Mae Bachur Animal Shelter

Actually went, for the first time ever, the other day. A friend is pondering adopting a cat or kitten and I and my partner went along for the ride.

Small and crammed with animals, toys, cages, food bowls, climbing gyms, radios, towels, kitten beds, rags and chewy bones, the shelter is a very welcoming place. The lady at the front was very friendly and cheerful, and went out of her way to show us the cats that were available for adoption, spending a lot of time with one she felt was very special, 'Lemon' who was a tortoisehell cute fat cat. Lemon is pictured here.

She then took us to the main cat room where other cats were waiting for adoption. One cat, a rather sad looking and sour orange tabby, sat in a high-up cage looking down at us. Rusty had been abused by a former foster home, our guide told us.

Another cat named 'Leo' batted at my head from his cage to get my attention. He got it all right!

A small grey cat in a bottom cage had just been returned, as she was demonstrating stress behaviour and peed on her new owners bed on occasion. The owners, showing their rather callous nature, returned their new family member after 2 weeks looking for a 'replacement'. Sorry, the shelter doesn't do replacements. After all, if your child turned out to be a bed-wetting fire-starting psychopath, do you think you could turn it in for a better version?

Little grey was not happy. Hissing and cranky. Who could blame her? It's like being at an orphanage, the joy of being adopted by a loving family, and then getting returned back to the orphanage unceremoniously.

Oh, went back today and played with the kittens--they were licking my feet! Hahah. I think the one little fluffy grey and white kitten had a foot fetish.

Summer living on a patio...

We managed to hit the High Country's patio yesterday, bit chilly as they have a fry cook station that blocks the evening sun, but still nice. I swear, the weather lately has been nicer than it was when I arrived here in July.

Word has it that the Roadhouse Bar & Grill has a decent patio as well, although I've never been--kind of looks scuzzy from the outside, near the liquor store as well so has a tendency to attract the stumbling drunk bums around.

Coasters Bistro has a nice little patio, right in town. Small but cute.

And of course, my own house has a great little deck as well! Spent a lot of the weekend listening to a little red squirrel chatter and scream at birds.

Enjoy this warm weather, it rocks! (ugh. only thing to mar the perfection is a lingering head/tooth/jaw ache. what could be the cause of such misery? Maybe my ear infection came lurking back or a cavity is starting to make itself known. argh)

A handy way to avoid the 'bums sleeping on a parkbench in summer' syndrome

Take away the park benches!

On this glorious day, unusual for Whitehorse, I went wandering around the park nearest my place of work. I was pondering sitting down for a bit and reading a bit of my latest trash read, Dean Koontz 'Sole Survivor' and maybe eating the rest of my lunch. Basking in the sunshine, I wandered around and around Shipyards Park. There were no park benches in the sun near the river to enjoy myself, there was only a couple shady picnic benches under a pavilion, where some unruly looking miscreants were drinking. Ugh, no thanks.

I wanted to sit in the sun and soak up what little Vitamin D I could grab...and I looked and looked and no park benches to be seen, for miles of walking trail.

Instead, I went back to my car, rolled down the windows and did what I saw everyone else doing--sitting in their cars eating lunch with the windows rolled down in the park. Shameful.

There weren't any rummies drunk on the benches like I was used to seeing in Vancouver's parks but the sheer lack of any bench-like item was ridiculous. I want to sit in the sun, dammit!

The only park along the river that has benches/appropriate seating is Rotary Peace Park, on the way to the bridge into Riverdale. You have to drive to that one from where I am. Boo.

Newsies

Despite the disasterous hit newspapers, radios and their ilk have taken this past year, Whitehorse media seems to be in 'ok' form. (Except CKRW, those people are asshats. Not the worker ants, but those above them. assholes)

We have...drumroll please...

Whitehorse Star: Very politically inclined, comes out more often than the Yukon News but with way less content. Available every weekday after 3pm I believe. Rather flimsy on days the Yukon News doesn't publish, also has a lot of wire content. I did meet with one of their reporters and I liked her, so thumbs up Star! (Even though sometimes people consider you the lesser of the two..well..you are still ok in my books)

Yukon News: Easy to read, easy to contact. Has a bit more insightful news, doesn't really seem to pander to the politics of the town that much. Don't really like their headwaters writer article, but the sort of 'roughing it while maintaining my government job lifestyle' really seems to appeal up here, so whatever. Great classifieds and limited wire news.

What's Up Yukon: Kind of like our Monday Magazine or Georgia Strait but without edge. Good to look for upcoming events, articles are interesting and enjoyable but far too long, in my opinion. Also, they have a column of a woman in Quebec who used to live in Whitehorse who talks about things like the Depanneur where you can, gasp, buy beer! OMG! As well as little silly things like the bags of flyers QC residents get every week or so on their doorsteps--don't you know those are wasted? Oh the horror. Useless article.

There are magazines (Yellowknife's UpHere, Whitehorse's North of Ordinary) as well.

Parking %^&*!!

Ok, this idea was really presented by Meri, but I liked it so I'm adding on with my own special twist...

Whitehorse is one of the most retarded places in regards to parking, parking limits, parking lots, tourist parking, over-limit parking and parking tickets.

Many office buildings have either no parking or 2-hr limit parking in front for their loyal employees and customers, who either have to run out to move their cars, pay for parking or park in the boonies. It gets very cold here in the winter. This is not a big city, hell, I don't think it qualifies as a city at all.

There are no indoor malls, no real boutiques, nothing save a semi-decent Main St. The bylaw officers are crazy parking Nazi's. Cue reminscing about times you just barely escaped without a ticket-or unfairly got one. I'll share mine...

I parked at a meter that had expired so I could run to the bank 10 steps away, deposit a cheque into the bank machine and run back. There was no lineup at the bank, nothing to waste my time. As I ran back, a bylaw officer was writing me a ticket. I was gone for 1.30 minutes.

Oh, but the expired-meter tickets only cost you $10 if you pay the next day. Heaven help you if you park at a 2hr only spot and exceed it by 10 minutes, which I did today. I got to my car after 15 minutes over and I had a nice $25 ticket. They must hound those areas like crazy, because they are the city's cash cows.

I think Whitehorse the one-horse backwaters town could learn a little something from Anchorage, Alaska. Free parking downtown on weekends? Sure! C'mon down! And their city is pretty much 100x bigger than Whitehorse. Give me a break. Dumbasses.

Show a little leniency and trust me, people appreciate it. Hear that Anchorage? I like you!

Swan Haven

In an effort to repair my damaged self esteem, I trucked out with my partner to Swan Haven at Marsh Lake yesterday.

It was a long drive, about 30 minutes (well it seemed long in a week that feels like an eternity of shit and days that feel like hellish weeks) so I was prepared to not be impressed.

The swans are incredibly far away so you have these large swivelling binoculars on stands to peep at them from. You can hear them from very far away though! They are very pretty even if tiny specs on the horizon of snow. Swans up here sometimes have orange stained necks, which occur from the heavy iron concentration in the lakes they feed off of. Interesting.

We walked across the ice to get a better glimps, alas, they were still way far away. There was a sign barely 10ft from thore admonishing people not to get too close, the swans were resting. Resting? Jeeze, you can barely even see them even *if* you walk out for 45 minutes, haha, I hardly think the swans will be upset. (I don't advocate annoying nature though--those critters have a tough enough time as it is)

Verdict? It was ok. Nice to see some swans but too bad they were so far away. Now a black swan, that would be something... I have only ever seen one once in my life but I have never forgot it. There's something amazing about them, they are so darkly beautiful.

Why Whitehorse?

On a marked depart from my usual hellfire and brimstone blogs, here is a cheery happy one to accompany this bright sunshiny day!

Well, not really.

I have decided (through others decisions) to make up a pro/con list for the town, I refuse to call it a city, of Whitehorse.

Pros:
I have a place to live
I can horseback ride sometimes
The weather is improving
I have a roommate I like
I have friends here
I have a job
I like the library
I had a great opportunity earlier this year and it ended

Cons: (this is where it gets ugly)
I hate my job
My partner got fired from his job
It is expensive to live here (electricity avg. $150/month??)
Landlords are assholes, so is Lister's Motorsports
I can't seem to get a better job
I hate hate hate hate hate hate snow and cold
Not much to do for trips/shopping
Can't horseback ride as much as I need to/horses are not as good
Living here is not self-sustainable
It is a trip to just to to a trip out of here (jesus save us)
My once-in-a-lifetime position was just a contract
People are flaky and incredibly unreliable

Seem like a no-brainer? What keeps me here, what keeps anyone here?
I have applied to BC Public Service position, fingers crossed they liked it!

Restaurant Review: Earls

Not a true review as I just went for dessert at Earls, but it reminded me that I should do a review of it regardless. Let's start with dessert then:

First of all, the doors to get into the Earls are mindblowingly heavy. I am not a complete pantywaist but they were achingly ridiculous, the boyfriend had to step in and open them for me. Jeeze, feeling welcome yet?

Nevertheless, the layout for Earls is gorgeous. Dark, mimicked trees, cool booths, it all screams 'chic' even though we are in the Yukon and anyone not wearing rubber boots is 'trendy.' Even those can be trendy though.

We ordered dessert, the service was prompt and friendly, if a little strange (I totally know the server, in an offhand I've-seen-y0u-somewhere way) but the selection of desserts was a bummer. Clearly Earls is a place for cocktails and to be seen. Their cocktail menu was had a larger selection than their meals AND desserts. Woah.

I ordered the chocolate sundae in a candy dish and my partner ordered a NY cheesecake. We had a total choice of about 3 items-sundae, brownie pudding, cheesecake.

The cheesecake was $7.99 and the sundae was $6.50. Not really cheap. The desserts arrived promptly and we enjoyed them but the depth of the desserts was really lacking. My 'sundae' was 3 scoops of vanilla bean ice cream with some chocolate sauce lightly drizzled. Hmm. More like vanilla with a little bit of chocolate sauce, instead of a sundae drenched in syrup like I was hoping. I have to say I've had better at Dairy Queen.

My partners NY cheesecake was a thin little slice, tasty but small. Expensive for rather lacking desserts--got our sweet fix but...that's about it. High on appearence, low on quality/value.

Menu-wise, the last time we ate there I had the 'Big Bowls' yellow curry dish. It was unbelieveably salty, and curry should never be salty. It was around $16-17 back in September and I looked last weekend and it was $18.99!! Trust me, the quality hasn't gone up THAT much. Jesus.

Also, we had a server that gave us styrofoam food containers when we requested our leftovers be packed up--and we were puzzled, but ended up scooping my salty remnants into the package right at our table. Isn't that their job? Bizarre.

And as always, the cocktails menu exceeds the food menu in array and price. I also got a mint/cucumber mojito and the overeager server grabbed it and asked if I wanted a new one ($$ cha-ching!) when I was fully planning on eating my garnish cucumber and mint leftover! Pfft.

Restaurants are expensive here. Choose wisely. Appearence doesn't always have to be a battle for quality.

Whatever part of you that's been calling the shots is fired

Ah, springtime...the sun is shining, it snows only occasionally and yesterday it was +10!

The mud was incredible though, I never thought I'd come so close to seeing a pony get stuck, with me riding him! Yikes! Lucky thing I was wearing my awesome Hatley pink pony boots--yes, the lesson kiddies complimented me and asked me where I got 'em. Answer? Mom of course.

Oh and another lovely accessory of spring: insane allergies. I have no idea what in Whitehorse is triggering my latent and late-in-life allergies but it is totally whacking out my system. My head feels like it got stuffed with cotton, perhaps replacing my brain, and then the whole shebang is floating around with the clouds. Maybe that's why I can't seem to spell or type today. And I have a lovely throat-itching/clearing thing that's going on as well, that seems to be chiefly purposed to irritate anyone within a 10ft perimeter of me. Sorry workpeople--you're pretty annoying in your own right anyways!

Arghh. I need a share in the stocks of Reactine, even though they don't seem to be working except to make me very drowsy (and this is the non-drowsy kind) and fall asleep on the couch in the middle of the afternoon on Sundays.

It's not the cherry blossom pollen, that's Vancouver and Victoria--it is much too barren to have anything really sprouting here. What is it? This scourge and plague of my poor head and nasal passage--oh, and incessant sneezing is really attractive too.

My brain is about to get fired my the rest of my body, currently on revolt. Stupid allergies.

House-buying>who to go to?

Condos, townhomes, duplexes, acreages, properties, residential homes...There are many many options in Whitehorse.

Houses (refers to all of the above-mentioned) aren't cheap, relatively speaking.

When I was looking for a place, I had a fairly healthy budget in my opinion. I saw a very nice redone townhouse but unfortunately it had tiny old bedrooms that weren't nearly as nice as the polish put on the downstairs. The real kicker? The strata fees were $200 a month and heating averaged out to $150 on oil, not including electricity. The utilities fees were killer! Also the place already had an offer out, so it was mostly a fact-finding mission on our part.

One aspect of house buying that I can't stress enough is finding a realtor who will treat you like the important customer that you are! I ran into issues with Coldwell Realty, as two of their 'big name' realtors couldn't even be bothered to return a phone call.

Marge Eschak in particular. I felt incredibly snubbed. I had cash in hand and was desperate to buy a place, she named some options and said she would phone back. Did she? Oh no, never for someone who is a serious buyer with CASH in hand. Forget her, and I would never counsel anyone to ever have any dealings with her, as I have also heard she was on the recieving end of some shady business dealings involving her as the buyer's realtor and the seller's, which is quite underhanded. Nice try, 'Marge's Market.'

Also another 'winner' I encountered with Coldwell Realty is Frank Silvestri. After being shuffled off by Eschak, I contacted him with a specific place in mind, he was the agent showing the place and I wanted to have a look. We set up a time and he would call to confirm. Did he ever call back to set up a viewing? Nope. Not even when I made it clear I had the cash, I was interested and ready to buy a place asap.

So, as a cautionary tale...Do not go to Coldwell Realty. I have had nothing but bad deals with them and have absolutely no hesitation in telling everyone I know. The truth can't hurt, can it? Only if you have terrible business manners!

**Please note I am not a first-time home buyer, this kind of treatment is insane**

Happily, I found a realtor who was willing, able and eager to give me a hand. ReMax Realty really stepped up and showed me how wonderful and accomodating Whitehorse could be. I bought a place, actually the 2nd one that was shown to me, and we lived happily ever after.

Farewell to ski season!

And welcome slush season!

As melted snow puddles at the end of my driveway, evading every attempt by my partner to persuade it to puddle elsewhere, thoughts turn to bike riding rather than skiing. I am not prepared to bike ride anywhere (ahh terrifying!) but I have to say I am more than ready for the slush--I have two awesome horse rubber boots in my posession and nary a leak in either!

Also I began the epic leg-shaving that precedes skirt season, which is still a very brief time here. I, and probably many other Whitehorsean women, let the leg stuff go for awhile (ok, months) and removing it was herculean. It involved two razors, boyfriend's shaving cream and many curses as shampoo dripped in my eyes. Arghh! Sasquatch-legs no longer! Although there is now a sort of peach fuzz. Apparently this is a two day job, who knew?

Fingers crossed for sunshine and no more freaking wind. I think the high this week so far has been about 5 deg. and yes I have been compulsively comparing it with Vancouver's temp. (10-13 deg.)

Time to frolic in the disgusting leftover snow with the many layers of dog shit that seem to be revealed all at once. Ew. It will be gone soon and we will have lush lawns, not these corpse-like blades that are struggling through the mud.

Daffodil season, and tulip season started down south. Here? Mud season.

A fun place to visit!

This is going to sound very touristy... but I really liked Skagway!

A quaint (on purpose) main street, a lovely little cemetery with freshened up tombstones that you can actually read, and really ancient ones, and a little waterfall. What more could a tourist want?

The downside of Skagway is the sheer amount of cruise ships that come in to swarm like a bunch of flies in the summer. When I was there, only one cruise ship was in, so the town was relatively deserted. That didn't stop a rude tourist from asking us why the brew-pub wasn't open. For one, we don't work there, how do we know? And two, the sign was right in front of her face, dumbass.

Great restaurants: Crab shack off Main for lunch. No frills paper-plates and interesting dining on plastic chairs but soooo delicious!

Dinner: Star Thai. Fabulous Thai food, meals run around $14-$16, 1-2$ substitution if you want noodles vs. rice in your dish. Amazing food!

You must do the $5 for 15 minutes brothel tour hosted by the Red Onion Saloon. A classic and actually a pretty interesting little setup. Bonus garter with the tour!

Also, try the Blueberry beer. Fan-fucking-tastic. Only available at the touristy pub on Main on the right side of the road.

You can avoid the tourist-Made-in-China crap, but hey, it's more fun to mock 'em! Visit the shops, but avoid the one that smells like chemicals further down Main on the left hand side. Ew...

Best of all? Skagway is only 2 hrs away from Whitehorse. Go during early Spring and rejoice!

BLUBBERLAND

It surrounds us. Comforting, warm, convenient, killing us with an easy complicity.

Blubberland: The Dangers of Happiness, by Elizabeth Farrelly (an Aussie) is a book that manages to take an amazing idea (that our overconsumption, simple-mindeness and desire/need confusion are killing us and our planet) and turn it as boring as a sociology textbook. Such a shame.

There are shining moments, but sadly the author takes the idea and absolutely pummels it into our brains. The final effect is that a reader is overwhelmed with sociological ideals vs. an interesting and perhaps shocking theme and story. Also, the text chosen is dense, as dense as something by John Locke or Thomas Hobbes. We are not socio-philosophers. We are readers who liked the word blubberland. Please treat us as such.

-more-more-more-more-more-more...the refrain never ends for us!

The author, Farrelly, takes us on a trip through the suburbs-Aussie, American, it doesn't matter anymore. We're all alike in our obsessive overconsumption. Sadly, the author also takes into her argument a criticism of art, the discussion of what true beauty means, and in that she starts losing her audience. We are not academics nor art critics nor architects--please don't overcomplicate things. An amazing book idea with some in-depth arguments lose their appeal when we are forced to consider things far beyond our comprehension. That may seem like an appeal to 'dumb down' the argument, which is not what I am asking. I am merely asking to liven up the text, perhaps more anecdotes and less literary criticisms? We don't want NIMBY-esque sociological/philosophical arguments. We want snap, jazz, fright. Show us, don't blather at us.

Again, a fantastic idea and aptly titled. Collectively, we humans are stupid, dangerous creatures. Individually, we are smart, clever and capable of enormous change and potential.

Well-Read & Well Travelled

I've heaped praise on the library (well, on the books from the library) so here comes the bookseller's time to shine!

Whitehorse has approximately 3 bookstores, and luckily 2 are of the independent/awesome variety.

The lone chain bookstore is a Cole's, which is an Indigo/Chapters offshoot and sell the same books as the chain. Has ok sales, decent selection but lacks any sort of 'charm' or attractiveness. Has all the allure of a Wal-mart for books.

Well-Read Books is a gem of a little bookshop. They buy and sell used books, and it has that wonderful slightly musty smell of well-loved reading materials (and maybe of brains fizzing away reading them!). Also located inside the building is a tea shop that sells pricey teas and gift baskets. You can find the unusual, possibly the rare, and the cherished here.

Mac's Fireweed Books is another jewel. In a prime location and has a great selection of magazines, almost more a cigar-store magazine shop than a bookstore! They do a lot of community support activities, and are quite generous when approached to sponsor. Always up-to-date magazines and if you are searching for a certain book, they have a downstairs that caters to special orders. They go above and beyond.

Also, the CD shop on Main Street has a pretty good selection of CD's obviously but they also have a really fantastic selection of the bizarre, the inappropriate and the pure awesome books. Keith Richard's autobiography, the 'Fail-dogs' book, 101 Kama Sutra moves done by teddy bears, oh it's all good. Trendy and fun.

Swindled! From poison sweets to counterfeit coffee...

-The Dark History of the Food Cheats- by Bee Wilson

Yes, another book review courtesy of yours truly in conjunction with the new book section at the Whitehorse Public Library.

Milk and dairy products tainted with melamine to artificially boost their protein content, children's toys and paint contaminated with lead colourings...sounds like the early 1800's in Britain, doesn't it?

Sadly, these kinds of food and product contaiminations still seem to occur today, as the melamine and lead scandals of China occured just after this book was published in 2007. Is China the Britain of the 2000's?

"Our pickles are made green by copper; our vinegar rendered sharp by sulphuric acid; our cream composed of rice powder or arrow root in bad milk; our comfits (coated dried fruit candy) are mixed of sugar, starch and clay, and coloured with preparations of copper and lead..." Frederick Accum (1769-1838) lamented at the poor state of British food.

Wilson, the author, notes that food has always had the power to kill us as well as sustain us. But at what cost do we adulterate and change food products for a more pleasing appearence to to artificially maintain protein counts?

In this book, an astounding amount of ignorance and slyness combine to stealthily poison the British public for decades, if not centuries. From pickles to children's candy, wine to milk, nothing was safe, ever.

Several men championed for food safety, and it was the initial attempts of Accum (who fell from fame in Britain after 'stealing' pages from a book and not citing others when he used their words, verbatim) that brought these food swindles and poisonings to the forefront.

I think food adulteration can and should be divided into two camps: intentional (adding lead because red food colouring carmine is too expensive, melamine to boost protein) and unintentional (selling pickles coloured with copper because the consumer demands it look extra green)

Even the Americas couldn't escape the nasty grip of food adulterating. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle was supposed to be a cry from the proletariat inciting socialism, but instead people leapt on the horrendous conditions of slaughterhouses described within (1905) and were horrified. People falling into rendering vats and turned into lard, tubercular pigs and cows, rotten meat 'polished' for sale to the unsupecting public, rats mixed in sausages, the atrocities were too many to name.

It seems that with introduction of the Food and Drug act (Canada has one too) food adulterating took a sharp turn. No longer are we concerned about corn meal in pure wheat, or boosting cinnamon with a cheaper spice or flour--now we have food that is technically perfect but has not one drop of nutrient. Artifical flavours run rampant in today's food society, and Wilson argues that it isn't 'better' than the previous food adulteration, because what does artifical flavouring give us?

Wilson also provides a nice example of the strawberry milkshake: made by us, with milk, ice cream, sugar and strawberries. Made my McDonald's and you get a witches brew of Amyl Acetate, amyl butyrate, valerate, anethol, anisyl formate... Doesn't sound like edible products, does it?

Wilson ends the book (and there is SO much more, this is a very brief snippet) with an emphatic warning: know where your food comes from, grow it yourself, shop organic if possible. If it sounds too good to be true, it's artifical and probably from China (that's my inference).

You can find it in the new books section at the Whitehorse Public Library.

It's a good life if you know Excel (or, the devil)

Having run the gamut of job applications, I and others are finally seeing the fruits of our labored resumes come to flourish. Well, we are getting interviews and boy those interviews/written test are nasty.

Speaking as a reasonably well-educated University grad run of the mill human, they were/are HARD. A test that alots you 2 hours to complete, and when the HR person laughs it off and says it's not impossible...yeeesh. Bad sign. It won't take you 2 hours but it will take you pretty damn close to the brink of insanity!

Who really knows the mysteries of Excel, well I now know how to add and perhaps multiply, but god help you if you have to calculate the percentages! (and no, he didn't help, the bastard) And wait a minute, didn't I have to use Excel every day at my previous job?

Editing? Easy-peasy. Write a letter? Piece of cake. Work with an excel doc. fumbling with totals, %, X, -....well, I've run out of cliches. Horrid. Double horrid when you get one of those old-school 'adding machines' and it keeps adding the previous totals onto your new total=absolute fail.

Almost makes you think unemployment really isn't so bad, and what if you get to the interview and look like a complete and total fool? Heck, even the job you are desperately trying to escape might seem good after that brain-reaming.

...Xxxx....feeling kind of braindead.xls or is it .doc?

A review of 2009 Yukon Writes Conference

I attended the conference this past weekend and learned many pearls of wisdom from the professionals that exist in this industry to keep us chained to our computers and experiencing over 200 rejection letters...but I digress.

The layout was great, 1-hour lecture then 15-minute break. Good snacks, pop, breakfast (for those of us who can't fathom getting up early on the weekend. ugh) a decent lunch (but everything was absolutely slathered in mayonnaise. GROSS. I went vegetarian for the weekend and even THAT sandwich was dripping in mayo. ew.)

I attended workshops by Lily Gontard on how to maximize diction for powerful stories, Howard on how you are basically supposed to pester (nicely) an editor with whom you have sent a submission. Paula Eykelhof, about how the Harlequin empire works and basic submission do's and don't's. I loved this one, Kathleen Scheibling on the archetype of the cowboy and trends in TV and film. She misses jPod too.

The workshops were great. My one quibble with the conference was the dynamics. It was designed to be a open free-for-all of writers sharing ideas, and as a newcomer who isn't totally comfortable just plunking herself down at a table for people who are ignoring her, I was left a little cold.

The weird part? I even know someone who was at the conference and we chatted in the beginning. But then, even when I was sitting alone at a table, this person didn't stop to say hi, or even acknowledge me. Eh, I found it a little rude and I mean, I know you are popular with the Sci-fi group or the Romance group but couldn't you spare one hot little minute to be nice? Guess not.

Things really turned around the 2nd day, I met up with some fellow nonfiction writers and a great time was had by all! (The ugly-kid-alone-in-highschool feeling finally left. phew!)

One irksome moment: Sitting at a table, with two chairs on either side of me at a lecture. Young man sits on my right, puts his girlfriend's purse on my left. Girlfriend arrives, late. Proceeds to whisper, write notes and pass them to boyfriend, text on cellphone and pass said cellphone to boyfriend, stare at me, stare at the notes I am making, whisper about leaving early for lunch, and proceed to leave early to nab the best lunch tables and sit with the 'popular' group, the sci-fi'ers.

I don't know about them, but I paid GOOD MONEY for this conference. I wanted to hear the lecture. If you don't want to attend, get the fuck out.

I was very offended. I was sitting there minding my own business and feeling like a Victorian guardian, protecting the honour of the little slugs sitting one either side of me, unwillingly. It was the height of rudeness and the presenter was very, very accomplished in her field, and these asshats were doing everything possible to be disruptive.

Ha, and in another lecture they sat ahead of me, practically on each others' pudgy laps. I saw the girl reach over and grab her boyfriend's hand and place it on her lap. ugh.

Oh and something that struck me as hilarious, during lunch we selected food on a buffet-style, and the lady in front of me had a running commentary (to who? to herself? to me?) about each item of food. Cookies at the front of the line? What do they want us to spoil our appetites? I think someone made a mistake. Sandwiches with tomatoes? Oh no, my father always ate sandwiches with tomatoes, sloppy tomato sandwiches he called them. Oh I hate sandwiches with tomatoes. No sandwiches with tomatoes for me. Chicken soup? Oh no, I make my own soup. No, I don't think I'll have any. You know I make my own soup.

I pitied the person she had a 10-minute pitch interview with. Crazy.

Oh and there was the 'I am semi-famous in Whitehorse and therefore can make inane (or insane?) random comments person.' For example, at lunch: "Today is the first day of the rest of our lives."

WTF? Yes, and it is a day I have two cookies for dessert. Nice try, Dead Poet's Society.

Conference time!

For writers, that is! Woo!!

I am attending the Whitehorse Writer's Conference this weekend. The event kicks off with a dessert reception at the Westmark tonight, and registration for classes. Tomorrow (a little too bright 'n' early for my liking) we start classes, finishing the day with questions to the professionals attending in a panel-style interview.

I am very excited, and not sure if I am going to pitch anything, as I haven't been really working on much but boy, do I have some ideas! Nothing concrete though.

Lunches, the dessert reception and coffee breaks are all covered in the fee. It's a pretty hardcore setup, running from 9am-4:30 or so...

The guests of honour are: Claire Eddy, senior editor of Tor/Forge Books, Shawna McCarthy, agent, Lily Gontard, founding editor of North of Ordinary, Lynn Missen, executive editor of children's books at HarperCollins Canada, Paula Eykelhof, executive editor of Harlequin (wooo), Howard White, professional history writer, Kathleen Scheibling, works with Paragon Entertainment.

Two full days of writing workshops and a possibility of an intense critique (no tears though!). OOoooh, am I really ready for this? Well, even if I'm not, I'm ready for some cool tricks and tips. And dessert.

Best part? To bring these pros up here, snacks and lunch for Sat/Sun, the conf. fee was very reasonable. $90 flat. Can't beat it!

Also as a sidenote, one of my former professors lectured at a Whitehorse Writer's Conference back around 2003 or 2005. Cool.

A book review

As a depart from the ordinary...(yeah, what exactly is ordinary about this blog, but whatever..)

A book review courtesy of yours truly, reading a book from the local library. Book of the moment is He's a Stud, She's a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know by Jessica Valenti.

Awesome book and super easy read. Cotton-candy simple, with bright orange and yellow stripes decorating this little pocketbook, kind of mocks the covers of current chick-lit fame (Shopaholic anyone?) but with a mega dose of sarcasm and cleverness.

As a third+ wave feminist, I loved this book. It takes all these puzzling little inconsistencies about a woman's life and deconstructs them with plenty of gratuitous profanity. Why the fuck not?

Chapters include why women pay more for health insurance and 'certain' prescriptions, why we feel the need to shave off everything, why women are preferred to be 'quiet' and are considered loud harpies whenever we voice our opinions, why the worse insult to a man is to be considered a woman, or pussy-whipped. Fascinating stuff.

Starting with the classic He's a Stud, She's a Slut and working her way down to He's Gonna be a Success, She's Gonna be a Stay-At-Home-Mom, Valenti deconstructs why we accept these things, why they happen and what you should consider...not radically changing your hairstyle/lifestyle/hating men, but little everyday things. Ie, why do we hate the Hiltons/Lohan's of the world so much? Why are we so happy to see them fail? Would we feel that gratified if it was a male celeb. fucking up in public so badly?

Hmmm. One that hit close to home, she brought up taking your husband's name. As one who is somewhat attached, there is no way in hell I would ever take a man's name over mine. I like MY name. Thanks. However, the male is ever so welcome to take mine...I understand if it's not appealing, everyone likes their own names, except women who take their husband's name because it is that great rock of TRADITION and god knows their children will all be bastards if they refuse. pfft. I hate kids anyways.

She asks a great question; why is it women always seem to hate their last names and not men?