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.

Scenic Safari at the Toronto Zoo

Thanks to Ames for getting the fam tickets to the zoo in a 'Scenic Safari Drive' on Friday! Even though we were lucky to miss the rain the time that we went, I think because of the weather, the animals actually DID come out for a bit. Also, I can only guess that considering all the visitors are in cars (so that there's technically less disturbance) the animals didn't feel as intimidated (as opposed to when people are causing much distraction when we're not in vehicles).

Hello, these flamingos were sooooo beautiful to look at!!!

Hello Mr. Chimp!

The zebras were out and the stripes were striking!

Unsure what little mammal this is out catching the rain!

The yellow post may be taking away from the gorgeous giraffe in the background...

The tiger's out catching some vitamin D!

Hello rhino's! This was the best weather for them!!!

All in all, this was a fantastic zoo viewing as we didn't have to trek throughout the zoo enclosures so we weren't too tired to catch everything! It was a great weekend activity before spending time catching up with Ames and Mr. Trudeau for a weekend takeout dinner from Buca (including a Tiramisu dessert)!

‘Our world hangs like a magnificent jewel in the vastness of space. Every one of us is a part of that jewel‘

- Fred Rogers

Bestie’s birthday!!! 🎁

It’s not how you fall, it’s about how you get back up!

- Pitbull - I believe that we will win

Occupying my time...
Never a moment to be wasted, this weekend's original plan of visiting the dentist and having a games party at my place had to be rearranged/rescheduled therefore the weekend time was spent watching Michelle Obama's Netflix 'Becoming' as well as continuing on the cleanup of recorded shows, the oldest was Jan 19, 2020's 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards.

Tots 💕Eugene & Dan Levy’s opening & closing show routines, they represent the Canadians so well!
It was during the SAG Awards cleanup that Leonardo DiCaprio presented Robert DeNiro the Life Achievement Award.

'There's a right and there's a wrong.
And there's common sense and there's abuse of power.
And as a citizen, I have as much right as anybody, an actor, an athlete, a musician.
Anybody else to voice my opinion, and if I have a bigger voice because of my situation, I'm going to use it whenever I see a blatant abuse of power.'

It was through hearing about the motion picture parasite as the first foreign language film in the history of SAG to win this award that motivated us to go and see the film at the closest theatre by Ames' place! At the time, I had no idea about the premise of the film. Afterwards though, I fully understood how this could be a possibility and it's scary that it IS a possibility!

I've also been watching Celebrity IOU with the Property Brothers and have seen the episodes where Brad Pitt and Michael Buble have helped to give back to their most loved ones. Heart-warming!

Closing out the weekend, I watched the last taped episode of KidsSaytheDarndestThings with TiffanyHaddish, the funniest moments of the season (the closer). It was a fun show but I've heard that it is one of the shows that will NOT be renewed. So that is that.

Also, the Canadian Screen Awards have begun! (check it all out at https://www.academy.ca/)
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, in partnership with CBC and CTV and with the support of Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund, are live-streaming virtual presentations on the Canadian Academy Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels taking place Monday, May 25, 2020 through Thursday, May 28, 2020.
Narrators will include Eric McCormack, Herbie Kuhn, and Lloyd Robertson.

A SMASH hit!!!

Smash, the television show (2012-2013) revolved around a theater community and the creation of a new Broadway musical revolving around a group of characters (featuring an ensemble cast with the likes of Katherine McPhee, Megan Hilty, Debra Messing, Leslie Odom, Jr., Raza Jaffrey, Christian Borle and Anjelica Huston to name a few...) balancing their lives with their life in theater.

The Smash Reunion, Bombshell in Concert occurred Wednesday on people.com with the original cast!

Both Megan Hilty

and American Idol alum Kat,

were the two leads in the amazing troupe.

Leslie Odom Jr.!!!

There was a group chat gathering that took place during intermission.

Also taking place last night was Red Nose Day that included many celebrity performances such as Gwen Stefani and Black Shelton,

John Legend sang one of his hits while Chrissy Teigan and their kids Luna and Miles made snapshot appearances.

America's sweetheart, Julia Roberts also plugged Red Nose Day.

Today was also the first of GMA's Friday summer concert series with Katy Perry as the act before she enters into motherhood!
WHAT a SMASH!!!

School Voyageurs, the arts and traveling flashback

As I'm reading articles about the fact that 'Travel will never be the same again thanks to covid-19' this has led to nostalgia about my past loves of travelling and education. Specifically regarding spring 2007 when I was a tour guide with School Voyageurs (whose name changed to New Dimensions Travel) thanks to the recommendation from fellow Ry U classmate (Ana), for the end of year school trips with middle school classes travelling to Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City.

Due to the training sessions that were mandatory for employees, I learned soooooo much information about the locations we were going to with the students and their teachers as we were the main tour guides on the route (except for when they had signed up for actual museum tours such as the National Gallery of Ontario where we could actually take part in learning from the tour). We actually even literally had thick binders that we carried with us on the trip to help us (like a cheat sheet) when we were guiding.

I'm not going to lie, this was a great teaching experience that I had gone out of my way to embark on my road in communications!

Sadly, especially due to the new environmental situation so many past teaching methods are now bygone. I've seen through many of my past piano teacher colleagues that they have now turned to online teaching via zoom/skype-ing sessions. I mean it's lucky that our society has become so able to take on this type of challenge but I must say that due to my past teaching experience it would definitely be a change in teaching methods with all this change.

Teaching and piano also leads my thought process over to the arts side as I see that already many performances have online as well. Sure, it seems more intimate for the viewers but as a past performer, it definitely leads to a very different performance vibe for artists. shame...

However, even though I've been out of the travel game for some time, it hurts to see the hit all of tourism has taken. It's such a tragedy...Mais, c'est la vie, non?
Time to get with the times...

We all play our part

I watched an Instagram chat between Sandra Oh and a representative from Elle Magazine as well as took some amazing photos of a beautiful robin shot from a discreet location in the garden yesterday afternoon!

These are shots from the broadcast of 'We All Play Our Part: A Benefit for MPTF' (Motion Picture & Television Fund) that aired Friday night as a salute to Hollywood and the people who work behind-the-scenes to make it all come to life during this time that was hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown and Tom Bergeron.

There were many performances and celebrity appearances including Leslie Odom Jr., Brad Paisley, Rachel Platten, Pierce Brosnan, George Clooney, Taye Diggs, Michael Douglas, Jodie Foster, Brad Garrett, Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Ken Jeong, Ray Romany and Wanda Sykes to name a few.

Also, last night there was an abbeyite zoom meeting with a couple of us in both oz (Tanaks representing as double K were unable to make it this time) and tdot (Fayewood, Maija and myself). It was a nice catch up and update between us girlies with even an early appearance by Emmi!

Mother’s Day PTSD...

So we’d gone over to Ames’ place to celebrate the day.

However while we’d almost just arrived, mom was helping her with chopping some onions for her upcoming hotpot cooking session when she’d accidentally cut herself with the knife.
While she was quietly inspecting the ‘damage’ (no one noticed), Ames came to review...and as soon as she noticed the injury, panic ensued!!! The panic involved the suggestion of calling 911...(unnecessary)

Outcome is that even though mom did injure herself...however, a couple bandaids (more than one as dad apparently contaminated the first one 😉) did the trick!
If anything, Ames was much more traumatized by this than mom!!! (Mom’s fine! Dad & I were simply spectators...)
Crisis averted...whew!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Final ‘Together At Home’ & GhostLight

I caught Chris Martin playing some Coldplay classics on guitar and piano yesterday to wrap up the ‘Together At Home’ Series off Instagram yesterday.

Then I watched a Ghost Light special hosted by Graham Abbey who spoke with the likes of Dylan Trowbridge,

featuring Colin Mochrie and Deb,

Showing off his own Colin hand puppet!

Torq (Torquil Campbell) from Stars, who happens to be the son of Douglas Campbell

chatting with Margaret Atwood and former GG Adrienne Clarkson,

ending off with Broadway singer, Chilina Kennedy