Imagine
What: 26.2 Mile Run
Date: Saturday, November 24
Place: Pembina Highway Running Room
Time: 09.00 - 13.30
(I'm stealing some of Brandy's summary, because she did such a great job of explaining!)
Mona Stott is putting on a 26.2-mile run to raise money for the Health Sciences Centre and the Mood Disorder Association (in Joey's name). She is asking everyone to come out and support the causes by either walking, running, or biking. You can do the whole thing or half of it, or put a relay team together or just do a mile or a block... Whatever you feel the most comfortable doing - or just show up to support this cause.
Why "Imagine"? It means there is hope - not for Joey, but for you, a friend, or a loved one thinking there is none. 1 out of 4 in Manitoba is suffering from depression, struggling and not knowing they can get help.
If anyone is willing to make a donation, please send it by mail to Mona Stott - Box 746, Niverville MB, R0A 1E0. Or just get it to me, and I'll make sure it gets to the right place.
NOTE: This is not an official marathon, it is a 26.2-mile run being held to raise awareness and money in support of mental health.
Labels: Events, My Friends
Politics and Popcorn
Upcoming dates for the CCPA Film Series...
Wednesday September 19 - THE BELOVED COMMUNITY
In the summer of 2004, health researchers made a startling discovery in the Aamjiwnaang (Chippewa) birth records for the city of Sarnia, Ontario. For the past decade, girl babies had been outnumbering boys at a rate of 2:1. Further investigation revealed large numbers of miscarriages, a cluster of reproductive cancers in young women, and widespread neurological problems among the band's children. This is the story behind the statistics.
Wednesday October 17 - IRAQ FOR SALE
This is the story of what happens to everyday Americans when corporations go to war. Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. IRAQ FOR SALE uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so.
Wednesday November 21 - GRANITO DE ARENA (A GRAIN OF SAND)
For over 20 years, global economic forces have been dismantling public education in Mexico, but always in the constant shadow of popular resistance. GRANITO DE ARENA is the story of that resistance - the story of hundreds of thousands of public schoolteachers whose grassroots, non-violent movement took Mexico by surprise, and who have endured brutal repression in their 25-year struggle for social and economic justice in Mexico's public schools.
7:00 pm, Park Theatre, 698 Osborne Street
Tickets: $8.00 for each film or $20.00 for all three
Organized by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba
Labels: Events, From My Inbox
Weekend Update: Colour & Culture Edition
Totally one of those weekends that was more exhausting than being at work. Where to begin?...
On Thursday after work, I stopped at the bridal shop and chose my veil. They seemed to find it slightly strange that I came on my own, but were super helpful and friendly as usual. I wasn't sold on the whole traditional veil idea, but the one I found is really simple and beautiful. I worry about hurting people's feelings by doing some of this stuff on my own, but it's sometimes easier for me - a way to ensure I'm making decisions for me and not based on what I think other people like or want.
After the veil pit stop (now there's an interesting phrase), I picked up Geoff and we went to go pick paint for the house, then had a dinner experience I'm choosing to ignore for that. It should suffice to say that it was one of those absolutely horrific customer service stories that should become a cautionary tale.
On Friday after work, Rocky met me at the house and we spent Friday evening and ALL day on Saturday up to our elbows in paint. Well, I had paint all the way up to my elbows. Rocky was pretty much spotless, professional that he is. Annoying - LOL. Anyway. At the end of Saturday, the office/library was a gorgeous dark grey (previously white), the bedroom was a perfect light icy blue (previously a kind of annoying and slightly slutty red), and the kitchen was EXACTLY the bold leafy green I'd been picturing in my head (previously white). I love all three. It's really starting to feel like a home here - and I'm excited to make it all official next month.
In between, I managed a migraine of epic proportions - my first, and hopefully my last. I experienced the full nausea, the vision loss, everything. It made for an interesting, zombie-like day of painting on Saturday. More than once, I was so incredibly grateful for Rocky's help. He pretty much just bossed me around, giving me the really easy jobs, and it turned out great!
After Painting Day was over (and Geoff had come home from work and helped with the kitchen), we had a movie date to see 'The Bourne Ultimatum' (FUN, and pretty much all I could manage without literally collapsing). Sunday morning, I was singing so we went to church in Niverville. Sunday afternoon, we ran a few errands and I worked from home a little bit. And then this evening, we met up with Rocky and Emily to check out a little bit of Folklorama.
We went to the Japanese pavilion first, where we sampled teryaki chicken and rice, sushi, green tea and mango martinis, and cream puff ice cream while we took in performances by Japanese fan dancers and a great drumming group.
The second pavilion we visited was the Alpine pavilion, and it was great. Very interactive, and the people there were CRAZY! It was so much fun to watch them having so much fun. And the apple strudel and Swiss chocolate were yummy :)
And that's that - the end of another weekend. Whew.
Labels: Events, House Stuff, My Friends, My Life
Many Thanks
A *huge* thank you to all of you who showed up for my fundraiser on Saturday. It didn't end up being a particularly profitable day as far as dollars go, but we had a great time, enjoyed the sunshine, ran for about a thousand million years on that stupid treadmill, and talked to a lot of people. We even managed to convince some funny random strangers to jump on the treadmill, which was pretty funny.
In all, we walked more than 20 km, and raised a couple of hundred dollars - and had some fun doing it. I'd call that a success. (Of course, stay tuned for details of upcoming fundraisers, because we've still got a heck of a long way to go!)
Labels: Events, Fundraising, The Arthritis Society
Poster Girl
Lots of good stuff happening with The Arthritis Society lately... And I'm so proud to be a part of it!
I've agreed to speak at two more Arthritis events coming up soon: Celebrity Roast Night on May 30 at the Fort Garry Hotel, and the Seniors' Active Living Awards on June 3 at The Waverley (yep, you read that right!).
At the first event, some rather prominent business folks will be 'roasting' their friend Charlie Spiring, CEO of Wellington West, over dinner. At the second, we'll be honouring Winnipeg seniors who have demonstrated commitments to healthy, active living. I'm not sure which one I'm more excited about... They'll both be fun to be a part of :)
I'll be sharing about my experiences with arthritis - an up close and personal look at what it means to live well with chronic illness. I speak very candidly about the challenges, but I focus on the triumphs and the people who have helped get me to where I am today.
Those people I talk about are YOU! And there's a very tangible way that you can be a part of everything that's happening. Tag Day is coming up on Saturday, May 12 - which also happens to be Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. I'll be needing people to volunteer for a number of roles, for all day or part of the day:
- BBQing hot dogs
- Taking donations
- Face painting
- Walking or running on the treadmill
Talk to me if you - or anyone you know - would like to volunteer. Thanks so much! :)
Labels: Events, My Life, The Arthritis Society
Nominations
Signature Awards nominations were announced yesterday. Cocoon's been nominated 13 times - including an Illustration nomination for last year's Art & Soul invitation that makes us all *extremely* happy.
And my brother Aaron's work has been nominated for a couple of awards at the University of Winnipeg Student Film Festival next week. I wish could post them here, because they're awesome... But he's waiting to hear back on some other awards, and he can't release them online until then. BUT you can head out to U of W next week Wednesday and Thursday and check them out for yourself :)
You can see some of his other (older) work at www.andcuriouser.com (click on 'Video' on the top nav).
Labels: Cocoon, Events, Family
Blood and Guts
Fancy schmancy... Last night, Geoff and I made an appearance at an awards ceremony and reception at the Lieutenant Governor's house. Geoff was being honoured for reaching a very impressive milestone this past year: his 100th blood donation. It sounds dorky, but I was really, really proud of him.
It was one of those formal social situations where you want to giggle, just because you know that you shouldn't. Our entrance was so choreographed, and we were ushered from room to room until we reached The Room - where we gave our names to a man in a funny coat. The man then turned, and yelled our names at (insert proper royalese title here) John Harvard and his wife before we were permitted to approach and shake their hands. Funny stuff.
The ceremony itself was kind of inspiring. Everyone there had reached either 100 or 200 donations, which is really cool because each donation helps an average of 3 people. When you do the math... That's a lot of good deeds.
One other person was honoured last night. He was one of two Manitobans to donate bone marrow last year. Kind of insane, to think that someone could be brave enough to undergo painful surgery for a stranger. He's actually getting to meet the recipient next week - a now ten year old cancer survivor from California.
In the light of everything in the news this week, it was so cool to meet these people who give of themselves to others, and to honour their bravery and dedication. To see that there's a little good left in the world.
Labels: Events, My Life
On Ice
Attention World:
I have 20 tickets for the Moose hockey game on Friday, April 13. I'm selling them for a minimum donation of $15 each (taxes included), and 100% of the money will go to Joints in Motion.
You can pay by cash or by cheque (payable to The Arthritis Society, with my name in the memo line).
Oh, and the April 13 game just happens to be the second-last home game of the season - so the first 10,000 fans will get free thundersticks, and someone in attendance will be walking away with a brand-new 2007 Toyota vehicle.
Interested? Talk to me soon, because these will go fast!
Labels: Events, Fundraising, Joints in Motion
Good News
How often is it that the newspaper makes you smile? I was full-on grinning over my morning coffee today, because of an announcement tucked into Page D2: Justin Timberlake is coming to Winnipeg in August.
I'm not all swoony over him, but I must admit that I *love* my Justin Timberlake CDs. Don't believe me? I challenge you to listen to one of them while you're getting ready in the morning and NOT dance.
In any case... I know one Winnipeg girl who'll be lining up for tickets, and I refuse to feel shame.
Labels: Events
Express Yourself
Now I'm going to be humming 'Vogue' for the rest of the day...
Not like that's a bad thing :)
So Geoff and I went to check out the Home Expressions show last night. I was kind of excited... Displays of polished concrete countertops are like porn to me. Add in a new shade of glossy blue-grey skinny subway tile and the latest cork flooring samples, and I'm swooning.
Alas, there was very, very little of that last night. Most of the things we saw fell into the 'my house in Linden Woods is nicer than your house in Linden Woods' category (yawn). We saw a few nice TVs. We saw some decent cork flooring and skinny subway tile samples. Toured a pretty snazzy motorhome. Admired some over-the-top appliances. Mocked Helen Buttigeig's ridiculously fake tan. Tripped over a geothermal heating company about every eight steps. Avoided the Loewen display. And the millions of hot tub and sunroom sales people.
I was pretty underwhelmed (isn't that a lovely, expressive word?). I'm going to blame it on having attended some real, proper tradeshows in the US. Nothing in Winnipeg is likely to compare to the national architecture convention and tradeshow, where all the big brands launch their latest and greatest products to people who actually know what they're looking at and why it's so noteworthy. Amazing.
But finally, at the very end of our evening, we found them... Polished concrete countertops. And planters. And fireplace mantles. Mmmm.
Labels: Events, My Life
Let Them Stay
WAR RESISTOR FILM SCREENING & DISCUSSION:
'LET THEM STAY'
Did you know there are U.S. soldiers in Canada who are refugees from the war on Iraq? Hear their voices in this documentary, followed by a discussion to 'bring the war home.'
Friday March 9
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
University of Winnipeg
Theatre 1L13 (off Ellice St. entrance)
Everybody Welcome. Free Admission.
Labels: Current Events, Events
Clean for a Cause
To raise money for my upcoming Joints in Motion marathon, I'm planning to hold an Indoor Yard & Bake Sale on Saturday, March 31 in Niverville.
Please take a look around your house this month and consider what you'd love to de-clutter, big and small. It's a perfect opportunity to do some spring cleaning and empty out your closets for a good cause. Remember... It's tacky to re-gift, but it's classy to donate that gift to charity ;)
Give me a call if you'd like someone to pick up your donations in advance, otherwise you can drop them off in Niverville the night before the sale.
Thanks in advance, and happy pre-spring cleaning!
Labels: Events, Joints in Motion, My Life
Darwin's Nightmare
In case anyone's interested...
FILM SCREENING: DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE
A Look at the Human Face of Globalization
The myriad and altogether devastating effects of a "globalized" economy on the residents of a Tanzanian fishing village are depicted in this haunting, hard-hitting documentary. The Nile Perch has become a major export for the dinner tables of two million Europeans every day, yet the people who live in Mwanza are starving, and the planes that export the popular fish also deliver weapons back to Africa.
With a roving eye and an attentive heart, this film takes in everyone involved in this miasma, from the crew members of the cargo planes to the prostitutes who "service" them; from the homeless children who fight over scraps of food to the fishermen who live in encampments where AIDS is rampant.
112 min. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary (2005).
Thursday, February 8
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Theatre 1L13, University of Winnipeg
(Main floor, by Ellice entrance to U of W)
Free Admission
Labels: Events
