Tag: Canada

Exploring the Vancouver Art Gallery

A few days ago I did a blog entry entitled “Picasso’s Women” about the Picasso exhibit that’s currently at the Vancouver Art Gallery. As amazing as that exhibit was, there was even more to see. I must confess that I’m partial to modern art. I like art that makes you think, or makes you laugh. What follows are some of the pictures I took at the gallery. If I’m certain of the artist, I’ll list it below the picture in question. Enjoy!

Emily Carr

Picasso’s Women

I absolutely love Vancouver, Canada! I had the pleasure of visiting a dear friend there recently, and one of the things we did was go to the Vancouver Art Gallery to check out an exhibition called “Picasso: The Artist and His Muses”. This shined a whole new light on Picasso for me, because the show focused on the six women he had fallen in love with in his life, and how each one was instrumental in shaping his art.

It was interesting, but not surprising, to discover that each one was younger than the last. And quite often his relationships would overlap, much to the women’s chagrin. But each one was uniquely influential with regard to his work. And while we may look back and judge that he treated them very badly for the most part, he must have made some sort of an impact because two of them committed suicide after his death, and those suicides were attributed, rightly or wrongly, to grieving for him.

Needless to say, the bulk of the exhibit consisted of nudes, sculptures, and portraits of these women. Here’s what I want to know: If you’re in a relationship with an artist, and he says he’s going to do a portrait of you, and when it’s done, both your eyes are on one side of your face, and your nose is where your mouth is supposed to be, are you flattered?

I’m not sure I would be. Just sayin’.

Of course, having an artist of this magnitude want to create something simply because you are who you are is quite an honor. And I’m sure he didn’t actually see these women literally the way he depicted them on canvas, but still… don’t women already have enough self-image issues without having the boyfriend piling on to that degree? Sheesh.

Picasso

Exploring Vancouver: Fireworks without the Patriotism

I absolutely love fireworks. I think of it as art, writ large. Light is the paint and the sky is the canvas. It’s the purest form of joyously explosive creativity. That’s why the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays here in the US.

So when I heard of the annual Celebration of Light in Vancouver, an international fireworks competition, I thought it was the perfect time to visit my friend Martin, who lives there. The celebration is on three separate days in July, and I was only able to catch one of them, but it was very much worth it.

On the night I attended, it was Australia putting on the show from the middle of English Bay, and they did a fantastic job. I couldn’t help but compare it to the dozens of American Independence Day fireworks that I’d seen throughout the years, but there was something different here. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it at first.

Eventually I figured it out. This event had not one whiff of patriotism. No flags. No “Proud to Be an American” blaring out of the loudspeakers. No drunken political rants. No us vs. them. No “we are better than you are”. It was refreshing.

Don’t get me wrong. I do love my country, and I consider myself lucky for having been born here. But I’m not always proud of everything it does. I couldn’t bring myself to watch the Republican National Convention, for example. Every time I thought of doing so, my stomach would ache.

And perhaps because I am an American, I believe strongly in freedom of speech and expression, so it rankles when patriotism is forced down my throat, even when I already feel it. I don’t like to be pressured by society. I can already imagine the negative responses I’m going to get just for writing this.

At the Celebration of Light on the night in question, it was estimated that 300,000 people attended. 300,000 people who were not trying to be or think a certain way. 300,000 people who had nothing to prove. They were just out to enjoy some fireworks and revel in the mild summer breezes. It was really, really good to be there, spending time with a dear friend in a relaxed atmosphere.

Incidentally, on July 3oth, it will be the USA competing in this event. I wish I could go. I’d be curious to see if they try to inject any patriotism into it. The Netherlands competed on the first night. I wonder who will win?

What follows are a few of the pictures I took at the celebration. But in case I didn’t say this while you were my gracious host, thanks, Canada. Thanks very much.

The Doukhobors

It’s amazing what you can learn by randomly surfing through Youtube. Today I was once again presented with the uncomfortable truth that there is a heck of a lot that I don’t know. It’s also an exciting truth, because I love it when my horizons are broadened, and there’s a world of potential out there.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that most Americans don’t give much thought to Canadians, our neighbors to the north. If you did a random survey, I bet most of us couldn’t name a single Canadian politician, or list more than two Canadian provinces. That’s pretty pathetic.

Our lack of knowledge becomes even more laughable when we tentatively dip our toes into Canadian history. Yup. They have a history, too.

Which brings me to the Doukhobors, a group of people that I didn’t even know existed until today. The average Canadian would probably be shocked by this gap in my knowledge given the fact that they have had a fairly significant impact on the Canadian cultural landscape, but there you have it. Some consider some of the Doukhobors to be Canada’s first terrorists.

My introduction to the Doukhobors was a very interesting documentary called Lost Childhood: Russian Doukhobors or Sons of Freedom. From there I was hooked and wanted to know more. I then watched a documentary entitled My Doukhobor Cousins.

A gross oversimplification is that the Doukhobors are a Christian sect that believes in pacifism, communal living, and very little government. They refuse to take oaths of allegiance, resist registering births, and eschew public education.

While in Russia, the Doukhobors burned their guns and refused military service. This did not sit well with the Csar, and they were displaced. This would not be the last time the Doukhobors were driven from their land.

In 1899, six thousand of them emigrated to Canada. Leo Tolstoy, a long-time supporter of this movement, used the royalties from one of his books and paid about half of their relocation expenses.

But Canadians were always suspicious of the communal living and refusal of public education, so this group did not assimilate well. In 1907 Canada took more than 1/3 of their land back because they refused to register it in the name of individuals rather than groups.

This caused the Doukhobors to split into three groups: those who wanted to give up communal ownership of land, those who wanted to remain true to their beliefs, and the radical Sons of Freedom.

The Sons of Freedom would stage passive protest marches. Unfortunately they chose to do so in the nude. Their message was, “You’ve taken everything else from us, so why not take our clothes, too?”

Because of this shocking turn of events, Canada criminalized nudity in 1932, bringing with it a three year prison sentence. Over the years more than 300 Sons of Freedom Doukhobors served time.

This further radicalized the Sons of Freedom, and they began resorting to arson, even against their fellow Doukhobors, and bombings. This flew in the face of their pacifist origins.

In an effort to make them “good Canadians”, in 1953, 174 children of the Sons of Freedom were snatched and forced to live in a school surrounded by a fence that was basically a prison compound. For 6 years, these children only got to see their parents once every two weeks, and only then through the prison fence. They were beaten if they spoke Russian, so much of their cultural identity was lost.

This further radicalized their parents (and the students themselves when they became adults) and accelerated the arson and bombings. But these violent protests seem to have petered out in the 1970’s, and as the Doukhobor community ages, it is also shrinking.

While I do have a problem with the concept of no education, the rest of the original Doukhobor lifestyle seems relatively harmless to me. It could be argued that their radicalization was a result of government meddling. The Canadian Doukhobor history could be studied as a lesson in how to avoid creating domestic terrorism.

I love learning new things! It’s just sad when those new things are so tragic.

Doukhobors

Waking Up in Vancouver

It’s usually kind of weird waking up in a strange place, but oddly, I felt right at home in my friend’s apartment in Vancouver. He made me feel quite welcome, even making sure to hang a curtain in my alcove to give me privacy, and getting new towels for the bathroom. It was a nice feeling, knowing I was going to explore an unfamiliar city, but yet not waking up all disconcerted.

The plan for the day was originally to go to the aquarium, then have lunch at Topanga Café, then go to the Anthropology Museum. The aquarium is was great fun. I was mesmerized by the jellies…

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…and very surprised to see my second only coelacanth. I’ve written about this amazing prehistoric fish before. When people look at it, I don’t think they realize just what an amazing missing link they’re seeing. It’s probably the most important item in the entire aquarium, even though it wasn’t alive.

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The otters (which were very much alive) were fun to watch, too.

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After the aquarium, we did, in fact, go to the Topanga Café, which used to be one of my friend’s regular haunts, but he hadn’t been back in 15 years. Even so, the waiter recognized him, which was great. The authentic Mexican food was great, too.

After that, we were both kind of hot and tired, and we agreed it was a good idea to blow off the anthropology museum, but we did go to Granville Island to check out the quirky shops so I could pick up a souvenir or two (or three). There’s even a kids center where all the shops are dedicated to children. We had to go in there because it also housed the post office and I needed postcard stamps. There were screeching children running everywhere. I have to admit that this is my version of hell, but fortunately we got out of there with our sanity intact.

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After that, we went back to his place and he showed me his amazing artwork (more on that on another day) and I tried to eat at Meat and Bread yet again, but discovered it closes at 5 pm. (What restaurant closes that early???) So we sent out for Chinese.

After yet another good night’s sleep, I was to leave rather early the next day, but we did walk around the Gastown neighborhood, which is really funky and cool, and we happened to be standing right near the famous steam clock as it went off. Then, by God, I finally got my sandwich at Meat and Bread! (But later found out they have them here in Seattle. Slapping my forehead.) It was delicious.

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Next I dropped my friend off at work, got a mini tour, and sadly took my leave. What a great trip it was! It ended all too soon, but I’ll be back. I’ve never lived so close to another country before, and I intend to take advantage of it every chance I get!

Vancouver Not Exactly According to Plan

I just got back from my first ever visit to Vancouver. What a fantastic time I had! I was meeting up with a friend (more on him in another blog entry) and I figured he’d be more comfortable with a specific game plan, so I read my guidebook from cover to cover, and set out an itinerary so that everything would flow like clockwork. Ha! The Gods must have been laughing.

I was to meet him at 1:30 on Sunday at a coffee shop. I wasn’t expecting to have a 5 mile long line at the border crossing. Since I don’t follow sports very closely, I didn’t realize that the USA women’s soccer team would be playing Japan for the FIFA world cup that day in Vancouver, and it seemed that half of Washington State wanted to see it for themselves. And a lot of the downtown streets were blocked off, too, when I finally arrived in town. So I got to the coffee shop around 3:30. Fortunately my friend was still there, patiently waiting.

My first impression of Vancouver was…my God, is that pollution? Everything was enveloped in a smoky grey fog. But no, it turned out that there were forest fires to the north, and the smoke was blowing down into the city. I know that this city is near mountains, but I didn’t get to see them at all during my visit. But I view it as a good excuse to go back.

So the plan was to pick up sandwiches from I place I had read about that I was dying to try. It’s called Meat and Bread, and it sounded delicious. So we walked over there, and my mouth was watering. Turns out they were closed on Sundays. Picnic crisis! But we found a shop next door and I managed to get a really delicious hummus and eggplant panini. Crisis averted.

The next plan was to go to Stanley Park, check out the totem poles, and then picnic at Lumberman’s Arch. But by then I was ravenous, so we sat on a hill and watched a couple teams play an enthusiastic game of cricket. I’d never seen cricket outside of TV, and I find the rules incomprehensible, but we enjoyed our picnic and were happy when the people cheered, even if we had no idea why they were doing so. It was a pleasant way to pass the time. And the whole time I was thinking to myself, “I’m in a foreign country! And with a great friend! This is so awesome!”

Cricket in Stanley Park, Vancouver.
Cricket in Stanley Park, Vancouver.

Then we made it to the totem poles, and they were as impressive and amazing as I thought they would be. I love seeing things I’ve never seen before.

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Then we wandered amongst the immense cedar trees. It was hard to believe we were in a city. We drove around the park, too. It’s huge.

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After that we hung out for a while at my friend’s apartment, and then the plan was to go to the Chinatown Night Market. The guidebook really talked it up and I was excited. But it’s no longer there. On line they said it was at a new location, but it wasn’t there, either. Major bummer. We did drive through Chinatown, though, which was pretty amazing.

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We also intended to see a sunset, but the dense smoke pretty much destroyed that plan. So we went back to the apartment and had a kind of slumber party. I offered to paint his toe nails and gossip about boys, but for some reason he wasn’t into that. But it was nice catching up with a friend. I fell asleep to the sounds of the city, and it was really nice to be with company for the first time in ages. I slept well.

So pretty much nothing went according to plan, and I’m so glad it didn’t, because it was a perfectly lovely day.

More about Vancouver tomorrow…

Have We Forgotten the Ukraine?

I get it. We have neither the money, the time, the moral currency, nor the manpower to intervene in every international atrocity. God knows we’ve left Tibet dangling since 1951, Burma since 1962 and I could talk for hours about various coups in Africa and the Middle East.

But what stuns me is how quickly we’ve stopped talking about Ukraine. It was only a little over a year ago when unmarked Russian soldiers began entering that country and took over the Crimean Peninsula. Outrageous. Irrational. It would be just as insane if the US suddenly decided to take over Vancouver, just because we have more military might than the Canadians. Many Americans live in Canada after all, so let’s just take it because we can.

And yet no one says a word about the Ukraine anymore. Did we just decide that it would be easier to look the other way instead of getting into a big international kerfuffle? Or is our attention span that short? Are we simply stretched too thin in wars of our own making, or do we just not care about anyone other than ourselves?

I suspect that we’ll spend more time discussing Caitlyn Jenner than the people who have been driven out of their homes in the Crimea. What does that say about us? Putin knows exactly the thickness, or lack thereof, of our moral fiber, and that’s why he knew he could get away with such a b***h move. He knows us too well. So does the rest of the world. And that’s scary.

[Image credit: telegraph.co.uk]
[Image credit: telegraph.co.uk]

Travel Sounds

Have you ever noticed that a sound or a smell can instantly transport you back to an experience in your past? A certain song always reminds you of your first kiss. The smell of baking bread takes you back to your mother’s kitchen when you were a child.

I love it when this happens.

Unfortunately, there’s really no efficient way to collect smells. But you can collect sounds. And one day it occurred to me that it would be lovely to collect sounds that I associate with my travels.

As tourists, we all seem to scurry around, desperately taking pictures because we want to remember this experience. Travel is often the high point of our lives, made even more poignant because it is so rare due to its expense. So why not collect sounds in addition to photos?

I have amassed quite a few of those sounds over my lifetime of travel.

Nothing says Puerto Rico like the sound of the Coqui frog.

And the beautiful, profound, haunting Muslim call to prayer instantly transports me back to Istanbul.

Fog horns remind me of the cold and isolated coast of Saint-Siméon, Canada, the farthest north I’ve ever been.

I had amassed quite a travel sound library, but unfortunately it went the way of my ex-boyfriend. This makes me think rather less of him, since I made it a point to make sure he got copies of all the photos.

But I have every intention of starting afresh. Along with my camera, I will always bring a recording device when I travel, and on those quiet nights at home when I feel the urge to reminisce, I will close my eyes, turn on the sounds, and travel back in time to some of the happiest moments in my life.

Saint-simeon, Canada

Saint-Siméon, Canada on a day without fog.

[Image credit: bonjourquebec.com]

Our Expanding Family Tree: Cousins Coming out of the Woodwork

One of the largest and oldest organisms on earth is Pando, a Quaking Aspen clone in Utah that covers over 106 acres. Looking at it, you’d assume that it was just a bunch of individual trees, but it’s actually one organism, and it’s thousands of years old. We didn’t know that until recently. I think of Pando whenever I come across a new relative.

We are all related within 100 generations. Think about it. But one of the most exciting things about the times we live in is that it has become easier and easier to track down distant relatives. It used to be that you’d have to rely on that one family member who was conscientious and persistent and enthusiastic enough to do the painstaking family research, but with Ancestry.com and so many other genealogy sites, often the longest branches of your family tree are but a few keystrokes away!

Just the other day, out of the clear blue sky, one of my second cousins found us. She lives in Australia and is a fascinating person. 30 years ago we probably would never have known she existed.

As a matter of fact, I now have several cousins on Facebook from both sides of the family. Some of them don’t even speak my language, and we probably couldn’t pick each other out of a police lineup if we had to, but we now have a connection, and that makes me very happy.

My family is all over the United States, France, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland, South Africa, Greece, Australia…it’s a global connection. We have much to learn from each other, and much to share.

I have this fantasy that as the branches of all our family trees become ever more intertwined, our prejudice and intolerances will fade away and this will become a much more peaceful world. One can only hope.

Pando

This is Pando.

Two Short Steps Away from my Life’s Dream

Wow! The other day I wrote a blog entry asking for a reader from Greenland, as that was one country I had yet to hear from. And within 14 hours, I got one! That left me marveling at the power of the internet and this blog. I mean, that country doesn’t even have a total population of 60,000, and English isn’t their first or even their second language, but there you have it. I got a reader. Yay Greenland!

When I was bragging about that to a dear friend, she said, “Ask and ye shall receive.” And that got me thinking. For many years I have been working and studying and struggling and striving to achieve my life’s dream, and there seem to be only two small hurdles that remain in my way. So why not ask? Maybe you can help change my life for the better. Come on, now, wouldn’t that make you smile?

Now, I know you’re busy, believe me, so I’ll break this down into bite sized pieces. You can determine what you want to read based on the headings.

What I Need:

1)      A full time job in Panama City, Florida.

2)      Affordable rental housing in Panama City, Florida.

More details about these things below.

A Description of my Dream:

For the past 30 years I’ve been trying to relocate to the Appalachian Mountains. Unfortunately work up there is very scarce, so I decided to go back to school and study something that would allow me to create my own work. So recently, after selling my house and moving 3 ½ hours south where I knew absolutely no one in order to go to school, I graduated with honors with a degree in Dental Laboratory Technology and Management. I fell in love with working with my hands, creating retainers and other dental devices. For me, this would be a job that wouldn’t feel like work. I’d love every minute of it. Eventually I want to buy a house in the mountains and set up a dental lab in my garage.

But first I need some hands on experience. I applied to 198 orthodontic labs all over the United States and Canada and had no luck finding a job. Either they weren’t hiring or they could sense I would eventually move on. That’s when the power of the internet intervened once again. I met an angel named Vicky. She runs her own orthodontic laboratory in Panama City, and she’s willing to mentor me. She seems to think that with some hands on experience, I should be able to start my own business in about a year and a half or so. The fact that she’s willing to take the time to share her expertise with me is amazing. It’s a rare thing in this world to come across someone who is willing, even eager, to improve your life.

Unfortunately, I’ll still have bills to pay. So if I can only get a job, any job, in Panama City and find a place I can afford to rent, I can spend time in Vicky’s lab during my off hours, and my dream could come true. It’s so close, so freakin’ close, but I have to get there first.

My Housing Needs:

I have two little dogs, so I need a free standing place with a fenced yard for them to play in. They’re older, non-destructive dogs, and as a matter of fact I’m also older and non-destructive. I don’t throw wild parties. I don’t smoke or do drugs. All I want is a tiny little roof over my head with a washer dryer hook up. Unfortunately the most I could pay in rent is 600 dollars a month. I’ve seen lots of tiny little houses in the Cove and St. Andrews neighborhoods of Panama City. Those would be ideal locations.

My Work Needs:

I need a full time job that pays at least 10 dollars an hour. Basically any office job, security work or customer service work would do quite nicely.

I am dependable, intelligent, competent, I take my work seriously. I don’t have children or destructive habits. I learn quickly. I’m fluent in Spanish and I have an unarmed security guard license. I’m creative, innovative and analytical, and I possess excellent writing and communication skills. I’m known for completing tasks in a timely manner and within budget. I’m very well organized and I require little supervision. I’m skilled in a wide range of areas including editing, interviewing, event planning, customer service, training, field work, public speaking and record keeping. I type 60 wpm. My computer skills include Quickbooks, Microsoft Word & Word Perfect, Access & Dbase, Excel & Lotus 123, Outlook Express, Memory Stick Voice Editor, and PowerPoint.

I’ve been a bridgetender for 12 years, so I’m an expert at writing reports, communicating, ensuring the safety of vessels, vehicles and pedestrians, problem solving, and time management.

I’ve also been a freelance editor, transcriber, and writer for many years. I definitely know how to multitask.

Before that I worked as a Maintenance Management Systems Engineer for the State of Florida Department of Transportation, where I analyzed and managed data regarding production, personnel, equipment and materials, performed crew studies and conducted production meetings to enhance the efficiency of employees responsible for safely maintaining highways for the traveling public, evaluated and adjusted a 40 column, 104 row spreadsheet to ensure that the maintenance yard operated within budget, and remained within limits of contracts, equipment, and labor. I inventoried all features of the state roads in two counties by way of field work and database maintenance and supervised an Engineering Technician III and a Word Processing Systems Operator.

In a Nutshell:

Have you ever had a dream that is so close you could practically taste it? That’s where I am right now. If you’re in Panama City, or know anyone who is, please send them a link to this blog entry. Post it on your Facebook page or theirs. Publish it in Reddit. Spread the word any way you can! If you hire me or rent to me, you won’t regret it.

If you can help me, simply put your contact information in the comment section below. I promise it will be there for less than half a day, then I’ll delete it and contact you.

Thanks for listening. I’m hoping the power of the internet will smile upon me one more time. My fingers are crossed!

fingers crossed

(Photo Credit: rgbstock.com)