I am a Pedestrian
I am a Pedestrian.
I prefer the sidewalk under my feet, the wind in my face, the exquisite scents in the air, the sounds rushing past my ears, and the completeness of walking.
I walk everyone. I walk back and forth to work five days a week. This is a thirty minute walk when it’s cold and forty when it’s warmer. I walk the Meewasin Trail for fun. The river is intoxicating every day of the year. I walk to the Farmer’s Market, to nearby shops, to Eighth Street for groceries. Occasionally, I walk far. It is approximately an hour’s walk from my apartment to the big, Canadian bookstore that I frequent. I’ve walked there about three times in the last three years. It is somewhere I usually take the bus to.
This time of the year I start to dread walking. It is getting colder. There are days below minus degrees and talk of wind chill. There will be ice and cars will pay even less attention to little, old me as they rush to and fro.
Vehicles don’t pay enough attention to pedestrians now. In the last month, I’ve almost gotten hit twice. The last time I could smell burning rubber after he applied the brakes.
Almost getting run over is a GREAT way to end the day!
The other time the person turning left was not paying attention; good thing I was. I will admit, I don’t always pay attention.
I will admit that I forget the rules sometimes. My generation, a mostly car-less one was “taught to walk on the left, facing traffic, so that we could see cars coming and move onto the shoulder.” (p. 38) There were also less sidewalks then. However, cars went slower, injuries were less serious, and drivers took responsibility for everyone’s enjoyment of the road. Now, there are times when it feels like I’m the only one noticing pedestrians.
I will take responsibility for my own safety but I want the vehicles out there to be aware that they are not the only ones using and enjoying the roadways.
I enjoy relying on my body for my own locomotion. I enjoy walking. There are many benefits to my walking.
“…went out for a walk the following afternoon. I was out for an hour. I walked two hours the next day, an hour the day after that, then three hours a day later. Somewhere in the course of those first several days, I stopped being depressed.” (p. 16)
Since I was a child, I’ve enjoyed walking in the rain. Though, here in the Prairies, that usually means that I am walking in the rain and the wind.
This is not a gentle tropical breeze that I am talking about.
This is updrafts and messy hair and wind tunnels.
How many umbrellas do I go through in a year?
1? 2? 3? Just one umbrella died this summer, at least. It’s a good thing my mom sells Avon. She always has inexpensive umbrellas hanging around for me to commandere.
I suppose, one day, I should buy a high end model. I worry though that our winds would treat such an umbrella the same as the others. Maybe, I should just go for cute. 
Oh look, they even have a warranty. Though, I have a feeling that Mary Poppins had a Burberry.
I know some of you may be wondering why not bike to work? For me, it’s a matter of paying attention. My mind tends to wander here, there, and everywhere. I feel it is safer for everyone if I keep my time behind the wheel to a minimum.
I am a pedestrian.
“I think I can recall a desire to gain knowledge of the city I lived in …. by walking its streets.” (p. 32)
You can live in a city for centuries and never really know it until you walk its streets.
On a recent Sunday morning, I went meandering. I walked back from the university along Temperance, turned a corner, and suddenly had no idea where I was. It took about ten blocks before I could suddenly go, “ah ha, I am here and I know where I must go to get back on track.”
I love that. I love getting lost walking in a city that I supposedly know.
I am a pedestrian.
All quotes are from:
Step By Step: A Pedestrian Memoir
by Lawrence Block
New York: William Morrow, 2009
ABCs of Me
I’m Blocked; so you’re getting A Meme! Enjoy…
A is for age: Almost fifty. Old enough that I had wooden blocks that looked exactly like these.
B is for Beer: Don’t drink any. It aggravates my migraines.
C is for Career: I’m on my second. I was in Child Care, I’m now a Librarian and I’m in the process of searching for my next career. I’m anticipating a change in the next year or so!
D is for my Dog’s Name: Don’t have a dog. Coco is my mom’s boyfriend’s dog; Jake is my sister’s lab. I have walking rights whenever I see them.
E is for Essential Item I Use Everyday: Books, books and more books. I’d use them every day even if I wasn’t a Librarian.
F is for Favorite T.V. Show: The last, couldn’t ever miss favourite, was Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
G is for Favorite Game: Monopoly or maybe Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy!
H is for Hometown: Small town Saskatchewan.
I is for Instruments I Play: None, but I’d love to learn the Flute someday.
J is for Favorite Juice: Grape.
K is for Whose Butt I’d Like To Kick: In a good, competitive way or in a you annoy me way?
L is for the Last Place I Ate: McD’s…I should have packed a lunch. All I enjoyed was the Cinnamon Melts.
M is for Marriage: Nope, divorced & never again!
N is for my Name: gigi; okay, that’s a nom de plume, aka pen name.
O is for Overnight Hospital Stays: One, no two. Tonsils at age seven or so and pneumonia at age Sixteen.
P is for People I was With Today: My co-worker and my boss – we have a small staff on mondays.
Q is for Quote: The second line to Curiosity Killed the Cat. Look it up!
R is for Biggest Regret: It used to be B (post upcoming someday).
S is for Sport: If I have to pick one it would be Badminton.
T is for Time I Woke Up Today: 7:00 am, they were vacuuming outside my apartment. I still had forty minutes according to my alarm. This keeps happening and making me grumpy! 
U is for Underwater: I’d like to explore underwater caves but there’s this fear of drowning phobia lurking inside me. (See future post about B!)
V is for Vegetable You Love: Peas - fresh, frozen and creamed.
W is for Worst Habit: I spend too much money on Junk food.
X is for X-rays I Have Had: Teeth and lungs.
Y is for Yummy Food You Ate Today: Homemade Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. Made it myself. Here’s a tip, if you want the best taste – don’t buy the cheap cream cheese!
Z is for Zodiac: Aries. 1st sign of the Zodiac and a Metal Rat which is supposed to attract money. (I’m still waiting).
Walking Home
Yesterday ended well.
It did not start well. I had to work. I hate working weekends. Got a degree so I would have more say over my hours and it isn’t happening. Arghh!
But it got better. I was working with my favourite co-worker and only had to spend half a day upstairs greeting/serving the public. It was a slow day probably because it was our first nice day in ages.
Just after I got back from lunch my co-worker pointed out two young adults outside carrying balloons; orange, yellow, purple, red. The sight made both of us smile. Not long after that the balloon carriers came inside to peruse the museum. 
They came, they saw, they left with balloons in tow and headed south. I was out for a break shortly after they left. We are a short walk from a few of the city’s statues. One of them is a statue of a local radio personality. People put sweaters on him in the dead of winter. Yesterday he had on a red sweater and was given an orange balloon by our mysterious balloon artists. My day got better
My co-worker and I joked that it would be nice if the children statue also got a balloon. Three hours later, after a long tiring day, I headed home going south. The first statue I encounter is the children statue. They stand there, doing handstands, holding each other up, all in a circle. They have two balloons; purple and red.
I continue walking home. Much happier now and feeling less tired. I cross the bridge and pass Bill Epp’s statue of the young girl and her dog. Picture them covered in snow. We’ve had a lot of snow this winter and are getting lots more today.
She and her dog have yellow and red balloons. I cross the street at the light heading for my 
local grocery store. I pass the buskers playing in front of the local cheese shop. They have purple and red balloons.
My walk home yesterday consisted of balloons and statues and smiles.
Thanks to the balloon artists. Mysterious young adults who had nothing else to do on a somewhat sunny Saturday.
Thank you Balloon Artists. You cheered up my routine walk home and made a just bearable Saturday much, much better. Thank you.
Experimenting
I walked to the Western Development Museum (WDM) yesterday. The Festival of Trees was on. This year’s theme was Christmas Memories. The purpose in going was mainly to use a digital camera to take some pictures. Since I don’t yet have such a thing I used the camera on my cell phone. The pictures, which you will not see, are for the most part very blurry.
I had trouble with the camera. The first obstacle was in getting the pictures focused. Well, actually keeping my fingers out of the pictures. Once I figured out how to hold the phone the next problem was keeping still. Didn’t work well at all. As stated above, most of the pictures are blurry.
And there is only room for twenty pictures on my cell phone. The whole experience left me wondering “how do people do this?” Take usable pictures with their cell phone, that is. And then, after that, how do you get the pictures off your cell phone and onto your computer?
So, you get descriptions instead. There were over seventy items and no, I will not be describing all of them. There were Christmas trees, wreaths, swags and gingerbread creations. There were the regular WDM exhibits and their Christmas exhibits.
The trees had typical names (Pop up Santa, Once Upon a Blue Christmas) and not so typical names (Moulin Rouge anyone – was that the one with masks? or was that the one titled Christmas Masquerade). There were many children’s trees and at least two Western themed trees. There was a Betty Boop themed wreath. Whoville and the Grinch were represented as well.
Many trees had toys and other presents under them. The Zoo tree was entirely made up of stuffed animals. There was an old fashioned house and cradle under another. One tree, no idea of its name, was somewhat pop culturally based and the basket under it had the recent Hairspray DVD and a Beatles DVD; perhaps this was Peace, Hope, Joy or Sparkle and Shine or Baroque. I have the program; it lacks descriptions.
My favorite tree was a duet entitled Blizzard; two white trees, decorated with white ornaments and no lights. (That’s another thing that made it hard to take pictures: the strings of lights on almost all of the trees). My favorite wreath had metallic green leaves. My favorite gingerbread creation was based on various Charlie Brown Christmas specials. There was Peppermint Patty skating, Lucy in her booth and Charlie Brown’s tree.
Another highlight, for me, was the WDM’s Christmas Display based on Eaton’s Once Upon a Christmas. Eaton’s Once Upon a Christmas used to be on display in the Eaton’s department store every year. It is an example of early mechanical animation and includes nursery rhymes, fairy tales, classic children’s tales, angels and the multiple window display telling us the story of The Boy Who Became Santa Claus.
The Angels were always my favorite. In the Angel’s Workshop, Angels are building and painting toys. At the Angel’s Sewing Circle, they are sewing, knitting and quilting. Such practical gifts. Such diverse angels.
All the Festival of Trees items were for sale. I didn’t look at the prices. Unlike last year, there was really nothing that I wanted to buy. Last year, there was a Looney Tunes tree that I coveted. There was Bugs Bunny, Tweety, Grandma and all my favorites. That was a tree I would have put up every year. It made me smile.
And now I will leave you with a smile:
What goes “oh oh oh”
.
.
.
Santa walking backwards.
I wish you Peace, Hope, Joy.
I am exhausted : (
One day off is not enough time to catch up on everything I need to do to keep my life on track and granted it is a very quiet life! I only, for the most part, have myself to take care of. Sometimes I’m responsible for my mother (when she has appointments in the city). Sometimes I’m responsible for nieces and nephews (but they’re all pretty well able to take care of themselves now).
So the reason I only have today off is that I occasionally have to work weekends and this weekend was it. Last weekend, I had a three day weekend and in December I’m working two Sundays instead of a full weekend. I prefer to work Monday to Friday and have tried to negotiate this over the last three years. I’m on yearly contracts and am really bad at negotiating.
Slept in this morning till ten, walked downtown, paid some on my student loan, did a little bit of shopping, took the bus to the grocery store, bought groceries, walked the two blocks home. (Tired yet?) Put away groceries, swept floor, cut up and froze onions (cheaper by the bagful-would go rotten before I used them all up otherwise), had bath, braided hair, made casserole (suppers for the rest of the week. I hate to cook when I get home after a long day), peeled apples (will make apple pie after supper; apples needed to be used), did laundry. It is now 5pm and I have laundry to finish, a pie to make, TV to watch, a magazine to finish and a pile of paperwork on my desk that will wait to the weekend (when I am off).
Forgot to mention that throughout most of this I’ve been on the internet!
The plan is to finish this blog post, eat supper, do dishes, watch Terminator (yeah Sarah), put away the laundry, read the magazine and collapse into bed by eleven. I’m tired just typing it all out. Thankfully, getting all this done today means I can relax and read most evenings and go out next Saturday to peruse the Festival of Trees. Maybe I’ll try to take pictures with my cell phone (only camera I have right now). Talk to you after that.
Anticipating LARPing
Can something be both too little and too much at the same time?
I went to a LARP last night. To those of you not in the know, that is, a Live Action Role Play event. According to Wikipedia a live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing where the participants physically act out their characters’ actions. It’s like being in a play or tv production where there is no audience and no script.
I’ve known about the event for a couple of months. It was a one shot production based on a canceled space cowboy series. I knew and liked the TV show and was intrigued by the idea of LARPing. Even though, I am in no way an actress and prefer to day dream in private. Plus, very quiet. Still, no matter what I do, so very, very quiet.
Had a friend talking me up but she’s not the reason I did this. I know that I need to be more social. I’m just not sure how to be more social and still feel like me.
I spent the last few days wondering and anticipating and trying not to be too nervous. And saving up money.
I spent Saturday afternoon imagining back story, based on the three sentence pre-summary I was given and buying props. I knew I was to be a Private Detective (would all those mysteries I read finally pay off in real life) and that there would be a mystery to solve.
I bought a magnifying glass and some colourful plastic fish – yellow, orange, green, blue, purple – they looked like this. 
They could be weapons or some other type of tool. They were initially, in my mind, Babelfish. This is a fictional species, created by Douglas Adams, and is a fish that translates speech from one language to another. But they could also be, I thought, genetically altered land Piranhas (Galps) that could strip a person of their flesh in thirty seconds. This, after all, was the future: anything was possible.
But that last thought came later after I was finished with shopping. The last item on my shopping list was some sort of weapon. Do you know how hard it is to find any sort of toy gun in this day and age. Ah, too have saved my toy guns from the Sixties. Life was less complicated then.
So, perusing the local toy store I happened upon these: 
. They made an interesting buzzing sound, look futuristic and I thought I could explain how this weapon might work. It has to do with force fields, and sound, and perhaps hypnotism. More information, on this product, can be found at http://www.zerotoys.com/newsite/products/MagnaBuzz.htm.
Next came a very simple costume: striped black pants, a blue silk shirt, an understated purse, and black chopsticks in my hair (which in a pinch could also double as weapons). Thus, I was ready.
Or so I Thought.
I knew the Universe. I was familiar with the venue. The LARP universe was well suited to the venue chosen. The LARP was scheduled to happen from 5:00 to 11:00 pm. I went. I walked down (it took me 45 minutes; I had planned for it to take over an hour). I was early but that was okay. I met a few of the other LARPers, paid my fee, got my character profile and waited for everything to start.
The LARP started downstairs on the street which gave me too much room to hide and after two hours, we moved upstairs into two rooms which made me feel crowded and out of place.
I tried. I interacted with one of the three other characters I was too have had a previous relationship with. But mostly I just watched and felt like I knew nothing of what was going on. The first space was too large for me and the second too small. I felt like Alice down the Rabbit Hole except Alice had a guide to show her what to do. And she was brave and I am not.
At 7:30 I politely stepped out, that is, I made up a polite excuse and went home. Still confused and not really sure how the game is to be played. It would likely had killed me to stay all six hours. It’s the not knowing what’s going on, it’s the feeling out of place, it’s me.
So, after $40.00 spent.
$12.00 admission
$10.00 taxi home
$18.00 on toys, props, & water
A pittance, that’s all it was, just a pittance.
After all that, what did I learn?
That I like to write plot. The time spent imagining and anticipating was something I enjoyed. Also, I learnt I do know myself. I’m not brave. I’m good at observing, not so much good at interacting. I can’t comfortably stay locked in an unfamiliar situation for more than a few hours.
But, I might try this again. I enjoy the idea of LARPing. Everyone was open and nice and engaged in the story. I was not. Next time, a shorter LARP with less people. Maybe then, I’ll have to play!
