May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears

- Nelson Mandela

Now that the city is in stage 2 (so that nail and
hair salons can re-open), I’ve been able to get
a pedicure and a much needed haircut at pacific
mall yesterday, resulting in bangs again, thanks
to Karen, yay!

I waited at least a week so that once the salons
were fully open and operational, hopefully
worked out bugs before I tried to step foot in!

This choice was WORTH the hopes, not fears!

The Good Lovelies

Watched 'The Good Lovelies' perform this evening from 7-8pm on fb!

Made up of three amazing singers, Caroline Brooks: Lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars; Kerri Ough: Lead vocals, keyboard, banjo, acoustic guitar, omnichord; and Susan Passmore: Lead vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar, synth. They've created nine critically acclaimed releases, a #1 single, a JUNO Award to name a few...The Good Lovelies are considered to be amongst Canada’s brightest musical lights.

Of the three ladies in the group, I only know Caroline (the singer in the center with her guitar) as we were on student council (SMCSU) together during my first year of undergrad! What amazing memories!!!

@goodlovelies #usmc #kellycorner #socialdistantperformance

Happy Father’s Day!!!

Enjoyed a delicious takeout meal of Filet Mignon's, Ceaser Salad's and Escargot's from The Keg at Ames'!
Finished off with splitting a decadent cherry cheesecake!!!

Internationalism

Was the theme to last night's Yonge-Eglinton Toastmasters meeting.
I was invited to join the online TM as it was fashioned slightly differently from normal; in the sense that instead of the normal format of a meeting with three speakers, evaluations for each speech, table topics, evaluation revision and wrap up...this one was purely 5 speakers and Table Topic responses speaking in their native language (hence Internationalis-tic.)

AJ was the 1st speaker who spoke 'On diversity' in Arabic; followed by Jenny who presented 'L'importance du francais' in French; Winnie introduced 'Fun Facts About Kenya' in Swahili (with a fantastic slide presentation that were colorful, full of explanation and information which was especially useful in getting the jist of her speech); Sangeeta speaking on 'Hindi' dressed in the beautifully colorful garb as well as an appearance by her son; with Edmar wrapping up with 'I am an African Child' in 4 dialects (Isizulu/Isidebele/Setswana/Ikalanga) with very expressive and amazing facial expressions, whoooooa...impressive!!!!

Kwanta chaired the Table Topics - International Events/International Foods/Wonders of the World with a game of 'spin the wheel' with these participants:
Ruth speaking on the Calgary Stampede in Spanish; Mani on 'Spring Rolls' in Farsi; Emily on the 'Leaning Tower of Pisa' in French; Aleks on delicious 'Lobster Rolls' in Polish; Rosa on the decadent 'Poutine' in Cantonese; Anand on 'The Great Barrier Reef' in French; Cathy on the 'Great Wall of China' in Korean and Karen's thoughts on 'Churros and Choc' in Italian!
Ruth wrapped up the meeting with thank you's!

As well, I was finally able to see the zoom recording of Wongie's reading at an 'Emerging Writers' Reading Series' presentation, an excerpt from her current work in progress that delves into the coves of Kensington Market area in China town (which also had some Cantonese characters in the reading) I had missed last Monday (June 8th) due to technological issues, not to mention she was the first speaker and of course I caught everyone else's...she's such a fabulous reader, I was completely enthralled and following along so that when she was finished, it totally left me hanging!!! Ah well, something to look forward to see when the pandemic has passed!

Soooo....on my morning walks in the neighbourhood, I have discovered that at a particular area in the park that I pass by...that I must be extra attentive and vigilant as I get warning calls from a black bird as it veers by my head...perhaps because I am treading on it's turf!

Regardless, because I make several rounds on certain days...I now need to act a little more menacing (eg wave my arms around more, lol) and go by quickly! This is the section where I put in an extra burst of energy (which is great for calorie burning!) and zoom by!!! Extra motivation!!!

It helps with waking up in the morning! :)

Just watched Ava DuVernay’s 2016 movie, 13th. After seeing DuVernay promote the film on a daytime talk show and assuming it was new and relevant in this time, I took advantage of the free site off of Netflix this arvo.
Considering I’d hadn’t known (or researched until AFTERWARDS) of the film, I’d no idea that it’s about the exploration of the ‘intersection of race, justice and mass incarceration in the United States’ and how it’s titled after the 13th amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1865 which abolished slavery throughout the United States and ended involuntary servitude except as a punishment for conviction of a crime.

WOW!

The amount of American history I’ve never learned about in school. Whoa...

I have to say I’ve much more understanding and respect for the black race that I’ve not known that I’ve been missing. It DEFINITELY gives much more meaning and relevance to protesting with #blackouttuesday & #blacklivesmatter. #RESPECT

Second shot

I'm sincerely hoping that the world will rise to a second shot as the earth is revolting seemingly twofold (environmental and societal)...feeling like the world is trying to implode. It's difficult to compare as it's like trying to fit a circle into a square hole.

What with the outrage and systemic change that is trying to occur within so much conflict, hope for a second shot is what I am mentally psyching myself for. *fingers crossed*

Even worse is the fact that religion can't escape this chaos as church-goers are also forced online due to the social distancing. What's the HARDEST for me to adjust and eventually overcome is the diminished physical interaction with others besides family and work...mainly mes ami(e)s.

HOPE...we'll walk hand in hand, one day...we shall overcome with a second shot.

Video game flashbacks

Since the whole covid-19 pandemic began and social distancing became the norm, due to the fact that the building's gym facilities are still closed, the neighbourhood is where I spend the time walking around in the mornings as the sun's coming up. I find that now when I'm strolling along the laneway that leads through a park (that's now closed due to the pandemic) if I see another person (there's normally very few to none in the mornings) in my pathway, I can see that we immediately are strategizing our moves to either not pass one another or pass with the greatest amount of distance between us.

Two distinct types of video games flash in my head EVERY. SINGLE. TIME...pac-man and Super Mario Brothers. ;p

Mainly Pac-Man...this character that's supposed to be an image of a pizza with a slice removed that was also supposed to be derived from a character's hockey-puck shape, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Here, I am equating other people to the 'ghosts' in the game.
As the park has a circular path, I like to make several rounds before heading back home. If I see there are people on the pathway, there are other paths to walk around to avoid crossing...or if crossing is impossible to avoid, we cross with the farthest distance between as possible.

The reason Super Mario Brothers, especially Super Mario World because I used to play that game when we (Ames, Jules and Grace) were younger is because when walking outside, unlike walking on a treadmill in the gym, there are environmental factors to take into consideration. Such as puddles and sticks etc...

Therefore walking along the path is also a bit of a game for me, why not? What a way to enjoy nature and make exercise fun, lol.