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earth day: everyday

April 29, 2004 02:31 +0000  |  Why I'm Here 0

a few days ago, the 23rd in fact, i was heading off to lunch with some coworkers when we stopped by a little booth in a mall run by two very nice girls. they were promoting earth day for an organisation called earth day Canada. they had trivia cards, and stuff for prizes. i answered right, (yay!) acquired a button and proceeded to ask one of the girls: "i'd like to get involved in this city in promoting green energy... who do i talk to about that? any suggestions?"

the girl stuttered at first, perhaps surprised at the fact that anyone would want more than a free button and then responded: 'you know, i have no idea. i just hand out the buttons ;-) but i'll give you this. (she hands me a card) you can call her and i'm sure she'll be able to help you".

the funny thing about business cards is that they have a tendency to bury themselves in your wallet and only see the light of day when you're "getting all the junk out of there", but this time was different. it reappeared as i was fishing for some cash to buy a box of doughnuts for the office, and so i called the lady today. i explained the deal -- that i wanted to get more wind turbines up there and wanted to talk to the right people about it. she took my name and email address and i received an interesting article in my mailbox not hours later complete with a name and number the guy on the earth day Canada board who handles this kinda thing... another day another number. here's hoping this turns out well. maybe he'll be able to help me get some of my ideas into the real world.

good day

April 18, 2004 01:23 +0000  |  Personal Life Why I'm Here 6

a great day in fact. after my last posting, i admit, i've not been in the best condition. "a mess" while not entirely accurate, is about as close as i can come up with at the moment. but i got a great email from my parents, and some additional support from my friends, so while i'm not "all better" i'm sure things will be fine.

so why is this a great day? why else? i met a pretty girl. great hair, nice smile, and fun to talk to, we walked all over this city today, going from cheesecake to the market, to a record store, to my apartment, to a steakhouse. i learned more about how the city's divided into different sections and re-discovered the "toronto hemp company" where i finally found some rope for my curtains. the company was wonderful and made for great conversation... for eight hours. somehow, things don't seem so terrible anymore.

ps
noreen's mentioned that she'd like to get actual, named credit for being one of those cool friends with all the support through the previous post. so yes: noreen kicks ass. thanks dude.

one final note. it's now 2:32am eastern and my boys have pulled through to take us to game seven back home. after three periods of overtime... morrison bagged the game winner. just a nice end to a good day.

frustrations and ageing

April 16, 2004 01:41 +0000  |  Society & Culture Why I'm Here 2

chrystal got her official posting confirmation to raleigh, north carolina today. she's quite excited, and i'm quite proud -- maybe "proud" isn't quite the right word, but i'm not really feeling very "thesaurical" today. nonetheless, a huge congratulations goes to her, she's known who she was and what she wanted for so long now, it's about time she got it.

this is however, not a happy posting. if you're in a good mood at the moment, go out and enjoy the weather, no need to bring yourself down. come back later if you're really interested. you see, today is a big day for me. lots of stuff happened, chrystal got her long hoped-for posting, i picked up the babylon 5 season 5 dvd and this... this very post is the 100th post in my blog.

so why is this a depressing post? in order to understand you have to know my reasoning for starting this thing. back in december i started out with a big plan. i'd come to the great real city of toronto, and i was going to do great things. i hadn't come to socialise, to make friends, get a job and buy an suv. no -- i'd come to "the centre of the Canadian universe" to find out who i was, and how to do what i felt i was supposed to do. i was going to meet with city officials, propose my big plans and get some shit done.... then i'd be able to go home and relax, knowing i'd done what "i was supposed to do". the whole thing would be chronicled here, in hopes of finding support from friends and family and keeping me on task.

but here i am, 100postings later. and all i have to show for it is some semi-concrete documentation and some time spent with the sustainable living network setting up a lan.

i wish this was easier. i wish i had the mind to understand how this sort of thing gets done, but every time i show my ideas to people it's met with decimating apathy or half-hearted, directionless encouragement. i was good at school -- school was easy. i had a task, it was written down. normally i would finish and be helping my friends long before everyone else was through the gate, but this... no instruction, no direction, just ideas, passion and a whole, damning heap of apathy. most people here don't recycle. they'd rather drive 6blocks to work than walk or take the subway. they complain about gas prices, but scoff at wind power, and every thursday there are 22 plastic bags full of garbage on the sidewalk on my way home from work. how do i fight that? i'm stranded here with a head full of ideas and no idea where to put them. and the worst part, the really terrible part -- is that i'm not even fighting here. an enemy, a task, a job -- they're all easy. but moving people, changing minds, when those minds have no interest in anything other than the hockey game... that'll cut the heart right out of anyone.

i don't know what to do. i left home to find myself, my calling. and here i am doing the same thing i was doing back home. working 9-5 paying off visa so i afford rent and food. and this blog contains more about the cancelling of tv shows than it does about anything of any real importance. i can feel myself slipping... but i'm not sure whether it's more into bitterness or dispair.

wind turbines and lost hours

April 05, 2004 14:49 +0000  |  Why I'm Here 4

it's one of those sadistically brutal days in toronto. the sun is up (early, thanks so much to the retard that decided that losing an hour of sleep in the spring is a good idea) and there isn't a cloud in the sky... and it's -15 with the windchill. why, may i ask did so many people settle here again?

yesterday was very much the same, but in an effort to get my ass out of the house and away from command and conquer, i went for a walk to the wind turbine here in the city. for those who don't know, toronto is home to the only urban wind turbine in Canada. it stands really, really high and is partially owned by a co-op called windshare. but on super-windy day like yesterday, it wasn't moving. i got some good pictures though, and i'll post them later on.

"the right job"

April 01, 2004 02:19 +0000  |  Nifty Links Why I'm Here 10

according to monster's short quiz (courtesy of smyli) my personality type is best suited to one of the following:
  • Special education teacher
  • Alcohol and drug addiction counsellor
  • Universal design architect
  • Holistic health practitioner
  • Diversity manager / trainer
  • Speech / language pathologist
  • Career counsellor
  • Therapist
  • Director of religious education
  • Editor / art director
  • Writer
and while i can't say that i feel like i fit well into any of the above, i have to say that i feel like a major part of "me" is missing on my current path... i just have no idea where to go to find the right one...

super sensitivity

March 16, 2004 14:43 +0000  |  Why I'm Here 4

ever have one of those days when you feel like you're just on the edge of being able to hear the thoughts of everyone around you? for me, yesterday was one of those days. this is not to be confused with that general vibe i get from people normally. i mean, in most cases, i can feel what others are feeling, get on the subway and know in a personal sense how others are feeling about their day. but this time was different. it's like i could hear a low background noise trickling in from everyone around me. it only lasted a few minutes, but it was both eerie and fascinating.

and no, i don't think i'm losing my mind.

when i grow up...

March 11, 2004 19:13 +0000  |  Society & Culture Why I'm Here 4

i wanna be just like tooker gomberg.

...but without the suicide.

"the corporation"

February 15, 2004 06:02 +0000  |  Society & Culture Why I'm Here 0

anger, tears and goosebumps. this could possibly be the most important movie you'll ever see. it's well written, historically accurate and features some of the most important minds on the issue of globalisation. but sensationalism aside, seriously, see this movie. and here's why:

globalisation is a really big subject. so big that it's literally impossible to understand when concerning yourself with the entire concept all at once. you have to take it apart into smaller pieces: sweatshops, economies of scale, terrorism and at the root of it all: the corporation.

as citizens of a democracy, we can't sit by anymore and assume that stuff like this doesn't apply to us. the world is broken, our assumption of "truth" is flawed, and if we are to survive as a free and healthy people, we have to begin to understand why constructs like the corporation are unhealthy for us.

i can't go on into more detail without either boring you with facts and figures or somehow dulling the importance of this film's message, so i'll just leave you with what i hope will be enough to convince you to see this movie:
  • if you're american, your milk is poisoned. but more importantly, your milk was allowed to be poisoned because someone paid to make it this way. and what's more, you were prevented from hearing about it because people were paid to kill news stories about it

  • privatisation of breatheable air, as ridiculous as it sounds, is not a foreign concept to modern supporters of the corporation. it's right up there with monsanto's seeds that self-destruct after one crop, and a bechtel's ownership of the water of cochabamba, bolivia -- even the water falls from the sky

  • not only did ibm supply the nazis with the technology required to manage their jewish problem, but they personally serviced the machines that were used to process the men, women, and children into the gas chambers and death camps. i even saw a picture of the ceo of ibm having lunch with adolph himself.

  • there is hope. the ceo of interface flooring systems has publically decided to make his company completely sustainable by the year 2020. no bullshit. read the details here.

semi-concrete documentation

February 04, 2004 05:21 +0000  |  Why I'm Here 1

you know that feeling of disbelief you get when you actually start doing something you always said that you'd do but never really started? well i'm swimming around in that very feeling right now.

as it turns out, my initial email to the guy at the sierra club didn't pan out all to well. the response can be paraphrased as "sounds like you have a lot of enthusiasm, but i'm afraid i don't have what you're looking for. you should probably contact your city councilor. are any of your ideas directly related to our current campaigns?"

but i wasn't deterred. i actually sat down and wrote out the details of what it is i'm going to do here and sent them all out his way. 3 out of 4 of them are related to what the sierra club is doing here so we'll see how that works out, and in the mean time, i now have a written copy detailing all my plans here. next up, i'm going to detail this stuff out a little more, even make a printed (what kind of environmentalist kills trees? suggestions please) copy and then setup a meeting with my local councillor.

at the very least, this should be exciting...

first steps

January 31, 2004 23:45 +0000  |  Society & Culture Why I'm Here 2

when i moved out here, i told everyone that i had a reason. i didn't quite understand the details around it then -- i suppose that i still don't have a perfectly clear picture. but the general understanding was that i had to leave vancouver so that i could learn about how the world works, and through that learning gain the power to change what i felt needed changing.

today i took my first concrete steps in that direction. i have four big ideas for the city of toronto, the details of which (once heavily scrutinised and worked out) will be available online. but the important part is that today i stopped screwing around and started working on it. did some research online for toronto budget information (the details of which are sadly lacking) and then contacted a nice man at the toronto chapter of the sierra club looking for some help on where to go next. it may not look like much, but i'm locked in now. no where else to go but through the other side.