samsara revisited

Friday, December 23, 2011

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

winter freeze

essay/exam/essay/exam

I wish I could go into hibernation until the spring thaw

Sunday, December 4, 2011

me encanta español

Tomorrow is the final for my Spanish course and I am clearly blogging

instead of reviewing indirect object pronouns - last post, I swear

Most of the students in my class are taking Intensive Spanish for

a credit requirement or for an exchange to a spanish-speaking country.

I decided to take on a minor in Spanish because...

Manu Chao: My oh-so-european-and-knowledgeable-in-all-cool-music

high school boyfriend introduced me to this reggae superstar.

I needed to understand his clandestine lyrics.

[Just about the one good thing that came out of that relationship, hehe]

Pedro Almodóvar: I studied this filmmaker and completely fell in love

with all things Pedro! I couldn't help but become infatuated with each of his films and all of his

wildly inappropriate characters.

It's as if he's throwing all of our embedded conservative views

back in our faces, I love it!

Pablo Neruda: I came across this particular anthology of Neruda's work

when I was killing time before my shift at a restaurant. The introduction on the first

page said something about how it was impossible to do Neruda justice in translating

his work, but this was the absolute best they could offer, without dishonoring Neruda's poetry.

I loved the editor's honesty.

I have spent many sleepless nights with Viente Poemas de Amor

I understand I'm grazing the bare minimum of what the Spanish language and

culture has to offer, but I am absolutely mesmerized!

yesterday, i saw the strangest thing

Yesterday it was time to deal with the recycling that was mounting in the kitchen - the cold weather and snow is definitely not the best incentive to be tidy. Anyway, as I was sorting the trash outside, a monarch butterfly fluttered past me!

What was that silly thing doing in Ottawa in December? Shouldn't it be spreading its seed someplace in Mexico? The poor thing probably didn't get very far in this weather. It was quite odd, to say the least!

Butterfly exhibit on campus

vagina fever

Last year I decided it was time to get more involved on campus and extend my academic social circle. I auditioned for the university's production of The Vagina Monologues and landed amongst some of the most inspiring womyn I've ever met - I'm serious these were some of the baddest gals in town; intimidatingly cool, yet welcoming to everyone. For months we went over our lines - but it was so much more than building on Eve Ensler's words, we were building lifelong friendships.

We shared our own hilarious, horror, and honest vagina stories. We came from an array of academic backgrounds; journalism, neuroscience, philosophy, and some undecided. These girls were so in-tune with themselves, their sexualities and their roles as strong women.

I performed Beat, a monologue about male-to-female transgenders. It was a heavy piece and I was worried I wouldn't be able to do the original cast's stories justice, but the four of us did an incredible job. My mum travelled the five hours to support me in the performance and was moved by each of the powerful pieces.

The 2012 Vagina Monologues are underway and I am looking forward to performing The Women Who Loved To Make Vaginas Happy - although I am dying of nervousness if my mum finds herself in the audience!

If you have a minute, read-up on some of the Vagina Monologues! It's a great way to bring awareness to violence against women, while raising money to help build sexual assault centers and safe places for victims in developing countries.