12 Days

I heard this on the radio on my road trip from Calgary to Abbotsford and thought it was cool and funny, so I looked it up for you.

I made it!

I am in Maple Falls, WA. It's -15C here right now with windchill, so I didn't do much to escape the cold. But I'm in the mountains. Snowy mountains are nice, and I have some time to enjoy them so that is good.

I'm heading to Seattle tomorrow to chill with Erin (G-MA!) and that is really great.

Tomorrow morning...

Early tomorrow morning I will be going on a little road trip with the family I work for, from Calgary to Abbotsford. Any guesses as to how long this will take?

Also, I will be dropped off at the border, where I will cross into the US as a pedestrian. Some people find this to be funny, but I find it to be efficient.

P.S. In case you were looking for human right #4, I'm taking a break and I'll be back with the human rights articles in January.

I will tell you the back-up plans before I tell you the plan.

In due time, I will answer all of your questions about what the heck I am doing in January. I'd like to get the paperwork through before I divulge any of my plans.  Oh my, I think I've already said too much.

For now, though, I can tell you about my back up plans. Yes, that's right, plans is plural.

First, I'm going to start a business in the Superstore parking lot on cold days. What I'll do is take people's carts from their cars to the cart racks when they are finished unloading their groceries. Then I get the Loonie!

Then, when it is no longer cold, I will start a new business. When the snow melts off of COP I will sweep the hill for any mittens, goggles, sunglasses, tuques, etc, that may have been lost during the season. Then I open a shop to sell all of my finds. I personally think the mismatched mittens will be a big hit.

Fireplace

One thing I will miss when I move out of this house is the fireplace in my bedroom. (I am moving out at the end of the month, by the way. I'd tell you where I'm moving, but then you'd probably roll your eyes and say something like "God help us all" or "that is very troublesome.")

Anyways, I will really miss the fireplace. I only use it in the winter, but it is so great! I turn it on for about 15 minutes before I go to bed so my basement room is not so cold. I also turn it on in the morning before I go shower so that my room is nice and warm when I get dressed.

Last night I was SO cold that the 15 minutes of fire was not enough, so I left it on when it was time to sleep. I've done this before and it is always a bad idea. I always wake up in the middle of the night sweating my face off. That's what happened last night.

But I will still miss that fireplace.

Jealous?

-32°C

-45°C (wind chill)

LIES!

Sam called this afternoon during her boring, 2 hour commute to work (there is A LOT of snow out there). She mentioned the conversation we had on the phone last night. I was SO relieved that she brought that up because I wasn't sure if I really talked to her or if it was just a dream.

She called at I think 11pm, while I was sleeping, and the conversation started out something like this...

Sam: Sorry for calling so late, I sort of forgot what time it was.

Me: Huh? It's OK, I'm still awake.

Still awake? That was totally a lie! I'd been asleep for at least an hour, and I was probably partly asleep while I was talking to Sam. I don't know why, but I have a pretty strong tendency to accidentally lie when I am woken up. (I don't mean lie as in lie down, although I'd say I have an even stronger tendency to lie down when I am just waking up.)

Once I fell asleep while watching Ben-Hur with some friends. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep during the incredibly long opening credits. Anyways, my friend Niko started shaking my shoulder at some point, and we had a conversation that went something like this...

Niko: ASH! Wake up, this is the best part!

Me: Oh, don't worry, I've actually already seen this movie.

Already seen Ben-Hur? Lie. I still haven't seen it, to tell you the truth. Anyways, I'm not sure why I'm always telling so many lies when woken up, but I think it's kind of funny so I hope it continues.

No Slavery

I read a book awhile back called Bitter Chocolate, and it talked about the chocolate industry in Cote d'Ivoire, which is in West Africa.  There are slave traders making a killing by kidnapping boys in Burkina Faso and Mali, then selling them to cocoa farmers in Cote d'Ivoire, a country that supplies about 40% of the world's cocoa. That's more than any other country in the world.

This is part of why I think it's so important to make sure you buy Fair Trade chocolate rather than Nestle or Cadbury or whatever else is on the shelves at Safeway. In my mind, it's wrong to eat chocolate that isn't traded fairly. Who knows where it comes from? Maybe slave labor farmed the cocoa in that chocolate bar. I think it's good to feel guilty about purchasing things if you think they might come from those types of sources. And, honestly, there is so much good Fair Trade chocolate to choose from, so why bother with the sketchy stuff? The Divine chocolate from Ghana? Best chocolate I've ever had.

My new mittens are reversible!

My friends and I sure do have a good time during the Christmas season.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY

to a special friend

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to a special friend

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY

to a special friend

Right to Life

Article 3 of the UDHR says that "everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person."

This article touches a couple of controversial issues such as abortion and the death penalty. I don't particularly like either of those things, but I'm going to put them aside and instead talk a bit about weapons and, more specifically, civilian deaths in times of war.

Civilian deaths can seem inevitable in times of war, but that does not mean that we should not do everything possible to reduce and altogether prevent civilian deaths.  This is a way of protecting the right to life of innocent people.

On Wednesday, the Convention on Cluster Munitions opened for signing. The treaty will save thousands of innocent lives by banning the use of cluster bombs. Cluster bombs release several bomblets that often go unexploded, and are thereby able to kill or seriously injure civilians long after a conflict has ended. The group Handicap International says 98 percent of cluster bomb victims are civilians, and 27 percent are children. I'd also like to note that it is pretty expensive to find and remove them after they've been dropped.

The Bush administration has not signed on. China, Russia, and Israel are also opposed to the treaty. Happily, Canada signed the treaty early Wednesday morning. I have written to both President Bush and President-elect Obama as well as my local representatives to express concern for the lack of participation on the part of the US.

Lessons

Madeline: "Oops, I forgot to flip it around."

Duncan: "Well maybe you should take some flip-it-around lessons."

Diamonds are Forever

Hello friends!  I have a question, but please don't assume that it means I am getting engaged anytime soon.

Does anyone have any information on getting conflict-free diamonds? Do you know of any retailers that deal with such diamonds? Did you know I'm a Kanye West fan?

Don't Discriminate

That was the video for article two of the UDHR done by Youth for Human Rights. Human right number two makes freedoms and equalities even more clearly universal than does human right number one.  The text of article two of the UDHR begins as follows:

"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status."

This intends to cover any reason one person might have to think that he or she is more deserving of rights and freedoms than another.  The point?  We are all entitled to rights and freedoms, and we are all entitled equally.

There are several places in this world where people are discriminated against for the very reasons that this article guards against.  I'm going to touch on one of these and suggest some ways to do something about it.

Racial discrimination is currently heightening in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  This is probably the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world right now.  DRC's troubled history coupled with the leftovers of the humanitarian crises in neighboring Rwanda, Uganda, and Sudan make for an awful situation.  Human Rights Watch reports that "since August 28, fighting has intensified in many areas, causing deaths, rapes, lootings, forced recruitment and further displacements of civilian populations.  The population has thus been immersed in unspeakable suffering."  

What can you do, other than feel bad?  Obviously you can give money.  If you can afford that, I recommend the International Rescue Committee.  They have been working effectively in DRC since 1996 with special focus on helping the victims of sexual violence, which is way out of control in many parts of the country.  

If you're short on cashola, simply WRITE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE.  Ask what your government is doing to slow the violence and ask how your government is supporting the United Nations as they do their peacekeeping thing.  Here's a link to get in touch with your American congressperson or your Canadian member of Parliament.  It's pretty easy to shoot off an email to your representative.  And they'll usually get back to you pretty quickly with where they stand and what they're doing about it, which are both things that you should ask about.  They are representing you, after all, so they ought to take note of what is important to you.

Alrighty, that's what I've got for you today.  Next week is the Right to Life.

Projects

I am working on a variety of projects at the moment, but for now I will show you the rice bag I made yesterday. It's the first time I've used the sewing machine, so it was pretty exciting. There's the rice bag in front of my sewing machine. It's not a left-handed sewing machine, but looks backwards because apparently that is what Apple's Photo Booth application does to photos. Anyways, I made the bag two layers thick, and the outer layer has an open side so that I can wash it. I'm kind of hoping to get a bit of a headache someday soon so I can see if it helps.

Sewing is SO fun, my sort of hobby for sure. I inherited the sewing machine when my great-grandma passed away last spring and I really value it a lot. She was an incredible seamstress. I also got the quilt that she had been working on. It's not quite finished. I hope to one day have the skills to finish it, but for now I will stick with things I can manage. Like rice bags, which can be any shape, so there's really no such thing as messing up. Unless you don't leave a hole to pour the rice in, a mistake I almost made but managed to avoid.

Rice is the cure.

I had a brutal headache last night. I've been getting them a lot. They're even making me throw up, and I am not generally a throw upper. But most of the time they just hurt. Anyways, it was pretty bad, I couldn't drive myself home, blah blah blah. So I promised Sam and her mom that I'd go see a doctor today and I did. He said they are caused by stress and tension. I tried to explain that I don't lead a stressful life at all, but that was his answer. Oh well, at least he prescribed me some good drugs for it.

The reason I tell you this is that I also want to tell you that I sewed my very own rice bag! Using the sewing machine I inherited last spring and a pair of old jammies. Rice bags are supposed to be great for relieving tension in the shoulders and neck, so maybe it will help with these headaches. If not, at least I've got my narcotic analgesics now (how do you like my drug vocabulary, Sam?).

Question:

Where do you like to sit to clip your toenails?  I am just curious.

We Are All Born Free and Equal

Let's get right into the first human right.  Remember, I'm taking these from the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article by article.

Human right number one, which states that we are all born free and equal, is SO important because it sets a stage for the following thirty-nine.  It puts everyone on an equal playing field.  Human rights cannot be meaningful if they are not presumed for all humans.  Neither can they be meaningful if they are presumed for some more than others.  Here is Youth for Human Rights' video depiction of article one of the UDHR.

I know I said I'd give you practical suggestions and ways to promote each human right.  This first one, though, is pretty general, and I think there must be at least a million ways to stand up for freedom and equality.  I'm going to keep it simple today and ask you to simply think about a few things.  Hopefully this will make for a good starting point and enable a bit of healthy self-analysis.  I don't actually have right answers to these questions and would love any insight.

Do we really consider ourselves equal to every single other person?  What are some things that cause us to think that we are better or worse than others?  What does it mean to be free and why is that an important right?  What do you think? What are some other important things to ask when considering the freedom and equality of all?

I'll close with a relevant quote from a good book I'm reading right now written by Desmond Tutu and titled God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for our Time:

"To treat a child of God as if he or she were less than this is not just wrong, which it is; is not just evil, as it often is; not just painful, as it often must be for the victim; it is veritably blasphemous, for it is to spit in the face of God."

Holy Mac-kerel!

I got a new MacBook last Thursday and am finally prepared to tell you how FREAKING AWESOME (FRAWESOME) it is.  Seriously.  I'm grateful for a couple of reasons, though, for the months I spent putting off and talking myself out of the purchase.  First, Apple just came out with a new MacBook.  Of course, they're always doing that, but whatever.  Second, I think the months of trying to get a little more out of my slow and old notebook really made me appreciate this new machine.

Also, this is very vague, but isn't the Internet amazing?  I can sit here and learn about anything I want to learn about.  It's crazy, I think.  Does that make me sound old?

Some Foods Make Me Very Sleepy

Many of you have witnessed the effect that curried foods have on me. It's so glorious. First I get really warm, then I get really sleepy. I used to eat those Tasty Bite prepackaged Indian meals for dinner (almost) every night back when I was living at the Wilsonian. After every dinner, I'd get really warm and go to bed, it was so great.

Sam and I went for Thai food on Saturday night with the gift certificate that her parents got me for my birthday. It was SO good. The place is called Thai Nongkhai and it's the first place I've found in Calgary that is comparable to the amazing Thai food you can find in Seattle. You should come visit me, we'll go eat there. Anyways, last night I had some of the leftovers for supper at 5:00pm, then took a nap right afterwards. Did I mention that I didn't even wake up that day until 2:00pm? I'm telling you, curry is amazing!

Changing Gears

Truth be told, I am out of material for Fair Trade Fridays. I will share information on more products as I discover them, but for now I'm going to broaden the focus and look at human rights. I'll start today with a bit of an overview on what I'll be presenting in weeks to come.

The major international document on human rights is called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which is a part of the International Bill of Human Rights. These are both United Nations (UN) documents. The UDHR has 30 articles, each dealing with a unique aspect of human rights.

What I'm going to do is summarize each one and give examples of ways that you can promote human rights, both on local and international levels. I'll also post a video for each one, all of which will be taken from the Youth for Human Rights website. My aims in doing this are twofold: to give myself a more thorough knowledge in the area of international human rights (the best way to learn is by teaching, after all), and to encourage anyone who may be reading to find issues they are passionate about and willing to put some time and energy into. I'll get this up and running next Friday.

Until then, here is a link to the text of the UDHR.

Friendly Reminder

I just wanted to remind you that my friend Sam has a blog and she is very saddened by the fact that I am the only one who ever comments on it.

http://samanthajt.blogspot.com

Marda Loop Justice Film Festival

Cost: FREE
Location: River Park Church Auditorium (3818 - 14A St. SW)
Dates: This Friday through Sunday (11/14-11/16).
Times: See film lineup here.

If you're around Calgary, you should make some time to check out one or two or all of the justice-themed films this weekend.

Fair Trade Friday (Oops)

In all the election excitement of last week, I forgot to do Fair Trade Friday and blogged about how Madeline mothers me instead. Here it is. I'll keep it short and simple.
No Sweat is a clothing company. All of their products are union-made and sweatshop-free. It's a great source for common, simple things like socks and plain old t-shirts. I'm planning on getting a couple of pairs of socks off of their site when my current socks get holey.

i threw up

sooo hard it came out my nose

LAST NIGHT

I THREW UP

"I'm mothering you!"

So the other day I picked Madeline up from school. She was in a funny mood. As in, she was being funny. She got all up in my grill and started squishing her face against mine.

"What are you doing Madeline?"

"I'm mothering you!"

"You're not my mother, what are you talking about?"

"I'm mothering you! It's when you get too close to someone."

"OH. Smothering. You're smothering me."

Now she "mothers" me all the time, it's really quite funny.

Oh my stars!

Wow. We really did it! I think this is what those people meant when they sang about walking on sunshine. I know I'm probably sounding a bit overly dramatic about all of this, but please remember that over half my life has been spent under presidents who go by the last name of Bush.

I think Nelson Mandela did a good job of summarizing the significance of the moment in the letter he wrote to President-elect Barack Obama congratulating him on his victory:

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place."

The best part is that it doesn't end here.

... a long time ago.

I think I'll go for a walk down to the Apple store to pass the time. I'm thinking of getting a MacBook. And I should really get out of the house, as all of the election news is freaking me out.

Also, I just heard a funny news brief. Starbucks was initially going to offer a free cup of coffee to anyone who voted, but it turned out to violate an election law that bans giving gifts for voting. So, instead, anyone who asks gets a free cup of coffee regardless of whether or not they voted.

So, if you are in the states and looking to pass some time on this election day, go get yourself a free Cup of Joe (no reference to the plumber intended). You never know how long election night is going to be, after all.

Unless you are Sam or Sam's mom, you probably have not heard that I am a non-student again. It's true, and rather frustrating.

Just into my third week of the course, I was informed by the university that I no longer had an instructor. They gave me the option of continuing the course with no instructor until they found one, but I kind of always thought that one of the benefits of a university education is being taught by people who are experts on the topics that are being presented. So, I decided to withdrawl from the course. Perhaps I will re-register if a new instructor is found but, for now, I would rather not do assignments with no opportunity for feedback and with no idea of what the new instructor's expectations will be.

UW refunded my tuition, but not my registration fee, which I think is ridiculous. So, now I have to write them a petition. Did I mention that they sent me a fatty course reader that I specifically requested not to be sent to me, and now I have to mail that back for a refund as well?

Forget University of Washington, I'm transferring to University of Calgary.

Phew... sorry about the rant. Once in awhile you just gotta, you know what I'm saying?

Fair Trade Friday: Shoes.

Before I start this one, I feel it appropriate to let you know that I have never purchased any of the items on this list. But I need new black shoes, I'd like to put some socially conscious thought into which ones I purchase, and I'd like to hear what you think. I'll give you two options for now. Tell me which ones you like best, or give me an alternative. Keep in mind that I typically don't mind paying more for items that are produced more fairly.

These are Blackspot Sneakers. Made in a union shop in Europe, these are more or less a sweat-shop free version of Converse All Stars. They're also "vegetarian shoes", whatever that means. I've had a few pairs of Chucks - I think they're cool and comfy. I don't like that Converse is actually owned by Nike, a company known for using dirt cheap labor to sell pretty expensive kicks. But I can't decide if the sweat-shop free copycats are cool... is it just a ripoff of Converse, or is it an even cooler alternative? I need your help here.

These are TOMS Shoes. Their slogan is "Shoes for Tomorrow." What they do is actually really cool. For every pair of shoes they sell, they give a pair of shoes to a child in need. I think that's a pretty cool idea. My issue with these guys is that I wrote to them asking about the conditions in which the shoes are made and they wouldn't give me a straight answer. They just said that they are made in safe conditions and that they conduct regular audits. When I asked them to elaborate, they didn't get back to me. Maybe them giving a pair of shoes away is just as good as promoting fair working conditions elsewhere, but shouldn't even the best-intentioned of organizations be examined for fair trade practices? What do you think? The other issue with these is that I think I might think these are sort of ugly.

Do you know of any other shoes I should look at? Should I get the Blackspots? The TOMS? Should I just forget about it buy another pair of velcro Vans to replace the old ones, which may have been my favorite shoes ever? Should I not get any shoes and just wear my orange Chucks or my green and white checkered Vans with everything, ignoring any and all fashion crimes I will have to commit along the way?

Harry Potter Drugs

Being the swell friend that I am, I spent this past Saturday night helping Sam learn 151 drugs and their classifications. I knew absolutely nothing on the topic (although I was not surprised to find out that oxygen falls under the "medical gas" category).

To help her study, Sam and her sister Sara printed off 5 sheets of paper listing all of the drugs and all of the classifications, then cut each one out (that is a lot of cutting). Because she is Sam, she also glued each one onto a colorful piece of construction paper. We went and bought some sticky tack, then Sam put all of the classifications up on a wall in the basement. Her job would be to put all 151 drugs under the right classifications.

To help her remember, my job was to list the drugs for each classification while she was putting the classifications up on the wall. This was before the "game" actually began. The pronunciation was a bit tricky for most of these, but overall I did OK (Sam may disagree with this due to my embarrassingly awful initial pronunciation bronchodilator, which, in retrospect, has a very obvious pronunciation).

Anyways, I'm sitting there listing these drugs off (Sam I expect you to know which classifications these fall under!)...

"dopamine, dobutamine, norepinephrine..."

"chlorpromazine, prochlorperazine, haloperidol..."

"diltiazem, verapamil..."

"lorazepam, midazolam..."

It was those last two that caused me to declare, "Sam, I feel like Harry Potter." The drugs totally sounded like spells!

She pretended not to know what I was talking about, as she has not read or seen any Harry Potter, but I could tell she thought my joke was pretty funny. For the rest of the night, every time I listed the drugs, I did so with a fake wand in my hand, and as if I were casting a spell on Sam. It was really quite fun. But I didn't use a British accent because I do not know how.

Fair Trade Friday: Bananas!!!

I am so excited to post about fairly traded bananas! I have always had issues with buying bananas because I did not know of any banana company that did not have some sort of human rights violation under their belt (ie. Dole, Chiquita, Del Monte). Even though I love bananas. Unless it is artificial banana flavor, or unless it is a too-ripe banana.

Anyways. Did you know that bananas are the most-often purchased food items in grocery stores?

Today I looked on the kitchen counter and there were bananas from a company called Organics Unlimited. It was also labeled as a "GROW" banana, which stands for Giving Resources and Opportunities to Workers.

I was so excited that I exclaimed, "Wow!"

Then I looked it up and learned that GROW is non-profit, and that all of its resources go towards improving the lives of farmers and their communities with services that include a free daycare service. The funds come from a 60 cent per box addition to the price of bananas.

Consumer choices are important! If we can increase the demand for items such as these, we can empower a socially conscious organization like GROW. I think that is so great.

I am a 4. What is your banana preference?

**I forgot to post a link for you... Here you go!**

I just voted...

...and I must say, voting has never felt so right! The downside is having to wait two whole weeks for the results.

Am I being an egocentric American, or is the rest of the world also anxious about this election? I mean, if you're not American, odds are you've been frustrated with my country of citizenship at one point or another in the last 8 years, right? Not to say that you will never be frustrated again, but at this point change has got to be a good thing. If you are American, don't forget to go vote on Nov. 4!

Well, here's hoping that something changes. Now I'm gonna go all partisan on you and post a cool video.

I love hiplife

Lately, I've been thinking about the good ol' days in Ghana. I literally have hundreds of good memories of those days, and I think about my friends there often.

One thing I absolutely LOVE is hiplife music. This may come as a surprise to those of you who are not familiar with the gangsta side of my personality that has been fairly suppressed since my university days. What can I say, there really isn't much gangsta action up here in Canada. Although, I have to say that listening to Canadians use gangsta slang with their polite-sounding Canadian accents is the most entertaining thing I have ever seen/heard.

Anyways, hiplife is a Ghanaian style of music that combines highlife (traditional drum/dance) rhythms with hip-hop. It is so cool.

One of the songs that I love, and that was really popular when I was there in '05, is called Monkey Chop Banana by Nkasei. I think it's awesome. Chop is a Pidgin English verb for eat. There's another thing I miss, the Pidgin English. It's like an entire language of slang, it's ridiculous.

If you're at all interested in taking a listen, here's the Nkasei song...



And, Hene, feel free to correct me if I am misinformed on anything!

Friday. Fair Trade.

If you've ever heard my long and frequent rants about Fair Trade at Starbucks, I'll tell you right now that I learned most of it from Oxfam. They are a defender of human rights, under which falls the issue of fair trade, and they have run a million billion (I'm exaggerating) campaigns to improve the lives of vulnerable people all over the world.

My favorite campaign that they have run is the one that pressured Starbucks to give trademark rights to the Ethiopian coffee farmers for their specialty coffee brands. I was so glad when Starbucks signed the agreement with Ethiopian coffee farmers that I ended my silent protest of Starbucks coffee and went to the nearest of the corporation's establishments to get a soy latte for myself.

This is Oxfam's video of the organization as well as the Ethiopian farmers thanking everyone who was involved in the campaign.



The most important lesson here, I think, is that enough concerned consumers can change the way business is done. We've got to care about injustices and then do something about it. We've got to realize how blessed, how ridiculously blessed, we are and then do everything we can to give as much as we can to others. We have tons of resources to do all of this. We really do.

Build-a-Bear Birthday!

I went to Annie's Build-a-Bear birthday party yesterday and it was SO FUN. (I am not meaning to gloat to those who wanted to come and couldn't, I am just expressing my feelings, OK?) Maybe I'll have a Build-a-Bear party for my birthday next year.

Also, the Build-a-Bear staff was amazing - really patient and all-around awesome with the kids.

The prices were ridiculous, though. I mean, $5 for a pair of underwear for a stuffed bear? That seems a little over the top. Hmm, in that case maybe I won't have a Build-a-Bear party next year.

Trade Fairly on Fridays (and other days, too).

I can't believe it took me so long to get to telling you about Kicking Horse Coffee! It's organic Fair Trade coffee, it's great, and you can find it all over Calgary (including Safeway and SAIT), though the roastery is based in Invermere, BC, so I'm guessing it's common in lots of nearby cities and towns. Do you remember seeing it anywhere?

Some of the names of their coffees might ring a bell if you are from... anywhere near the Canadian Rockies. Kootenay Crossing, Pacific Pipeline, Three Sisters, etc.

The company is active in their community: educating people on Fair Trade, sponsoring community events, and working to protect the beautiful Kootenays...

... and their coffee is just good, so there.

Knock Knock?

I got a joke book from the library and tried telling Madeline (age 4) one of the jokes.

Me: Two homeless turtles were having a race. Where was the finish line?

Madeline: Who's there?

I don't think she got the joke. We found the section with knock knock jokes after that. The punchline is "at the Shell station," by the way. Do you know any good knock knock jokes I should tell her?

She's So Smart!

"I bet they'll have some books at the library."
-Sam

Friday of the Fair Trade Variety

Yeah, so I am running out of titles for Fair Trade Fridays. Anyways.

Today's Fair Trade product is Divine Chocolate. This chocolate is made with cocoa beans from Kuapa Kokoo, a cooperative in Ghana. And everyone knows the best chocolate comes from Ghana. In other words, it is really yummy. One thing I love about this chocolate is that its packaging is covered with Adinkra symbols from Ghana. A class I took once included a two hour lecture on Adinkra symbols and I like to think that, by eating this chocolate, I am using my University education in the real world. If you click the above link, you can learn what the symbols mean.

No joke, I am eating some Divine Chocolate as I write this post. (Thanks Cassy - what a perfect present!) It is the coffee milk chocolate kind and man is it ever delicious.

This short video is a lovely depiction of what the company is all about:

Happy Student

You may or may not know that I am over halfway done with my Bachelor's degree, and that I haven't taken a class since Winter '06. Holy cow, that's almost 3 years ago! My dropping out had much to do with money, and not having any.

I somewhat randomly decided to move to Calgary to be a nanny so that I could save some money and pay off some back tuition. My plan worked! I get to be a student again!

I'm taking an online class called Eastern Religions to fulfill one of the requirements for my major, which is Comparative Religion. Isn't that great?

On My Birthday

I had the GREATEST birthday on Sunday.

Sam and I woke up to my way too upbeat alarm. We were in Camrose, at Jen and Colin's house. Last time we visited them, we really only visited Jen because Colin locked himself in his room to play World of Warcraft shortly after we arrived. But this time he stopped playing the game when we got there and even talked to us AND complimented my Charmander t-shirt! He is turning out to be a pretty good friend's husband, although I'm not sure if he can compete with John-Mark, who played a pretty long game of Dutch Blitz with us when we visited Cassy over the summer. The competition is pretty close at this point. (Of course, from my perspective, Bobby Knaus wins hands down. But he isn't included in this particular competition because Sam doesn't know him, or Gen for that matter.)

Anyways, I am way off track now. We got ready and left for Edmonton with a 9x12 pan full of cinammon rolls! Are Sam and I the only ones who didn't know how good Jen is at baking? Seriously. Every time we go there there is something baking, she's just like her mom!

OK back to the story... Edmonton. We got there with a little bit of time to spare, so we got some coffee and my mom called to wish me a happy birthday while we were in the coffee shop. While we were talking, my mom made an awesome insult against Sam and it caught me off guard, so I spit coffee all over the table. Oh well.

When it was time to go, we drove across the street to the science centre, where the BODY WORLDS EXHIBIT is!!!! It was SOOOOO cool! Seriously. We spent FOUR HOURS there and I have only good things to say about it. It wasn't gross or weird, it was educational and awesome. If you ever go, you should definitely spend the extra $6 on the audio tour. I wish I had pictures to show you, but photography was prohibited. I'd usually break a rule like that, but Sam is not a rule-breaker like I am, and I didn't want to deal with her disapproval all day. So you will have to live with the picture of us outside of the science centre. But look how nice Sam's new glasses are! I really like them, and I like to tell people that I picked them out. I kind of did, but that is after Sam narrowed it down to two options. Also, I never notice how much taller I am than Sam until I see pictures of us together. Weird.

After our science centre experience we went on a mini-adventure to find Wonk and Keywee. We thought we knew where their house was because Wonk took us on a tour of it last spring, but we were wrong. I guess their plans changed because that house was definitely empty. So, we went to their school, found some people who knew where they live, and went to their house. Pretty easy, really, but they were quite creeped out that we found them without an address or anything. We got bubble tea with them, dropped them back off at their house, and started our drive back to Calgary.

The drive back to Calgary was the longest 3 hour drive of my life! We were SO tired that we had to switch drivers twice. We stayed up way too late the night before playing with Toast, West Jet, Jen, and Colin. Then we got up way too early because we had to be in Edmonton for our ticket time. Anyways, I was so tired by the time we needed to leave Edmonton that I was feeling really sick. So Sam, who was also tired, started our drive while I took a nap. She made it maybe half an hour, then we switched. I drove for awhile while Sam took a nap, then she woke up and needed to go potty. This was just outside of Red Deer. She was so sure that the rest stop was "at the next turn... no wait, the next one" but we were pretty much in Airdrie by the time we got to the rest stop. From there, Sam drove me home, then herself home, and we both went to sleep.

It was a great day. Here are a couple of pictures from the non-Body Worlds part of the science centre.

I can't believe I have kept the Fair Trade Friday commitment for 3 whole weeks!

This week I present to you Cafe Femenino! Cafe Femenino (their website is linked HERE) is a Fair Trade coffee cooperative based out of Peru that is run entirely by women. I think it's a great idea. Not only do they pay for the Fair Trade beans, they do so in a way that empowers women in an area where women are economically marginalized.

The Cafe Femenino Foundation was featured in the documentary Strong Coffee: The Story of Cafe Femenino, which I saw at last years film festival in Calgary. The Foundation is based out of Vancouver, WA, and provides beans for several roasters in the Northwestern United States as well as Arizona and several Canadian provinces. The Foundation requires that a percentage of roastery profits go towards organizations in their hometowns that serve women. This is a way of serving communities, both in Peru and locally.

In Calgary, you can buy the beans at The House Coffee Sanctuary in Kensington. You can also get them at Grab-a-Java in Mission. Dave, the owner of Grab-a-Java, actually makes an appearance in the aforementioned documentary, as he is a roaster of Cafe Femenino beans. Pretty cool, especially if you love Grab-a-Java as much as I do!

Anyways, the coffee is good and so is the Foundation. If you currently need coffee beans, go get some! (Cafe Feminino ones, I mean.)

A Facebook/Birthday Story

I came home on my birthday and found this written on my wall (my Facebook wall, not my literal wall):

"Hey! I totally meant to say it when I saw you at Church, but Happy Birthday!"

I didn't go to church on my birthday. I was out of town.

I deleted the post off of my wall. The author of the post is a bit of a sensitive sort of person, so I figured if I was going to point out her mistake on my blog, I should also make her untraceable. I'm pretty sure she doesn't read this, so it really shouldn't matter.

Know Thy Tastebuds

As we like to do, Sam and I were sitting in her bed one evening eating snacks and stalking people on Facebook. We were having pretzels. I tend to think that I don’t like pretzels, but I seem to eat them about one out of every five times I visit Sam’s house, so maybe I do like them.

Anyways. The pretzels were really dry (I think the dryness is why I think I don’t like pretzels). Sam, in an uncharacteristic act of non-laziness, offers to go upstairs to get some water for both of us. When she came back down and handed me the water, I got a whiff of something that smelled pretty good.

“Whoa, did you wash your hands while you were up there or something?” I ask. It’s a good question because all of the hand soaps in Sam’s house smell quite nice.

“No,” she replied. I’m not sure if she was confused by my question or not.

“Oh. Well did you wash your hands anytime recently?”

“No. I haven’t washed them since I went to the bathroom like 4 hours ago,” she says.

“Oh.”

So I continue to drink my water, but I keep smelling that nice smell. It was so strong and smelled so close!

“Sam, did I wash my hands recently?” I ask. Sometimes Sam remembers what I have done better than I do.

“I don’t think so.”

I keep sipping at my water and pondering (in my head) where the scent could be coming from. I’m maybe halfway done with my glass of water when I notice that Sam is looking at me with a frowny, frustrated look on her face.

“What’s the matter?” I ask.

“I’m trying to trick you and it’s not working,” she responds.

Turns out she had poured a lot of artificial coconut flavor into my water. She was upset that I didn’t notice how bad it tasted. I let her have a sip and she said it tasted awful. To me, it just tasted like water, so I started drinking it again. She then informed me that she really had put A LOT of artificial coconut flavor into my water, and that it probably wasn’t healthy for me to be drinking it.

In regards to knowing thy tastebuds, I say they are hard to know if you haven’t got any.

I'm 23!

Today is my actual birthday. The picture is of my birthday time. Birthday time is not the time of day that you were born. Rather, it is the time that matches the month and day you were born. I like pointing out when it is my birthday time, whether or not it is my birthday. Anyways, I'll tell you about my birthday when it is over, OK?

It's Fair Trade Friday Again!

You had to know Fair Trade chocolate was coming eventually...

Today I want to tell you about Cocoa Camino. Cocoa Camino makes really yummy Fair Trade chocolate products. They make chocolate chips, hot chocolate, cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, golden cane sugar, and, of course, chocolate bars.

Some of the flavors are very interesting, examples being chili and spice as well as matcha green tea. I really like the chili and spice. Serving chocolate with chili pepper is traditional in Latin America, dating all the way back to the Aztec empire in the 14th century, where the trees that grow chocolate (Theobroma cacao) are a native species and its refinement had been carefully mastered.

You can get Cocoa Camino chocolate at many Fair Trade coffee shops (in Calgary you can get it at The House or Higher Ground, both in Kensington, as well as any Good Earth location), at Ten Thousand Villages, or at most Organic grocery stores. I have yet to see them anywhere else, but let me know if I'm missing a retailer!

A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City

Just wanted to let you know about an event I'm planning on checking out next week that may be coming to a city near you. It's called A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City and it is put on by Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). Here are the dates and locations:

Edmonton: September 18-21 (that's today through Sunday!)
Calgary: September 25-28
Vancouver: October 2-6

The exhibit is a tour that encourages participants to imagine what life would be like in a refugee camp. MSF sets up mock refugee camps in each city. Tours are free and about 40-60 min. long. I think it'll be pretty cool.

www.msf.ca to learn more about this awesome 1999 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate organization.

Tina Fey for VP

Tina Fey, one of my favorites, made a return to SNL the other night. She looks too much like Sarah Palin for this not to be funny.

This was on the back of the pack of stickers I opened today.

Surprise! Orange!

Yesterday was my surprise orange birthday party, put on by Sam's lovely family! I had no idea this was happening, the theme was orange (my favorite color), my birthday is pretty soon, and it was a party!

Here is how it happened... Sam asked me last week if I'd come down and watch Annie with her on Friday (yesterday). Of course I said yes. Yesterday finally came around and Sam and I grabbed some supper at Market Mall, then went to "watch Annie" at Nan and Pa's house.

We get down to Nan and Pa's house, walk in the door, and all of these wonderful members of Sam's family jump out and yell "SURPRISE!" Hopefully you anticipated that part of the story. It was a surprise party, after all.

They were all wearing orange, all of the snacks were orange, and I got a bag of orange presents, including an orange bell pepper! It was really fun. It might be my favorite ever birthday party, and I usually don't even like birthday parties (too much attention).

The weirdest part was my friend Janet (Sam's mom). She was totally the life of the party! She was out of control with her jokes involving the color orange, and then she proceeded to instigate a water fight in the dining room! It was really quite something, and we were all wondering what she had done with the real Janet.

Anyways, it was really fun. Sam's family is really great!

Fair Trade Friday!

Let's make Fridays be Fair Trade Fridays, OK? OK.

Today, I present to you... TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES!

Ten Thousand Villages is a Fair Trade retailer with stores in the USA and Canada. I LOVE this store! Luckily, there are two in Calgary, or I definitely would not have moved here.

I learned of this store from my former roommate and current friend Alison (Smalison), who volunteered there back in the days when we lived in Seattle. Ten Thousand Villages began in 1946 when a Mennonite woman visited an MCC sewing class in Puerto Rico. She bought some embroidered pieces to sell back in her hometown in Pennsylvania and the rest, as they say, is history.

The stores sell artisan work, and I find that it is a good place to buy gifts. They also sell Fair Trade coffee, tea, and chocolate. Mmmmm. The stores are volunteer run, with the exception of a manager for each store. I find that a spirit of volunteerism says a lot about a place. Seriously, people are working there for free in a city where you can get paid $12/hr as a starting salary at A&W. I think that's great. I hope I can work there for free one day.

Store locations are all over the US and Canada (you can navigate the links above to find a store near you). I've been to stores in Seattle, Vancouver, Langley, and Calgary. Check it out sometime!

Sam, I think I forgot to tell you about this part of the evening.

I used the potty at Good Earth, where Sam and I were studying.

I had a little problem as I was going through the steps of washing my hands. For some reason I thought that it was an automatic soap dispenser. So, I wave my hand for awhile under what I seem to think is the sensor. I start getting a little agitated, thinking a bit about how silly it is that everything is automatic these days. Then I see the word "PUSH." This particular soap dispenser was not automatic. Cool.

No Wonder

Two nights ago I got maybe three hours of sleep. It was because I kept having nightmares. Like, I would have the dream, then wake up, think about it, and not be able to sleep. It was odd, my dreams are usually really weird, not really scary.

Anyways, I think I figured it out. I read a lot, and lately I've been reading a lot of depressing books. For example, this is some of what I am currently reading:

We Are All The Same: A Story of a Boy's Courage and a Mother's Love
By: Jim Wooten

This is the true story of a young boy named Nksoi in South Africa. That's him to the left. He was actually a bit of a celebrity, having inspired the South African government to require that children with AIDS be allowed to attend public schools. Born with AIDS, Nkosi is given to a white woman named Gail Johnson when he is only a few years old (not to be confused with my grandma Gayle, who used to have the surname Johnson). His mother, also infected with the virus, is too sick to care for him and dies not long after she gives Nkosi to Gail. I haven't quite finished the book yet, but I know that the kid dies in the end.


Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
By: Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire

Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire was the Force Commander for the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda in 1993 and 1994. We all know what happened in Rwanda at that time, so I won't go there. And if you don't know what happened in Rwanda at that time, well... I guess you could read this book. I recommend paperback, as it's sorta thick.


AIDS in the Twenty-First Century: Disease and Globalization
By: Tony Barnett and Alan Whiteside

This is essentially a textbook on AIDS by two of the most renowned experts on the subject. Some of the numbers in here are blowing me away (this map is not from the book, but it shows infection rates by country... holy sheesh!).

Anyways. I know it's good to be educated, but maybe I should lower the intensity a little bit? Anyone know of any good books about, oh, I don't know, unicorns or rainbows?

Just a minute ago...

Sam: "I have a random question for you."
Ashley: "OK. I'm ready."
Sam: "What's Ferrozza's real name?"
Ashley: "Robyn Bishop."
Sam: "Oh. Nevermind. Wasn't her."

Fair's Fair

So I just finished reading a book called Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet by Carol Off. Perhaps you are thinking something along the lines of: "Sheesh Ashley, enough with the social justice already" or "Do you ever do anything other than read?" or "Get a job you hippie."

Anyways, I really enjoyed this book. The first half was a bit historical and I thought I'd be too bored to finish, but the course of history as presented in this book made a full circle and I was totally into it. I needed to get to the end of the story! My favorite part was that, in the end, the only logical solution was Fair Trade. I'm a big fan of Fair Trade, if you haven't heard. I also live under the delusion that anyone who doesn't care about Fair Trade must not know what it is, so here comes an informative excerpt from the book on the topic:

"For a product to be certified as "fair" requires an even more rigorous screening process than the organic certification. It must be made with no abusive labour practices, in particular no child or slave labour. Chemicals can be used in the growing or manufacturing of a product so long as workers are provided with adequate protective clothing and air quality (though chemicals are disallowed by the organic certifiers). An additional fair trade premium is paid to the cooperative or company, which is supposed to be used communally, to build clean water systems or provide schooling for the children of workers. But the most important aspect of the fair trade system is that it gives people in the developing world some advantage in the amoral jungle of supply and demand where the profit motive reigns supreme."

Anyways, I love Fair Trade and am always looking to discover new stuff that is Fair Trade Certified. Do you know of any such stuff? I want to know!

Richie Rich?

One of Jordie's blog post awhile back (click here if you want to read it) got me to thinking about how rich I am. I figured that I am probably pretty rich in the large scheme of things, but I wasn't really sure.

Then, the other day, I came across some numbers put out by the World Bank Development Research Group conveying the breakdown of individual annual incomes. I also found a website that uses these numbers to give you a global ranking and percentile if you enter your gross annual income. For their calculations, they use a global population of 6 billion and an average annual income of $5000.

I discovered that I am about the 684,923,240th richest person in the world! That puts me in the top 11.41%! Sometimes I think that I'm not making very much money. Perhaps I should spend more time thinking about the 88.19% of the people on earth who make less than I do.

Check it out for yourself:

www.globalrichlist.com

What the hail?!

I just heard this on the radio... "Some areas in Calgary may receive wet snow today." SNOW. Today is August 31. AUGUST. I am morally opposed to this weather, just so you know.

I realize this post has nothing to do with hail, but while I was at the Dallas airport I was watching the news and one of the headlines was "What the hail?! It's August!" Apparently it hailed in Texas a couple of weeks ago. Ha. I'm still laughing about that one. Wouldn't it be great if all news headlines involved vulgar plays on words?

Here it is... the Brasil post!

This post could be boiled down to one sentence: I didn't like being in Brasil with such a big group, but I LOVED hanging with the kids at Lar Feliz Orphanage.

The longer version of my take on this trip is as follows...

I left with a pretty accurate expectation of what the trip was going to be like for me. I knew that I wouldn't like being with so many of my peers all the time, and I knew that I was going to love being with the kids. I also knew that I wasn't too sure if short-term missions of this nature could be effective, and I guessed that I would leave with some new opinions on the matter. I'm not sure how to verbalize those opinions except to tell you what my own experience was like.

I don't think that short-term missions are ineffective, but I am more than certain that short-term missions are not for me. Going to the orphanage, developing really strong relationships with the kids, and then up and leaving just feels... wrong. I just can't go in and out like that.

What's next? A return trip I guess... what can I say, I miss my girl Evelyn! Isn't she lovely?


How 'bout you... what's your take on short-term missions? What do you think is the best way to help kids who don't have anyone? (Other than adopt... I investigated the possibility of one day adopting Evelyn and it's not allowed, as our age difference is too small.)

Search Your Feelings.

I know, I know, I need to tell you something or other about Brazil. I'll do that this week, promise.

But for now can I just say that I cannot wait until Duncan is in bed so that I can play with his birthday present? An Obi-Wan Kenobi lightsaber?! Suh-weeeet! Man, I almost feel nerdier than Jordie right now. Haha, ALMOST.

I'm Baaaaaack

I don't really have the energy to post all about Brazil right now, but I thought I would let you know that I am back in Calgary (good timing, Celia) and that I loved being at the orphanage for 3ish weeks. Here's me with the lovely Evelyn, who I miss the most.

Later!

To Brazil I go! I leave you with this...

The Land of Opportunity

On Thursday we woke up in America, Maple Falls to be exact. We didn't do anything in Maple Falls because, well, it is Maple Falls. There is nothing to do there. Instead we went down to Lynden and took my brother for lunch at the Nuthouse Grill. Too bad Troy wasn't there to steal another bucket. It was fun, we threw nut shells at my brother and I got to drink real American iced tea. Afterwards we dropped my brother off at his job at the golf course. I think his job is to clean the golf carts but, really, I have no idea.

Then we were off to Bellingham to do some shopping while we waited for Austin to get off work. Sam got an alien t-shirt and I got an orange hoodie. We picked up Austin in Lynden, then went back to Bellingham to feed the child at Costco. We met my mom there and went to see my sister and Tony (her boyfriend) at their new apartment. Hahaha, my family is crazy (isn't everyones?) but it was a fun time seeing all of them at once. After that we went home, kicked Austin out of the big bed, and went to sleep.

Friday was our driving home day, but first we lit off some explosives. Sam, being Canadian, had never lit off fireworks before. We couldn't do it the night before due to rain, so we just did it in the daylight. Haha, kind of lame but still fun. When we were done blowing things up, it was time to leave. We took my brother for more food in Sumas, said goodbye to my mommy, and returned to Canada. I had to stop at House of James before we could leave. On Wednesday I bought myself a deck of Dutch Blitz card and, lo and behold, the blue plows were missing a card! Unbelievable! Not only that, several of the cards were all wonky and misaligned! So I got a new deck and all was good.

Then we started our drive home. It was already closing in on 3pm at this point, and we didn't get home until around 2am Calgary time. The drive home was semi-brutal... we were tired before we started. But we took lots of turns in the driving/sleeping rotation and it really wasn't that bad. We had Sam's iPod and a bag of gummies, what more can you ask for? The gummies were "assorted" so Sam made me line them up on the dash so she wouldn't get any surprises.

Anyways, we made it to Calgary and unloaded my sewing machine and the table that goes with it. Oh yeah, I got a sewing machine, by the way. I inherited it when my great-grandma passed away, and going to get it was kind of the point of this trip in the first place. But yeah, we did that and then Sam drove home and it was bed time.

The End.