April 22, 2005
Well I'm off-not to see the wizard but maybe, if I'm lucky (depending on how you look at it) to see Canada's next Idol. I'm officially confirming the rumors (here at my house) that I am off to work the luxurious and often glamorous life of a production assistant on Canadian Idol 3 auditions in Toronto. Sure to be the biggest audition stop on the tour so far-also the last stop and chance for all Idol wannabes to shout it from the mountain top! To me this means lots of Tylenol and comfortable walking shoes-where are my Dr. Scholls!!!
April 19, 2005
TV land
is a
magica
scary thing especially when it’s live and you’re the target er
um I mean topic. Yup, that was me yesterday. On television live for
the whole world or at least all of the local viewing area that happened to
have their TV's on and tuned into the highly rated Roger’s Daytime Show.
Thanks to 'hosts of the most' Derek Fage (a really funny and certifiable
guy) and Catherine Marion (who is able to deal with Derek's crazy and zany
behaviour with grace) and producer at large Amrita, who has an uncanny
ability to put a microphone up your shirt and tape a battery pack to your
back without you even noticing and before you've taken a second sip of
coffee.
To say that I really enjoy live TV (when I'm on it) might be a stretch. You’re talking to someone who records her voicemail greeting fifteen to twenty times and still isn’t satisfied but like television, due to time and budget constraints I have to eventually call it a day, wrap up the production and make due with the finished product as is. But at least with my voice mail I have the option of several takes and I can change my clothes if they are making me look unusually wide while talking into the receiver. Not so with live TV. There's no interrupting twenty seconds before lights that the angle that they have of you is all wrong and that you know that if they don’t move you or let you sit that you’re going to look mega size on camera. And trust me, the camera does add weight. It makes me wonder how small the really skinny people on TV are in real life….but only for a moment because then it’s back to me and how I look a bit more like my size 8 x 2!
Oh well, it's not really about that (or so I keep telling myself when I watch the segment). It was a great segment other than the size factor. It was informative and fun and I was able to hold the Warrior 3 pose! Yes, we did a little yoga on television. We ( me & my friend Kim, who owns kyc & is my yoga teacher) were there for a City Health segment (CH is a magazine I write for) and were there to promote the Kanata Yoga Centre (which rocks) and the huge workshop we are hosting with Yoga Man Wade Imre Morissette. Wade is currently on a World Tour Pilgrimage to 32 cities across North America and beyond (why couldn't I get the Maui gig?) and we are hosting the Ottawa Workshop here in July (more info on the yoga link). The press interest has been good with a few more things lined up and coming this way soon-but hopefully not live!
April 18, 2005
The last few days have been a bit more interesting than usual-from a writing perspective. Last week, like most weeks, I submitted some work to the weekly that I write for but this time it was a bit different than my usual columns/comments or stories. The topic was adoption and disclosure of records as this is an issue prevalent in the news lately due to impending legislation and government debates regarding the opening of sealed adoption records. Obviously this is a topic full of fire with various points of view and emotions that run the gamut from fear, sadness, frustration and elation- as is evident in the many letters written to editors of newspapers around the province. Since I am a writer who has been given a forum to express different thoughts, ideas and reflections, I felt the urge to comment on this issue as I have been personally affected by it. And so I did it. I wrote a true, non-fictionalized account of my own experience searching for a family member for all to read. I didn't know what to expect and I would be lying if I didn't admit to being a tiny bit concerned about opening up this very personal side to my life but at the same time I felt it was worth it and maybe it would help others with their own search or perspective on the issue of open or closed adoption records. What I did not expect was the positive and touching reactions that I am getting from both strangers and acquaintances-all positive stuff. So I know it was the right thing to do and I am glad that I shared it. It was not a feature full of cold hard stats and it didn't resonate one specific opinion over another. I tried to acknowledge the delicate nature of the issue for different parties and to just tell my story. One person's story and how current legislation affected my search. Part 2 will be in this Friday's paper and after that I will post it on my own site for those of you that want to read it. And I cross my fingers and hope with my strongest hope, that those searching, hiding, denying or hurting, can have a happy ending or at least, find some peace.
Good luck!
April 12, 2005
Come and visit my gnome. His name is Kai and he loves to travel so let him know if you're going somewhere fun and he'll have his bags backed and ready to go. Go to http://gnomads.net/search.php to see what Kai has been up to and stay tuned for photos of his upcoming trip to Seattle.
April 5, 2005
Road rash, deadlines and tweaking. That's what I've been up to. The road rash is compliments of my son. I knew when the school's number showed on the display last Friday at lunch hour that it was not a 'hello' call. More like a 'hell, get over here" call. Seems there was no love lost between my energetic and athletic son and the loose gravel on the playground waiting to enter his body (why the school boards specifically design huge areas of asphalt on school grounds is another story). Next thing you know they'll be offering glass sandwiches (like the ones Ted Gideonse of http://bible.gideonse.com/ would rather eat than sit through certain genres of entertainment) instead of sub day and hamburger day.
Anyways, back to the motorcycle accident. I asked the voice on the other end of the 'hell' call how bad it was so that I could figure out where we should go on this mini vacation-our doctor's office, a local walk-in clinic or the emergency room at the hospital. It's a bit hazy now but I remember being told something about a gash and lots of 'stuff' in it-oh and blood. After a quick call to the family doctor to confirm that they couldn't take care of stitches or anything like that there I clicked on 'hospital' as our destination on map quest as I rolled up in the 'bus lane only' at school. Son was brave but the bloody shirt, pants and look of distraught was enough-well not quite. A peek a the wound site-left hip and tummy area and I knew I wouldn't be looking at a cheese grater quite the same for some time. Off to our 'no refund/long wait' local emergency room and five hours later we were home.
Sitting in an ER waiting room with an open wound and potentially sick people all around you is not pleasant. Sitting there with an open wound, knowing that the longer you wait the more the repair will hurt, is even more unpleasant. Sitting in a huge waiting room with less than three magazines to go around was the worst! But son was brave although not much more impatient as I and after helping another woman in emergency who's condition changed while waiting (there are signs posted around that say 'if your condition changes or you experience shortness of breath while waiting, please tell the nurse' -I kept asking my son about his breathing but unfortunately it was not shallow enough to move us up the queue) it was our turn.
Five needles later (all around hip and stomach) to numb the area and after a good old-fashioned scrubbing of pavement and gravel out of the flesh (which still hurt), we were packaged up like raw beef and sent home with gauze and instructions about salt water and limited physical activity for several days. I say 'we' because I feel I went through it with my son. I looked at it, I grimaced with him and I was sad for him and more importantly, I sat there during the needles, a job normally delegated to Dad. But who knew we would need five needles. So, we survived and we-oops- I mean he, made the premier soccer team 3 days after it happened but had to sit on the sidelines for the last tryout. I'm a proud mom all-around!
Then there's the deadlines. Two stories and a column. All put to bed now and resting until next deadline. Then there's this cool yoga workshop I am hosting with another yogi and it's going to be big! And then there's tweaking-on my website. Trying to do some new stuff, trying to learn new stuff, trying to get hubby to do lots of the new stuff that frustrates me. So check out my new yoga section. It's not quite 'pretzeled' yet. I'm honouring my edge!