Harlem Globtrotters

When my Dad told us that we he had tickets for the Harlem Globetrotters I have to admit my first thought was “LAME!” Who are the Globetrotters? Well he seemed pretty excited about it so I thought I would give it a little latitude. Everything seemed to be rushed that day – my Mom was going to drive us which meant that there was a reasonable chance we were going to be late because my Dad was unexpectedly having to go to Vancouver. Great news, his flight was cancelled due some mechanical failure on the plane caused by lightning. Better before takeoff than after, that’s for sure. So it worked out that he was going to take us and since it was his idea it only seemed fair that he was now able to go. Perhaps the evening would work out after all.


So we get there and make out way down to our seats, right on the court, under the basket so I knew we would be right in the middle of the action. As we walked in the Globetrotter’s theme song was playing – you know it. The lights came up, the announcer left the court and the ball was put into play. This is when is started to get interesting.


The team played the infamous Generals who, in any normal situation, would be considered great players, but their shtick is to be the patsies on the court. I have never seen such control of the ball and dunking and passing in the game of basketball. Ok, the SJK guys team does well and they can run up the score, but they are a ways away from these guys when it comes to the finely tuned skills and what they can do in the air. My little sister Hillary got pulled up to the middle of the court and they made her run around the court, and spun a ball on her finger! That was entertaining but the funniest part was when one of the players came over, grabbed me, and started dancing with me. That was rather embarrassing. I guess he felt bad for me because later in the game he came over and threw his wrist band to me – kind of sweaty, kind of gross, but a good keep sake of the game.


After the game the line ups began to get autographs, meet the players, and generally get the public more involved in the whole event. It was pretty cool overall to see some of the best players in the world and what they can do when they put their minds to it. If you get the chance to go, it is an interesting use of a few hours. Go Globetrotters! Woot!

Summer!

Summer is my favourite time of year, I love the hot weather, and how you never have bundle up in snowsuits and have the fear that you will be frost bitten the moment you step outside. In the summer time, the world is full of colour, and you feel happy just to be outdoors. Not to mention the fact that summer is a great time to play beach volleyball.

I love the summer time because it's 3 months of freedom, no school, and nothing except for having fun and hanging out with friends. Although as most of you know, camp has not been a positive experience for me *cough* Tanamakoon *cough*. But, I do go to volleyball camp at the end of the summer, and I love it. As for the rest of the time, well it's all unplanned. Visiting friends and family is a good way to spend it though.

On the other hand, lets talk about winter. Last year, when me and my dad were driving up to north bay to visit my grandparents in the dead of winter, and bad things happened. For starters, on the way there, we almost ran our of gas in the middle of no where, and my fear of having to walk at night in the freezing cold was a big one. So after arriving safe and sound at my grandparents house, and after filling up on gas of course, we decided to call it a night. Later on the next day, it was time for us to leave, so my dad and I got in the car, and start to happily drive away, until...we smelled and awful smokey smell coming from the vents. My dad telling me "Oh, don't worry about it, it's just the car starting up." But it wasn't. Little did we know the oil from the front of the car had leaked out the night before onto the engine, because of the terrible winter weather. So therefore, the front of our car was basically burning. And that added a good 4 hours to our trip home.

In each season there are perks and things that are not so enjoyable, but to me, summer is the best season. Hanging out with friends, swimming, relaxing, and 3 months of nothing to do but that. What could be better?

After the screaming and dancing ended at some point reality would set in that I had won 40 million dollars. I would spend some on myself to get a few things I likely don’t really need and I may even share a bit with my sisters but my parents would want me to make better use of it than to just give it to the owners of TNA clothing and Coach stores. 40 million seems like a lot of money at first but the real value is in what is done with it.


If I wanted to help people in Haiti rebuild then 40 million really doesn’t seem like enough to make a difference. Looking at the devastation makes me realize that I would only be able to make small impact in the lives of a few. I would be worried that with all the corruption and gangs taking control in that region the money would find its way into the wrong hands and no good use would come of it. OK. Enough about what I wouldn’t do, I think I can pin point what I would do and it may still involve Haiti.


School. When I think about my days and how great they are at SJK, I wonder if why other kids don’t get to have the same experience. What if my money could create that experience for many other kids. My parents have always told me that my job is to work hard in school and to enjoy the opportunities I have because I am fortunate. I have finally come to the conclusion, that in this case my parents are right. I think about kids in other parts of the world, but also kids right here in Canada who don’t have a safe place to be educated, they don’t have breakfast, and they don’t have the support of teachers and family that can give them a good start. Imagine being a girl in the Middle East who is not allowed to learn, has no school to go to, and risks her safety is she wishes to break those rules. Think about a girl in Africa who has dreamed of going to school with her friends but can’t afford the dollar a day to go. A dollar a day gets her school, breakfast, lunch, and books. I could put a lot of girls into school for a long time and even build a school with 40 million.


How could that change a society if I invested even half of the money in building schools and educating children and their children and so on in a single city or country? I think it I could change the world for those people at least. Their lives would change because they could move from the poverty of the fields to the cities where they could compete for jobs, where they would be paid real money, and where they could raise their own families. Once established they could bring their extended families to the cities where they could find work and get consistent food and health care. Those people could then return to the fields to help locals build, find water, improve farming, and of course build schools. And the cycle continues.


I think that if anyone has been given that much money they should really think twice before giving it away to sellers of clothing, bling and things that they honestly dont need, and look to make it keep on giving to others.

Memories..

Repeat a day? Why only one day? It reminds me of a movie that looked at how good a single day could be. 5073 days in my life and counting - hopefully tomorrow makes 5074 - and I am expected to select just one. If I have to recall a special moment within that day well then the actual time slot I would be describing is so small it really makes the whole discussion seem irrelevant.

I have had so many great things happen to me over so many days the past 13 years that I would prefer to describe excellent moments that were the most memorable and then add up the time they covered to make up a total of one day. I think even then I will be making the whole walk down memory lane thing a huge understatement of my life so far.

I was born. My parents thought that was a pretty good start to a day, so it was a great start. That took about a three hours according to my Mom even though when she tells it is seems a lot longer. That was followed by walking to the bakery (actually I was in a stroller, my Dad was walking) to get fresh warm raisin buns every Saturday morning. Total trek time was about an hour leaving me only 20 more to account for. I have vivid memories of days at Montessori working with the counting beans and gobbling them as fast as I could count them. The after effects lasted longer than the pleasure, but the two hours spent eating those grimy beans over my early years sure seemed fun. The summer to follow brought many hours, say three, of water skiing - I wasn't even three years old yet (what were my parents thinking?) which might explain for my desire for speed. Jump ahead to SJK and the whole day could be considered my favourite, but that would end this tale too quickly. I will allocate two hours to this event because that would be the same time I spent relishing the fact that I was away from the meanies at St. Paul's.

As I near the halfway point of my fabulous day, I need to give special mention to swimming in the pond. It might not seem like a huge deal for most people to bath with turtles, pike and algae in cold dark murky water, but the hour we had made me love the SJK experience. Pinecrest - need I say more? Sure the whole trip had its good aspects but the high point was the counselors and the couple of hours they shared with us. Wearing dirty leather shoes while sliding on hardwood lanes might not appear exciting at first, but the end of the year bowling provides two hours of fun that seems to improve with age. Although dropping a small fish on the floor was not a great memory, having Aqua, Uniqua, Peter Sushi and friends in our class brought laughs and learning through the whole year. Since it took me and my Dad three hours to get the stuff and then for the class to set it up, that time was the start to some great experiences.

With only five hours to go, I think the dances deserve some recognition. OK the DJ needs some work and to update the songs on his play-list, and we could have more people to dance with, but the hour and a half we spend at the Middle School Dances will always stay with me. Lena has taken a leave of absence, but time at her cottage especially the hour we spent at the Aboriginal Reserve - yes your heard it right - was cool and kind of weird at the same time. Not something one does every weekend. Then there was Nick. Jonas. Olivia took me to the concert and we spent a memorable hour chilling and chatting - pictures to prove it - back stage. Nice. Volleyball is what I still do every weekend and now during the week and I love it. One hour is not enough to do this sport justice, but over the weekend my family was watching our team at a tournament. Everything seemed to come together at once. All the time seemed to really pay off then.

Only half an hour remains in my day of memories and I must admit it has been the time doing this blog that has been fun. Half an hour to remember the special moments that have brought me to here. How's that for a Ferris Bueller kind of day?

Discovering the Darker Side

Saturday morning as I continue to hide under my covers pretending to be in need of another 12 hours of sleep, I hear my Dad bellowing at my sisters downstairs to change the channel. Apparently they have been watching the Family Channel, getting another view of non-reality, watching spoiled kids who have no responsibility demonstrate a complete lack of any sense. My Dad wants them to get a dose of scientific reality so they don't end up living at home until they are thirty because they are unable to survive in the real world. "Channel 42 or shut it off. Watch something that's going to expand your mind not shrink it" he warns. So my younger sister flips it to Discovery and starts to watch Mayday. Great. Just as we are planning for a trip to Florida she is seeing planes falling out of the sky, people screaming, and rescue workers trying to save the mortally wounded. Ooops. Try again Dad.

Later that day we come back from a nice girls-only outing and my Dad is doing some work on his computer watching Discovery - his favourite show - apparently trying to expand his mind. Destroyed in Seconds is just ending with Deadliest Catch close on its heels. How is this expanding his or our minds? I am told that Discovery has been providing factual information for 15 years focusing on the science and nature of things. Well I do recognize that Physics is playing a role in Destroyed In Seconds and nature is somehow connected to the killing of innocent crabs in Deadliest Catch, but I still don't fully understand what shows like mayday are teaching us. Not to get on a plane perhaps?

Sure there are some cool things like How Its Made that demonstrates human ingenuity, and Myth Busters that does use the scientific method to try and disprove ridiculous beliefs which is all great for education, but then along comes Machines of Malice that shows how humans have invented and experimented until they find the best way to kill each other. Nice.

In small doses, Discovery can provide a look at things we might otherwise not have learned about while watching the sitcoms, drams, and music videos, however parents may want to reconsider what they are requiring their children to watch when they recommend channel 42.

When I am reading, the words transform into pictures, sounds, colours and smells. All of my senses are alive and I experience my own movie as told by the author and interpreted by me. It's kind of like a 3-D iMovie that is built from clips and phrases and images but seen in only my mind. When I fold down the corner at night to mark my place, I press pause on the movie, with anticipation of what the next scene will hold, and begin to dream of the possibilities. I can take days, weeks, or months to complete a book spanning many hours in an unlimited number of locations. I can reread sections and paint new colours on my mind-screen filling in details that were missed on the first pass. I am unlimited in my ability to explore, invent, and believe the emotion, fear, or fact. It is only me and the author. My mind is the place where their works are presented, and there is only one ticket sold to the show.

Compare this experience to that of a movie presented in a theatre. We have all stood in line for to long, to buy a ticket to the hottest show-of-the-moment and to sit on a sticky seat while trying to figure out what that girl in front of us has in her hair, while we wait to be entertained. The director has read the script, which was written by a person who has read the book, written by a person who has researched the topic, and edited by a guy who needed to make sure the idea would sell to investors and ultimately a population of screaming fans. Now the director has taken liberties throughout the shooting of the film to make it exciting enough to have a great trailer, that would attract the fans to the theater. But the cutting room floor is littered with sequences that the producers have rejected and others that just took too long to get to the point. What's left is a media driven rendition of the story that in the end does not represent the original intentions of the author.

Alright, Taylor Lautner has great abs and I might or might not have imagined them quite so great, but I could have lingered over them and changed my impressions as many times as I desired. I want to be able to create my own dreams of the great stories, and not experience a watered down version of an executive from Paramount.

"Did you know?"

Exponential times. Right now I barely know what an exponent is or how to apply it and, by the calculations presented, it won't be relevant anyway by the time I finish this blog. But, hey, these are the best years of our lives. Right? Right. Think of the possibilities.

My parents parents were farmers who could never have imagined what we take for granted everyday. We will be those farmers, harvesting information with bits and bytes instead of sowing seeds, in comparison to what our grandchildren will be learning and experiencing. But if we look carefully at the information presented, there is an underlying responsibility on us to make it all happen. By 2049, for a thousand bucks we have to have built a computer that is smarter that the entire human race - combined. Well I suppose that means that someone somewhere thinks we can build that intelligent device, so we better get started. Not sure that I am stepping up to start the construction of this beauty, but it does make me realize that there is a lot riding on what I learn right now, every minute, every day.

There was the industrial revolution in 1900 and the world developed all of the ways, means and infrastructure we now use today to create the next growth phase - the information revolution. We no longer have to toil physically with our bodies, but the expectation is that we will use our brains. Imagine the possibilities that lay before us if we can just muster the courage to believe in ourselves and be the ones that find new ways to use the terabytes to help ourselves and others explore the human potential. Gone are the days of isolation and ignorance. We can never again use the always available excuse "I don't know." All we have to do is open our minds, take it all in, explore the possibilities, and create a future. Never in the history of the human race has anyone been in our position. We have an opportunity to believe in our dreams and make them a reality.

In these times, all we have to do is dream exponentially.