tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342Thu, 15 Jun 2023 22:05:05 +0000VancouverYouTubemusicDeathDenmarkEnvironmentbuddhismchristmassongwritingvictoriaBipolar disorderBritish ColumbiaBusinessCanadaCancerClimate changeDementiaFacebookHealthMental HealthMichael JacksonMobile phoneNew YearParentingPhysicsReligionScience projectSpeed skatingStar TrekTechnologyTelevisionTwitterViolence and Abusecanada dayguitarperformingrecordingsuffering19632007ActivismAdvertisingAfricaAlbert EinsteinAlbertaAlloy wheelAlzheimer DiseaseAlzheimer's diseaseAngerAnxietyAppleArizona State UniversityArtsAuto-tuneAutobiographyAutumn Leaves (song)BPBeatrice ArthurBenjamin FranklinBertrand RussellBetty WhiteBig Thunder Mountain RailroadBluetoothBob HopeBobby ShermanBootBroadcastingBuildingCBCCD salesCNNCalgary StampedeCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications CommissionCandyCandy caneCarbon dioxideCarl SaganCharitable organizationCharlie SheenColonoscopyColorectal cancerCompact CassetteCompostConditions and DiseasesConspiracy theoryConversationCopenhagenCover versionDa Vinci CodeDalai LamaDan BrownDavid BowieDavid CassidyDavid SuzukiDeathcab For CutieDebbie GibsonDepressionDictionary.comDisneylandDivorceDocumentary filmDonationDonny OsmondDownhillDowntown VancouverDragon's DenDriver's licenseDrum kitElementary particleElementary schoolEnergyEstelle GettyEuropeExistence of GodFamilyFearFirst inauguration of Franklin D. RooseveltFord MustangFranceFranklin D. RooseveltFraser RiverGallbladderGarage rockGardenGautama BuddhaGeorge Matthew AdamsGodGolden GirlGolfGordon LightfootGrouse MountainGulfHandheldsHandsfreeHappinessHiggs bosonHikingHumanImmigrationIncidentsIslamJanuaryJoanna MacyJohn F KennedyJohn KennedyJon Kate Plus 8Justin BieberKatherine PatersonKevin CostnerKorean WarKurt CobainLady GaGaLawLeaf blowerLeif GarrettLindsay LohanMalawiMapleMark TwainMarriageMartin FrobisherMass mediaMenstrual cycleMilanMobile deviceMulchMusical ensembleMuslimNatureNeurological DisordersNewsletterNikeNon-profit organizationNursing homeObamaOil spillOliver StoneOlympicOlympic GamesOnline CommunitiesOxford UniversityPanic attackPaul McCartneyPhysicianPicards LastPoetryQur'anRacismRecreation and SportsReligion and SpiritualityRight-wing politicsRoad rageRobotRonnie HawkinsRosie O'DonnellRue McClanahanSalvation ArmySanta ClausSanta Claus paradeSaturday Night LiveSearsSeptember 11 2001ShoppingSingingSkiSki jumpingSocial networkSocial network serviceSoilSplash MountainSportStarbuckStevestonSurgeryTEDTaylor SwiftTelevision stationTelusTerrorismTerry JonesThanksgivingTiger WoodTomboyU.S. politicsUnited StatesUniversal health careV8 engineVancouver IslandVideo gameVikingVirtual colonoscopyVolkswagenWatergateWeight lossWilliam KamkwambaWindmillWinter GamesWinter Olympic GamesWirelessWisdom of MenopauseWomen's HealthWritingartistsbandscalicocatcdchineseclosureculturedeerelderlyflagforgivenessfort rodd hillgay pride paradegay rightsheritageholidaysiPadiPhoneiPhone 4iTunesimpermanencekittenland linemenopauseovarian cystpeaceperfect pitchperi-menopauserealitytelevisionrootssan fransiscoteachingted ericksonthird noble truthto do listsvacationvancouver public librarywhite night riotsIJ's Blog - My Life Journeyhttp://irenejackson.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)Blogger218125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-3469434853980511512Fri, 05 Jun 2020 19:43:00 +00002020-06-05T12:43:57.574-07:00I am now posting exclusively on my website irenejackson.com. All of the posts from this blog have also been copied to that location. I will continue to leave this blog active, but if you want to read the newer stuff, you'll have to come with me!Thanks to all of you who have kept up with this blog :-)IJhttp://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2020/06/i-have-moved.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-3968536491144588276Wed, 20 May 2020 20:44:00 +00002020-05-20T13:44:14.940-07:00I remember reading somewhere once that fear and excitement are the same feeling, just interpreted differently. At the time, I was trying to deal with something that had become more prevalent for me as time went on -- performance anxiety.  I was a performing songwriter, out there trying to sell my CDs, and the only way to do that effectively at the time was to play live. But sometimes I would http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2020/05/there-is-nothing-to-fear-or-is-there.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-971095201563736558Thu, 14 May 2020 02:23:00 +00002020-05-13T19:23:51.671-07:00One Of My Favourite "Dad Jokes" In the 'Hood<!--wp:paragraph--> I open the kitchen door, go down the steps, wander out on the street beside my house, and it all seems so wonderfully normal. The sun is just peeking out from the clouds, the birds are gossiping and life is as it always was. <!--/wp:paragraph--> <!--wp:paragraph--> Sort of. <!--/wp:paragraph--> <!--wp:paragraph--> I've been walkinghttp://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2020/05/hey-im-walkin-here.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-178254569843334595Wed, 06 May 2020 14:51:00 +00002020-05-07T22:26:32.366-07:00<!--wp:paragraph--> <!--/wp:paragraph--> <!--wp:paragraph--> "Get away from technology for awhile!" my daughter exclaimed, as, for the third time in as many days, I railed at the issues I was having with my website, which I had been trying to update, and my printer, which really is a dud. <!--/wp:paragraph--> <!--wp:paragraph--> Technology. Lately, it has been both a lifesaver and a pain in http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2020/05/patience-is-virtue-and-necessity.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-1536738508196746578Wed, 29 Apr 2020 22:26:00 +00002020-04-29T18:54:48.268-07:00So how have you all been keeping yourself busy out there lately? Maybe doing more reading? Gardening? Baking? Baking bread is a big one these days. Who'd a thunk it? Maybe you're playing more games and puzzles. Puzzles are especially popular right now.Me? Well, I've gotten big into words. Yes, I know. I'm a bit of a word nerd. I turned into one years ago when I realized my lyrics had to say more http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2020/04/words-we-should-never-forget.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-4787343417045486706Tue, 21 Apr 2020 14:29:00 +00002020-04-25T08:53:12.462-07:00A few months ago, I installed a new app on my phone. Time Until, I think it's called. I downloaded it for one purpose only; to count down the days until I retire. And when I first got it, I wrote down that number on my whiteboard in the studio where I teach guitar, and would gleefully change the number each day. My students didn't quite understand my joy. The number was well over a thousand days http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-global-countdown.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-8658136671475540154Fri, 27 Mar 2020 17:48:00 +00002020-03-27T10:48:09.557-07:00 My Dad was triumphant. Not only had he managed to find the log cabin that he had spent about 4 years in as a child when my grandparents lived on Wallace Mountain in Beaverdell, but he had found an empty bottle of Lydia Pinkham's Medicine. I still have the bottle. You see it on the left. It might be of benefit to you. Read on. Dad had a habit of telling a lot of stories over and over and I http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2020/03/lydia-pinkhams-vegetable-compound.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-6830381247019845542Thu, 26 Mar 2020 16:02:00 +00002020-03-26T09:02:48.898-07:00 This is the first of what I hope will be a series of videos to help you learn to play guitar, for absolute beginners or those of you who haven't played in a long time. You can find a link to the songs/sheets we'll use on my website: http://irenejackson.com/guitar/beginner-guitar-videos/ Hope you have fun with it! Take care of yourselves :-) Irenehttp://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2020/03/learn-to-play-guitar.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-3839277941273213173Sun, 22 Mar 2020 22:22:00 +00002020-03-22T15:22:31.239-07:00 Almost 9:45am Saturday, March 21st, 2020 I felt just a little verklempt yesterday morning when I looked at the clock and realized that my massage would have been happening just about then. Sigh. But what could I do? I began to feel sorry for myself. I know, I know. People are experiencing far, far worse than having to cancel a massage these days. This apocalypse has wreaked havoc, and thenhttp://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2020/03/how-do-you-spa-alone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-1820000765652245292Thu, 12 Mar 2020 23:46:00 +00002020-03-12T17:21:00.210-07:00 Uncle Bob the Boy Scout The Jackson Clan, little Uncle Bob in the middle. He was the lucky one. Certainly lucky that he had been born at the end of the Great Depression instead of during it. Lucky that he survived that fire cracker exploding in his pocket, but not without a lot of scars as a result. And especially lucky that he walked away from that plane crash on Vancouver Island as a http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-last-of-jackson-clan.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-2643312366027897034Fri, 22 Nov 2019 23:57:00 +00002019-11-22T15:57:28.861-08:00 I actually wanted to play piano. I remember being very small and at the house of some friends of my parents. They had a piano in their parlour, and I remember sitting on the bench, by myself, plunking out notes and realizing that I could play Mary Had A Little Lamb by ear. I was probably around 5 years old. A few years later when I bugged my parents for a piano, they said it was too expensive.http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2019/11/1969.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-3597562063093569770Mon, 23 Sep 2019 14:04:00 +00002020-04-20T11:52:18.064-07:00 Sunday, Sept.22, 2019 Last Day Of Summer Tomorrow is the first day of fall here in Victoria BC, and so begins what is normally a few months of grey and rain through the fall and winter into the spring. One thing that makes me think of fall is Festsuppe, or "party soup" translated from Danish. My Danish mother always made it, and my Auntie Edie. I'm sure my grandmothers made it, and it has http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2019/09/festsuppe-and-tribute.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-1366173528070148210Sun, 07 Jul 2019 22:59:00 +00002019-07-15T16:32:56.878-07:00A few weeks ago, I visited Ellis Island in New York, where some of my Danish relatives had passed through on their way to a "new land" in the early 1900's. My mother's side of the family, the Corfixsens, only stayed in New York for a few years, long enough for my Uncle Roy, Aunt May and Uncle Ernest to be born there, before going all the way back to Denmark. When you think of it, travelling http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2019/07/whats-in-name-searching-for-johannes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-8787011906297357298Mon, 20 May 2019 21:58:00 +00002019-05-25T20:36:35.240-07:00 Our carts are ready for us to tee off The other night, eight of us sat at the table in Bill Mattick's Restaurant in Cordova Bay, waiting for dinner. My three friends, myself, and our husbands had just finished the "nine-ing" and now we were dining. For any of you who don't know much about golf, 9 'n Dine is where you play nine holes of golf and then eat after. It's something my friends http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2019/05/three-reasons-to-golf-or-fore.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-189295961993212337Thu, 07 Mar 2019 19:59:00 +00002019-03-07T11:59:13.658-08:00The following is hopefully the last in my series: The Heart Of The Matter. (Warning: potentially embarrassing details ahead! For me, I mean.) Well. Hit by a truck comes close. Okay, I've never been hit by a truck, and my apologies in making that comparison to those who actually have. But the other day when I came out of the anesthesia after a cryo-ablation to treat my atrial fibrillation, http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2019/03/heart-of-matter-last-chapter.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-7361461050500226798Sun, 03 Mar 2019 19:19:00 +00002019-03-08T08:59:41.250-08:00Yesterday, like a lot of days in the past year or two, I had that old familiar feeling, like a fish flopping around in my chest off and on for a big part of my day. It often makes me dizzy, tired, and sometimes affects what I can and cannot do physically in the day. There is no pain, but I often feel a sense of anxiety, and I have to remind myself that I'm not actually anxious, it's just my hearthttp://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-heart-of-matter-part-4.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-7920893583594702607Wed, 13 Feb 2019 22:00:00 +00002019-02-13T14:51:05.055-08:00 We live on an island. Vancouver Island. It's a beautiful place to live with a very moderate climate, but in the winter it can be kind of grey and glum. Which is why we have, on many occasions, chosen to visit another island. Hawaii. Simple enough, eh? I prepared myself by packing a week early, painting my toenails, and loading up movies on my digital paraphernalia. Don't forget your passporthttp://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2019/02/it-was-best-of-signs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-2487862581435521901Mon, 09 Jul 2018 00:16:00 +00002020-04-20T11:54:50.812-07:00 The bounty from Victoria's Pride Parade, 2018 In the late 70's I took a trip to San Francisco by myself. Truth be known, I was following someone there, otherwise I would never have traveled so far alone back then. That's another story, but you can find out all about about my friend Ted here. On the last day of my trip, I took a bus from where I was staying into downtown San Francisco http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2018/07/love-is-love.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-9178423374051106263Sun, 11 Mar 2018 00:19:00 +00002018-03-10T16:19:49.002-08:00 NOT my new hearing aids... I remember my poor old Uncle George often fussing with his big, chunky hearing aids, trying to adjust the sound up or down, still struggling with the conversation going on around him. During the second World War, his hearing had been seriously damaged from standing too close to the artillery guns. Other than cupping the hands over the ears, there was no protection http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2018/03/i-can-hear-you-think.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-4207302327743358554Sun, 08 Oct 2017 19:11:00 +00002017-10-08T12:11:00.318-07:00 Since drawing has become more of a hobby in the last couple of years, I've decided to post some of my work here and tell you a bit about them. To the left is my sketch of Windsor Castle which we visited on the 4th day of our London/Paris/Copenhagen trip this past spring. I'm including the post I wrote on Facebook from London below. I loved the castle, but it was the adventure after the castle http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-visit-to-windsor-castle.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-3615924374576399432Sat, 01 Jul 2017 17:58:00 +00002017-07-01T11:02:10.179-07:00 Of all of the places I recently traveled to in Europe, one of the most exciting sights for me to see was in the picture on the left. What? No Eiffel Tower? No Big Ben? No Little Mermaid? Versailles? Juno Beach? Stonehenge? Oh, yes, I loved all of those historic, amazing, and beautiful places. But the picture you see here is Labrador. It is the first view we had of Canadian soil on our way http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2017/07/oh-canada.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-8475202294929365221Thu, 23 Feb 2017 20:28:00 +00002017-02-23T12:28:27.890-08:00In my last post, Furusākuru (Full Circle) I wrote about my mother's journey across the Pacific to Japan via my daughter's trip there recently. Here is the story from her perspective: We arrived in Gifu on a train and took a bus to Gifu Park, where Mt. Kinka and Gifu Castle reside. It was snowing quite heavily, but it was not cool enough for the snow to stick to the ground. It was a calming http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2017/02/furusakuru-another-view.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-892742762020162637Sun, 12 Feb 2017 22:48:00 +00002017-02-12T14:48:13.101-08:00More than 65 years ago, my mother embarked on quite an adventure when she boarded the Danish hospital ship Jutlandia for a year-long tour to Pusan, Korea during the Korean War. I've told a bit of my mother's story before and awhile back, I even found a YouTube video with footage from that tour of Korea. You can see it here if you are interested in knowing more. Sometime during that year, the http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2017/02/furusakuru-full-circle.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-6381434785750686567Fri, 09 Dec 2016 19:12:00 +00002016-12-09T11:12:56.319-08:00 I have a guitar student for whom the madness begins sometime in September. She has to start ordering stock for her small retail business then, in preparation for Christmas. For her, as for many small businesses, Christmas is a make or break deal. I haven't seen her since November :-) It seems that ever since I can remember, people have been railing about the "commercialisation" of Christmas. http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2016/12/ignore-gift-guilters.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4475947201923220342.post-8921979412964576353Fri, 11 Nov 2016 17:57:00 +00002016-11-11T09:57:14.063-08:00 I must have been just conscious enough to hear the ping on my iPad, which was on the night table beside my bed. I knew what it meant. Ugh. It was one of the news organisations I was subscribed to announcing the winner of the U.S. election. And I knew who that was, but I refused to check it out and confirm it. Who cares? I thought to myself. I rolled over and tried to sleep a little more. But http://irenejackson.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-light-gets-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (IreneJ)0