Friday, October 27, 2006

Freedom of Speech

What does freedom of speech mean to you? Does it mean you can call people "stupid cows"? Doe it mean you can spur hate about peoples choices and how they interfere with your own?

I always thought freedom of speech involved the sharing of ideas and civilized discussions. Imagine Martin Luther King in his freedom speech talking about the stupid white cows, can you imagine how well that would have went over? MLK is an icon for both black and white because of his carefully thought out words.

What brought this on you ask? I visited a forum recently and a visitor posted a thread about an experience she had totally attacking the person she was talking about instead of sharing the facts. I was totally lost by this conversation which was followed by responses of people who supported her nastiness.

Removing all the negativity from her response would have created a truly moving example but for me it was lost. Am I alone in this? Do we have to attack to get our feelings across. Someone would say I'm attacking this person right now but really, if you saw her message I am not. I have not called her anything other than she.

Of course none of my thoughts on this went over well. I was suppressing their freedom of speech. But I say, can't we just be nice... and get our thoughts and feeling across? Is it necessary to call people names and segregate ourselves?

I don't understand.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

The Layers of Moe

This was passed on to me by my friend Nessa. Apparently, I have nine layers and they are based on the following. Probably more information than you needed or wanted to know.

LAYER ONE:

Name: I have many. When I was a kid I was known as "Cabbage Head".
Birthdate: December 4.
Birthplace: Fort William.
Current Location: Eastern Ontario.
Eye Color: Blue.
Hair Color: Blonde.
Height: 5’8”
Righty or Lefty: Righty.
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius.

LAYER TWO:

Your heritage: Irish, Scottish.
The shoes you wore today: Fuzzy slippers.
Your weakness: Crying.
Your fears: Spiders.
Your perfect pizza: Lotsa cheese.
Goal you would like to achieve: I would like to double my income by this time next year.

LAYER THREE:

Your most overused phrase: For f&^% sake!
Your first waking thoughts: Man I need to brush my teeth.
Your best physical feature: Just one? Mmm... small nose.
Your most missed memory: I miss all the stuff I haven't been able to remember since the seizures.

LAYER FOUR:

Pepsi or Coke: Totally Pepsi!
McDonald's or Burger King: McDonald's.
Single or group dates: Single.
Adidas or Nike: Nike. I've been brain washed because I've never worn them.
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Nestea.
Chocolate or vanilla: Stupid question. Chocolate of course.
Cappuccino or coffee: Iced Cappuccino if you please.

LAYER FIVE:

Smoke: No
Cuss: Oh yeah!
Sing: All the time.
Take a shower everyday: No.
Do you think you have been in love: Hope so, married him.
Want to go to college: Been there done that. I graduated as a nurse.
Want to get married: Already succumbed darling.
Believe in yourself: Most of the time.
Get motion sickness: Yes, damn it! Had some just the other day.
Think you are attractive: But of course.
Think you are a health freak: Ah...no.
Get along with your parent(s): I refuse to answer on the grounds I may intimidate myself.
Like thunderstorms: Only if I'm not alone. If I'm alone, I'm hiding.
Play an instrument: No.

LAYER SIX:

In the past month have you...
Drank alcohol: No.
Smoked: No.
Done a drug: Does Tegretol count?
Made Out: Yes.
Gone on a date: Yes.
Gone to the mall?: Regretfully.
Eaten an entire box of Oreos?: Nope.
Eaten sushi: Definitely not.
Been on stage: No.
Been dumped: No.
Gone skating: No.
Made homemade cookies: Yes.
Gone skinny-dipping: Ha!
Dyed your hair: No.
Stolen anything: No.

LAYER SEVEN:

Have you ever...
Played a game that required removal of clothing: Yes.
If so, was it mixed company: Yes.
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Completely.
Been caught doing something: Yes.
Been called a tease: Yes.
Gotten beaten up: No.
Shoplifted: Yes.
Changed who you were to fit in: Yes.

LAYER EIGHT:

Age you hope to be married: Been there done that.
Numbers and Names of Children: Suzie - 11, Shelby - 6
Describe your Dream Wedding: Eloping to Hawaii.
How do you want to die: I'm living forever.
What do you want to be when you grow up: Respected.
What country would you most like to visit: Scotland. And if I'm there I might as well visit Ireland too.

LAYER NINE:

Number of drugs taken illegally: Two that I remember.
Number of people I could trust with my life: One.
Number of CDs that I own: Couple hundred.
Number of piercings: Two, one for each ear.
Number of tattoos: One.
Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: I have a popular name.
Number of scars on my body: Two for sure.
Number of things in my past that I regret: At least 3 or 4.

Hey Keris, your turn!

Enjoying Fall

This past weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada. We had a lovely dinner with a huge crowd at one of Jeff's teaching associate's friend's farm house (not as confusing as it sounds). I really didn't want to go, being as anti-social as I am, but we both had a good time.

On Monday we took an hour drive to Frontenac Park to do their 3 km Doe Lake hike. It really was a hike. Hilly, rocky and rooty. I could have used a walking stick. It took us an hour and half. It probably would have taken Jeff and Shelby only an hour. I stopped lots to take pictures and just veg out at the scenery. And I probably lost 3 litres of fluid. Yes, it was hot. It was pretty cool when we left. Summer has not left us yet!

Here's a couple pics from our hike:


Just before the hike Jeff took pictures of me in my Bleacher Blanket. You can read the review at my Large & Lovely site.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Trashionista - Buy a Friend a Book Week

This week on Trashionista: BAFAB will be fab! Diane Shipley and Keris Stainton, co-editors of Trashionista, the book news and reviews site whose motto proclaims, “We read books like they’re going out of fashion!” are excited to announce Trashionista’s participation in this October’s Buy a Friend a Book Week (BAFAB).

From October 1-5 2006 on www.trashionista.com, you’ll find exclusive guest blogs from best-selling chick-lit authors (stop by to find out who!), interviews, and seven (and counting…) book giveaways.

Plus, find out what books we’d buy for our friends, and why! It goes without saying (doesn’t it?!) that of course you’ll also find all of the usual great Trashionista content: book reviews (focusing on women’s fiction, chick-lit and memoir) and book news (focusing on anything hot or controversial in the book world in general) all delivered with intelligence and a sense of fun.

Please stop by from October 1-5 for BAFAB week, Trashionista style- and help make it a week to remember!

More about Trashionista:

Trashionista gets to grips with the wonderful world of female fiction. We take an unbiased look at beach reads, bestsellers, new releases and old favourites -and we actually read the books before writing about them. At Trashionista we don't believe that 'chick lit' is a dirty word - but if a book is trash, we'll let you know!

Trashionista is a Shiny Media website created by Gemma Cartwright and edited by Diane Shipley and Keris Stainton. To contact the editors email editor@trashionista.com