25 Random Questions

Yay! One whole year since my last post. I'm making it easy for me - 25 questions already decided and my answers.

Courtesy of randomquestions.net.

1. What is the model and make of your car?
   Volkswagen Golf-City
2. Will you vote in the coming election?
   I just voted in the civic election in my city. Yes I will always vote. But I'm Canadian so... upcoming? Probably not.
3. Which is the most beautiful city in the world?
   Impossible to say. I have traveled many cities and they all have absolutely beautiful parts and absolutely terrible parts. Even Naples, which, once you climbed as high out of the trash city as possible, had its own hidden beauty.
   
4. Have you ever seen any of the big five African animals?
   Lions and Leapords and Elephants, Oh My! I don't think I've ever seen a Rhino or a Cape Buffalo. Then again, maybe I have and I don't remember...
   
5. What is your dream vacation destination?
   I still haven't made it to Egypt or Germany. They're both pretty high on my list. But in my dreams I see a lonely beach stretching out into blue water with absolutely no one around.
6. What type of reader are you?
   I don't read so much as I devour. Largely sci-fi/fantasy. Mostly fiction.
7. What is your favorite mode of transport and why?
   I love to walk/run. Unfortunately it's often difficult to manage when laden with bags and boxes. Then I love my car.
   
8. Have you ever been betrayed by someone you trusted?
   I will say yes - but it's not as if those betrayals led to distress, sadness, or jail.
9. Do you believe in love at first sight?
   Nope. But I'm still hoping for it!
   
10. Have you ever committed a serious crime?
    2 Words: Plausible Deniability
11. Will you rather die or get imprisoned for 100 years?
    I enjoy that this question is a "will" instead of a "would." Also, it would definitely depend on the prison.
12. Which football team do you support and why?
    Man-U!! (Totally a sheep in that regard).
13. Would you rather give or receive?
    Give. Christmas is the only time of year I love going shopping.
14. Do you believe in luck or fate?
    Luck. And hard work.
15. Does patience pay?
    Most of the time - yes. But when the light turns amber, take that left turn!
16. What was your favorite subject in high school?
    English.
17. What is the career you wanted to pursue but didn’t?
    Architecture.
18. Will you rather be slim or obese?
    Are we talking "slim-fit" or "slim-anorexic" here? Slim I guess, but I like a bit of meat on my bones and padding for the winter months.
19. Will you rather be tall or short?
    I like my height. Tall.
20. Can you live without access to the internet?
    I have done it, so yes. But I certainly wouldn't recommend it.
21. Can money buy happiness?
    Nope.
22. Education vs wealth? Which one will you rather have?
    Education hands down. Ignorance and wealth are the two blights on our society.
23. What is the biggest factor that influences the decisions you make?
    My parents. Their choices, experiences, and advice.
24. Which team sport do you watch most?
    Depends where I am. In Ireland it was Rugby. In Saskatchewan it's Rider Football.
25. What will you do to please someone you love?
    Support them when they need it. Scold them when they deserve it.

Election Season! AKA An Exercise in Insanity

I was planning on blogging more during the election to try and give a little campaign insight.

What I found was that the only campaign insight that I have to deliver to the fine people who are wandering around the streets of Saskatchewan amused or bemused by the orange and green displays of party affiliation is that campaigns redefine insanity.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job.

I love my party (go NDP!). I love the debate with other parties (ok Sask Party, I'll listen to what you have to say... if I have to...)***

I enjoy that issues that are faced by many of the citizens of Saskatchewan are being brought to the public in a more meaningful way than the appearance of angry agitators with an axe to grind.

I also enjoy the crazy paper-flying-everywhere, fast-talking, java-infused, red-eyed office I have come to call home.

I don't mind that I could not find myself a minute of time to blog my personal thoughts about any of this while campaigning for the hearts and minds of Saskatchewan's people. It is just non-stop. As it should be.

On the other hand my twitter's been working overtime :) 

So what I will say is that for those of you who are not aware - campaign's are super hard work. There are so many little and big people at work in the great machine. In the case of the NDP the volunteers and donations are THE MOST important factors in any of our success. Without them we'd probably be campaign-less as they are the people with the signs, knocking on the doors when the candidate can not, handing out the information, and funding our media campaign to get out the message. 

For some reason, the administration assistant of the Party Office is expected to complete the ridiculously unrealistic job of somehow knowing everything that each of these random individuals across our province are up to currently and have been up to in campaigns past, as well as every intricate detail of the platform and of course be the point of contact for every constituency's campaign office to reach the central campaign.

Who would want such an impossible position, I do not know. 

But it's mine. And despite everything, 

I love it.

*** I'm kidding about the reluctance to talk with the Sask Party folks - that's what I want to do. A strong government has strong opposition - otherwise how would the other voices be heard. I may not agree with the political perspective of the Sask Party but I'm certain they genuinely want to do good for Saskatchewan and would expect them to show my ideas the same respect I show them... but perhaps I'm just naive to expect that during an election season.

PS: GET OUT AND VOTE NOVEMBER 7TH!!!!

No Man is an Island

For those of you today who are thinking on the tragic loss of talented singer Amy Winehouse or a close friend or loved one who has been lost in the past day; 
For those of you who are horror-struck by the loss of 91 lives in Oslo; 
and,
For those of you who are unable to forget the hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children lost each day in Africa and around the world from starvation, sanitation, war, and violence, think on these immortal words from poet John Donne: 

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

In other words, every life lost in this earth is a loss to the world and thus a loss to you. Every individual death diminishes you and I because we are all part of the whole.
No one today should be playing the greater-than, less-than game with the tragedies being suffered by the world because each loss is equal at the individual level. 
Mourn as you will, but keep in mind:
 (1) The hatred and fear of difference that led to the shooting and bombing in Oslo is ever-present in your own society. You can best serve the victims of the tragedy by fighting that fear and hatred in your own communities and in your own homes.
 (2) The addiction that ultimately claimed the life of Amy Winehouse claims lives each and every day around the world and is a societal problem as much as it is an individual's problem. Look around at the ignorance surrounding addiction in your own society and think on the situation that leads to drug-use and eventual overdose.
 (3) The world's consumption that fuels our economic growth also fuels violence against nature and our fellow man. The resource-rich continent of Africa has suffered generations of this abuse. Because people are so poor and ill-equipped they cannot find clean water or grow food. They cannot afford drugs to tame rampant disease. What little resources there are to be had are the spoils of warring factions that abuse and murder their people. These issues are present at home as well in the people who become victims of poverty in our own society.

No man is an island...
... Send not to know for whom the bell tolls.
It tolls for thee.