Happy New Year!

New Year's Resolutions, and other promises we are not likely to keep.

Hey All,

It is that time of year where we all make promises to ourselves for changes - most often to better our lives.
Some of us keep them - most of us don't. Some of us don't even bother to think them up, knowing that they will not be fullfilled - most of us do make them with the best of intentions in the first month of so of our new endeavours.

Here is my list of promises to self:

- Learn Spanish. After two trips to Cuba, I have become curious enough about the native language and the conversations that were happening around me to want to know what they are saying. Plus, it is always fun to learn new things.

- Remain debt-free. I am officially debt free at the moment (the fine print to this resolution is the purchase of a house or a car). But, the point is paying bills on time, staying on top of credit cards, etc etc.

- Get back to my original Downhome weight. With the help of my new Wii Fit Plus - this should not be too hard. Also, with the other two following resolutions.

- Go to the gym at least 3 times a week. 3 is the LEAST - I have been paying for a gym membership for 3 years now I am too embarrassed to tell you how many of those days it has not been used. :S.

- Cut out junk food. Junk food includes all things that are not made under my own roof. To maintain control of the ingredients going into my body at all times.

- Correct my posture. Something that has gotten progressively worse since the car accident.

- Finally get my license. This is something that I have been putting off, and have started to do several times, includeing completeing the first 1/2 of driving school. Now is time to get it done.


Now, that may seem like a long list - but I see it as much being a realistic set of goals. All with a common theme to better myself and make my body feel better.

I am just striving to make myself and my life better. There are minor adjustments as well - cut out negativity, get less caught up in drama, make changes to my life to create less stress, be happy, show those I love that I love them, get better at making decisions (especially when those decisions may be of a selfish nature).

I think every person wishes to make themselves just a little bit better, make life a little bit easier, enjoy things just a little bit more. We are our own worse critics - and our ambitions are our own. The challenge is to have the mind set and dedication to successfully make changes, big and small. And hence RESOLVE our current set backs and go into the New Year with a sense of motivation and ambition.

Happy New Year - and I wish you all  the best of luck in all of your endeavours.

Drunk Driving and the Holidays.

***inspired by CBC POV***

Public Service Announcements, radio commercials, tv commercials, and art imitating life are not tools that will prevent a person from drinking and driving.

This blog is coming at an appropriate time of a hightened number of drunk drivers on the road, ruining all the fun and making the roads dangerous for the average celebrator who would like to be able to drive home from an evening meal at Grandma's house - without being clipped and killed by Johnny Bing Drinker.

At 2 pm this afternoon we drove past 2 so-slow-they-must-be-drunk drivers and 1 guy peeing in the middle of a two lane street, on a hill, in broad daylight, with cars zipping by. Want to know how many cop cars we drove past from St. John's to Spainyards Bay? ZERO. A big fat zero.

Also, driving from the movie theatre and around the outskirts of the city, looking at Christmas lights, straight through the Downtown on a Saturday night - ZERO cop cars (with the exception of the Paddy Wagon sitting on Duckworth which is always there).

THE ONLY WAY to make drunk drivers stop driving drunk - is to patrol.

To put them straight in jail.

None of this, suspended license (they can just get a cab).
No revoked licenses (again - cab or bus)

THREE times you can drive drunk before you are put in jail! Just think of the ratio of people who are out there driving around on strike one! Or driving without a licenses!!! (because if you are driving drunk - you are surely stupid enough to drive without a license - I mean - they are both breaking the law).

You can't threaten these people with stories of injuries of others (they are too self-absorbed and selfish for that). You can't threaten these people with stories of committing their own death (they don't feel as though they are in any harm - or wouldn't be doing it in the first place - proven by the self absorption that was mentioned above).

You need to threaten their living life - you need to patrol like mad and put them straight in jail. Hence, losing their job, their girlfriend or boyfriend, friends (if they are against drunk driving), home (if they are renting - due to missed payement from being in jail - and lack of payment because of lost job). Punish them in a way that matters.

Threaten their very life as they know it. Then - when they are considering saving the money of getting a cab home there will be no contest.

And do it like wildfire - get out there and arrest dozens of them in a weekend and broadcast their names and the number of catches all over the local news.

Because, lets face it. There will always be people out there pushing the limits, acting irresponsibly. But the goal of the police force ought to be to limit the number of people who are inflicting their lack of responsibility onto us.

The innocent.
The smart.
The fed-up.

When a normal person's holiday plans include making procautions for drunk drivers - things need to change.

Converse Is/Are Awesome! ♥

So this post has been long coming - my love affair with Converse and anything that have to do with Converse needs to be fully disclosed. (Although anyone who knows me well is already privvy to this information).

It all started with my significant other. He has been a die hard fan of the Converse brand his whole life (there are WAAAYYY dated pictures to prove it). One Star suede low-cuts were the standard, as well as the classic black high top Chucks. It is his defining fashion staple - he is known for it - and probably will be his whole life.

I jumped on board WAAAYYYYY later. For a few reasons. 1) I am still not a huge fan of the One Star low cuts - and due to the selection of Converse that were available in this province up until recently - they were the only things available for a long time (pre-Ebay of course). Which brings me directly to my next reason for being late on the fashion freight train 2) the utter lack of exposure and selection of the Converse brand here in NL. The shops out in Burin were filled to the hilt for Diadora, Umbro, Adidas, Nike.....but Converse were not an option. So I missed the earlier marketing flood of the Chucks. 3) I didn't want to seem like a poser. I fought with myself for a really long time about if I liked the sneakers because they were a part of the skate/punk culture I am a part of. I wore Vans religiously, of all styles for the longest time because I had myself convinced that The Con was my boyfriends show choice, not mine, and I was being swayed.

Then.....In the 20 year cycle of fashion started to kick in. And when I travelled I started stumbling on girl Cons. With skulls, and birds, and broken hearts. In purple, pink, aqua, rainbow, houndstooth, pinstripes. As it got closer to the resuragence mark of that era of fashion - the more options there were.


Now - I am in love with them! Converse sandals, dresses, shirts, hoodies, and most importantly....Chucks.

These are my most recent addition:

Misinformation in an age of information.

It is not until you are in an environment that has a controlled information source, like Cuba, that you realise that opinions are still,very often, formed by mouth to mouth conversation.

Hearty debates and conversation are all well and good in an atmosphere where you can fact check if you feel as though what you are told may be incorrect or twisted for effect by the teller. But, when you are in a place where internet access is nil, television content is monitored, and books are controlled for content, you have to be aware that the information you are giving is quite realistically the "be all and end all" of the awareness that the person you are talking to has on the subject.

Why am I babbling about this?

While I was in Cuba - time and time again I heard my fellow Canadians tell tales and give information that was in all senses of the word - incorrect and even to some extent, ignorant.

I am of the opinion that if you don't know what you are talking about - shut up. If you don't have the information or the facts to give a source of information to a person who doesn't know the difference than you should not be talking about the given subject.

Being schooled and forever interested in Architecture, I feel as though I know a thing or two about it - so when I approached our lobby bar one morning and heard someone (judging by their accent, from Ontario somewhere) tell the bartender who was listening with their mouth hanging open, that they were facinated by Havana because Canada has NO OLD BUILDINGS IN IT, I was appalled.

First of all - the bartender obviously thought that we were living in a new age enviornment, stark of history or culture, and then was of the opinion that Canada has only new facades and skyscrapers dotting its landscape in the way that someone from North America would picture New York. Which is completely incorrect.

Quebec is filled with old buildings! Ontario's neighbour. With a dozen or more, still standing structures that were built is the 1600's.

The oldest church in North America is rumoured to be right here in Newfoundland - located in Carbonear.

Anyway, before I get too carried away with the subject - I guess I am airing another pet peeve. It happens all the time, all around us, and it is probably the cause of origin for the saying:

"Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see"

Blackberry Blog

So, being part of the Blackberry nation - I do completely understand how it changes behaviour. When you have the capability to take pictures, send emails, chat, blog, tweet, facebook stalk, surf and play games all at the tip of your finger tips - it is very easy to fall into a habit of using it all the time no matter what is going on around you.

My personal tool of social offense - Blackberry Storm

However, the week I spent in Toronto at one of the most massive Expos I have ever laid eyes on, I witnessed first hand that there downfalls to that Blackberry oblivion - where we feel as though it is perfectly acceptable to be standing with your head down and your fingers flying a mile a minute while surrounded by thousands of ACTUAL people - most of which ACTUALLY want to talk to you about what you are ACTUALLY standing next to.

Maybe it is the sales person in me - or maybe it is the ex-manager in me - but.....if I were a business owner who had paid what it took to get into this one particular expo, and the salary of the person in it - I would be SUPER peeved to have them standing on my sqaure of carpet with their head down in Blackberry land.

Time and time again at this event I passed booth after booth with people in it who were not willing to pay attention to anything that is going on around them. Business opportunities were passing them by over and over again and patrons walked in and around their products, waited a second or two, and then when they felt ignored and no engagement of any sort had happened - they picked up a business card and a free pen and walked away. Time and time again people gave the impression that you were intruding upon their busy lives with your questions.

Now, Blackberry's are not all bad - after all their entire marketing personality is that they are supposed to the ultimate tool for the busy business person. Making available multiple email accounts, and contact book that provides extra lines for position and company in your files, Microsoft office, and many tools geared towards business to start and countless apps for news, stocks, banking, accounting, and keeping sales contacts organized. Which makes it kinda of ironic to see it being the tool of detriment to some of these businesses when in the hands of someone with a less than stellar work ethic.

It is not ENTIRELY the works fault, the progress of society is to make allowance for Blackberry Behavior. We walk around those walking into our paths while reading or writing in motion, we turn our heads from loud conversations at the table next to us in a nice restaurant, we share our information so that we can participate in the rapid fire information and gaming that goes on all around us that used to be restricted to our homes.

Times - they are a changing - it is just hard to figure out sometimes if it is for better or worse.

*eek*

I could not help noticing the stricking resemblance - which is why I had to take a picture of this while I was in Cuba.

After looking at the evidence - I can only conclude - that Roly Poly has drifted through the ages - only to land in my Significant Others house as his beloved childhood toy.

:S

Viva Cuba!

So - as you all may know, I took a trip to Cuba with my Significant Other exactly this time last year - and made the mistake of booking through Air Canada Vacations (update to that saga later). What you may NOT know, is that we decided to do it again this year.

This time we commuted to Ottawa to spend time with friends and family, and started our week of relaxation and romance with Sunwing Vacations our of Ottawa.

It. Was. Great!

The flight started with swing music and champagne. Followed by a movie, small wrapped hot towels, great food and drinks all included in the flight.

We flew into Cuba without incident, smooth landing, nice airport, and a bus awaited us, expecting our arrival (key difference from our last landing).

We started a beautiful ride from Varadero to Jibacoa on a comfortable bus.

Crossing bridges, driving by couples holding hands, filled busstops, goats, chickens, bulls, horses, gorgeous flowers, palm trees, people selling thier wares to passing vehicles, eagles, turkey vultures, cows, billboards yelling about revolution, street signs, sculptures, and a breathtaking landscape. Bliss.

We drove to the base of a mountain and turned into what was to be our home for the next 7 days. Breezes Jibocoa. A pastel oasis. With its own mountain, coral reef, little villas, huge swimming pool, white sand beach, 4 restaurants, and a chalet that would put a ski resort to shame. It was stunning.

The view from the mountain lookout.

The chalet from the Piano Bar Level.

Our room was in a little villa right next to the beautiful pool. It had a giant king size bed with lots of pillows, satellite t.v., complimentary cigars and chocolate, and huge double glass doors making you feel like one with the beautiful scenery outdoors even when you were inside.

We had great neighbours who we shared good stories, tasty drinks, smokey cigars and a few meals with. They were from BC and a refreshing change from the "Lost in Translation" experience we had last year at our resort.

There were lots of great places to eat; a cuban restaurant, and italian restaurant that you needed to make reservations for and last (but not least) a buffett restaurant with ever changing themes from cuban, to mexican, to seafood night, and french - it was consistantly delicious and the waitstaff were always on the ball with fresh squeezed orange juice in the moring and delectable red and white wine in the evening. There was a beach restaurant as well that had the best fresh cut french fried we had ever tasted. Yum.

There were random creatures hanging around the resort adding to its charm and beauty.

The foliage was colorful and stunning.

And awe inspiring sunsets.

Even though it was unnessary in every way, shape, and form - we left the resort to go on a dat trip to Havana. It was interesting, informational, and fun. It put everything into perspective as to why the people of Cuba live the way they do and are perfectly happy doing so.

Here are some of the shots from the Colonial Tour we took:

The drinks were always great, the people were always friendly, and we would love to go back there again as soon as possible.

We finished off our last day there with an Irish Specialty Coffee and an unexpected visitor.

Geek is the New Chic.

Lately I have been obessed with the site http://www.thinkgeek.com/. I love it. It brings out the inner nerd in all of us, even if we are not willing to admit it.

It has interesting things such as, astronaut ice cream,

The Rock, Paper, Sissors, Lizard, Spock T-Shirt,

and even a Space Invaders cutting board. check it all out.