reicenbach

a few months ago at living room, we talked about what types of things we can do to make a different in our city, region and country. letter writing came up in that discussion, and rach really encouraged me to take up my pen. i've written a few letters in the past, but had sort of forgotten about it. with her encouragement, i felt newly inspired to write letters when the need arises. i've been following the 'idle no more' protests in the media, and have felt grave concern over the well-being of chief theresa spence. if the film 'the iron lady' taught me anything, it's that stephen harper is the male version of margaret thatcher - a women who let 10 men die from hunger strikes during the troubles. i was deeply concerned that history would repeat itself. while i know that letters are more effective then emails, i needed to act quick and didn't want to rely on the mail to carry my concerns to parliament hill. the day after i sent my email, i got a response from the PM's people thanking me for my note and letting me know they were going to send it on to the minister of aboriginal affairs as well. i felt encouraged. not that i thought my email would be read by harper, but it was nice to know that it had been received and was being sent to the applicable people. when i read in the news today that harper has indeed agreed to meet with aboriginal leaders, i was quite pleased. while i doubt my letter alone made the difference, i do think that he has probably received many many letters and emails - one was sent from the anglician church just yesterday - and so every letter counts. i'm glad to see he's finally (after 25 days?) agreed to meet. there's hope. i suspect there's still a long road ahead, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

i've also been wanting to write a letter about the planned closure about the kingston penn, but i don't really know what to say. i don't have enough information or statistics to make an argument for it to remain open. i'll have to give this some thought.

every once and am while i develop a desire to be more prompt in dealing with dirty dishes. back in 2007, i decided that i would make myself do my dishes every night before bed. i made it til about halfway through the year when i fell off the wagon and stayed off until now. just goes to show how making myself do something can really backfire. but i'm finding that i want to develop some good habits and dish management seems like a good place to start. i'm going to begin small. i'll wash out my lunch container at work every day so that it's clean and ready for reuse the following day. last night i did dishes while brendan made dinner. which worked pretty well because b was in there anyways (so it's not like i was missing out on something more interesting in the living room) and it saved me having to do chores later in the evening when i was tired. i think i'll try to make a habit of that. doing 6 dishes is way easier than doing 20. am i right?

i want to write more this year. that will be another goal of mine.

silhouetted by the sea,
circled by the circus sands
with all memory and fate
driven deep beneath the waves.