"With feu-de-joie and merry bells, and cannon’s thundering peal,
And pennons fluttering on the breeze, and serried rows of steel,
we greet again, the birthday morn of our young giant’s land
from the atlantic stretching wide to far Pacific strand
with flashng rivers, ocean lakes, and prairies wide and free,
and waterfalls, and forests dim, and mountains by the sea."
- Dominion Day, author unknown
I was introduced to City and Colour by my friend Tara when she came to visit last summer. I first heard this song driving home from Kingston last January, while Capt Mike was away on a course. I remember thinking at the time that it was an appropriate song for couples who have to spend time apart for a variety of reasons (not just military ones, though that's why I liked it). Indeed, since then, I heard it again in May during the wedding of some army friends of ours. The happy couple walked down the aisle to it after the ceremony. I don't know why it took me so long to get around to finding it on-line and showcasing it here.
Enjoy. :-)
As of this date, I am officially certified to teach in the province of Ontario and am a member in Good Standing of the Ontario College of Teachers.
In honour of the occasion, I thought I'd relate to you a little joke celebrating just what I've gotten myself in to. Enjoy.
After being interviewed by the school administration, the teaching prospect said, "Let me see if I've got this right: You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning. You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.
"You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook and apply for a job. You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the EQAO exams.
"You want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their exceptionalities, and communicate regularly
with their parents by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.
"You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, and a big smile. You want me to do all this, and then you tell me.............. I CAN'T PRAY?"
Editor's note: We here at Saedigh.com believe that this is a funny joke, even though we're not all bent out of shape over prayer being taken out of the public education system. If it's offended you in some way, you take life much too seriously for us to be able to do anything about it.
A new study based on an n of 22 people followed for only one month is likely to cause a great deal of confusion to the increasingly large N of people looking for a miracle cure for obesity.
The new study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, coins the term "the eco-Atkins" diet. It claims that a calorie-restricted vegetarian diet high in plant fat and protein and low in refined carbohydrates reduces cholesterol levels and leads to weight loss. I know. That's pretty ground-breaking stuff. Decreasing the number of calories you eat, and cutting out animal-based fats, means becoming leaner and healthier? But isn't that what most dieticians have been telling us for quite some time? Just without the catchy nickname I am sure will appear in an infomercial near you within the next few weeks.
I am not alone in my skepticism of the effective of asking fast food - addicted North Americans to embrace a meatless and healthier diet simply by dressing up vegetarianism as the newest magic bullet weightloss fad. Dean Ornish, President of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, likens it to "putting lipstick on a pork rind".
I realise that some people believe that to sell health to a continent of people raised on television and Kraft Dinner requires marketing. I, however, believe more lasting results could be seen through education and infrastructure. Public service announcements and flashy spokescharacters just aren't cutting it, particularly since they resort to passive media to convey their message. If the medium is the message, why are we relying on television and the internet to make our children more active?
Comments
Is that anything like lipstick being the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull or should we ask Sarah Palin?
When I was a little girl, one of the most exotic items in my mom's closet / my sister's and my dress up wardrobe, was a seal skin coat. It was a slippery silvery grey with irregular black patches, and came with a matching clutch and jaunty cap. Other than being used as a costume to stage one of my marathon play-pretend sessions, the coat rarely saw the light of day. I think perhaps the only time my mother wore it was to have her picture taken in it to send back to my grandfather. You see, he had caught those seals, skinned them, and sent the skins to a friend to have matching coats, clutches, and jaunty caps made for each of his girls. Understanding that, those ensembles survived in closets across Canada for years. Understanding the flack that would be taken for wearing them in public is what relegated them to the closet in the first place.
It is fashionable to preserve certain ways of life, while simultaneously forcing others to change with the times. Many of the arguments I have heard from proponents of a ban on sealing include a caveat for what they define as "traditional" hunts. For them, I have two questions. Why does the Newfoundland hunt, dating back to at least 1723, not qualify as traditional under such a definition? Why, despite it being the most important industry in late 19th and early 20th centuries, does it not qualify as a way of life worth preserving?
Comments
Oh yeah, I remember that coat! I think it is possible Mom wore it once in Germany. I actually remember when she put it on to get her picture taken! There were a lot of pictures then of a lot of nifty outfits. Remember the black polyester 1-piece bell bottom pantsuit with the "diamonds" on the front? I think you may have recycled that as a halloween costume. There was a also a 3-piece ensemble in green and white (polyester, of course) - skirt, top, and jacket and I made Mom promise never ever to throw it away because it was so pretty and I wanted it when I grew up. When she wore it, it made me think of springtime.
Good lord, what is Bobbin going to be making fun of in my closet when she's my age? I can only imagine :-) And what if anything will she ask me to save for her for when she's big? Hehe... probably all the fancy dresses that already don't fit me.
Today the graduates of the Faculty of Education class of 2009 will be walking across the stage to pick up their shiny new degrees. I will be there in spirit, if not in body. I am taking the gamble that I will get a call to supply in the next ten minutes. I didn't want to waste money on a gown rental, and then not be able to wear it. (You read that right: after spending over six grand in tuition and student fees alone, Queen's makes you rent your own graduation gown at the end of it all.) I am hardly going to turn down a paycheque for the chance to drive 206 km to Kingston one last time.
I didn't go to my first graduation from Queen's either. They have this ridiculous policy of finishing classes in April, and then not convocating you until June. When I finished my first degree, I was flat broke. I had enough money to either pay rent on my apartment for 1 month and hopefully find a job before I became homeless, or rent a storage locker for several months, swallow my pride, and go be unemployed in my parents' place in Newfoundland with the hopes of continuing my Ontario job search from there. Being more than a little risk averse when it comes to finance, I did the pride swallowing. Thus, I was a little too far away and a little too poor to make the trek back to Grant Hall for the convocation ceremony.
But rest assured, dear readers, I have indeed been granted my degree. I crossed all my Is and dotted my Ts, and managed to get honours wherever possible despite my inability to conceptualize.
I am now a teacher. An underemployed, unlicenced teacher, but these things take time.
Comments
Congratulations! It has been such a busy year for you but you did it as we knew you would. You've accomplished and seen a lot since your first convocation.
We're extremely proud of you and we know you will do well in your new choice of professions.
Between you, me and the lamppost, I'd be hoping for that phone call too! As we all know, universities do squat for the students but are in the business for what they can get for themselves.You are right, though, in questioning why they would make graduates pay for a gown rental with the fees they charge.
We'll have to celebrate when we get back! B&D
Posted by Dee on June 4, 2009 08:22 AM.
Congratulations! And here's hoping that you will soon be a full time underpaid teacher as well ;-)
I'm so proud of you. And I'm really really thrilled for all of the kids that will have the privilege of being taught by someone as talented, intelligent, funny, interesting, and genuinely caring as yourself!
