Shop Local

I found this over at The Transformation of Kern, and although it's an American thing, it completely applies everywhere.

Go here to find out more about it.
My parents own a small business, so I know how super important it is to support small businesses. Sure, I can be caught time to time going to those big box stores, after all, I'm only human, BUT, the more you shop at small businesses, the more products those small businesses can offer you and the more small businesses your town can support. When you shop at local small businesses, that money stays in your community instead of going to a large corporation. Not to mention, the quality of service you get from small businesses is about 1000% better than at those big box stores (you know, when you have to hunt someone down to help you find something who then makes you feel bad for wanting them to go out of their way to find the product you want to purchase?). So shop small and shop local, guys. Everyone benefits!

Another Blast From the Past

After the Fern Gully blast from the past earlier today, I got thinking about the other environmentally themed shows I used to watch as a child. A friend reminded me of The Smoggies, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon reminded me of Captain Planet. Remember these?





Did I forget any? I feel like we had a large amount of enviro-friendly shows, do kids these day have shows along these lines?

Happy Earth Day!

In honour of Earth Day, I thought I'd share with you a blast from the past. Remember Fern Gully? The early '90s movie starring fairies, a crazy bat, a hunky logger shrunk down to fairy-size, and a creepy pollution-fueled villain? Yeah, you remember it. It was one of my favourite movies as a child, I watched it over and over again, knew most of the lyrics, wanted to be a fairy who lives in the forest, and thought Zak was a dream boat. Here's my favourite scene from the movie:



Happy Earth Day, everyone!

My Beef with the Interwebz

I love the interwebz, you know I do.
But sometimes, internet, you give me way too much information.
I'm looking at you, Facebook.
Let's think about this: if it is listed that you dated a person in the "How do you know each other" section, it's not a nice thing to broadcast it on the front page for days when that person gets engaged.
Although it was nice to hear that he has found a nice girl to marry, I don't need it rubbed in my face for days, Facebook.
Actually, that's a lie. I don't want to hear that he is engaged at all.
Part of me wants to go through my Facebook and severely edit the people I am "friends" with. The other part of me knows that I have certain people on there because I am curious to see what they are up to without having to go to the trouble of pursuing a real-life relationship.
But there are some things I don't want to know about.
I can't help but wonder where the line is. When does the internet or social media go from helpful to harmful? How much internet/social media is too much? When do you get overexposed?

Oscar Night Faves

If you follow me on Twitter (it's @ewalker9), you know I spent my evening watching the Oscars. I missed the first bit because I was on Skype with my Mom, and I hear the opening was great, as were Tina Fey and Steve Martin. I loved the new format, where for the major awards, past winners announced the nominees. I found it so much more personal, and it definitely made me teary on a few occasions (Best Actress, anybody?). Having only seen a few of the movies in the awards this year (only Mamma Mia and Benjamin Button I do believe), I wasn't hardcore rooting for anyone. However, Kate Winslet winning Best Actress made me really happy because I really like her. And how adorable was her speech?? Getting her Dad to whistle made me so happy!! And acknowleding Meryl Streep's greatness in her speech was so good. Also, Heath Ledger's family accepting the award and celebrating him instead of mourning him was great!
Now, in pictoral form, here are the people and outfits that made me most happy tonight:

John Legend. I freaking love this guy. His voice is beautiful, I kind of wished his performance could have been by itself, he was really stunning with the Peter Gabriel song. And check out his suit! A little retro, a whole lot of hot.


Oh Brad. I'm not a fan of the facial hair, I must admit, but otherwise you are a good lookin' fella. I loved you in Benjamin Button (I meant to post about it, but forgot, maybe I'll do that soon). I think the fact that we can see you getting wrinkles only make you hotter - you've gone from pretty boy to distinguished man and I like it.


RPattz!! I was crazy happy to see you on the red carpet, and then you presented and I turned into a squealy fangirl. And when they did a close up on Mickey Rourke during Best Actor, I saw you over his shoulder, which made the Mickey close up more than bearable. Most importantly, you hair doesn't look like it could eat me or like it contains small forest animals, I like it.


Taraji P. Henson was amazing in Benjamin Button and is super cute in all of her interviews. She looked stunning in that beautiful dress. I would totally consider a dress like that for a wedding dress, I love that classic shape and the un-traditional material!


I have a giant girl crush on Natalie Portman. She is just so freaking cool. She was hilarious with Ben Stiller, and the dress is classically beautiful!


I know it's been on some worst dressed lists, and I know many people (myself included) are not Miley Cyrus' biggest fans, but I freaking love this dress! She looks so grown up in it, and it gives a beautiful silhouette. I just think the dress is gorgeous!


Kate Winslet... another of my girl crushes. I'm so glad she won! I wasn't certain about this dress at first, but the more I saw it, the more I liked it. It suits her perfectly! I usually don't like one-shoulder dresses because it makes your boobs look uneven, but this one works well. I like the a-symmetry and the combination of the gunmetal grey and lace. Way to go, Kate!


And finally, Anne Hathaway. I wasn't sure about this dress at first either, mostly due to the giant gap in the top of it, but it also grew on me. I love how sparkly it is and I love the colour, a daring one for someone so pale (like myself). She looks beautiful, and her expressions during the speeches were adorable, she was so excited and invested, made me happy!

So there we go, those aspects of the Oscars made me the most happy this evening. If you want my other thoughts as it happened, go follow me (@ewalker9) on Twitter. Happy Oscar Night, everyone!

2010 Mascots, For Your Viewing Pleasure

Being a Canadian, I got excited for the 2010 Olympics pretty quickly. It's hard not to be, every other commercial on Canadian TV seems to be about them. It's happening on the other side of the country, so I certainly won't see any of it live, but I still love that it's happening here.
And have you seen the mascots? They are freaking adorable!


There is Miga the sea bear, which is apparently part bear and part killer whale.
Quatchi is a Sasquatch. And it looks like he has an inukshuk tattoo - my cousin has one of those.
And finally, Sumi, an animal spirit, and apparently he wears the hat of the orca whale, flies with the wings of the mighty thunderbird and runs on the strong furry legs of the black bear.
Intense, I know.
And, in case you saw this and wondered "What mascot am I most like?", you can find out the answer here. I am most like Sumi, which I am pleased with.

Ever Wondered About Canadian Government?

A good portion of my readers come from outside of Canada, and with the excitement going on in U.S. politics, you may not have realized that Canada's been going through big political changes of its own... sort of. Here to explain what the heck is happening in Canada is Rick Mercer. Haven't heard of him? Picture Jon Stewart, but much more Canadian. He has the Rick Mercer Report on the CBC every Tuesday (he ends every show with "See you next Tuesday", get it? Heh!), where he goes to various Canadian events and talks to/makes fun of Canadian politicians. So Rick, what's been going on in Canada?

'Cause You Might Die Trying

I love this song. Not just because it's Dave, also for the idea behind it.

To change the world,
Start with one step.
However small,
The first step is hardest of all.

Once you get your gate,
You will walk in tall.
You said you never did,
Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.
Cause you---

If you close your eyes,
Cause the house is on fire.
Think you couldn't move,
Until the fire dies.
The things you never did,
Oh, Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.
You'd be as good as dead,
Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.

If you give, you, you begin to live.
If you give, you begin to live.
You begin, you get the world.
If you give, you begin to give
You get get the world, you get the world.
If you give, you get to give.

You might die trying.
Oh, you might die trying.
Yeah, you might die trying.

The things you never did,
Cause you might die trying;
You'd be as good as dead.
You never did.

It's hard to do something to make change, but if you don't take the risk nothing will happen at all, right?
I love the idea of making a difference and changing the world, but usually when the opportunity to really do something, even something little, comes along, I freeze up and do nothing. I mean, I help people because it's my job when I'm at the shelter, but outside of work I never go out of my way to help people. I need to stop freezing and going on with my day, doing nothing.

I was riding the streetcar to work today. It was freezing outside and starting to snow. At one point, a homeless man hopped on through the back doors without paying, carrying a garbage bag full of cans. His slightly odd behaviour struck me as potentially schizophrenic, and so I got my guard up like I usually do around people with mental health issues on public transit (not without reason, I've seen a few scary incidents). Sitting on a chair was a leather glove that everyone else who got on had ignored. The homeless man grabbed it and tried it on, appearing thrilled that he would now have a warm hand. After a while, a homeless woman got on. They greeted each other and she sat down near him (in front of me). He then told her about his glove, and offered it to her. She declined, saying she was already too hot, but I was really touched by the gesture. This man who clearly didn't have very many things to call his own and who spent his time outside collecting bottles in the cold without proper winter attire, was willing to give away his newfound glove to somebody else who might need it more than he did. He was willing to try and make a difference and help somebody else. Meanwhile, I sat there with my hat and two gloves and scarf and iPod and just observed.

Good News, Ladies!

Everyone's favourite fictional vampire, Robert Pattinson (or RPattz, as I lovingly call him) no longer looks as though there may be a small family of woodland animals living in his hair.
Remember this?

Much better, RPattz, I am a fan of the early 90's grunge revival look minus the actually dirty hair. And the fact that you're carrying a guitar just made me swoon a little.

Via The Superficial.

Things That Scare the Crap Out of Me

Yesterday, on the Gardiner Expressway - a highway that I drive on frequently, literally 15 minutes from my house - a truck carrying copper tubes and wires driving on the 427 overpass fell off the overpass and onto the highway below, crushing cars.

The truck was heading south toward the eastbound Gardiner Expressway when its trailer detached, burst through the guardrail and plummeted about 20 metres onto the QEW.

The trailer crushed four cars and scattered an estimated 25,000 kilograms of tubes and wires across three lanes of traffic, shutting down the highway and nearby arteries for most of the day. The highway reopened last night.

After losing its trailer, the truck hit a guardrail before coming to a stop further along on the ramp, Woodford said. (http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/531604)

This makes my crash seem minute.
Can you imagine driving and having a truck falling on you!? I had nightmares about this happening long before this really happened.
It's just so close to home... I could have been driving there!

See pictures here.

They are blaming driver fatigue and mechanical issues. So, please, everyone, don't drive if you're tired! Being responsible for causing a terrible crash would be so terrible, and being responsible for someone's death would be even worse.
Please be so careful driving. I don't believe in the term "accident," crashes are not accidents. If everyone was driving safely, this would not happen.

Doing the Best I Can

It's been a long day. I am going to talk about the most frustrating part of it.

I don't speak French. I took up to grade 10 French and am able to understand it if spoken slowly. We have a client at the shelter, a refugee, who only speaks French. On top of this, I think she may be kind of bitchy. Anyhow, in the past few weeks, I have found that I know enough French to interact with her. None of the other staff on today spoke French, which left me as the one to be her contact. She had an eye appointment that she needed to attend. She did not want to attend, as she was too "fatigue" to go. Not a good enough reason, as the appointment was already booked. I told her the best I could that the eye doctor was "tres important", and she agreed to go if I would escort her. The deal was, I was to take her there, talk to the receptionist, and go back to the shelter.

I was already frustrated with her before we got there.
When we arrived, she discovered that the doctor did not speak French, only Italian and English. This was not good to her. Then, I had to tell her that the receptionist wanted her refugee papers. She was not willing to give them to her. The combination of the two made her state that she did not want to see the doctor. I tried to reason with her and explain the importance of it to her, with my extremely limited French.

I was getting pretty fed up.
It was at this point that another lady in the waiting room spoke up. This lady, who does not know this client, does not know me, does not know where we are from and does not know the situation, decides to tell me that they pay $60 for their appointments, so there is no point wasting the government's money to make a girl get her eyes checked who doesn't want to go.

I. Was. So. Pissed. But I didn't say anything. I turned around and ignored her. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but I blanked.
After a few minutes, I explained to the receptionist that she did not want to see the doctor, and she said that was fine and we left.
I was frustrated with the client, I was pissed at the nosy know it all lady, and most of all, I was disappointed in myself.
Why didn't I know French better? I could have convinced her to go, I could have been a better advocate for her. Where are my Child and Youth Worker skills? The skills that get stuff done and help kids. Most of all, where was my voice?

I froze when that lady spoke. She disgusted me. I actually felt bad for the client who was frustrating me so much. She is a refugee who has had a really tough life so far. She is in a country she doesn't know, and in the biggest city in that country. Hardly anybody can talk to her or understand her. Can you imagine how difficult that would be? So who is this lady to judge her and judge me by saying I am forcing her to do it? She has no idea what she is talking about. Really, I am proud to live in a country where people can seek refuge and get the help they need. Lady, you are a Canadian citizen, you've probably never been a victim of traumatic events and unjust governments, you have probably never had to go to a brand new country where no one can speak to you in your language, you have money to pay for an eye appointment. So take your fucking chequebook out of your ass and stop butting into other peoples' conversations where you are not wanted or needed and do not know any of the background information.
I wish I didn't freeze. I wish I was able to say that to her face. I wish my response wasn't silence and ignoring her.

I just have to keep remembering something a professor of mine said: "Everyone is doing the best they can."
My client was doing her best to cope with the situations she was faced with in the ways she knows how.
That lady was trying to stand up for her beliefs (however erroneous I know them to be).
And I was doing my best possible job as a CYW to deal with the situation at hand and use my skills to make things work out the best way possible for my client.

"Everyone is doing the best they can."

I am a Canadian...

...So I can't vote in tomorrow's American election. However, this election is something that effects us in Canada almost as much as the Americans themselves.
That is why I cannot stress this enough:
VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE! I don't care who you vote for (*cough*Obama is my choice*cough*), just go do it! Every voice counts, so make yours heard. People have fought and died to have a say in how the country is run, so please don't let their sacrifice be overshadowed by your apathy.
Remember, if you choose not to vote, you had better not complain!

On Homelessness

Sometimes, I catch myself being a bit of a hypocrite.
I am trying to cut the word "hobo" out of my vocabulary... You know, seeing as I'm doing placement at a shelter for homeless youth this semester and loving it enough to consider working there afterwards. Granted, I do come from a small town, where, to my knowledge, there aren't any homeless people. The only time I had ever seen one growing up was from the car window on one of our trips to bigger cities, or maybe outside of the theatre when we came to Toronto to see shows. I was taught by my parents to be afraid of homeless people and do my best to either ignore them or politely decline their requests for change. And I continued to do so, with the very few homeless people I came across in London and then when I moved to Toronto, walking past them quickly, not making eye contact, afraid that they might jump up and grab me. Until this semester, that is, when BAM, all of a sudden I am working with homeless people.
Talk about a shock. Before a month ago, my idea of homeless people was fairly narrow, including the old dirty man with a crazy beard asking me for change to feed his drug or alcohol addiction, or the crazy old woman who shouts gibberish at you while you walk by because she has schizophrenia. Granted, those people do exist, but not the clients I work with. Yes, some do have mental health issues, and some are recovering from drug and alcohol problems, but most of them just look like normal kids. They can't live at home anymore for a variety of reasons, maybe a bad family situation, maybe they were kicked out for their sexual or gender identity, maybe they are refugees who went through hellish experiences in their country and have been lucky enough to get to Canada. There are so many heartbreaking stories.
Part of our job at the shelter is to help them get the resources to get employment and a home. Those resources do exist, but they have to put in the effort. We don't let them panhandle or work in the sex industry, and they have to get a legitimate job if they are job searching.
That's why I do not give money to panhandlers in the city. First of all, I haven't had a job that pays money for a year now while I've been in school, so it's not like I have money to give. Secondly, there are resources for these people to use as long as they're willing to put the effort in. Panhandling is a survival tactic, not a way to get out of homelessness.
And what makes me even more angry - homeless people who are panhandling who have dogs. You know what, if you can't make money to feed yourself, what are you doing with an animal? Those poor dogs. Drives me nuts.
But here's my issue, where I find I catch myself being a big giant hypocrite: I work with homeless youth, I have a great deal of compassion for the homeless because I can really understand how difficult it is, I understand mental health issues and have worked with teens with them too, but when I see the homeless adult on the street or in the subway, the crazy-looking person walking around, I still get freaked right out. They always seem to come stand by me on the subway, and instead of feeling compassionate for their situation, I get my guard up. I don't want to help them, I want to get away as soon as possible. I suppose it's because I never feel vulnerable around the homeless youth, because I'm an authority there, but I always feel vulnerable around homeless adults. To them, I suppose, I'm just another one of the people with money and a home, walking around dressed well and clean with my iPod and cell phone. I don't know... I shouldn't be scared and disgusted around homeless adults, after all, they are just people who haven't had the luck I have, but I am and I can't help it.
On a happier note, however, I was waiting outside of a coffee place for my friend last night at around 2am, and I homeless person walked up to me. I was guarded and ready to avoid eye contact and tell them sorry, but no I have no change, but it wasn't money he was after. He told me that he was a panhandler, but we wasn't panhandling right now. He said that he had a bad night, the crowds of people ignoring him when he asked for money, and he was getting kind of down. Then, someone asked him if he needed some change, he looked up, and this guy handed him $100. He was so excited! He told me that he went inside to check and see if it was real, and it was. Apparently he just wanted someone to tell about his good luck before he hobbled off. In spite of my dislike of panhandling, I was happy for him. I'm glad he had a good night too.

I'm Ashamed

Okay, I'll admit it...


I didn't watch any political debates tonight.


I was fully aware of both the Canadian Party Leaders Debate and the American VP Debate. And I didn't watch them.
I think it's okay for me not to watch the VP debate, after all, I'm not a US citizen and won't be voting there come November.
But I am slightly embarrassed that I did not watch the Canadian Debate. To be honest, I'm just not that interested in it. I know I should be. It is the leadership of my country, after all. But just look at these guys (I say guys because a google image search for Canadian Political Leaders did not include Elizabeth May of the Green Party unfortunately). It's not the same as the American elections. There, they have strong leaders and great political divides and controversial issues and huge following for the candidates, it's a type of celebrity really. Here is my Canadian political rundown: the Bloc Quebecois is not going to get anything outside of Quebec and therefore can't really be a major contender. The NDP (whom I have a strong personal lean towards) will only get anywhere if people can be convinced that we are more than a 2 party country and they might have a chance if those people who really feel like the NDP should win (but vote Liberal anyways because at least that way the Conservatives won't win) actually start voting for the party that they support. As for the Liberals... I'm just not too sure about Stephane Dion. He doesn't have the leadership qualities to win the peoples' trust, so I think a lot of right-leaning Liberals will vote Conservative and a lot of left-leaning Liberals will vote NDP because of the lack of Liberal leadership. Granted, they will probably still place second and get the opposition again. As for the Conservatives, in spite of the fact that Harper's hair does not move and that he is so strongly aligned with Bush's politics, I still think that Harper stands a good chance of winning and being re-elected simply due to the perceived lack of other options.

All of that being said, I am no Political Science major, this is just the feeling that I get from what I watch and read.
I probably should have watched the debate.

Really, It's Not That Weird.

People do weird things all the time.
Some people dance bizarrely.
Some people wear '90s long floral dresses to the bar not in irony.
Some people don't bathe.
Some people shout at things that don't exist.
Some people like weird food combinations.
Some people sing the chorus of Brass Pocket by the Pretenders outloud while walking down the street.
Some people like wearing neon.
Some people hoard stuff.
Some people leave vases lying around with flowers and a pregnancy test in them.
Some people hang out in their garages all day.
I could go on.


So why, oh why, is it so deserving of staring when I take my cat out for a walk on a leash!? Really, it's not the most bizarre thing you will see in a day.

"I Can't Believe That We Would Lie in Our Graves"

Medical researchers are doing a study into near death experiences.
Death scares me to begin with, so, although the idea that people could still be conscious after their body is dead is comforting in that it alludes to the possibility of life after death, it also freaks me right out that you could still be conscious after you are dead. I know, I know, I sit on the fence about a lot of things I read. Apparently I have trouble deciding which side I am on. Either way, really cool study, but also kind of frightening with what the results could mean.
P to the S - title is from a Dave Matthews Band song of that name.

WTF Friday

I was listening to the radio news this afternoon, and two news items stood out to me enough to get a WTF.
To begin with. Kanye West. I love Kanye, I have his songs on my ipod, I know lyrics - it makes me feel edgy and urban and not iridescently white. (Go listen to "Homecoming" ft. Chris Martin... awesome!) Yesterday, Kanye was arrested for vandalism at LAX for attacking members of the paparazzi and smashing their camera equipment. Kanye!? WTF?? Here's the deal. I totally understand being pissed off at the paparazzi, I mean, I would be too if I had people constantly following me and taking my picture. But, getting into this business, you had to realize that there would be cameras everywhere, that's what fame is, right? And Kanye always struck me as someone intelligent, someone who would make smart-ass comments to the paparazzi rather than brutishly smashing their equipment. After all, the members of the paparazzi are just people trying to make a living and they are fulfilling a societal demand, right?
Secondly, there is a girl selling her virginity in order to pay for college. My WTF reaction goes two ways with the one. Firstly, WTF, isn't that prostitution? Secondly, WTF, why didn't I think of that? Kudos to her to being empowered by her sexuality and using it to her advantage. But at the same time, isn't it sad that this is what our society has come to? This girl has to turn her sexuality into a commodity in order to be able to afford a higher education. She is auctioning off an event that is supposed to be special, like someone auctioning off an old handbag that they don't want anymore. And there are people signing up for this!! Grown men really think it's okay to pay to take this girl's virginity so that she can go to school?? Sad. I can understand why, though, as someone who is about to graduate with over twenty thousand dollars of debt, it would be nice to have it all taken care of. Maybe this is a sign that our educational institutions and governments need to collaborate in order to make higher education less expensive and more accessible for average people.

The Big Bang

I'm on the fence about this The Big Bang Experiment.
Yes, it is super cool to attempt to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang. They hope "that new sub-atomic particles will emerge, revealing fundamental insights into the nature of the cosmos." That's cool and all, and probably really important to scientific development This is a huge project that has been in development since the 1980s, and has cost Five Billion Pounds.... which is more than twice as many dollars. That would be okay in my books if it were going towards curing cancer or AIDS or feeding hungry children or world education, but it's not. It's going towards a big long tunnel full of magnets and proton beams.
Do you think furthering scientific knowledge is worth such a large sum of money, or do you think we could have found a better use for the money?