I can't even think of any good title for this I'm so angry.

Why aren't the lessons the previous generations learned being passed on to the next? Why are our schools still filled with racist jokes and why are kids still laughing at them? Do they want to fit in enough that they'll throw all their so called "values" out the window? And why are there only three kids in my class who'll stand up against it?
These are questions we need answer and fast. Kids might know the name of Martin Luther King, but as Math class just made apparent, not many know what his name means. They don't understand what their parents and grandparents went through. I think that's awful.
Are we once again editing our history? Are we again giving racism a mere nod in our classrooms? If so, it's unacceptable.
The class clowns will push it to the limit. And when they step over the "line" set by the kids who find them funny, they think that telling a joke about their own nationality will make it okay.
It doesn't. And teachers need to make it known that any sort racist jokes are not alright before the first joke is told.
Do kids have to go through an awful experience like the early sixties before they understand?
I really hope not, because that would mean this society is a lot worse than I thought.

Oooh... Now I feel deep (Does that imply I'm usually shallow? Hmm...)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GILL!!! (AS YOU TOLD 'THE BOUNCE', YOU ARE NOW THE FOURTEEN QUEEN... YOU'RE RIGHT, THAT NEEDS WORK :P)

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ROAR (the Edmonton spoken word festival) is on and one of my sister's best friends was presenting at one of the venues. So we headed downtown to a cafe right by city hall and listened to 5 poets, 3 of which were awesome. The best was my sister's friend (and it's true, she had the most thoughtful poems and everyone loved her) she wrote a moving poem about being half black and how she didn't own her body... "With my skin as my paper and my pigment as ink". there was another girl who wrote a poem about using 'was' when the person you were speaking of had passed away which was really touching. It was a great experience :)

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And because this blog can not not be goofy, here's a pic of a guy I know playing dead in his back alley a couple of years ago. That guy who was on The Hour who takes pics of himself playing dead has nothing on this guy (Ok, so maybe he does, but who's keeping track :P). Sigh. How simple elementary school was :)

P.S. We had the coolest sub EVER today in LA. If you ever get the Mr. J who tells the true story about being clinically dead a few years ago, that's him :D

Splice Of Life

Tonight we went to 'Splice Of Life: A Genetically Modified Musical' at the downtown library. It was written to make the public aware of the GMOs in our everyday world... it was excellent! My sister is super involved in the group that put it on and therefore she (and I) knew most of the people in it... so great! It was their last performance, and was wonderful, they did a great job at taking old musical classics and modifying them (no pun intended). One of my fave parts was the fact that Geoff Berner (or as it says in the programme 'Accordian Man- Geoff "I was tricked into this" Berner') was really involved and played the accordian (of course). (My sister informed me that he's playing here in the city tomorrow, I might just have to go :D)
Anyway, it's a great cause! Check out biofreedom here!

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Argh, two of my sisters aren't talking to eachother and my sister and Alaska and I are caught in the middle. My mom's totally taken a side and I tend to find that sister's tactics to make me take her side offensive... yuck in general.

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And on another cheery note, my Great Aunt Vera out on the coast (who we're quite close with) is very sick and isn't expected to live much longer... my dad is going out there ASAP. I'm not quite sure how I'd deal with it... I've never been old enough to understand when any other family members have passed away. As much as I hate to say it, I guess it's a part of life.

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Well, I guess I'll keep you posted on everything then...

As Barbara W would say- Be Positive

"And why do all celebrities think they can sing? Cause they can't."

Teehee, George's new ads for The Hour on the CBC always get me :D I love the weird face/arm action thing he does in the middle of that statement... I CAN'T WAIT!!! (Little known fact: This is a cropped version of the pic I took with him in spring...)

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Not much has happened recently... On Thursday my sis and I did yoga, which really helped my back (which always burns after sitting in the crap desks all day). She's a yoga fanatic, and is really good at it. I've only done her program a couple times, but we've made a deal to get together more often.
Last night we (the same sister and I) watched 'Almost Famous' at her place. It's my third time watching it, but she's never seen it before (although her boyfriend had seen a part of it). Anyway, they enjoyed it, as did I (of course!).
Later today one of my other sisters and I are going bouldering at the "local" rock-climbing place. I'm really excited!

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Anyway, enough about me and my not-really-busy-but-I'm-excited-anyway schedule, I'm going to check out all your guys' blogs now! See ya soon!

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"Oh, so now we're cheating at go-kart racing... what's next, ripping the tags off of mattresses?"

Gotta love 'Video On Trial' :P

More opinions... like I said last post, go read one of the blogs in the sidebar if you don't like this one...

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How could we forget? It's my generation's JFK moment, our defining date. Everyone will remember where we were. I remember getting ready for school in Grade 4, my then 19-year old sister whispering something to my mom, saying nothing to me. When I got to school I was putting my coat away and my friend Erika came over to our group and started talking about a plane crashing into a building- the World Trade Towers. Being told by my sister that the WTO (the World Trade Organization) was not a good thing, I said something I regret to this day. I said "I'm glad"... I just didn't understand, I didn't understand people had died, but I soon realized the extent of what had happened. I remember my teacher, Mrs. Kirwin, crying infront of the class, telling us all that had happened, how terrorists (an unknown word to us until then) had hijacked a plane and flew it into a building full of people. Walking to music my good friend Katie explained how the people on the planes were phoning their loved ones seconds before their death. I remember Grace explaining how 9/11 was like 9-1-1.

Only being 9, I didn't get how this would change my life, how from then on I'd look up everytime a plane flew over the playground, seeing if they were dropping anything. I didn't understand how I'd think twice before flying, taking the LRT, being in a busy downtown building. I just didn't know.

I know now, and personally I'm sick of the media exploiting it. We know what happened. We know how many people died, how people jumped to their deaths.
Maybe the 5th anniversary is a good time to move on, stop all the media coverage. Maybe all the pain is holding us back... I know it is for me.

Today in school there was no mention of 9/11 (except for Nic saying how we should get a day off, but that doesn't exactly count). I don't think we should do that, either. I think we should remember the day, but we've all seen the footage of them collapsing, the people running away from the towers, the women going "OH MY GOD!!!".

I guess all I'm saying is that we should remember the date, and there's no doubt that we will, but please- to the media- stop exploiting the deaths of others, there's more going on in the world than what happened 5 years ago.

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Check out Allison's post on the subject. It's a really well written and makes a lot of good points.

Untitled

Warning: Opinions expressed here, if you don't like them, go to another page, there are a ton of great ones listed in the sidebar.

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I was talking to a friend of the family recently and was quite enraged. This guy is kind of a local celebrity, in a bizarre way, and is a bit radical in his thoughts, which I have no problems with.

I do, however, have a problem with how he is insensitive in his actions against others with opposing opinions. For example, he and a friend are having a competition to see who can collect the most 'Support Our Troops' car magnets. He said he wants to write 'Support Your Local Insurgents' on them.

What do they think they're doing?

I am definitely not in complete support Canada's involvement in Afghanistan, but I don't think his actions are in any way appropriate. We have a large military base in Edmonton, and how do they know if they're not taking those magnets off the cars of someone who has a friend or family fighting over there? How do they know if that car's family hasn't lost a mother, a brother, a cousin, a best friend?

We live in Canada, everyone here has a right to their own opinion, and no one should have to have that right taken away from them from someone being arrogant and insensitive. It's not our troops' fault that we're over there, nor is it their family's. Not all soldiers support the government's decision, but they're over there anyway. They have to. Our soldiers are a lot braver being over there dying for things they may or may not believe in that this guy is running around in his little bubble ripping off people's opinions.

So here's one for all those he has been such an idiot to, here's one that they can't take away.

One month to The Hour!

My life will be complete in one month! Well, not really, but it'll be nice to have an old friend back, if you will. I can't wait for that opening, it's like at the end of the Daily Show, where they have the "moment of zen"... The Hour's opening is my moment of zen :)
Here's a pic of Georgie's new pic off of The Hour's website... sigh.

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Community rummage sale was this morning... I've gone for as long as I can remember. It was nice because I hung out with kids that I never talk to anymore, but I still go to school with... fun fun! None of the three articles of clothing I got there fit, but hey, they was only $3, and I can pass them on to friends and family. And because Gill is out with tonsillitis, I got her a super tacky keychain of a sailor for a dime. I might just have to post a picture of it later when I get my camera working.

(Here it is... added Sunday... a crappy photo I know :P)

After the sale we (my mom, sister, "brother-out-law" (my sister's long time boyfriend) and dog) went out to the farm, a piece of land we own about an hour East of the city. We harvested the garden and just relaxed by the fire pit... it was really nice :) After that we were all pretty tired (I almost fell asleep during the car ride home), so we all went back to our houses to relax... and that's where I am now, avec you :)

I think it's been a pretty good day so far, as you can see by all the :)'s in this post.

Hope you too have a good one!

Let's see how many times Becky can say 'ya' or 'y'all' instead of 'you' :P

So I know my last post was pretty pointless and a bunch of rambling (in fact, I knew that then, that's why I put that warning), but I was in a crap mood after a bad day and blogging about it always make me feel better :)

The past couple of days have been a lot better, which is obviously a good thing... I guess this is my cue to tell y'all why.
Two posts ago I told ya about how our classes had 38 kids each (which was awful). Well, now they've split us up into three classes, ones I like way better, as all my really close friends are in it, there aren't as many disruptive/snobby kids, and we have the same teachers... yay!

Today in Phys Ed we had to do laps for 10 minutes (around the equivalent of the perimeter of the gym marked out in the ice rink)... it was tough, but I got 22, the average. Andrew kept lapping us, so I finally decided that I could run ahead of him (he's one of the best athletes in the school)... I caught up to him and did for about 3/4 of lap, but I could not keep up with his pace and had to slow down... it was fun anyway, though :P

Had a Peer Support (or Pee Suppor(n) as I lovingly call it) meeting. Unfortunately the head teacher forgot because he wasn't in his usual classroom, so we were waiting in the hall for him for most of lunch. It was awesome to hang out with the 6 other kids from P.S. last year, though :D

Ok, so I know most of you are going "greeaat..." because ya don't know any of the people I'm talking about. I'm sorry! But this is my life during the school year :( Sad, I know...
I'll try to make things more interesting in the future :)

And on the not-so-great side of things, Gill's out with tonsillitis. That sucks :(
Gill, if you're reading this GET BETTER! We miss ya!

I shall blog more on the weekend about more interesting stuff, promise!
Until then, see ya!

Stream of consciousness, much?

WARNING: This post contains slight to severe ranting and major sappiness due to the authors bad day and non medical depression due to mood swings.

Had the second day of school and I'm sick of it already. Sick of the boring classes and sick of the getting bugged by the 'popular' kids because I'm not crazed and athletic. But most of all sick of the way the guy I liked for 5 years (and known for 12) is possibly one of the kindest people I know, but all his friends hate me, so forget him... did I mention that I saw him at folk fest when Feist was playing 'Inside and Out'? How appropriate.

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Speaking of EFMF, I saw Lyle (a friend of mine in the grade below) at the fest, and I actually had a regular converstion with him about it today. We both think Hawksley Workman was great... it was nice because our converstions usually consist of
"Lyle!"
"Hey!"
*high five*
"My Grade 7/Folk Fest/Grade 8 buddy!"
"Yup."
And that's it.

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On a different note altogether:

Got my camp pics back today, but because my camera's batteries have run out again, my take-a-pic-of-a-pic-and-posting plan will have to put on hold. C'est Dommage. (Oh, we don't have the "C'est Dommage" French teacher anymore. It sucks because that class was always a blast, but it's also good, as I might actually learn some French this year :P)

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Well, that's what's on my mind right now...

Go listen to "In My Life" and "Here Comes The Sun" (In that order). They both mean a lot to me... just listen to the lyrics and you'll probably get it :)

Welcome Back! (Now I have that theme song stuck in my head)

First day back at school. All is well.
There are two English classes in my grade, each has 38 students. Awful, much? I mean, we're the richest province and we have classes of almost 40. Our gym class has 76 kids! Argh :(
Anyway, I have a lot of new teachers, only one of my three fave teachers is teaching me, which sucks, but I get two classes with her, so I'll survive.
We're now the oldest kids in the school, which is odd, and although I have a love-hate relationship with my current school, I will miss it and (most of) the kids in it when I head off to high school next year.

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Anywho, inspired by the sheer ugliness and conformityness (it's a word now) of our school-provided agenda, I decided to re-decorate mine. I could always get a different one from Staples, but I'm used to the 'Premier' format (we've has them since grade 4) and anyway, what kind of challenge would that be? :)

The writing on the bottom is a couple of lines from 'The Sound Of Silence', one of my fave songs of Simon and Garfunkel's.

I had to take the picture at an angle, so it kind of distorts the shape of it. So, you know, just ignore that :)

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Well, I'd better be going. We have to go and babysit the Gabsters soon...

See ya!

Becky's turn to be tagged :D

I've been tagged by Allison! I love filling out things like this so I find this rather exciting (odd, I know).

1. Things that scare me
Stalkers and crazed murderers

2. People who make me laugh
My family in general (but in a good way :P)
George
Colbert and Stewart (more Stewart... there are enough crazed right wing news show hosts that we don't need someone to pretend to be one :D)
Rick Mercer

3. Things I hate the most
Kids who pretend they know more and that they are better than everyone else when they're actually real jerks
Kids who don't show respect to kind adults who are just trying to do their jobs
People who call me too nice

4. Things I don't understand
Tattoos all over ones body
Reality TV
The appeal of racist/disgusting jokes

5. Things I'm doing right now
Filling this survey out
Uploading music to my MP3 player
Being nagged to take the dog for a walk (I will! But I'm still in my PJs :P)

6. Things I want to do before I die
Work for CBC
Travel, everywhere
Write a book (preferably a biography)

7. Things I can do
Um... I can store unnecessary amounts of information about my favorite things (movies, musicians, people) in my head
Speak a pitiful excuse for French
Watch 4 hours of Train 48 in a row (that takes talent :P)

8. Way to describe my personality
Too sensitive
Feisty, if need be
Nervous, about everything
A perfectionist

9. Things I can't do
Dance
Draw realistic pictures (only cartoons from this one)

10. Things I think you should listen to
Indie in general
More Simon and Garfunkel
The classics, eg. The Beatles

11. Things you should never listen to
Marilyn Manson

12. Things I'd like to learn
More french
How to be less annoying around guys I like (it's the truth)
How to actually play the clarinet

13. Favorite foods
Cheese pizza
French Fries from 'Friends and Neighbours'
Peanut Butter sandwiches

14. Beverages I drink regularly
Milk
Juice (particularily Orange)
Fresca

15. Shows I watched as a kid
I am kind of still a kid, oh well, when I was a younger kid then (I guess I'm technically a teen)
-When I was a toddler I watched:
Mr. Dress-Up
Sesame Street/Park
Barney (don't hurt me)
-When I was older, a tween if you will, I watched:
Radio Free Roscoe
The Weekenders
ALF

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Argh. Stupid Staples commercial :P
Mom's home! Yay! I am no longer the only female in the household. My dad was lots of fun, though :)

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On a completely different note...
Those of you who have my MSN might have noticed my name and message being slightly odd. Just an FYI, it's a quote from my sister and her boyfriend after our 3 hour adventure in IKEA. Fun fun! For those of you who haven't seen it, it goes something like this...
"It was fun in that 'I've just spent three hours in IKEA and now I have no soul' kind of way"
"Well, at least we sold our souls for cheap furniture."
My sisters are lots of fun :D

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On the topic of shopping, my mom and I went on a BTS (Staples commercial again) trip. Along with some paper and other boring school stuff, I got two very muchy so Becky pairs of shoes and a funky 'Hour' style photo album which I plan to put all the pictures of Calgary and Toronto 'The Hour' pics in. I'm very excited about it!

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Anyway, I need to go check out all the blogs and listen to the Strombo show (not going to miss it this week, oh no).

See ya!

One hen, two ducks, three laughing geese...

Hey there! Back from camp!
It was mostly fun, as per norm. We met up with two old friends from last year, and I made a few new ones also.
The schedule was very camp-ish: canoeing, rock climbing, zip-lining, etc. We did a lot more water activities now that lake Wabuman has been cleaned up from last years train spill (last year we weren't allowed to into the lake).
Our counselors were really nice, "Critter" was really awesome, and "Raccoon" was 'rad' (I only say this for that is his catch phrase, and he might just kill me if I called him awesome possum :P)...
There were some awkward moments, like when this one idiot girl chose to call Gill and I "too nice" (but not in a kind way).
Anywho, other than that, camp in general ran fairly smoothly (except for the huge traffic jam on the Whitemud on the drive home, but that technically doesn't count as camp) :)
I didn't take my digital camera, only a couple one-time-use ones, but I'll get them developed ASAP, and then I'll do the whole take-a-picture-of-a-picture-and-then-post-it deal. For now here's a picture of the camp's waterfront from their website. It's a much better picture when looking from the waterfront on to the lake.

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Anyway, life back at home is kind of 'meh', for a couple of reasons:

-My mom, the one person I know I can talk out everything with, is in Alaska... let's just say my dad isn't the best at making one feel better for he tends to take everything very personally.

-With only my dad and dog looking after the house, I came home to a slightly messier, different smelling house. I liked the way our house smelled before :P

-Missed the Strombo Show on Sunday. It's actually very disappointing, as I was here, just super busy, but everyone says it was a wonderful show and now I feel bad for missing such a big piece of George history:(

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But other than those things, most of which are fairly unimportant, it's all good. I think I just have post-camp syndrome. This happened last year, too. When you spend four days with eight or nine other girls your age, with tons of random excitement (aka Raccoon's twirling game) and an insanely cute counselor (aka Raccoon), sitting at home watching Colbert repeats isn't as appealing as it was before :)

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Oh well, my sister and I are heading off to IKEA to get her a new bookshelf (should I shop in slow-mo?) and to superstore to drop off my cameras now... See ya!