Happy New Year to one and all!
It’s time once again for my traditional year-end review. At first glance, I can’t say 2006 was particularly momentous for me. I hate for these end-of-year things to be so meh but what are you going to do? Chances are that’s how it’ll start out then suddenly it’s 3 pages later.
Well, work is the same, folks are the same, sibs are the same. The biggest development is that Charles is now working as the psychologist at an addiction treatment centre. He is doing very well and always thinking of additional ways to bring more clients to the centre for counseling, not just addictions. I always find it impressive when someone is so clearly meant to do what they do.
Charles and I like to spice up our every-day lives by going to concerts whenever we can. This year we saw Evanescence, Lacuna Coil, and The Gathering, but the doozie was going to see the Dixie Chicks – yee haw!! They really had the place jammin’. I never knew I could like country music so much. I’m not sure the Chicks had as good a time as I did though. Their latest tour was mostly a Canadian one since their popularity in the US dropped somewhat after Natalie’s little statement on being embarrassed about the President being a fellow Texan. We actually got a taste of Nat’s wild little tongue when she was commenting to the audience on how much they liked visiting Montreal but finished up with “Oh, y’all probably can’t understand what I’m sayin’ anyway.”
Our summer vacation is usually a major source of adventure. This year, Charles and I went to Staunton Virginia, smack in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley. You must be saying to yourself, hey isn’t that where The Waltons used to live? Well, it’s true. This factoid was a big selling point for us going down there. Actually, we were invited by one of Charles’ friends, William Paquet, who is a sculptor of comic characters, monsters and fiends. He’s in fact a pioneer of the industry and we were very excited to meet him. Staunton (pronounced Stanton) is not that big but it has a lot of historical buildings that luckily were not destroyed during the Civil War. They had just finished filming the sequel to Bruce Almighty the day before we got there. (You got away this time Morgan Freeman – damn you!!)
As you can imagine, the subject of the Civil War is very big down there. I was hoping we would get a chance to see a battle re-enactment but it rained half the time we were there. Instead we went to see some of the local sights like the Natural Bridge, which is further south of Staunton. As with most nature sites, there is a fair amount of walking involved but once it comes into view, it manages to take your breath away with its majestic simplicity. Aside from the Natural Bridge being what it is, the stories about it are kind of cool too.
Blue Ridge homeboy Thomas Jefferson considered the Natural Bridge "that most sublime of nature's works" and on July 5, 1774, he bought it and several surrounding acres from King George III for the “sum of 20 shillings of good and lawful money.” (about $2.40).
As we walked beneath the massive arch, I heard whispers of “there it is.” We figured out people were looking at what is considered to be the handy work of George Washington himself. According to legend, in 1750, a 19 year old GW was doing some land surveying in the area for a local Lord, and decided to scale 23 feet up the left wall to carve his initials. At first I felt kind of blasé about the carving. I mean big deal; it’s too far away to get a good look at anyway. But then, as the sound of the water quietly meandered past us and the gentle rustle of the leaves 215 feet overhead enveloped me, I imagined young George Washington innocently carving his initials – confident and brash, all proud of himself – not knowing the unimaginably immense role he would one day play. The words destiny and glory rushed into my thoughts. And then I remembered the current raging violence and war… What would he think of his country now?
Even though our vacation had several memorable highlights, there were other events that marked the year more strongly. As we head into what is supposed to be the coldest part of the year, all I think of these days is global warming. This past December, we didn’t have a real snowfall until after Christmas. Usually we see it by late November. You look outside now, January 2007, and the ground isn’t white anymore, it’s back to green. Some trees still haven’t shed all their leaves. Most people are happy at how nice the weather is, but not me. I’d hate to think that my kids might not experience snow pants, sledding, snow angels, skating outdoors, building forts, or a free day of no school because of a terrible snowstorm.
Perhaps the most powerful film I saw this year was An Inconvenient Truth. It seems kind of silly that a movie could be so influential in my very own life, but I suppose if I’ve known what global warming is but can still admit that I do little to change my habits then maybe a movie is really what the doctor ordered because it got me to go to the website and find out things, albeit simple things, but real things I can do to help.
Like: 1) Don’t just turn off electronic devices you’re not using – Unplug them! Even when turned off, things like hairdryers, cell phone chargers and televisions use energy. In fact, the energy it takes to keep display clocks lit and memory chips working spews about 18 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year!
And: 2) Use compact fluorescent light bulbs – They use about 75% less energy, last up to 10 times longer, and produce 90% less heat than standard incandescent bulbs. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. If every family in the U.S. made the switch, they’d reduce carbon dioxide by more than 90 billion pounds!
The website (http://climatecrisis.org/) has a whole bunch of suggestions but I like these two because I never knew I was wasting so much energy needlessly. And because they are easy. Charles will tell you, I’m all about the easy stuff. As with most things, it’ll take some getting used to. Like switching from milk to soy I guess. Kind of yucky at first, but oh so yummy now.
Another eye opening movie for me was The Rocket, the Maurice Richard story. This is actually the second Quebecois movie we intentionally saw this year – and really liked! (Bon Cop Bad Cop was also very good and highly enjoyable.) The Rocket starts with radio coverage of the Richard Riot. I had never heard of it before (which is kind of embarrassing) and had I known about it when I was in high school, I would have had a completely different appreciation for the bitter Francophone attitude of towards Anglophones.
I was actually kind of upset I never heard of it before. In high school, I was taught more about apartheid in South Africa than the bigotry and racism depicted in the movie. Wikipedia describes The Richard Riot as a riot that broke out on March 17, 1955 in Montreal, Quebec where the Canadiens star player had been suspended (right before the play-offs) for a attacking a linesman. It sparked outrage and a riot at the Montreal Forum that spilled out into the streets. Some commentators have linked the Richard Riot in the 1950's with the birth of Quebec nationalism and the Quiet Revolution. It was truly an excellent film.http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=56&category=sports
In essence, 2006 for me was a long year of wishing things would get better. Everyday there were new reports of suicide bombers, dead soldiers, conflicts and scandals, school shootings, people crushed to death by collapsing overpasses, … It doesn’t seem to end.
On September 13th, a lone gunman went into my old college and shot a whole bunch of students, killing an innocent young girl. I remember feeling horrified and stunned when a similar event happened in December of 1989. This time, part of the tragedy is that it’s not quite as shocking. It’s almost a matter of fact.
It was only hearing first hand accounts from friends of their experience on that day that made the incident more real for me. One was from a frantic father who works right across the street from Dawson. Watching from his office window as the police arrive and people start to race out of the building, he spends an eternal 13 minutes in hell until he gets a call from his wife telling him their 18 year old son was home safe and sound.
The other tale is from a former classmate who now teaches at Dawson. She recounted her seeing a bizarre stampede of people outside her office door, the endless hour hiding and waiting with hysterical students, and at last the police escort out of the school, past pools of blood and the draped body of the lifeless killer.
It’s hard to imagine how a world where the existence of this kind of hatred and violence came to be. It makes me constantly hope against hope that things will get better. The signs are sometimes small and come in surprising forms. During the holidays, I read about a group of people giving free hugs here in Montreal and it just felt like this was one such sign of hope and change so I looked it up on YouTube. I mean, it must be real if it’s been on Oprah already.
The Free Hugs Campaign started in Sydney, Australia, when Juan Mann was standing in the airport feeling alone and needing a hug. He decided to stand on the busiest corner in town with a huge sign that said "FREE HUGS". It started an international phenomenon. The success of Free Hugs reminds us that “at the basis of what makes us human is that moment in which we are one with another human being. Hugs are the physical expression of that oneness. And it is only by realizing that oneness can we truly start on the road to peace.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4&mode=related&searchhttp://www.freehugscampaign.com/
2006 was also the year I found out my first close high school friend had a baby. Yep, I recently rekindled contact with dear ol’ Diane. She and her hubby Boyd are now the proud parents of 7 month old boy, Anwar. And just to make things even, my old college buddy Tim and his wife Lisa just had a baby girl, Madison, 4 days ago. Can you believe it?? These days, nothing beats the sound of little feet and baby voices.
Well, that’s it really. I do have some tales about adventures in house hunting and plans to move out of the apartamento in 2007 – but I will save that juicy tidbit for next year’s round-up.
Take care everyone. All the best in health and happiness for the new year and always.
Hugs,
Cecilia
It’s time once again for my traditional year-end review. At first glance, I can’t say 2006 was particularly momentous for me. I hate for these end-of-year things to be so meh but what are you going to do? Chances are that’s how it’ll start out then suddenly it’s 3 pages later.
Well, work is the same, folks are the same, sibs are the same. The biggest development is that Charles is now working as the psychologist at an addiction treatment centre. He is doing very well and always thinking of additional ways to bring more clients to the centre for counseling, not just addictions. I always find it impressive when someone is so clearly meant to do what they do.
Charles and I like to spice up our every-day lives by going to concerts whenever we can. This year we saw Evanescence, Lacuna Coil, and The Gathering, but the doozie was going to see the Dixie Chicks – yee haw!! They really had the place jammin’. I never knew I could like country music so much. I’m not sure the Chicks had as good a time as I did though. Their latest tour was mostly a Canadian one since their popularity in the US dropped somewhat after Natalie’s little statement on being embarrassed about the President being a fellow Texan. We actually got a taste of Nat’s wild little tongue when she was commenting to the audience on how much they liked visiting Montreal but finished up with “Oh, y’all probably can’t understand what I’m sayin’ anyway.”
Our summer vacation is usually a major source of adventure. This year, Charles and I went to Staunton Virginia, smack in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley. You must be saying to yourself, hey isn’t that where The Waltons used to live? Well, it’s true. This factoid was a big selling point for us going down there. Actually, we were invited by one of Charles’ friends, William Paquet, who is a sculptor of comic characters, monsters and fiends. He’s in fact a pioneer of the industry and we were very excited to meet him. Staunton (pronounced Stanton) is not that big but it has a lot of historical buildings that luckily were not destroyed during the Civil War. They had just finished filming the sequel to Bruce Almighty the day before we got there. (You got away this time Morgan Freeman – damn you!!)
As you can imagine, the subject of the Civil War is very big down there. I was hoping we would get a chance to see a battle re-enactment but it rained half the time we were there. Instead we went to see some of the local sights like the Natural Bridge, which is further south of Staunton. As with most nature sites, there is a fair amount of walking involved but once it comes into view, it manages to take your breath away with its majestic simplicity. Aside from the Natural Bridge being what it is, the stories about it are kind of cool too.
Blue Ridge homeboy Thomas Jefferson considered the Natural Bridge "that most sublime of nature's works" and on July 5, 1774, he bought it and several surrounding acres from King George III for the “sum of 20 shillings of good and lawful money.” (about $2.40).
As we walked beneath the massive arch, I heard whispers of “there it is.” We figured out people were looking at what is considered to be the handy work of George Washington himself. According to legend, in 1750, a 19 year old GW was doing some land surveying in the area for a local Lord, and decided to scale 23 feet up the left wall to carve his initials. At first I felt kind of blasé about the carving. I mean big deal; it’s too far away to get a good look at anyway. But then, as the sound of the water quietly meandered past us and the gentle rustle of the leaves 215 feet overhead enveloped me, I imagined young George Washington innocently carving his initials – confident and brash, all proud of himself – not knowing the unimaginably immense role he would one day play. The words destiny and glory rushed into my thoughts. And then I remembered the current raging violence and war… What would he think of his country now?
Even though our vacation had several memorable highlights, there were other events that marked the year more strongly. As we head into what is supposed to be the coldest part of the year, all I think of these days is global warming. This past December, we didn’t have a real snowfall until after Christmas. Usually we see it by late November. You look outside now, January 2007, and the ground isn’t white anymore, it’s back to green. Some trees still haven’t shed all their leaves. Most people are happy at how nice the weather is, but not me. I’d hate to think that my kids might not experience snow pants, sledding, snow angels, skating outdoors, building forts, or a free day of no school because of a terrible snowstorm.
Perhaps the most powerful film I saw this year was An Inconvenient Truth. It seems kind of silly that a movie could be so influential in my very own life, but I suppose if I’ve known what global warming is but can still admit that I do little to change my habits then maybe a movie is really what the doctor ordered because it got me to go to the website and find out things, albeit simple things, but real things I can do to help.
Like: 1) Don’t just turn off electronic devices you’re not using – Unplug them! Even when turned off, things like hairdryers, cell phone chargers and televisions use energy. In fact, the energy it takes to keep display clocks lit and memory chips working spews about 18 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year!
And: 2) Use compact fluorescent light bulbs – They use about 75% less energy, last up to 10 times longer, and produce 90% less heat than standard incandescent bulbs. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. If every family in the U.S. made the switch, they’d reduce carbon dioxide by more than 90 billion pounds!
The website (http://climatecrisis.org/) has a whole bunch of suggestions but I like these two because I never knew I was wasting so much energy needlessly. And because they are easy. Charles will tell you, I’m all about the easy stuff. As with most things, it’ll take some getting used to. Like switching from milk to soy I guess. Kind of yucky at first, but oh so yummy now.
Another eye opening movie for me was The Rocket, the Maurice Richard story. This is actually the second Quebecois movie we intentionally saw this year – and really liked! (Bon Cop Bad Cop was also very good and highly enjoyable.) The Rocket starts with radio coverage of the Richard Riot. I had never heard of it before (which is kind of embarrassing) and had I known about it when I was in high school, I would have had a completely different appreciation for the bitter Francophone attitude of towards Anglophones.
I was actually kind of upset I never heard of it before. In high school, I was taught more about apartheid in South Africa than the bigotry and racism depicted in the movie. Wikipedia describes The Richard Riot as a riot that broke out on March 17, 1955 in Montreal, Quebec where the Canadiens star player had been suspended (right before the play-offs) for a attacking a linesman. It sparked outrage and a riot at the Montreal Forum that spilled out into the streets. Some commentators have linked the Richard Riot in the 1950's with the birth of Quebec nationalism and the Quiet Revolution. It was truly an excellent film.http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=56&category=sports
In essence, 2006 for me was a long year of wishing things would get better. Everyday there were new reports of suicide bombers, dead soldiers, conflicts and scandals, school shootings, people crushed to death by collapsing overpasses, … It doesn’t seem to end.
On September 13th, a lone gunman went into my old college and shot a whole bunch of students, killing an innocent young girl. I remember feeling horrified and stunned when a similar event happened in December of 1989. This time, part of the tragedy is that it’s not quite as shocking. It’s almost a matter of fact.
It was only hearing first hand accounts from friends of their experience on that day that made the incident more real for me. One was from a frantic father who works right across the street from Dawson. Watching from his office window as the police arrive and people start to race out of the building, he spends an eternal 13 minutes in hell until he gets a call from his wife telling him their 18 year old son was home safe and sound.
The other tale is from a former classmate who now teaches at Dawson. She recounted her seeing a bizarre stampede of people outside her office door, the endless hour hiding and waiting with hysterical students, and at last the police escort out of the school, past pools of blood and the draped body of the lifeless killer.
It’s hard to imagine how a world where the existence of this kind of hatred and violence came to be. It makes me constantly hope against hope that things will get better. The signs are sometimes small and come in surprising forms. During the holidays, I read about a group of people giving free hugs here in Montreal and it just felt like this was one such sign of hope and change so I looked it up on YouTube. I mean, it must be real if it’s been on Oprah already.
The Free Hugs Campaign started in Sydney, Australia, when Juan Mann was standing in the airport feeling alone and needing a hug. He decided to stand on the busiest corner in town with a huge sign that said "FREE HUGS". It started an international phenomenon. The success of Free Hugs reminds us that “at the basis of what makes us human is that moment in which we are one with another human being. Hugs are the physical expression of that oneness. And it is only by realizing that oneness can we truly start on the road to peace.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4&mode=related&searchhttp://www.freehugscampaign.com/
2006 was also the year I found out my first close high school friend had a baby. Yep, I recently rekindled contact with dear ol’ Diane. She and her hubby Boyd are now the proud parents of 7 month old boy, Anwar. And just to make things even, my old college buddy Tim and his wife Lisa just had a baby girl, Madison, 4 days ago. Can you believe it?? These days, nothing beats the sound of little feet and baby voices.
Well, that’s it really. I do have some tales about adventures in house hunting and plans to move out of the apartamento in 2007 – but I will save that juicy tidbit for next year’s round-up.
Take care everyone. All the best in health and happiness for the new year and always.
Hugs,
Cecilia
posted by Blogger_Naut | 6:44 p.m.
1 Comments:
Hey Cecelia,
It is Vaughan from the Priory 1983. I'm not sure that I remember all that much from that place. A few odds and sods.
I don't live in Montreal anymore. I moved to Vancouver in 2007 and I have been here since.
It's a funny thing. I am in touch with one person from High School and one person from Elementary school.
I'm still friends with Brendan.
If you want to chat sometime, you can email me at vaughan.johansen@gmail.com
take care,
Vaughan.
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