The Shape I’m In

I’ve been trying to write a post for a long time.  Putting pen to paper, figuratively speaking, has become an impossible task for me.

It probably doesn’t help that the topic of the post I’ve been trying to write has been my all-too-fragile mental state.  I find it easy to write anonymously on the internet.  But this wouldn’t have been anonymous.  This would have been akin to an expose, I suppose.  Well, that might be a little melodramatic.  I don’t tend to have a reference point these days for that sort of thing.

The point is that writing in general has been extremely difficult for me lately.  And my writing this now is not necessarily because things have changed; it’s more that someone else has written a really great account of far too many of the things I’ve been going through.  Rather than re-inventing the wheel at this point, I figured I would just link to the post.

Will I eventually write the post I’ve been meaning to write?

Yes.

Maybe.

I don’t know.

Until then, I think you should go read Allie’s posts on depression.  The first one…and the second.  It doesn’t matter if you don’t have depression.  Chances are, there is someone you know that does.  And that someone is also probably pretty good at hiding that fact.  And if they do open up to you, trust me…they don’t want to hear “Cheer up”, “this too shall pass” or any other contrived bullshit that people tend to come up with when they don’t know how to respond to what’s in front of them.  Not everyone who has depression can point to a singular cause or event that led them to feel the way they do.  Not everyone with depression will ever be able to just snap out of it and feel better.

Anyway, before I end up actually writing a really poorly written version of what I’ve been trying to write, just go and read the posts.

And I’ll just go back to dealing with life the best way I know how to – at least until that shrivelled up piece of corn appears.

A Moment of Clarity

The end of 2012 is finally here.  I haven’t been active on the blog, so many of you aren’t aware of this year’s challenges.  Here’s a summary of the biggies:

• fractured three toes in February
• depression’s back in May
• car problems in July – fun because it was during my vacation /sarcasm
• ketoacidosis at the end of August, hospitalized for a week – Happy Birthday to me!
• audited by Canada Revenue Service – apparently I don’t live in the arctic
• stuck in DC during Hurricane Sandy – not terrible, but did miss my second chance to get to Banff
• returned to Iqaluit just in time to fall and break my wrist
• not to mention that I’ve been sick off and on all year

Anyhow, I’m not here to complain.  I’m here to say my goodbyes to 2012.  It’s been swell.  Good riddance; don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Now, most of you know I don’t do resolutions.  But I do want to make a point of discussing my hopes for the year.  I’ve got to get ready for the end of the world year party I’ll be attending in a few hours, so I’ll make it quick.

1. Writing.  There was a good four-month period last year where most of my free time was consumed with writing.  Most of you haven’t read that stuff, and I’m completely fine with that.  But it kept me sane and it introduced me to some fantastic people in the process.  I want to get back to more writing.  I need to do it.  Some people have said that I’m good at it.  Frankly, I like to do things that I’m good at.  So I hope to feel more inspired to keep it up.
2. Healthy living.  Before breaking my wrist at the beginning of November, I was eating healthier and exercising more.  From about March until October, I had lost about forty pounds.  That’s pretty amazing for me.  But since the accident, I haven’t been diligent about any of it.  I’d say I’ve fallen off the wagon, but that would require a lot of walking to keep up; getting on the wagon seems more conducive to a lazy lifestyle, doesn’t it?  I’ve all but stopped going to the gym and it’s tough for me to prepare what I’m wanting to eat with this gimpy wrist of mine.  But since my wrist is getting stronger, that’s going to change.  I’ve recently become a board member for Atii Fitness (the gym I’ve been a member of for over a year), and that means I also plan to get back on track with my exercising.  And I plan to continue with that healthy lifestyle.
3. Travel.  I got a taste of travel this year, and I’d like to do more of it.  I’m a geographer, for crying out loud.  I need to see more of the world.  There are inexpensive ways to do it – I just need to find out what they are.
4. Balance.  Sometimes I get a little too focused on others.  Sometimes I get a little too focused on myself.  This year, I desire balance.
5. No broken bones or hospital visits.  Self explanatory.
6. Oh, and maybe a tattoo.  😉  But we’ll see.

Thanks for coming back to this blog on the rare occasions where I see fit to grace its presence with a post.  I appreciate hearing from my blends and blikes even if it doesn’t seem like it.  I miss you guys…maybe that writing bug will bring me back here, huh?

Happy New Year everyone.  Let’s hope 2013 is a good year for everyone!

It’s a new day! Sunrise over Kimmirut, Nunavut, October 2012.

It Ain’t Me, Babe

I keep getting e-mails from WordPress.

You’ve got new a new blog follower, Suzanne.  Wouldn’t you like to welcome them?

Yes, WordPress.  I would like to do that.  But I seem to have a severe case of “I don’t know what the $#@% to write about.

And also, I really don’t think I’m the person they’re looking for.  It’s not me.  They’re looking for someone else.

But, but there’s another new follower, Suzanne.  You should probably say something.

Really?  I mean, I really don’t know what to talk about.  There’s lots of stuff going on in my life, but hmm…is any of it really noteworthy?  I mean, I suppose some of my readers don’t know that my laptop died awhile back.  And it was just really frustrating writing on my desktop as it sits on a high microwave cart.  But luckily I just recently got a new laptop.

Course, I also got Skyrim, so there goes any motivation to do any writing.  There’s dragons falling out of the sky on my character to fight.  I don’t have time to write anything on my blog.

But Suzanne, you have yet another follower.  I really think you should do something about this.

Sigh.

Yes.  Yes, I should.

And one more thing, Suzanne.  You have received an award from a fellow blogger.  Perhaps you should consider thanking him.  And accepting the award.

Yes, I know I should.  And I will.

But for now, I will take a moment to say thanks to my new subscribers.  And thanks to my old subscribers.  And thanks for the award.  And perhaps I should take yet another four month hiatus to see what else will come my way…?

No.  No no, I promise that I will be back writing again.  After all…New Year’s resolution time is coming up.  What better resolution to break make than to write more blog posts?

Denied

As I was catching up on my blog reading yesterday, I noticed that my comments weren’t getting posted on blogs where I have definitely been successful at posting comments before.  I was advised that WordPress is having issues (I know…shocking…but I still love you WP!) with some people’s comments ending up in the spam folders.  So, thanks for that Oma!

This is my friendly reminder to WordPress users to double check your spam folder carefully.  Us poor suckers that have been typing away furiously to leave comments for our friends are getting pwned by a nasty spam filter at the moment.  Hopefully the people I’ve left comments for so far will noticed them before clicking the “delete all spam” button.

*pout*

Right…so…that is all.

My Out of Style is Coming Back

Two posts in two days!  What’s the occasion?, you ask.  Well now, I was nominated for the Stylish Blogger Award.  So I’m celebrating with some verbal diarrhea!  I was nominated by Ian at The $#!& I Think About.  Yeah, I’m married to him…you think I’m going to let a little nepotism stop me from receiving an award??  That’s just not my style…

Speaking of style, most people who know me in my offline life recognize me as “the least possible stylish person on the face of the planet”…which is better than being “the least possible stylish person beneath the surface of the planet”.  I just like to call it my own style.  And that style is either ahead of the curve, or pitifully behind.  Maybe a little of both…

Even my blogging style is erratic at best.  I’m a go with the flow kind of person.  Not necessarily wishy-washy in opinion…but certainly not as stubborn and rigid as some people may think I am (though there are things I don’t bend on – I HATE mushrooms!).

I think that before I go too far into stuff that isn’t related to this award, I’ll get down to the guidelines for receiving it.  Winners of The Stylish Blogger Award must list five of their favourite things, and then pass the award along to five worthy bloggers.  Easy as pie.

Which isn’t easy, by the way.  Do you know how complicated making pie can be?  Especially if you don’t have the required 9-inch pie plate that every recipe calls for?  Ugh.  Oh, and pi isn’t exactly easy either…try memorizing that sucker past about 10 numbers.  I still need to look it up.

Since Ian didn’t use up one of his slots with mentioning our relationship as a favourite thing, but acknowledged it beforehand…I’ll do the same.  Love you honey!  Wow…that just sounded awkward.  We don’t exactly do the pet name thing…lemme try that again.  Love you my little undead zombie monkey…there!  So much less awkward, right?  On to my other favourites…

1. Massive Attack – They’re the band that I named my blog for, and have been one of my favourites, if not the favourite band of the past decade and a half.  I finally had the good fortune (aka money, transportation, timing, knowledge of the event prior to the event) of seeing them live last May with Ian.  They put on a phenomenal show and I hope to be able to see them at least once more before they stop touring.  If you watch House, they are responsible for the theme song.  They’ve released a bunch of albums and loads of singles.  Come to think of it, I don’t know why I’ve never dedicated a post to them before and posted my pictures!
   

   3D & Daddy G of Massive Attack in Toronto, May 9/10

2. Comedy – Be it stand up, sit down, or any other number of ways that it is delivered, I can’t get enough of humour.  I adore stand up comics like George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Russell Peters, Margaret Cho, Demetri Martin, Nikki Payne, Dave Chappelle, Bill Maher, Russell Brand, Daniel Tosh…I love stand up!  I would love to spend the afternoon with one of my newest “must watch” individuals, Karl Pilkington.  I’ve apparently been living under a rock for a number of years as I’ve just recently discovered him, but I can’t get over how much this guy makes me laugh.  Seriously…check out The Ricky Gervais Show or An Idiot Abroad…you’ll love it!
   

   Bet you didn't think I could find a picture of Karl Pilkington AND a couple of globes...

3. Geography – I am officially a nerd for geography.  I took a liking to the possibilities I was presented with in high school, and decided to major in it at university.  It’s less about colouring the countries all pretty like and more about the interconnectedness of the world around us.  Geography is everything!  Social, cultural, historical, economic, physical…I couldn’t resist studying something that would let me look at the development of glacial landforms in one class, the spread of disease in another, how city development is influenced by transportation hub development which is influenced by topography in a third, and how to put all of those items together in a map in a fourth class.  Alex, I bet you can name a prof for all of those courses too!  I can’t believe I’m working in my field too…it’s fantastic!
4. Dragon Age – I am in love with this game.  Not since Marble Madness and Tetris have I been so obsessed with any one game.  I’m currently salivating as I wait for the delivery of the sequel to Dragon Age:  Origins.  It’s a role-playing game with massive replay appeal…where decisions you make early in the game affect your ending…and it’s just really pretty.
   

   Fighting one of the dragons...cuz, it's dragon age...oooh look...pretty, sparkly magic! Source: Bioware

5. The North – this place has made me fall in love with winter.  If it can do that for winter, spring, summer and autumn should be spectacular.  There’s a lot of things that might make a person not like it up here, but for me, it’s an amazing place and has quickly become one of my favourite things.
   

   We haven't been able to photograph these yet, but when we see them, this is what they look like...

Now, enough about me…you should really be checking out these Stylish Bloggers!

1. Holly at Holly-the-Strange – Holly is taking a brief hiatus from blogging, but when she returns, she’ll find this award waiting for her.  This is definitely to celebrate her anti-style!
2. Christy at Mamarazzi Pages – Christy is a wonderful photographer and often blogs about her stylin’ family!
3. Kittie at Culinary Eccentricity – Kittie blogs quite a bit about some very stylish food!
4. Bryoneyh at [Postage Stamp Required] – Bryoneyh blogs about her adventures through post-graduate life as a single woman…with style!
5. Lorna at Gin & Lemonade – Lorna is a reader, writer and fellow crazy cat lady, so if that doesn’t exude style, I don’t know what does!