October 31
Yesterday,
my mom and I noticed a place on Whyte Ave called the Urban Dog, where
apparently you can buy glasses for your dog. What kind of glasses, I'm not
sure. And somehow, I get the feeling that the transient canine population would
be just as unwelcome in that store as human transients would be in a regular
Lenscrafters. In any case, we got into a conversation about the silly things
people buy for their dogs, and as it turned out, the news showed the types of
Halloween costumes you can buy at this particular store for their dogs. The
store claims to have sold about 500 dog costumes already! Apparently, some
people are buying more than one costume because they have several functions to
go to, and of course, you wouldn't want your pooch to be spotted wearing the
same outfit at all the functions. How the neighbours would talk! In fact, such
a person with the same dog costume would probably be run out of the city.
I guess
what sickens me about it is that the dog really could care less--and probably
would happier not to be sporting an embarrassing outfit, or any outfit at
all--and that the money could go to so many better causes. If you really love dogs
that much, donate it to the SPCA or a Humane Society. Take care of people:
donate it to any local charity, for that matter. Is it just me, or does anyone
else think that this dog costume business is just a telling example of the
increasing materialism in our society?
4:55 PM | Read comments (1) | Permalink
October 25
During
this year, for some reason, I've had various conversations with single
girlfriends about the problem of being single. But it's probably not what you
think. As much as we would like to be in a good relationship, we are not lying
around all day sulking about singlehood and lamenting that we haven't met
anyone yet. No, our frustration lies in other people's ideas about how we
should live our lives or feel about being single or even the patronising
attitudes people have just because we're not married.
For
example.
One of
my friends states that many people don't take her seriously and even treat her
like a child because she is single. Apparently, not being married causes her to
be less knowledgeable about life and to lack any wisdom. Instead--at least I
have found this in my case, being alone, I have frequently been able to observe
many things and learn much through these vicarious instances of life. While a
single person may not personally know the experience of being married, it
doesn't prevent that person from having all sorts of other experiences that
could provide wisdom in life.
However,
that brings me to my next point, which is that just because a person is single,
doesn't mean they can't know anything about relationships. Certainly
marriage relationships have distinguishing features from other relationships,
but there are many ways in which they are the same. A single person could figure
out the differences, although not all single people may be inclined to do so,
but it doesn't mean it is unachievable.
Another
friend of mine stated that people frequently pity her and feel the need to
invite her to things all the time because they think she must be bored and
lonely spending so much time by herself. In her case, she really enjoys being
alone, and she is able to go to a museum or out for coffee by herself without
any qualms. Some of us are not blessed with that comfort level spending time with
ourselves, but I must admit I got used to going to the movies with myself when
I lived in Mexico, and sometimes, it wasn't that bad just to curl up in the
back of a theatre and be left to your own thoughts about the movie. In any
case, while many people, single or no, feel the need to engage in activities
with at least one companion, there are many of us that are able to occupy our
alone time rather well and feel ok about it. We don't have to have a date to go
to a wedding or a company party.
I am
not on a feminist rant, believe me. I don't think that I am exactly the same as
a man, and I'm not trying to encourage anyone to stay single and be proud to be
a strong woman. If you do want to do that, I'm not here to stop you. But I know
I can function independently if I need to and that I don't need a man to
complete my life.
It is
not to say that people's acts of kindness and friendship are unwelcome, but at
least as women, we often find that we are patronised, pitied, and not taken
seriously. We value our friendships and our relationships and enjoy spending
time with others, but I guess the point is that we still have brains, and you
don't have to feel sorry for us. In fact, it may be our very good sense that
keeps us single so far!
8:54 PM | Read comments (2) | Permalink
October 18
I
like carrots a lot, but I pretty much only like them raw. The only time I want
to eat a cooked carrot is if it's in carrot cake. This is one annoying thing
about living in Canada. People love to put cooked carrots in practically
everything here. I went to a restaurant near work for lunch today, and 3/4 of
their soups had carrots. The only one that didn't have carrots was the French
onion soup, and if they had put carrots in that, I would have lost all hope for
our nation's tastebuds.
What
I've learned about my own tastebuds is that I don't like vegetables that become
sweet when they're cooked. This means carrots, parsnips, turnips/rutabegas, and
any kind of sweet potato substance. The first time I went to India, which was
when I was 5, everyone was raving about these red carrots that this guy would
come by in a cart with every day to sell. My brother went nuts over them. I
tried one, and even though it was raw, it was sweet! So I see that this trend
began when I was little, and I've only just recently identified the reason I
don't like these vegetables cooked other than just thinking I didn't like how
they taste. The reason I don't like their taste is because they're sweet. It's
strange that I should dislike them so much when I love sweet things in general,
but for some reason, I really dislike these veggies. Raw, however, I can eat
them forever.
Anyways,
what I don't get is why carrots in particular are such a popular addition to
foods here. People put them in a lot of soups and stews, and you always see
them in bags of frozen vegetables, or people will add them to their dish of
cooked vegetables if making them from fresh ones. It's just annoying, and there
are so many times when you can't just pick them out because it would be rude. I
almost wish I had an allergy to them, just so I wouldn't appear rude, but I'm
thankful that I don't have any food allergies. I know some people who have
them, and it's not fun. Still, I'm left with my cooked carrot problem. Can
anyone tell me why the novelty of cooked carrots doesn't wear out?
8:51 PM | Read comments (2) | Permalink
October 07
Just wanted to add that I've added an album with some
pics I've taken around Edmonton. Hope y'all like 'em!
7:41 PM | Read comments (1) | Permalink
October 06
I was
in Save-On Foods today picking up a few groceries, and I headed into the
Cosmetics/Skin and Hair Care section looking for hair colour. I like to just
peruse these sections quite often just to see what is there, and I did a
double-take when I read the following label: Henna
'n' Placenta Hair Treatment. I've recently tried to become more aware
of my own ecological footprint; I buy fair trade, organic products when I can,
and do my bit to reduce, reuse, and recycle. I try to buy flavoured yogurts
that are naturally sweetened or contain real vanilla beans for the vanilla
flavoured ones, not artificial flavourings. But I draw the line at placenta.
This is just disgusting. I think the only more disgusting thing is the rumours
I have heard about somewhere in the world where apparently you can eat the
placentas (placentae?) of certain animals, and this is considered a delicacy.
Can anyone's hair be dull and lifeless enough to justify the use of placenta in
it? By that point, your best bet is to get a good hair cut and try an overnight
treatment of warm coconut oil in your hair. Furthermore, you can use plain
yogurt in your hair, leaving it on as a hair mask for about 5 minutes and then
rinsing out. Both work really well to bring heavy moisture and shine back to
your hair--without having to resort to leftovers from the birthing process,
expelled by some poor woman, whom we can only hope was given a fair dosage of
demerol to reduce the pain she was going through. It must be all worth it,
though, to know that your placenta has not only nourished your newborn, but
nourished someone else's head of hair somewhere in the world. It would
certainly make going through labour that much more worth it for me. Granted, I
don't know that this placenta is derived from humans. A quick search in Google
suggests that maybe it comes from sheep. Either way, it's still gross, and I'll
stick to my traditional Indian remedies of coconut oil or yogurt!
9:49 PM | Read comments (1) | Permalink | Health and wellness
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