B:45 The End !

This is my last post for Blogathon 2007. I'm pretty impressed with myself, I must admit.

My total? 15 pledges for $376.04 !! You have until Tuesday to pledge for me and the Humane Society of Canada if you haven't already, but wanted to. You can contact me or click this link.

As it stands now, I'd like to thank:

Claire
Liz
Al & Carrie
Lucy
Kelly
Pat
Hosh
Scott
Aislinn
Shecky
Didier
Tammy
Dodo
Megan

THANK YOU ALL !!!

And would I do it again? Hell yes. See you next year, Blogathon !! And Goodnight !

B:44 Second-to-last post !

HOLY CRAP. The end is in sight !!!! You know how I'm going to make this last half hour go by really quickly? I'm going to take a long, incredibly hot shower. It's going to be grand !

Catch you on the cleaner side of things !

B:43 All-Nighter

When I was in university residence, the cafeteria staff always knew when I'd been up all night. Those were the only mornings I made it for breakfast. I loved those breakfasts. Back then, I usually was up all night writing essays. Only occasionally did I stay up all night doing the party thing. I didn't drink at all in my first year. In my second, I started drinking, but still, I usually stayed up all night only to write papers. Social activity and clubbing was best followed-up by a good lie-in the following morning.

When I was basically addicted to playing Realms of Despair (a pretty fabulous text-based roleplaying game), I willingly pulled all-nighters to roleplay all night (go Drow Elves, yeah !). Hell, I'd mastered the Drow dictionary, even. That's some serious involvement. And there were also the all night parties now and then. Then, around the age of 25, I suddenly found it really hard to do it. I suddenly hit a wall around 4am and had to go to sleep. I've discovered that this is not unusual and lots of people suddenly can't pull it off come their mid to late twenties.

This all-nighter, for the Blogathon, is the first all-nighter I've willingly pulled in probably about four years. It's been fun, too, in a strange sort of way. There's no way I could do this regularly, though. But dancing around in my living room has decided me on getting physically active again, so there you go. Go Blogathon !

B:42 Life, the Universe and Everything

I've reached Post 42, which means I'm in the home stretch. There are only another 90 minutes or so to go.

So, as is fitting for the number, I guess I should talk about my love of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a very fine book, and the first in a five(?) book trilogy. ;)

It belonged to Tracy, but she and I shared books all the time. I guess I was about 14 or 15. One of us, probably her, dropped it in her pool. I remember reading it and all the pages were crinkled because I think she may have kept flipping the pages to dry them, and maybe even used a blow-dryer at one point.

The things we remember.

Tracy is still my best friend in the whole world. I love her. She's expecting her first child in September, and though I had initially planned to be there for the birth, I realise that probably won't happen. I miss her.

B:41 Music

There was a time when I knew all about who was new on the music scene, especially if they were British. I'm listening to the BlogExplosion Radio and they just played Kate Nash's Foundations. Who is she? When did she turn up on the scene? I rather liked that one song. It's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but then again, it's 4am and maybe I have no ability to discriminate. That's definitely possible. But come on, this is fun stuff:

Your face is pasty ’cause you’ve gone and got so wasted, what a suprise.
Don’t want to look at your face ’cause it’s makin’ me sick.
You’ve gone and got sick on my trainers,
I only got these yesterday.
Oh, my gosh, I cannot be bothered with this.

B:40 Gareth

I just got off the phone with Gareth. That may be one of the only good things about living eight time zones apart. When it's the middle of the night here and I need to talk to him (which doesn't actually happen that often), I usually can, because it's going on noon there. Anyway, we just managed to mostly talk about nothing for about forty minutes, which is why this post is a bit late. I wasn't going to get off the phone with my love, who I see every four to five months for only about two weeks at a time, just to blog, you know? I do have some priorities.

Anyway, I miss him a lot and hope I can see him sometime soon... but it just seems less and less likely that it will happen this summer. Oh money. I have promised him that when I leave Whitehorse, I will move closer to him, not farther away !

B:39 Blogathon on the radio...

Internet radio. Thank God. They are tailoring their music for the crazy people who are in the last three hours of the blogathon.

Here's a crazy person:

B:38 Something a bit more serious

I promised I'd talk about some of the things that have effected my life over the last few months. Hell, I never even finished writing about my holidays with Gareth or anything. I've been a shitty blogger in the last couple of years.

But in the more recent past, the last entry I posted was about nasty Mr. Jerry Falwell who died. More importantly to my life, a very close friend of the family died in May. Some of you may remember in 2003 when I went to New York because Robert passed away. His father, Alfred, was one of my mother's closest friends and she was a foundational person in Robert's life.

Alfred died in May. My mother went to New York in the last two weeks of his life. Initially, it was to help get his place cleaned up for his return in case he needed to get in home care, etc., but by the end, it was clear that he would not be coming home. He died the night after she left.

I dropped everything and got a travel agent to find me a "reasonable" flight from Whitehorse to New York. It was very expensive, but less than had I booked it myself. Half the price, in fact.

Going back to New York, staying in Alfred's apartment... without Alfred... it was very discomforting. I spent nearly no time in the living room because that is where he and I would have been hanging out laughing and talking if it were a normal visit. I stayed holed up in the guest room, formerly Robert's bedroom. There was no Alfred, no Robert, no cat... it was so strange.

And it was not only a goodbye to a beloved friend, but to a neighbourhood. A home away from home. I might write more about this... I don't know. I still hurt thinking about it.

In the last couple of weeks, Don, Alfred's close friend, and ours, too, closed up the apartment and turned in the keys.

It hurts my heart. I don't think I can write any more about this right now.

B:37

Oooh, another Blogathon game. This one is the "I Hate That Song" game. There aren't a lot of songs I actively hate. There are some genres that get up my nose, but hate is a strong word.

However, after thinking about this for a few minutes, I can name two songs that get up my nose sufficiently that, under the circumstances, I can probably say I dislike them intensely.

Patio Lanterns, by Kim Mitchell, is perhaps one of my most disliked songs. One summer, when I worked for the Ontario Government, it literally haunted me. Everywhere I was, it was played, or it seemed that way. Just the mention of 'patio lanterns' as objects make me shudder.

The other song is a little harder to nail down, but I really dislike The Macarena. I mean, really. I tend to eschew songs with dances attached to them at the best of times (anyone else remember the Achy-Breaky dance?), unless it's the chicken dance, because that's just silly.

When I get married, I have two rules for the DJ: 1) under no circumstance is he to play White Wedding because it is NOT A HAPPY MARRIAGE SONG and, 2) his life is forfeit if he plays The Macarena. Uhg.

B:36 Home.

Now my boys, Choco and Twee, are sitting at the screen door, watching intently as the rain pelts down outside. It's been a while since it's been completely dark at night. And it's sure dark out now. If it weren't completely overcast, the sky would probably still be tinted dark blue with a kind of greenish-yellow tinge along the horizon beneath which the sun was moving. It's a nice trade-off on the whole, four hours of light in the winter thing; the near complete daylight thing at the height of summer.

You know, I'd like the Yukon more if I were only here in the summer months. I'd have a summer cabin up here, although I'm not sure I could get used to swimming in the frigid water. Of course, that is all hypothetical, since we already have a summer cottage in Quebec.

Watching my cats whacking bugs on the screen makes me think they would really love it there, too. I miss it. On a night like tonight, with the rain pelting and bouncing on the earth and wooden structures outside, it reminds me of many a cool, wet night at the cottage.

More than any place I've been or lived, that is the one I most closely identify as "home".

B:35

I am now officially tired. The movies are done, it's raining again, and I'm sending Andrew home. He's going to try to take Twee. He really likes Twee. Twee is a great cat, though, so I fully understand.

Also, Choco just sat mewing outside the bathroom door while Andrew was inside. Heh.

B:34 The Pastorale

I forgot how poignant the scene with Sol in the euthanasia chamber is. God, it's so good. Sol is such a sweet character, too. And you know, the idea of the euthanasia chamber is really beautiful. It's possibly the most humane thing in the entire film.

B:33 Soylent controls the food for half the world

Sorry, did you say Haliburton? Oh, right, they don't control food. Just most of everything else.

I see the parallels. Well, the movie is pretty prescient, I guess. Except maybe the whole women as furniture thing, but ... then again, the human slave trade is booming, so maybe not.

B:32 People.... PEOPLE !

Whoops, is that the punchline? Sorry. SPOILERS ! Ya, time to watch Soylent Green, classic sci-fi. I'm looking forward to it. I shall discuss it as I go, I suppose. Andrew's never seen it and I haven't seen it in about 15 years. Awesome.

B:31 Seven hours

Seven hours to go. Wow, I've been at this for a while. Doing this while watching movies is kind of hard. Andrew is wrestling with my cats. He'll have bled all over my couch by the time he goes home.

B:30 Happy Movies

Hosh and I need to watch more happy-fun movies.

My cats love Andrew. And now he's bleeding.

B:29 Boogie woogie

You know, for a movie about the porn, this is really not a movie about porn. It's a movie about people and social issues and pornography happens to be its backdrop. And there are some great performances in it. Someone tell me why I haven't seen this in its entirety in its ten years of existence?

However, I don't actually recommend it for people who are easily offended.

B:28 uhhh.

Choco is sitting between the Hosh and me and is purring. He likes it when people sit on the couch, because though he is a shy little cat, he loves being part of things. I'm glad I adopted him.

B:27 Rollerskates

Ya, I had rollerskates when I was a kid, you know, several years before Rollerblades hit the market. I had a very steep driveway and was klutzy. Not a good combination, really. So, ya. But I've always had this weird desire to rollerskate... rollerdance, even.

Huh.

B:27

I'm watching a movie about sex. Sorry, about porn. In the 1970s. Some days are weirder than others. But mostly it just makes me wish I could rollerskate.

B:26 The Hosh

... has arrived. He's late. What the Hell... that's MY job. The lateness, I mean. He comes bearing dessert - wooo !

B:25

It is pouring with rain. This is depressing. I must change into something warmer, as it's cooling off quite a bit, too.

Poop.

B:24 Soylent Green drinking game

Here's the quote from Wil Wheaton's article that I referred to in my last post:

Drinking game: Whenever someone looks sweaty and stinky, take a drink. If you're still vertical when Heston delivers his famous ending line, you have to shotgun a beer, and declare that the beer is made of people when you're done. Bonus points if your friends film it and put it on YouTube.

Anyway, sometimes this blogging every 30 minutes or so is really jarring. It's hard to get a good run on stuff, but I'm managing.

Also, here is a Lolcat.

B:23

Looks like Hosh will be coming over with a couple more movies tonight, so that's exciting. I think he's bringing Boogie Night and I might just make him watch Soylent Green, which, if I recall from a Wil Wheaton post might make a very excellent drinking game.

I am not condoning the use of alcohol.

(I'm not condemning it either, for that matter.)

Gotta do me some more homework before he comes over, though. And then sometime around 2 or 3 in the morning, I must remember to call Gareth. Damned eight hour time differences.

B:22 Blogathon Game 3

Game #3: I remember
RECEIVE BY: 6:00pm Pacific
PRIZE: $5 sponsorship
WHAT I WANT: Post your earliest memory, and send me the permalink.

My earliest memory comes from when I was extremely young. I'm one of those people who can clearly remember much of their early childhood but a couple years ago might be hazy. And never mind what I did yesterday.

Anyway, this memory is so old I don't even recall it in vivid colours. It's kind of like that 6am light that's all bluish. In it, I can see a spoon coming toward me, with something kind of squishy in it. I can remember opening my mouth and then a sensation of pleasure.

Yes, I've apparently been a 'foodie' my whole life, even when I was a baby. I loved to, and still do, love to eat !

B:21 Lying in the sun

I am home and it seems the sun's back. I'm going to bask in it for a bit. One tries not to miss opportunities for such behaviour when one lives in Whitehorse. Especially not this summer.

I need to consider my dinner, too. I'm thinking sliced veggies, possibly fried, with bacon and eggs. And maybe a bit of the leftover ice cream in my freezer before it gets weird and burnt. Also, there will be more homework. And possibly some work for... work.

B:20 Mask making in the Yukon

Still here. At work. I was just touring some people through the building. The were looking for First Nations masks and I was explaining the confused history/tradition of mask making in the Yukon. The short answer is: Westerners arrived and messed up the First Nations traditional way of life and then the government and missionaries banned ceremonies such as potlatches and dances, where ceremonial objects such as masks were used. Also, masks were never meant as commodities, they were objects imbued with life and at the end of their cycle they were allowed to return to the earth.

So, take fifty years of Western mucking and that's about two generations right there. Ergo, mask making tradition was interrupted. The masks that are made now are influenced mainly by Coastal First Nations and historical motifs that had been preserved in photographs and museums. Many modern mask makers look to other aboriginal traditions and some have invented their own styles, divergent from the more coastally influenced norm. Anyway, that's the nutshell version. I suggest you look up the carving of Keith Wolf Smarch and Eugene Alfred to get a good idea of Yukon carving, mask or otherwise.

This entry may have to double for both 4:30 and 5pm, because shortly I'm going to leave and may well be in transit at the next appointed time.

B:19 Organising some more

I may be here longer than I'd anticipated. One hour isn't going to cut it. But the reference and major retrospective shelves will be done when I go. That's certainly a start. Then, I'll grab what I need from my office and I'll be off. So maybe the 4:30 post will be delayed.

B:18 Organising the Shelves

This is not quite the simple task we thought it would be. We've had to start sorting in more catagories than planned. Hahaha, wouldn't it be great to catalogue it all digitally, too? Ya, right.

YAC Gallery Library so far:

General Reference
Art & Culture Theory Reference
Museum & Gallery Administration/Policy
Northern Themes
Major Retrospective Catalogues
Artist Catalogues
Exhibition Catalogues
Photography
Architecture
Magazines
Miscellaneous

Yes, sometimes this is what it means to be a curator.

B: 17

Well, I'm at work and the sky is threatening rain. Yes, a thunderhead is rolling in. So much for doing my homework in the sun. I'm now helping the intern reorganise the Gallery bookshelves. And boy, do they need love. Serious love.

It's kind of mindless and enjoyable, though. Then I have to pick up some stuff from my office and I'll go back home to work on it from there.

B:16 Spoke too soon...

Damn, it seems to have clouded over entirely. The standard in Whitehorse is kind of like, "don't like the weather? wait ten minutes." I'll see if it clears again, but if this is how it's going to be, then I think I'll roll into work for an hour (and post from there), because there's some stuff I need to do.

Well, make-up, first.

B:15 For the Birds

For now, it is beautiful. Even as a cloud has passed in front of the sun and shrouded the yard in shadow, it's beautiful. It is warm, about 22C but it feels like 27 in the sun, and I'm doing my homework in my hammock.

Around me, the myriad of birds are chirping and singing and flitting about. Today I got glared at by a pine siskin and unlike in Southern Ontario where the white-throated, white-crowned and chipping sparrows are mellow and shy compared to the English House Sparrows, here, where the latter does not exist, the others are ballsy like all get-out !

It took more than six months, but it seems the birds have finally accepted my bird feeder as a "good thing". I also sprinkle seeds on the ground and my cats get a real kick out of watching the birds hopping around outside.

B:14 Underwear !

Just heard on CBC's DNTO:

Dad: "Why does 'underwear' make you laugh?"
4 year old: (whispered) "Because there's a bum under it."

So true, so true.

B:13 Coffee

I love coffee.

When I was a child, I wanted to be like my mom and drink coffee, too. So, God love her, when I was about seven years old, she started making me coffee with my breakfast. She maintains that it was mostly milk at the time, but considering I never quite grew as tall as her near 6' height, I think it must have stunted my growth (I'm 5'10").

Starting my day without coffee is like, for some, not showering in the morning: I just don't function as well without it. For the record, I have my showers before bed at night because I'm not functional enough in the mornings and prefer to spend those extra ten minutes under the covers.

Back to the coffee. I'm not a big fan of the cafe latte, I much prefer a cafe au lait or cappuccino. I like my coffee dark roasted, even though there is less caffeine in it, because I love a rich taste.

I am currently enjoying my coffee very much.

B:12

Edit, edit, edit. I'm now editing my Blogathon posts to reflect ... well, to give them titles.

Yes, I've actually put a title field in my template, now. Shocking.

B: 11

Wow, after six years, I've just given this weblog a new template. Huh. Must be because I anticipate all kinds of traffic on it, or something, now.

It's a beautiful day. I've eaten and showered and I've got things to do. You know, other than blogging. :)

B:10 Humane Society Mission Statement

From the Humane Society of Canada website:

Mission Statement

The Humane Society of Canada works to protect dogs, cats, horses, birds, livestock, lab animals, wildlife and the environment. They carry out hands on programs to help animals and nature, mount rescue operations, expose cruelty through hard hitting undercover investigations, work to pass laws to protect animals, funds non-invasive scientific research, support animal shelters and wildlife rehabilitation centres and spread the word about how to help animals and nature through humane education.

A registered charity, The Humane Society of Canada depends entirely on donations to support our programs to help animals and the environment. All donations are gratefully acknowledged with a receipt for income tax purposes. If you would like to support our campaign to protect animals and the earth, please make a donation here. Because when it comes to fighting cruelty, we don’t give up. Ever.

B: 9

Okay, this one's gonna be a bit early and the next post will prolly be a bit late, because, dude, I need to eat and I firmly believe in eating real food. Also in being clean, which I'll do after eating.

Cats are still sleeping curled on the bed... I'll be moving into the kitchen and living room, though, so they may follow. It's nice that my cats like to hang out with me. :)

B:8 Brazilian films

The two films I watched last night at Andrew's were City of God and Carandiru, both Brazilian films. The first was one I had really wanted to see when it was released in Canada about four years ago, but I never got a chance, or maybe it was that I wanted to see it with someone... whatever, I didn't end up seeing it. The second, I'd never heard of.

The two films are similar in many ways and initially I thought they might have been done by the same people, but a quick check on IMDB this morning showed me that they are, in fact, totally different teams. They were made right around the same time, though (2002 and 03, respectively), and are interested in the underbelly of Brazilian culture. Both films are brutally violent and much of their subject matter is deeply affecting, depressing, even, but both succeed in creating a bittersweet cinematic experience that leaves you feeling alternately bruised and incredibly hopeful.

Brutal and beautiful.

B:7 Thank You !!

I feel like I need a nap. I'm not in the least surprised. Hopefully the day will be beautiful and I'll spend a lot of it outside in my hammock. Uh, with my laptop. ;)

I would like to thank those who pledged their monetary support for this.

Al and Carrie, my mother, my godmother, Lucy, co-workers and assorted friends: thank you all for your help !

B:6

Okay, I don't know what happened to my apostrophes in my last post. Oh well. I'm not bothering to fix them.

Since I'm blogging for the Humane Society of Canada, I should mention that my cats are lying on my bed beside me, mutually grooming and purring loudly. They are great.

Stay tuned - I'll talk about the movies soon. And other stuff. For real.

B:5 The HOSH

I cannot believe I am up at this hour on a Saturday. It must be for a good cause – oh ya, it’s because I’m raising money for the Humane Society of Canada by participating in Blogathon 2007.

Go me !

Alright, so let me tell you about the films I watched at Andrew’s last night. I should take a moment to explain who Andrew is, maybe. Andrew Hoshkiw is a freelance reporter and really excellent documentary photographer up here in Whitehorse. He, like me, is from Southern Ontario, but unlike me, he came up here for kicks and stayed. He’s lived in the Northwest Territories and Prince Rupert, BC and he’s been working for newspapers along the way.

Andrew was pointed out to me as the “really quiet reporter – it’s weird, he doesn’t talk”. This was at the first Exhibit Opening I was around for when I first arrived in Whitehorse. The people who pointed him out to me are judgemental and I didn’t like the way they wrote Andrew off for being weirdly quiet. I decided I’d go up to him and introduce myself.

So I did.

What I found was that Andrew was a very nice, if shy, guy. I figured he liked reporting because it gave him a shield or rationale for talking to people, which he might not otherwise do. He and I became friends and that’s that. He tells great stories. I don’t regret introducing myself for a minute.

Except when he threatens to change to another movie right in the middle of the one we’re watching. It makes me want to throttle him.

Okay, I’ll talk about the movies in another post. This ended up being about Andrew. Oh, and his website is: www.hoshq.com.

B:4 Thinking about the CBC

Hmmm, my internet died there for a while. That was exciting. And not unusual. I thought that might be a problem. Well, I shall make this a lengthier post.

I am listening to the radio. CBC to be exact. It's what I pretty much listen to, all the time. I've been listening to the CBC since I was a kid. For Americans, it's kind of like NPR, or in Britain, it's kind of like the BBC.

I like the CBC, but I like CBC Yukon less than the other regions I've listened to. It tends to play much crappier music - more crappy rock, for instance, and never any thing classical. I also can't stand a couple of the hosts. I wonder if some of they actually have real training, or if, like many of the reporters up north, they just fell into the positions through happenstance.

Anyway, I'm a devout CBC listener and there aren't that many choices for radio here in Whitehorse, so I try to tailor my listening to avoid the more, uhhh, colloquial shows. The exception is the Mom Show (that's its very abbreviated name), but I guess it is a CBC North show, not specifically Yukon, and I love listening to all the truckers call in with their requests.

That'll do for now. I won't shut my laptop so hopefully my signal won't go kaput.

B:Three

I was, unfortunately, out late last night at Andrew's. We watched a pair of truly amazing work. More later.

B:Two

The morning radio in the Yukon on Saturday mornings really stinks. God, the music is total dreck.

Ya, real content will come along later. For now, this is filler. Sorry.

B:One

Blogathon: first post !

It's at times like this (6am) when I wonder what the Hell was I thinking?

Choco is besid me, purring loudly for no reason, and Twee is chirruping on the floor, waiting for breakfast to be served. They don't know how lucky they are. So many animals are mistreated up here in the Yukon: dogs left outside on chains with no chance for social doggy behaviour and cats, dumped where ever, just because they're cats and "they can fend for themselves". You should see the frostbite damage so many animals have. It's gross.

Yes, Choco and Twee are lucky. And I'm very lucky to have such wonderful cats.

Over the last two months, my world has been shaped by life and death, family and friendships, once again waking me up and forcing me to consider the important things in life. I've been really quiet of late, I know. There's particularly good reason for this: introspection. Even my livejournal has been quieter. I'm probably happier with my life than I've been in a while, too, which is not to say there aren't things that continue to make me crazy, because there are, but in the grand scheme of things, they matter less than I thought.

We can affect change inwardly, outwardly, good and bad, and right now, I'm working on focusing on the good things that I can control, or at least influence. I know what I want, I've got what I need, and I'm pretty sure my goals are attainable. I promise to tell you about some of the stuff that has gone on, to talk about the things that are important as well as the things that are trivial and/or fun.

When am I going to do this? This coming Saturday, July 28, when I enter the Blogathon to raise money for the Humane Society of Canada. Why the Humane Society? Animal welfare, the environment and wildlife are important issues to me and the Humane Society addresses all three. My own two cats came from the local shelter. So, with input from friends, I've decided to blog for an organisation that most people can get behind. It is also a social charity, for linked to animals are people. The Humane Society educates against abuse and waste and environmental degradation, which reflect on our own lives in a very immediate way.

Click to sponsor me !