Make it so

I am in DE-NIAL. 

No, I am not talking about the longest river in Africa, I am talking about the slow death of summer. I say slow because after having 33+ weather on  Wednesday, only to have a high of 16 this weekend, I have thoughts of Mexico, fruity drinks and cabana boys (not necessarily in that order).

I love the summer. I love the sweltering heat. I love the feeling you get when you are driving in your car that has no A/C and you feel like you are melting in your seat. I love when I walk into my apartment, it's hotter on the third floor than it is outside. Above all, I love complaining about the heat (and everything else, but more on that another time).

I used to live in Ontario where the summer was unbearable, the smog was unbreathable and the sun was like a cruel beam coming from the Starship Enterprise (or for you Star Wars fans, the Millenium Falcon, which to my recollection, blew apart the Death Star).

Anyhoo, the fact of the matter is, I love the heat and I miss the sweat. 

Alberta summer's are nice, but they are much different than those in Ontario. Albeit as short as the summer season is here, I will take what I can get. This year, I got very little and I am not pleased. I feel ripped off.

We are now officially in the fall season and I am not happy about it. Yes, fall is pretty. The weather may even be tolerable. But following fall (say that three times fast) is Old Man Winter.

To me, OMW (Old Man Winter) sounds like a crotchety old man, probably not to handsome, lives alone, not dating anyone special and has no cable. OMW is an unhappy fellow who likes to spread his misery onto others. If I had a phaser, I would have no problem taking him out.

I do not ski, I cannot skate (think of Bambi on ice but worse) and I do not enjoy long walks on the beach in -20 weather. I hate boots, baggy coats, wet mittens and trying to start a car that, could it speak, would say, "You're kidding me, right?"

The Farmer's Almanac states for the winter of 2009/2010, it will be an "Ice Cold Sandwich Winter". Like Homer Simpson, I do enjoy a good sandwich, but not an ice cold one. This winter is supposed to be "colder and drier than normal" in the prairies and "bitterly cold and dry" in the Ontario region. Like the statement, looking toward the upcoming changing of the seasons is making me feel a little bitterly cold. But that's normal.

In the end, I have to suck it up.

Winter comes every year, and as Canadians, we should accept the fact that were our country located in the Southern Hemisphere, we would be better cricket players than hockey players. 

But we are in the north. We are the True North Strong and Free. We can take the cold, we can drive on snow covered roads, and in the end, we will mass produce better hockey players than anyone else on the planet. It comes with the territory.

If only the territory was located a teeny tiny bit to the south, I might not be so grumpy about it.

**This blog is dedicated to my only fan outside of my parents, Louise. We're glad you're home. Live long and prosper**

If I only had a Blackberry

Joining Twitter is as bad as when I first joined Facebook. Don't get me wrong, I love it. But boy, is it ever addicting.

I am following more than 80 people — most of it is news; Macleans, National Post, Edmonton Journal, Toronto Star (old habits die hard), CNN, etc. I am also following personal faves such as Hillary Clinton, Oprah and Anderson Cooper (yes, I know he is news, but he is in a class all his own...)

And then there is the tabloid junk (and I mean that in the nicest way) that I am following; TMZ, Lainey Gossip, etc. I love celebrity dish as much as the next gal, I admit it. It is shameless and useless information, but I dive right into it like a contestant at a hot dog eating contest.

The thing about Twitter is you are getting real time updates — constantly — of the latest headlines and information. If I had a Blackberry, I would be checking that sucker every minute to see what was going on in the world. For someone like me, who needs to know the latest news update, Twitter can be distracting. Good thing the cell phone I have is the only one I have ever had — it's probably eight years old, but hey, it works!

I was really introduced to Twitter when CNNs Larry King and Mr. Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, had a battle to see who could get the most followers (Kutcher won). Ok, this Twitter thing intrigued me. 

And then Oprah had it on. I am a die-hard Oprah fan, and if she endorsed it, I considered it to be a good thing (although, I am skeptical about this hormonal injection business).

I stayed away until it became a part of my job a few weeks back. You see, I am technologically challenged. I like my VCR, it took me months to accept CDs (I thought it was a fad) and I could not hook up a TV if my life depended on it. 

Even blogging. While my staff has been pounding feverishly away at their keyboard, I stayed away. I was afraid, very afraid. But I am starting to get on this bandwagon.

I can finally say I am Tweeting and Blogging. It scares the heck out of me, but I am getting with the times.

If only they brought back bell bottoms would I be truly happy:)

Some days you gotta dance

I wrote the following column in the July 3 edition of The Rep for many reasons. I am appreciative of the late Michael Jackson's talent and I found myself reminiscing about my childhood after his death. 

So much can trigger a memory. Whether it is hearing a song on the radio that was played during your first high school dance or the smell of a stranger that reminds you of your favourite aunt — sometimes it is the little things that can out a smile on your face. 

For me it was, and will always be, the music.

Don’t blame it on sunshine 

Don’t blame it on moonlight 

Don’t blame it on good times 

Blame it on the boogie -Jackson 5

I learned to dance because of Michael Jackson. 

When I was about eight years old, my friends Lyndsay, Crystal and I would gather in Crystal’s basement and her mom would turn on the 8-track and we would dance. Destiny by the Jackson 5, Off the Wall by Michael Jackson and various Bee Gees tunes would roar through the house, and we would move to the beat. I loved to dance. It was a great outlet for a fidgety kid, who loved to lip sync and learn a step or two.

The death of Michael Jackson caught most of us by surprise. We had been hearing in the news popular 70s pin-up Farrah Fawcett was battling cancer and news of her death was not a shock. But when I read online the first reports of MJ’s death I was saddened. The MJ I knew represented a large part of my youth. 

Let me take you back…

For Christmas of 1982, I got the only thing I wanted. There is no other gift from my youth that I can remember so vividly. I remember like it was yesterday: the day I got Michael Jackson’s Thriller album. 

I was seven years old, and after saying goodbye to the 8-track player in my room, I had a record player. Trust me, this was a big deal — with a record player, I was moving into the big leagues! 
At that point, my album collection consisted of The Muppets Volume 1 and 2 (which I still have), Mickey Mouse Disco (still have) and Anne Murray’s classic, There’s a Hippo in my Bathtub (guilty as charged – still have it). 

Then I got Thriller. Carefully pulling the record out of the sleeve, I set it down on the turntable.
I played it over and over (and over) that Christmas morning, until my parents told me we should be listening to something more… festive. So, I turned the radio on for them, and kept listening to MJ with my headphones on. And I danced.

When the day was over, the guests went home and I brought my record upstairs. I carefully put that shiny new 12-inch on my stereo, laid in bed and sang myself to sleep. By the next morning I knew all the words and was pretty pleased with myself. As my friends had gotten the album too, no matter whose house we were playing at, we could dance to MJ all day long.

As the years went by, the record player was replaced by a tape player and new songs came bellowing out of my room. It never failed though. If a Michael Jackson song was playing on the radio, the volume would be turned up and the words I had not heard in years came out of my mouth as if I had just learned them the day before. And I danced.

In my late teens and early 20’s, I went to clubs in Toronto every weekend. And it never failed — if people started vacating the dance floor, all the DJ had to do was throw on Wanna be Startin’ Something by Michael Jackson and the dance floor would fill in.

I have an iPod now, and yes, it has Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 on it. My iPod had his songs on it before his death, as I had bought his HIStory album — I know they are now CDs, but I still call them albums — when it came out in 1995 and when I got my iPod, MJ was one of the first artists I put onto it. Why not? It makes me dance.

The music of Michael Jackson played a big part in my youth. I learned a few moves, fell in love with music videos, and found a common bond with friends. I never did make it to see him perform live (although as an homage to the 8-track, Anne Murray was my first concert), but in the end, I did have a lot of fun getting down to the beat.

While Anne Murray’s Snowbird was my first 8-track, Thriller was my first album. Not one of my brothers’, not one of my parents’, but mine. All mine. 

I have moved nine times in 34 years, and in a tote that conatins Michelle’s Memories, buried beside my Brownie outfit (and my Muppets, Hippo and Disney Disco album) is my Thriller album.

I may be a little older, and most nights need to be in bed by 11 p.m., but I can still get down with the rest of them. 

Blame it on the boogie.

Welcome to our blog

The Rep is gettin' with the technological times and along with our new website, we are adding a blog, and coming soon... Facebook.

Unfortunately, it is my younger staff members who have to school me on this stuff. When I took journalism, we didn't not have courses on the Internet, blogging, etc. They did.

I have been editor here at the Rep since Sept. 2007. We are moving beyond what you see in print and are expanding into new avenues on the web. 

As I start to step into this blogging world, slowly, but surely, I will get with the times, be a bit more proactive, and maybe learn a thing or two.

Now if I could only learn how to hook up my DVD player....