Tea and Oranges

Tea and oranges: a good combination for comfort. I find myself having a lot of tea and many oranges these days.

Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world.
~T’ien Yiheng

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.
~Bernard-Paul Heroux

If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you.
~Gladstone, 1865

The oranges just speak for themselves.

I’m hoping for better health.

Mother’s Day

I’m a terrible daughter. I always forget Mother’s Day. And Father’s Day…at least I’m consistent. But a friend reminded me so I thought I would ponder and muse on that woman who is Mum.

My Mum is:
-strong
-fierce
-funny
-private
-beautiful
-giving
-forgiving
-generous

My Mum is a(n):
-thinker
-gardener
-artist
-excellent cook

My Mum has:
-a great smile
-a great laugh
-a great sense of humour
-the inability to eat quickly (ha!)

My Mum can:
-keep going
-find a good deal
-buy an over abundance of Christmas presents
-sew
-surf the net

Of course you can’t encapsulate a person in a few lists of words. My Mum is complex, like all human beings are. I continue to learn a lot from her. Happy Mother’s Day, Mum. *smooches*

The Online Voice

Ever think about how you come across online? It’s impossible to judge tone, so we’re all slaves to emoticons, lols, and other ways to make ourselves heard. Some things just turn me off in terms of online communication. Let me count the ways!

1. ALL CAPS. Of course we know that typing in all capital letters is tantamount to SHOUTING!! For example, say you post a shot on Flickr and someone comments by writing: WHAT A GREAT SHOT. I LOVE IT! My inclination is to SHOUT BACK! It’s annoying, it’s loud, it negates the comment.

2. Excessive punctuation. I’m not talking about commas, because god knows I love a good comma. I’m talking about things like the exclamation mark. Same example: you post a shot on Flickr and “That’s so great!!!!!!!! What perfect capture!!!!!!! I love that bokeh!!!!!” See, it’s too jazzed up. Too much coffee, too many amphetamines? Who knows.

3. Textspeak or chatspeak. omg, cn u blve it?? So gr8! brb lol np! I’m barely fluent in English let alone this. I understand the concept of trying to pare down characters when typing on a little key pad, but really, in blogs or internet forums or my beloved Flickr, ditch the chatspeak. Of course, if you just want to get better at it, some chatspeak guidelines.

4. Lotsa emoticons. I’m guilty of the smiley face . I want to make sure that people know I’m joking, or smiling, or maybe grinning . But too much is too much. In case you want to integrate more emoticons into your online vocabulary (don’t call me, I’ll call you), here’s a list of emoticons.

5. Spelling and grammar. Yes, I understand that spelling is not a strength for some people and that they really don’t teach grammar in school anymore. Still, proofread! If it doesn’t sound right when you say it out loud, rewrite it. And if you misspell, just try to make it look like chatspeak. lol hahahaha

Thus ends the judgements of Virginia’s Library. Tune in next time when I rant about inattentive fellow pedestrians, the dog bringing ticks into the house, and my hatred of jello salad.

On the Up Side, There’s All That Reading!

Hanging around the house leaves a lot of time for…cleaning? unfortunately no…philosophizing? nah….reading!! I’ve done a lot of reading the past six weeks, all of it good. So walk with me, won’t you, as I take a stroll down the six weeks of reading lane.

The first four A Song of Fire and Ice books by George R. R. Martin:
-A Game of Thrones
-A Clash of Kings
-A Storm of Swords
-A Feast for Crows

These books are fabulous and exhausting. Constant movement, constant intrigue, constant surprise. I loved them all, but I was glad to be finished the set so I could relax with my next book. Still, I can’t wait till the fifth book is out in paperback, and I think I’m going to splurge and pick up the HBO series so I can get my visual fill of Starks and Targaryans and Lannisters.

Next up was a reread of Ken Follett‘s The Pillars of the Earth. I first read this book back in 2000 when I was living in Toronto and getting my MA in English. I don’t know what possessed me to dive into this vast and stunning story while trying to read for a Masters degree, but I did. And upon the reread, I found it was better than I even remembered. I ran out to get the next book about Kingsbury Priory by Follett, World Without End. But when I was at the bookstore, I ran across Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I’d heard the hype and the movie is out so I picked up the YA book, preparing for it not to live up to the hype. But it did! It’s a very fast read, but it’s surprisingly complex. I’m going to go to the movie as soon as I can.

Now, I’m half-way through World Without End and it is extremely enjoyable. It is set 200 years after The Pillars of the Earth and it tells the story of a wide range of characters with heart and dexterity. Follett is an amazing writer and I’m looking to read more of him. Luckily, there’s lots out there to read!

Since I’m half finished my last book, I’m looking for recommendations. Please help me out and leave a title in the comments.

How are you? Fine!

What an innocuous question. We ask and answer it every day.

How are you?
Fine, thanks.

Often, we’re not fine. Maybe we’re down or depressed; ill or sick; grumpy; preoccupied. But almost always, we are “fine.” The social niceties are part of our culture. We answer it a lot in retail establishments, along with “Did you find everything you’re looking for?” and “Are you collecting stickers?” (Okay, that last one is only when the Co-op is running a sticker event, which it is now. And yes, I’m collecting stickers.)

I haven’t been fine lately. Since the end of January actually. But aside from being quite despondent over the whole thing, in my lighter moments I try to feel gratitude. I’m grateful because this longer illness has given me a greater appreciation of what people who have chronic illness go through. It’s made me realize that one has to find the small moments to hang on to in the midst of more moments that are painful. It’s made me listen very closely to my body…and to feel compassion for it. When it began, I was angry at my physical self. How could it let me down like this? But that’s silly. It is me. I am me. And if I don’t feel compassion, who will?

How are you?
I’m doing better, thanks. How are you??

Musings on an Early Winter

Is it inevitable that because I live in the country I am affected constantly by both weather and landscape? I think perhaps it is. Yes, I could pretend that none of it matters. But when all I can see from my windows is a vast expanse of flat land and huge sky it’s kind of hard to avoid it. Add on to that the daily commute to work and back, and I am pretty much at the mercy of my externals. There has to be a better way. For example, yesterday afternoon it started to snow and blow. It’s early for a big blow like this. I drove home from work in a moderate blizzard. The roads were okay, slippery-wise, but the visibility was poor and there were not a few idiots who did not turn on their lights. Sure, running lights are good for coming at a vehicle, but hey! YOUR TAIL LIGHTS AREN’T ON!!! Grrrr.

Okay, roadrage aside, what probably bothered me most of all were the couple of errands I had to run before coming home. In and out of the car in the whipping wind with a huge coat on. Wrestling to get the seatbelt around me and fastened while trying to tame my big coat in my small car. And then the realization that it’s only mid-November and there are still another 5-6 months of this crap.

*sigh*

It’s too early to feel this way. These are Farch feelings and if they’re already raising their ugly heads in November, it’s going to be a long winter indeed–for me AND the mister! So it’s time to gain some self control, some zen-like feelings towards my daily round of life in a Saskatchewan winter. Mantras and affirmations to calm me down and to help me see the positive. Let’s begin:

Being calm and centered is one of the top priorities in my life, and I practice this feeling every day.

All negativity is evaporating from my body and my mind.

Every fiber of my being is relaxed.

I allow all negative emotions to quickly and quietly evaporate.

I breathe out all stress and apprehension, and breathe in complete peace and well-being.

You can find more of these at http://affirmyourlife.blogspot.com/2009/08/calm-and-relaxed-affirmations.html

There’s one thing I really enjoy doing that helps me to feel calmer. When I’m out walking the dog and there’s a breeze or a wind, I picture the wind blowing all the negativity away from me and swirling it out into the cleansing universe. Of course, then I get this song in my head Murray McLauchlin – If the Wind Could Blow My Troubles Away.

One foot in front of the other…

Winter Musings, but not by me

We had a snowing blowing good time last Sunday which left the landscape a winter wonderland. Of course the minute this happens, I get all these feelings…nesting, nostalgic, melancholy, warm, snug feelings. Winter, or the onset of winter, brings this out in me. I thought about that a lot, to-ing and fro-ing to work all week as the days get shorter and we continue to ignore daylight saving time. What is it about winter that evokes such feelings? Yesterday, I went browsing in the campus bookstore and came across a book by Adam Gopnik….transcriptions of his CBC Massey Lectures called Winter: Five Windows on the Season. And while I’m only into the first lecture, I already can tell that my questions are going to be answered, and that my feelings are not unique, but have been built socially over the last 300 years by a number of things. This is a fascinating book and I’m so glad the Universe threw it in my way. Timely and timeless. Here’s a link to the book on Amazon:
Winter: Five Windows on the Season
Another cool part about this book is that it’s published with five different covers to reflect the title of five windows on the season.