“Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.”

Today was a difficult day.
Not for myself but for someone close to me.
Therefore, in order to restore my good mood, I have decided to pay tribute to Miss Gala Darling (my inspiration for starting a blog), by writing a "TILT" blog or "Things I love Tuesday".

Things I Loved this Tuesday, July 13th include:

• Wearing my big girl shoes all day with relatively no pain. Yeah for me!
• Being complimented on my ensemble numerous times in one day. (I was told that I looked "put together".)
• Afternoon ice cream breaks.
• Delightful and loving text messages from my best friend while she is en route to Nova Scotia.
• Feeling more confident about my dating life. (One down, hundreds to go!)
• Finding the perfect (Walt Disney) quote for a card.
• People that are SO EXCITED about figuring out that they know my one of parents from high school.
• Making a covert trip to the garbage chute in order to dispose of something that I know does not belong in the garbage chute (cue the "Mission Impossible" theme music).
• Having a cute boy hold the door for me as I enter my apartment.
• My apartment...just in general.
• Turning on my digital frame and seeing my loved ones (past and present) smile up at me.
• The woman at the grocery store who fawned over my reusable bag. She LOVED it!
• Watching my bunny eat bananas. You will never see an animal enjoy something as much as he enjoys bananas.
• This line from "National Treasure" "Do you know what the preservation room is for?" "Delicious jams and jellies?"
• Waking up to this text message from my friend Tyler "Pretty sure Michael Eisner is waiting for the same plane as me." Uh, what? AMAZING!
• My dear Norweigan friend who translated the words to "O Canada" into Norweigan and posted it on my Facebook wall. He also once told me that I was "a cupcake with pink icing and sprinkles."

What made you happy today?

"Friendship must never be buried under the weight of misunderstanding."

When I was in high school I got to see my best friend every single day. It was great. We knew every single nuance of the days, weeks, months ahead.

When I lived in Florida I got to see my best friend everyday. It was great. I knew where she was and who she was with morning, noon and night.

Now I live on my own and I don't get to see my best friend(s) everyday. It sucks. I don't know what they're thinking, what they're doing or who they're with.

Friendship is hard sometimes.

Now, effort has to be made....when it comes to this you have two options.

1) Assume the best, give them the benefit of the doubt, look at the history of your friendship and see that you were and are friends for a reason. Trust.

2) Assume the worst, project your insecurities onto their response, ignore the history of your friendship and close yourself off. Mistrust.

If you follow Option 1, your friendship may not always be perfect but any misunderstandings or disappointments will be dealt with from a place of love, acceptance and honesty.

If you follow Option 2, your friendship will definitely not be perfect, things will be blown out of proportion and mountains will be made out of mole hills.

In this day and age contact is often diluted or misinterpreted by Facebook, text messages, e-mails, MSN and BBM. You get a message that says one thing and you believe another. Why? Simple....you put a spin on it based on your feelings, your memories and your preconceived notions. I am at fault for this as much as anyone. I am aware.

But the important question is....how do you stop it? The internet was designed as a tool for sharing information...but how can the nuances of genuine emotion be communicated by a machine? I suppose it really depends on you...not only do you need to be extra clear in the message you are sending but you also need to be open to receiving a message without bias or pre-judgement. Once again, I am at fault for this as much as anyone. I am aware.

I feel as if I'm missing the mark. I have so many ideas, concepts, theories and feelings swirling around in my brain and I cannot grab them quickly enough and force them out the tips of my fingers.

In the end...what I really want to say is...

I am extremely grateful for the very few friends that I have whom can trust completely.

I trust them not to hurt me (intentionally).

I trust them to give me the benefit of the doubt.

I trust them to stick up for me.

I trust them to consider the history of our friendship before throwing me under the bus.

“I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people”

I know, I've been gone for quite a long time.

However, the other day my "boss" (I use quotation marks because she is much more than just a "boss") forwarded me a quote that has been on my mind ever since and has inspired me to write once again.

Hooray for the 10 people who periodically read my blog!

"There are two ways of being creative.

One can sing and dance.

Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish."

For someone who has spent the past seven years of their life going to school and trying to figure out where they fit into this big, scary world...clarification like this is priceless.

Clarification of my purpose.

Clarification of my career path.

Clarification of my place in the world.

And not just clarification...but inspiration.

A motto to live by.

As a person who identifies strongly with both the left and right side of the brain, my challenge has always been how to find something-a job, a calling, a profession, a career, a goal-to do that contributes to the greater good. How do I find a job that I enjoy, a job that challenges me and a job that makes a difference and leaves a legacy?

I started my educational journey thinking I would be a teacher, specifically a drama teacher. I would sculpt the minds of young children and inspire them to be better, kinder human beings. However, things didn't turn out that way...but I still wish to inspire people and now I know that I can do that in a number of ways, both in my personal and professional life.

I am extremely happy in my new job. It is the perfect balance of frivolity and conscientiousness. I may only stay with the company for a year...I may stay with them for 10 years, but at least I will know that I started my career in a place that is making a contribution to the coming generations.

Go forth, friends.

Learn. Inspire. Conquer.

"Hope you like pancakes, Norway"

Some of the best Olympic commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54EpbcK97o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGUnZsXW9Sw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOevTBSmC4o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HPjlMIpnbo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBpgASKC8kE

I also just saw an AMAZING Tim Hortons commercial that brought me to tears but I couldn't find it on youtube.

It is a man buying winter coats for his family who are just immigrating to Canada.

He meets them at the airport with two Tim Hortons coffees in hand, says "Welcome to Canada", gives them their coats and takes them out into snow for the first time.

So touching.

If you can find it on youtube, post it in the comment box.

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."

I'm famous!


http://www.contrariwise.org/2010/02/15/we-start-and-end-with-family/

But, before the sun sets on her 16th birthday, she shall prick her finger, on the spindle of a spinning wheel - AND DIE!

Would you like to meet the people who saved Disney? If so then you should check out this film.

Waking Sleeping Beauty

"By the mid-eighties, Walt Disney's fabled animation studios had fallen on hard times. The staff was polarized between newcomers hungry to innovate and old-timers who wouldn't relinquish control. These conditions had produced a series of box office flops and led to pessimistic forecasts. Maybe the best days of animation were over. Maybe the public didn't care. If you expected the situation to improve, you probably believed in fairy tales.

Waking Sleeping Beauty isn't a fairy tale but rather the true story of how Disney regained its magic with a staggering output of hits – Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King and more – over a ten-year period.

Director Don Hahn and producer Peter Schneider bring an insider's knowledge to this comeback. They were among the young Turks at Disney who produced some of its biggest sensations. Hahn's documentary offers a fascinating perspective on what took place within the creative ranks as well as among the leadership team of Michael D. Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Roy Disney (the nephew of Walt). The process wasn't always pretty. Hahn (who still works for Disney) brings a refreshing candour to describing ego battles, cost overruns and failed experiments that others might prefer to forget. During times of tension, the animators' favourite form of attack was to draw nasty caricatures of their bosses. Hahn puts several memorable ones on display and marshals a vast array of interviews, home movies, internal memos and unseen footage. Anyone with an appetite for Hollywood gossip will relish this dish.

Animation lovers, in turn, will savour the rich history that gives credit where it's due to the many writers, artists and composers who created the Disney phenomenon. The documentary even includes key figures who famously left the company, such as Don Bluth, John Lasseter and Tim Burton. At one time, children imagined that Walt Disney's signature meant a film was the creation of one man. This is a more grown-up portrayal that reveals the collaborative experience in all its complexity."

-http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/wakingsleepingbeauty

Check out the trailer here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUKELKkOuYk

"somehow it didn't seem like war at all, at all, at all..."

Eric Peterson as Billy Bishop

I am of the opinion that all theatre should tell a story, especially Canadian theatre. Having had the privilege of working and living with people from all over this great country I know that Canadians are, above all, story tellers. (Specifically Canadians from the East Coast-they have truly been given the gift of gab, even if sometimes you can't understand them). We regale friends and family with tales of drinking, hardships and adventures, big and small.

It is clear that the Canadian play "Billy Bishop Goes to War" follows in this grand tradition of story telling. The play, written in the 1970's by John Gray and Eric Peterson, has been remounted all over Canada both by Gray and Peterson and by theatre companies across Canada. A re-telling of Bishop's heroic exploits during WWI left me both moved and ashamed that I did not already know the story of this great Canadian.

Afterwards I had the honour of meeting Eric Peterson. A touchstone of Canadian theatre and a story teller through and through. He spoke candidly with my Grandfather (who had his "wings" pinned on by the real Billy Bishop before WWII) and received my compliments graciously (as I held back tears, because I have a soft spot for old men). It was an experience that was both uniquely Canadian and deeply moving and one I will not soon forget.

If you get the chance, I highly recommend seeing "Billy Bishop Goes to War" with Eric Peterson and John Gray.