by a great influx of owls from the north - Great Northern Owl? I forget the species - since their food supply - mice and voles - is scarce in their natural habitat. They are apparently very weak from the long flight on little food. I have to wonder how they are faring here. I haven't seen a mouse in a long time (except in our garage) and I can't imagine that the food supply is much better here than where the owls came from, especially today. Nothing is moving out there that doesn't have to. I was wondering how the junkos and the cardinals and black-cap chickadees are making out. They live in our hedge and eat from our feeder. I hope the owls don't make a meal of them. If I thought it would help, I'd go buy some meat at the store and scatter it about for the owls. Wonder if they would eat it. Perhaps they prefer their dinner warm and running.

Friday, January 14, 2005

Out of the mouths...

I was reading some of my poems to a friend the other day, over the phone. After about line 6 or so, she interrupted me and said, "That's not a poem. That's a painting."

I'm still not sure if she meant what she said as a criticism or a compliment because I know she doesn't read a lot of contemporary poetry. However, she couldn't have said anything nicer to me. I told her so. I haven't stopped smiling since.

I try to remember this whenever I get nervous about having submitted eleven of my poems to a battery of editors in preparation for a chapbook that is supposed to come out in September. They have not yet make any comments (not even sure if they've read them). However, I can't help feeling like I've stripped and am standing in the middle of a busy street, waiting for people to notice and start pointing and jeering. Because I haven't had any feedback yet, I can't help wonder if the poor editors are at their keyboards, fingers poised over the keys, wondering how they can begin to tell me how awful my stuff is. But I have to keep remembering what my friend said.

Funny thing though. My friend keeps asking me to write a poem about her or our friendship. Now I can truly say, in response, that she has to let me paint a picture.

Thursday, January 13, 2005

The day after

I had a birthday recently. And despite my reluctance to 'be' the age I am, it really is okay. It was not the most feted birthday I've ever had. It was certainly not the most lucrative. But it was very satisfying. I had a lovely birthday card from my step-son. The kind that brings tears to the eyes, the sentiments were so sweet, and I believe, heart-felt. He picked it out himself and so I know that's what he wanted to say. I also had a nice card from my step-daughter, a very cute card from my son's girlfriend, an orchid and a card from my husband with a message that also brought tears to my eyes. Telephone calls from everyone else. In fact, I heard from everyone who matters to me.

Last night, I was thinking exactly this and then realized, wait a minute. I didn't hear from mom. This thought lasted about a 1/2 a second when I realized, of course, that my mom's been dead for 23 years. Funny how stuff like that happens.

My mother-in-law phoned to wish me a happy birthday and was unsure what the exact age was. When she finally figured it out (with a few Uh-uh's and Uh-huh's on my part, she said, "What? You're not that old, are you?" Thanks, MIL.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Inaugural Entry about Inaugural Balls

My first entry of 2005 concenrns balls. Inaugural Balls, to be exact. George Bush's inaugural ball to be specific. It appears that he is about to spent 40 million US dollars (and we all know that a US dollar is bigger than any other dollar -is it minted in Texas?) on his inaugural ball on January 20th.

This is obscene when over 150 thousand people just perished in a tsunami and the survivors will need help for years to come to continue surviving. We're not even talking about bringing their standard of living up to that of George Bush. Simply just putting a roof over their heads again, giving them one square meal a day, with a job to go to and schools to educate their children will take billions of dollars. It baffles me how the leader of the free [cough] world can dance the night away with ladies in designer gowns while so many suffer not even half a world away.

A colleague of mine (I flatter myself by calling her this) has drawn up a petition to the president and was hoping to get it on ThePetitionSite.com but alas, they have failed to approve the petition as yet. So... I direct you to the text of her petition at:

http://editor-mom.blogspot.com/2005/01/urgent-petition-to-urge-bush-to-pare.html

Go and pick up the text, print it out and send it to anyone you know who might make a difference. I figure nobody in Washington even knows were Canada is much less cares what a Canadian thinks, so I'm not going to waste my time in sending it. But if you're US-based and reading this, then what are you waiting for. Get out of here and go stand up for the have-nots of the world against the haves. If enough people bring this up, maybe, just maybe, the man will be shamed into at least scaling back his festivities.