Dr.Seuss

It's funny all the decisions in life you have to make yet they always come down to one or the other ... just the process to get it to choice 1 and choice 2 is choices in it's self - so who says it better than Dr.Seuss:

"The Zode in the Road"
Did I ever tell you about the young Zode,
Who came to two signs at the fork in the road?
One said to Place One, and the other, Place Two.
So the Zode had to make up his mind what to do.
Well…the Zode scratched his head, and his chin and his pants.
And he said to himself, “I’ll be taking a chance
If I go to Place One. Now, that place may be hot!
And so, how do I know if I’ll like it or not?
On the other hand though, I’ll be sort of a fool
If I go to Place Two and find it too cool.
In that case I may catch a chill and turn blue!
So, maybe Place One is the best, not Place Two,
But then again, what if Place One is too high?
I may catch a terrible earache and die!
So Place Two may be best! On the other hand though…
What might happen to me if Place Two is too low?
I might get some very strange pain in my toe!
So Place One may be best,” and he started to go.
Then he stopped, and he said, “On the other hand though….
On the other hand…other hand…other hand though…”
And for 36 hours and a half that poor Zode
Made starts and made stops at the fork in the road.
Saying, “Don’t take a chance. No! You may not be right.”
Then he got an idea that was wonderfully bright!
“Play safe!” cried the Zode. “I’ll play safe. I’m no dunce!
I’ll simply start out for both places at once!”
And that’s how the Zode who would not take a chance
Got no place at all with a split in his pants.
~Dr Seuss.

Seems to be that time of year - to make life changing decisions ... for many people in different situations, so I hope Dr. Seuss can help or maybe get your butt in gear! haha ... whatever you choose it will work out - whether you see the good now or later :)
Just some thoughts ...
Mich

Reminded in the People

It's always great to get the chance to reconnect with old friends or memories that remind you you have been so fortunate to have great people in your life. Whether it be for good times or bad, to help you get better or show you a lesson in failure, the fun part is getting to relive those memories every time you are reminded of them - and most of the time it makes you smile!
It seemed like I had an abundance of these memories over the past couple of days so I thought I would share them all with you because its quite the variety:

1. Saturday after trying so hard to get the women's ncaa basketball tournament on tv or internet feed I had to give up and settle for radio feed and live stats - and the reason being was that two girls I played provincial team with were playing each other in a first round game. Tamika and Kalisha from Bowling Green University and Michigan State respectively, got to live out the dream that every little basketball player in Southern Ontario is dreaming about right now! I know either of them will ever read this - but they have had an amazing journey to the players they are now and the amount of influence they had on my career - they will never know the extent. I didn't really think of it at the time until I really reflected on it now - Tamika set the standard early when we growing up and Kalisha was one of the reasons I finally made a provincial team in grade 11. So little do they know the influence they had on not only me but I'm sure many more people. I congratulate them both on the game that I 'listened' to - it was a good one and should have been televised!!!

2. Never underestimate the enjoyment (or in this particular case the 'friendship grow') that can happen in unplanned night. Even if it's just dessert and a movie you never you what can come of it and what you may learn. Living in the moment is so much more easier once we figure out how to do it all the time :).

3. During one of my numberous hours of ncaa basketball watching this highlight stuck out in my mind:

Ok so no not only cause its an unreal highlight that would only happen during march madness and no not because when you first see the guy he looks like an uncoordinated Auzzie but because it reminded me of my good friend Ash.Donald - better known as DJ AD (or the professor). Honestly we spent numerous hours in the gym in the morning before school, during gym class or during half time of score-keeping, trying to come up with a way that Ash could pull the 'and-1 bum spin dribble' in a game! Needless to say it never happened but she did get pretty good at it and her and-1 tour date is just on hold for the moment haha! Those endless mornings of playing in the gym are some of my best memories from ball and in turn ended up being more beneficial than I think we ever intended them to be.

4. Getting to experience people in an element you have no idea about but want to be a part is always fun and you know you are in for a ride - mostly because you don't know what's going on. That's me and music - anyone who was in my grade 4 recorder class knows I have no musical talent but I still love it - and I love the people behind it. For the second straight year Craig Cardiff blew me away with his musical genuineness - in a warehouse setting in the heart of Winnipeg's culture center. He also had with him three up and coming artist that did nothing short of hold their own and bring a unique sound to their new audience. Check out there myspace pages below and discover them in your right - even check out their stories which are pretty interesting!

Sean Pinchin
Robyn Dell'Unto
Sheena Grobb (she has a new album coming out)
Craig Cardiff (check out his website too, for pictures and video from the concert)

5. And finally (I know this has been a long post - so good on you if you have read this far haha) not living in the same city I grew up in makes it easier to put a lot memories away because the people and the places that are associated with them are not around all the time. They may have made up the little insignificant events but they end up being some of the best memories. I'm lucky that I have lots of new 'families' that make sure/insist that I don't miss all of the little things. In particular I got to go to a grad fashion show at a local high school which brought back so many fun memories of my high school days that I really had not thought about for a long time, so it was fun - on top of it being a really good show! (Congrats Kate - your confidence always amazes me don't ever lose it!).

With that all said, I challenge everyone that sat through this and read it (all 5 of you haha!) to allow yourself to get lost in the moment of your lives - I did it for a weekend and I some how managed to bring the joy of the past and the hope for my future into the present?!?!

"Sometimes the best things in life are right in front of you" CC
Mich

Eat, Pray, Love

Maybe its not news to you but I just found out that the book by Elizabeth Gilbert "Eat,Pray, Love" is coming out as a movie in August 2010! It is definitely one of my favorite book based on it's pure honesty and humor. I would highly recommend reading it before seeing the movie but Julia Roberts is the lead so the movie may be just as good!

Here is the trailer:

"You were given life; it's your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight." EG
Mich

1000 Words ... and than some.

A friend showed me this funny picture blog. Thought I would share: awkwardfamilyphotos.com
Make sure you check out some of the links too - pretty funny.


"Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it" CN
Mich

True to the Blue!

IT'S MADNESS TIME!!!! Yes Yes it's that time of year - March Madness. And its the next best thing to the Olympics haha. With the action starting today this year's tournament has already proven its going to be exciting. Anyone can win on any given day.
Having stuck with my Duke Blue Devils through thick and thin over the years, there is no doubt that they are the winners at the end of my bracket. I gave up long ago trying to be wise with my bracket picks - doing team research and watching 'bracketology' is completely useless in mind because it's never right and never will be. So giving up on trying to pick with wisdom and just going with who I really want to cheer for is my method. I hope even if you aren't a big college basketball fans you fill out a bracket and feel the competitiveness that takes over just by choosing a team to win in your bracket - trust me it can be fun! A girl won the resident bracket pool one year by choosing teams based on who had the better school colours and uniforms!!
So I have every right to believe that Duke will win it all! GO DUKE GO!
Enjoy the madness!



"Madness: extremely foolish behavior, a state of frenzied or chaotic activity" WB
Mich

Inspired by Others

Don't know about anyone else but I find it funny that once your life becomes less busy you seem so much more less motivated and find yourself getting less done in a day. So always looking for motivation (or things to 'hide' procrastination haha), Ty shared a pretty cool blog segement with me. Nothing like using the 'everyday' life of someone else to remind you you could always be doing more! (Pretty interesting for sport fans looking for the stories behind the athletes (Full Blog))



"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." MG
Mich

Procastination Findings

Thought I would share a cool video I came across on one of my new favorite 'procrastination' websites (thanks to kait!). I'm sure most of you have discovered it and/or seen this video but just in case you haven't enjoy - and let me know if you find anything interesting on the site!



"A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it" AE
Mich

A Feeling that I Can't Even Describe ... (but luckily everyone else is feeling it too)

So I finally have some time now that my life is not being consumed by the Olympics and I had my last midterm this week so I seem to have some time to make a couple of posts haha ...

I have always been a very passionate sports fan, as many of you know, but the Olympics has always had a special place in my heart. Whether is was sparked by doing a class project on the 1998 Nagano Games, remembering screaming in my living with my family as Donovan Bailey won gold or doing a speech about Clara Hughes. I have always love them! But this time I knew it was a little different - a little bit more than just a sporting event. This was solidified when I was in the Toronto airport, trying to rush through security to see if I could catch the end of the Canada vs Swiss men's hockey game (after getting text updates much to my dismay that we were about to go into a shoot out). So thankfully I get through security relatively quick in time to search for a TV - I don't know why I doubted being able to find one. As I walk 50m away from security, in a restaurant people are packed and crowded around trying to watch. There were guys betting on who would win it for Canada (no doubt that we would win at all!) and everyone is decked out in the Canadian red and white. The place sighed and cheered as if the game was happening right in front of us. It was awesome and if I had filmed it, it would be the next hockey Canada commercial haha!

Well all I can say is that my life feels so much more less patriotic and my eyes don't feel as glazed over as they did at this time last week. I can honestly say I think I watched every possible thing there was to watch and than some. Oh yeah I definitely went on the CTV and Vancouver 2010 websites after hours checking out the up coming schedule, the athlete blogs, the results (just in case I missed anything), and of course the video montages!! Honestly I think I'm in withdrawal from not having a good Canadian heart-felt video montage come on every time there is a commercial break haha. I have to say CTV and all its sister channels (TSN, Sportsnet, OLN) did a wonderful job and went more than the extra mile to make sure every Canadian had the most opportunities to see the athletes in action.

My original idea for this blog was to come up with my top 5 moments of the Games and try to get video to go with it. But two things came up ... 1) if you happen to live in the country you have probably already seen them and 2) CTV has not released a lot of them from copy right. So I will leave you with 2 general ones - the first is of a "digital lounge" segment that I really enjoyed and thought it was a great piece and the second is the concluding montage (who can resist a Brian Williams special)!

Oh and did I mention that my total medal prediction was pretty close?!?

Enjoy the videos! (and I know if you have already seen them you are still going to sit there and watch them and pretend you are sick of the "I believe" song - when really you know all the words and it brings your heart to a smile! - and if not that is the happiness that it bring me so I'm going to 'believe' it does to you too haha).





I could probably post about ten more times about something else that is great about the Olympics - that I have always felt or that I experienced this time around but I think judging by the country's response everyone feels passionately about them in one way or another that I don't need to justify it any further. So please enjoy the this feeling as long as it last and if you can't get enough of it - who's in for 2012?

"Our time as come, lets have some fun, and show them how it's done!"
Mich