Girl in the world

Riding the Soul Train

2012-02-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

As I get older, I find little bits and pieces of my childhood slowly fading away. I felt that acutely this morning when I read the tragic news that Don Cornelius, host of “Soul Train,” died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot to the head.

Consider this conversation I had this afternoon with my colleague Kyle.

Theresa: Did you hear Don Cornelius died?
Kyle: Who’s that?
Theresa: Don Cornelius, he hosted “Soul Train.”
Kyle: What’s that?
Theresa: Oh Kyle, you are young. Cruelly young.

When I was a kid, Saturday mornings in our household were dedicated to a thorough scrubbing of the house. The afternoons, however, found me in front of the TV, watching American Bandstand and Soul Train. Despite the similar format, the two shows couldn’t be any more different.

American Bandstand was the show for white middle-class teenagers. The music was performed by mostly white performers and the dancing, well, was white. When Dick Clark solicited the audience about a particular song the white kids parroted: “It has a good beat and you can dance to it.”

After an hour of this pap, there was Sooooooooouuuuuuuuullllllllllll Train, hosted by Don Cornelius. And it could not have been a more different show. It gave national exposure the black acts that would have otherwise gone ignored by the mainstream. Gladys Knight, The Jackson Five, The Commodores, Whitney Houston, and my favourite, Earth, Wind and Fire all gained prominence as a result of their exposure on Soul Train.

And the dancing! The dancing! During the infamous “Soul Train Line,” dancers would line up in two rows and each couple would take a turn at running the musical gauntlet. The line dancers would kick their legs up, shake their booties, perform pants-straining splits. The white kids on American Bandstand definitely did not dance like the Soul Trainers.

I marvelled at the crazy hairstyles and the out-of-this world fashions. The Soul Trainers seemed to be having more fun, they seemed more free, in a way, even while the show became a backdrop to the the burgeoning civil rights movement. Black was beautiful on Soul Train. It was also funky, ground-breaking, and groovy baby.

So, Don, wherever you are, I hope your path to the afterlife was lined with two rows of dancers and music that has a good beat and you can dance to it. RIP.

The Sooooouuuuullllllll Train

2012-02-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

RIP Don Cornelius

Farewell 2011

2011-12-31T19:59:00.000-08:00

The curtain is closing on these last remaining hours of 2011. The past year has been a mixed bag of tricks for me so to be honest I am glad 2011 is over.

I wasn't alone either in my ambivalent feelings about 2011. Over the past few months, many friends and acquaintances ended long term relationships. Some changed jobs, whether they wanted to or not. And even more moved house, mostly as a result of ending relationships and new jobs.

The good thing part of all this energy shifting is that it clears out old stuff and opens up the gates to a new perspective, a new outlook, new opportunities.

I didn't move, nor did I end a long term relationship. But I did have my challenges to face, one of which was when I crushed the #3 and #4 fingers on my right hand. The swelling has gone down for the most part. My sense of touch still is compromised and when I'm tired they don't want to co-operate.

What feels soft to my other fingers, feels sandpapery to my damaged fingers. My doctor tells me this may be permanent.

The accident happened Labour Day weekend, and on Christmas Eve, I peeled away the last bit of damaged fingernail. That's good news...I am waving goodbye to 2011 with normal looking hands.

Feels good.

Happy new year friends. I hope everyone who has ended a relationship finds love. To everyone who's moved, I hope you find your toothbrush.

Resolution: Vancouver

2011-12-28T19:07:00.000-08:00

It's right about this time of year that folks start to think about their New Year's resolutions. And yes, I too have been contemplating my goals for the next year. I have to confess that I am not much of a resolution maker. Like most people, my resolve to be resolute dissipates around the time January 3 or 4 rolls around.

Usually people resolve to find a new job, lose a few pounds, exercise more, eat more fruits and veggies. These are good resolutions, and goodness knows I need to make some headway on all these fronts. This year, however, I am resolving to do something different.

I plan to rediscover Vancouver. I've lived in BC for some seven odd years (mostly in Vancouver with about 18 months in Victoria). I am ashamed to say that despite my time here, there's so much I have not yet seen or done.

I've not walked the Capilano Suspension Bridge. I've not been to the Vancouver Aquarium. I have not taken a walk through Kerrisdale. I've never been to Salt Spring Island.

So this year, I plan to be a tourist in my province. Some of my adventures will be simple ones: I want to walk through the Vancouver Cemetery and see some of the beautiful old mansions in Shaughnessy. Some will take more planning like taking the Mountaineer to Whistler or visiting Barkerville.

It's going to fun and I am excited about learning more about my adopted hometown (and yes, I plan to share my stories with you!).

Spotted in Vancouver today

2011-12-14T23:54:00.000-08:00

Spotted in Vancouver today

2011-12-10T21:57:00.000-08:00

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Spotted in Vancouver today

2011-12-09T22:21:00.000-08:00

Spotted in Vancouver today

2011-12-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

Je me souviens

2011-12-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

It was 22 years ago. I was in my dentists' office in London, Ontario having my teeth checked. He had the radio on softly. Suddenly, we both jumped. He asked me: did you hear that? Yeah, I replied. It sounds like people were shot. He raised the volume on the radio. It must be in the US somewhere. Yes, he agreed. We listened a bit longer.

We were both wrong.

It wasn't in the U.S. It was much closer to home: Montreal, Quebec. Marc Lepine entered Ecole Polytechnique and killed 14 women, female engineering students. He screamed, "I hate feminists."

I still remember how chilled I was. I remember my dentists' pale face and shaking hands.

And today I remember those 14 women and their families and friends and hope that time has bought them some measure of comfort and peace.

Today, I also remember the victims of Robert Pickton. I remember women who live with violence in their own homes. I remember the woman who was raped in the lobby of building just a month ago.

Je me souviens.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

Book of records

2011-12-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

In the lobby of my apartment building, there’s a shelf of books when tenants can leave books and find new books to read. The other day, I was perusing the offerings and found the 1979 Guinness Book of World Records.

I immediately was transported back to my pre-teen self who pored over my sister’s copy of both this tome and The Book of Lists (that was there too...stay tuned I’ll be blogging on that one later).

It’s still as interesting now as it was then. The range of topics and the meticulousness of the research are breathtaking. For example, the Swedes are the greatest coffee drinkers who consumed 29.47 lbs of coffee per person. The longest word in the Oxford English Dictionary is floccipaucinihilipilification (I am not sure if I got all the letters there!).

I think my favourite entry is the one about cojoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker. The fact that they were connected didn’t stop them from marrying the Misses Sarah and Adelaide Yates and fathering twenty two children between them. I remembering wondering about the sexual logistics of that one. And come to think of it, I am still wondering about the sexual logistics of that one.

The Guiness Book of World really captures a moment in time. Some of the records won’t change, especially historical ones that capture firsts. But some do. The heaviest man recorded in 1979 was Robert Hughes who reached a top weight of 1,069 pounds. According to Wikipedia, the largest weight recorded belongs to Jon Brower Minnoch of the US who weighed 1,400 pounds and his subsequent weight loss of about 920 pounds is the largest documented.

The times they are a changing. This edition mentions little of computers, and nothing of Facebook or Twitter. West Germany and East Germany still existed. It was written when OJ Simpson was a hero, not a wife-abuser and murderer. 9/11 hadn’t happened and I wonder where it would rank amongst historical terrorist attacks.

Many of the records are held by the USSR. You remember what the USSR was don’t you? It’s the location of the world’s largest power station with a power of 6,096,000 kilowatts.

Vancouver Christmas Market

2011-12-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

For all you Christmasphiles out there, the Vancouver Christmas Market is now open. Yesterday, my pal Kama and I went over to check out the seasonal offerings. I have to confess, however, we spent more time chatting and getting caught up then we did looking at everything.

Raclette with proscuitto and cornichons

Traditonal German Christmas decorations

It's the second year for the Market, and it really is a wonderful seasonal event. I can really see it growing into something bigger every year. It was, however, nicely sized. It wasn't overwhelming and there was enough variety of offerings to keep it interesting and fun. The food was great: we sampled the apple cider, hot chocolate, almond crescent cookies and the Raclette. Just so you know, the Raclette is supposed to smell that way.

What I really appreciated was the uniqueness of the vendors. There are vendors selling gorgeous Turkish glassware, hand made traditional Christmas decorations, homemade soaps, and pickled vegetables. We visited on a quiet Thursday afternoon, but they also offer music and pictures with Santa Claus.

The Christmas Market is on now to December 24, 2011 on the Plaza at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. www.VancouverChristmasMarket.com

Spotted in Vancouver today

2011-11-25T16:49:00.001-08:00

Book Club Selections

2011-11-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

I'm a member of a book club. It's not a high falutin', Oprah-recommended book gathering. We're more of a eat-drink-play scrabble-talk about the book for maybe five minutes-kinda group. It's pretty informal. The host(ess) chooses the book and makes the main course. The rest of us bring sides, appies and wine. We try sometimes to match the dinner to the theme of the book. When we read "Death on the Ice," Kelly threatened to serve us flipper pie, but apparently seal meat is hard to find and stinks to high heaven (and I have to confess I was kind of disappointed we didn't have flipper pie because when I meet Paul McCartney I want to say, "hey Paul, I ate flipper pie. And I LIKED it!")

But as usual, I digress. For the friends have asked for our list so far, here it is:

Bull of the Woods, Gordon Gibson
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
St Urbain's Horseman, Mordecai Richler
As Meat Loves Salt, Maria McCann
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larson
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova
Death on the Ice: The Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914, Cassie Brown
Mister Sandman, Barbara Gowdy

May the Great Pumpkin bless us all

2011-10-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

The Dr Peter AIDS Foundation needs your help

2011-10-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Dear friends, the Dr Peter AIDS Foundation posted this request on Facebook. If you can help out, please do so.

Dr Peter AIDS Foundation

We need warm winter wear for men and women - new or gently used winter jackets, sweaters, gloves, shoes and boots (we can't accept anything with holes/stains/broken zippers, etc...) plus new socks and underwear. Please drop off items at the Dr. Peter Centre between 9am-3pm 7-days a week at 1110 Comox St (at Thurlow). Thank you all for your support!

Bangers and mash

2011-09-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

You can't see this, but right now I am two finger typing, actually six finger typing. My left hand is merrily picking away while my index finger is doing all the work on the right side of the keyboard. My right thumb is handling the space bar duties.

On Sunday I had an argument at work. With a 50 kilo of Grana Padano cheese. While I was gently coaxing this massive block of protein onto its side, the balance tipped, trapping my third and fourth finger between the cheese and marble countertop. Ouch. And I really mean ouch. Did I say ouch? Yeah. OUCH.

So now my fingers look like purple sausages. I didn't break any bones, but I did pulverize the soft tissue and blood vessels in the tips of my fingers (Update: I had my fingers x-rayed and they are both broken). I imagine my fingernails will fall off at some point.

My doctor pierced the pads of my fingers to relieve the pressure (you can see the pricks in the picture), but five days later I still can't bend my fingers completely. My nose picking ability has been greatly compromised as well.

I am left handed so you'd think it wouldn't be too challenging to manage. And you would be wrong. I can't tie my shoelaces. I am having a hard time zippering my pants. I can't lift anything that requires two hands. It will be a while before I'll be able to put pressure on the pads of my fingers.

I have to confess, I am rather fascinated by the whole healing process. On the first day, it looked like I had to red balls at the tips of my fingers. As the swelling recedes at the tips of my fingers, the swelling and the discolouration is working down my fingers (the doctor told me to expect this).

The good news it that my fingers are getting better. The better news is that I can now laugh about the whole thing. Don't you just love codeine for that? I know I do!

On Reiki

2011-08-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

Since my computer hard drive failed, I've been trying to re-create some of the files that I've lost. Some of the files pertained to Reiki and the notes I've been compiling to teach.

One of the questions I get asked a lot is, what is Reiki? After ten years of study and practice, I still struggle with a precise definition. The official definition is "divinely guided life force energy." To me, that definition doesn't quite cover the complexity of the practice.

Every treatment for both the client and the practitioner is a different experience, every time. Healing happens on many levels, body, mind, and spirit and Reiki works on all those levels, where it's needed most and for the highest good.

Sometimes the results are noticeable, and sometimes it works quietly and deeply. As a practitioner, I have no investment in the outcome, I simply put my ego aside and let the Reiki do its work.

Because of the seeming complexity, the best definition of Reiki definition for me is the simplest one: Reiki is a practice of loving kindness.

When I took the first degree course some ten years ago, I had no idea how much it would change my life. I thought I would do my first degree for the purposes of my own health care. It became very quickly apparent that that was not to be case.

It's hard for me to describe the changes Reiki has bought to my life. My view of the world and of people has changed, some changes were dramatic, and some have been more subtle.

Reiki is also a practice of mindfulness. It was founded (rediscovered?) by Dr Mikao Usui, some one hundred years ago. It's based on five principles:

1. Just for today, I will not be angry.
2. Just for today, I will not worry.
3. Just for today, I will be grateful.
4. Just for today, I will do my work honestly.
5. Just for today, I will be kind to all living things.

Reiki is an antidote to cynicism and despair. Reiki reminds me there is so much love in the world. Reiki reminds me there is magic in the world.

Bits and Pieces Part 2

2011-08-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

This time of year always finds me in a contemplative mood. Summer is slowly winding down in Vancouver. They days are getting shorter, the nights cooler and those oh so imperceptible signs of fall are making their presence known. Is it just me or does the air smell just a wee bit different? Or the breeze just catches you in a different way? Or the lazy afternoon sun feels somehow foreign on your skin?

Fall is my favourite time of year. When I was younger I always looked forward the start of the new year and as an adult I miss those back to school rituals. This year is a bittersweet time for me. Two co-workers and friends are leaving, one to attend law school and the other to take a new job in Calgary. They are both on to bigger and better things, but I will miss them terribly. Good luck Jesse and Steph. I know you'll both make the world a better place. How do I know that? Because you already are.

I also got news that my best friend's mother is palliative. She'd been struggling with various health issues for a while now. I hope her final days will be as she lived her life: with grace and grit and a good strong single malt scotch.

I am sitting on my balcony right now, eyeing my flower garden. My petunias are done now, and my snapdragons are on their last blooms of the season. I saw some lovely mums this afternoon, and will most likely pick some up this week.

The short days and rains will come soon to Vancouver. Hey! Did anyone get their owl from Hogwarts yet?

Bits and Pieces Part 1

2011-08-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

I’ve been wandering around muttering to myself about what to write about, most of which will never see the light of day as my computer’s hard drive has died a slow and terrible death.

But the good folks at Apple came to the rescue and installed a new hard drive for me. I can only say two things about the experience: 1. The guys at the Apple Store and iTunes totally rock. The fixed my computer quickly and at a reasonable price and iTunes allowed me to re-download all my purchased songs for free. The second thing I want to say: back it up folks, back it up.

Yesterday, the sublimely talented R&B and soul singer Nick Ashford left his physical body. He’s written some of my favourite songs: “Ain’t no mountain high enough,” “Your all I need to get by,” "Solid as a rock," and “I’m every woman.” He and his singing partner, co-song writer and wife Valerie Simpson were an unstoppable musical tour de force. I cannot begin to imagine the depth of her loss. Godspeed Nick. The world danced a little more, sang a little louder and jived a lot stronger with you in it.

NDP and Opposition Leader Jack Layton also left this plane. He was the first NDP leader to actually convince Canadians to vote NDP, not as protest vote but as a real alternative to the Conservatives. In his final letter to Canadians he wrote: “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”

Amen to that.

Nick Ashford RIP

2011-08-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

Spotted in Vancouver today

2011-07-27T23:10:00.000-07:00

Blogging on Breakast

2011-07-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Reader,
You might not know this, but I also author another blog on awesome breakfast spots in Vancouver. For the latest review, visit: Egg and Soldiers

Au revoir, Facebook

2011-07-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I made the long looming decision to delete my Facebook account. A few years ago, I temporarily suspended my account and eventually reactivated it. This time, however, I deleted all pictures, wall posts, notes, games, likes and finally, friends.

The reasons are many. For one thing, I was wasting way too much time playing Scrabble. And I was wasting way too much time on Facebook. Doing what you might ask? Well, I was doing sweet dick all.

You might think I would cite privacy as a concern, but to be honest, it was only a minor factor in my decision. Facebook only knows what you tell them. If you put your phone number on Facebook, then you yourself compromised your privacy. If you state in your status you hate your boss and your job, then you yourself are to blame if your boss, who is also your Facebook friend, fires you. Everyone’s ass is hanging out on the internets - you decide how much you want to expose to the world.

I have decided in its stead, to join Google +. It’s certainly not perfect, and it’s definitely not Facebook (and I mean that in both the pros and cons). The big plus for me is its elegance. It connects my gmail account, and all the google products in one place.

The other big plus is the circles concept. I can sort people into groups that mirror my real life relationships with them. For example, I run a reiki group. All those people in that group are in a specific circle. Even if they are not on G+ I can still send emails to that group. For those who are on, I can post items specifically for them.

The big negative is that it’s still in the Beta stage. I have not explored all the functionality as yet and there’s still not a lot of people on it so sometimes it’s a bit difficult to figure out how it all works. And yes, I am aware that the ads, games, plug-ins, invitations and all those things that annoyed my on Facebook will make its way to G+.

For now, it works.

If you want an invitation to Google+, send me an email at tgebrail@gmail.com.

Spotted in Vancouver today

2011-07-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

Spotted in Vancouver today

2011-07-20T22:59:00.000-07:00