In My World

Ferron (born Deborah Foisy on 1 June 1952) is a Canadian-born singer-songwriter and poet. In addition to gaining fame as one of Canada's most respected songwriters, Ferron, who is openly lesbian, became one of the earliest and most influential lyrical songwriters of the women's music circuit. From the mid-eighties on, Ferron's songwriting talents have been recognized and appreciated by music critics and broader audiences, with comparisons being made to the writing talents of Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, and Leonard Cohen. Born in Toronto and raised around Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, she learned to play guitar at age 11, and left home at 15. Ferron attended Total Ed, an alternative high school in Vancouver, B.C., graduating in 1973. Of her earliest musical memories, she wrote, "my mother's French Canadian family played music. I heard guitars and banjo and accordion and scrub board and my grandfather clogging. I put it together...music meant fun, meant love and l...

Today's Prompt: Upcoming Is there a date circled in red on your calendar? Meaning, do you have an upcoming event that you are looking forward to? It is National Scrapbooking Day on May 6th so this weekend is jam-packed with virtual scrapbooking crops, in person crops, and so many other events.  So many crops.  So many challenges.  Maybe a prize or two?   Even I am hosting an event this weekend,  Mini Classes in Honour of National Scrapbooking Day  .

This a story about a 16-year-old girl living through the collapse of her family in a strict Mennonite community. Nomi's older sister leaves town. Nomi's mother leaves soon after. Her father is dealing with his own despair, leading to selling all their furniture and driving around all night and basically disappearing into himself. Nomi's despair exhibits through her rebellion against her community . . . drugs, drinking, quitting school and church. Surprisingly this novel sounds just too sad to read but the author gives Nomi a voice that is brisk, biting and sardonic.  It really is a good read. "One of the major themes in A Complicated Kindness is the practice of the ban, or shunning, common to Mennonite and related Christian communities. This form of excommunication is at the heart of what led to the breakup of the Nickel family. Originally a way to avoid bloodshed, the pacifist tactic of shunning is, as Miriam Toews’s title suggests, “a complicated kindness.”...

Battle of the Windmill National Historic Site of Canada, Prescott, Ontario Address : County Road 2 East, Prescott, Ontario Recognition Statute: Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4) Designation Date: 1920-01-30 Dates: 1838 to 1838 (Significant) Event, Person, Organization: 1837 Rebellions  (Event) Other Name(s): Battle of the Windmill  (Designation Name) Windmill Point  (Other Name) Research Report Number: 1997-34 DFRP Number: 56473 00 Plaque(s) After the 1837 Rebellions many rebels fled to the United States where a few joined American symathizers in a new attempt to overthrow British rule in Canada. On 12 November 1838 they landed 190 men here and seized this windmill and nearby buildings. The local people remained loyal, reporting to their militia units; in a few days 2,000 militia and regulars, supported by naval vessels, besieged the mill. Although British guns did little damage to the mill, the insurgents, seeing no escape, surrended on the 16th. El...

Today's Writing Prompt: Dance How do you prefer to dance? Alone with no one watching? With a group of good friends? Or intimately with a partner? I'm not much of a dancer anymore.  I really used to love it but since my body started falling apart I don't even try much anymore.  I always dreamed of ballroom dancing and finally talked Hal into taking lessons in 2009.  Let's just say by the third lesson we decided it just wasn't working for us.  I was disappointed but I got over it.   Now I mostly dance when no one is watching.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) I was sure I had seen this movie, but apparently I was wrong because I just watched it the other day and recognized very little.  Obviously I must have seen commercials, trailers or something. What a riot!  It is full of excitement and danger and adventure . . . all ridiculously overplayed.  Loved it!  The race is on to find the lost ark and everybody wants it -- even Hitler.  But who will find it first? You need something fun and silly to watch . . . watch this! Academy Awards, USA  1982 Won Oscar Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Norman Reynolds Leslie Dilley Michael Ford   Best Sound Bill Varney Steve Maslow Gregg Landaker Roy Charman   Best Film Editing Michael Kahn   Best Effects, Visual Effects Richard Edlund Kit West Bruce Nicholson Joe Johnston   Won Special Achievement Award Ben Burtt Richard L. Anderson For sound effects editing. Nominated Oscar Best Picture Frank Marshall ...

  Smile for the camera say cheese no funny faces don't fidget uncross your eyes don't do bunny ears just one good family photo

I don't know how many times I have read Animal Farm in my life.  Let's just say a few.  The story has always stayed with me.  I understand there are movie and cartoon adaptions that I vaguely recall but they don't have the power of the original book. George Orwell writes about a farm run by the drunken Mr. Jones which is untended and conditions are harsh.  The animals join together and overthrow Jones and create an equal society for the animals and the farm becomes a wonderful place to live.  Well, except for the fact that it does not take long before the pigs begin taking over and recreate the conditions of the original farm. The most loved character in the book, at least for me, was Boxer the old workhouse who continued to believe in the dream and work for the dream even as he was being taken away, sold to the slaughterhouse by the pigs. This novel is meant to illustrate the rise of Russian revolution and the rise of Stalinism. This is ...

Today's Prompt: Pests Have you ever had a pest in your home? What sort are common where you live? Ants, spiders, roaches, mice, snakes, maybe something larger? I'm sure everyone gets pests at some time or another.  Ants are a big problem where I live now . . . the main floor of a concrete apartment building.  Each spring the ant traps go down and that seems to keep them under control.  The biggest problem is that it is common for ants to remove their dead friends from the colony at night so in the mornings there is sometimes a pile of sand and dead ants to deal with . . . sigh . . .  They are back again this year because I've already seen a few.  Time to stock up on traps.

  What is significant about Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner? Why did I find it so fascinating? It was the first Inuktitut-language screenplay, the first feature film in Inuktitut and all of the cast and most of the crew were Inuit. It is also the first historical epic to be made by an Indigenous filmmaker about an Indigenous way of life that is entirely independent of non-Indigenous characters or references. This makes Atanarjuat a pioneering film, as well an important statement of Indigenous artistry. This movie is the retelling of a 1000 year old tale when the people of Igloolik live under a shamanic curse that has shattered their togetherness.  Centuries ago, in what would become the Canadian Arctic, Atuat is promised to the malevolent Oki, son of the leader of their tribe. But Atuat loves the good-natured Atanarjuat, who ultimately finds a way to marry her. Oki's sister, Puja also fancies Atanarjuat, and when she causes strife between him and his brother Amaqjuaq, Oki seizes t...

What is your favourite quote? Why? I'm gonna lean up against you, you just lean right back against me. This way, we don't have to sleep with our heads in the mud. ~ Bubba Blue I was looking for a photo of Bubba to include with this post and tripped over this article.  I think it explains why I love this quote so much. #211 Keep Your Head Out of the Mud In my opinion, one of the best quotes in Forrest Gump is when Forrest and Bubba are on patrol in the middle of Vietnam in the pouring rain. Bubba says to Forrest, “I'm gonna lean up against you, you just lean right back against me. This way we don't have to sleep with our heads in the mud. You know why we're a good partnership, Forrest? 'Cause we be watching out for one another, like brothers and stuff.” This is what everyone needs, someone to lean on so you don’t end up with your head in the mud. It is especially important for the parents of children with special needs to have someone to lean upon. If yo...

Félix Leclerc, OC GOQ was a French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and Québécois political activist. He was born in La Tuque, Quebec, Canada in 1914, the sixth in a family of eleven children. He began his studies at the University of Ottawa but was forced to stop because of the Great Depression. Leclerc worked at several jobs before becoming a radio announcer in Québec City and Trois-Rivières from 1934 to 1937. In 1939, he began working as a writer at Radio-Canada in Montréal, developing scripts for radio dramas, including Je me souviens. He performed some of his earliest songs there. He also acted in various radio dramas, including Un homme et son péché. He published a number of scripts and founded a performing company which presented plays throughout Québec. In 1950, he was discovered by Paris impresario, Jacques Canetti, and performed in France to great success. He signed a recording contract with Polydor Records. He returned to Québec in 1953. In 1958, he received t...

When you were a child, how did you imagine your adult self? When I was a child I wanted to be: 1.  a famous author 2.  a nurse 3.  a teacher What I became is a wife, a mother and a grandmother so I think in many ways I've met all my dreams.   

  "St. Raphael’s church was constructed by Scottish pioneers between 1815 and 1821. It was built with Glengarry limestone and had a timber roof supported entirely on the massive stone masonry perimeter walls. Typically, the walls were built in two-wythe masonry construction with rubble infill. The exterior wythe consists of ashlar masonry using regular dressed stones while the interior wythe was built in roughly squared coursed rubble masonry. The interior was originally covered with painted lime plaster. The church was built without any columns and therefore provided an unobstructed view for 1000 people. "In the fall of 1970, fire destroyed the church interior and roof structure, leaving only the massive stone masonry walls. Soon after the devastation of the fire of 1970, the Ontario Heritage Foundation proceeded with a stabilisation project which resulted in capping the exposed top surface of the walls where the inner and outer stone walls bond to the soft lime mortar core....

Room is a novel by Emma Donoghue. The story is told from the perspective of a five-year-old boy, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother. I think Donoghue put a lot of though and effort into creating Jack's "voice." And just as the cover says, the book is absolutely riveting.  Room won or was nominated for many literary awards and has been made into a movie which released in 2015.  I have not yet seen the movie. 

Journal Prompt:  Six Word Describe your life or current situation using exactly six words. pyjamas to do list green pen

  Occasionally  it can be difficult to pick a subject for a tanka; so I have written this tanka instead.

Today's Prompt: Admirable What is a personality trait you admire in other people? The personality trait I admire most in other people is restraint.  I think the ability to be disciplined and self-controlled is a powerful asset. re·straint rəˈstrānt/ noun 1 . a measure or condition that keeps someone or something under control or within limits. "decisions are made within the financial restraints of the budget" 2 . unemotional, dispassionate, or moderate behavior; self-control. "he urged the protesters to exercise restraint" synonyms: self-control ,  self-restraint ,  self-discipline ,  control ,  moderation , prudence , judiciousness, abstemiousness "the protestors showed restraint" I do believe I can show some restraint or self-control but I wish I could maintain it at all times, especially in social situations and times of stress. ...

I cannot believe I've never posted about this book.  I loved it.  More twists and turns than a mountain road.   Alias Grace is a historical fiction based on the true life case of Grace Marks, a young maid who murdered her employer and possibly the housekeeper.  Atwood fleshes out the story and takes the reader on quite the ride while trying to decide on Grace's guilt or innocence.  Grace's life including her time in an asylum and prison is well told.   I recommend this book highly. The book was made into a mini series in 2017.

Today's Prompt: Animation Describe your favorite comic book or cartoon character. I love the Abominoble Snowman from Looney Tunes . . . LOL . . .  When the kids were growing up and I got tired of hearing . . .  . . . I would tell them that I had changed my name and could they please just call me George.

I subscribe to a Facebook group You know you grew up in St. Thomas Ontario when . . . and I really enjoy the variety of conversations. A while back we were talking about movies made in St. Thomas:  125 Rooms of Comfort (1974),  Mr. Headmistress (1998), Silent Hill (2006), Total Recall (2012) to name a few.   I lived a few doors down from Alma College on Moore Street for many years, including the time they were filming Mr. Headmistress.  We were witness to a great deal of excitement during that week or so.  My youngest son Tim, who at that time didn't know he wanted to be an actor, kept trying everything he could to get on set but they caught him every time.  He was only 9.  My niece was in one of the scenes and was paid $75 for the day's work.  Her bit ended up on the cutting room floor unfortunately. Well, one night the production people asked that we not park on the street.  They placed safety cones up to discourage parking an...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Leslie Feist (born February 13, 1976), known as Feist, is a Canadian indie pop singer-songwriter and guitarist, performing both as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock group Broken Social Scene. Feist launched her solo music career in 1999 with the release of Monarch. Her subsequent studio albums, Let It Die, released in 2004, and The Reminder, released in 2007, were critically acclaimed and commercially successful, selling over 2.5 million copies. The Reminder earned Feist four Grammy nominations, including a nomination for Best New Artist. She has received 11 Juno Awards, including two Artist of the Year. Her fourth studio album, Metals, was released in 2011. In 2012, Feist collaborated on a split EP with metal group Mastodon, releasing an interactive music video in the process. Feist received three Juno awards at the 2012 ceremony: Artist of the Year, Adult Alternative Album of the Year for Metals, and Music DVD of the Year for her do...

This is one place I've always wanted to see. Maybe this summer it will finally happen. The Diefenbunker is a massive four-storey underground bunker, built between 1959 and 1961 near Carp, ON. During the Cold War, top officials were to take shelter here in the event of a nuclear war. It was active as Canadian Forces Station Carp until 1994. Today, it operates as a not-for-profit, charitable museum with award-winning tours and programs. The Cold War is the period between the end of the Second World War in 1945 and ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It was a period of tense conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union and each country’s respective allies. The Diefenbunker was commissioned by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in 1959, as part of his government’s reaction to escalating tensions in the Cold War. The purpose of the bunker was to house key members of the government and military in the event of a nuc...

Today's Prompt: That Ain't Workin' Write about the weirdest job you've ever had. I've been very luck in my various occupations over time. I can't think of a really weird job I've had to do. I guess I've been lucky. So instead, here is a funny article I found online : Top 10 weirdest jobs So you want a career that's a little bit different? Look no further. We've compiled a list of the wackiest jobs going. Try these on for size! 1: Zombie, witch or ghoul! Whilst most of these jobs will be seasonal only (Hallowe’en), scary tourist attractions, such as the London Bridge Experience and London Tombs, will advertise for full-time actors to dress up and scare their customers. You get your make and hair done for you too - so it’s a real scream of a job! 2: Watch paint dry You may have heard some people say they’d “rather watch paint dry” than do something they don’t want to do. Well, if they really mean it the opportunity is there – studying the ...

419  scams are a type of fraud and one of the most common types of confidence trick. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, which the fraudster requires a small up-front payment to obtain. The last Will Ferguson book I read was Canadian Pie .   419  is so completely different and it is "genius" just as the cover says. This book is about the effects of a 419 scam on a family and it also tells so much about life on the other side of the world where the scam that caused a Canadian father to take his own life originated.  The writing is absorbing and cinematic.  This is one of those books you won't want to put down until the very last page.

When we started watching Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (it's making me nuts not adding the U) I thought it was a biography of Fred Rogers.  I was disappointed when it was not . . . but not for long.  It was actually based on the friendship between Mr. Rogers and journalist Lloyd Vogel, a man in need of healing.  Through the story we learn about Mr. Rogers in a beautiful way which does not include first he did this, than that, and then the next year he . . .  Loved it! I think you will too.

Today's Prompt: Museums Would you rather spend the day at an art museum, science museum, or history museum? Why are you making me choose?  I love every type of museum.  Big or small.  Art, science or history.  And I've been to a fair number in the area.   In St. Thomas my favourite places to go are the Art Centre, Elgin Military Museum and Elgin County Railway Museum/CASO Station.

Tanka is a form of poetry similar to haiku. It's short, and the lines don't need to rhyme. They just must have a set number of syllables: 5/7/5/7/7. Today's tanka prompt is: Vegetable garden. May 2014 - My Veggie Garden spring is here warm sun planning shopping choosing plants dirt compost manure so we can eat fresh produce picked from our veggie garden

Yes, I do read rather an eclectic range of books.  I love reading.  And I am enjoying reading the 300 Books Everyone Should Read at Least Once.  I general read favoured books over and over.  I've only read Bleak House once so far but I'm sure I will pick it up again. Charles Dickens is my kind of comedian.  Jokes and satire and downright meanness are hidden in the beautiful language he uses.  Apparently Dickens was a law clerk at one time and also spent a lot of time in the courts trying to enforce copyright on some of his earlier books.  As a result this novel is a harsh but humourous critique of the court system of his time. The central theme of the  novel is the long-running litigation of Jarndyce v Jarndyce in which the testator apparently left several different wills.  The court case is finally resolved by the end of the novel but the court costs are so high there is no money or property left to award.

Six Words! Describe your life or current situation using exactly six words. I plan on sipping tea today

Today's Writing Prompt: Happy Easter! What do you wish was in your Easter basket? Easy . . . sugar-free chocolates sprinkled with sea salt from Reids Chocolate in Cambridge, Ontario.  Heaven!!

  Dobson was born on February 28, 1985, in Scarborough, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. Dobson's mother is of English, Dutch, First Nations, and Irish ancestry and her father is of Jamaican heritage. She went to high school at Wexford Collegiate Institute. During her childhood, she took singing lessons at the New Conservatory of Music in Agincourt, Scarborough to improve her singing. Fefe Dobson graduated from Heritage Park Public School. Dobson began sending demo tapes – recorded on a home karaoke machine – to many recording companies in North America when she was 11 years old. Then at the age of 13, she started playing the piano and writing music. Dobson has said that John Lennon and Judy Garland are her primary musical influences, and that her biggest musical inspiration growing up was Michael Jackson: "I swore I was Michael [Jackson]. Then I found out I wasn't Michael [Jackson] and it broke my heart." She also mentions Janet Jackson as a primary influence. At the sa...

I have heard of this book and movie. I have read books by Mordecai Richler. I have neither read this book nor seen this movie . . . until today. I found The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz on Youtube and sat cosy on the couch, crocheting and enjoying the show. Richard Dreyfuss was perfect as the pushy, brash Duddy Kravitz, determined to own land and be somebody after a childhood of being ignored by his family or teased about his big dreams. The film is shot in Canada and there actually is one Canadian actor that I am aware of in the film. The rest are all American. That bugs me a bit. I found Duddy's narcissism difficult. And, is impossible to not to be uncomfortable about the anti-Semetism and stereotypes prevalent in the movie. Having said that, it was also an exciting movie, never knowing what was coming next. Duddy's fortunes were up and down like a roller coaster. He was very charming and likeable until he wasn't.  Academy Awards, USA  1975 Nominee Oscar Best Writing...