in Kathmandu!

oh wowowowowoowow, the trip has been awesome so far

First, the greatest layover ever in Hong Kong.
Then 2 really nice days hanging with the Days in Singapore
And yesterday a super fun night in Bangkok with new all-Canuck friends Terry, Mike, little Darcy, Natasha and Samir. The short version:  got spiffed up and went to the Long Table, which is on the 26th floor. We were there in time for Happy Hour, so me n Terry drank half price prosecco. Yippeee! My fave! (Astute readers will recall that I see this as a sure sign that Gods love me when sparkley wine is on sale.) After much too much fun with a truly INCREDIBLE sky line view, we headed to N and S's swanky-assed apartment. It's only $2000 a month, but WOWOWOWOW, it would cost $6000 a month for similar in Vancouver. There, we had incredible Thai take out (cost = $8 for all of us), gin and tonics (another of my fave drinks) and smoked a hookah with rose-flavoured tobacco.
Too bad I don't have my photo-posting thing to put pics up now, so this will have to wait.

I'm now in Kathmandu, Nepal. Major disappointment today:  it was cloudy so did not see the Himalayas, namely Mt Everest, as I flew by. Pretty bummed, but maybe in a month?
Leaving in the morning for 18 days of trekking. SUPER cool.

BIG Update

I've been hopeless at writing on this blog for ages, so here's a biggie update!

I'm off to Asia on Tuesday at 2 AM. I'm going for 8 weeks!! One of my old high school galpals lives in Singapore, so I'm going to stay with her for a bit. Then she's connected me to her friend Terry who is currently living in Bangkok, so I've got a guide with a couch lined up in Bangkok! Then it's off to Nepal for 18 days of trekking. I've wanted to go trekking in the Himalaya for about 5 years, so I'm happy I'm finally doing that. I get back to Kathmandu in time for a 3 day festival of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. Very cool. I love attending festivals as it is an amazing snapshot of local culture, and I am thrilled I will see this!


After Diwali in Kathmandu, I'll leave for 11 days in Bhutan, another mountain kingdom in the Himalaya. I have wanted to visit Bhutan for decades, literally, so this is HUGE for me. I had hoped to do some trekking there, as it is meant to be incredibly beautiful. But instead I'll be lucky enough to see a, you guessed it, FESTIVAL in eastern Bhutan. Bhutan is a very traditional country, unique and interesting, and not very open to the West, so I am so excited to see this place. Did you know that instead of tracking the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), they track the GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness)? How fantastic is that? Apparently the King noticed years ago that citizens of more economically successful countries were not necessarily happier, and he decided that happiness is more important than money. WOW. I cannot wait.

My friend Gary has just booked some of his trip, and will be joining me for part of the Nepal trek and for Bhutan. His friend worked with the Prince of Bhutan, so I am strongly angling for a meeting with the Prince!! hahaha, we shall see.

After Bhutan, I'll head back to Bangkok for another couple nights, and hopefully see Terry again.....if they have not yet moved away from Bangkok. (They have a great lifestyle where her husband works in internet something, so they just choose somewhere that sounds cool and live there for a few months.)

Then I've got a night planned in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I had the option of flying directly back to Singapore, but instead chose the "less good" connection to give me a night in a place I've never seen before. Fun, right?!

Then....back to Singapore. At that point, I'll have 2 1/2 weeks of holiday left, and I have made no plans so far. Maybe hang with Laura and her family? Hopefully we could do a trip to Cambodia to visit the orphanage she sponsors. Anyway, those plans will be made when the time is right.

And then I'll be back in Vancouver on Dec 8.


Update on my projects

I have 2 great projects in the works:
1. a book about the good things that come from the adversity of cancer
2. Getting Gold for Canada


The book project has been in the works for a while, but over the last couple months, I have done some wonderful and inspirational interviews. People have made gains and found things such as: more fulfilling meditation practise; the ability to love more deeply; financial freedom; improved personal relationships; changed careers; etc etc. It is great!

2. the project about Getting Gold Medals for Canada has me working with competitive and elite paralympic athletes who do nordic skiing. This started because I watched my friend Jamie guide a visually impaired skier in Whistler last spring. I watched at the categories of nordic skiing, and was fascinated watching those competitions. As usual, I met some engineers in a bar and got chatting about what I was excited about, so the idea came up that the athletes should have better equipment. And that I should find corporate sponsors to do this, AND that if these companies has engineers working there, they could have a perk of working with elite paranordic athetes. I saw it as a perfect match!
Then I sat down with Jamie and Tony, who run the local nordic ski club in Vancouver, which happens to have many of the Canadian National Paralympic Nordic team. I pitched them my idea, and they were super keen! But then it came out that most of the paranordic athletes had not accessed the research and academic resources available in the Lower Mainland. WOW, I just assumed that was something that would have already been done! So the first phase of my project is to link athletes with researchers and students in Vancouver.
I have now met a few athletes and made some incredible contacts at UBC and BCIT. I am really, really excited! I've met a gal who is doing her Ph.D. in Human Kinetics, so she has many grad students and undergrads to approach. And I got connected to the Head of the Prosthetics Dept at BCIT who was shocked to hear that our best standing athletes do not have a sport-specific prosthetic. (Fyi, standing athletes have issues with lower limbs, such as amputations.) He's going to talk with his lab, and I may also look to form a partnership with folks at UBC too. And I met another woman who is a resident in at UBC Med School in Physical Medicine (this is physiotherapy medicine, and sports med, and rehab med, and prosthetics. It's a broad field). She told me she has spoken to some of her contacts, and they are excited as it's tough to find research subjects. WHAT?!? So here I am, finding a gap in athletes' development and connecting it to a gap in related research! How great is this? I'm thrilled!

I spoke last night with Sean, who is in a wheelchair and brand new to nordic skiing, although keen to compete. He doesn't have equipment yet, or really know how to ski. But I told him he's great, as he's a raw talent. He used to play hockey at an elite level, so has the "right stuff" to be competitive. One of the other sit skiers has spent years on trial-and-error to get his sled set up, although he is now on my list to be analyzed for biomechanics, to see if he is in the most efficient position. (Seriously. This guy is the top ranked sit skier in Canada, but has NOT had analysis done to see if he is skiing as efficiently as possible.) Anyway, I'm thinking that perhaps Sean could be put into our program at an earlier stage, and maybe shorten the learning curve to become an efficient skier? He is excited about my idea!

I see HUGE potential for this project, and I am excited.
Have I mentioned I'm excited?!?!?!?    :-D


What else? Healthwise, I'm great. I have a recurrence, just a little one. Anyway, we've known about it for 2 years now, I guess. I had to meet with all sorts of specialists last year. Eventually, a treatment plan was recommended, so that I would have another blast of radioactive iodine. They did say I could take thyrogen to do this, so it wouldn't be nearly so horrible, but.... I have currently declined treatment. It's a little speck of a tumour, and we're just watching it. If it grows a bunch, or I get mets, or whatever, THEN I'll have some I131. But in the meantime, I'm healthy and happy.

Fitness wise, I've set a goal for myself of running a half marathon each month for a year! I have one coming up on Sunday, and that will be one a month for 6 months, so I'm halfway there. :) I'm surprised how tired I am, actually. But it's going fine.


So......that's my update. It's a long one, as I've been soooooo busy, my poor blog has been sadly neglected. Terrible.

Trip Prep

Looks like my face is ready for anything!

sunscreen for my lifestyle: hanging from a cliff (checked repeatedly), skydiving (check - 1989), or sailing through the precarious straits of the Pacific (check!)

Back from Beyond

I'm baaaack..... 7 days in the Emigrant Wilderness with 10 great friends. Carried 54 lbs on day 1, and ~ 45 lb on day 7. Body is tired, feet are shredded, and my smile is large as all outdoors.

details to follow....

Nascent Mariner

here's the very loooooong story of my recent trips aboard boats:

aaahhhh, now just think back to a lovely week....

http://maps.google.ca/maps/user?uid=111213250409763502428&hl=en&gl=ca

I even made a map so you could try to follow my trail!

It all started with an invite to watch the fireworks and go sailing on the August long weekend.......

I had a great weekend on the sail boat. Blair, his brother Kevin, his 88 year old dad, and his pal Todd were all living on the boat. My link-up, JoAnne, thought I had no where to stay in Van, so she told Blair I'd be staying aboard, which was totally convenient, but slightly weird when I realised I was the only GUEST staying.... Oh well. Sat night we watched the fireworks and had a pretty boozy party.

YUM! Dim sum remains

Then Sunday AM we went for dim sum (YUM!! I have not done that in years!).

And Sunday afternoon we went to Bowen Island. It started getting late, so we all went for dinner on Bowen, and then the group decided it would be way more fun to stay on the boat in Snug Cove in Bowen.

It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it: me n JoAnne, resident mermaids

As we pulled into the dock on Bowen, there was a very drunk woman on the dock, and she liked me instantly. And she said, "You need to meet my friend," and dragged me over to meet Dave. We had a very short convo, then she said, "You guys should get married," so I grabbed to nearest boat captain, and got us hitched! hahahhaha, luckily, he was in fact NOT a current boat captain..... Nonetheless, he and I exchanged numbers.

Blair's 88 y/o Dad, who performed the ceremony

Canada Place

ok, so next day (Monday).....got dropped at Canada Place, collected my car and by then, Dave had texted and wanted me to meet him at the Port Moody marina, and he'd take me for a cruise, and cook me dinner on his boat. What am I, CRAZY??? Like I would miss this opportunity?!?!?!

Indian Arm

Tuesday I headed for Vancouver Island. By this time, I was getting numerous requests for visits and had agreed to help Blair bring the boat back from Campbell River in a week, so....dropped my car at Tsawassen and walked on.

Met Julie for pedicures, and they were LOVELY........ So nice. The Willowstream Spa is fantastic. (It's in the Empress Hotel - I know how to do things right!) Spent that night at Juju's house, then...... Dave texted and wanted to take us for a ride on his boat! He followed me all the way to Vancouver Island! So Wednesday afternoon, Julie and I floated around on Dave's boat in the sunshine. Dave was VERY happy to have 2 bikini-clad blondes aboard :)

nautical pedi-toes

Captain Dave, enthusiastic about his view

towheaded bow ornaments

YAHOO!

Hmmm, what next? Dave and I then motored to Saltspring Island to fuel the boat and "get supplies". (And by supplies, obviously, I mean wine.)  While he gassed up the boat, I dashed to the liquor store in town. I chose 5 bottles, then the lady at the counter said that they had a sale on: 10% off if you buy 6 bottles. Well, HELLOOOOOOOO!!! I had already been eying the prosecco, so this was obviously a message from above:  GOD LOVES ME AND WANTS ME TO DRINK SPARKLEY WINE!! I was so excited, that it seems I lost track of my wallet on Dave's boat :(

keep that track of that......I lost my wallet on Wednesday PM.........


We then motored to Otter Bay, on Pender Island. I'm sure it had NOTHING to do with the fact that I'd been drinking sparkely wine, but when I went swimming after dark, the bioluminesence was INCREDIBLE. When I kicked my legs fast, it looked like fire. And when I moved my legs very slowly, it looked like I was wearing gorgeous, sparkley tights. WOW. MAGIC.
On Thursday, Dave dropped me back at Crofton, where I had left my rental car. I had pre-arranged to meet some old friends, so had to drive up-island. [details and pics in another post] Let's just say that I was magnanimously offering to buy my hosts ice cream, when I discovered my wallet was missing.  :(  Ooops.
The next day, Friday, I returned my car to Duncan, and Captain Blair drove down to pick me up. His crew had flown back to Toronto, so I had agreed to help crew his boat back to Vancouver, although admittedly, I know NOTHING about sailing.

So... when Blair collected me on Friday, he had to pay the gas in my rental car. And take me out for lunch. And take me out for dinner in Campbell River. And buy all the groceries. And it's his boat, so he paid fuel, moorage, etc........

We stayed on his boat in the marina in Campbell River on Fri night.

On Saturday, the weather had changed..... No longer hot and sunny, a small gale was blowing up, and it was drizzly and cool. This made it pretty tricky to get the 60 foot yacht out of the marina. (hahaha, when I said it was a boat, I was later corrected. It's a yacht. It sleeps 9, should have a crew of 6, has a full kitchen, shower, 2 heads, tv, stereo....although NO hot tub. What the heck?!?)

Like I said, very tricky to get the big boat out of the marina. Everyone else apparently thought we were a little looney for heading out, as oh, there was a small craft warning!! In the marina, there was a light wind, so Blair did about a 20 point turn to get out, and ALL the other boaters were out and trying to keep him from ramming their boats.....and he did not. I ran back and forth like a yappy terrier, pushing the boat away from all obstacles. When he finally did get us out of there, I said, loudly enough for all to hear, "I'll drive next time, and we'll get out with a 6 point turn!!" hahahah, he wasn't even insulted, as he is a damn good boat driver, and I do not know how to do anything. :)

everything's under control with Cap'n Blair

OK, so Blair and I headed south. The shortest way to get to Vancouver was to cross over pretty soon. We got out into the main channel, west of Cortes Island, and got right into the weather. Blair sort of quietly said, "Go downstairs and put everything away. Anything that could fall off the counter needs to be put away, or it will fall and smash."

I failed to realise I had about 1 minute to do this!!!!! We got into some serious swells, and I was down there, putting the coffee maker in the sink, and then dashing to save the laptop. I apparently jumped a bit too hard, and hit my arm HARD....had to sit still for a couple mins as I really thought I had broken my wrist or arm. Ouch.

While I was feeling sorry for my arm, a box of blueberries had launched itself off the counter, so now, as the boat, oops, YACHT, wildly rocked back and forth, blueberries rolled back and forth in time.

Being the earnest, though unskilled, galley slave I am, I banged my way over to the galley. (This was HARD. I was falling everywhere, and have the bruises to prove it.) I found a good container, and plonked my way onto the floor to sit amongst the berries. They were rolling everywhere, and I had to brace myself under the table or I woulda have been covering as much distance as they were. Blair, who seems comfortable in all sorts of inclement weather, poked his head down to check on my mayhem, and laughed his guts out. There I was, like a slightly seasick grizzly, wedged under the table, grabbing berries as they rolled by. Since we'd washed the floor just the night before, I ate quite a lot, but saved most of them in my plastic bin.

In case you know something about sea conditions (which I do not), fyi, there was a 3 foot swell, with another 1 foot of wind on top. This meant we were in 4 foot waves, and that really means 8 feet from top to bottom. So really it was like jumping on and off the top bunk of bunk beds! So you can understand why I would need to hang on tight, or wedge myself under various pieces of furniture.......

I will guess this lasted about 30-60 mins, but I truly have no idea. It was mostly fun, although I was starting to clench my teeth and wish for an end.... As Cap'n Blair said:  "It's not dangerous, just uncomfortable." True, but still we had waves crash over the bow, and I had to close all the portholes as water was splashing inside.

little did I know I'd be sailing in a storm!

Not long after that, we moored at Hernandes Island, south of Cortes. Had lunch, thought about swimming, but....didn't.

Anchor up, we motored south. There really is no other great harbour or safe bay until we got to the mouth of Jervis Inlet. So we pased Savary Island (nice beaches, apparently), past Powell River and its unique breakwater of WWII warships, east of Texada Island, and set anchor safely in Thunder Bay. Yep, we motored across Canada. [haha, obviously not.] It's just inside the south of Jervis Inlet, close to Saltery Bay ferry terminal.

 

OK, so which day is this? Ummmm, we're up to Sunday. I still had no wallet, but what was I gonna do? Tip an orca, as it swam by? Nah, they didn't show up.

I've got my sea legs, and am just hangin out now.

OK, Sunday we headed south from Thunder Bay. I gave my mom a call from off shore - AREN'T CELL PHONES COOL??? We motored around the southern tip of Texada Island, as Blair wanted to show me Jedediah Island. Apparently his brother Kevin tried to buy this island at one point..... Anyway, it was a pretty nice place to have lunch and go swimming. There were 2 seal pups being weaned by their mom....we had front seats for Animal Kingdom :)

Jedediah Island on the left

bummer of a view...

Back under Texada, we headed south for Gibsons. Wow, I still cannot believe how slow boats go compared to cars! HA, we were going 6 knots....  I can run nearly that fast..... Finally, Sunday night we moored in Gibsons harbour, so we could hang above decks (check that nautical lingo... I'm kind of a pro now) and look at the sparkley lights.

on the way to Gibsons

Finally, Monday AM, we pulled up anchor, headed north around Bowen Island (got the scenic tour....cuz the rest of the coast is not scenic?) and finally back to Granville Island marina.

ferry leaving Snug Cove, on Bowen Island

OK, as you'll recall, I had left my wallet on Dave's boat...... So he had to come and collect me! (I'm not high maintenance at all...) He forgot my wallet, so brought the cash I owed Blair for gas, travel, food, etc etc. And then I made him buy me a coffee (not high maintenance) and listen to all my stories without interrupting (still not!). And we got into.... Dave's Porsche Boxster! YAY for me! First, we went to Mom's house to collect the last of my luggage. Then, out to Tsawassen to collect my car. AND he had to pay for my week of parking. (Oh no, definitely not high maintenance...)

HAHAHHAHAHAH, I am totally laughing at what a complete pain in the ass I am!

Anyway, so I was cranky and restless. (Wow, I kinda suck as a date...) "I wanna go running." "I wanna go home to my dog." blah blah blah.... What we really did was go for a drive - who knew Port Moody is LOVELY? - and went for a bite at the Keg. Where they have Happy Hour $1 raw oysters!!!!!!!!!!! OK, so I completely fell off my plan... Couple glasses of wine, squeals of delight at oysters.....so we were off to the liquor store for more supplies, and back to his place.

Oh yah, and I STILL had not gotten to the ATM to pay him back!

Spent the rest of the evening hanging with him and his son, watching tv, telling stories and drinking wine. Pretty fun night.

The next AM, Dave must have been really desperate for his cash, cuz HE LET ME DRIVE HIS PORSCHE TO GO GET IT!!!!!!! And somehow I managed to get it back to him in under an hour :)

And so I finally made it home Tuesday afternoon. :)

So yes, my life is GREAT.

Aaaaahhhhhhh, my life does not suck at all  :)

Guest Blogger!!!

oh, how exciting. My first "writing gig". OK, not a paid job, but nonetheless, I have been published somewhere other than where I published myself.

I was asked to guest post for Amanda, as she is off doing the Seattle RnR Marathon and cruising to Alaska.

So go check out the link:  http://runtothefinish.blogspot.com/2010/july/5-weird-but-good-smoothies

yes, it is the same post as I published here, but it's at a different place!
Anyway, I'm excited about that.

Hole E. Coyote!

I went out for a run with the doggies tonight. No big deal....until the dogs found some coyotes. The dogs kept disappearing into the bush, then I heard some strange barking, and then they came back....followed by a  coyote! The coyote was definitely afraid of me. But he kept circling around us, through the bush. And the dogs kept running back into the bush to challenge (or maybe play?).

Eventually, there were 3 coyotes, and I started to get nervous. We were heading back to the car, but a long way into the forest. I picked up 2 really big sticks, and ran along the path like a Masai Warrior!

I kept stopping to look (with my 2 big sticks in hand!), and the 3 coyotes were clearly sticking with us. They stopped for a long group howl at one point, which was totally creepy. They kept crossing the path behind us when I wasn't looking. And the dogs kept heading into the bush! I don't know if they were trying to challenge the coyotes, or play with them, as 1 of the coyotes would always follow them back toward me. But as soon as the coyote saw me, it would turn back. That one followed us right to the edge of the forest, near where I was parked.

Anyway, it all ended fine. Thanks coyotes, for my unplanned speed workout!

paralympic BHAG

I'm gonna use my recently neglected forum to announce my BHAG (pronounced bee-hag)
I've decided to get involved with Nordic Paralympic sports.
I have a friend who is a guide for a visually impaired x-c skier, so I went to watch him race in Whistler during the Paralympics. I was wildly intrigued! There are 3 categories of skiers:

 

• standing (with arm issues, or leg issues but can stand);
• sitting (with spinal injuries or leg issues that prevent them from standing); and
• visually impaired.

 

Each athlete has individually modified equipment. All of them were really interesting, but I was most intrigued by the sit-skiers. Every one of them had a different set-up: some had their legs out in front, some had their knees folded under them, some had their knees in front. My thought in seeing all these top athletes was: "Wow, if I were an engineer, all I'd want to do is design equipment for these guys. It's challenging, unique, and every second or part of a second is important."

 

So then I had an idea: how about matching corporations with an engineering focus with ahtletes? This would be a terrific corporate citizenship project. And it would be a terrific employee perk to get some paid company time to design specialised equipment for an athlete. Challenging and beneficial - everybody wins!

 

I met with Tony and Jamie, who run the para nordic club in Van, and passed my idea past them. They are thrilled. Turns out that at the Top Level, at Paralympics and World Cup, these athletes have minimal support, and most of them have modified or built their sit skis themselves, in their garages. Another standing skier has a leg prothetic that is only made for walking, not even running, so he has struggled to get it to stick into a x-c ski binding. Crazy!!! They have no access to gait analysis or high-tech equipment or most of the standard things for other high-level athletes.

 

Then I asked Jamie and Tony if it was reasonable that terrific equipment could make the difference of a 15th place finish to, say, a 5th or 3rd place finish? "Yep. Totally reasonable."

 

In fact, it's really hard for a disabled person to TRY sit-skiing, as the equipment is barely available. The clubs have to buy sit skis themselves, at a cost of $2k each, and the sleds SUCK. They are heavy and not set up for racing at all.

 

So, overall, the goal is to get funding, expertise in sports med and engineering and technology, and get the athletes already racing to a higher level, like onto the podium. Also, we'd like to get more wheel chair athletes involved in paranordic events.

I've seen some stuff on other blogs recently about BHAG, which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal. And here is mine:

Make Canada the premier country in paranordic skiing. We are going to get gold medals for Canada at the Paralympic and World Cup levels by 2012.

 

Cool, right?

 

Road Trip!!

Today is Day 1 of my latest road trip. My underlying purpose to run a half marathon along the Avenue of the Giants. That's along this road, and through these trees:

How great is that? Can't wait.

Here are more trees. I took this shot last year.

Oh boy! Can't wait! I'll be running on Sunday morning. Think energetic thoughts for me over your morning coffee.

The Morning After

It has been the most amazing, incredible, extraordinary experience being in Vancouver for the Games. I could never have imagined anything like it. The whole feeling in the city has been joy and pride and FUN. The place was painted red, with shirts and face paint and temporary tattoos. There were so few problems with violence or disrespect or vandalism, or even litter. Of course there were zillions of police...but I only saw them asking folks to dump beers, or climb down off road signs and bus shelters... lol, good ideas, really.


Last night, people wandered the streets downtown, high-fiving people. I kid you not, we spent HOURS high-fiving everyone, and seeing if we could find anyone who wouldn't give a high-five. Wasn't possible. Everyone, of every colour and religion and age, even the police, were happy to give a high five. Now THAT says something about this show we put on.

I did not know we had it in us. I really, really didn't.
Go, Canada, Go.

A Hockey Prayer

Our Father, who art in GM Place, hockey be thy name. Thy will be done, GOLD to be WON on ICE as well as IN THE STANDS. Give us this day, our hockey sticks and forgive us our penalties, as we forgive those who cross check against us. Lead us not into elimination but deliver us to victory, in the name of the fans, CANADA... and the HOLY PUCK. AMEN!! Go Canada Go!!!!!!

We are very excited that the Canadian men will play in the Gold Medal game against USA!

Canuck Word of the Week, Olympic Edition

Give'r (pronounced GIV er) - enthusiastic directive meaning GO FOR IT

a poster in a bar in Whistler

Extreme Sports

this pic was taken at Whistler. I love the expression on Mom's face. It's as if we're racing other bobsledders on the same track.... Bobsledcross would be a cool sport, actually.

The Olympics, Post 5

OK, tragic loss in men's hockey, Canada v. USA
everyone is sad and upset.
Many with American friends have taken an unhealthy dose of abuse over this.
Alright. Whatever.

But then on the news they showed how they produced the Punjabi tv feed of the Men's Hockey Game. A bilingual English-Punjabi speaker watched the game on CTV, and simultaneously commentated the action in Punjabi for Omni TV. This was cited as a great way for new Canadians to learn English AND to learn Canadian culture. I love CANADA!

From the Olympics, Post 4!

Canadians are extremely enthusiastic drinkers, and it's getting out of control in downtown Van. Last night on the news they showed that the police were making folks dump out their beers, as drinking in public is illegal. One guy lost his beer, got a ticket for $230, and then he shook the hand of the police officer. Canadians are so nice, eh?

From the Olympiad, Post 3

Last night I watched ladies hockey: Slovakia v. Russia. Final score Russia 4 - Slv 2
What I loved:
a guy cheered GO BLUE! The crowd was mostly Canadian and supported the underdogs, Slovakia, in blue. But every time either team did anything good, the crowd went wild, waving Canadian flags!


I love that we support the underdogs, even if we don't know which country they are, and that we are just learning to be nationalistic, so wave our own flag in support of anyone. CANADIANS ROCK! We are so dang cute. Bless us.

So Proud to be a Canadian!

me n Mom in the rings in Whistler

It is so cool to see all of us Canucks feel so dang proud to be Canadian. Is this how Americans feel all the time???

an Olympic tableau

From the Olympiad, Post 2

I have now decided that my fave part of the Olympics is being part of such an international crowd. Today in Whistler there were people wearing the colours of so many countries. It's kind of the sporting UN..

And watched Jon Montgomery win gold, in a bar about 500 m from the Whistler Sliding Centre. And had a beer with a friend who will compete in the Paralympics next month. I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!!

Earlier this week at a curling match between Canada and Japan, the Japanese fans started chanting, "Nippon. Nippon!" And we started a chanting war, so it was: "Nippon!" "Canada!!" "Nippon!!!" "Canada!!!!" "NIPPON!!!!" "CANADA!!!!!!!!!!" the whole arena joined in, with foot stomping and flag waving. It was fantastic!
 

 

From the Olympiad, Post 1

I'm at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics!!!!!!!!

Mom has come down to join me. She was initially a bit cool on the idea, but I convinced her that just being in the crowd, and witnessing the spectacle would be really really great.

And it is !!!

Someone asked me what have been the most exciting or interesting moments, and here was my first answer:

I would have to say that just being here in this beautiful city is what is most important to me. Regardless of what the media is saying, Vancouver is putting on an incredible show. People are friendly and happy (with some exceptions, obviously), the city is clean and safe, and it is fun fun FUN. Restaurants and bars are hopping! Transit is moving everyone around quickly. Recycling receptacles are everywhere.You can get help with directions from anyone, but there are tonnes of volunteers handy for questions. People are loud and PROUD to be Canadian, and all wearing gear stating Canada and mostly wearing red. In general, we cheer for good performances, regardless of which country the athlete competes for. The Ice Holes are really doing it up right!! (and people have lined up overnight to see Stephen Colbert live, as we think it's hilarious that we are called Syrup Sucking Ice Holes!)

YAY CANADA!!!

Writing with SARK

Last weekend I went to Big Sur, California to attend a Writer's Workshop with SARK. Do you know her? She's published about 15 books, and lots of art. Titles like Inspiration Sandwich and Succulent Wild Woman. Her style is enigmatic, and immediately recognisable...I think.

And you might be thinking, "Hey, Tara loves California! And Big Sur is on the Pacific Coast Highway, which Tara also loves. And she likes to write. This must have been an irrestistable MAGNET for her!!!"  You got it, Pontiac.  And another reason? It is one of my goals for 2010 to get paid for my writing, so this was an attempt to find that motivation, that spark, that courage, to go for it!

The weekend started on the exact right foot! Can you believe my rental car turned out to be a red beetle??? Perhaps this might be the MOST appropriate car to drive in San Francisco, and down the Coastal Highway. So cool, so fun, SO CUTE!




The first thing SARK had done, even before we arrived, was to meditate on us, our names I guess, to get a sense of who we were. She then had a nickname for each of us that she put on a nametag.

Mine was Fearless Tara! An obvious choice for me, doncha think???
Funny, but pretty much everyone in our group of 20 had a similar response to their nametag. And this was our introduction to Planet SARK.




Friday night had us at  a cocktail party. (all the costs for the weekend were paid up front, so no need to bring out a wallet! And it all cost less than $700. Incredible!)

One of the next things SARK did was to pair us all with a writing mentor, so we would have a support in place for after the weekend. I was paired with 'Vibrant Suzanne'. Her dream is to write a book based on her challenges (and very funny experiences) with her husband and his bipolar disease.  How big a fluke is it that Suzanne's book sounds so similar to the book I am writing* ?  And happily she has done huge amounts of work for the American Cancer Association, so she can find me more wonderful souls to put in my book! Wow, that SARK is strangely intuitive.

*(about the Good Things You get When You Get Cancer, if you didn't know....)

Of course, I met some really, really great people at this workshop! People like Michelle, with the great toque with a giant flower on it, a woman who is already mostly done her novel. (WOW! In awe that she's gone so far already!)

and Victoria, who has been a reporter for years, so has published TONNES, but now she's freelance and doing other projects.

 

and Nikki from Australia. She writes and facebooks and is on Ning and has a blog and is writing a novel and does art, and works in the workshop/self-improvement industry. She is literally a colourful character! Incidentally, she has a brain condition (can't remember what it's called) where she has to get getting shunts put inside her skull to drain her excess cerebral fluid. WOW. And you could ever think for one second that amazing things do not come from adversity??? She's travelling all over the world while she has time off work! She is spending her birthday weekend in VEGAS right now!!!

and Magnus, who is the curator of the Henry Miller library just down the road. Incidentally, when he first came from Sweden, he intended to work in Alaska, but was chatting to someone in Hope BC who told him not to bother going to Alaska. There's no work there!! Aaaah, he could have made thousands that summer, but instead worked in a gas station in Hope...  As they say, "Live in Hope, die in despair..."   Happily he now lives in Big Sur, running a tiny little library full of literary gems. He writes and reads and sings and entertains. It's his own piece of heaven, I'm quite sure  :)

I mean, look at this spot mere km's from where we were. It is a piece of heaven!

Oh, and we stayed in Pfeiffer Big Sur Park, which is AMONG THE REDWOODS. omg, aaaAAAHHHHHH!!!!! what could be better?

 Seriously.

But I digress...

Another exercise SARK got us to do was to design our own Writer's Manifesto. I was kinda nervous, I have to admit, as she suggested using lots of coloured pens, and paint and water colours and collage, and ART. I don't really do that stuff, but when in Rome....

actually, I'm quite proud of it.

Another exercise we did was to write a question or concern for our mentor, and have them write back to us, with profound wisdom and encouragement. Again, Suzy and I had similar concerns..... "What if I write stuff that other people don't approve of?"

My answer to her (and of course her answer to me!) :

WRITE YOUR TRUTH!

If there was a downside to the weekend, it was that we wrote less than I had expected. I had imagined we would have an overnight assignment, plus a couple quick exercises during each day. I mean, part of what gets you writing is to write. Put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and write! Do it every day! Do it more often! Form a writing habit!! Some will be garbage, but the more you write, the more good stuff you'll write. Or so the theory goes.

But oh well. Talking about writing is good too. We did a fun exercise where we interviewed our mentor about what it will be like for them when they are wildly successful. I will deifnitely TIVO Suzy on both Oprah and Ellen!!! And she cannot wait to see that my book has made people lose much of their fear of cancer, and be just a little bit jealous that they don't have it themselves. Can you imagine? "Oh jeez, she's so lucky. She got cancer. I'm a teensy bit bummed."  HAHAHAHAH! Tara's New World Order  :)

That's me n SARK!!! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!

and we are Succulent Wild Women!