The best word to describe me is cosmopolitan...: 03.09

29.3.09

BEING A CONTORTIONIST.

Yesterday I had a conversation about how much you have to know someone to call them a good friend, and to feel as if you know enough about them to consider them family. I have to admit that for me as much as knowing everything about someone is a personal game, it can get to a point where you know so much that if you were to learn one more thing about them it would ruin the balance of your relationship.

For example yesterday, I was asked (hypothetically) what if I was in an abusive relationship,and my head snapped back and my eyes widened and then I laughed. The person most likely thought hmmm is that shock because I would think such a thing or is it surprise that I found out?

Rather than keep that to myself, I am not in an abusive relationship, however my reaction is such because I would never, ever, did I say never? be able to imagine myself in that position. Being abused is much more than physical pain, it is more than the memory of it, if you know anyone who was abused it is a character changing event that can never be erased. Abuse is something that can make people change their actions, their words, their aura, it is akin to being a contortionist. You never quite the same shape again, and many times those around you might be facing that situation but you will never be able to tell because ultimately it is the grey area of life.

If you don't have any experience in this area, read Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold its a great book about a girl and pain and vengeance from beyond the grave. The whole time your reading the book you feel pain, its an amazing read.

Ultimately, my point is that sometimes we don't know everything about all of those around us, but maybe just maybe there are some people who you do know well and that can be enough. Personally there are people in my life that I am thankful for because without them I would not be able to imagine my life...

Staccato~she can make me smile with her silence.
Serenity's Lyric~is my greatest supporter.
Sounding Board~I could tell him I wanted to rule the world and he would ask when? My encouragement.
The Painter~you can just tell she wants the best for everyone.
Smiler~great or not,your troubles are never too much for him to hear you out.
MiAmor~She is the sister I never had, always there to fight for me.
Prof~One of the few ppl I've met who can challenge me to think about something, and a holder of one of the best hearts I know, hands down.

This is just a condensed list but I truly am a believer that I am blessed in who I know and wherever I am years down the road,these people will still be apart of my life, so regardless of how much you know about someones life, be glad to just know them. Sometimes that can simply be enough.

28.3.09

One man...one woman...one country.

It was made certain that one man may never be enough, as women maybe we expect too much from just one man. Maybe as men do, we should also compartmentalize people into different areas and expect only what is realistic...

I am speaking of course of Michelle Obama who has for all intents and purposes done all that is necessary in this age to become a successful person. Unfortunately not everyone sees it that way. Many articles point to the over analyzation of what she wears to her lack of a voice in the white house, it is as if she cant be put into a category like Hilary Clinton or the former first lady, Mrs.Bush, so we must attack her for what in many cases would be accomplishments.

In the day of Internet porn and teenage pregnancy, we are seeing outrage that she is wearing sleeveless dresses...shocking that arms are the point of no return in the white house press releases.

But I think it all goes back to the fact that now as men and women we are looked at to have accomplished everything in sight, education, careers,a social life but still be what is considered innately womanly and manly.

As we watch Michelle Obama be put into a compartment I wonder if we fail to see that she has done more than Barbie (who is 50 this year) in showing the western world that a woman can easily be successful enough to support her husband rather than outshine him. I'm sure she didn't ask him to marry her, nor did he feel forced but I'm sure when it comes to the next bill to be passed, there will be more than one Obama who thinks it over.

The next time you ask a girl out, instead of wondering what she has to offer, I think you should check if shes going to offer you support to be who you are. Sometimes that's what is important not what shes achieved. Because I'm sure Michelle Obama wasn't looking to be the First Lady; rather she in many cases could be the next president. Wouldn't that be shocking? Not really. After all the Secretary General knows a thing or two about running against an Obama, you can't stop change.

23.3.09

Obama on Nowruz...

"The children of Adam are limbs to each other, having been created of one essence." quoted the new President of the United States...during his speech on Nowruz.

Each time I hear of another action of this presidency I am excited by the fact that there is finally a government who sounds like they are capable of a conversation with the world in this century. By this I mean that Obama's white house is not writing speeches from another century or by means of some exclusionist platform.

It has dawned a new day where Americans can see that their leader actually acknowledges the fact that there exists a world outside of this continent. First the Al-Jazeera telecast, then this, then shutdown of Guantanamo, it all shows that finally we can expect there to be a voice in government that realizes that exclusionist policies are not going to garner us in the West anymore protection from terrorism or nuclear threat. There must be a broader security policy for the U.S. to become a country which is not under direct threat from any party whether it be real or imagined. Bush policy has garnered a lot of disrespect from the international community and it is not till we see a shift in the management of political identity as a whole that any security measures will be taken seriously by others in the world.

While a message on Nowruz might be seen by some as a direct marketing tactic of the change movement of the new white house, I have to admit that I see it as an opening of the eyes in a world where for so many years the U.S. government had squeezed its eyes shut and was proclaiming the Islamic world as a whole its enemy whereas there are many countries under the umbrella of Islam.

18.3.09

The world will soon be painted pink...

http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13278440&source=hptextfeature

So today at work we had a discussion on marketing and how vendors dont take the word of mouth seriously...or the weight of peoples opinion into account.

The story starts with a shawarma vendor who treated some of us at the office less than courteous not once, but twice (hey hes the closest to the office with a daily special (LOL)) and we were snubbed twice. Mind you we didnt ask for anything we simply wanted the daily special and a smile. All we got was snide comments about the price of tabouleh and how much its costing them for the shawarma...insert glares and bad hummous breath.

So being the consumers we are we have tried most of the shawarma within a block of our office so now were going to be patrons of a different restaurant. But theres more to add insult to injury, today we ordered 30 shawarmas and the guy at this place over charged us and then told us it was our fault...so now there are 30 people he could have had as customers who now shake their heads and walk another five minutes to eat elsewhere.

So I thought it interesting to read this article in the Economist which says there will be more gender based marketing due to the avid turnout for consumerism by females...which I think is a bit far fetched considering how many people are number crunching rather than wondering what brand they are buying?

This article points out how more and more companies are changing their branding to suit women but really what does that mean? Are they tracking money in terms of women and men shoppers? Because what about the guys buying tampons for their gfs? It just brings me to think that were going be seeing alot more pink and purple in advertising...you know because I find anything targeted to women is pastel and covered in flowers and things that are supposed to be our feelings floating around on the pages of magazines...

So ladies hopefully the next time you buy something remember to not buy according to recession marketing k? God knows you dont need anything being scuffled around...you might bring ur tampons as a work snack intead of pringles...maybe just maybe companies will wake up and realize that there are women out there buying mens shavers because they work better and vice versa men wanting extra conditioning shaving gels...there is hope that one day we won't be driven by the consumption of logos...but as pointed out in the article, a tarnished brand is better than an unknown one so marketing will always prevail.

Taking your job seriously...

Today I got a response from a position that I have been in the running for after months and months of being part of a process. Funny enough this is after a phone call with the administrator of the process last week, where she had no information at all for me about anything really. Then today I got a package resembling the oxford dictionary with a contract, tax forms, etc. Still puzzled I realized that she simply wanted to complete one of her to-do lists and mark me off of her list and send out half a tree and leave the final decision in my hands. If she had actually listened to me when I called she could have saved some poor cleric from sending me a whole pkg by way of purolator. It's still a recession isn't it? Just checking.

This is just me venting, but if some people checked their job descriptions I'm sure time management is in there somewhere...

So for all of you out there job hunting, and especially if you are doing the hiring please just listen when people take time out of their pre-scheduled breaks to call you...it might just make your job easier!

15.3.09

Nineteen Eighty Four...1984.

George Orwell's novel about the future is profound. Having read it, the world is put into its place and you subsequently see every action in your life in a different way.

So you wonder why Im bringing up a book I read years ago? Because funny enough sitting in my cubicle on Friday, someone said to me, "Hey you work for the government, is it like Big Brother is everywhere?" Ha...I thought the same thing when they asked me information about myself as if they didnt have everything already.

So after all these years I've somehow become Winston Smith...I am for 37.5 hours generating enough information for the public that I never thought I would even comprehend before today. Whether or not I believe some of it, I am commiting "THOUGHCRIME" all the time when I speak to some people hehe, but overall I dont think ill be sentenced to death but who knows what kind of file they are building on us little workers...

So how many of us on a daily basis, understand what it truly means to live in this society where we arent allowed to do alot of things without handing over i.d. or a membership card, we have to identify us everywhere, you cant buy a stick of gum without being asked for a points card! The point of a points card is for us to gain something like a bottle of water after years of coming to the same establishment or maybe a coupon for a free something or other, but in reality its so our shopping habits can be tracked by large marketing companies and they can figure out which telemarketer should call us tonight...

So while we live in the free world, have you though about how many of us are free? Every dollar you make is tracked, nothing is really operated by cash, every dollar is accounted for by some bank somewhere, and you may not be buying rrsps, or participating in the economy other than cashing your paycheque, but we all know you got a shoppers optimum card...

We dont know Winston's outcome in the book but I dont think he was executed, I think he was made to work as a greeter at Walmart, or sell credit card insurance, or maybe hes a falafel vendor with a daily and regular price that is exactly same!

The Color Purple and Chris Brown???

"Think back to when the film 'The Color Purple' came out," Williams said of the movie that portrayed a black woman abused and oppressed by her father and husband. "A lot of [black] people called it a put down of black men."Now people are like, 'Hey, wait a minute, Chris Brown can't do that.' That 's a big shift, finally."

After reading the Color Purple, I thought about all the effort put in by people in the past and present for literacy, equality and the abolishment of racism. It hasn't changed much unfortunately because so much of world is still run and seen through a lens based on colour. I sit in a cubicle surrounded by a people from many different cultures, where we have all gone through the same interviews and testing but there is a small group of us who sit and shake our heads sometimes because someone make a racist comment, and then I wonder if we are ever going to be equal. How much do we have to prove ourselves before you look at me and properly see me?

The book showed me that regardless of what life throws us we can all choose to find something, anything that will allow us to fully understand other people. So if you can't quite understand that one person, or cause or ethnicity, go to Chapters buy a book, find out...geez google it.

We have so many outlets of information that could allow us to break down so many of the walls that seperate us, but instead we create groups to internalize our pursuits, our events etc.

I was just talking about why it is so important to read things outside you realm of interest because it may allow you to undertand things that you have already read. The Bible, The Quran, even the Coldest Winter Ever:) Who knew Chris Brown and Rihanna would be brought up in the same paragraph as the Color Purple? Its possible because ultimately every event, ever post has a connection to literature that has already been published...