26.5 million people saw team canada take back our game, and a storybook ending to the games. that's 80% of the country. and it was the people, not the ioc or vanoc, who swept aside all the greed and hypocrisy an event like this can engender. and this is how they did it:
Monday, March 1, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
chapter 65: who are we?
the last week of unbridled patriotism has really left me wondering: who are we?
we are champions.
we can have our hearts broken.
we can proudly wear the maple leaf and not apologize. but everyone's invited all the same.
we aren't just happy to be here.
we expect the best of ourselves, and respect from others.
we aren't as quiet and unassuming as the world thought we were.
we are, in many ways, still finding our way.
what unifies us? it's always been hard to explain in words what it means to be canadian. but this week has shown the world that we are unique, and that's something to be proud of.
the world is learning something about us. so are we. we've always defined ourselves by what we are not.
we are not american.
we are not european.
we are not first nations, quebecois, chinese, indian, or any of the other dozens of cultures that make up the mosaic.
the truth is, we don't know exactly who we are yet.
and maybe that's how it should be, because we are always changing.
maybe it's that undefinable quality, that lack of an easy definition, that makes us special.
as the man said, we are more.
we are champions.
we can have our hearts broken.
we can proudly wear the maple leaf and not apologize. but everyone's invited all the same.
we aren't just happy to be here.
we expect the best of ourselves, and respect from others.
we aren't as quiet and unassuming as the world thought we were.
we are, in many ways, still finding our way.
what unifies us? it's always been hard to explain in words what it means to be canadian. but this week has shown the world that we are unique, and that's something to be proud of.
the world is learning something about us. so are we. we've always defined ourselves by what we are not.
we are not american.
we are not european.
we are not first nations, quebecois, chinese, indian, or any of the other dozens of cultures that make up the mosaic.
the truth is, we don't know exactly who we are yet.
and maybe that's how it should be, because we are always changing.
maybe it's that undefinable quality, that lack of an easy definition, that makes us special.
as the man said, we are more.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
chapter 64: i've got a bad feeling about this...
remember katrina? the floods, the devastation, etc...and then it somehow turned into an even bigger nightmare for the people who managed to survive.
and that's what i'm afraid will happen in haiti. it's a country that was already living on the edge of oblivion. to paraphrase a colleague of mine, they had very little before the earthquake, now they have much, much less.
so what happens now? restlessness, check. hunger, check. thirst, check. looting, check. disease? roving gangs?
my job has often had me immersed in misery; through the filter of distance, but still...this just has a more visceral feel to it. and it could easily get worse. join me in trying to do what we can to stop that from happening.
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=000005&tid=003
and that's what i'm afraid will happen in haiti. it's a country that was already living on the edge of oblivion. to paraphrase a colleague of mine, they had very little before the earthquake, now they have much, much less.
so what happens now? restlessness, check. hunger, check. thirst, check. looting, check. disease? roving gangs?
my job has often had me immersed in misery; through the filter of distance, but still...this just has a more visceral feel to it. and it could easily get worse. join me in trying to do what we can to stop that from happening.
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=000005&tid=003
Saturday, November 14, 2009
chapter 63: way off track!
day 13 total: 2,488 words.
running total: 10,754 words.
i suck.
i boozed and loozed for days on either side of my birthday, and now i'm about 10,000 words behind where i should be. seriously. as always, i've used my unique talent for making things harder than they have to be. even something as idiotic and difficult as writing a novel in a month.
the good news? i'm good at being an underdog. which is encouraging, because i'm now up a certain creek that you may be aquaintded with, sans paddle.
but i got back on it today, and actually had my most productive day yet.
here's hoping i've got a few more of them in me, cause i now have to average 2,300 words per day to hit my goal.
yikes.
running total: 10,754 words.
i suck.
i boozed and loozed for days on either side of my birthday, and now i'm about 10,000 words behind where i should be. seriously. as always, i've used my unique talent for making things harder than they have to be. even something as idiotic and difficult as writing a novel in a month.
the good news? i'm good at being an underdog. which is encouraging, because i'm now up a certain creek that you may be aquaintded with, sans paddle.
but i got back on it today, and actually had my most productive day yet.
here's hoping i've got a few more of them in me, cause i now have to average 2,300 words per day to hit my goal.
yikes.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
chapter 62: back on track!
day 5 total: 2,180 words.
running total: 8,296 words.
i am finally back on track, after spending the last few days catching up from taking a day off. okay, so i'm technically off by 39 words. whatever.
the plot has started to go in different directions, and i still don't know how i'll get from here to the last sentence of the novel, which i've already thought of...whether it's still the last sentence when i'm done, who can say.
i'm also becoming weird and isolated. even more than usual. i undersand why so many writers have beards now. every time i got to shave, a plot point occurs. are female novelists hairy? this is what passes for non-noveling thought.
clearly, i'm losing it, and we're only five days in. alert the men in the white coats.
onward to 10,002 words!
running total: 8,296 words.
i am finally back on track, after spending the last few days catching up from taking a day off. okay, so i'm technically off by 39 words. whatever.
the plot has started to go in different directions, and i still don't know how i'll get from here to the last sentence of the novel, which i've already thought of...whether it's still the last sentence when i'm done, who can say.
i'm also becoming weird and isolated. even more than usual. i undersand why so many writers have beards now. every time i got to shave, a plot point occurs. are female novelists hairy? this is what passes for non-noveling thought.
clearly, i'm losing it, and we're only five days in. alert the men in the white coats.
onward to 10,002 words!
chapter 61: best day yet!
day four total: 2,440 words.
running total: 6,116 words.
well, i'm slowly getting close to being back on track with my daily averages. i'm only about 500 words behind where i should be now. today (wednesday) was my best day yet, but it sure is hard to catch up. i'll have to duplicate today's ouput to get to the day five goal. it doesn't seem like it when things are going well, but 1,667 words day after day is a blistering pace. and i've only missed one day so far. note to self: no more days off!
it's gotten a lot easier since i actually took time to flesh out the plot. imagine that! i seem to be decent at plot, but bad at character and dialogue. meh, whatever. see no evil, hear no evil.
the words are getting on the page. that's the goal.
onward to 8,335 words!
running total: 6,116 words.
well, i'm slowly getting close to being back on track with my daily averages. i'm only about 500 words behind where i should be now. today (wednesday) was my best day yet, but it sure is hard to catch up. i'll have to duplicate today's ouput to get to the day five goal. it doesn't seem like it when things are going well, but 1,667 words day after day is a blistering pace. and i've only missed one day so far. note to self: no more days off!
it's gotten a lot easier since i actually took time to flesh out the plot. imagine that! i seem to be decent at plot, but bad at character and dialogue. meh, whatever. see no evil, hear no evil.
the words are getting on the page. that's the goal.
onward to 8,335 words!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
chapter 60: the plot thickens
day three total: 1,987 words.
running total: 3,676 words.
ok, so i'm a little short of my three day goal of 5,001 words, but considering i didn't write at all on day two, it's not too bad.
i was tired when i came home from work tuesday, so i thought i'd take a little, 12 hour nap. so i screwed up there, but i recovered nicely on wednesday. by the time i'd scratched out a painful 600 words in the morning going on afternoon, i had a massive plot problem. scary when it's only day three, but i managed to pound out another 1,400 words and got back in the swing.
my plot is now wide open, i have the main characters established and evolving, and i even have a couple subplots brewing. i won't say it's great writing. i honestly can't tell, but it's not a bad story. feels awesome to solve my first problem.
onward to 6,668 words, my day four destination!
running total: 3,676 words.
ok, so i'm a little short of my three day goal of 5,001 words, but considering i didn't write at all on day two, it's not too bad.
i was tired when i came home from work tuesday, so i thought i'd take a little, 12 hour nap. so i screwed up there, but i recovered nicely on wednesday. by the time i'd scratched out a painful 600 words in the morning going on afternoon, i had a massive plot problem. scary when it's only day three, but i managed to pound out another 1,400 words and got back in the swing.
my plot is now wide open, i have the main characters established and evolving, and i even have a couple subplots brewing. i won't say it's great writing. i honestly can't tell, but it's not a bad story. feels awesome to solve my first problem.
onward to 6,668 words, my day four destination!
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