Drug Estacy might help those with social issues..

Interesting article about E. I suppose it might be helpful for those people who are autistic or even in the autism spectrum [Like people with ADD/ADHD, and dyslexia] who have issues with socializing.

I mean can it be worse then the drugs that are currently given to people with ADHD? 

Justin Bieber and the Ground Zero Mosque

Even though I'm Canadian until a few months ago I didn't know what a Justin Bieber was. I don't have teen daughters and I don't listen to much radio.  The first I heard about him was at my hair dressers. Anyone who knows me, knows I go there infrequently at best, so that in itself is amusing.

So the first thing I heard about him was that it seemed 7-13 year old boys were getting their hair cut like him. Though most wouldn't admit it was a Bieber cut they were getting.  Of course over time I've heard more comments and jokes about him, not enough to have an opinion, but enough to know he's a teen heart throb and all the jokes that come from it. 

Today I was giggling myself silly when I realized that some web site made a hoax about Bieber having commented about the ground zero mosque in Teen Beat Magazine. [Anyone who read teenbeat magazine would know they would never ask about something like this, but I digress....]

So some hard core anti-ground zero mosque activist [Which is neither a Mosque nor on the ground zero site, but a Muslim community center several blocks away... but I'm digressing again] is now boycotting Justin Bieber along with his children. I'm still laughing. There's now hundreds of people boycotting Justin Bieber over this.

As for Mosques, they are sprouting up like mushrooms throughout north America. So long as Canada stays secular, I'm all for freedom of religion and Muslims have a right to a place to worship

City Homicide, Last season already?

I've fallen in love with an Aussie show.  City Homicide is as good as anything produced in the US. My eldest and I love the Aussie slang and the way the show has developed. 

I was reading commentary from an Aussie newspaper saying that no one needs more cops shows and that there is nothing new in this show. I thought it was interesting and fresh. Perhaps because it was the first Aussie show I've seen? Season 4 which has just ended is the last full season I'm told. Next year there will be a mini-series and then the show will be put out to pasture.  

Daughter says best line ever "You been rooting senior sergeant's wife mate?"

Personally I love watching cop shows from other countries, since their rules of law and the way their police works is different then what I know in Canada. I'm used to US shows, but I've also had pleasure to watch Law & Order UK and Paris enquêtes criminelles. I enjoyed both because even though episodes are based on US ones, I get to see a different perspective

UAE acting like spoilt child over Canadian landing rights.

I remember when I traveled to Dubai in February and December 2007, that I just needed to show my Canadian passport and I would get a 30 day VISA no questions asked. 

Starting January 2nd, this will no longer be the case. You will need a VISA before arriving in the UAE and it will cost $250 for 30 days. More expensive then visa's to most countries. Considering that the UAE isn't a common travel spot for Canadians, it won't affect us all that much. Especially since the crash last year, people are no longer looking for jobs in that part of the world. 

I mean the UAE has been lobbying the Canadian government for more  landing rights for UAE airlines flying to Canada. I know Canada limits landing rights to keep Air Canada somewhat afloat.  I guess the UAE figured that since we aren't giving them more landing rights, we should pay to enter their country.  Personally I think Canada should reduce whatever landing rights they have at this point. 

One of the comments from a Globe and Mail reader basically said that it was no great loss to Canadians. That any country that treats it's women as property, where kissing in public can get you tossed in jail and where being gay can assure your death isn't somewhere most Canadians want to be.  Admittedly this is stereotyped and overall my experience in the UAE was better then that.... but in some ways it's not too far off. 

Since I doubt Samer would ever want to go to UAE again, it's not a big deal for us. 

Ikea here we come

We went to Ikea this morning, so I could pick up a drawer unit on casters to put my art materials in. I spent part of the afternoon putting it together. I always enjoy putting together Ikea furniture.  

The only down side to Ikea is that I've never seen this store with few clients, it's always packed. Sadly the more packed a store is the most likely I'm going to forget to buy half of the stuff they have because I get too frazzled over the noise and commotion of all the people.

Trip to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan

I finally blogged about our trip in late September/Early October to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Lebanon was mostly so that Samer could see friends and Family, Syria was because I insisted, and Jordan we both wanted to see.

I fell in love with Jordan, the desert and the Bedouins and want to go back to Petra for at least a week!

Anyways I put all 20 days, check out my new posts in the archives for September and for October.

My Art Gallery

I enjoy drawing with pastels. Mostly I like to draw sunrises, sunsets, northern lights, flowers, pastoral settings, churches, animals and veiled women.

You can find my Art Gallery here.

Oh and I finally fixed the bug in the blog style sheet I am using, that wasn't there when I started using "thisaway rose". Took long enough but now the date isn't overlapping the arrows.

It's now almost 2pm on Boxing day and I have not gotten up from bed. It's yet another cloudy day [It was sunny briefly this morning] and I'm sick of cloudy days. It just makes me want to sleep. I want SUN!!!!

This time of the year sucks

I've hated the commercialism of Christmas for years but this year it hit particularly hard. People become so aggressive in the pursuit of that perfect gift for uncle Joe that everything pales in comparison.

I was at Costco [Bad example since people always seem to be aggressive at Costco] last Saturday to pick up Perrier, Lara bars and Pita bread. Everything else was optional. It was hard to find parking on their lot, I had to circle 3 times and I was parked about as far away as you can imagine. Of course the store was also equally as full. Trying to navigate was as frustrating as watching paint dry. I was following a shelf re-stocker and he was moving slow, didn't have a choice with the size of palette he was navigating. A guy appeared behind me and within 15 seconds started berating the clerk about "Not having all day to go down the aisle" etc...

From late November to mid january, you can't go even in a grocery store never mind a retail store without that Christmas frenzy. Everyone is overworked, underpaid and overstressed in making that perfect christmas.

People also glamourize how great being together in family is. Well that might be true for a small segment of the population, but most of us are fooling ourselves into thinking that our family is great. I mean I cannot remember one Christmas when I was a kid where the adults in my family weren't fighting and if I tried to say something I'd be told "shut up and mind your own business" or "Shut up and eat". Meanwhile the adults weren't eating and having a 3 hour fighting discussion that would leave lasting impression until the next Christmas. ... Because of course these same adults didn't see each other any other time then Christmas.


After all the hype, for me Christmas is just a huge disappointment. Even without expectations, it's almost always a disappointment. My happier Christmases have been spent abroad traveling or as a teen sometimes in a ski camp...

Personally if I find someone sucks all year I don't see why I should be nice at Christmas. As it goes, I try to be nice to those who are deserving all year round, not just once a year as a huge show in front of company.

Christmas sucks!

Enough is Enough

You know how it is? Every year there's always a person that shows up at your gathering who can't eat or drink anything you've bought or prepared It's frustrating. First thing this person does is question every item of food or drink as if it's been sprinkled with poison, or alternatively looks at any food placed for guests with great suspicion.

Even if this person is very gracious, they might not accept anything other then water of your hospitality. This can feel pretty insulting.

Normally I try pretty hard to make allowances, I mean it's not like you can expect a diabetic to eat something that will make them sick, but this year, after all the other cooking I just can't find it in me to be accommodating and find something to make for the bitchy vegetarian that comes to all my dinners. Let her eat salad or eat the same food like everyone else.

Avalanche Snow Removal is no more....

I blogged last January about avalanche snow removal.... I had been sufficiently satisfied with the price/service that I renewed my contract this year.

Well this morning when I looked out the window, I realized my blue avalanche posts had been replaced by Yellow SylJack posts. As well since that day, it has been a Syljack truck removing my snow.

Was Avalanche bought by Syljack? Were they the same company all along ? Who knows? The only thing I wonder is.. will I get the same price as this year next year for my snow removal?

In Memory of December 6th, 1989

December 6th in Montreal always brings mixed feelings. Most of us still remember the Polytechnique massacre. I wrote on December 6 1990 this poem in memory of those who died.... Everyone remembers where they were. I was home with my 2 babies, watching television, while sewing, and my first reaction seeing the late breaking news on TV was "Oh another crazy in the US" until I realized the 'crazy' was in Montreal. Since my hubby then worked for a firm comprised mostly of engineers, we realized we knew people who knew the victims. Including Barbara Daignault, the cousin of our good friend Thierry.


In Memoriam of December 6th, 1989

You are gone forever but not forgotten
The memory of your tragedy lives on
It is a pity that you were attacked and killed
For just fulfilling your potential

There is a malaise in society
That was created long before you came to be
It will not go away so easily
Perhaps your death will make the problem clearer

There were those who looked on in disbelief
Those who were confused and deeply hurt
How can someone decide the fate of others
Is there no justice for the living?

The work of a madman for sure
But there is a madperson in all of us
Some say that he was just a marginal exception
But how can we learn to trust others again

Perhaps this incident will make people think
Of all the injustices committed towards women
Perhaps the next time she cries injustice
Society will believe she her complaint.

The answer does lie within each one of us
To forgive him who focused his personal anger on women
To help others learn to love and help themselves
And make this world equal for both men and women.


In your memory: Genevieve Bergeron, Helene Colgan, Nathalie Croteau,
Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Havierncik, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganiere, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay,Sonia Pelletier, Michele Richard, Annie St..Arneault, Annie Turcotte.