Many people have lost all faith in the UN, and in international organizations in general. I understand the reasons why - I've just finished reading Shake Hands with the Devil, Romeo Dallaire's account of his role in the UN's mission to Rwanda during the genocide in the mid 1990s. However, I have recently been reminded of the good accomplishments the UN makes and I'd thought I'd share. A blog called Democracy Arsenal list 10 things the UN does well. And while I don't agree with all of the items on the list, a few stand out for me, particularly aid to refugees and fighting AIDS.
I first saw this list on the AIDS Matters newsletter.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Feeling human again...
Camping was exactly what I needed. I feel refreshed, rejuventated, and happy. And broke, but hey, it was worth it. Shelley and I drove down to Drumheller Friday afternoon. It was a lovely ride, I managed to stay awake, and we just chit-chatted all the way there. Once we arrived, we realized rather quickly that we are both camping snobs with extremely high expectations of the camping experience. We are both used to camping in pristine, secluded, private, quiet, wild, campgrounds. There is nothing of the sort to be found in Drumheller. We spent as much time driving around the area than we did to get there in the first place just trying to find a suitable campground. There were massive, crowded RV and trailor parks, but nothing tailoring to tenters. After deliberating whether or not we should turn around and drive to the mountains, we decided that we could suck it up and make the best of what we had in Drumheller. So we settled for a nice patch of grass along the Red Deer River at Pinters Campground. We called this home for the remainder of the long weekend.
We were both completely and utterly exhausted by the time we had everything set up. I built a top-notch fire which we enjoyed for no more than an hour before collapsing in bed. Of course neither one of us slept that night - we had hooligan drunken neighbors that wouldn't shut up all night. It wouldn't have been so bad, but they were a girl's rugby team and spent half the night talking about the butchy lesbians on their team and just being assholes about it. Homophobic bastards. Geez. On top of that, Casper felt the need to sleep on top of my legs the whole night. So did Shelley. Needless to say, I woke up cranky, tired, and very stiff.
Shelley wasn't much happier. But she cooked me a wonderful breakfast, and we decided to make the most of the day. So we packed up a lunch and hopped in the truck and headed out to sight see. First stop - the public swimming pool for a shower (they sell them for $1). They were closed. Damn. Then it was off to Fields to buy be a hat to cover my horrific hair. I took my camera out to take a picture only to find my camera batteries were dead. Then it was off to the IGA to buy new ones. By this time the comedy of errors actually became funny, and our bad moods turned into good ones.
So by the time we made it to the Hoodoos, we were in high spirits. Of course when I see a mountain I need to climb it, so rather than sitting around saying "well ain't that pretty", we put Casper on her leash and climbed the big hill behind the hoodoos. We had a blast, especially Casper, who acted like she had died and gone to doggy heaven. It was steep, and I was only wearing my sandals. At one point I lost my footing and started sliding down the hill. I called out to Shelley "I'm fine! I'm just falling down the hill!" with shreaks of laughter. She laughed at me from the top of the hill. It was a hoot!
Later that afternoon we drove across the 11 bridges to Wayne to see the Last Chance Saloon. We weren't all that impressed by it, but were rather intrigued by the group of lesbians camping out there! We drove on further to another little town and wandered through an old school that had been converted into a museum. The woman working there had all sorts of stories to tell about "the old days" and the mining families and what it was like growing up there during the war. It was fun, and we spent a lot of time speculating about how different our lives would've been back then.
We then headed off further down the road to tour the old Atlas Coal Mine. It is the only all-wooden mine left in Canada. We got to climb up the timble and see how they sorted the coal, and the horrible conditions they had to work under. We learned all about how eastern Europeans came to the Drumheller valley to escape the wars and hardships so common there in the early 1900s. We were told about how each little village had it's own ethnicity (one was Polish, another Hungarian, another Ukranian), but how at work in the mine you could hear all the languages. We heard stories of men who worked for up to 9 years to save enough money to bring their wives and families to Canada, and how they kept themselves in the company of miners' daughters in the meantime. We learned about how it was a real boomtime in the valley during WWII, and then how mines started slowly closing down as natural gas became more popular. Now, these once lively villages are nothing but ghost towns.
After such a full day, we got back to our campsite hungry and looking forward to a quite night, which we got, thank God. I made a fantastic supper on the fire, and we sat and started into the flames all night long......sigh....
While Saturday was all about the coal and the history of the valley, Sunday was about the dinosaurs. We went to the Royal Tyrrell Museum first thing, and spent a good three hours there. We had a lot of laughs, teasing each other and imitating the dinosaurs, and looking at all the cute chidlren, daydreaming about the day when we get to have our own. It was pretty fantastic. After a nice lunch back at the tent, we headed out for a hike through the badlands. It was sooooo hot, but we walked for a good couple of hours. We saw a coyote (fortunately Casper didn't). It was a nice walk, although I was soooo tired.
Poor Casper was tormented the whole weekend. There was a baby beagle there named Jeremy who looooooved Casper. Casper tends to eat other dogs, so she stayed on a long leash the whole time. Jeremy knew to stay away, but he would come just close enough to Casper to drive her nuts. It was so funny watching them. In fact, one morning, while we were still sleeping, Jeremy was scratching out the outside of the tent, and poor Casper jsut howled! Shelley and I were hysterical. It was so funny. There also two yellow labs, both puppies, who enjoyed Casper, as well as her food. Jeremy just wanted to be involved in all the doggy activities. The labs were wrestling with each other, and Jeremy came leaping towards them with a both in her mouth, an you could just imagine him saying "can i play? can I play? I brought my own ball". I guess you had to be there....
Anyway, after a quick stop at Reptile World to admire all the frogs (love 'em), turtles (love 'em) and snakes (hate 'em), it was time to head home. We stopped at Horseshoe Canyon for a look on the way out. Turns out you can climb down into the canyon, and of course we couldn't resist that opportunity! And I slept all the way home. Poor Shelley.
The weekend was amazing for us. We somehow have a way of just laughing through all of our stresses. We were just so connected the whole time.....fantastic.
We were both completely and utterly exhausted by the time we had everything set up. I built a top-notch fire which we enjoyed for no more than an hour before collapsing in bed. Of course neither one of us slept that night - we had hooligan drunken neighbors that wouldn't shut up all night. It wouldn't have been so bad, but they were a girl's rugby team and spent half the night talking about the butchy lesbians on their team and just being assholes about it. Homophobic bastards. Geez. On top of that, Casper felt the need to sleep on top of my legs the whole night. So did Shelley. Needless to say, I woke up cranky, tired, and very stiff.
Shelley wasn't much happier. But she cooked me a wonderful breakfast, and we decided to make the most of the day. So we packed up a lunch and hopped in the truck and headed out to sight see. First stop - the public swimming pool for a shower (they sell them for $1). They were closed. Damn. Then it was off to Fields to buy be a hat to cover my horrific hair. I took my camera out to take a picture only to find my camera batteries were dead. Then it was off to the IGA to buy new ones. By this time the comedy of errors actually became funny, and our bad moods turned into good ones.
So by the time we made it to the Hoodoos, we were in high spirits. Of course when I see a mountain I need to climb it, so rather than sitting around saying "well ain't that pretty", we put Casper on her leash and climbed the big hill behind the hoodoos. We had a blast, especially Casper, who acted like she had died and gone to doggy heaven. It was steep, and I was only wearing my sandals. At one point I lost my footing and started sliding down the hill. I called out to Shelley "I'm fine! I'm just falling down the hill!" with shreaks of laughter. She laughed at me from the top of the hill. It was a hoot!
Later that afternoon we drove across the 11 bridges to Wayne to see the Last Chance Saloon. We weren't all that impressed by it, but were rather intrigued by the group of lesbians camping out there! We drove on further to another little town and wandered through an old school that had been converted into a museum. The woman working there had all sorts of stories to tell about "the old days" and the mining families and what it was like growing up there during the war. It was fun, and we spent a lot of time speculating about how different our lives would've been back then.
We then headed off further down the road to tour the old Atlas Coal Mine. It is the only all-wooden mine left in Canada. We got to climb up the timble and see how they sorted the coal, and the horrible conditions they had to work under. We learned all about how eastern Europeans came to the Drumheller valley to escape the wars and hardships so common there in the early 1900s. We were told about how each little village had it's own ethnicity (one was Polish, another Hungarian, another Ukranian), but how at work in the mine you could hear all the languages. We heard stories of men who worked for up to 9 years to save enough money to bring their wives and families to Canada, and how they kept themselves in the company of miners' daughters in the meantime. We learned about how it was a real boomtime in the valley during WWII, and then how mines started slowly closing down as natural gas became more popular. Now, these once lively villages are nothing but ghost towns.
After such a full day, we got back to our campsite hungry and looking forward to a quite night, which we got, thank God. I made a fantastic supper on the fire, and we sat and started into the flames all night long......sigh....
While Saturday was all about the coal and the history of the valley, Sunday was about the dinosaurs. We went to the Royal Tyrrell Museum first thing, and spent a good three hours there. We had a lot of laughs, teasing each other and imitating the dinosaurs, and looking at all the cute chidlren, daydreaming about the day when we get to have our own. It was pretty fantastic. After a nice lunch back at the tent, we headed out for a hike through the badlands. It was sooooo hot, but we walked for a good couple of hours. We saw a coyote (fortunately Casper didn't). It was a nice walk, although I was soooo tired.
Poor Casper was tormented the whole weekend. There was a baby beagle there named Jeremy who looooooved Casper. Casper tends to eat other dogs, so she stayed on a long leash the whole time. Jeremy knew to stay away, but he would come just close enough to Casper to drive her nuts. It was so funny watching them. In fact, one morning, while we were still sleeping, Jeremy was scratching out the outside of the tent, and poor Casper jsut howled! Shelley and I were hysterical. It was so funny. There also two yellow labs, both puppies, who enjoyed Casper, as well as her food. Jeremy just wanted to be involved in all the doggy activities. The labs were wrestling with each other, and Jeremy came leaping towards them with a both in her mouth, an you could just imagine him saying "can i play? can I play? I brought my own ball". I guess you had to be there....
Anyway, after a quick stop at Reptile World to admire all the frogs (love 'em), turtles (love 'em) and snakes (hate 'em), it was time to head home. We stopped at Horseshoe Canyon for a look on the way out. Turns out you can climb down into the canyon, and of course we couldn't resist that opportunity! And I slept all the way home. Poor Shelley.
The weekend was amazing for us. We somehow have a way of just laughing through all of our stresses. We were just so connected the whole time.....fantastic.
Friday, May 20, 2005
Fieldtrips and dreams
I love fieldtrips! I went on my first one for work yesterday. It was only to Vegreville, not very exciting, but hey, I got to see the world's largest Ukrainian egg! It was fun hopping in the car and going for a drive and knowing I was getting paid for it. It was a nice day, I had the windows rolled down and CKUA playing loud....I was in heaven for 200km. I drove past Elk Island, and everything is so green and beautiful. I had the urge to pull over and run bare-footed in the grass. I didn't, but I should've. And I saw lots of baby cows too. Sometimes I forget to take time to just slow down and breathe - being stuck on the middle of the Trans Canada Highway gives you nothing but time to breathe (not slow down, mind you!). So I came home from work feeling somewhat refreshed. Until, of course, I looked at my schedule and realized exactly how much crap I still have to do, and then I started wondering why I just spent 2 hours in a car when I couldn've been working on said crap.
Anyway, small towns have a funny feel to them. Especially small farming towns. As I found my way to the hospital I had a screenplay for a small-town suspense murder mystery all planned out in my head. It was also strange being in a small town hospital - such a different atmosphere from the U of A. You can tell that the doctors know their patients from the notes they take. One nurse actually wrote "he says his ears are ringing like he has 2 John Deers in his head". I giggled right out loud. As I sat in the little office they gave me to do my work, I listened to the staff giggle and gossip out in the hallway (did you hear about so and so? what do you think of so and so's hair?). Kept me entertained.
And then last night I had the strangest dream! I dreamed that some horrible natural disaster happened and wiped away half of the human population. What remained were 2 groups of people: one group felt that all that was left of the Earth should be redistributed and shared equally among the survivors; the other group wanted to kill off the first group and keep everything to themselves. I was in my parents' house (my dad survived too). Everyone was outside screaming, and I was in the kitchen making a snack and having a glass of water. Dad told me I need to get out there and fight for what I believe in. I told him that I would, but that I needed to calm myself down first, that I would be more effective if my head was firmly on my shoulders. So I finished eating and went outside. There were dead bodies everywhere, and people were working to pile them up and cover them. All of the people who wanted to share the planet were trying to make their way to some sort of peaceful area, while the other group shot at them.
Someone threw a gun at me and told me to use it to protect myself - I told them I stood for peace and didn't want a gun. They told me to use it only for protection, and nothing else. A young boy came running at me, pointing the gun at me and getting ready to fire. I didn't hesitate to pick up the gun - someone was yelling instructions at me on how to use it. I aimed and fired at this kid, but instead of bullets coming out, only red ink came out. The others behind me started screaming, saying that we had been tricked. But I discovered my aim was perfect, so I aimed for this kid's right eye and kept shooting this ink at him - he went blind, dropped his gun, and ran away.
I made my way to the HQ of our group, which strangley was run by the man who wrote my favourite yoga book. HQ was based out of a store that sold homemade beaded jewelery on one side and eyeglasses on the other. It was all in shambles and the walls were cracking and there was no power or electricity. I gave him a novel that was a fictional story describing exactly what was happening to the world now (iot was like an Orwell book or something) - we put it up on the wall as a reminder that the good can win.
Strange one, eh?
Anyways...off to Drumheller for the weekend!
Anyway, small towns have a funny feel to them. Especially small farming towns. As I found my way to the hospital I had a screenplay for a small-town suspense murder mystery all planned out in my head. It was also strange being in a small town hospital - such a different atmosphere from the U of A. You can tell that the doctors know their patients from the notes they take. One nurse actually wrote "he says his ears are ringing like he has 2 John Deers in his head". I giggled right out loud. As I sat in the little office they gave me to do my work, I listened to the staff giggle and gossip out in the hallway (did you hear about so and so? what do you think of so and so's hair?). Kept me entertained.
And then last night I had the strangest dream! I dreamed that some horrible natural disaster happened and wiped away half of the human population. What remained were 2 groups of people: one group felt that all that was left of the Earth should be redistributed and shared equally among the survivors; the other group wanted to kill off the first group and keep everything to themselves. I was in my parents' house (my dad survived too). Everyone was outside screaming, and I was in the kitchen making a snack and having a glass of water. Dad told me I need to get out there and fight for what I believe in. I told him that I would, but that I needed to calm myself down first, that I would be more effective if my head was firmly on my shoulders. So I finished eating and went outside. There were dead bodies everywhere, and people were working to pile them up and cover them. All of the people who wanted to share the planet were trying to make their way to some sort of peaceful area, while the other group shot at them.
Someone threw a gun at me and told me to use it to protect myself - I told them I stood for peace and didn't want a gun. They told me to use it only for protection, and nothing else. A young boy came running at me, pointing the gun at me and getting ready to fire. I didn't hesitate to pick up the gun - someone was yelling instructions at me on how to use it. I aimed and fired at this kid, but instead of bullets coming out, only red ink came out. The others behind me started screaming, saying that we had been tricked. But I discovered my aim was perfect, so I aimed for this kid's right eye and kept shooting this ink at him - he went blind, dropped his gun, and ran away.
I made my way to the HQ of our group, which strangley was run by the man who wrote my favourite yoga book. HQ was based out of a store that sold homemade beaded jewelery on one side and eyeglasses on the other. It was all in shambles and the walls were cracking and there was no power or electricity. I gave him a novel that was a fictional story describing exactly what was happening to the world now (iot was like an Orwell book or something) - we put it up on the wall as a reminder that the good can win.
Strange one, eh?
Anyways...off to Drumheller for the weekend!
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
No, it's not that time of the month...
I have been so emotional lately! I handed in my thesis (big, huge sigh of relief) and ever since then I have been rediscovering the fact that I am actually a human being. All of a sudden I remember that there are feelings other than frustration, despair, pressure and stress. I burst out laughing over the silliest little things. And I cried last night watching American Idol because Bo sent chills down my spine with one of his songs. Of course there's a good chance that I am just over-tired and it's all catching up to me...
Thankfully Shelley and I are going camping this weekend. Both of us are counting down the hours now. We have not been able to spend much time together because I had been devoting every night until 4am to my thesis. And beyond that, it's always refreshing to get out of the city. I had originally planned to not bring anything that even remotely resembles the written word, but I have changed my mind - I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wife and it is fantastic, so it's coming with me. I'm not sure I could part with it for a whole weekend!
Thankfully Shelley and I are going camping this weekend. Both of us are counting down the hours now. We have not been able to spend much time together because I had been devoting every night until 4am to my thesis. And beyond that, it's always refreshing to get out of the city. I had originally planned to not bring anything that even remotely resembles the written word, but I have changed my mind - I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wife and it is fantastic, so it's coming with me. I'm not sure I could part with it for a whole weekend!
Monday, May 09, 2005
FUCK!
I am sitting here bored at work. Do people not know that I do not have TIME to be BORED at the moment??!!! I have to hand in my thesis in 4 days. I found out on the weekend that a pain-in-the-ass paper I wrote at my last job is being published in BMJ (this is a HUGE thing - I'm not sure too many medical academics can say they got their very first paper ever to be published accepted by BMJ). And while I am extremely happy and impressed, I am also miserable because revisions have to be sent to the journal in 4 DAYS! Also, I have to have a first draft of the poster I will be presenting at a conference next month in to my supervisor in 4 DAYS! Also, my supervisor wants me to present my thesis at another conference in the fall, and the application deadline for that one is in 4 DAYS! Are you catching the importance of the next 4 days!
Well, to top it all off, my colleague (aka the only other one working on this project) is going for surgery next week and only has these next 4 days here at work. This means that the next 4 days at work are also going to be extremely hellish as we prepare me to do the work of two for the next 6 weeks. And now, while I should be working, I am sitting here writing in my blog because we cannot continue on to the next phase of the project without approval from the primary investigator, who is too busy to give it to us at the moment. So while there are 435399000 other things I could be doing at the moment to meet all of these flipping deadlines, I can't! I would be infinitely happier if I could suddenly fake a stroke or something and go home and work on my thesis....
Crap. If it weren't for Shelley doing my laundry and feeding me this last week, I don't know how I would have survived.
If I don't update blog anytime soon, assume that I am burried under a pile of unfinished papers and posters....call in the medics.
Well, to top it all off, my colleague (aka the only other one working on this project) is going for surgery next week and only has these next 4 days here at work. This means that the next 4 days at work are also going to be extremely hellish as we prepare me to do the work of two for the next 6 weeks. And now, while I should be working, I am sitting here writing in my blog because we cannot continue on to the next phase of the project without approval from the primary investigator, who is too busy to give it to us at the moment. So while there are 435399000 other things I could be doing at the moment to meet all of these flipping deadlines, I can't! I would be infinitely happier if I could suddenly fake a stroke or something and go home and work on my thesis....
Crap. If it weren't for Shelley doing my laundry and feeding me this last week, I don't know how I would have survived.
If I don't update blog anytime soon, assume that I am burried under a pile of unfinished papers and posters....call in the medics.
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