Archive for February, 2010
Snowy safetygoat
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
It’s been snowing like it’s going out of style here in Canada, and faced with a foot of snow at the cottage in Gatineau, I first made a friend to support me in my shovelling/scooping efforts! Over 2 hours later, the driveway was clear. Unfortunately snowy safetygoat had: 1) lost his head, and 2) been peed on by the local dog, Whiskey.
Don’t worry, I have replaced his head with white snow, and he is happily hanging out in the Great White North!
My snow sculpting leaves a little to be desired... maybe more of a snow llama? Poor safetygoat!
Arty shot. Notice hair peaking in! I had to use my computer covered in a plastic bag to get the shot...
His lifejacket doesn't fit very well! He is a growing boy afterall... Maybe he needs a new one for his birthday!
Canadian Olympics… proud of being modest?
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
I’ve been watching the Olympics these past days. I’m in Canada right now, which really gets me into the spirit of it, as I’m sure British TV focuses on British athletes, and Canadian TV on Canadians. Which it should. I was always excited for the winter Olympics, just because, well, as a nation, Canadians have 5 months of winter, so it’s not like we’re going to start sweeping the summer Olympics. We love hockey, we have snow. There’s nothing else to do here.
Here’s my view from my window today: try training for a marathon here.
It's snowing today!
The media in other nations are critical though. Things aren’t going smoothly. There’s hilarious, embarrassing, annoying happenings. Every event has them. Just because you try hard, doesn’t mean that people can’t criticise you. People will always complain. People will always be critical. People will always joke. Get over it.
I am quietly proud of being a Canadian. I love our snowy, boring nation.
What I hate is this arrogance. And the arrogance at being polite and modest. How can you be declaring yourself modest? How does that make ANY sense?
Skeleton champion belts out Oh Canada. He's got the right idea... he's just absolutely 100% ecstatic about winning.
I’m all for the cheering, singing oh canada, flag waving (who said Canadians don’t wave flags? I happen to think we have a beautiful flag!), and glorifying the athletes. We’re going to cheer louder for our countrymen, there’s going to be more of us than other fans, and tell me of a country where this isn’t true.
Canadians aren’t that interesting (with a few notable exceptions). We are nice, and we’re doing our best, but we should learn how the world works. We’re not very often in the world media, we don’t get criticism very often because we’re often not a big player. Now that we’re in the spotlight, we’re boasting with arrogance about our modesty.
These Canadians that are hurt by the criticism, that say we should just focus on the sport, have lost their grip on reality. Grow some thick skin, Canada. The Olympics are going fine. They suck at times, they’re great at times. That’s life.
Speech writers/media content creators: Your arrogance makes us look bad.
I’m sure most Canadians flinch when someone goes on about how AMAZING we are. We have a beautiful country, and we’re nice. Let’s not forget that we usually let people discover this themselves. We’re not perfect, but I think some of the public data is misrepresenting us. If we were acting like proper Canadians, we’d be proud, but acknowledge that we’ve made mistakes and things haven’t gone perfectly. We’d be able to laugh at ourselves.
I also look forward to 2012 in London, where I know cynical Brits will have no problem criticising their own nation’s attempt at Olympic glory.
Goodbye to a fashion legend
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
The dress that was the start of my fashion inspiration
I just heard the tragic news… Lee McQueen, founder of Alexander McQueen, has died.
I am shocked. He is one of my favourite fashion designers, and his dress design, shown here, was actually what prompted me to create my own fashions, back when I started sewing 3 years ago.
I remember finding this dress (displayed with a soft sweater in a winter wonderland in the magazine spread), with its a-symmetrical wrapping that was neither traditionally tartan, nor over the top, and I thought, “wow, I would love to make something like that.” While my efforts to distill his piece of art were not entirely successful, I was hooked, and I often spent hours routing through his collections, in awe of his ability to create such uniqueness.
Fashion week is coming up, and he was supposed to be unveiling his latest collection. What a shame that this is the last time we will see new creations from him.
Mr. McQueen, your creativity has inspired me, and you will be sorely missed.
