If Shoes Could Talk

“You’ve hear the line, ‘these boots are made for walking’? Well, what if I told you that they talked too? And not just boots – sandals, slippers, sneakers, stilettos – you name it and it can talk. I know how crazy this sounds, but you’ve got to believe me Dr. Brent, I’m not making this up. It all started two days ago . . .”

            “Quick! Get back into position!”

           

“Shhhh, she’ll hear you. I’m here.”

            “Hello?” Alana called out. “Is someone there?”

           

Alana rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and turned off the buzzing alarm. She looked around her dimly lit room, but didn’t see anything. She must have imagined the voices. She threw off the covers and put her feet into her warm, fleece lined, red slippers. She always placed them side by side next to her bed so that she didn’t have to look far for them. She snuggled her toes in as far as she could.

            On the way down the hall, Alana noticed that her right slipper was making a squeaking noise. She stopped walking, but the squeaking didn’t. She looked around, trying to find the source of the voices she could hear, “ . . . so then Lori said to Rori ‘Stop tripping me when you go up the stairs, you know I hate that!’ and Lori responded, ‘Well, if your laces would stay tied then we wouldn’t have this problem. Why do we have laces anyways, Alana doesn’t even use them!’ I’m so glad that we don’t have to deal with that! No laces, zippers or Velcro for us.”

            “That’s easy for you to say, Rhea – you never have any trouble with Alana’s right foot. Her left one is smaller. I’m always slipping off.”

           

“No pun intended, right Leah.”

            Alana stared down at her feet. Her boots don’t need laces? Her left foot is smaller than her right foot? What? She turned around and looked at her unmade bed. “I must still be asleep. This is only a dream.” She laughed at herself, and then pinched her arm. “Ow!” she yelped. Why did that hurt? She was dreaming, wasn’t she?

            “I told you to be quiet, Rhea, but oh no, you can’t listen to me because you’re always right! Now she knows about us.”

            Alana kicked off her slippers as fast as she could.

            “Wheeeeee!” yelled Rhea as she flew through the air.

           

“Heeeeeelp!” Leah called as she tumbled down the stairs towards the front door. She hit the landing with a soft thump. “Great. Now how am I going to get back upstairs?”

            Alana slowly looked around the corner to where her right slipper had landed. Was it moving? She ran to her room and got her old hockey stick. Gingerly she hooked the blade into the opening of the slipper and carefully carried it back to her bedroom. She opened the trunk at the end of her bed and dropped her slipper into it. Just to be safe she did up the latch. “Where did the other one go?” she asked, looking around the hallway.

            Down by the front door, Leah was wondering how she was going to get back to Rhea. She wriggled back and forth until she was turned around. There, resting in pairs, were three other types of shoes. Rhea must have snuck to the top of the stairs to listen to them gossiping earlier.

            Sleek, black, and elegant, the first shoes Leah saw were Lacy and Racy. They were stilettos and usually ignored the other shoes. After all, they were mostly on pedestals. They liked to remind everyone else how good Alana’s legs looked in them. Leah hoped they would be willing to help her now.

            The next ones were very tall, towering over Leah. They were grey and lined with micro fleece. Salt rimmed their soles and they had a zipper on the side as well as laces up the front. The laces on the right boot were undone. Leah smiled to herself as she thought of Rhea’s comments earlier. Rori did leave her laces undone.

            The final pair had their noses together and looked like they were planning something. After all, Rana and Lana were sneakers.

            Before Leah could say hello they bounced over to her. “So it looks like you’re in a bit of pickle,” said Lana. “Yeah,” added Rana, “maybe we could be of service, for a small fee of course.”

            All the while, Alana was peering around the corner at the top of the stairs. She was afraid to move in case her shoes realized that she was listening to them.

            Leah looked at Lana and Rana, “A fee? What kind of fee? It’s not like I have any money. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m more than a little threadbare.”

            “Don’t listen to them, darling,” Racy said. “It’s in their nature, but they’ll help you no matter what.”

            “Hey, you stay out of our business transactions!” said Lana indignantly. “You can’t blame us for trying.”

            Lori chimed in, “I have an idea. Why don’t you get on top of Lana, or Rana. They can jump you from step to step until you’re at the top. Racy and Lacy can help lift you up, and we can use Rori’s laces if they’re needed. Does this work?”

            “Work? We’ve never worked a day in our lives, except a runway,” said Racy.

            “We’re willing to help though,” added Lacy.

            “Perfect! Thanks everyone. I really appreciate it.”

            Alana had had enough. Brandishing the hockey stick she raced down the stairs to the landing.

            “What does she think she’s going to do with that?”

            “She doesn’t look so good.”

            “Is she supposed to be swaying like that?”

            When Alana woke up she was in a hospital bed. The last thing she remembered was running down the stairs. “Ah, you’re awake. My name is Dr. Brent, Alana. You’ve been unconscious for almost 36 hours. Can you tell me about how you got here?”

            “Dr. Brent, you wouldn’t believe me, even if I told you.”

            “Why don’t you try me?”

            “You’ve heard the line . . .” Alana began.

            A few hours later Dr. Brent was in his office writing down the notes from one of the strangest stories his patients had ever told him. Talking shoes? That girl had hit her head harder than he’d thought. As he got up from his desk, Dr. Brent slammed the toe of his left brown loafer into the leg of the desk. “Hey you, watch what you’re doing,” he heard a strange voice say. “You better be careful or Lenny and I are going on strike!”

“Yeah,” Renny piped up, “we should get hazard pay, or at least an extra shine if you’re going to treat us like that. If you don’t show us the proper respect, you might find yourself wearing a pair of cement shoes…”

Waste Management Letter

Street number and name

City, Province, Postal Code

January, 2010

Halifax Regional Municipality

Street number and name

City, Province, Postal Code

Dear Council Member:

I wanted to express my concern over HRM considering a possible bylaw change to our waste management services. Reducing the number of garbage bags allowed per household, as well as only allowing the use of clear garbage bags, will cause many challenges. Here are my concerns:

• Many families already struggle with the six bag limit because they have larger families, or because of circumstance (renovations, spring cleaning, moving, children in diapers etc).

• When companies manufacture products they produce a lot of packaging that is not recyclable or compostable. Would you be ensuring that these companies reduce their packaging?   

• As for using clear bags, this would result in waste management employees leaving many bags on the curb because they would find many bags that do not meet the requirements.

• To go along with that, how would waste management employees know whether a plastic container or bag is actually recyclable? We are only able to recycle certain types of plastic, but it is difficult to tell visually which ones are recyclable.

• When it comes to compostable material some households have advantages. Living in a condominium or apartment building can make it almost impossible to compost. Many buildings only have one or two larger green bins although hundreds of tenants may live in the building. The bins are always full, so where are residents expected to put their compost if not in the garbage? Even if they use clear bags there are not always facilities to house all of those bags.

I feel that there should be more public input on this matter before a final decision is made. What is your position on the issues of clear garbage bags and reducing the number of allowable garbage bags?

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Angela

Warm Cabbage Salad

Ingredients:

• ⅔ c. olive oil
• ½ tsp salt
• 10 strips of bacon
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 sm head of red cabbage
• 1 sm head of napa cabbage
• ½ c. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp garlic (1 clove)
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook bacon in strips until crispy. Cool on paper towel. Discard fat.
2. For the vinaigrette: in a bowl combine the vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. While whisking, drizzle in the oil.
3. Finely slice the cabbages.
4. In a large sauté pan, crumble the bacon. When it begins to sizzle add the cabbage.
5. Add the vinaigrette and cook on medium low until the cabbage is soft.
6. Check the flavouring (you may need to add more balsamic), add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Stir in tomatoes and serve warm.

Fennel and Pepper Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs
• 1 large pepper (red, orange or yellow)
• 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ tsp pepper corn
• ¼ tsp fennel seed
• ¼ tsp dill seed
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ⅛ tsp anise seed
• ⅛ tsp celery seed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ can tomato paste
• 1 c. beef broth
• ½ - 1 c. white wine
• ¼ c. balsamic vinegar
• ¼ c. feta cheese
• 10 olives chopped (optional)
• Parmesan cheese
• 1 ½ - 2 c. pasta of your choice (whole wheat rigatoni or penne works well)

Directions:

1. Finely slice the fennel and the garlic. Using a mortar and pestle (or spice grinder) finely grind the peppercorn, fennel, seed, dill seed, oregano, anise seed, and celery seed. Sauté the fennel and garlic in the oil with the spices until soft, about 20 min.
2. In the meantime, de-seed and then finely slice the pepper. When the fennel is cooked add in the pepper, the broth, the wine, the tomato paste and the balsamic vinegar. Cook until the pepper is soft.
3. Cook the pasta.  
4. Add the pasta to the fennel and pepper mixture, adding in a bit of the pasta water if the sauce is too thick. Stir in the feta cheese, the tomatoes and the olives.
5. Serve and top with parmesan cheese.

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 large red peppers, whole
• 10 vine ripened tomatoes
• 4 tbsp olive oil, separated
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 ½ tbsp fresh oregano
• 1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 4-5 cups of low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Half the tomatoes and remove the seeds. Coat them and the peppers with 2 tbsp of the oil and roast them in the oven for 40 min at 400 ˚C. When finished place them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside.
2. In a large pot, add the remaining oil and cook the onion, garlic, carrot and celery on medium heat until soft.
3. Peel the skins off the tomatoes and peel and de-seed the peppers. Roughly chop and add to the pot.
4. Add the canned tomatoes and the broth. Simmer for 30 min.
5. Stir in the fresh oregano.
6. Using a blender or a hand held immersion blender, blend the soup.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately with parmesan on top.

Kirby's Epic Yarn - Review

Imagine that you are Kirby – a large pink ball with rosy cheeks and the ability to devour whatever comes your way. Now imagine that you have been sucked out of Dream Land and plopped into Patch Land! You look around and realize that everything is made of . . . yarn? You’re confused, so you go to do what Kirby does best – eat whatever you can – but something isn’t quite right, you’re not able to suck anything up. You look down at your body and realize that you are now made of yarn and that air passes right through you. What are you going to do?

And so begins the adventure. Kirby’s Epic Yarn is a Nintendo game that was released in October 2010 for the Wii. It is the tenth instalment of Kirby adventures and it is a fun filled game that is fitting for all ages. This game is a one or two player game where Kirby is joined by Prince Fluff, after Kirby is trapped in Patch Land by the evil Yin Yarn. In Patch Land all of the buildings and inhabitants are made of yarn or fabric and are stitched, zipped or tied together. Kirby and Fluff use a whip to unravel their opponents along with any other obstacles they face.

For the main adventure, Kirby and Fluff are trying to stitch Patch Land back together because all of the different lands have been unravelled from each other. There are six different lands that all have separate themes (Grass Land, Treat Land, Snow Land etc). For every level played the objective is the same – beat the level and receive the patch that will open the next level in the land. When all of the patches are collected, the boss level will open. Once the boss has been defeated it will release a special piece of yarn that can be used to stitch the current land and another together.

The game-play is fun and fast paced in each level. The Wii remote is turned sideways for this game and this makes it easy for Kirby and Fluff to do a variety of things including jumping and unravelling obstacles (opponents, undoing zippers etc). Kirby and Fluff collect jewels throughout the level and these prevent injury. Kirby and Fluff can never die either, even if they fall down a hole; there are no lives to collect so the game will never show “Game Over”. This takes off a lot of the pressure that can be associated with some other games.

Within each level Kirby and Fluff are searching for three special items; two pieces of furniture or accessories for an apartment building back in Prince Fluff’s town of Quilty Square, along with a CD that allows you to watch videos in Fluff’s palace. The level can be completed without these items being found. Back in Quilty Square the items collected are used to attract tenants to Dom Woole’s building. As the new tenants move in they allow you to play a variety of mini games.

Among one of the best parts of the game is Kirby and Fluff’s ability to transform into different objects. During any level they can become four different things – car, pendulum, parachute, 2-ton weight, and in water levels a submarine. In other levels the characters can also transform into 10 other forms with a train, fire truck, dolphin, and 4-wheeler as some of the options. The transformations make the game more entertaining since you never know which type of transformation you will turn into.

There are two main extra or bonus features with Kirby’s Epic Yarn. The first is that there are two secret levels in each land. They are accessed after beating the boss for that land. During the fight the boss will give off jewels, if you collect enough you will be rewarded with a special patch. The second secret level will open after the first is beat.

The second bonus is the mini games. There are five different mini games that can be played – hide and seek, collecting beads, eliminating enemies, racing, and carrying a character through a level. Each mini game is fun, and many of them are more challenging than the regular levels because they are timed.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn is entertaining to play, with many of the same features we all know and love. Kirby has returned better than ever for an adventure that is unique and stylish at the same time. I highly recommend this game.

Brother

“Have you talked to your brother lately?”

“No. Steve called me yesterday, but didn’t leave a message. Why?”

“He resigned from his position at work.”

“I was wondering what happened! I wasn’t going to say anything to you until I’d spoken to him in case he wasn’t ready to share.”

“How did you find out?”

“I had the strangest conversation with one of the other managers at the restaurant today. I went there for lunch and asked if Steve was working. She was really rude – I wish I’d been able to read her name tag – and told me that he wasn’t in. When I told her I was his sister she gave me an odd look and said that Steve hasn’t worked there for over a month! Since he was talking about work a couple of weeks ago I was really confused.”

“He apparently put in his resignation on the 17^th, but his last day was just last week. I wonder if she’s the one Steve was talking about; he said she was horrible to work with.”

“I’d believe she was the reason. She made a very sarcastic comment about how he’d moved on to ‘bigger and better things’. She made it sound like Steve would never find a better job. I was shocked at her tone and behaviour, especially since I was a customer in the restaurant. It wasn’t like I was asking for trade secrets or anything.”

“I’m just happy that he doesn’t need to bike across the bridge anymore. It was taking him an hour and a half minimum to get there and back. Also a lot of his biking was late at night. I worried.”

“Oh mom, he’s 26! He was fine, and it was good exercise.”

“Well, I’m still glad he’s not working there anymore.”

“What’s Steve going to do now?”

“He wants to apply for some sort of office job, one that has him working 9-5. At least that way he and Brittany will be on a similar schedule.”

“I’ll have to give him a call again when I go home. He’s probably pretty confused with the message I left him. I sounded kind of frantic.”

“Sorry hon, I meant to tell you last week.”

“That’s okay. I only went there today to see him all dressed up in a shirt and tie! The food was horrible so I’m happy to never go back.”

Finding Imagination

Through the watery curtain
Are things unimaginable, fantastical and unknown

A necklace of lakes trembling like moonbeams
Parading peacock plumes painted in spring colors

Rolling green waves dashed to shore like white horses
Seashells chiming while bees sing in tenor and bass
An ancient willow is a weary old man in a dirty green coat
Wind whispering through grassy fields the way feet itch to dance
Standing in the midst of a summer sea, the mist snaked like a scarf along the shore

Through the watery curtain
Are things unimaginable, fantastical and unknown

Musings

I’ve just spent the last 3 hours preparing a presentation for another course I’m taking. I now feel spent. Unfortunately I’m not finished yet. I still need to complete other course work, try to finish more marking, and plan for my grade 7’s. While doing these tasks I will continue to do laundry, contemplate supper, get groceries, and possibly make apple crumble.

It seems to me that I never have enough time to do the things I want to do because of all the things I have to do. I read a “Zits” comic the other day that summed up how I feel:


(The Chronicle Herald, Oct 13, 2010)

After I read the comic I started thinking about all the things I feel I need to do: lesson plans, marking, course work, cleaning, laundry, cooking, yard work, paying bills . . . the list could go on. The funny thing is that I could choose not to do any of these things. I would end up with no job, I wouldn’t complete my MEd, I would have a dirty house, no clean clothes, no food to eat, an unruly yard, and no water, power, or internet/phone. I would also probably feel more overwhelmed than when I do these things.

I also started to think about what other things I want to do instead. Things like eating home made mac and cheese, watching Castle, and reading good books, spending time with my family and friends, playing dodgeball and going for walks, watching my students grow up . . . Unless I do all of the things on my “don’t want to do” list then I won’t truly enjoy all the things I love.

It’s somewhat ironic that in order to be able to do the things I love, I need to do the things I don’t love as much.

When I make lists like these too, I realize how truly fortunate I am in my life. I have a job to plan for and that pays my bills, a house to clean, clothes to wear, food to eat, and a yard to take care of. Suddenly I feel guilty for complaining.

How did I go from a rant about course work to feeling blessed that I have work to do?

Christmas Comes Early

I usually love going shopping in the fall – new pants, new shirts, and of course new shoes. I love trying things on, figuring out my accessories, and even eating in the food court. I have found over the past few years though that I’m loving shopping this time of year less and less. Is there a reason that Christmas needs to start in September? The leaves hadn’t even changed color and I was seeing artificial Christmas trees at Costco, flyers that had wreathes on them, and people were asking me, “Do you have all your Christmas shopping finished yet?” Finished? I’m still thinking about Thanksgiving, Halloween, Remembrance Day, and all of the birthdays to celebrate in November. I don’t want to see or hear about Christmas until the beginning of December.

All of the malls are now setting up Santa displays, while snowflakes, snowmen, and reindeer can be seen hanging from posts and over sidewalks all over the city. I love Christmas, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t want to hear “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” for the next 7 weeks. I think the worst was seeing Halloween and Christmas candy in adjacent displays in the grocery store. If I buy Christmas candy now it won’t last until December – or maybe that’s the point. Commercialism has completely taken over this important holiday.

My students are already talking about their Christmas lists, and how they know everything they’re getting. My mother is asking me what I’m getting my grandmothers so that she can take the gifts to Cape Breton when she goes, and she’s already talking about the baking we’re going to do, and where we’re going to be eating Christmas dinner. When I go over to visit and ask her to turn off her collection of Solitude Christmas music because it’s only the first week in November, and she tells me that I have, “No Christmas spirit” and that I’m “Taking all the fun out of Christmas,” I just want to scream.

By the time Christmas actually arrives I’m so sick of seeing and hearing about it that I feel relief when it’s over. I’ve spent so many months anticipating the 25^th of December that I’m not sure I appreciate it like I should. How much money did I spend on my family? Did I get people what they really wanted? Did I get what I really wanted? Oops, this person spent more on me than I did on them – I have to remember that for next year . . . When does it end? When can I just enjoy spending time with my family and friends? I want to celebrate the true spirit of Christmas, not what commercialism has turned it into.

Escape



Spiralling out of

Frustration

Procrastination

Sensation

Control

Tumbling down the

Slope

Bank

Stairs

Rabbit hole

Wreaking havoc on

Purpose

Productivity

Creativity

Originality

Crumbling of the

Constraints

Walls

Blockades

Barriers

Digging out from under

A mountain

To a knoll

To a mole hill

To freedom

From the Other Side

Is it possible to write an article about airport customs complaints and remain impartial? After reading “Custom horrors recounted” in the Chronicle Herald on Oct 11, I’m sceptical. By the end of the article, I felt like the customs agents at Halifax Stanfield International Airport were mean, petty, and enjoyed making passengers suffer. But is this a fair assessment?

This article only looked at one side of the issue – from the perspective of the 13 passengers who complained in writing over the past few years. Based on the fact that approximately 438 000 people travel through Halifax customs each year, this seems like a small number. Unfortunately, I have nothing to compare these numbers to because I wasn’t told how other major Canadian airports measure up.

To my knowledge none of my friends or family has experienced problems travelling through customs, and neither have I. Maybe we all got lucky – the ‘offending’ custom agents were not on duty, we never appeared suspicious, or maybe the accounts of those who complained were embellished. Whatever the case, I do not feel that this article gave me an unbiased picture of customs in Halifax.

Why didn’t the reporter, Jeffery Simpson, speak to other passengers when they exited customs to see how their experiences were? Why didn’t he contact other airports? Why didn’t he ask those who complained about what led to customs officials going through their belongings? Why didn’t he find out if any of these encounters were caught on video? This article left me with more questions than answers. The one thing I do know is that I like to make up my own opinions, not have them delivered to me in the morning paper.