Silence at the Keyboard

Posted on February 8, 2006 by Heather

Now that I am working from home I am feeling so much better. It’s not so much that there is no stress in my life anymore. I’m working on a few important projects, and I often feel stress about whether what I am doing is of high enough quality. It is more like that in the quiet of my day I can actually hear myself. There is no subway rumbling beneath my feet every couple of minutes, or a phone ringing, or a customer at the counter; there is only the noise that I want. Sometimes it is classical music, sometimes it is a meditative recording, or sometimes it is nothing at all.

In some ways time has actually become more of a friend than an enemy, too. I’m not longer watching the clock, counting the seconds until I can go home. Now I can fit my work around some of my needs.

I really don’t know how long this contract will last, nor do I know how long I will be happy working, or staying, at home. But right now I am focusing on doing a good job and enjoying the peace.

1 Comment | Posted in My Life |

A Leafy Illness

Posted on February 7, 2006 by Heather

I’m lucky in that I don’t suffer from any food allergies, per say. My family is known for growing into a shrimp allergy, and it has been making my stomach feel weird lately, but I love shrimp and I am not willing to give it up just yet. I also avoid camomile tea since I have a ragweed allergy. But today I discovered something interesting… field greens make me feel really ill.

I’ve had field greens, or what I affectionately call weed salad, a few times before with no ill effects. But, late last week I bought a large container of “Organic Field Greens” from the grocery store. I had some that day and yesterday, and both days my stomach bothered me but I couldn’t figure out why. I had another tasty bowl of salad today, and it happened again. Then it came to me–it must be the field greens. There must be some time of leaf hidden in there that just doesn’t agree with me. Probably something that wasn’t in the other field greens I have had.

I’m off to lay down until I feel better. And next time I go grocery shopping, I’m sticking with romaine lettuce.

1 Comment | Posted in My Life |

Where on Earth are You?

Posted on February 1, 2006 by Heather

I have to admit that I really like Google Maps. It is a lot of fun to find my house, zoom in, look at other places in the neighbourhood, etc. It is also fun to “visit” interesting places around the world, like the Great Sphinx in Egypt.

With that in mind, please pop over to Reflection’s own map on Frappr. Stick a pin in your location so that I can be nosy and learn where you are. If I’m the only pin there, I will be sad. 🙁


Check out our Frappr!

Comments Off on Where on Earth are You? | Posted in Site News |

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spamity, Spam

Posted on January 27, 2006 by Heather

My grade four teacher taught my class that we should never say we hate something because hate is a strong feeling that is nearly impossible to feel. Instead, she said we should say we loath and detest something. Years later, this is a habit I still have, even though it sometimes gets chuckles from friends and co-workers.

Now that I work at home, I have come to realize that I honestly hate telemarketers. The phone will ring several times during the day, and nearly always it is a telemarketer. (If it isn’t, it is someone who thinks we are a local university since we have a similar phone number.) It is maddening to have my day interrupted by someone trying to sell me windows, carpet cleaning, or landscaping. I am not interested, and even if I was I wouldn’t buy from someone over the phone!!

Almost as bad is all the spam I get daily. The account I have associated with this blog and The Lotus Pond gets nearly 50 spam messages a day. My hotmail account gets about 2 a day, my main email account about 5, and my more professional account (using my name not my alias) gets about 1 a week. Of course, the last one has only been around since September. 🙂 And, again, I would never buy anything advertised in these email, so please stop sending them to me all you spammers!!

I feel a little better now. 😉

Comments Off on Spam, Spam, Spam, Spamity, Spam | Posted in The Outside World |

Non-Writing Writer

Posted on January 26, 2006 by Heather

I am a writer who doesn’t write. I hide from my pen and paper like they are conspiring to give me some incurable disease—hope and accomplishment. Sometimes I am nearly in tears because I want to write so badly, yet I can’t find any inspiration let alone the words to express myself. I feel like everything I write is just a rehash of materials that have been covered 100 times before, especially when I write about Wicca. I want to blame Llewellyn and authors who pop out derivative books every six months. I want to blame public school, which sucked me dry of my creative spirit. Most of all, I want to blame myself for failing before I’ve even started because I am too much for a perfectionist to risk making mistakes and writing something truly awful.

If I fail at being a writer, what else do I have left? Can a failed writer still write?

Comments Off on Non-Writing Writer | Posted in Me, the Writer |

Big Five Personality

Posted on January 25, 2006 by Heather

Here are my results from the Big Five Personality Test. Big surprise, but I am very introverted. Who would have guessed? And I’m also a little high strung. Colour me shocked.

I’m a O53-C86-E4-A57-N84 Big Five!!

So, what are your results?

Comments Off on Big Five Personality | Posted in Memes & Collabs |

Election Results – 2006

Posted on January 24, 2006 by Heather

I promise this is my last post about Canadian politics for at least a little while. Honestly!

So, last night the Conservative part won a minority victory. They have 124 seats in parliament, compared to the Liberals 103 seats. This is the second (third?) minority government in a row, although the last two were Liberal. I am pretty disappointed, because I certainly didn’t want a Conservative government, and the last thing I wanted was another minority government. Nothing is going to get done because all the parties will be to busy bickering and trying to trade votes.

I am going to make some predictions about politics in Canada:

  • We will have another election no later then Spring 2008
  • The Conservatives will attempt to enshrine the right to own a gun in the Charter of Rights, but it will be defeated
  • The GST may be lowered to 5%, but it won’t make much of a difference
  • Health care in Canada will suffer with the first Conservative budget
  • Mr. Harper (our new PM) will probably try to de-legalize gay marriage, but the protests that result with change his mind
  • When we finally get another election, the Liberals will end up with a majority government

My biggest disappointment is that the Green Party didn’t manage to get a single seat in Parliament. I don’t think that as a party they are ready to form a government, but I still would like to see them have some representation. They did get 4.5% of the popular vote, so they will continue to get government funding since they have met the requirements for official party status.

Actually, this brings me to a point I’d like to make. In Canada, every party that gets more than 2% of the popular vote is considered an official federal party and receives $1.75 funding each year until the next election for each vote that they have received. Having a good guess at what the outcome of this election would be, I decided to vote for the party that I thought deserved my $1.75.

For interests sake, here is the results for my riding of Parkdale-High Park in Toronto. (The bottom four parties are Green, Marijuana, Marxist-Leninist, and independent. Weird, eh? But that is the beauty of a multiple party system!)

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