March Madness and April Foolishness

Cough Syrup - Young the Giant

"A dark world aches for a splash of the sun"

One more spoon of cough syrup to go down. And it is too hard to swallow. I connect to this song - a lot! Not because of some odd compulsion to consume cough syrup but because I feel the angst that is being expressed. I don't feel like the fish are staring at me but that I am the goldfish in the bowl - alone and watched. The zombies are after my heart because they want me dead inside. They want to control the living, they want to break my soul and my spirit. 

They are dead to me now, the people who tried to break me. But I am fighting to heal and be whole once again. The zombies can't win. Evil must not prevail. Soon I will be forced to face the demons again and I have been punishing myself in preparation for the the pain. I can see it but I can't stop it. There is something deep within that fights against the odds to survive and thrive. I don't know what it is, I can't make it work for me at will. But I know that I can find the good in me when I celebrate the written word. And when the music is loud and I hear the angels speak to me with their human voices. Call it madness if you will, I call it survival.

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Remember the good old days when winter meant winter? Growing up in Thunder Bay wasn't the coldest or snowiest part of the land but we had our fair share. From November until the end of March it was winter. It was cold, it sucked and you dealt with it. Most people actually embraced it and made the most of the snowy season. There were ski hills a-plenty within 15 minutes of town. When families put away the bicycles, they pulled out the snowmobiles. Toboggan hills, tube slides, ice skating, snow forts, King of the Mountain and snowball fights at school. 


The thing is that when you knew it was cold, you dressed for it and it didn't seem so bad. I was almost guaranteed a toboggan or skiing party for my birthday at the end of November. Christmas was always white and March break was the turn around point. The chance to get in some warmer weather skiing without the usual bulky clothing. You knew that summer was around the corner.

To this day, people look at me with furrowed, questioning brows when I say I like winter. But it's the truth, I do. I have many fond memories of winter activities but there are two main reason I embrace the cold. First of all it's the embrace part. Nothing finer than a cuddle with a mate on a chilly evening watching the snow fall outside with a warm fire burning in a hearth. Who hasn't heard "Don't get so close, you're too sweaty." or "I'm too hot for that."? Shared body heat...yeah, it's a good thing. The other reason I like winter is because it is bug free. Yes, for a brief period of time I can do almost everything that I can do in the summer months but without the bother of the creepy, crawly, buzzing, flying, annoying critters. Like a vacation from the above mention zombies. :)

But #I'mSoDoneWithWinter this year. Last year, so many people complained about our seemingly endless Wednesday blizzards. And while it did seem a little too consistent, at least spring came without much haste and gave us a break. This year, November and December were mild (like fall not winter), even January was quiet on the winter front. But February, March and now April - enough! We surrender Mother Nature. April 7th and we had dumping of 10cm of snow. A cruel joke really until you hear that later in the week there will be more! Please make it stop. Not even #StormChips is funny anymore.

I, lover of winter have had enough! Bring it back in November or December and I will be happy to toss the first snowball out. But now it time to throw baseballs. End rant! 

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And now for something from the "Did you know" department. Did you know that despite popular belief plastic does de-grade, it doesn't last forever in it's original form. Quicker than once believed, plastic does break down in the oceans waters and in the process leaches some very toxic chemicals. Essentially turning the ocean water into a chemical soup. Some of the remnants of plastic products are so small that we can't see them easily, but the birds and marine animals sure can. They often mistake the floating bits as food. Filling up on plastic is not terribly nutritious and in fact hazardous. 

Environmental advocates have been trying to get the notion of recycling plastic on the forefronts of our minds. And while there is some progress to be seen with use of refillable water bottles and coffee cups and shopping bags, we are falling back in other ways. While we were in the yard sorting our recyclables for community collection and turning our compost, the marketing machine slipped one past us.

You may have heard of the term Microbeads. Those amazing little balls of miracle cures! They clean without the muscles power, they whiten our teeth, strengthen our hair and exfoliating our skin so that we glow in the aura of youthfulness. 

Microbeads are plastic and they are microscopic. They are so abundant in the everyday products that we use that it is difficult to comprehend how much each person is adversely affecting the worlds water by simply performing their morning hygiene routine. The shampoo is washed down the drain, as is the toothpaste and the cleaning residue. The microbeads are so small that conventional filtering systems aren't able to capture them. They are a contaminant and impossible to remove once released. 

The good news is that with knowledge of this issue we can choose to change our shopping habits and we can demand that the multinational companies demonstrate some environmental awareness and stop this contamination. It's being done but the process is slow. Too slow in my mind for something that never should have happened in the first place. What brainiac figured that putting plastic in hygiene products wouldn't get washed down the drain and cause pollution that couldn't be reversed? 

Now you know! If you want to become more informed or help to Beat the Microbead, you can visit the International Campaign Against Microbeads website here.

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Drones. What's not to love? 

• Farmers can survey fields and crops in the comfort of their homes. That's got to be good for the environment.
• Giving a bird's eye view to real estate can be beneficial for both the home seller and buyer. Look at the condition of the roof without a ladder. That's safer.
• Law enforcement can use them to catch criminals without the high speed chases. The streets are safer for all. 
• Rescuers can use the devices to help locate lost or stranded people, freeing up resources for other matters.
• Monitor wildlife without intrusion and safely.
• Make viewing sports and activities cooler. Giving people a viewpoint they wouldn't got any other way
• Deliver packages, pizza, medicine to places near and far, remote and congested. 

But there is a dark side that has me worried. I live in an apartment building, I have used binoculars to ascertain if I am visible to any of the (somewhat) neighbouring buildings. I'm not, so I enjoy the light of the moon adding an ethereal glow to my bedroom and the suns brights rays to wake me up. Not a curtain to shield the beauty of the city. 

Until I considered the uses of a selfie stick. And thought how easy it would be to stand on the balcony and hold it up to see and video the apartment above me or below me. Hopefully having the ability won't mean that it will be done. But do you know that for sure? 

And from this vantage point, I've got to say that flying a drone over the rooftops of the city would be fun. Landing on a roof down below or in the yard making the dog go nuts, stop the cat from chasing the bird. Then I thought that that same drone could fly past my windows like the birds and see more than I want to share with the world. That's scary! 

The airspace outside my world is not controlled and in the wrong hands I could (and you could also) become victims of the 21st century Peeping Tom. 

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Not everyone in the world is business-minded or scientifically inclined. Some of us find our passion in creativity. Music, writing, acting, arts of all types. I am angered at the cuts to the CBC that is destroying an important part of my culture. These cuts may not mean much to some but those without the access to cable (either psyically or financially) should not be without truly unbiased news reporting and Canadian content that we the people can identify with. Corner Gas, Murdoch Mysteries, Marketplace, CanadaAM, Friendly Giant and Mr. DressUp, Degrassi High. I could go on.

#SupportOurScreens, #NSFilmJobs and #SupportNSFilm

To add insult to injury the Nova Scotia government has suggested in a pre-budget speech that the Nova Scotia film tax credit will be axed. A blow not only to the culture but the economy. The successful Trailer Park Boys series would be one franchise that would suffer. I know that the movie industry isn't as big here as in Toronto or Vancouver but it is still an important employer. 

Cuts to the arts and music in any way should be fought with all that we can muster together. I'm fairly certain that Snoop Dogg and Axel Rose have very few ties to the Nova Scotia arts scene but they are throwing their support behind a petition aimed at reversing this BAD decision before it takes effect. 

Here is a link to sign the petition yourself and make your voice heard. Pass it along. Retweet it. Get the word out. Change.org

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And as the last verse in the Cough Syrup songs says:

So I run now to the things they said could restore me

Restore life the way it should be

I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down

As I wait for the cough syrup, it was pleasant to have this diversion from the anxiety regarding the dread that is headed my way. 

Another wall will soon darken my world. I pray I can climb it...

credit
National Geographic - Plastic in the Ocean
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090820-plastic-decomposes-oceans-seas.html
Microbeads
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbeads
International Campaign Against Microbeads
http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/en/
The Globe and Mail - Nova Scotia Film Tax Credit
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/trailer-park-boys-launch-appeal-to-save-nova-scotia-film-tax-credit/article23808371/