Toronto’s Africentric School Experiment a No Go?

Posted on January 9, 2009 by Heather

I’m not sure if anyone in the wider world is aware of this, but Toronto is currently working toward setting up what is being called an “Africentric school.”   The idea behind it is to provide students a school that meets their needs as African-Canadians, and hopefully combat the high dropout rate among black students in Toronto.  For a while last year there seemed to be quite a bit of support for the new school, which will cover kindergarten to Grade 5.  However, with pre-registation period for next September past, they only have 15 of the minimum 40 students needed.  (Applicants scarce for Toronto’s Africentric school experiment from CBC Newsworld)

I’m very conflicted about the idea of this school.  Toronto is a very, very diverse city.  I can go almost an entire day without hearing English spoken, and that doesn’t bother me one bit.  But I get worried when communities start to pull away.  It almost seems like self-imposed segregation.

I understand that one of driving forces for this new school is to provide a less “white” curriculum.  But this can lead to a very slipper slope.  What if the Japanese community demands their own schools?  Or maybe the Indian community?  Or, what if I think my son should go to a school that has curriculum tailored for people of Chinese, Scottish and Irish descent?  Okay, yes, I’m making fun a little, but I’m also concerned.  Shouldn’t we be focusing on making changes to the current school curriculum so that everyone feels included?

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So That’s The Secret!

Posted on January 7, 2009 by Heather

I used to (and maybe still do) have a bit of an addiction to self-help books, especially ones that had a bit of a mystical edge.  I, more or less, kicked the habit before The Secret hit it big, but I do understand the gist of it.  Essentially, it is a repackaging of the old idea of creative visualization, something that Wiccans and other Pagan folk are probably pretty familiar with.  For those who don’t know what creative visualization is, in a very simple nut shell it is the idea that you get what you imagine you will get.  (There is way more too creative visualization, and The Secret, than that, but you get the idea.)

So, that brings me to a little gem on Amazon.com that quanta pointed out to me today.  It seems that a Mr. Ari Brouillette has given The Secret a 5-star review.  Why not give his review a read, and find out what he found so helpful in The Secret: Ari Brouillette’s review of The Secret.

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Goals for 2009

Posted on January 5, 2009 by Heather

So, I’ve spent some time thinking about what would be reasonable goals for me to set for 2009.  I wanted goals that I could achieve, but that weren’t easy.  They had to push me to work hard, but not be things that would make me give up.

  • Be the best mom and wife I can possible be to Baby Man and quanta
  • Try to be nice to my parents too 😛
  • Do a Tarot card draw every day, even if I can’t spend time thinking about what it might mean
  • Reach my goal weight before our 4th wedding anniversary
  • Learn to knit socks (starting a class on January 20th)
  • Don’t fall too far behind with work, but also don’t take on too much
  • finish getting all of The Lotus Pond material moved over, and start posting some new stuff
  • No more celebrity gossip sites or shows (this one will probably be the most difficult)

And then there is cross stitch and knitting.  I tried working on a large design for a few days at the start of the year, but because I had to put it down so often, it didn’t work out too well.  I think I will be limited to small designs again this year.  I don’t think I will be quite as prolific as last year.  You can see the approximately 75 designs I finished last year here: Silverlotus’ 2008 Cross Stitch Gallery. I’m not likely to be that productive again any time soon.  And, really, they were nearly all small designs.  So, my goals for next year, craft-wise:

  • finish one felt kit (either Christmas car, plane or train)
  • finish knitting Brooke’s Column of Leaves scarf and hat (and think about the gloves)
  • start and finish knitting Ice Queen (assuming I’m not also allergic to mohair)
  • knit Bernat’s baby kimono for Baby Man before he is too big for it
  • knit some gifts
  • XS Christmas house ornaments (one a month)
  • finishing XS’ing all my class projects from the fall CreativFestival before this fall’s festival (Overdyed Odyssey, Camelot Mini, Delightful Dragon, Tiny Torture Sampler, First Dragon Encounter, Dragon Lullaby, Celtic Thunder)
  • XS Stitcher’s Trove in the purples I picked out
  • make some progress XS Baby Man’s birth sampler
  • finish Halloween Fairy, which I started on Boxing Day
  • XS Take Time to Stitch, and think of a way to mount it on my sewing box
  • Start and finish these small designs: Black Hatter, Voodoo Girl, Scarab Monogram
  • Start and finish at least the box top for Christmas Treasures, if not the ornaments too
  • Make a start on stocking for everyone, and try to have Baby Man’s ready for Christmas 2009
  • finish gift for family member  (ooh! a secret!)
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Hello 2009

Posted on January 4, 2009 by Heather

This entry is a little later than I had planned, but I have been sidelined by a bad cold for the last several days and today is the first day that I have felt well enough to sit down and do some writing.  Honestly, trying to recover from a cold while looking after an almost-1-year-old little boy is not a great experience.  He is so active, and all I’ve wanted to do is sleep.  Not the most auspicious start to 2009, but you’ve got to work with what you are given.

I don’t know what kind of year 2009 is going to be.  I’ve never had a little boy to look after before, but I’m sure he is going to take up most of my time.  I know one thing I will really struggle with is managing my time, in terms of looking after Baby Man, looking after myself, and taking care of assignments for work.  I know that I will have some heavy prioritizing to do.  Baby Man will always be first, but will I be able to put myself second, before work?

The next thing I am concern with is my weight.  Yes, every New Year nearly everyone says they want to loose weight.  But how many of us really try?  I’ve been working hard at it since September, and I’ve been doing a great job of it.  The past two weeks haven’t been great because of Christmas and being sick, but I haven’t fallen down as much as I’ve just slowed down.  I know I will be heading into 2010 at my goal, and feeling fabulous.

That brings us to the next obvious topic: money.  Last year was expensive, with Baby Man seeming to need something new every month or so, and me spending so much on dental work… oh, and that new big TV.  Hopefully spending will be more under control this year, but life has a way of making something break just when you’ve got the books balanced.  I will definitely be scaling back considerably on craft spending though, as I have several projects I really want to finish this year.  Buying more things just muddies the waters, and makes it difficult for me to remember what it was I wanted to get done.  But, ummm, I just got the new Victoria Sampler newsletter yesterday, and I absolutely must have their new design: Heirloom Stitching Sampler.  quanta has already be notified that it would make a nice Valentine’s Day gift, or birthday gift…  And, Mom and Dad, I would also love this design: W is for Witch.  Something to keep in mind.  (It doesn’t count if I don’t spend the money, right?  Oh, what a slippery slope that is!)

Next are spiritual issues.  It wouldn’t be wrong to say that, on one hand, 2008 was an incredibly spiritual year, but on the other hand it was the least spiritual year.  Having Baby Man made me an absolute believer is something bigger than all of us, and in reincarnation.  (If Baby Man hasn’t been reincarnated, than I’m a monkey’s uncle.  There are times when it is so clear that he has done this all before and is just humouring us by doing the baby thing.)  When it comes to my personal spiritual journey, though, last year was like a barren desert.  I read little, and practiced less.  I did buy some wonderful Tarot decks, but I hardly used them.  This year, finding time for spiritual pursuits will be very important.  I think it will often come down to recognizing the spiritual is small moments, like Baby Man’s attempts at walking or the smell of a spring day.  But, isn’t that ultimately what one’s spiritual journey should be like?

I don’t have any concrete goals to share yet.  I had some written out with regards to what cross stitch designs I wanted to finish, but I don’t think they are particularly realistic.  Hopefully in a day or two I’ll have some to share.  In the meantime, I wish all of you the best possible 2009, full of health, happiness, love, and reasonable goals.

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Goodbye 2008

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Heather

2008 has been a long, strange, amazing year.  I began the year very pregnant, feeling like I was waiting–for my life to start, for the baby’s life to start, for something big to change.  The world sure did change.  Having the Baby Man has been amazing.  It has been a year of firsts for him: rolling over, grabbing toys, eating solid food, sitting, standing, waving, clapping, and even his first lurching steps on Christmas Day.

For me it has been a year of being a caretaker of Baby Man, quanta, and even myself once in a while.  I watch, I clean, I cheer everyone one, and occasionally I do something pretty cool myself.  I’ve learned to knit, and I’ve also lost a good deal of weight.  And I’ve cross stitched up a storm.  I don’t missing the working world very much, but I have kept my hand in a little.  I still do some data analysis work, and a few other things to keep busy.  But right now I’m happy that being Baby Man’s mom is my number one job.

I don’t know what 2009 will bring.  I hope it is a year of continued health and happiness for everyone.  I hope we see the economy improve, and everyone secure in their jobs.

Tomorrow I intend to post my 2009 goals.  I think I have some realistic ones… and a few that may be a little unrealistic.  I’ve never had a one year old child, so I have no idea what I will be able to accomplish.  I think if I come out of 2009 as happy as I am leaving 2008 (sans cold), then it will be a great year.  Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if the Maple Leafs won the Stanely Cup… 🙂

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I Get On (The TTC)

Posted on December 20, 2008 by Heather

Another YouTube video today.  The TTC is the transportation system for the City of Toronto, the megalopolis where I live.  This is a great song about riding the TTC made by a couple of guys who live on the opposite side of the city from me.  While some of the jokes may not translate, like rhyming celery and Belamy, I think most of us can relate to “chasing down the bus until I’m out of breath.”  (As a note, the Blue Line mentioned in the song is a reduced bus service that runs overnight that  mostly helps people get home safely from bars…)

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2012 – The End?

Posted on December 17, 2008 by Heather

During turn of the millennium there was a lot of speculation about the end times and prophecy.  Nostradamus was trotted out in a dozen documentaries, and his prophecies co-opted to suit the presenter’s needs.  No blazing comet came out of the sky to wipe us all out.  We survived, and moved a little unsteadily into a new millennium.  Our world was rocked in different ways in the following years.  But a look at the past shows us that the world is in a constant state of flux, driven by the actions of people and not by ancient prophecies.

As 2012 approaches, the end time talk is beginning again.  The focus this time is the Aztec calendar, which resets itself on December 21st, 2012.  Many conspiracy theorists believe that the calendar actually ends, and with its end will come the end of the earth.  Tied to this event are several others.

For example, the alignment of the Earth, Sun and black hole at the Galactic Centre that has so many people worried is just a visual event which can only been seen from the Earth’s point of view.  Since we are moving away from Galactic Centre, we aren’t likely to be pulled into that great black hole we all assume exists.  (And guess what, the sun is rising at Galactic Centre this year too!  Oh noes!)

Below are two videos from YouTube, by nowheretorun1984.  He talks about and debunks all of the 2012 myths.  Now, what he presents is well researched and lucid.  However, in part 2, when he says to turn off the video if you don’t want to hear his theories, I highly recommend you do.  He moves from his lucid and well researched explanations to Biblical prophecies.  Yeah, I know.  Otherwise, they are very interesting videos and worth a watch.

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