Coffee Makes Me Pee

Fire Escape

The Grilled Cheese

In Kensington Market, Toronto

Turning Pages on the Tracks

The Old Man Robbie Story

Early this morning I woke with the desire for a coffee and a bagel....so off I went. Just as I was leaving the cafe it started to rain so I ran for cover in the gazebo at the park. I had just sat down and a little old man came over to sit beside me. He introduced himself as Robbie the aquarius. Soon after he sat down, out came a Molson Canadian beer bottle. As he sipped away he told me his life story. Very interesting character!! As I was eating he looked at my bagel in a way that made me think he was hungry so I shared half of it with him. He was so thankful. Very gentle, sweet old guy for someone with such a hard life. I left thinking how THANKFUL I should be for such a wonderful life I have!

Nuit Blanche

Nuit Blanche "White Night" started at sunset until sunrise making last night the most beautiful sleepless night in Toronto. Nuit Blanche is an all night free celebration of contemporary art that first started in Paris, France in 2002. Over 130 art projects were presented across Toronto. Literally it took all night to see all that there was to see. Last night made me very proud of our city, so many people came out to support the artists. The city was ALIVE! Nuit Blanche opened a lot of people's eyes to how beautifully diverse and large our art community is. This was also a great event to help the small business' that stayed open along the map of Nuit Blanche. The mama papa establishments were able to showcase their superior character against the restaurant/bar chains. I was mostly happy for my friend Eddie (Artist/Chef) who own's "It's Not a Deli" (Queen & Ossignton) his place was hopping. He really has established a resto/art gallery that is the place to be!

Check out the Nuit Blanche

website

Teacher Without Age!

"In a better world every family will learn from children. You are in such a hurry to teach them. Nobody seems to learn from them, and they have much to teach you." (Osho)

"Bon Cop Bad Cop"

Thanks to Matty I just went to the "Bon Cop Bad Cop" movie opening for Ontario at The Paramount in Toronto. It is a must go see film that is brilliantly funny. I am impressed with the writing as it must have been difficult to bounce back and forth from English and French. Great Canadian talent Colm Feores (best actor in Shakespeare ever!) and Patrick Huard had me in stitches. The movie is a Canadian production, filmed in Canada, most of the cast being Canadian and filmed in Canada. Hmm I think this movie even may become a Cult Classic.....Only time will tell.

The Mushroom House

When I arrived in Whistler everyone kept saying "You have to check out The Mushroom House it is so unique"! So one day my friend Melissa and I decided to take a walk and try to find it. Of course at first we got a little lost and had a good laugh but when we came across it...I could not believe it! This house is not only a home but a work of ART! The owner Zube spent 22 years designing and building this masterpiece (began in 1970). If you are ever in Whistler you should definately go on this adventure. Most people that live in Whistler will know where it is and be able to direct you.

If you can't get out there anytime soon you can check it out on "The Mushroom House"

website

Jazz Fest Weekend

What a GREAT weekend at the Jazz Fest!! Sun, music, good friends, drinks and good food. There was lots of music to be heard and my fav was the Mae Cromwell Band. They were not only talented but they really knew how to entertain as well. The cops had to shut them down early as the crowd was getting too out of hand :) Adding to the gorgeous weekend was the way the fog beautifully rolled in on the lake. It was unbelieivable it reminded me so much of San Francisco. One moment it would be blue skies with the sun intensely shining and the next minute a beautiful cool fog would roll on in.

The Beaches International Jazz Festival

website

Primal Quest

These two crazy BC friends of mine Mark Fearman and Gary Robbins were in the "Mind over Mountain" team for an insane Adventure Race and I am so proud of them. This race covers over 800km and lasts up to 10 days. The teams of four travel non-stop using only a map and compass to navigate. Primal Quest is an annual event with a different international location chosen each year. This year was in breathtaking HOT Moab Utah. The race consits of running, biking, paddling and traversing. Next year rumoured to be in South America.

Check out the

Primal Quest website

My last day at the RYH

But not the last day with GREAT friends!! Thank you guys for giving such a nice send off :) Oh and I am wearing the necklace with the tagua from the blog below...

Tagua, the vegetable ivory!

On Thursday night after Sneaky Dees a few of us went for a walk through Little Italy and of course being girls we had to stop at a vendor with jewelery. It was very beautiful and original. We talked to the vendor named "Auto" from Columbia to find out more about the materials used. It was then that we first heard of the Tagua nut from Tagua trees. These trees are much like the palm tree and they can be found in rainforests in South America. You will also hear it called the vegetable ivory as it really does look like ivory. This use for tagua has helped both the enviornment and the wildlife. The demand to kill elephants for their tusks is much less. Thankfully this also encourages protection and reforestation in what otherwise would be destroyed rainforests. Not to mention this has created much needed jobs. Auto's jewelery also used materials such as coconut, turquoise and leather.

De la Guarda

De La Guarda an Argentinian theatre/dance troupe. UNBELIEVABLE, sensational, sensual and exotic ride that will leave you wondering when you can go next. It's a show, a party, an event, a madhouse, and a spectacle. Make sure to wear comfortable clothes you will not mind gettting wet or soiled. Check out the

De la Guarda website

Compagnia di Valerio Festi

Compagnia di Valerio Festi is a magical theatre company that uses the sky and outdoors as their stage combining dance, music, lights and imaginative props of unimaginable size. If you are not lucky enough to see the performance live you can see a video and gallery of pictures on the website.

Compagnia di Valerio Festi website

Happy Pride Weekend!

What a beautiful weekend for Pride. From the performances, beer tents, parties to the parade this is definately one of my favourite celebrations in Toronto. It is a time to celebrate differences and coming together.

The Pride 2006 website

World Cup Soccer 2006

The day has finally come which many people have anticipated for four years! Today is the opening game of the 2006 World Cup Soccer at noon with the Host Germany and Costa Rica. My father is especially happy because he grew up in Germany and I think this World Cup will be very good for Germany. They have two things on their side. One is that they are the home team which gives a lot of crowd support and two is that they have a really promising team right now. It is incredible to see the excitement build in the fellow soccer lovers. The excitement and pride in their team is unstoppable! We are so lucky that the World Cup is only every four years because if it was every year this incredible feeling would most likely diminish.

The Official Site of FIFA World Cup

Le Parkour "Free Running"

During those get to know you talks while mingling people often ask "what is your favourite sport to watch" and usually people respond hockey, basketball or soccer. Well for the past few years I have been following this relatively new sport (you could even call it ART) called Le Parkour or in English "Free Running". These athletes use many different dangerous methods to run through cities as exciting as scaling walls, roof-running and leaping from building to building. I hear it as a cry to break free from the confinements and rules of the city walls. If the discipline in training for this sport is not taken seriously it could be fatal.

Free Running website

aluCine Festival

It is the 7th year for the aluCine Festival and tonight I watched an incredible film! "Musiques Rebelles Americas" (Rebel Music Americas) is a film that travels through Latin America and opens your eyes to social movements through music of artists who have taken up their causes. My favourite part of the film is of the children who sing their song which is a plead to their president of peace. It will both break and open your heart at the same time.

aluCine website

Rebel Music Americas website

In Your Own Backyard

Whenever you don't have the time or money to fly away for vacation remember there might just be something in your own backyard that will bring you peace. Just below are links to a few places I like to hike, camp, canoe or visit in our very own Ontario.

Algonquin Park

Bruce Trail

Forks of The Credit River and Mono Cliffs Provincial Parks

Credit Valley Conservation

Elora

St. Jacobs

Niagra on The Lake

Toronto Beaches

Cardio Erotica at the Bachelorette Party

A successful bachelorette! Yes Kavi the big day is only 2 weeks away.......YIKES!

A

Spa

party room and

salsa dancing at Babaluu's

were involved but there is one thing I have to share with all the girls out there about this Bachelorette party. Let me tell you we were all smiles, laughing and feeling really sexy. Oh and it wasn't the spa or the salsa dancing that really did it.

We had this inspiring woman named

Carmen

hired to do Cardio Erotica. That is right I said erotica. Cardio Erotica is a sexy form of exercise where you are doing strip tease moves without stripping and believe me you will feel it in your butt and legs the next day. It really is a good work out. We all did it as a group and then the instructor did a one on one with the bride so they could give us a performance afterwards. Kavi you were GREAT! Thank god there were no men there because there is no way they would have been able to handle the heat in that room....with all those women feeling and looking sexy! There were about 12 of us.

Vladimir Kush

I have been following this artist's work for quite some time because I find his work to be highly imaginative and inspiring and I would love to share my find with you. Vladimir is a Moscow born artist now living in Hawaii. His work is definately influenced by Dali.

Vladimir Kush website

Honey From the Tombs

Amy Millan our Toronto girl is releasing her solo album on May 30th. I can't wait! I love her vocals in the band

Stars

and she has been working on her craft since highschool or even earlier. Amy and Emily Haines from the band Metric are best friends and used to sing and play guitars together back in highschool. She has also sang with Broken Social Scene friends. The rumour is that it has a bit of a country feel to it.

The title of the new album "Honey from the Tombs" is very interesting it came from something Tom Waits said about how archaeologists were excavating some Egyptian tombs and discovered all these mummies had been buried with honey. When they took the honey out, they found it was as sweet as it'd been when the bodies were buried. It doesn't go bad. A lot of the material on this album dates back to when Amy was 21.

I heard one song on CBC the other day as a sneek peek and it was great! Click on sonicS on my website sidebar to listen to CBC3 radio where you can find new canadian music. You can search for my playlist under the name sonicS and a Stars song is on it for you to hear.

Only if a Bull Chased Me

Looking at this picture today it reminded me of how I used to feel about running. ONLY something like a BULL chasing me would make me want to run. I used to say "I could never run. I am out of breath too fast and having a large chest makes it way too difficult".

That all changed when I moved to Whistler, British Columbia. I met so many fit people that really enjoyed to run. I worked in a Human Resources office and was helping arrange a sign up for the Vancouver 10km Sun Run in 2004. One of the girls that registered called to let me know that she could no longer make it and asked that I should run in her place. I thought about it and decided to go for it. Everyone told me if I can't run the whole race not to worry because people are also walking this event and I could wak what I can't run.

So I started training with a mixture of walking and running. Gradually I was running more than walking and ended up running my first 10km run at the Sun Run in 1hr and 8min only in a few months. I could not beleive it! It was fitting running under a different name that day because in fact I could not believe it was me...I felt like a new woman. This really reconfirmed my beleif that if you put your mind to it; you can do almost anything. Since this run I have also participated in the 100 Whistler Relay, the CIBC Run for Breast Cancer and presently I am registered for The Toronto Waterfront Run.

The reason for writing this blog is in hope to inspire others to believe in themselves. Go out there and try things you are interested in because you never know until you try what you are really capable of.

If you are interested in starting to run and have never run before below is a really gradual 6 week schedule that will lead you to a 5km run with ease. If after this schedule you get hooked you can than work on your speed and strength by adding other techniques eg. sprinting, hill training, different paces and lengths.

Week 1
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Run 1 min, walk 1 min 10x
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Run 2 min, walk 2min 3x
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Run 2 min, walk 4 min 5x

Week2
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Run 3 min, walk 3 min 4x
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Run 3 min, walk 3 min 4x
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Run 5 min, walk 3 min 3x

Week 3
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Run 7 min, walk 2 min 3x
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Run 8 min, walk 2 min 3x
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Run 8 min, walk 2 min 3x

Week 4
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Run 8 min, walk 2 min 3x
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Run 10 min, walk 2 min 2x and then run for 5 min
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Run 8 min, walk 2 min 3x

Week 5
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Run 9 min, walk 1 min 3x
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Run 12 min, walk 2 min 2x and then run for 5 min
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Run 8 min, walk 2 min 3x

Week 6
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Run 15 min, walk 1 min 2x
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Run 8 min, walk 2 min 3x
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Run your first 5km YEAH!!!!

Remember to stretch!

Rudi's First Week of Life

I am such a proud auntie! It is confirmed my sister makes beautiful babies as Mariel says :) On May 4th I became an aunt of a beautiful baby girl named Rudi born at 7lbs 2ozs. Just like my nephew Noah she is absolutely precious. Her first week of life mostly consisted of eating, sleeping and stretching. She barely cries but sometimes she makes a little vibrating sound like a cat. I have it on video for proof because it is unreal.

While my sister was in the hospital I took care of little Noah and he was such a trooper. We visited his new baby sister, Mom and Dad twice a day to help with the adjustment. We also made sure we visited my grandmother a few times because Noah loves it there. Not to mention the people in the home seem to light up when they see little Noah. Only the first morning was sad when he woke up crying. I am sure it was because he missed my sister...poor little one. Hearing him cry like that was heart wrenching. Thank goodness with some support from my mom, dad and I he stopped after a short while.

That weekend to cheer him up Noah and I went to the Teen Ranch Open House for his first pony ride. He was a great little rider but it was so funny his favourite part of that day seemed to be the barbeque....he was fascinated by the big burgers. He kept giggling and saying "mmmm Big Burger". I was in stitches!

Teen Ranch is a great place for kids to go for summer camp in the countryside of Caledon. They have horse riding, swimming, basketball, volleyball, tennis, hockey and much more. Sorry I forgot my camera no pics of Noah on the pony, but I did happen to get a pic of his ride on Dino the dog in the mall on my sister's first real outing since the birth. Oh and yes I was one of those kids that ran home at lunch time to see the Flinstones in Public School.

My Morning Coffee

Every morning before work I love to start my day with a morning coffee or tea. Along the way I am guaranteed to see a homeless man or woman in downtown Toronto.

There is one homeless man I walk by often and he always greets me with a smile and good morning. This man goes out of his way to be cheerful. This always inspires my day. Usually I only just make enough time to grab my coffee and go back to the office but one day I had some extra time and spoke to him longer than the usual hello.

At one time he had a great job and home but depression took over and it was difficult for him to remember or have the desire to care to keep up with his medication due to lack of support from family, friends or places to go for help. When saying goodbye he told me with a big warm smile "Thank you for always acknowledging me and smiling to say hello each day; It really makes a difference when I am having a bad day!"

Most people just walk by the homeless pretending they do not exist out of fear or to protect themselves from feeling anything. I have to admit I have done this before but from now on I am going to try to remember this conversation and do my best to help make a difference in other peoples day by making the simple effort of a smile.

Capoeira

Capoeira is the most fascinating form of martial arts to me. Especially because it involves music and dance. Capoeira now has a huge modern movement that can be found in films, fire throwing which I witnessed in Thailand and as a sport. This incredible movement actually has a history that dates back as far as the 1600's in a time of African slavery in Brazil.

If I have your attention and you want to read more http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5225100

On a Cold and Rainy Night

Sunday night being a cold and rainy night was perfect for a dinner party and it inspired this poem below for you.

On a Cold and Rainy Night
In a house once empty
Now beautifully erupting with sound
Our laughter awakens me
Music giving my feet a voice

Mouths start to water
Aromas and sounds escape the kitchen
Whisk to bowl
Spoon to pot
Knife to cutting board
Sweet, citrus and spice
The feast is yet to come

Merrily reaching out
Hands to glass
Lips to lips
Barco Reale di Carmignano
Breathing, swirling, savoring
All sliding into the warmth

House of friends
Music, food and wine
On a cold and rainy night
I am cold no more

s.a. April 24 2006

Notes: the line lips to lips means peoples lips to the lips of their glass not what you think :)
Barco Reale di Carmignano 2003 is a wine

Blast from the past

Today I was in the book store and saw that there has been a reprint of the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". It has been probably about 15 years since I read this book. I remember it being an incredible read and I think I may revisit the experience again as soon as I finish the two books I have my nose in now.

I just finished "Shanghai Baby" by Wei Hui. The book was not what I had expected but reading it I experienced many emotions laughter, tears, anger and arousal. It was a quick read, just a day or two. Parts of the book stay with you especially the end.

The writer also gives reference to other writers, songwriters and actors. My favourite reference she used was from the book "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera which read "Making love with a woman and sleeping with a woman are two seperate passions, not merely different but opposite. Love does not make itself felt in the desire for copulation (a desire that extends to an infinite number of women) but in the desire for shared sleep (a desire limited to one woman)"

Mostly these quotes are found at the beginning of each chapter to foreshadow the chapter ahead This gets you into the frame of mind that she wants you to be in for the next step in the story.

Vintage Clothing

Krista

who I met on Saturday with my dear friend Stefi used this old saying "grasshopper minds" which really described our day which was amusingly scattered. We were meeting to take pics of the city with Krista for a few pointers as she is a very talented photographer. Well I have to say we never got around to taking pics because we were having too much fun being silly. Instead we met at a great cafe called Grapefruit Moon north west on Bathurst near Bloor. With our coffees in our hands we were laughing and chatting like teenagers and decided to head to Krista's for more laughs looking at and trying on incredible vintage clothing. It was fitting because Krista had recently done a project called the Puss in Boots calander with beautiful tasteful picures of women in lingerie and some of the vintage clothing we were trying happened to be lingerie. It was hilarious and I found a beautiful piece that I kept and I could not resist the two pairs of beautiful gloves. We then walked to the highend vintage store called

Paper Bag Princess

to sell some of the clothes. It was quite the site as we were carrying clothing bags and hat boxes down the street looking like little princess'. We were buzzed in to the store and escorted to a back room to meet with the owner. She was a middle aged lady from New York with a sophisticated Barbie look to her. As she was picking the clothes and hats she tried on and modelled some of the hats for us and the huge mirror. Stefi was given $1200 for just a few items and the owner said she could turn around and sell them for $2400...Wow! Who would have thought? By this time we were too hungry to do pictures so instead we went for ice cream at Dutch Dreams but we almost cried because when we got there with mouths watering it was closed! Oh dear so another cafe it was. But it did not matter because no matter what obsticle came up or what we were doing this was a great day! Full of laughs and bizzare happenings! Thanks girls for an incredible day :)

Breast Cancer a Letter From a Friend

Below is a letter from a dear friend asking for help in the fight for Breast Cancer due to her great loss of her inspiring sister. This research is also dear to me as there has been history of Breast Cancer in my family as well as a scare that I had last year. I thank every day that my tests were found to be non cancerous :)

Hello Family, Good Friends, & Supporters,

My sister Jacqueline continues to inspire me. During her battle with Breast Cancer she showed me that with strength and courage anything was possible - she feverishly raised money for Breast Cancer through an assortment of Fund Raising efforts, all the while she suffered from Breast Cancer! This took a serious toll on her health, but she was successful in her efforts in raising money for this terrible disease.

Jacqueline did not win her battle with Breast Cancer; 8 years ago at age 30 she died.

Today I follow in her Fund Raising efforts and ask for your support. I have been yet again inspired to participate in quite a special kind of event called The Weekend to End Breast Cancer: a two-day, 60-kilometre walk through the neighbourhoods of Toronto, taking place September 8-10, 2006. Proceeds benefit Princess Margaret Hospital, funding important breast cancer research, education, services and care. My goal is to raise at least $3000.00.

Please take a moment to make your donation today in memory of Jacqueline and support me in this journey to raise money for Breast Cancer. It’s simple click on the link below to my personal page:

End Cancer

OR simply log on to www.endcancer.ca and search my name in the donate section under “Toronto”.

 Ask how to support me in other eventful crafty ways! Via email: faithrduke@hotmail.com

Wishes and Big Hugs to all my supporters, Stefani Rotstein

What a BEAUTIFUL day!

The weather is starting to warm up, the crocus flowers are blooming finally it is starting to really look like SPRING!

The sun has already started to make me silly, a silly poem for you all :)

Spring is here
let's get in gear

wake up, stop sleeping
dreams are to be lived

face your fears
wipe your tears

Its time to grow
you must know

Embrace life and those you love
reach out with all your heart!

Its ok to fall
Its your call

the sun is here
for you dear

nature knows
she's known for years

spring is here
let's get in gear

s.a. 2006

My Dad's 63rd Bday

Wow my Dad is 63! Time sure does fly. We had a great party for my dad and filled the house with friends, family, food and drink :) Little Noah was the best dressed there with a tie and all.

Last Supper in Bangkok and Notes of Thailand

Yummy my last supper in Thailand was great! I had a green curry where soon after my first few bites my mouth was on fire....love that :) Thai food is all about the chillies! As a beverage I tried Thai iced tea and it was orange...it was refreshing with a bit of a spice kind of like Chai but not exactly.

Few Last Notes I forgot to mention:
1. In Thailand you will find the people to be very patriotic and the King's pictures will be found everywhere. The King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been in reign for about 60yrs and is almost 80yrs old. Make sure to be respectful of the King if in Thailand.

2. When visiting a temple make sure to dress properly, long pants/long skirt, long sleeved tshirt/shirt & no open toed shoes. If not some places may have clothing you can buy or rent. Just before entering the temple remove your shoes and be very careful not to point your feet towards the Buddha. As your feet are thought to be the lowest part of your body and this would be sacrilege and if you touch someones head it would also be unacceptable as this is the highest part of the body (temple of the body).

3. If you see shoes outside a home or business make sure to remove your shoes as well or make it a habbit everywhere you go as most find it disrespectful if you do not.

4. Shaking hands is not a custom to Thailand but if you do shake hands shake with the left hand. It was told to me that as the right hand is used while in the washroom and that the left hand would be the only hand someone would want to shake. The custom in Thailand is wai which is to put your hands together in front of your face and bow. Note: most bathrooms do not have toilet paper or soap (if so usually there is a surcharge of 5-10Baht) you can buy small packets of toilet paper and I brought tiny pocket purell soaps with me

5. In Thailand you drive on the left side of the road.

6. When I kept seeing people with a very long pinky fingernail I thought maybe it was a drug thing and Michelle found out that it actually means prosperity and that this person does not have to do manual labour.

7. Watch out for the Tuk Tuk driver scams trying to take you to places you do not want to go or charging crazy amounts. They get fuel coupons or money from certain business' if they take you there. This never happened to me luckily as I heard about this in advance and from travellers there. When I got a Tuk Tuk I made sure to get the price up front and to show them where I wanted to go written in Thai by my guest house and as well told the driver only this stop no other stops please.

8. Using the bus system in Bangkok is pretty easy and most guest houses are very helpful with writing where you want to go in Thai so you can show the bus driver. You can wait for an air-con or non air con bus of course with the air-con being a bit more expensive. When you get on the bus you can sit right away and someone comes around collecting the money. I found the Sky train easy to use as well. You pay a certain amount for each line that you use during your ride into a machine and it spits out a card that you put through the entrance gates and make sure to keep it as you need it at the exit gates.

9. Many stores I saw had time restrictiions on when to buy alcohol. Between 11am-2pm & 5pm-midnight you could purchase alcohol.

10. I could not get used to seeing the dirty old foreigner men with young Thai girls...made me sooooo mad!

11. Make sure when you get there to be patient when dining out as usually if you are out with friends it is most likely that you will not get dishes at the same time...don't worry about it just eat as it comes and we learned not to wait for everyones to come. Some foreigners found this to be highly annoying I did not let it bother me at all, I mean really BE HAPPY you are in Thailand.

12. As a woman traveller I felt very safe in Thailand. I only heard that it could be dangerous if you travel in Thailand closer to the Malaysian border in the south. This is where bandit and terrorism problems can occur. If you want to travel in that area watch out for travel advisories or do not travel alone.