Saudi Arabia's most powerful women & powerful women in Islam!

I often make fun of KSA because of their backwards attitude towards women. However it does not mean that in KSA there are no powerful women that young women world wide can look up to.

Here is article showing Saudi Arabia's most powerful women.

Those ignorant about Islam often think it's the religion that keeps women subjugated. Nothing could be further from the truth. Women are supposed to be equals in Islam but this gets lost in the post colonialism mentally prevalent in the Middle east,  as well as some parts of  Africa today.

A great article about Mohammed's wife Khadijah that I read a few days ago shows how Mohammed in his life time not only married a woman 15 years his elder because he loved her but obviously treated her with a great deal of respect. A month ago there was an article about her on Huff Post about 7 remarkable things about Khadijah. For those who want to bring up his youngest wife, "Aisha", I'd like to point them to this article.

And thankfully he's now fixed.

and doing just fine as shown in this video where he is playing fetch with me the day after his surgery.

Mind your own business

I can't help but think about the douche I dated last May for some reason. It doesn't help that he's one of those who keeps trying. Last message I got from him was from February and it was still a message meant to get a reaction. Like move on already. You didn't even like me!!!! All you wanted to do was to tell me about things that were wrong about me!!!!

This blog post I found on a friends wall is the perfect thing to send him, should he ever message me again.

Though this morning this blog isn't loading for me on any browser or any computer, I hope it's just a being me glitch and it will load later. I figured it would load on my mobile, but it's not loading there either. wth? Loads a blank page even in my mobile on chrome.

Bottom line is most of what other people do is none of your business. Like my diet, is no ones business but mine so long as I'm healthy and neither starving or 900lbs. How I spent my money is no one's business but mine, my sleep habits are no ones business but mine... you get the gist.

This is the list:

1) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE’S FOOD CHOICES.

2) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE’S WALLETS.

3) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S CRUSHES

4) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S SEX LIVES

5) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S EXERCISE HABITS.

6) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S SUCCESS

7) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S SICKNESSES

8) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S PURCHASES

9) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S BELIEFS

10) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S BAD HABITS

11) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S STYLE

12) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S RELATIONSHIPS

13) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S FAILURES

14) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S SEXUALITY

15) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S TIME

16) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

17) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S BLING AND INK

18) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S BELIEF IN MARRIAGE

19) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S PARENTING

20) GET YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE'S GENEROSITY

I tend to like people who live and let live.  As adults we can chose how to live our lives. It drives me nuts that there's a segment of society that want to regulate every aspect of everyone's lives. Like what I do in my home  is no one's business. Who I live with is no one's business either!

If you don't like how I live my life, don't interact with me. I sure won't miss you!!!

Unimpressed by Bell.

For the past 3 months now  Bell's  collection department has been calling my house to collect on a bill that is not under my name.  Someone used my address for their cell phone, and now Bell thinks it's OK to spam me 4-8 times a day with an automated call.

Anyone who knows me knows that hearing the phone ring sets off my anxiety most of the time, thanks to someone who called me repeatedly in a drunken stupor and left asinine messages on my machine and other times just lambasted me for no particular reason.

So I've been home and this non stop calling was driving me bonkers, so for  my sanity and peace of mind I had the BELL  home phone off the hook for the better part of the last 3 weeks.

I put the phone back online because my eldest wanted to talk to me yesterday and today  I just happened to pick up the phone really pissed off and Bell asked for someone who wasn't me. I  told them there was no one by that name on my phone number.  They asked if I knew the person I told them NO. I told them to stop abusing my fucking phone number. I hope they don't start up again in a week or two.

This is very cool

It's even cooler because it's from Tesla Motors, and anyone who knows me knows I'm a fan of Nicola Tesla.

This Powerwall Tesla Home battery

If there is one thing I learned during the Montreal Icestorm of 1998, that we are way too dependent on the grid and that we should have alternative sources of electricity, heating, cooking so when there is no electricity, from the Power company, I'm not in pitch darkness in the cold, eating out of a can.

My baby is coming home !!!!

Today I pick up my youngest at the airport, she's coming home after 2 years in the UK WOOT

I've been very quiet the month of April, really didn't have much to say, been digesting events and trying to get myself together.I've at least managed to stay out of my comfort zone to not make my social anxiety worse. It's still bad thinking about work and paperwork, but the anxiety isn't 24/7 and burning me to a crisp most days anymore.  I'm slowly getting back to my insomniac self.

It was sad, I'd do 1 small thing that set off my anxiety and then I'd crash and have to take a huge nap otherwise I couldn't function.  On a good day social anxiety does suck up a percentage of my energy. Since March it's sucking up most of my energy and nothing is left for anything else.

This week thankfully the sun came out and I have both done some work in the garden and have gone walking along the Lachine canal and Friday spent some time at the bird Sanctuary near the Lachine Rapids.  Spending time soaking in sun rays and sitting on the earth has been good to recharge my batteries.

Article about Sugar, so true

I wanted to share this article about Sugar.

Slut shamming starts really young - in Kindergarten apparently....

Slut shaming is only done to girls. I have never seen once a boy be sent home from school for inappropriate dress. It is always the girls. Either  the dress is too short or the top is too revealing. 

Of course you are aware that the revealing clothes is made in all sizes for girls, but there is no such thing that is considered inappropriate for boys...  except maybe  in some jurisdiction where they decide your son should cut his hair. That's usually the only thing that happens to boys. 

This blog post from a dad in Houston really makes a good point. His 5 year old was sent home for wearing a sundress!   Since when are the shoulders of a 5 year old girl 'SEXY' or too revealing?  I mean the 5 year old boy's shoulders look exactly fucking the same!!!

I don't remember how young I was the first time I was called a slut. Not even sure why I was called a slut. The first time was probably just because another girl didn't like me. Then it was because I liked to play with boys.  I was a tomboy, boys were far more interesting to play with then girls in my early teens. They weren't all about looks and makeup, they were more active, they rode their bikes, played baseball, made slingshots out of old tire inner tubes, and used some form of crab apples as ammunition. 

Of course as you get older the term slut gets bandied about because someone doesn't like what  you're wearing. It doesn't matter that you're showing far less then in a music video, it's the other person's morals and their perception of whether they like you that plays, nothing to do with your morals. 

I was a virgin till well into my 17th year, I'd been called a slut from 10 onwards by various people. Of course after I was raped, the slut shamming was far stronger.  It took easily 10 years for me to stop feeling responsible for my rape.   Not sure if my mom slut shamed me when she found out I was raped, but she sure did when she found out I'd been on the pill at 19.  Yes...  How nice of my mom to call me a slut for having been on the pill!  

I never slut shamed my daughters.   The only comment I made to my eldest about how to dress is the more she shows with her clothes, the more boys from 9 to men aged 99 will look at her as an object of desire.  Hell they will look at her too even if she is dressed from head to toe. I've seen boys  & men drool over Muslima's covered from head to toe and veiled.  

I have had my daughters try to do it to me once. At some point during their teens, they came home from their dads and inside my own home I was wearing spandex shorts and a spandex halter/bra type.  One daughter commented about what I was wearing. I asked her if I was allowed to clean my house on a hot day in clothes that were comfortable?   I was in my OWN FUCKING HOME and I get questioned on my clothes?  I made it clear that what I wear is my own choice and that I was never going to put up with this crap from them.   Of course I realize that my daughters at the time were trying to figure out where they stood.  I would hope that they no longer slut shame anyone.  

You can dislike a woman without attacking her morals, because honey as a  woman when you attack other women's morals you are just propagating this Neanderthal mentality that women's bodies must be hidden because men, are too weak, too stupid, or insert a weakness here... to control themselves around women. If you think about it and  you're into equality and feminism, you expect both genders to treat both genders as intelligent human beings and not judge women who  dress a certain way and think men are too weak to control themselves around women.....

 

How a propos

Article about women with anxiety, hits home.

Yes I'd like a 4 litre bottle

But not a 4litre  bottle of windshield washer fluid dropped on my foot.  Luckily it is just bruised and I can still walk

It's been a month

It was March 18th where I could not handle it anymore, and around 3:30 I went home from work, overwhelmed, weak, tired, anxious.

At first it was a physical malaise, or at least it was the physical that was feeling weak. Now it's been a month, and my body is fine, it's my mind.

The past few months I've revisited so much of my life, and now I'm processing stuff that happened when I was 6 years old. My uncle's death seemed to make it worse. It's left me with such severe social anxiety I'm having a hard time functioning.

If I go out for an hour to run errands then I need a 4 hour nap to recover from the stress and anxiety. I've asked my Lebanese ex some help to get through this, including with paperwork and him doing paperwork on my behalf wears me out.

It is incredibly hard to admit as a strong alpha female, and as an independent articulate woman, that I need help. That alone, I will not get through this. Some is stuff I should have processed years ago, but having someone yell at me how I should be feeling or telling me  that what I'm feeling is wrong, has never helped. Now I can face it in my own time, and without anyone making fun of my feelings. Making fun of someone's feelings is stupid. You don't know the person. By making fun of how they feel you make it even harder for them to process, now the feeling is joined by anxiety or panicky state. With time the anxiety seems to increase exponentially.

I've recently  realized the extent   I suffer from social anxiety. It explains why I needed husband #1 to walk me to the door of my first job, hold my hand to there and tell me it was going to be ok, while I cried and shook uncontrollably. I did fine at that job. In fact I went beyond their expectations and they used me in the office for more then I was hired. My 2nd job I wasn't so frightened on the first day.

Heck when I started my current job, I remember the first few months how afraid I was to get lost in the building.Today when I think I have to go back to work, I think of all the people I'm going to run through int he hallways and people are going to say "SO how was your vacation?" Or worse "How are you doing"? " The question I don't want to answer. I dunno how I'm doing. Do you want an honest answer or just a smile and nod as I walk past you at 1000 miles per hour.

I think I will put a sign over my desk that says "I'm fine. Please don't ask how I'm doing or if I'm ok. I don't want to discuss that with ANYONE!!!"

Tomorrow at 11 am I will be going to get my winter tires off. After which I hope to go to a long walk in the woods. Maybe along the trail near the Riviere des Prairies that goes to the "Rapides du Cheval Blanc" and the bridge to Ile Bigras.  It's a cool place in spring before the mosquitoes come out.  I hope the walk in the wilderness will lift my spirits and help with the anxiety.

Need to use bigger camera

I just took my small camera when we walked around the pond in the townships, and realizing that for far away photos and small things it sucks. I mean I could have guessed it. Used to the dSLR now!

anyways these are the best otter shots I managed to get on Monday, because Sunday Otter disappeared too quickly.

Beaver-weasel

The last time I'd seen an otter was in Florida, in the backyard of my parents Pinnelas Park home. He'd came out of the pond and walked across to the canal and jumped in and that was it, gone he was. Blink and I'd have missed it. That time I think he was just an otter passing through. He didn't frolic or play. He just went from pond to canal as fast as he could. At this point I can't remember which one of the three times I visited my parents mobile home it was.  The first time would have been in 1990, then after my surgery in December 2000. Then in March 2001 for my kids spring break.

When I went camping with my township friends on labour day in the Gatineau area they saw a pair of otters playing. I never saw them, though I might have a blurry photo of a black spot where I thought they might have been. My friends were thrilled to spot otters as they had never spotted any before.

This Sunday I was at their place in the townships and we decided to take a walk around the marsh as it was actually 17C. Finally a day that felt like spring. As we were walking along the marsh I noticed a black spot on some of the little bits of snow remaining in a part of the path were we have water both sides of the path. I pointed to my friends that I think I spotted an otter. All three of us saw it play and roll around a few times before it disappeared just before I got to a spot where I could get a good photo.

This is the closest I've ever been to an otter. My female friend pointed out that this was the second time in 7 months that one of us spotted an otter when the 3 of us were together, and perhaps it has a significance.On Monday we went walking again around the pond around the same time of day in hopes that we could catch photos of the otter. We didn't spot one where I'd seen one on Sunday but my other friend spotted a pair on the other side of the marsh on the ice.

At that point we knew it was significant. Because this was the third time we spotted otter, and each time it was a different one of us who saw them first.  We saw that pair frolic on the ice, and dive in a fair amount as we walked along the path. Later when we got to the other side we again spotted the pair of otters and a single otter first frolicking on an island and later the lone one fishing, eating fish and diving in and out of holes in the ice.  At some point my friend was so taken by the otters she called them "beaver-weasels".

I've concluded otter medicine isn't just for me, it's for all of us. I think from what Iv'e read  Otter encourages to be open and live your life the fullest. The 3 of us in some way are stuck or have been stuck in our lives and otter is gently nudging for us to let go of the past and live more freely.

Otter is the embodiment of female attributes, so that tells me that instead of being macho I should listen to my female side which is more nurturing. I nurture others but I rarely nurture myself. I need to nurture myself.  My job in the tech industry is killing my spirit. This job was perfect for me while my girls were growing up but now I need to be more in my own element.

This line from a blog on Otter medicine is relevant " If otter enters your life, always remember the beauty of a balanced female side, create a space for others to enter your life without preconceptions or suspicions. Otter teaches that balanced female energy is not jealousy or bitchiness, but sisterhood and sharing with others. Otter expresses joy for all."

My therapist pointed out that I have severe social anxiety but I'm happy in nature. So instead of dealing with city living stress I have to work on moving to the country and  removing the stress.

He got awards

My Lebanese ex-husband, who by trade is a film-maker and video editor, has not been idle since his arrival in the Province of Quebec. After starting 99 % Media with the encouragement of friends, he has gotten involved in several short films, some of which are winning awards.

This one is for the short film A Syrian Story, a short film that shows the nastiness of the Syrian revolution.

This award is for the short film "La Charte des distractions", a social commentary on the proposed "Charte de valeur Quebecoise" the Parti Quebecois wanted to  impose and which upset many immigrants and Quebecois de souche as well. Thankfully the Charte never came to pass. I'd like to think the short film helped in that regard.

Canadians are the nicest people on earth.

With that stereotype in mind, I want to say that all Canadians should be entitled to dress as they please. Be it topless at the local beach, or covered from head to toe in  a Niqab.

I've read all sorts of arguments pro and con. Many from females from North African and middle eastern backgrounds. For some it is the sign of a backwards patriarchal oppression, to others, it is a choice to not be seen as a object to be lusted over.  Personally I do not want anyone to decide how much or how little I should wear and I certainly should not be doing it for others.

Yes many women who did not wear a veil in their country wear one here in Canada, why? Because they are free to do so. Free to wear one without labeling the woman as being anything more then a Muslim woman. I've read plenty of intelligent, articulate females who felt completely comfortable being invisible in society. That for them being noticed is the equivalent of being seen like a sex object. Being invisible as a sex object does not mean they are just invisible. Many of the middle eastern women I've met over the past 10 years are incredibly driven and from their own steam, not because men impose their views on them.

Of course what most non-Muslims do not know is that men should be modestly dressed as well and to be honest, I've met few middle eastern men who go around in wife beaters and tiny shorts. The majority tend to wear baggy clothes, and few go around half naked.  Lets just say as a Quebecois, I have never been offended by a middle eastern man too scantily clad. It's been the local French Quebecois, in their tiny speedos, with the large overlapping bellies that have left me somewhat traumatized!

If i lived in the middle east I would probably never leave my house without a scarf on my head. I burn so easily in the sun, being covered would be logical.  Here in Montreal, if I just go to work, I don't cover my head, but if I go camping or canoeing or spending the day outside, I wear something on my head, because I don't want to have fried brains.

I'm rambling, but logically to get back to the nice Canadians, well if we are some of the nicest people on earth, we should not let ourselves get indoctrinated by islamophobes. We should continue to be just as nice INCLUDING to our Muslim sisters, whether they chose to be "westernized" and just blend into a crowd of Montrealers, or be very visibly invisible, by wearing a Niqab in Ottawa.

When I visited Lebanon some of the Lebanese I met often asked me if I was surprised to see highly covered women walking with very uncovered women. It did not surprise me, as I have seen it in Montreal. One of my favourite random photos of the Printemps Erable, is one of a Muslim girl posing with a bare chested girl at a protest.

That is my point. Montreal can be like that. We can be nice Canadians. There is room for women in Niqabs in Canadian society. Isn't that what a mosaic is about?

Before anyone gets all offended, there is  room for the Hasidims in Canadian society, there's room for the Mennonites,  there's even room for the Mormons of Bountiful, there should be room for women in Niqabs. I don't expect any of these groups to be in large numbers in the Canadian Mosaic, but in existence and respected nonetheless. 

Emotional pain sucks

Thankyou google for messing my photos

Don't know what it is with the blogger servers or google servers, but my last  blog entry had all 7 photos properly displaying when I first  saved the post. Despite my best efforts, though I updated 5 of the photos they still aren't displaying.

This is recent. The past month or so I notice if I go back to old posts, half of the photos are missing. GREAT JOB GOOGLE.

I choose to put my photos using blogger and you lost half of them, or you aren't able to display half of them suddenly due to "errors".

Good job!

Alternatively the fault could be with Mozilla, as I mostly browse with Firefox and SeaMonkey!

I'm broken, but I'll have a nice wardrobe!

One of the few things I can usually do when I am barely functional is sew. I can do it for a few hours a day and at least it stops my mind from spiraling out of control for a few hours.

This dress I finished before the downward spiral hit. The print of the fabric is nothing special and most don't care for it. However it is the softest nicest rayon knit I have ever owned. This was a designer fabric at Club Tissu I bought for myself as a birthday present. Originally $30 something per meter, got it 40% off. Still an expensive dress. But I LOVE how it feels.

These photos were taken by my friend Nina. Note, the lighting wasn't good and I didn't let her edit them. I don't care, I just want to showcase the sewing.

Simplicity 1804 with soft rayon knit

The others have been made since I have been hiding at home. The blue number is awesome. I have the same print on both a knit and a woven denim style fabric. I've used this print already on a number of items, but this dress just rocks. I suspect it will be a favourite camping.

This dress was started last summer. I finished it in hopes it would help bring spring. HA

McCalls M6074 with a summery rayon knit

This next one is a soft rayon woven, I've been heavily into knits but this fabric with it's purple and pinks, reminiscent of my garage....

NewLook 6121

This one I started months ago, reminds me of many of the dresses I had in the 60's.The front bodice and sleeves are made of a stretch sateen and the skirt and back are made from a cotton print.

Simplicity 3833

Then there's the faux snakeskin dress. Don't care much for the fabric or the print, but wanted to try out a pattern. I finished this one today and wore it to therapist appointment.

McCalls M6958

This nightshirt was made from a Butterick pattern I had back in the late 80's early 90's.

Flannel nightshirt .

I'm a total basketcase

While I'm trying to formulate how to put things into words all I can hear is the toc-ing of a woodpecker.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to process but I haven't been at work all last week. Could not. I'd get as far as getting dressed packing a lunch and then turning back.  My uncle's death triggered something, not sure what.

I hadn't been able to cry. Not until this morning.  I have cried now 3 times. Once was brought upon chatting with my Lebanese ex, once was brought upon  chatting with my Irish buddy, and the last was reading a sweet email from my boss from last Thursday telling me to take it easy and not stress out over fact I'm not at work.

The crying it was a start but it's not enough. Is there something horrible in my childhood associated with my uncle. I don't think so. Nothing comes to mind. I liked my uncle. Always have. I don't know him well, since he was around the least when i was a child, but the few memories I have of him are good. It's memories I have with my cousins.. some aren't so good. Maybe this is what my uncle's death is triggering, a bad memory with one of my cousins?  Something beyond fact my female cousin is always a mean bitch to me.

Thankfully seeing my therapist tomorrow. hopefully this will shed some light on where the fuck I'm stuck. because this is beyond being an emotional baskketcase. I can't talk to most people. Can't get out of my house or out of my head much.

It's sad when I don't even want to leave the house for retail therapy. I could use retail therapy. Not clothes so much as fabrics [ All the cupros and all the silks ], shoes, value village....

Cute cute cute

The thing that makes me smile the most is my kitten!

You can hang out with laptop, I'm going to sleep

hmmmm

HI MOM! I want breakfast!!!!

Weeeeeeeeee tissue paper!

Broken

I have not been physically well since some time last week, between the cold sores and the flu like symptoms for sure I was fighting something.

But it's my mind that has been broken. Since the news of my uncles death, I have been in a place I hadn't been since my dad's death. I've been struggling with my dad's death now for over 12 years and I thought I was making progress, but this has spiralled me back years in terms of processing.

That's the problem is that I am not processing emotions anymore. I feel over whelmed all I want to do is to hibernate and be alone.

I have slept more the past 5 days then I've slept the past year!  Me sleeping a lot usually signifies I'm not well in one way or another.Not sure when I'm seeing my therapist next but I could so see him today. Maybe I'll message and see.

I've barely been eating, have no interest in food. It's hard. Usually when I'm this low I have had a significant other who makes sure I get fed. Right now I'm not really paying that good attention. I'm trying to eat 3 times a day, but one day that meant I had 4 eggs and a few crackers with cheese.

I've always had a hard time eating when I'm upset and processing or trying to process emotions. I feel like such a basket-case today.The worst part is that it's 8:15. I was ready to leave for work at 8. I had bathed, brushed my teeth, even gotten dressed, and got into the truck and well that was all the energy I had.

I laughed so hard

Took a picture of my Desert Lynx this morning and with his ears back he looks like he has curled ears just like a Highland Lynx cat.

Desert Lynx meme

My Messy desk

I was reading an article not too long ago about how messy desk is a sign of a creative mind. Well this is my desk:

My desk in March 2015

Close up on the things on my desk...

Yes among the things on my desk includes hand cream, spice mixture to put on potatoes, buckley's cough drops, tetley earl grey decaf tea, white out, a dollar store ball, that lights up when bumped a certain way, pills for back spasms, mouse, pens, sticky notes, highlighters, various USB cables, a USB hub, earbuds, several hard disks.... and that's just looking at the photo :) 

 

On this gloomy first day of Spring

I want to wish my eldest a Happy Birthday, where ever she is sailing today!

The obituary

The obituary for my mom's brother, my uncle Richard.  I'm feeling all discombobulated today.

and he's gone

My uncle left this world this morning around 5:20am. He was close to 80 years old. He had a good life.

Mr Cab Driver....

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not fond of Taxi's.

Don't like the drivers, who almost always drive like assholes. Don't like the attitude of most male taxi drivers, and apparently Montreal has had numerous cases of women sexually assaulted by taxi drivers, and it's been kept HUSH HUSH?!?!?!

One of the last times I took a taxi, I was coming from the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport in Dorval.  When I got into the car I told the guy I was going to Pierrefonds. I had to stop him from taking the 20 towards downtown.  Then when he realized he wasn't going downtown he drove as slow as possible the entire way back to my place he was surly and he charged me more then the meter said and would not take no for an answer. He asked me for more then I had on me. I went into the house and I had some change in quarters and Loonies, and let me tell you he got paid in the smallest coins I had and I did not hand them to him, I dumped it on his front seat and ran back into the house.

You can find the odd article about it, but the taxi bureau ridicules women who complain. That tells me that WOMEN should not take taxis alone or alternatively, we should do like in Beirut. Have a taxi run by women, driven by women and only FOR women.  This way we'd be less likely to be sexually assaulted.

This woman as per this article, says she is suing because she got assaulted and the driver who assaulted her was suspected in another assault and to this day he still drives a cab!!!!

And for fun including one of my favourite Lenny Kravitz songs.

Happy St Patricks day!

Everyone is Irish on St Patricks day. What's not so cool is that the Irish weren't treated any better then blacks in the US. In fact in some cases, the Irish were slaves too.

Here's one article about the real Irish-American story.

New black dress

 Sunday I made a new dress using a favourite, Butterick 5313. Completely from one end to another. I have like at least 12 dresses cut out but not sewn but wasn't feeling any of them. So I made this one from soft Rayon, so it feels like awesome to wear

In bois de liesse Monday

We know cats are assholes

Realized that it was my female cat setting off the dog. Got to love button pushers even animals do it.

Ziva on dog patrol. Keeps an eye out for dog, bullies and runs it out of rooms when it finds dog!

Cats are assholes

so today I was trying to take photos of up coming sewing projects, and of course after I placed all the fabrics and patterns on the bed, 3 of my 4 cats decided to go investigate. When I got back with phone, this was what I saw.

Cats photo bombing my upcoming sewing projects

Then again the other morning, I had the ity bitty kitty committee in my room as well.  I think they are hiding from the dog. But the dog has been grumpy anyways.

The dog brooding in the other bedroom: It's a hard life. 

Bloke that sews...

I'm not sure why not more men sew to be honest. Tailors are generally men.  My grandpa, old school, would be be 105 today were he still be alive, had some basic sewing skills. He worked for several years on merchant boats going between Montreal and the various ports along the great lakes. He could be gone several months at a time. So before he left my grandma showed him how to hem, fix unsewn items, put back on buttons and even change a zipper. A skill he still used in his 60's.

My last bf had good sewing skills too. He was the first man I'd met in a long time that could sew.

This dude made the news in the UK for his mad sewing skills

STOP! You! Yes you with the big ass SUV

I take Kingsley most days to get to Sunnybrooke.  I've noticed the past 2 or 3 weeks that a police van hides on Sonata and nails people for speeding in a school zone and for not stopping at the various stop signs. From the spot the police hides on Sonata, they can observe 2 stops and 3 school zones.

This morning I was coming from Spring Garden, onto Kingsley and as I approached the stop on the corner of Sonata, I saw the police Van chase a car that had stopped very little. What blew my mind is despite the police car following the SUV, the person kept driving. Finally stopping on Sunnybrooke, right after the stop sign. A horrible place to stop given the traffic on Sunnybrooke.

Most of the time when I see the police van chase someone or catch someone it's between Sonata and Saturn, or even between Saturn and Sunnybrooke but closer to Saturn.

I happened to witness the first interaction between the young male police officer, sexy in his camouflage protest pants, and the middle aged fur coat wearing, privileged woman. If I had been able to hear I'm sure he chewed her out for not stopping when he first went behind her. I mean who did she think he was chasing? His tail? There was no one else on the road in front of her.  If he was going for some emergency he would have just barreled around her.

Oh if I had been able to take a photo of him giving her hell, I would have loved it.

Anyways it made my morning, because there are way too many "privileged" people in the west Island who think they own the road.  Of course if I hadn't let 2 bunches of pedestrians, [one bunch who waved at me thankfully] cross Spring Garden before I turned on Kingsley I would not have witnessed this spectacle!

Skating in a forest?

Le domaine de la foret perdue is roughly two hours from Montreal and located in the Trois Rivieres area. There you can find the labyrinth which encompasses twelve kilometers of skating path, that meanders through a forest

The cost for adults to go skating is fourteen dollars  per day.  They have skate and snowshoe rentals, there are also farm animals that can be observed and fed.  Sounds like a wonderful place to spend the day with friends or children.

Lovely walk in the forest yesterday...

Selfie taken with timer on phone

It felt like spring. For the first time in 2015, I was outside and I was WARM!!!  Heck it's about 6 or 7C and I'm wearing no hat, no mitts, and my coat is open, no scarf. I walked like this with open coat no hat. Usually I wait till about 12 to be able to do it. But it was so consistently cold this winter, that anything above 0 seems warm.

In direct from Quebec.

Hadn't heard about them until I saw it shared from one of my former interns, from Ecole de Technologie Superieur [ETS] but I think the river turbine is a great idea.   To quote the website of company who makes them:

"Combining Quebec’s expertise in hydroelectricity, aluminum and renewable energy, Idénergie has successfully developed the first solution to easily generate electricity from the natural flow of a river. Since its inception, significant efforts have been made in order to overcome technical challenges related to the production of electricity under water. Idénergie has been recognized by various public and private entities for the quality of its project. It will now join solar panels and wind turbines in the growing residential renewable energy market."

My SuperFit boots

I got my winter boots on sale at the Rubino warehouse at Galeries des Sources back in late October or early November. I remember wearing the first time when I went to Toronto in mid November, with no regrets as it was incredibly cold two of the days we were there.

The brand is Superfit, never heard of them before but I liked the boot, the price and the colour. From what I gather they are a Canadian brand and they specialize in making footwear for cold temperatures.

I can't say I wore any other pair of boots most of the winter. Never once were my feet cold.  This is the boots after being worn all December, January and February, some of November and some of March. I'm very pleased with them.

The amusing thing is that when I went to Rubino with my friend when she was looking for winter boots, the salesgirl who helped her out, had the nerve to dis my boots, saying they were the worst piece of crap they sold and they wouldn't last the winter. Talk about stupid. You don't dis merchandise you sell! Especially not to someone who bought them from your store just a week or two earlier.

2015 might not be a good year for my mom's siblings.

My mom has been gone since 1999, but both of her siblings are still alive. At least at the latest news but it might not be long. My mom was born in 1933, my aunt was most likely born in 1931, and my uncle in 1936 or 1937.  That makes my aunt 84 and my uncle not quite 80.

When I saw my broker, he mentioned he hasn't seen my aunt in 2 years because she isn't well enough to discuss her finances, and today I received a Facebook message from one of my cousins to say his dad is in his last miles.  It's sad, and I guess I am bracing myself to receive phone call about their passing on.

I don't remember last time I saw either. My mom hadn't been on good terms with her brother and his wife, except perhaps the last year of her life, and though she did spend time with my aunt, she always had issues with her.  I have my own issues with my aunt, and we don't get along that well, we're too alike.

I sometimes forget that I'm 50ish, so it's not surprising that my aunt and uncle are getting older. 

Today we SPRING forward.. WOOT

Uhm. Not really.  Daily savings time is a whole crock. Not sure who it saves daylight for but changing time twice a year is a real pain in the ass!

The old St Bernard school in DDO

It was changed school board so probably no longer has a Catholic school name. But this used to be my daughter's elementary school when they were children.

All the cute snow sculptures had caught my attention the several other times I'd passed in front of the school in the past 2 weeks.

What a day!

Yesterday gave me a scare.  I went for walk in bois de liesse on lieu of lunch though i went around 3. It was beautiful. It's been so cold past 2 months Ive missed walking outside.

 

Later around 4:30 when I was getting my purse looked into by security before leaving work I noticed my wallet was missing.  I ran back to my desk and did not find it.

Then I ran to my Suzuki to search it... no wallet. So I start to drive home. On Kingsley on DDO, there are 2 stops in front of thr school, and while I do stop sometimes the police see it differently.  So I stop and go and notice the police car after going and I think..."fuck! He's going to nail me", and thinking without any papers, as they are all in my wallet. 

 

But no thankfully he did not follow me and I made it home unscathed. Run into house to look for wallet on the dining room table where my purse was in the morning. Still no wallet. By then Im freaking out.  I go back into the garage to look more in the truck from diffferent angles, still no wallet, and as I am going around my truck, see my wallet all soggy from having been in a puddle.

So grateful to have found it. Moreso the wallet itself is a gift from my friend in abu dhabi and I would have been so upset to have lost it, never mind the drivers license,  medicare card, credit cards and all sorts of misellaneous store cards.

Hopefully today is less eventful.

People suck!

I don't mean that in a sexual way or a good way.  Lots of people on this earth are selfish narcissistic assholes. One of the New Delhi rapists, the one who was driving the bus was interviewed about his predicament, and he clearly puts the blame on women for being raped. She was out of her house past 9 pm.  She fought back? Now all women who are raped in New Delhi will be killed because of the bigger penalties he says. He also says it's all the woman's fault for being raped.

I still think in countries where rape is rampant, curfews should be put on males. After all they do the raping!  The view that a woman was asking for it, just drives me batty.  Like saying just because you breathe you deserve to be raped.

Suggestions for avoiding rape include dressing more conservatively, not flirting, staying home etc... Like WHAT THE FUCK?  Have they read statistics, men rape for POWER. They don't care if you're pretty, or sexy or young, or  what have you. Women are raped at all time of the day, NOT JUST AT NIGHT, like everyone would have us believe.  It was still light outside when I was raped.

People suck also because they are judgmental assholes.  It's like they think that people going through financial difficulties should not live. Before people give others help they judge them, and decide if they are worthy of help.

Even people going through a rough time need some form of entertainment, otherwise how the fuck do you expect them to get through the rough time.   A steady diet of austerity combined with depression and other hardships isn't going to help the person get out of their miserable situation. Occasionally you need a pick me up.  Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture and not just at an immediate situation.  You have to look at the sacrifices they made in one aspect of their life so that they may indulge a little bit from time to time, even when going through a more difficult period.

Most of my friends are going through financial hardships. My buddy in Ottawa, my friends in the townships, my friend who is living with me, my Lebanese Ex hubby,  my friend in Ireland..... I don't' judge them. I don't start looking for fleas... "Oh she went out Friday night, she can't really be struggling".   Yeah she went out, and had 1 drink that her friend paid. And you're going to judge her for that?  She should stay home and cry because she is broke?  Or he's having beef for dinner he can't possibly be broke, but you don't know he has a farmer friend that gives him meat in exchange for services rendered. And you're going to judge him for that? Or worse they smoke cigarettes or weed, and people expect them to stop cold turkey because stopping those activities are going to be enough to make ends meet? Seriously?

It's always easy calling the kettle black, but sometimes the pot should look at itself closely. Perhaps the pot is just as black and acting like a complete douche canoe!. Or in French we like to say you notice the straw in your friends eye but not the beam in your own..  "On voit la paille dans l'oeil de son voisin, mais pas la poutre  dans le sien " 

New bikini...

I was looking on American Eagle Outfitters website to see if it was worth going to a store to try on some bathing suits and spotted this little number in a colour they call sugar palm. It was only available online, and was reduced in price. So I took a leap of faith. I have to thank the woman in the review who says that normally AOE are true to size, but this one was too small in small. I ordered both in Medium and the fit is perfect. I agree with the woman, it is made very small.

Not only does it fit perfectly, and so much better then last years bikini, but matches a dragonfly wrap I picked up at value village a few months back. So pining for summer at this point.  I want it to be warm enough to be comfortable wearing just the bikini, or with the see through wrap around it :)

In canada, you're way more likely to be killed by a Moose, than by a terror plot!

Miso soup for lunch

This has been a favourite for weeks.  I love the Mishima miso Soup mix. They have multiple flavours, like white, red, mixed and spicy.  I haven't found the spicy in a while, but a tablespoon of the Louisiana hot sauce makes my miso soup as spicy as I like it.

Second dress I make in 2015

On Sunday I finished this Rayon dress that I had started sometime in January:

Butterick 3437 from the 1990's

My phone captured the purple as being greyish but the fabric looks like the photo with the pattern.  It's a really comfortable dress. Very happy with it. May add an elastic to make the empire waist more fitting

Sleepy time

A few hours later the bed was more interesting then the laundry basket. ...

.

Do  you realize this is a Queen bed? He's a long little guy...

Look at me!

He wanted to be laundered today. Don't think it will happen buddy... Just sayin...

Coldest February on Record for Quebec, and Montreal

I normally like winter, but this winter has been harsh. It wasn't just snowy, it was cold. Very cold. Coldest  on record, and also it was one of the coldest places globally this year so far.

We're all sick of the cold. it's sad when -10 C appears to be warm

Fuck you & your shoes & your cat toys!

I ended up falling asleep early last night which is never good. I was awaken by something around 4 am. At which point Toby decided to come and check out if I was awake.  I got up to walk the 3feet to my ensuite bathroom and managed to slip on a cat toy and fall. At 4am I thought it was cat puke because it felt cold and slippery. But no, it was a piece of cardboard attached to a string that has just the right amount of plastic to make it a weapon of mass disruption. 

As it turned out I did not fall in a symmetrical way so most of the impact was absorbed by my left butt cheek. I'm sure there will be a spectacular bruise there later today.  I also managed to hit the accordion door to my bathroom along my spine.  I cant recall what obscenity I muttered.

If this had happened in a slapstick comedy,  or cartoon, it might have elicited lots of laughs. I'm sure the dafuck expression on my face was priceless. I can be highly expressive especially when I'm upset.

It's 2 hours later and I still feel battered.  I wonder if my cats are out to get me.  Last night I was holding and petting Toby and he heard a sound, that scared the fuck out of him so he left nasty  scratch marks on my arm and belly. I also yelled some obscenities then that I can't remember either.

I thought I might have a week-end where I could actually go skating because my back stopped twinging on Monday. But no, like a cat, I am acting like I meant for it to happen, and sitting in my bed licking my wounds. 

Ziva and Toby play footsies at the foot of the bed.

Getting itchy feet, want to TRAVEL!!!

Earlier this evening I watched 2 documentaries. One was from 2011 done just around the time the Burj Khalifa was set to open. I'd seen it in 2007, just partly done. It is still as we speak the tallest building in the world.

Part of me is disappointed because I never got to see it finished and I doubt I will ever travel to Dubai again, part of me knows I hate heights and elevators and I'm not sure I'd want to go to one of the viewpoints where the view is spectacular.  The building sets fear in me. However it is still an engineering feat. Since the documentary was produced in Dubai of course they showed everything going perfectly planned. It amuses me to no end having been there.

The other documentary I watched was on Petra.   I would still love to go back and spend a minimum of a week wandering around the Petra site, choosing a different area of this old Nabateaen city every day.  While I had read a fair amount about Petra around the time I visited it, I still learned much from this documentary. It is spectacular what a desert nomadic tribe accomplished that long ago in terms of both architecture and plumbing considering Petra is in a desert that is one of the driest places on Earth.

Since going in 2010 to Petra, a short 3 hours, where we tried to see and absorb the most, at least when they showed all the different areas of the old city I could recognize the buildings and the tombs. Also since I've always been fascinated by old buildings and architecture, it was interesting to see how all the different styles from the Romans, the Egyptians and the Assryrians, all blended into one to make a unique style for the Nabateaens.

While I want to go back and visit Petra, I was thinking I couldn't just go to Jordan at this point, with all the conflict in the region just to visit. If I went to Jordan, the only thing I could see myself doing in good conscience would be to go offer my services, whatever I have to offer to the Syria refugee camps that are undoubtedly occupying most of the bordering territory between Jordan and Syria.  I could not visit one of the worlds oldest wonders and not feel the suffering of the millions of displaced Syrians, and also the Iraqis.  How humans can do this to one another escapes me.

Submit your claim

If you had PC equipment back then you can submit a claim and get $20 no questions asked. IF you still have receipts you could claim more!

Coolest thing I saw today

This has to be one of the coolest things I've seen in a while actually. A bicycle powered RV for one.

Looks like a neat idea has small footprint.

Google takes no chances with people now.

Last August I saw the google car in front of where I work and stood there as it rolled by and even took a shot of the car as it went by. 

This morning for fun I looked in front of company on street view, and the parking lot shows I just arrived, as my Suzuki is one of the last cars parked, but the image they have for the sidewalk of the building is from 2011, where there is no one walking.

I guess after all the complaints they have from people, those at google edit out any random person left in their images. Besides I guess it makes for a better image for people to see details if there isn't a bunch of people walking around.

I am a Trichophiliac

Everyone who knows me know I LOVE long hair, especially on men, but also on women too. Though I've found all sorts of short-haired women attractive, men have to be particularly soft featured  and sweet for me to find them hot with short hair.

I know one of my first favourite songs from my early childhood was "Comme un garcon" But as it turns out it wasn't about a Boy with long hair, but about a girl being a long haired boy. Which works for me just as well, I'm not a typical female and being told girls don't do that never has stopped me.

I know I was crushing on long haired boys at 12, in grade 7. I liked the boy that looked like "Hyde" on the 70s show. He had a giant mop of frizzy hair that went below his shoulders, I think his name was Gary, and sadly he was a giant douche with no respect for women, but he looked hot with his hair.  In my teens I crushed on a lot of boys with what I would now call a 70's mop. Hair that's just long enough to be wild, and messy. And I love it moreso if it's wavy.

I think I like long haired men because to be honest, none of the men who hurt me physically in my childhood had anything but crew cuts.  Short hair, suits and uniforms are almost a trigger for me. Meeting a man for the first time, and he's wearing a suit, is an absolute way for me to never see that person in a sexual way. That is undoubtedly my biggest turn-off.    I have no problem with women dressed in a suit, just men. 

Just like I have a thing for blue-collars or working class men. Not a big fan of professionals, who again often wear suits. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but overall suits just make me uncomfortable.  I suppose there is also the added fact that suits is very traditional and conformist. I am still at 50+ quite rebellious and probably less conformist then when I was younger.  Ask me if I care that women my age don't do what I do?

Yes I'm well aware that just because a guy has long hair doesn't make him a nice person. There are psychopaths and sociopaths of every type. Still to this day I've had better interactions with long haired fellers then short haired ones.

When I meet a guy with hair beyond a certain length all I want to do is play in their hair. So many of my friends and lovers have indulged me in that.  I could just pass my fingers through their locks for hours.

I have to say I miss my last ex-bf's hair. He had spectacular hair.  As seen in the photo below..

Taken on the top of "le mont du lac des Cygnes"

Last year my friend added me to a group called "Long haired men" and it's been better then porn for me. On days where I'm needing a little pick me up, I go into the group and can see photos of long haired men from all over the world. From the 20' somethings, to men older then me.   It puts a smile on my face.  Tight jeans and long hair.  Perfect image to put me in a happy place. 

Wonder where he's at?

The summer I was 19, I met I think at the Sunshine Campground in Rawdon, in their recreation room. where they had a few video game machines, a jukebox, a few pool tables.. a  young man who was a few years older then me.

We met a few days after he'd had a serious injury where he'd almost lost his life. He'd gone through a glass door, with his right arm, and there was a huge cut, that required lots of stitches.  And I'm remembered that particular night, the poor paramedic that was serving Rawdon, had first a suicide attempt of a guy he knew, that he had to rush to the hospital. No sooner then he'd left him at the hospital, he gets a call about another guy needing to get to the hospital and also in critical condition. And the worse thing is that my friend was high on acid that night.  So the stuff he said to the paramedic made the poor guy really all freaked out.

So when he and I met we were in a detox stage in our lives. I was living with my aunt in Rawdon  to get away from the city, and it's negative influences. I hadn't realized that even small downs like Rawdon, had people party heavy. Perhaps more so then in the city because youth are isolated by a bigger distance without hardly any practical public transport. Rawdon at the time was the only place I knew that actually carded teens buying alcohol

 At the time in Montreal at the local depanneur, I was buying beer  every night the summer I was 17. I would buy the big bottle which is like 2 1/2 beers. I'd go sit under a giant willow tree on the edge of the Riviere des prairies and drink it before going home, hiding my empty inside my jacket, so I could use it to get my next one the next night. Heck I started buying cigarettes at 13 or 14. Was never once carded.

So I met Rocco Altobelli a couple of nights after his accident. My friend and neighbour knew him and his friend, so we played pool together.  I was a newbie, and he couldn't use his right hand at all because of the cast/bandage.  So it was like he was new in terms of reflexes but he knew how to play. It made it fun for me to learn since I actually could legitimately win.  Both his 2 friends and him took a liking to me, but I took a shine to him. He was really friendly and could talk to anyone,  he was also shy and introverted and he had lost boy eyes.  

Of all the "Italian" descent men I dated he was the most awesome.  I'm sad he stopped seeing me because he didn't want to hold me back and he didn't think he would fit in my world. I'd love to know what came of him. At the time I knew him he lived with his folks in Greenfield park or was it Ville LeMoyne. It was definitely near the Lemoyne hospital. He had family that had  a little summer cottage in Rawdon.

We spent one summer dating, but on a platonic level. The next summer, we became lovers. I wonder what became of him.  He was blond haired, blue-eyed, tall and lanky. He didn't speak any Italian but liked to boast that his last name meant that we was tall and handsome.