Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Creeping up on 50....

Ah, so time ticks away... and I find it is less than a month until I turn 50. I am ok with that, but I am still amazed and I don't know how life has flown by so fast. My brain still thinks of me as about 30.

It's leaving me reflecting on "50's" of things.... Like 50 things I still want to do, 50 great memories from the first 50, stuff like that.

Some intial thoughts (and I may return to add to this list....)

50 THINGS I STILL WANT TO DO...

  1. See Rome
  2. See Led Zepplin live
  3. Sell a piece of my art
  4. Visit Ottawa and our national museums
  5. Visit the Artic
  6. Take the train across Canada
  7. Learn another language
  8. Take a transatlantic crossing
  9. See Gaudi architecture in Barcelona
  10. Go to the Rock of Gibralter
  11. See Moscow's awesome subway stations
  12. See a rock concert at Madison Square Gardens or the o2 in London (or both ;-)
  13. Make a difference in this world
  14. See the Bay of Fundy
  15. See Michael Angelo's David - to witness what the amazing efforts in WWII to save it gave us
  16. Visit Amsterdam
  17. Go to the Sydney Opera House
  18. Visit Normandy and the Canadian memorial
  19. Take an overnight train in Europe - lie in bed being rocked by the train...
  20. A carriage ride around Central Park
  21. Have nude portraits taken
  22. Get a tattoo of my own art
  23. Show my art at a show or in a cafe or something
  24. Go through the Chunnel
  25. Visit Checkpoint Charlie

50 GREAT MEMORIES.(or some just interesting...)...
  1. Paris - sitting outside on the 1st level, journalling and reflecting on all that got me to that point - and just enjoying BEING IN PARIS!!
  2. Celebrating my 30th and Carol's 40th in San Francisco...
  3. One especially sexy man
  4. Breaking a board with my bare hand
  5. Seeing Aretha Franklin at Radio City Music Hall
  6. The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh
  7. Discovering that I have an amazing talent for doodling (who knew?!?!)
  8. Waiting for the Dalai Lama to speak in a stadium when the audience broke out in spontaneous singing of "Oh Canada!"
  9. Going back to Kamloops for my 20 year high school reunion
  10. My very first record album: George Harrision - All Things Must Pass
  11. Listening to Who's Next as a teenager, the volume blasting, and me sitting outside on the curb trying to look cool
  12. The jade ring my mom gave me as a teenager -- I had received the stone as a young tyke when I wrote a letter to the man who came to town to show off his jade saddle
  13. The experience of producing Tommy in Grade 11
  14. Having my picture taken with an elephant when I was about 6 (ok, I don't remember, but I remember the pic!)
  15. Going to my very first film festival in my 40's - I think I saw 20 films in 2 weeks!
  16. Hurling over the handlebars of my sister's bike when I was about 8, knocking out my front teeth
  17. The first time I felt flattered to be asked for ID
  18. Having lunch with Sophia Loren
  19. Going to the Live Earth concert in New York
  20. Visiting Chamonix - and getting light headed at the top of the Gondola
  21. Summers in Whistler with Kelly
  22. Speaking at a conference in Geneva - not so much the "accomplishment", but it was such a great experience - being flown there for free, and such a small and interesting group of delegates -- out for dinner with two dozen people from a dozen countries
  23. My very first apartment
  24. My first car
  25. The day I sold my last car and decided to never own one again
  26. Housesitting the cat from hell
  27. The 3 months I spent in Halifax
  28. Being in Queen Elizabeth Park when a man began singing (practicing?) opera at the top of his lungs
  29. The 1888 house I lived in: converted attic with skylights, sunken floor, tin roof and totally private balcony
  30. My first university class - a mix of 18-88 - discussing ethics - I loooved it
  31. Expo 86
  32. The time I wore 2 different coloured shoes to work
  33. Seeing the Who - wow... and ZZ Top, and The Rolling Stones ... and Stevie Wonder... and Eric Clapton...
  34. Getting picked up on a street corner - and going for it!
  35. When I proved to myself that I could flirt
  36. Getting my first tattoo
  37. Street lights around my rice crispies
50 THINGS I APPRECIATE
  1. Patti's art
  2. Patti
  3. My mom's huggles
  4. My mom
  5. My brother's generosity
  6. My brother
  7. Sweet memories of Carol Leigh
  8. Grey Goose
  9. Avacados
  10. Art
  11. Being a Canadian
  12. Kakuro
  13. Purple
  14. Kindness
  15. Really good coffee
  16. All the people who have touched my life
  17. My sense of humour
  18. Learning to like hockey
  19. Swimming
  20. Books
  21. The awesome Vancouver Public Library - it lifts my spirits
  22. Bucky Beaver!
  23. That I actually did write a book
  24. That Vancouver is my home
  25. My creativity
  26. New York City!!
  27. That I like my own company
  28. The CBC
  29. 2nd hand book stores
  30. Being comfortable in my own skin
  31. Documentaries
  32. That life is a learning process that never ends
  33. Having my assumptions shaken up
  34. Learning something new
  35. Smart people
  36. History - and I appreciate that I appreciate history!
  37. The breakwater in Victoria
  38. Coincidences
  39. The Starbuck's team in my building - who make my drink without me saying a word
  40. The Sunday New York Times
  41. Doodling
To be honest, thinking about these things also has me thinking about the saddest moments in my life, and difficult times that I somehow got through. I'll save those for a private journal, but this is a GOOD process to go through.
;-)

Monday, August 18, 2008

a fresh look for my blog

and maybe some fresh thinking too.... I love all the gadgets can get now, trying them out...

Also setting up a "beepdoodles" blog to do something with all these wonderful doodles I am creating these days... http://beepdoodles.blogspot.com/















;-)

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Interviews with Malika





I have just finished reading "La Prisonniere" by Malika Oufkir. It's also titled "Stolen Lives". I'm about to read her second book, "Freedom".


It was an interesting coincidence (or was it??) that when in NYC recently buying shoes, the salesperson helping me was from Morocco and knew the story, but had not read the book, so we had quite the interesting chat about it, and her life in Morocco.

Also found these audio interviews with Malika, worth holding onto for me, as it seemed important to me to hear her voice: http://www.eyeonbooks.com/ibp.php?ISBN=0786886307

Travelling the world through books

Stumbled across this today, a woman who is intentionally travelling the world through the books she reads. I love the idea and wanted to hold onto the link while reflecting on the idea more. http://laura0218.livejournal.com/

Sunday, March 09, 2008

My continued reinvention...


... of my blog, and of my life.
Made even funnier by the fact that when I tried to post this, somehow my settings had changed to Hindi and I couldn't read what I was posting! Got that figured out... lol

On my mind:


  • I have lost 95 pounds

  • I have achieved another personal goal I have been working towards for 5 years

  • I am going to NYC in a week!
This NYC trip includes:


  • Aretha Franklin at Radio City Music Hall

  • NY Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Gardens

  • A seat on the stage for Xanadu (what was I thinking??lol)

Somehow I have been thinking of spring, but I figure I'd better check the NYC weather forcast...


Now, I gotta go buy some jeans that aren't falling off me!