A Magical Pen

Funny this left kin-da girl

In the sens-i-cal nonsense of non-politics

Ya see, this girl, she was a number

A logical number of sorts

One day the girl in all her silliness

Well she picked up a ….. pen!

And it was a damn nice pen too, if I do say so myself

And so she drew and drew and drew

And sung her songs to herself

As her numbers turned to pictures

That started a story that could very well and did indeed turn a leaf

Which sparked a charge that changed her world.

And there you have it,

The power of a glorious pen!

Goodbye lil music blog, but bon apetite!

So I have decided to shut down my music blog at alilworldofsongs.blogspot.com.  I don’t enjoy writing about music separately from this blog.  I just want to include that which I love more than almost anything in this blog.

I am however, starting a side blog to share what I learn on my journey of clean eating.  I have been reading a lot and it really has started to transform me after only 3 weeks.  I am not on a diet; I just eat clean which I will explain more in my new blog at credibleandedible.blogspot.com

I am really excited about this year and eating properly is a big part of that, I also love to cook so very much so and will be talking about that and hopefully sharing with everyone the new things and ideas and foods I try J

Hopefully you will share back too!

Thanks for reading, my all of loyal 2 readers – you two give me a reason to keep writing sometimes – cheers!! =)

Digi-Life

I am watching Frontline’s ‘Digital Nation’ and it has got me to think about the digital world, social media, multi-tasking, living in 2011 and beyond.  It is said that we are losing ourselves to technology, losing our humanity to the virtual world.  And in some ways, sure we are.  But perhaps this is evolution of the human mind, growth.  Humankind has been changing our history of being on this planet, and it will continue to do so.  (And let’s remember this is nowhere near the first change of this scope.  I am sure the change from Hieroglyphics to writing caused this same sort of OH NO IT WILL RUIN us mentality. And yes I am sure we lost part of something we had before as well, but look what we gained instead? The beginnings of modern language.)

Now don’t get me wrong, I think we need to watch that we don’t live in the virtual world in extremes but this is like anything, one glass of red wine is good for your heart, 10, not so much.

However, when the world has changed so much, and let’s face it, it will never return to a time without technology, without the internet, we are past the point of no return.  However, it does not have to be doom and gloom, in fact, we need to embrace it, learn to use it, and then to create.

For example, many educational institutions believe technology is ruining our children and adolescents and some ways it is but I believe it is because we have not yet learned to harness the technology to teach our next generations.  We need to change how education is delivered, both the content, the message and the way in which it is taught.  Whether we like it or not, the next generations are a connected generation and it is our fault.  They are brought up in a world they did not create watching us attached to our devices of all sorts, TV’s, computers, phones, etc. etc. etc.  I am just as guilty; in fact I am streaming a documentary, monitoring Twitter and email while writing a blog post.

There are statistics that show students are arriving at university with writing skills that lack sufficient skill to get through university, ok, then why did they pass the previous grades and courses, especially in high school? If teachers are so concerned, perhaps these students should be held back.

The world has changed and I don’t believe for the worst.  We are free more than ever to create, the tools at hand are numerous and plenty.  The types of ideas that come out are amazing. 

I heard a quote at a work conference last week on Social Media with guest speaker Neil Bearse.  He mentioned a quote:

“In the last 48 hours, more information has been created than since the beginning of time to 2003.” – Eric Scmidt, 2003, Techcrunch

I think education still needs to teach how to write properly and the correct grammar usage, reading, physical education – this traditional education doesn’t need to disappear but what we need to combine the two types of education; digital and social media WITH traditional education.

Kids today are pretty much born with wires coming out of their ears; my 2-year nephew knows to use technological devices.  I have two other nephews, one almost 4 and the other 2.5 who both have flat screen TV’s mounted on their wall.  Their parents have two as well.  There is a Wii and a PS3 there as well, they see their parents with laptops, smartphones and constantly near them.  And this is the norm in today’s western societies of plenty and instant gratification.

Then we send them to school and expect them not to still need that stimulation? Do you not think children would learn so much better with tools that are familiar to them?  It is not that they won’t read but maybe instead of a traditional paper book one would read an e-reader? 

We can use social media to create study type groups and use it to get the students to share information and ideas.  We can have them do their assignments online, using blogs to share ideas or similar such technology.  We can have them use game type apps to learn languages, grammar, and writing.

As for the distraction argument, yes it is valid.  But there are ways around this, why are kids making the rules, teachers and parents should.  Boundaries and guidelines around these technologies need to be taught from a young age.  And if kids really don’t want to learn, they will find other things to be distracted with regardless. 

We need to teach kids how to find information and get the right message, how to use that information correctly and how to present this information to others, so this includes proper writing skills.

I subscribe to numerous podcasts that teach me new concepts in my field of work, why not do it in education.

I subscribe to an Excel podcast that goes into depth about formulas and macros and the more intermediate levels of concepts I don’t have many in person tools to utilize.  I subscribe to iTunes University lectures from actual universities, we can use blogs and twitter to follow news.  I wake up, and before I even get out of bed and into the shower, I have read the Discovery News, BBC News and Thomas Reuter news and also checked on my Twitter feed in which I follow business professionals, news outlets, music feeds (artists, PR reps, radio station, music journalists) and friends.  I find out breaking news on Twitter faster than waiting till the next morning paper comes to the store.

I am not discounting reading the traditional means, I LOVE a good paper book, trade paperback if I have my way even.  But technology can help us learn, and create and give us the time to do it all in 15-20 minutes before I shower.  I am on top of the world news, my profession and my friends.

Just my two cents on a Friday morning about technology and the response this documentary drew from me.

Quick Note About Our Dear Friend Corn on the Cob

So no matter how you eat it, no how matter how hard you try to be clean, not drip, keep the spaces between your teeth free and clear, with no spit spraying out of your mouth with every bite; no matter how hard you try, it is never eloquent eating corn on the cob.

But it sure tastes great =)

So I figure It’s better to be me ...

So I figure it's better to be me today than the guy who had to walk to get milk. Yup, nothing like walking to get some milk, from an actual cow, well an owner of a cow as cows somehow have not figured out how to sell themselves yet, go figure! (Italics mean sarcasm in this post from now on. Get it? It's pretty hard eh) and to think they're actually worshipped in some places? Moo-ya! Anyhow, it's nothing like walking to get milk down some desert road in let's say some little war-torn religiously run country called Iraqhanistan and boom you get hit by a small missile. Now you see, even though it's small it still kills you cause it's large when you really look at it, just small for missiles and f*ck me if there aren't some big-as$ missiles out there! Yeah so I figure it's better to be me than that guy.

Dreams and You

I can't talk to anyone for fear of judgement, for lack of understanding, for having a love so deep, that it is almost sacred or embarrassing depending on the day, that sharing is like ripping one's heart out with your hand.

It always starts the same way; I am stumbling along in life, thinking I am getting over it, getting over you, the idea of you, your touch, your smell, your stubble against my rosy cheek, your taste, our taste. And then …. well I dream of you; you here, you touching me, you smiling at me, you kissing me, you craving me once again.

I wake up disoriented, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sit up and slowly come to the dark realization that you are not here, you aren't dreaming of me, you aren't. With a deep breath, I go about my monotonous existence, barely holding onto the dream. You know the one where you get a career, a boyfriend, a house, a 'real' life. My vision blurs whenever I try to contemplate what 'where I am' means, the point of it all, so to speak.

I start my day as normal, and slowly you begin to fade to the back of my mind as I repeat and design the day's tasks. Yet, you never really leave. I feel a heavy weight upon my heart that I don't remember yesterday, that dread this isn't the life I am supposed to be living.

I continue on in my day quietly but ensuring I am pleasant throughout the day so no one catches on, I make perhaps but a small mention of the dream, feign normalness and mock confusion and return to my work, and my thoughts.

You constantly remain in my head, you still own my heart, I'd be willing to buy it back at what I gave it to you for so much you take hold of my heart and soul still. I stay away from all tonight, choosing instead to be with my enclosed world, travelling towards the outdoors at just past 100 km/hr .

The music only puts me into an ever more introverted and introspective world, driving me to words, to spill my ramblings onto the white, to hope that one day, these words will help heal the void you left, because sometimes, words are all you have.

Ramblings, Energy and Belief in Dreams

I have been thinking a lot these days about energy.  More specifically how energy is drained, received, how it can be "stolen" from you, or "given" to you.  Lately, and I am not sure if this is due to some odd moon cycle or whether it is a seasonal change, but regardless I have been doing a lot of "soul-searching" if you will.  I find I am not happy; I am also not miserable; sobbing every day starting with breakfast (wouldn't it be hard to eat while sobbing little driblets of salty tears and snot into your bowl of Kashi cereal??) Anyhow, lately I find that my energy is being sucked out and replaced with other's negative rants, raves, feelings, you name it.


So I have decided to remove myself from those who drag my sunshine flavoured energy out of me and concentrate on me, making me happy, being positive, setting and achieving goals. I realized over the last few months that something needs to change, I feel my aura is not its usual and it is beginning to seep into all aspects of my life; work, friendships, family life, my love life and even into my financial life.


I realized shortly after Gramp's death, that I need to concentrate on me, on getting my Zen energy back. It seems that the last few years, my soul has slowly been sucked dry of all my youthful passion, my normal wild imagination and zestful creativity slowly seeping out the seams, until I woke up recently to discover it was gone.

So upon much soul searching over many introspective days and nights, I have decided to once again spend more time writing, reading and taking long walks gazing at all the trees and flowers and animals again. I will spend more time laughing with friends instead of worrying about foes, and will spend more time creating a home rather than trying to hold up the ship at work.


This year, my 28^th year is about me. Me alone, me as a friend, me as a sister and a daughter, me. Somehow, someway this year, I will see my dreams start to come to fruition.