Blog Break

I'm taking a wee blog break.

Be back soon.

It's all about me

A friend took me out to buy new shoes but I just had to stop in Chapters to have my photo taken under this sign. Click for song.

ALS on Broadway

JANE FONDA, it’s hard to believe, is 71. While the rest of us have just about managed one life, she’s had half a dozen.
These days Ms. Fonda is revisiting an earlier incarnation, Broadway actress, and next month she will star in “33 Variations,” written and directed by Moisés Kaufman, almost 50 years (46 if you want to be fussy) after she last appeared on Broadway, in “Strange Interlude” with Geraldine Page.
“Variations” is about a woman who is in many ways the complete opposite of Ms. Fonda — someone who has shut down and is out of touch with herself. Ms. Fonda plays a character named Katherine Brandt, a musicologist who is suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and is determined before she dies to solve the mystery of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations: why he spent the last years of his life obsessing over an ever-expanding set of variations on a waltz theme, written by the music publisher Anton Diabelli, that was clunky and banal. Beethoven called it a schusterfleck, or so the story goes — a cobbler’s patch. (Beethoven is a character in the play, along with his assistant, Anton Schindler, but his music is played offstage by Diane Walsh.)

1947

From left to right starting at back:

My uncle, my Mum and me(the cute little one), 2 family friends.

My Dad, twin cousins Janet & Judy, my sister Cheryle, a family friend and his daughter. 

I wish I could remember something from those days but I have a hard time recalling what I did yesterday. I know I was loved and that's really all I need to know.

Click on picture if you want to enlarge it to see how beautiful we all were. LOL.

The Granville Bridge 5AM

Why would anyone take, and heaven forbid, upload such a dreary photo? Well, when you're up at 5:30 with nerve pain in your foot you start to look for distractions. I used my camera lens to browse the early somewhat silent city. I found it interesting to see who and what was up and about. I always wonder, where is that taxi going? Who is on the bus and where do they work or live? What about the homeless sleeping under the bridge? What are their stories? --and the neon sign welcoming everyone to the market. Is there anyone down there setting up their vegetable and fruit stands? Can you smell freshly brewed coffee at 5:30 A.M.?--or the aroma of blueberry scones and morning glory muffins rising in the big commercial ovens? You see, there are many tales to tell in every photo. You simply must look closely and ponder the possibilities.

Why are they always on the bottom shelf?

Aren't you happy you stayed home for Christmas?

Tourists take photos of each other in the flooded Piazza San Marco in Venice December 1, 2008. Large parts of Venice were flooded on Monday as heavy rains and strong winds lashed the lagoon city, with sea levels at their highest level in 22 years. Ferry and water taxi services in the city were suspended and Venice's mayor urged people to stay indoors. Tourists and residents struggled to get across the city over raised walkways. The Centro Maree, which forecasts water levels, said sea levels in the Adriatic rose 1.56 meters (5.1 ft) - a level not seen since 1986. (REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri)

Sarah

Many of you who follow my blog will recall a post I did on Sarah in England who has ALS. This is a new photo of her adventuring out with her friend, sporting a wonderful talking tool called XP1.

"I can mount it on my wheelchair and finally talk to people when out. I've had great success at the bank and doctor so far. Hooray!!!"

Her smile relays the joy of regaining the ability to communicate--something we take for granted.

Sarah recently filmed a short with the MND association drawing attention to ALS-- how it ravages one's body. 

For those who are interested in the speaking device check this link.

Happy Valentine's Day

A valentine song sent with love

How lucky am I? 4 members of the Westcoast Harmony Chorus came to my place and sang, "What a Wonderful World."  Beautiful voices of Lisa, Nancy, Margie and Barbara harmonized with the perfect backdrop for the song. This was a gift from 4 great friends for Valentine's Day and I loved every minute of it.

Writer's block

I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one with writer's block. Cochin in Scotland just bats his pen around and can't seem to get his ideas down on paper. Perhaps we both need a holiday somewhere warm to kick-start our creative side. Cochin did start writing a history book once: "The Mice of Dumfries." I'm sure it would have been a best seller. 

All's well

Not much new to report after ALS Clinic visit. No one is sure why I'm wheezing so will have a chest x-ray. Breathing score is still good. Having most of my medication changed to hopefully reduce oedema and nerve pain and improve sleep.
I met the new social worker and had a discussion about end of life decisions, DNR, venting, PEG, etc. Learned some interesting stuff. I like to be prepared.
Beautiful day here in Vancouver--sunshine, calm waters and new snow on mountains. Having ALS is bad but life is still good.

Torvill and Dean

Performing the Bolero

Click here.

I'm very tired

Click on picture to enlarge--you can do this on any photo in a main post on my blog.

Meinhardt's Deli

You gotta love this place! Always warm and helpful people, mood-lifting beautiful flowers and yummy food. I was there yesterday and took these photos from across the street at the Red Door Cafe. I love flowers sooo much as does a friend of mine who shares a liking for Minehardt's roast beef sandwich as well. I bought some salmon Wellington, spicy green beans and bread pudding. What a feast!
It was very cold out and I soon realized that I'm not able to move my fingers apart on my left hand. Paralysed muscles. They refused to go into the glove. After a little argument with them I decided to grin and 'bare' it. lol. If you hear about a lady talking to her fingers on Granville street--that was me! Despite the body parts not working it was fun to motor through the line-up at the Stanley Theatre, freeze my --- off and come home with treats.
A sad song about flowers made funny.

We Should Dance

Life Is Too Short.
Break The Rules, Forgive Quickly,
Kiss Slowly, Love Truly,
Laugh Uncontrollably,
And Never Regret Anything
That Made You Smile.
Life May Not Be The Party
We Hoped For,
But While We're Here, We Should Dance...

Brothers and youngest sister.

I've been ignoring my younger siblings on this blog so decided to introduce them. Ken, Malcolm and Heather. They'll be thrilled about this photo. LOL.

Shopping on South Granville

When you live alone and decide to go shopping, make sure you always take 2 friends to carry your stuff, laugh at lunch, be your street crossing guards and take your photo. That's what I did yesterday and my friends were real sports. It was a great time.

Baseball Raises Awareness July 4th

On July 4, the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's immortal "luckiest man on the face of the earth" speech, Major League Baseball will help fight the disease that bears the name of its doomed hero.

In 15 home ballparks that day, baseball will seek to raise money and awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S., known as Lou Gehrig's disease, which currently has no cure.

The event is the brainchild of Michael Goldsmith, 57, a law professor in Utah, who was given what he calls a "death sentence" in September 2006, the ominous signs of A.L.S.

My dream

Who needs a wheelchair?

Poor turkey--poor us.

Life then and now

I look uncomfortable sitting on those huge double tires. My big sister is trying to comfort me but my leg is stuck, the sun is in my eyes and it doesn't look like I've got any pants on for goodness' sake!! On top of all that I've got a double chin!--and I think I've got problems now.
Well, through the years I've had my ups and downs and perhaps would have jumped back then if I knew life would be so challenging-- but I didn't, and here I am today writing in my study, after motoring up Granville Street on my power chair, and thinking about how I've managed so many hurdles and still flying on my own.
Click here for one of my all time favorite songs.

Britannia Writers' Group

Many of you have heard how much I enjoy writing and the friendships I have formed within my writing group. The members are not only creative writers, they are inspiring people.
On Saturday, we, The Britannia Writers' Group, celebrated our 3rd anniversary with a wonderful potluck lunch, fine wine and laughter at my apartment.
I'm grateful to Anne Rayvals and many others who have encouraged me to write--not for fame or money(although that would be nice) but for the sheer satisfaction of storytelling.

Female philosophers

It took some looking to find a female philosopher mentioned among the great. Out of 43-- I found 2. This is the earliest and far ahead of her time. It must have been a lonely road to travel back then. I wish I could thank her for helping women's struggle for equality and respect.

Mary Wollstonecraft
(1759-1797)
A self-taught native of London, Mary Wollstonecraft worked as a schoolteacher and headmistress at a school she established at Newington Green with her sister Eliza. The sisters soon became convinced that the young women they tried to teach had already been effectively enslaved by their social training in subordination to men. In Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787) Wollstonecraft proposed the deliberate extrapolation of Enlightenment ideals to include education for women, whose rational natures are no less capable of intellectual achievement than are those of men.

Following a period of service as a governess to Lord Kingsborough in Ireland, Wollstonecraft spent several years observing political and social developments in France, and wrote History and Moral View of the Origins and Progress of the French Revolution (1793). Her A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790) is a spirited defense of the ideals of the Revolution against the conservative objections of Burke. Upon her return to England, she joined a radical group whose membership included Blake, Paine, Fuseli, and Wordsworth. Her first child, Fanny, was born in 1795, the daughter of American Gilbert Imlay. After his desertion, she joined the radical activist William Godwin, a long-time friend whom she married in 1797. Wollstonecraft died a few days after the birth of their daughter, Mary (who later married Percy Bysshe Shelley and wrote Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus and other novels).

Wollstonecraft's lasting place in the history of philosophy rests upon A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). In this classical feminist text, she appealed to egalitarian social philosophy as the basis for the creation and preservation of equal rights and opportunities for women. The foundation of morality in all human beings, male or female, is their common possession of the faculty of reason, Wollstonecraft argued, and women must claim their equality by accepting its unemotional dictates. Excessive concern for romantic love and physical desirability, she believed, are not the natural conditions of female existence but rather the socially-imposed means by which male domination enslaves them. The posthumously-published Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman develops similar themes in a fictional setting, by showing that the plight of working women differs little from imprisonment.

When is Spring?

It's a little cold still. Any chance of warmer weather soon?

February

Events in February

Groundhog Day: February 2 United States and Canada
National Foundation Day in Japan: February 11
Valentine's Day: February 14
Flag Day of Canada: February 15
Presidents Day (United States, third Monday)
Dominican Republic Independence: February 27
Liberation Day (Kuwait) February 26
Leap Day: February 29 (Every 4 years, with some exceptions)
Black History Month (Canada and United States)