I finally got around to reading my short story course's instructors first novel, Skinny. It's interesting to me (less to others) to see how some of the things that she taught us reverberates within her work - a demonstration in how to show and not tell. I can see the universal appeal in this regardless of the specifics of the family (their ethnic background, individual personalities and interdynamics) because of the ...can't think of the word right now, but you will know what I mean when you rea…
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Added by Jane on November 17, 2009 at 11:18am —
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Hmm, I started getting into family guy recently, not sure how that happened, but it's quite funny. Especially the almost live comedy ones are interesting to watch. Other than that, I also started watching Craig Ferguson interviewing funny people - I'm not usually that interested in late night shows, but he has a such great way goofing around with those celebrities that he connects with.
Ok, on a completely different note, near my house there is a little Chinese barbecue place, a take-out place…
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Added by Jane on November 8, 2009 at 9:42pm —
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It's been a while since I have written last. It seems that the time between the entries are being stretched out more and more. Maybe I needed a little break, but I don't think that I'm done with this blog ... quite yet.
The past couple of months have been rather quiet on the creative front: I stopped writing completely. My notebook is still in my napsack, always ready in case I feel like scribbling in the bus, but I have been avoiding it instinctively, a quasi self-imposed incubation phase fill…
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Added by Jane on October 29, 2009 at 10:42pm —
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Lately I've been catching myself doing a funny (and sad) little thing - when something or someone makes me angry, I start thinking "wait until I write this down about you / it". I guess it's always easier to be passive-aggressive rather than coming right out and saying something to someone's face. Then again, I don't relish doing that either not because I'm being a chicken but just because I am not 100% sure if I am right in what I am saying. Hell, what am I saying? I can NEVER be 100% sure that…
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Added by Jane on September 7, 2009 at 10:48pm —
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I think this has been my longest blogging break so far. Between the short storying and shuffling Italian relatives around in car caravans (after spending an entire week simply ... cleaning), not a lot of time was left for much else. I'm still in the middle of "The Visit", but it's somewhat settled down a little. Working does introduce a comfortable routine into life - as opposed to spending 12 hours a day running around showing things to people (that may or may not want to be shown things). On t…
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Added by Jane on August 12, 2009 at 5:04pm —
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I'm finding that I can use this blog as an accompanying place to write my thoughts on my writing tribulations and trials. As I am executing the writing exercises and trying to make enough time for creativity to emerge from the heap of initial crap (or compost, as another book so eloquently describes), I find that another voice is perched in the background, listening, mulling over and reviewing my progress / non-progress in my word-laden endeavours. Unfortunately, most of those thoughts tend to o…
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Added by Jane on July 24, 2009 at 12:31am —
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A few days ago a friend sent me an email asking why I hadn't blogged in a little while. That email prompted two reactions at my end: One, someone is reading my blog still! Two, hmm, I guess I really haven't written for a while, I wonder why? Before I really had a chance to think about it, my fingers had already started typing an email response which was mostly centered about the Introduction to Short Fiction writing course that I am currently taking. Granted, I only started it last week, but I t…
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Added by Jane on July 16, 2009 at 5:30pm —
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I'm an eater: Not the kind of person that only eats to sustain nourishment and to continue living, but also not the gourmand type of eater who will only swoon when the dish in front of her costs at last $50 dollars or more. No, I enjoy the act of eating and the relish the various types of food that I can put into my mouth (and my stomach, and occasionally I will seek out a particular establishment to get just the "right moment" meal or food item. It's no secret that I love my bread and cheese. E…
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Added by Jane on June 7, 2009 at 2:30pm —
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My mother just called me tonight, her voice cracked and hoarse from the cough that she has been exhibiting for the past few days. This early morning, my dad asked her to get him to the emergency because he was feeling faint, weak and had a blood pressure of 150 over something (and that with the blood pressure medication), but because ambulance would have brought him to the closest hospital, my brother drove them. Apparently they have been in an isolated room for fear of the swine flu but quite h…
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Added by Jane on June 1, 2009 at 10:54pm —
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Murphy's sitting in the office room with me, cleaning himself. A few hours earlier we had a little scare with him that started out innocently enough: Murphy is an indoor cat but just like any young adolescent 1-year-old cat, he was curious about the outside and always stood on the ledge near our door or just in front of the door whenever we were leaving or coming into the house. This morning Ed had to leave to go to work and was backing out of our garage, so I thought I'd be helpful and close th…
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Added by Jane on May 18, 2009 at 3:30pm —
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At the risk of sounding like a converted new cult member, I think Yoga has a healing quality, both on the physical as well as the mental being-ness. Today is day 2 post-marathon, and although yesterday I was still stumbling around like someone who forgot how to walk, today I'm almost back to my normal self, with only a bit of soreness left in my quads and my hips.
It's odd, although I should have been eager to write about my first marathon experience, this time around, I was content to let my t…
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Added by Jane on May 12, 2009 at 11:00pm —
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I don't think I have written a blog post the night before a big race day before. However, writing tonight can be easily justified by a variety of coinciding factors: this being my first marathon; having to get up at 5 am; having just returned from 4 days away at a conference full of fried foods (and tons of water); and having just gotten my period. Yes, suprisingly enough, despite the number of races I have done over the past 2 years, I have never had to run a race during my period. So this will…
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Added by Jane on May 9, 2009 at 10:24pm —
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As I am starting to get older (invariably), I am also beginning to understand some of the sentiments expressed through writing, film and other media that all hint or rather bluntly point out the fact that life feels heavier with increasing age. It's not that life suddenly turns into a series of horrible events. Rather, it's an accumulation of life events, memories and foreboding thoughts that begins casting a shadow that can become excrutiatingly overwhelming, if not acknowledged and made peace…
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Added by Jane on April 22, 2009 at 10:30pm —
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A little while ago I wrote two short blurbs on writing as an exercise. Short of replicating them here I thought I would just post a link to them here.
"
The Runner's Striptease" (
http://snipurl.com/g3uht)
"
The…
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Added by Jane on April 17, 2009 at 3:30pm —
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Royal Wood during his CBC Radio 2 Concert:
"...as a song writer you wear a lot of hats... and you know, I tried the Rock band thing, and the Jazz band thing, the Montreal and want-to-be-leonard-cohen, but you are always pretending and you're always sounding like your peers or someone you admire and then one day something sparks and you write it from an honest place, It's shot down from above and when that happens, you feel it and you feel a sudden change, and I felt this on this song, and from t…
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Added by Jane on April 15, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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Sometimes you lift your head, and as you look around, suddenly everything appears to be brighter, clearer. This is how it must feel when the turtle sticks its head out of the water for a breath of fresh air. Or how a bear awakens and straggles out of the cave after a long winter slumber, just in time to see the nature refresh itself.
Even though spring in Canada is a slightly underwhelming event that can be over as quickly as you blink your eyes, there is just something so great about feeling t…
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Added by Jane on April 12, 2009 at 10:00pm —
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The beginning of the Around The Bay race in Hamilton seemed like doom and gloom. I may sound a bit overdramatic but that was the first thought that came to my mind as I drew back the curtains in the hotel that we were staying at and saw the downpour. That, followed by a spirited "Crap!". It's easy to remember how I told myself (and others) that there was no way I was running a race if it was rainy and cold - the worst run I ever had was 2 hours absolutely soaked in rain (you know that feeling of…
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Added by Jane on March 29, 2009 at 6:30pm —
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the last few weeks have been a bit turbulent when it comes to overall health. My dad's been to the emergency twice in the last two weeks, once for being extremely cold (not what you and I usually feel but much more than that), once for a nosebleed that wouldn't end for 11 hours. My mom is the type of parent that doesn't tend to tell their kids for not wanting to worry, so I had to call and see her to find out what had happened. Now he has a cold but appears to be doing a little bit better but my…
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Added by Jane on March 21, 2009 at 5:00pm —
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Who actually came up with that saying, "sick as a dog", I wonder? Why a dog? Apparently the saying can be traced back all the way to 1705 in recording, but there doesn't appear to be a good reason why a dog is chosen as the specific reference. Apparently other animals and even a cushion had been used also, but for some reason, to be sick as a dog stuck around.
Anyways, I caught a nasty cold bug last wednesday and came down with an overnight thing that caught me off-guard. I had rested on wednes…
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Added by Jane on March 10, 2009 at 8:59pm —
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actually, we have tons of sunshine this weekend, balancing out the horrific freezing status of the GTA. This morning was -25 Celsius with windchill, and tomorrow isn't looking any better. But it is remarkable how much better it is with sun than with a grey, dreary sky.
I found myself counting a couple more things in my daily life - the salt shaker (when I put salt on the salad or the oatmeal) - the number of slices of Ginger or lemon that go into the tea or the cola - the number of times I'll s…
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Added by Jane on February 28, 2009 at 3:30pm —
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