Veganarian

My l'il sister Kacy is trying out a funny balance of Vegan + Vegetarian as part of a New Years health kick. I don't entirely understand her motives but I admire her courage. (She's downstairs cooking us dinner right now. This is the girl who texts me excitedly when she properly makes rice for dinner at school.) As long as she doesn't become one of those preachy douchey Vegans, I'm down with her choice. She says that a lot of her choices are related to the hormones and processing in meat products, so I told her she will have to kiss EVERYTHING A MCDONALDS GOODBYE. Which I suppose is the point of the whole exercise.

Kacy tends to hibernate for 12+ hours every day when she can, and she's hoping it might afford her a little more energy, which is a decent try, anyway.

I can't judge her because I ate vegetarian for about a year in my teens, more as an identity thing over a moral/nutritional thing. I also cooked veggie stylez a lot at school because it was inexpensive. (And I'll probably do it again!) Either way. That's what's happening right now.
I got so excited that she was making dinner for us. She's wearing the glasses because she A) wants to look cool B) onions make her cry C) all of the above.

It's funny to watch the people in my family move independently of one another. Off to work/the gym and cooking each other dinner.
I'm in the midst of trying to decrypt the application process to University in a different city. My older sister just got a new job related to her desired field. (CONGRATS JILLIGAN!) I guess this is what it feels like to be part of a family as it grows, changes and evolves.

Whether Kace is in a phase or not, for some reason it's fostered some pride to me that she's trying something new and different under the banner of self improvement. I advised ma that she should be happy her kids are expanding their horizons and trying new things of their own volition. Mama, being classic mom, doesn't GET IT.

Which is yet another entry on the list of things that my parents don't understand about their children. Maybe just for now, or maybe not ever. I've been wondering lately over the fact that my parents STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND ME. Something I thought I let go of more or less when I graduated from college, became an adult (more or less), that kind of thing. We are all growing, moving, changing. Independent colonies broken off from the original mother(andfather) land.

I guess the difference between teenhood and now is that now I can appreciate WHY we fail to connect on some subjects: music, tattoos, politics, clothes, careers, and so on and so forth. This is in contrast to just fuming about what I assumed was ignorance but was really just differences in time and upbringing and culture and other things. What can you do? Just wait until you're on your own, I suppose.

P.S. If anyone has any suggestions for workout songs or healthy recipes they'd recommend, I'm in the market!

Thanksgibbin's

Every year on Thanksgiving, my family has dinner together. We invite our neighbors who only have family out of town, our friends who live alone, my sisters brought their boyfriends. Every year we have a big meal and after we finish, before the evening is through, we sit around the table, and go in a circle, and say what we're thankful for.

I want to continue this tradition if/when I get to have a family of my own. I think I would love to have people so close by to me, an open group of friends where the line blurs into family, and a moment of clarity and honesty and gratitude. Some people think about it before, some of us go on the spot.

This year, I was thankful for the life I lead and the problems I have.
I'm looking into post secondary so that I can work with a non-profit organization. Through this lense I've seen a lot of bad things. People less fortunate than I am. I know that compared to what SOME people go through, my problems are nothing.
So I am thankful that my obstacles, mental, physical, romantic, artistic, whatever...I'm glad I can overcome them. Everytime I overcome a problem, I grow a little. And when I grow enough, I'll be able to reach out to others and help them with their problems. See the bigger picture.

What are you thankful for this year?

I've been sick, with a little cold, a little nausea, a little fever.

I've been feeling pretty antsy lately too. Like there's something wild under my skin and I'm not sure how to take care of it this time.

I've been lost, looking at my options for the future and wavering on my path. Whatever path that is. Even with a list of like...15 schools Canada-wide...that's still a 15 different lives to choose from.

I think people don't hug each other enough.

EDIT: RANDOM UPDATE.

I was feeling like adding more so I decided to throw in a couple of outfit pictures featuring my lovely orange jacket. Again. Sue me. I was feeling a little like ass kicking today, so not featured in these pictures are my ass kicking black combat boots. I like wearing t-shirts, but there's a fine line between a boring t-shirt and jeans and a nicely put together ENSEMBLE. Yeah, that's a hoity toity word.

One of these days I'm going to find a better space to take outfit photos in, because I realize right now that my blog has more torsos than a serial killer's garden.

Jacket: H&M
Meanie-bo-beanie...or as we say here, toque: H&M
Sick Boy T-Shirt: Birthday present!
Jeans: Forever 21
Combat Boots (MIA): Spring

I would also like to say that I can't take an outfit picture without doing something weird. I.e. Looking like I'm A) Seeing forever B) Doing a great impression of a dramatic movie poster in the photo on the right.

Snaps from the Past

I've been trying to de-clutter everything so that the move out in a few months and the packing that go with it are easier than cherry pie....whatever that means. I was rifling through papers today when I found a bunch of old photographs of my dad in his childhood. My mother sent them to me for a project in first year, and now in the final stretch of the third I've found them again.

I tried to scan them, but my scanner and my computer are giving each other the silent treatment.

I believe my dad is the charming little man in the bow tie. I thought it was fitting to post some of these pictures since it's family day... What better way to pay tribute to an excuse for a three day weekend than to look back at your collective past?


Looking at the photos really gave me a sense of nostalgia, but it was for a time I had never actually experienced at all. Finding these photos made me realize just how much I want to go through the photos I have, and print out the ones worth keeping. Before I was born, my Babcia's house (my mama's mom) burnt down in a fire. All of the photo albums and memories were lost. I think in the future if a hard drive breaks of a computer shuts down, we'll suffer the same consequences.

All of these thoughts are on the heels of some bad news, so I guess my tone might be a little grim at the moment. Christchurch, New Zealand was hit by another massive earthquake, the second one in the past five months. It was a 6.5 on the Richter scale, and it killed a couple of people.
My older sister and her boyfriend live in Christchurch-- thankfully they weren't hurt but they have to leave their home and get away from the city center for fear of bad aftershocks.

I guess the overlying theme here is that you shouldn't have to lose something to realize how much you love it. You should seize the opportunity to spread love (the Brooklyn way, or otherwise) NOW.