Sarcastic/friendly joke turns into an educational ride!

One night while I was on the Skytrain going to meet a friend, a man walked on at one station carrying a guitar case and what appeared at first glance to be an amp. He sat next to me.

"Let me guess," I said. "You play drums?" I smiled/smirked at him in a friendly way.

I expected him to laugh, but instead he answered, in complete seriousness, "Yes, sometimes. Usually the guitar, but sometimes I play this." He spoke with a thick South American accent, and pointed at the wooden box he had in front of him.

Turns out it was a Peruvian drum, called the cajón.

It was very nicely made, kind of looks like a kleenex box if you turn it with the hole on top. He told me that you play it by tapping/hitting the front face of it, akin to a bongo drum, and the sound comes out the hole on the opposite side.

You learn something new every day!

Happy Mother's Day

Once upon a time, there was a child ready to be born. The child asked God, "Others tell me you're sending me to earth today, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?" God replied "Among the many angels, I chose one for you. Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired "But here in heaven I don’t have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy." God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you everyday. You will feel your angel’s love and be very happy."

Again the child asked "How am I going to understand when people talk to me if I don’t know the language?" God said, "Your angel will tell you in the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear; and with much patience and care your angel will teach you How to speak."

Again the child asked, "What am I going to do when I want to talk to you?" God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

The child asked, "I’ve heard that on earth there are bad people; who will protect me?" God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

The child then said, "But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore." And God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about me and teach you the way to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in heaven, but voices could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please, tell me my angel’s name."

"Her name is not important, my child," said God. "You will simply call her MOM."


My mother was specifically chosen for me. It wasn't by random chance. She is the best mom that ever could have been chosen for me, and I am so glad and so thankful that she was chosen to be my 'angel.'

My mom has seen me through thick and thin my whole life. She put band-aids on my skinned knees. She combed the tangles out of my curly mess of hair (and eventually had it cut super short because it was getting unmanagable...I think I can forgive you finally mom :P) She brought my puppy to school, thereby making *ME* super cool for the day. She spent hours on making skating costumes for me. She made sure to buy and bring oranges when it was my turn to supply the snacks for my soccer team. She put up with my clarinet practicing. She bought me a beautiful dress for grade 7 grad - sophisticated but tasteful for a 12y/o girl. She took my hurtful words when I was angry. She soothed me when I was upset about being so far from my friends when we moved up north. She let me dye my hair. She taught me how to drive. She *let* me drive her car when I got my license. She hardly ever gripped the arm rest so hard she left nail marks in it....she did, however, use the 'phantom brake' a lot :p She tolerated me considering dropping out of high school in grade 12. She didn't lord it over me when I decided to stick it through.

My mother learned early on how to tell when I was getting a migraine, and was able to tell me to take my medication. So often I wouldn't be able to tell because it was already affecting my cognitive abilities, and her being there was, while not life saving, certainly more than just 'helpful' connotes. She took me to the doctor's when I got migraines that weren't controlled by medications, and to the hospital when it was too painful for demerol to work.

My mother was there for me last summer when I went into the hospital for my mental illness. She did everything she could to ensure I got the proper care and treatment. She fought for me and for my rights. She fought for HER right to be involved in my care when I wasn't in the right mind to make the right decisions. She read a book my friend Ana sent me about bi-polar disorder, and learned so much about the disorder and how to cope with and be there for a family member suffering from the illness. She was also there this past December when I was diagnosed with a tumor in my abdomen. She was strong for me when I couldn't be strong for myself. She looked after me after I had my surgery - cooking for me and making sure I had my pills on time. She helped me financially while I was off work.

My mother was strong for me, and my sister, when my father died in 1992. She taught me how to be a strong woman without being callous or hard. She taught me to be independant, to not rely on anyone else but yourself, but also to accept help when it is offered, and to accept it graciously. My mother taught me how to be a lady, how to be polite, how not to take myself too seriously. She taught me the value of sincerity and honesty. My mother taught me how to be a woman.

My mother is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for her loving guidance.

I LOVE YOU MOM

INDD - Celebrate your bod!

From Wikipedia

"The International No Diet Day (INDD) is an annual celebration of body acceptance and body shape diversity. This day is also dedicated to raise awareness of the dangers in diets...

The concept of INDD originated at 1992, when British Feminist Mary Evans Young decided to fight the diet industry and to raise awareness of the dangers in anorexia and other eating disorders. In order to do that, Evans Young addressed the local media saying "Fat Women Bites [sic] Back". When she was interviewed on television, she "reminded" the audience to celebrate the International No Diet Day on May 6. This specific date had no specific reason other than its proximity to the television interview.

Followed that interview, feminist groups around UK celebrated the INDD, and as the years went by, groups in other countries around the globe started to celebrate this day, especially in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and Israel.

There are several goals to the INDD:

Doubt the idea of one "right" body shape.
Raise awareness to weight discrimination, size bias and fatphobia.
Declare a free day from diets and obsessions to body weight.
Present the facts about the diet industry, emphasizing the inefficacy of commercial diets.
Show how diets perpetuate violence against women.
Honor the victims of eating disorders and weight-loss surgeries."

This is a great idea. Even if you do decide to stick to whatever diet you are on for this day, celebrate the heart of the idea by being aware that your body doesn't have to conform to the media's standards of beauty, because, in fact, that standard is very flawed.

Everyone is beautiful in his or her own way. Besides which, it's not the outside that matters - it's what's INSIDE that counts.

Be proud of who you are, what you look like, and go ahead and have that bag of chips, that bar of chocolate, that bowl of ice cream! Say FUCK IT to the standard forced upon us as to what we should look like. Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder...it's also more than skin deep.

Celebrate every last inch of you!!