Musings of a Wallflower

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12/14/06--11:34: Did you know that there are 29 bones in the skull? (chan 2217813)

I'm one final exam away from being finished my first semester in speech! It's been quite a ride, and there's lots I could say. My family informs me that the word "fascinating" has started coming up in conversation an awful lot, so I'm trying to avoid it, but... I'm learning such incredibly fascinating things! *grin* Even when I'm in the middle of studying for exams, and never quite as prepared as I'd like to be, I still love what I'm learning. I've started looking at the world in a whole new way. For instance, I can't hear the kiddies on the bus talk without trying to guess how old they are based on which language milestones they've hit. I've started listening to everyone's speech with a somewhat clinical ear. I understand way more of the medical jargon when I'm watching Gray's Anatomy. *grin* And while I want to put off specializing for a while once I start working, I have discovered a passion for the long-term care population, which is where I'll be doing my research project. 

But that's not where I'm going with this. Being in a program like this, I've become way more aware of the things that can go wrong in the course of development.  Some days I can spend hours reading about some developmental disorder or other and it's just information with no connection to actual people's lives. Some days there are pictures of babies with spina bifida or cleft palates and it's a little more real. Occasionally  I get to see actual clients (or videos of clients), and that's when I remember that what I'm learning is more important than just having fun facts to know and tell. I stumbled across the following piece on the website for one of my courses. I hope I'm allowed to post it here... The copyright information is included, just, don't make it an email forward and pass it from hither to yon, okay? And I apologize if it's a little on the sappy side. Deal with it. 



Welcome to Holland


I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

©1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved. 
EPKingsley@aol.com








01/12/07--14:12: ...the challenge of beauty and truth... (chan 2217813)

Today is a beautiful day. Today is a beautiful day at the beginning of what is sure to be a beautiful semester. Let me rewind a bit and let you all in on some of what's been beautiful lately. 

A week in California. Time to watch movies, read books and find fun coffee shops to sit in. Driving along the coast. No snow. San Francisco, and the beauty of seeing in real life things that previously existed for me only in pictures. 




This was taken January 2nd at Carmel by the Sea, California. It was almost 20C. There was green grass and there were green leaves on trees. There was sand, water, sun and bare feet. There was almost complete happiness; the kind of happiness that pushes away any and all thought of responsibilities, obligations or deadlines because there's just no space for trivialities of that sort in the face of such overwhelming beauty.

I'm a week into classes. This puts me at that point of seeing the challenges before me - I have a list of readings for the semester, due dates for assignments, dates for exams - and I've started nothing. I'm applying for scholarships, and there is absolutely nothing like a scholarship application to make a person feel inadequate. (List my publications? My relevant work experience? Oh dear...) I've made goals for the semester, a couple of which are completely overwhelming. And yet there's a kind of beauty in looking forward and knowing that I'm not up to the task. Madeleine L'Engle writes "In a very real sense not one of us is qualified, but it seems that God continually chooses the most unqualified to do his work, to bear his glory. If we are qualified, we tend to think that we have done the job ourselves. If we are forced to accept our evident lack ot qualification, then there's no danger that we will confuse God's work with our own, or God's glory with our own."

I've been working this week on the research project that I'm doing as a part of my (mostly course-based) degree. I'm working with a partner, and the two of us are doing a small part of a larger study. Our results could influence policy and practice in a way that would lead to improved quality of life for individuals in long-term care facilities. These are beautiful people, who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect at the end of their lives. 

Which brings us back to today. We're currently sitting at a quite comfortable -10C. The sun is sunny and the snow is snowy. The sky is blue and big, just as we'd expect of a perfect Albertan day. I have no classes on Fridays, but had a very encouraging meeting with my partner and research supervisor. I have plans. Plans of things to do with friends in the next couple weeks, and plans of things to get involved in this semester, and plans to organize my files tonight. *grin* I am full of purpose and I am blessed beyond what I can really understand, and that is what makes today a beautiful day.



"Science will never be able to reduce the value of a sunset to arithmetic. Nor can it reduce friendship to formula. Laughter and love, pain and loneliness, the challenge of beauty and truth: these will always surpass the scientific mastery of nature."
-- Louis Orr (speech to the American Medical Association, 6/6/60)





01/18/07--19:38: the cursed animosity of inanimate objects* (chan 2217813)

Some of you may remember a post last year about our toaster. Some of you may even have had the pleasure of trying to toast bread with said toaster, and if you did I'm sure you remember it. The toaster is no longer with us, sadly, but its spirit has possessed my car. 

I got this car over the summer. It was given to me. It had belonged to a long line of people, starting who-knows-where and ending with my 19-year old rock star of a cousin. He didn't want the car anymore, and I needed something to drive to work that wouldn't be a target for theft or vandalism. The original plan was to sell it at the end of the summer... *shrug*

How can I describe this car to you? It's elephant grey, with pinstripes down the sides, and white-ish stars painted on either side at the back. It's a little rust-riddled. There are stickers of unknown origin and meaning spotting the interior. It's as long as a boat, and drives something like a tank. I think. I've never driven a tank, but this feels like I would imagine that to be. The seats are very plush and cushy. In fact, as someone pointed out to me, it's probably about as aerodynamic as driving a couch down the road. There's quite a long crack in the windshield which branches out in several directions. The windows don't roll down. The doors don't lock. The passenger door only opens from the inside. The "check oil level" light randomly turns on, and then just as mysteriously turns itself off. There is radio reception on a couple of stations, but I frequently find myself inching forward slowly at a red light until I hit on the spot where the reception is clearest. The radio is important, because it prevents me from hearing all the creaks, rattles and groans. The clock is one hour and eight minutes fast. No, I can't figure out how to change it. The button to pop the gas door open is in the glove compartment, of all places. There's a special jerk needed on my seatbelt to get it to spring to a position where it's actually doing something, and not just flopping down around my waist. If I'm not careful the seatbelt gets shut in the car door when I close it. This car doesn't like accelerating too quickly, turning corners too abruptly, fitting in a parking stall or stopping on ice. 

Today Ela got in the passenger's side (after I had opened the door for her from the inside, of course) and when she went to close the door, it wouldn't latch shut. She'd slam it shut, it would pop open. This repeated a few times before she finally convinced it to stay closed, and it was fine for about three blocks, at which point it sprung open again, all on its own.** The door was given a stern talking to and behaved itself for the remainder of the trip. However, I am uncertain of what my course of action would be if it decided it didn't want to be closed and I was alone in the car.

I love my car. I love my car. I love my car...


*the words of John Ruskin, quoted in Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water, which was lent to me by 

jowchoo
** No friends were harmed in the making of this blog post.

 




01/22/07--20:27: Six Weird Things (chan 2217813)

Ela tagged me to do this. I am doing it only because I enjoy being weird and I have a fitting icon, not because I was told to do it. Just so we're clear. ;)

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1) I have a lamp in my bedroom that no one else likes. People laugh at it (and at me because I have it) a lot. It is one of many items of furniture that came into my house when my Grandfather sold his condo, and it appeared on my dresser while I was away over Christmas, in all its white, billowy, mushroomy wonder. I don't know why I like it, but I do. So there. 

2) I cannot stand having cupboard doors or drawers left open. It doesn't matter how messy the rest of the room is. There can be piles of dirty dishes or papers scattered everywhere and I'm mostly fine, but the cupboards and drawers must be closed. I'm also slightly obsessive about having doors locked.

3) My guitar's name is Estevan, after a character in The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver. I am head-over-heels in love with him.

4) You can tell how comfortable I am in a group of people based on whether or not I randomly start singing whatever song pops into my head. On a related note, I know the lyrics to more Disney music than can possibly be considered normal.

5) I hate amusement park rides, games like Werewolf, phoning people I don't know and any camp "game" that involves food. 

6) I have never had a cavity (or any other dental work) or broken a bone. I do, however, suffer from an almost daily array of scrapes and bruises caused by my own clumsiness, and I once fell off a chair lift.

I am tagging immerrichtig, pleasingleason and richoinca





02/17/07--14:01: Details (chan 2217813)

I've been trying to come up with some kind of theme to tie together the bits and pieces that I want to post about. I've got nothing. Or, rather, I've got a thousand bits and pieces - quotes, ideas, significant events and insignificant details... They all fit together somehow, and maybe my problem is that I've been seeing more of the poetry than is typical recently, and it's all just a little overwhelming. 

School this semester has been interesting. It took me a while to get going, and I did very little work for the first month. When February hit I found myself two weeks away from midterms and behind in everything. Somehow I managed to do enough work to feel prepared for my exams (pause with me a moment to revel in the glorious feeling of being prepared... it's an uncommon occurance for me in this program) without killing myself (sanity... a beautiful thing), so that was nice. There isn't a lot of middle-ground in my classes this semester - either they're wonderful and I love them, or... well, the opposite of that. Motor Speech Disorders is my favorite class because the subject matter is of great interest to me and the professor is a caring, interested, interesting person. Child Language Disorders is good because even though I'm not totally interested in working with kids, the prof is spectacular, with a wealth of clinical experience that she's eager to share and a willingness to go out of her way to make the class interesting and applicable. Clinical Research Methods is good because the prof is good. (And I'm a bit of a geek, and I don't mind the limited amount of stats we have to learn.) The other two are Language and Literacy and Adult Language Disorders (Aphasiology). They are frustrating, and I don't need to go into it here. Perhaps the most frustrating part is that these classes make for a lot of grumbling and general unhappiness among my classmates, and when you spend as much time with each other as we do, that can be a little trying.

My roommate moved out at the beginning of February. It was not because of her or me, but she ended up moving into a bachelor suite nearer to school, which hopefully will suit her better. I was absolutely dreading the prospect of having to look for a new roommate in the middle of the semester, but God is good and I should know by now not to worry so much. *grin* [Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6:34] Before I'd even started praying about it or posting ads, I got a phone call from a friend of a friend who was looking for a place to live, and who will be moving in at the beginning of next month. [Yes, many of you know both the friend and the friend in question. *grin*] 

This month finds me pretty involved in church things, both at the church I've been attending (Knox), and also helping out at my parents' church (Glory). Last week I read the lessons at Knox. (Esther 4. Very exciting.) Tomorrow I'm leading worship at Glory. The week after that I'm playing the oboe at Knox. I'm playing the first movement of Gordon Jacob's Sonata for Oboe, a piece which I did for my performance exam at the end of my second year. Jacob is a 20th century British composer who's known for his excellent wind writing. He writes, "I think the question of communication is important, because one never wants to write down to an audience, but at the same time I personally feel repelled by the intellectual snobbery of some progressive artists… the day that melody is discarded altogether, you may as well pack up music…" Indeed. It's a beautiful piece of music, and I'm excited to make it performance-ready again. 

I've been putting off this last section, because I have a hard time knowing where to start. There's so much back-story, and the way it's playing out is absolutely a God-thing and not something I've had much control over, so it's exciting, scary, inspiring, heady stuff. And it's a little funny, because when it comes down to it (when you read it in words on the screen) it will sound simple, intuitive and not nearly as overwhelming as it feels to me. I've started a small group. We are a group of people with a shared desire to live out what it is to be a Christian more actively and intentionally in our lives. Every other week we're planning on sharing a meal at my house. On the opposite weeks, we will serve people in need in our community. Not new concepts, by any means. What is new, for me, is actually doing these things rather than just talking about how great it would be. [Be the change you want to see in the world. - Gandhi] In the email I sent out as an invitation, I put it like this. Here's the bigger picture that I see: a place to question, discuss and discover; a place to go for support, friendship and prayer; a place to discover God in creation and in each other through art, worship or silence; a place to explore the Bible; a place to serve God and others; a place to be welcomed, whoever you are, whatever you believe, wherever you've been and whatever you're going through; a place to journey alongside others - because none of us are in this alone.   We've met together twice so far. The first time was to share dessert and create a vision for what this group would be. Last night we had a potluck supper and created artwork that is now hanging on my living room wall. What I can't really express to you is the way that all the pieces are clicking into place... turtles sitting on fence posts... the poetry so clear and so exquisite. A million little things lining up with a shiver of "oh God..." and the unquestionable 'rightness' of it all.

And I just found the connecting piece. God is in the details.  - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe



03/02/07--14:44: Am I supposed to be taking this seriously? (chan 2217813)

Because I'm really not sure. This morning in my online wanderings, I discovered that Wikipedia is not the only online encyclopedia of its kind. (That's probably not that hard to believe.) No, Wikipedia has a counterpart in the form of Conservapedia. Conservapedia... take a moment to mull that over. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. Or else it’s not, it was actually created by liberals mocking the Christian right who have too much time on their hands, and I bought it. If that’s the case, well-played, whoever thought of this. If not… Well. Here's what we find in the "about us" section:

"Tired of the LIBERAL BIAS every time you search on Google and a Wikipedia page appears? Now it's time for the Conservatives to get our voice out on the internet!

Conservapedia began in November 2006, as the class project for a World History class of 58 advanced homeschooled and college-bound students meeting in New Jersey.

Conservapedia has since grown enormously, including contributors nationwide. Conservapedia already has over one-half the number of entries as the Oxford Dictionary of World History. Conservapedia is rapidly becoming one of the largest and most reliable online educational resources of its kind."

Retrieved from "http://www.conservapedia.com/Conservapedia:About"


I'm just going to skip over the obvious issue of the utter inability of people to think for themselves and the stupidity of humanity in general, and move on to examine that last claim. Reliable online educational resource? You be the judge.

"Canada" according to conservapedia:
http://www.conservapedia.com/Canada
"Canada according to wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada

"Beethoven" according to conservapedia:
http://www.conservapedia.com/Beethoven
"Beethoven" according to wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beethoven
And a separate discussion of Beethoven's religious beliefs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven%27s_religious_beliefs

"A Canadian Indian Village"? "The more southern provinces of Canada"? Seriously?! According to conservapedia, "Communists believe that if they share everything, no one will ever have to work." Um, okay. Conservapedia doesn't have articles on speech, language or communication, which are obvious areas of interest to me, but in all fairness it hasn’t been around that long as a site. There were probably more important things to get in there - like Christian Apologetics. I don't pretend to claim that Wikipedia never gets stuff wrong. It's people-driven, so obviously it's subject to error. I'd never cite Wikipedia in a paper, but it has often proven to be a useful place to start. In truth, the blatantly biased writing at Conservapedia (check out things like theocracy *grin*) doesn’t even bother me so much as… just learn to write, people. Honestly.




03/24/07--22:32: Article 18 (chan 2217813)

"In the plan of the Great Dance, plans without number interlock, and each movement becomes in its season the breaking into flower of the whole design to which all else had been directed. Thus each is equally at the centre and none are there by being equals, but some by giving place and some by receiving it, the small things by their smallness and the great by their greatness, and all the patterns linked and looped together by the unions of a kneeling with a sceptred love." - C.S. Lewis, Perelandra 


03/29/07--19:03: Plans and Personality (chan 2217813)

Official Announcement: I have plans. Here they are, for your enlightenment. 

(Psst... Small sister? This might be a good entry for distribution among the more extended family members...)

May-July ,2007: Clinical Practicum at the U of A; work on research project
July 29-August 3, 2007: Montreal
August 5-August 31, 2007: Malawi*
September-December, 2007: Classes; some clinical work; finish research project
January-August, 2008: Clinical Placements, locations TBA
September... no, wait. There are no plans there. Never mind. *grin*

/Official Announcement 

* Malawi is a country in southern Africa. It's small, democratic, mostly Christian and peaceful. Poor, yes, but safe. I will be visiting Wen, who will take good care of me. She has a house. There's electricity (mostly). Did I mention it's safe? Nothing to worry about here. 

Now, something for those of you who already knew all of that. I'm a bit of a personality-typing geek. (Maybe you knew that too...) I like to have labels for things, and I like to be able to explain why I do things the way I do. *shrug* Oh, self-analysis... Anyway, the system I've come across that I like best is Myers-Briggs. You're supposed to be trained if you're going to administer this properly, but you can do a cheater version here if you're interested. I'm not going to explain the four dimensions... if you care, you can look it up yourself. I'm an INTJ. I'm pretty strong on all four dimensions, so the descriptions given about this type are usually frighteningly accurate. I like this one especially. I've joked that it should be required reading for anyone who wants to talk to me. *grin* Here are some good bits.

When it comes to their own areas of expertise -- and INTJs can have several -- they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help you, and if so, how. INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don't know. 



INTJs are perfectionists, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving upon anything that takes their interest. What prevents them from becoming chronically bogged down in this pursuit of perfection is the pragmatism so characteristic of the type: INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion "Does it work?" to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake.

...many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals; for instance, they tend to have little patience and less understanding of such things as small talk and flirtation... Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense. :-) 

I... yeah. There are a lot of places I could go with that, but this post has been self-centered enough, so I'll leave it at that. You should all be thankful - I was thinking about writing an entry on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. *grin* Instead I'll tell you what you need to know: it's bad.





04/06/07--10:03: Article 16 (chan 2217813)

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Isreal, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

Jeremiah 29: 1-7, 10-14




04/12/07--22:04: Hockey, and Canada (chan 2217813)

“Nate had been born and raised in British Columbia, and Canadians hate, above all things, to offend. It was part of the national consciousness. “Be polite” was an unwritten, unspoken rule, but ingrained into the psyche of an entire country. (Of course, as with any rule, there were exceptions: parts of Quebec, where people maintained the “dismissive to the point of confrontation, with subsequent surrender” mind-set of the French; and hockey, in which any Canadian may, with impunity, slam, pummel, elbow, smack, punch, body-check, and beat the shit out of, with sticks, any other human being, punctuated by profanities, name-calling, questioning parentage, and accusations of bestiality, usually - coincidentally - in French.)” --Christopher Moore, Fluke




04/26/07--15:43: I'd like to think I would have stopped... (chan 2217813)

What do you think would happen, hypothetically, if one of the world's great violinists were to perform incognito before a traveling rush-hour audience of 1,000-odd people? 

It's a question that was asked and then investigated by Washington Post recently. The article's here. Well worth reading, as it's a beautiful piece all on its own. And then there are the videos of Joshua Bell playing in a Washington metro station, which are simply breathtaking. A fascinating experiment, which raises some very worthwhile questions. Go forth. Read. Ponder. Report back with your thoughts. *grin*


04/28/07--09:29: Since this was the best part of those books... (chan 2217813)



I'm really not sure how "spontaneous" came to be a part of this, but we're going with it 'cause... look at how big and fluffy he is! *grin*



05/14/07--21:51: Article 12 (chan 2217813)

Hi. My name is prairiesky, and I’m a feminist.

 

I realize that all of you are like, “Uh, prairie? We knew that. This isn’t news.” I see that now. And you can all just be quiet and listen to my rant.

 

Oh, but first: a picture of where I was when I had this revelation. Pretty, no? It looks like a castle from the inside, too. :D





 

I’m not a man-hater. I just need to be clear on that point. Sometimes (okay, almost constantly) I suggest that men are stupid, useless and/or incompetent, but I don’t really mean it. I only mock out of love. *grin* I do think that men have a good deal of responsibility that they don’t always live up to. Since I’ve been lucky enough to have wonderful men in my life who have proven that men are capable of being worth their salt, I tend to have expectations on the higher end of things of men in general. I also acknowledge that the status of women in North America has come a long way. I mean, as of 1929 women are officially considered to be people in Canada, so that’s good.

 

And yet…

• Even in Canada, 80% of health care employees are female, vs. 15% in management positions. (To take an example that’s personally relevant…)
• Of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty in the world, 70% of them are women.
• Women (and I know this is a generalization - the numbers are here) work more and earn less than men.  

At the same time that women produce 75 to 90 percent of food crops in the world, they are responsible for the running of households. According to the United Nations, in no country in the world do men come anywhere close to women in the amount of time spent in housework. Furthermore, despite the efforts of feminist movements, women in the core [wealthiest, Western countries] still suffer disproportionately, leading to what sociologist refer to as the “feminization of poverty,” where two out of every three poor adults are women. The informal slogan of the Decade of Women became “Women do two-thirds of the world’s work, receive 10 percent of the world’s income and own 1 percent of the means of production.”

— Richard H. Robbins, Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, (Allyn and Bacon, 1999), p. 354

 

• Over half a million women die every year in childbirth. (In sub-Saharan Africa, mothers have a 1 in 16 chance of dying in childbirth, compared to 1 in 4000 in North America.)
• In parts of Africa and the Caribbean, young women (aged 15–24) are up to six times more likely to be infected with HIV/AIDS than young men their age. (A survey of 24 sub-Saharan African countries reveals that two thirds or more of young women lack comprehensive knowledge of HIV transmission.)
• Girls are less likely to receive even a primary education than boys.

 

I could go on, but I’m sure you get the idea. Somehow, growing up, I got the idea that feminism was about the right to have any career I wanted and to be paid the same as a man doing the same job, or about marrying someone who would share the housework, or something. Those are admirable things, and I’m really not convinced that we’re there, even in Canada. Attitudes need to change. But being a feminist today - it turns out - is not about “equal rights for women” so much as it’s about “basic human rights for women”. So. 

“Never retract, never explain, never apologize; get things done and let them howl.” - Nellie McClung

 

 

Some references:

http://www.dosomething.org/tipsheets/the_8_millennium_goals

http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/WomensRights.asp

http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07.pdf




05/22/07--23:02: Projects + Sunshine = :D (chan 2217813)





Or, it doesn't yet - right now it's just some very impressive weeds - but it will. Rest assured, there will be updates on all exciting developments and major milestones. 'Cause I have a project, and it's making me very happy.

In my not-spare time, I am LOVING working in clinic. I started my first practicum two weeks ago. I've met my clients and we've started assessment. There's been lots of planning, lots of meetings, lots of lists of things to do (in colour-coded Sharpie)... I love it. This is an excellent and reassuring conclusion to come to at this point in the game. 

I'm also taking a Signed Exact English course right now. SEE is a sign system (unlike American Sign Language, which is a whole different language), so it has the same syntax and everything as English. I'm taking it because we often use it for kids who - while we expect that they'll use oral language eventually - aren't quite there yet. Sometimes they pick up signing faster, so it's a good way for them to communicate until they get the talking thing worked out.  My teacher for this course is incredibly encouraging, upbeat. It's so much fun to go to class every Tuesday night. Plus I'm learning this very cool skill! (Today I learned the sign for "dinosaur". While I can sign a lot of quite complex sentences, you can't really go wrong with something like that. *grin*)






06/04/07--19:12: Things I Love (chan 2217813)

I don’t really like any question that starts “what’s your favourite…”, mostly because they’re hard to answer. My favourites are fleeting, and I’m far too fickle to favour a fundamental few forever. (*phew*) With that disclaimer in mind, here are some things that I’m totally into right now.

1) The Good Earth Café that just opened in Edmonton. They serve fair trade coffee that’s grown in a way that doesn’t wreak havoc on the environment (or so they tell me), and good food that’s made on site. There are tons of places to sit - outside, near a window, or in a cozy back corner, depending on your preference. Their coffees are sized small, medium, large and extra large so I don’t feel like an idiot when trying to order. It’s not exorbitantly priced. The whole thing feels high-quality, but not pretentious. And the coffee seriously is good.

2) My iPod set to “shuffle”, and days when every song it plays is just exactly what I want to hear. My Dora the Explorer flashlight, and the other bits and pieces I’m collecting to put in my SLP-bag-of-necessities-and-fun-things. *grin*

3) www.storypeople.com I get a story of the day in my inbox every morning. This is one of the ones I like best so far.

One of Us

Someday, the light will shine like a sun through my skin & they will say, What have you done with your life? & though there are many moments I think I will remember, in the end, I will be proud to say, I was one of us.

4) The book of Isaiah. I’ve always liked the writing in Isaiah. Recently, I was pointed in the direction of Isaiah 58 (which is worth looking up *grin*), and so much of it rang so true that I decided to spend some more extensive time in this book. It comes at a time when Judah (and I’m making this generalization based only on the little bit I’ve read so far and the introduction to the chapter in my student Bible, so maybe don’t take me too seriously) appears to be wealthy and strong. And yet the ‘at risk’ groups in their society are being ignored and/or oppressed. The people gave God religious ceremonies and lots of words, and meanwhile they mistreated their fellow human beings.

            “ When you spread out your hands in prayer,

               I will hide my eyes from you;

            even if you offer many prayers,

               I will not listen.

            Your hands are full of blood;

               wash and make yourselves clean.

            Take your evil deeds

               out of my sight!

            Stop doing wrong,

   learn to do right!

Seek justice,

   encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

   plead the case of the widow.”                       

                                        Isaiah 1:15-17

 

5) A garden that’s full of seeds and potential. The blisters on my hands and the sunburn on my neck that are evidence of the work that went into it.

 

 

 




07/28/07--09:49: Embracing the Chaos (chan 2217813)

I have a file that sits on my desktop called "In progress." It's where I work on lj posts, and sometimes emails that I don't want to accidentally lose partway through. They sit there until I post or send them, and then get deleted. Right now it contains the beginnings of no less than three lj posts on completely separate topics, none of which I've managed to complete. *sigh*

Real life has been nuts lately. Seriously, it's ridiculous. Beginning and endings and interminglings all squished together on too little sleep and too much to do. Full of some great stories, well worth sharing, but so full that I haven't had energy or inspiration to document them here. I'm doing the transition thing right now (and you all know how I love that): yesterday I finished with school/clinic, today Ela and I are having a fabulous party that will involve nearly 20 people descending upon my house, and tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. I leave for Montreal. Less than a week after that, I'll leave the continent, but I'm not thinking about that yet. I'm excited, but there's only so much a girl can deal with at a time. *grin*

Some of you have heard about Naramata, right? It's a camp I worked at a couple summers ago. The week I worked with junior high kids that summer, we had an abnormally large group - I think there were almost 50 of them, and 5 of us. It was mayhem. Plan as you might (and we really tried), it's hard to retain order when there are fifty 12 to 14 year olds running rampant. Our motto that week became "Embrace the chaos."

You see where this is going. It's been that kind of month. This storypeople quote arrived in my inbox a couple weeks ago, and I just had to laugh: 

I'm beginning to think peace is something we made up to keep us from being satisfied with all this luscious chaos


In truth, I've found much greater peace in embracing all the luscious chaos than in trying to deny it or control it, so it works out well. Every once in a while I do manage to remember that I don't have to be in charge of everything. *grin*


That's all for me. I just wanted to say "I'm still here!" before I am no longer here. To those of you who I'll see soon, I'M COMING! I can't wait! And to those of you who are not in that group, have a lovely August, and I'll be back in the fall with more stories to share. Try to create some of your own, and we'll swap. *grin*








09/02/07--10:12: Article 8 (chan 2217813)

"Quiet Little Place"
K's Choice

In this quiet little place
I can't remember having known a different pace
In this quiet little place
I can surrender to the beauty of its face

And now everything I see
Whether it's an airplane or a tree
It makes me wonder
About the things I must have missed
And the chains around my wrists
They are no longer

In this quiet little place
I can't imagine what it's like to be back home
Where they care about what time it is
And spend their days answering the phone

And now everything I feel
Whether it's fiction or it's real
It's so much clearer
Like the color of this light
It seems more dangerous and bright
But I don't fear her

And slowly it fades, I'm back in the race
I have to fight it, I know
I don't want to go away

In this quiet little place
You run your fingers through my hair and whisper "Hey"
And no matter how I try
I can't seem to think of anything better to say




01/10/08--17:59: Just so I can say I did (chan 2217813)

Um, hi.

 <waves>

It's been awhile, and I have no creative juice at all in my body at this moment, but I need to do this so I can say it's done and get on with it. Last I spoke to you, it was July, and I was finishing up my first clinical placement and preparing to leave for Africa. Here's a highlights reel since then.

In August, I was in Malawi with wen and jowchoo, relaxing and exploring and observing and learning. There are days I wish I could go back, and I wasn't really ready to leave when I did. Without question, I left with more questions and more wanderlust than when I arrived. It was good, though. Really, really good, to get out of North America, away from school, away from speech pathology, and to discover new things about the world.

Fall semester I was in classes (with a heavy academic load), working with some clients, teaching a couple oboe students, playing in an orchestra and singing in a choir. I started going to the Catholic church on campus. I tried to keep in touch with friends. Occasionally I saw my family, although probably not very often. I was involved with small group again. Also, did I mention there's a boy in the picture? He is not the reason I didn't update my LJ, but he is the reason I grinned through most of fall semester.

Christmas was wonderful, with no practicing to do and no work to get done for the first time probably ever. I did lots of oboe-ing, ate lots, visited with family and friends, etc. All good things.

Currently, I'm finished all my coursework, and I've embarked upon my first external placement. I'm working at a traumatic brain injury rehab unit, and I LOVE it. The days go by super-quickly, and I'm learning a million things all at once. I've been coming home exhausted from all the focusing that's required of me (no daydreaming in the back row of class... *grin*), but hopefully I'll get used to it. I'm there for three months, and by the end of the placement I'll be working independently with about eight clients.

Recap over. Thanks for listening!


03/25/08--21:36: Shiny (chan 2217813)

I have nothing very insightful to say tonight. In fact, I'm not sure I have anything to say at all. However, I am supposed to be studying, and it's amazing what things suddenly become just crucial when the other option is learning more about child language development. Actually, I have a very good strategy to combat this. (19 years of education was not wasted on me, let me tell you!) So, I sit at my dining room table, books spread everywhere, trying to read something or other that's probably important. I am abruptly filled with the urge to reorganize my kitchen cupboards, or wash my floors, or go shopping. So I pull out a sticky note and write down whatever menial task I've thought of, along with anything else I can think of that I just must do right now. I keep a running list throughout the day and if, once I've finished whatever time I've set out to do, it still seems important, I can do it then.

Here is today's list:
- update LJ
- unpack from placement
- pack for upcoming trip
- take out garbage and recycling
- buy groceries
- talk to dad about Friday
- organize CDs
- wash car
- scrapbook/organize pictures
- drugstore
- budgeting
- water plants
- finish paperwork from placement

Earth-shattering stuff, I know. And those are only the things I wrote down...

Anyway. The actual purpose of this post was to update you on the current status of my life. I just finished a 12-week placement at a brain injury rehabilitation unit. I could gush extensively about how wonderful it was, because it really, really was - about as perfect a first placement as I could have asked for. I'll spare you, though. Suffice it to say that I greatly enjoyed working with this population, and I don't suck at it. And my clients - oh, my clients - were beautiful people, with beautiful families, dealing with some heartbreaking stuff, often with dignity and humour.

Right now I'm studying for my certification exam, which will happen Saturday - that's what all the nonsense at the beginning was about. Also, I am eating Easter chocolate.

Next week I'm going to go find a beach in California. And that's all you get to hear about that. *grin* When I return, I'll be starting my second placement, working with preschoolers. Eeek, preschoolers... Two whole months of preschoolers. Oh boy.


05/14/08--18:15: For the truths that still confound us (chan 2217813)

I just got in from a couple hours working in my yard. I am feeling sleepy, sore, and thoroughly satisfied. There's a lot of work to be done: there are still more weeds than wanted plants, raking to do (from the mowing I did), a compost bin to set up, some pruning and broken branches to deal with... the list goes on. And as soon as I get to the end of the list I can turn around and start again at the beginning, 'cause stuff will keep growing. It's an ongoing battle against entropy, I believe. And while that could be disheartening... Meh. I love that stuff is green and growing so much that I hardly care if it's dandelions. I might even get some vegetables planted at some point.

I love gardening on so many levels. I will list them:
1. I can talk about gardening with so many people. This includes bonding with my grandparents. Also, talking to people at church, clients, and random others with whom I might not otherwise have anything to talk about.
2. It's so good for me! (Sub-points required)
a) Vitamin D and happy, happy sunshine,
b) Exercise that doesn't even feel like exercise,
c) Fresh vegetables (eventually) to eat!
3. Planting and tending a garden feels like investing in something. I have no idea if I'll even be living in Canada when the things I plant this spring are ready to be harvested. It's easy for me to live five steps into the future, and to get swept up in the uncertainty of it all. Working in my garden helps me to 'live in the moment,' if that's your cliche of choice; it helps me focus on the things I can control, and gives me very concrete goals to work towards.
4. Lots and lots of thinking time. Working as an SLP makes me use my brain lots, but it's always very task-oriented, problem-solving kind of stuff. Gardening creates space for imagining, creating, dreaming, and thinking in less linear ways.

For the harvests of the Spirit, thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit, thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us,
for the truths that still confound us,
most of all that love has found us, thanks be to God.
- Fred Pratt Green


05/26/08--19:51: Anecdotal (chan 2217813)

Things growing in my yard:
tomatoes
basil
oregano
rosemary
chives
parsley
strawberries
zucchini
beans
peas
onions
carrots
lettuce
spinach
raspberries
rhubarb
an apple tree
potential potatoes (they're not quite planted...)
at least a dozen kinds of flowers
trees, weeds, grass, bushes

I've been seeing a 3 year old girl (let's call her Anna) for individual treatment sessions for the last couple months. They're a wonderful family, and I love working with them. Anna is really hard to understand (hence, speech therapy) and she's just started saying my name pretty clearly - not my priority of a word to work on, understand, but she likes coming to "school" and her mom likes it when she doesn't call every grown up in her life "uh-guh" which is justification enough for me - and it kind of makes me melt. I will do nearly anything for a 3 year old who calls me by name. Anyway. The point is coming. Today her mom told me that every night, when they're saying prayers before bed, she asks Anna what she's thankful for, and every night she is thankful for the slide at the park. :)

There you have it. Praise God for slides. Also, for things that grow, people who aren't missing the point, and Bach.


10/11/08--11:04: Giving Thanks (chan 2217813)

The growing season in Alberta has officially come to an end. Night and days have been getting colder and colder, and this morning I woke up to frost covering the grass for the first time. My produce has been in from the garden for about a month now, and I've been trying my hardest to use it all while it's fresh. It was a good year. Predictably, my enthusiasm in June was much greater than it was in August when there were weeds taking over, but I managed not to kill too many things. 

And now a Thanksgiving quote, from "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life" by Barbara Kingsolver.

" Wake up now, look alive, for here is a day off work just to praise Creation: the turkey, the squash, and the corn, these things that ate and drank sunshine, grass, mud, and rain, and then in the shortening days laid down their lives for our welfare and onward resolve. There's the miracle for you, the absolute sacrifice that still holds back seeds: a germ of promise to do the whole thing again, another time."


10/27/08--21:53: Sorry. Politics. (chan 2217813)

Actually, no. I'm not sorry.

Why no one with a uterus should vote for John McCain






07/18/09--11:22: Today's Journal Entry (chan 2217813)

I am sitting in the stillness of my empty house. It's becoming clean and sorted (my continuing project for today), the lights are off 'cause it's a hot day, and it's looking bare 'cause I've started to pack.

Next week at this time will be anything but quiet. Guests will be here from out of town. The girls and I will be at the salon all morning, in the centre of the bustle and activity. Light, laughter, chatter; places to be, jobs to do, keep to the schedule. It will be the culmination of a week of joyful reunions, cooking, wrapping, cleaning, preparing, planning, checking lists, and general commotion. So many people, each with their specific tasks, all headed different directions towards one common goal. The time for reflection will be over.

Next week on this day, my man and I will get married. All the people, the activity, the preparation will culminate in one Spirit-breathed ceremony. The joining together of two minds, two bodies, two spirits, two families - a joyful unity that speaks to the triumph of love over division. Everything has been pushing towards that moment, that important and lofty goal, and then - ah - a release into celebration. Food, drink, music, dancing, laughter, creation, conversation - a great coming together of people. Let us not forget that Jesus' first miracle was at a wedding banquet, and that that miracle was to turn water into wine. In a world as broken as ours, let us never underestimate the importance of communion, celebration, or a good party.

Any number of things are different from wedding to wedding, culture to culture, century to century. Marriage is by no means the only way, the best way, or the ultimate goal towards which we journey. And still, there is a sense that it is a very Good Thing, when a man leaves his father and his mother to be united to his wife, and they become one flesh.


12/11/09--09:27: Breaking News: Quirkyalone* Survives Marriage! (chan 2217813)

This evening**, I went to a parade. By myself. It was a winter lights festival kind of parade, with Christmas music and hot chocolate and lots of sparkly lights and marching bands. It reminded me of Stars Hollow, in a 'this is an American small town tradition' kind of way. It seemed like a charming thing to experience, but my husband is gone and I didn't want to take any of my proto-friends here away from time with their husbands. (Weekend husband time is valuable, in the groups I frequent.) I went anyway.

Going to restaurants and concerts and movies alone? Is for amateurs. Tonight I drifted among couples of every generation, families with young kids, and groups of teenagers. At a parade you cannot bring a book or hide in the dark. You don't mill around enough to make it look like you're on your way to meet someone somewhere else. You also don't get to explain, or carry a sign - "Don't mind me, I just moved to the area." You just have to be the kind of person who enjoys doing quirky things, with or without company. Would it have been more fun with a friend? Yes. If it was the right one. Would I have dragged Prairie-husband with me if he'd been around? Of course. But I wasn't about to miss out on a worthwhile experience - the romance of twinkling lights on a brisk November evening, Christmas spirit, and plenty of people-watching - just because I was alone. Which, in my books, is kind of the definition of a quirkyalone, regardless of marital status.

Next time, on Prairie Gets Married: A Treatise on making and eating round, flat, white foods.

* That is the quality of QA, not Prairie-the-QA, understand. It's too early to tell if my person will survive intact. *grin*
** Post originally written on Nov. 29/09, which makes it less 'breaking news,' but it took me a while to figure out why LJ wasn't letting me post this.