Volunteered at Siloam Mission for the first time last night
and wasn't prepared for what an amazing experience it would be.
I went with my parents, who have been volunteering for two years or so and to their credit have been bugging me to come with them forever.
They're pictured here, looking amazing as per usual and holding the four cakes that my mum baked for this week's dinner.Because in addition to giving up every Thursday night to come down and help serve dinner, my mum also does a ton of baking for the patrons so they always have a wide variety of desserts.
When you ask her about it she'll be like "oh it's no big deal" even though it's totally a big deal.
Which is why she's so cool.
So we went in and started prepping for dinner which was slow-cooker pulled turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies, salad and dessert and it was crazy to see how quickly everything came together and even crazier to see how quickly it went.
The line was intense and we served basically nonstop for over an hour.
I got to meet some really great, hilarious people who made the hours fly by in the blink of an eye.
But the real joy was being able to interact a little bit with the patrons, because it's really easy to become cynical and dismissive of people in our society who are less fortunate than we are.
We've all ignored that outstretched hand at least once in our lives.
So being able to help give them something of value -a warm place to hang out for a while, a decent meal, a friendly face- really affected me deeply.
I realized halfway through my shift that I recognized a lot of the faces coming through the line from my years of living, working, and going to school in downtown Winnipeg.
These people who smiled and waved and joked with us as they waited for their meals. People who thanked us and said "god bless you" and came back afterward to complement us on the food.
I saw a side of these people that I hadn't seen before, and it was wonderful.
You know, I go on a lot about how much I try to be a decent, contributing citizen and be someone who actually gives a damn about the world around me, and it felt good to start putting some money where my mouth is.
It was hands-down one of the most rewarding things I've ever done, and I'll definitely be going back next week.
I wasn't going to blog about this, but I will
Because I advocate writing as a therapy.
I always say things like "if you don't bear yr soul nobody will give a damn about what you had to say" which I still think is true.
If I expect people to give a damn when I'm at my highest, they need to know me when I'm at my lowest.
Right now I'm at my lowest.
The past few months, however, I was at my highest: I was working somewhere amazing and I loved the shit out of my job.
I loved the people I worked with. I loved the work that I did. I even loved our clients, as much as they drove me crazy on occasion.
I walked into work every day happy to be there.
But good things don't always last.
Challenges exist to teach us lessons
the trials we face in life help us grow
and all that stupid bullshit people say to try and save face when their heart is breaking.
So now that you know that my heart is breaking
let me say this:
I'm going to miss that place. I'm sad that I've left.
But I wish everyone there all the best, because they deserve it.
Rock on, DF.
xox
yr girl Shaner
I've nearly forgotten what relaxing feels like
Work has been insane.Life has been insane.
In the best best best way possible.
Been working on a huge client project at work -bigger than anything I've tackled so far with tons of complicated pieces and a lot of stress and all of it on top of all the regular shit I have to do.
There's been a lot of coming in extra early and staying late and midweek 9pm bedtimes and you'd think I'd be pissed off about it but no, I'm thrilled as fuck to be involved.
Watching a project that you helped build come to fruition and become a success has to be the best feeling in the world.
Better than acing an exam.
Better than eating a giant hot fudge sundae.
Better than dancing till 2am in the rain.
(All of which I've done so I can speak from experience)
I'm hooked on that euphoric adrenaline. Bring it on!
In the middle of all that I've successfully initiated the first step of the Penpal Project
aka I mailed my letters (sorry to wait so long, everyone!), took Tyrone for the ballin-est dinner ever at Bistro 7 1/4, gone skating, hit up Festival du Voyageur twice, dragged myself to my scifi book club, wore a fox mask, got rowdy with my friends, bought Tyrone a lucha mask, froze my feet outside, stayed up too way late and a million other things that I can't even think of anymore.
So you'll have to excuse me while I enjoy this moment of solitude catching up on blogging and all things Internet.
(At least until Ty says I have to give the laptop back in a bit so he can play some emulated Minish Cap, but until then...)
Enjoy your weekend, lovelies!
red wine, fat cats, final fantasy
Bún at the local vietnamese place
getting shit did at the office
wearing fleece jackets that are from china and meant for boys
texting yr best girl
holding hands with yr best guy
thomas dolby, stars & smoki tigr in the car
zapp branigan jokes
super strong coffee
are the things a good Friday are made of.
happy weekend!
xox yr Shaner
I wish I could go back to
the weekend sitting in a living room in the almost-dark
listening to Treeful of Starling
while you sang along
and I smiled
contented
watching Tyrone in his lucha mask being outrageous
in the next room.
Then I said
"I love him"
and you said
"I know. You both have something special.
I feel lucky to be able to be around you guys"
and I said
or maybe just thought to myself
we're all so lucky.
Here's my favourite answer from Crispin Glover's AMA
Because nothing I could possibly write about today could compare to this.You are my friend Toyou4yu. There are certain things that happened since being in Back to the Future that makes it difficult for me to reflect on the film as having funny things happening. Specifically there was a lawsuit because of something the producers did that was illegal in the sequel to the film. What the producers did that was illegal was as follows. The producers used the molds that were taken from my face from the original film and had prosthetics made to resemble my face to be placed on another actor to make them look like me and then inter-spliced a small amount of footage of me from the original film with the actor in prosthetics to resemble me in order to fool audiences in to believing I was in the film. There was an actress that was replaced with another actress in the film, but they simply cast another actor in that role with no prosthetics. Had they simply cast another actor to play the role of George McFly there would have been no criminal activity on the part of the producers and there would have been no lawsuit. Since they did not own my face nor make an financial agreement with me to use my facial features what they did was stealing something they did not own for personal again and therefor what they did was illegal and why there was a lawsuit and why there are rules in the Screen Actors Guild that make it so producers can never to this kind of thing again.
Probably the most negative aspect about it is that Bob Gale who was a co-producer and co-writer and one of the main architects of the illegal activity has decided that it serves him best to lie about what happened in order to justify partaking in something that led to the producer’s illegal activity. He has falsely stated that I asked the same amount of money that Michael J. Fox was getting. This statement by him is complete fabrication. He is doing this to take the focus off the fact that what he and his fellow producers did was illegal, by definition of the word. He does not want to face that fact. To skirt the issue Bob Gale has lied to millions of people on the Back to the Future DVD commentaries about how the negotiations were handled. I would not normally discuss this sort of thing, but people believe what he has stated as true. What people have to realize is that Bob Gale was involved with something that he and his fellow producers turned in to illegal activity. People who wonder about if what Bob Gale has said is true or not, should understand even if they liked “Back to the Future” it still means that a creator like Bob Gale who was a contributor to the illegal activity has motivation to create lies to detract the attention from his wrong doing. I wonder if Bob Gale were asked if he would help produce a film with the same specific illegal activity if he would say he would do it again. For one thing the new laws in SAG that my lawsuit helped to create would not allow an actor to be hired to fool audiences in to believing they are another performer with the use of prosthetics or otherwise. Still putting that specific questions to Bob Gale I wonder what he would answer. If he would answer that he would help to do something illegal again I hope people would understand the lack of integrity that would indicate on his part. I would hope he would answer that what he/they did was wrong, and illegal and if they had to make the film without me playing the role they would simply cast another actor in the role like they did with re-casting Claudia Wells with Elizabeth Shue as Jennifer character in the same film. In the very same film they re-cast an actress with a different actress, but they did not put prosthetics on Elizabeth Shue to make her look like Claudia Wells. For whatever what feels to me like being mean spirited, they decided it was good idea to put another actor in prosthetics and inter-splice a very small portion of me from the original film to fool audiences in to believing I was in it. There has not been another situation like this preceding it, and because of my lawsuit there has not been another time that another actor has been subjected to this particular sort of illegal activity. Again I am proud of the lawsuit and standing up against illegal activity that caused proper precedents and bylaws in to be set in the Screen Actors Guild. It is unfortunate that the producers of the Back to the Future films decided it was a good idea to perform an illegal action, which led to a lawsuit. In 2005-2007 I had a very positive experience working with Robert Zemeckis again playing Grendel in his “Beowulf.” When working together the subject of the lawsuit was never brought up. I am enjoying my life, making my films, touring with them, publishing my books and acting in other people’s films. If I were put in the exact same situation today I would react in the exact same way. Thank you for asking about it in that detailed way. I am glad to help clarify. People can find out about my films and shows and where I will be with them on CrispinGlover.com
I have noticed however that Bob Gale who was the co-writer and one of the producers on the films and one of the chief architects of the concepts that led to the law suit has been stating false things about me to attempt to lessen his wrongdoing. I do not like his false statements would like to remind that what he did caused laws in the screen actors guild to be changed to protect actors from his kind of wrong doing. I ended up having an excellent working relationship with Robert Zemeckis on Beowulf which was released in 2007. Despite the negative aspects of Bob Gale I am glad that I played the character in the original film.
You can troll the whole thing here.
Bad Valentines that Tyrone won't let me send
I did send him this one, though:
More on my Tumblr.
Happy V-Day! xox
It's been blizzarding again and I need a break
Real Talk: I LOVE winter. Love, love, love it.
But this it getting to be too much for me.
I need some days when I can walk around and enjoy the scenery. Relax and enjoy the outdoors without freezing my toes off.
Actually enjoy my Canadian winters outside.
So when I was offered an opportunity to go and tour the outdoor Thermëa Spa being built at Crescent Drive Golf Course my heard skipped a beat -this is definitely the kind of "winter activity" I can get into during a winter like this one.
So I bundled myself up last Saturday and went to meet the GM, Frederic Jenni, who walked me around the grounds and explained the different services that the spa is going to offer once it opens in the early spring.
He explained that Thermëa is a Scandinavian-inspired spa, so it offers humid & dry saunas, a hot tub, cold & temperate pools, and a Finnish Sauna (which hosts an Aufguss Ritual twice a day) in addition to massages, body treatments and etc inside.
(Clearly not taken on the weekend. This gives you a better idea as to what it will look like than my snowy pictures will and also makes me yearn for summer... sigh...)Honestly though, when I was standing in the middle of a bunch of snow in -35 weather, shivering in my jacket, toque, winter coat, mittens, boots, etc I wasn't quite sure if the idea of sprinting from one warming hut to another in a bathrobe was really something I'd be into.
Then I was told that there will be heated pathways during the winter.
(I think my toes just sighed at the thought of it. Clearly I need a space heater.)
It's funny how a detail like that can make all the difference, though: I immediately went from being a bit skeptical of the whole idea to being absolutely in love with it.
The idea of sitting in a hot tub or a sauna in the middle of a crisp winter day seems like such a great way to unwind, doesn't it?
(Here's a more winter-y version of what the finished site will look like.)
Until last weekend I'd never considered myself a "spa" person. I'm super anxious by nature (remember when I told you I got stressed out during that massage?) and until last weekend the idea of going somewhere specifically to relax seemed like a super weird idea.
However, after going and learning about all the careful planning and care that goes into building something like Thermëa, and the effort involved in crafting an experience where you basically show up, hang out, and relax, I'm really excited to check it out!
The spa is scheduled to open in late April, so I'll definitely be going at least once during the summer, But it's during the winters that I think the experience they're going to offer is really going to stand out.
I can't wait!
Let's be penpals
"Nothing good ever comes in the mail."
I find myself saying that a lot these days.
It's almost always bills which are out of date
or mail for the old tenants
or nothing at all.
Which is, in a way, worse.
Last year I took part in the 20Something Bloggers 2013 Postcard Exchange and had a blast.
I made some new friends.
I got some cool stuff.
I was actually excited to open my mailbox when I got home.
And I'd like to do something like that again
just a bit more... ongoing.
So I'll tell you what.
If you wanna be penpals, shoot me an email at alyson dot shane at gmail dot com with yr address and I'll write to you.
Maybe I'll send you a postcard, a short letter, whatever
and then you can write back
and we can have a nice time waiting to see what's in the mail when we get home.
