The simple things to do for fun in life

Recreation, or "Fun", is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's body or mind. ~ Wikipedia.

This is a list of just random stuff that I would like to do for fun. I will write them down whenever I think of them, and I am at the computer to write them in. May this list forever grow, and may I be able to do everything on the list, and enjoy every minute of it!
For example, I LOVE the summer sun, and doing something as simple as sitting on the balcony at my place and soaking it up!

* Baking
* Eating crackers and cheese (or just cheese alone if it's smoked Gouda!)
* Going to see the documentary "My Playground"
* Loving beautiful typography
* Building a deck
* Go to Canada's Wonderland with friends
* Get a hot stone massage, or three!
* Browsing through magazines, and writing about articles on my blog
* Reading about the world around me
* Having a space to plant things ... inside my condo, on the balcony, in a garden ...
* Have a condo ... have candles in my condo
* Painting a mural in my condo! (That would be such an amazing project!)
* Have my own place to live, and decorate it!
* Visit the Elephant Sanctuary one day
* Eat grapefruit
* spend time out with friends
* Be culturally proactive - go see a musical performance, or a lecture
* Participate in a Women's Build ... !
* Jump down a waterfall (a small one! Maybe 20-30 feet)
* Bake perfectly soft, moist, cookies!
* Sit on the balcony, in the sun, reading Azure magazine, and not worrying about going anywhere!
* Have the time, facilities, and "company" to make furniture
* Go to a cottage with some sand, and make sand angels
* Go to see the Sunshine Coast, BC, Canada
* Go to see Gros Morne National Park, NFLD; and hike through it
* Hike through Toronto's trail (the one that passes through Edwards Gardens and Sunnybrook Park ... don't know the name of it)
* Spend time with cousins, (and their brand new babies!)
* Get a video camera (something that records picture and sound!) and start videotaping nature.
* Go swimming!
* Sitting with Karen on my balcony, her playing her guitar, and us laughing and chatting, etc.
* Reading literature.
* Brunch at Cora's!

That's it for now!
What would YOU add to the list?

* Stair Porn *

This is a post about designed stairs.
If you like art, if you like architecture (and read architecture/design magazines for the pictures), if you like to, or would like to build stairs, if you like to hiking up stairs, if you like to store things, if you like to rethink the way things are built,

... then you will like this stair blog.



P.S. ... and I thought buildings were made by pouring the cement. This video proves me wrong!

Beatbox Chick

If there's any chance for the proletariat to vote, babe - you got mine!
Julia Dales, age 17, is going head-to-head with the best of the beatbox artists from around the world to compete. And some people say girls can't do sound effects!

You can get more info on the event from their formal website. They have a live webcast tomorrow at 1400h. (2pm for those who operate in standard time) ...

Scratch that! It seems as though she has already won. Okay. This was an online battle ... and she took gold! Now next year we need to send her away to compete onstage!

|| Sisters in the Building Trades ||

Women in construction.
That's right, sinking nails in 5 hits, framing, formwork, scaffolding, welding, operating heavy machinery, divers, highrise, steelworkers, plumbers, and residential. Here we ALL are.
Yes, this is a clip from an American site, but if you gave me enough time, I could put together one of Toronto's own clips, from Habitat, at least.

play the video, ladies, and enjoy!

Woman, Empowered.

I need to take a moment to express this, because it is in honour of one of the stand-outs at the Women’s Build. Her name is Jenny T. Also known as “Jenny of the Block” … or something like that. She is an incredible woman. She took this Women’s Build and made it hers (in part ... at least I think so!). I don’t know what her official title on this project is (something to do with actually co-ordinating the project though), but I know she is a no-bull-sh!t kind of woman, who takes any crap that anyone throws at her, and turns it right around. She is capable of leading a project that many others, including, quite possibly myself, are not (yet) able to do.

I am so happy to see that Jenny has risen to the top of this project and is glowing. I absolutely admire her work, and how she conducts herself. She even wears her reputation on her sleeve, and I absolutely love that! LOVE IT!!! I get the idea that there are several people who do not like her way of doing things. Does she just absorb it? Hell no!! If they can’t cope with her way of doing things, I think she kind of enjoys calling them on their inability to cope with her particular leadership and less than fluffy and perfect conduct, and she has offered them, very politely and tactfully, a piece of their own cake. Here, if this is what you say about me, I will show the world that this is what you say about me, and let the world make a judgment call.

You know what? We will never know who called her some of her more “choice” nicknames, but she did mention some of those names in her speech one time. I think there are many women out there, me being one of them, who can relate to having to fight past those jerks and slothes who sit around passing judgment and making it harder for you, while they do nothing but give themselves the authority to judge. You need to push past the cynics, impress the people you should, and be value-based. And to everyone who just calls you names, well, you can make them into “nicknames” when people call you them, and then stand on the podium and publish those names later. Damn f^ck hun, but that felt as good and empowering to me as I hope it did to you! How do I become more like her? Not by just being around her, but by doing everything it takes to make and achieve my own goals, and not spending time crying about what other people do wrong. In fact, wearing what other people say to try to drag you down on your sleeve, and shining the light on the sh!t in such a way that they might just regret their actions, if they have the brain cells to do so.

They are not the ones who did all the hard work. They sat back and threw stones, wallowing in jealousy or bitterness, while Jenny pushed through, and “got’er done”, and continues to “get’er done” every single day of the build.

Who is the one who truly shines? Not any of those people who sat back in judgment, calling out names, but Jenny. She both chastises and compliments where each is due. She is confident; she is firm. She makes things happen. She makes decisions and enforces action. She is strict, and makes her statements and commands with confidence. These things are just a part of why I aspire to be more like her.

Here is the part I am personally truly grateful for. I saw her the second day I was at the build, first thing in the morning. She hadn’t had her coffee yet. I helped her, in my keener energy, to laugh through putting up caution tape. That same day, I worked with her at the very END of the day, when I think both of us were stumbling over our words a bit, and joked with her about that fact – gee, I’m seein’ you at your VERY BEST today hun, ain’t I!? Those were moments I am grateful for sharing with her. I am also grateful for her help, in allowing me to come back on Wednesday, and I kinda wish I could have come back Thursday, Friday and Saturday. But Saturday especially is the wedding, Friday we are taking women in our family out for dinner, and today I had to get some errands done for Mother’s Day, that considering all the other events of the upcoming weekend, I had to do today. I had a very good time at the Build though, and I am grateful for the powerhouse behind it all, that “got it all done.”

Kudos to you, Jenny, and your contribution to Canada’s First Women’s Build.