Sadly, I think I still have heatstroke from the event and am slow to recover. Suggestion – Have an area for the senior citizen punk rockers to enjoy the show from their lawn chairs. I’m tempted to rent a tour bus for next year’s show.. Hmmm… anyone want to go in on this with me?

NOFX- “Mattersville”

There’s a place where some of us choose to live
A gated community cops can’t come in
A neighborhood for punks over the hill
We’re spendin’ our golden years in Mattersville
We can do whatever we want whenever we please
There’s always a keg of beer and a block of cheese
We got charams, pinball, asteroids, space invaders and missile command

We will grow old together
We will play bridge and Texas hold ‘em
Duane and Stevie Cab they still skateboard
But most of us lawn bowl and shuffleboard
We may be getting ripe but we ain’t bored

We got a blackboard with some rules and laws
Hefe’s got an 18 car garage
Most of the cars are smashed and so is Spike
Twice a week on karaoke night
Eric Melvin lives next door to me
Limo and the Locknecks head security
At the end of my cul de sac
Davey Havok’s house is painted black

We will grow old and fatter
We got our ville so what else matters?
Trashy, Mod, and Kath are staying up
Nathan, Matt, and Dad are passing out
When California cracks we’re all goin’ down

I’ve been taking French classes for a few months now and find that one of the best (and most enjoyable) ways for me to develop better comprehension is to watch television programs, episodes of webseries or movies. As a big film fan, it’s a great way to augment my vocabulary as well as get a taste of Francophone culture.

I got to thinking that I’ve been asking many folks for suggestions on what to watch so now I’d like to ask you to help me by posting links, trailers or You Tube clips on your blog of Francophone videos that you recommend.

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J’ai pris des cours de français pendant quelques mois maintenant et de trouver que l’un des meilleurs (et plus agréable) des moyens de me développer une meilleure compréhension consiste à regarder des émissions télévisées, des épisodes de webséries ou des films. C’est un excellent moyen d’augmenter mon vocabulaire ainsi que d’obtenir un avant- goût de la culture francophone.

Je suis arrivée à penser que je demande beaucoup de gens pour obtenir des suggestions sur ce qu’il faut regarder alors maintenant je voudrais vous demander de m’aider en affichant des liens ou des “clips”  de You Tube sur votre blog francophone de vidéos que vous recommandez.

A little while back, the plucky Canadian magazine for young women and trans youth Shameless ran a feature on yours truly for the Shameless Women section of their blog. I’m hella flattered and humbled to have been covered and allowed a space to speak of the Montreal Girl Geek Dinners Group as well as some of my personal perspectives.

If you’re interested, here’s the link to the post for you to check out.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/perpetualplum/3995210073/

For so long I never asked myself that question and I was carrying around a sense of general, genuine and perpetual unhappiness. A real dis-ease. That dis-ease started to manifest itself not only in my mental state but physically with some nasty allergies, gut rot and a sense of constant nervy-ness.

As a child who came out of a broken marriage, I never felt a sense of home. Many of us come from parents who were ill-equipped to dole out love in the ways we’ve all craved. Not having a Halmark card kind of life means that you have to work a little harder on yourself – mainly in being gentle with yourself and not listening to the negative self talk that we come to cultivate over time.

Breaking these negative pattens has taken time and I’m now an advocate for helping people break from their conditioning and discover new ways to heal themselves. I’ve been teaching meditation classes to a small group over the past month and have felt empowered by being able to educate people on several tools they can use to help calm their minds. I’m looking to deepen my teaching experiences over time and will be taking teacher training to work with inmates who wish to learn meditation to help them pacify their troubled minds.

I’ve also been lending a hand with the NHC Institute which teaches holistic health care here in Montreal and have been working with this group on various upcoming initiatives. As a cause I’m a full believer in, I’m thrilled to be surrounded by passionate folks who are dedicated to healing and helping alternative health to become an accepted form of medical treatment. I’ve used alternative therapies as a compliment to the advice I’ve received from my traditional doctor and have found it to have helped me immensely.

I’d encourage you to take some time to ask yourself how you’re feeling. Make it a date and pick your brain. Note if any of your physical ailments can be tied in with your mental state.

Are you feeling OK?

Thanks to Dot Wojakowski for inspiring me to write this post.

Print by Eva Juliet

http://www.etsy.com/shop/evajuliet

I’ve been taking full-on French immersion classes and the effects are remarkable. I’m already feeling so much more comfortable and have noticed my vocabulary is being beefed up significantly. I had been taking classes at McGill for some time but it was only for morning sessions and so much was falling out from between my ears.

For so long, I’d put off dedicating time to learn French and always felt a sense of shame in being so lazy and not sticking with it. Having moved here from New Brunswick, I had a fairly decent base and ear for the language so I have a leg up on the folks in my school who are mainly newly landed immigrants to the city.

This time around, I’m watching many more Quebec movies and tv programs and reading the local newspapers daily. My current faves are:La petite seduction,Tout le monde en parlait and L’épicerie. Oh and I seem to have discovered an interest in Zachary Richard.

I’m planning to start a twitter account to tweet exclusively in French (good practice) and am going to be taking a more proactive focus with the Montreal Girl Geek Dinner group in developing and cultivating an enhanced presence in the local Francophone community.

Tibetan Buddhist master Chogyam Trunpga Rinpoche (shown here chillin’ with Alan Ginsberg) has spoken of ‘authentic presence’ – a sense when you meet someone who just naturally and effortlessly fills the room with their joy an appreciation for living. I’m sure you know people like this (or maybe you are one yourself). There’s not posturing. No posing. A good storyteller. A better listener. The kind of person that isn’t trying to sell you on anything – especially on themselves.

No amount of courses or training can give you authentic presence. You can’t fake it. You are it. If you dare.

Our culture is caught up with the cult of celebrity and how we think people should behave. I’m refreshed when my concept of how a person should behave is shaken and they prove to be more ‘human’ than I’ve given them space to be.

I came across a blog which posted a series of photos from the 50′s by Philippe Halsman who, at the end of his sessions asked his subjects to jump into the air so he could take a shot of them mid-air. Images of a carefree Audrey Hepburn, Richard Nixon and Professor J. Robert Oppenheimer leaping show that daring. A willingness to experiment and be playful. Are you willing to jump?

Original photo by jkirkheart35 on flickr

At a young age we learn that we need to share. For me, it was the big box of Crayons which helped me to see that you can make good friends with wax, candy and wax that tastes like candy.  You know I’m talking about you big red wax candy lips…

I’m a natural-born over-extender with Type A syndrome. I take on too much and over the past year have made a conscious effort not to spread myself too thin on projects, be they my personal ones or those of others. Sharing ‘the weight’ has been invaluable for me as knowing that I can help to empower someone makes community participation all the more rewarding. It’s really no biggie to do and I’m still far from being a good sharing citizen, but I’m getting better at it.

Share ‘the weight’. I’d love to hear your stories about how offloading has helped you or your organization.

I discovered The Mary-Margaret Network and their game recruiting company via a linkedin group related to women in the gaming industry and an interview that they conducted with Ellen Beeman titled “Calling all Superheros” It’s an inspiring read and leaves readers with the call to action to “ Tell us how you have learned to be excellent every day or tell us about a life changing opportunity that came to you through creating a strong network.  Share your stories so we can all learn how to be excellent!” Love it!

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Here’s a trailer of a film coming out in the summer called ‘Pugged’ and most of it was shot at the Montreal Pug meetups. As a pug mum, you bet I’m excited about his!

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Monkey picked tea. Yes. Monkey picked tea. I hope they have to wash their little monkey paws before handling. Not down with the idea of eating an oven roasted tarantula, which is also available via this store.

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“In the cherry blossom’s shade, there’s no such thing as a stranger.” – Japanese poet Issa [1763–1828]