Saturday, May 11, 2013
A Yellow Dress
When I was growing up, girls wore dresses to school. This was not simply the style of the time; dresses or skirts were mandatory. As my family lived in a northern rural part of Canada, winters were long, cold, and snowy. I walked to school in skirts, a distance of about a kilometre, in temperatures of minus 20, minus 30, or minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Although I wore tights (we called them leotards back then), my legs would be numb and cold by the time I reached school. My hands in woollen mittens, and my feet in lined rubber overshoes pulled on over saddle oxfords, also were likely to be numb and tingly. We were matter-of fact about it, blowing on our fingers or warming them in our armpits. This was just the way things were.
My mom always made sure that we had nice clothes to wear even though money was tight. We would pore over the Simpson's and Eaton's catalogues selecting our new back-to-school clothes, or our new spring and summer clothes, and then a few weeks later a parcel would arrive. It was like Christmas, opening the parcel and trying on all the new things.
As a young child, my favourite colour was yellow, then later orange. Unfortunately, my skin is dark toned, with a kind of greenish undertone, and so neither of those colours suits me well. I would point out pretty yellow outfits in the catalogue, and Mom would talk me into choosing a different, more flattering colour. So, I never had yellow clothes as a child.
However, there is one exception that stands out in my memory. My parents were close friends with the "Dales," a couple who had three girls, all older than me. I deeply admired those older girls. The Dales were my godparents. When their youngest girl outgrew her bicycle, they brought it over for me, a tiny little two-wheeler, and that was my first bike. I learned on it, and so did my younger brothers. The Dales also gave me my first pair of ski boots, red rubber lace-ups.
One time, when I was about six, the Dales gave us some hand-me-down clothing. Included in the clothes was a beautiful yellow sundress with black zigzag piping around the hem. I was so excited about the dress. A yellow dress! I immediately began nagging my mother to let me wear the dress. Because it was a sundress, Mom said that it was not appropriate to wear to school. Besides, it was still early spring, and the snow was hardly off the ground. It wasn't really sundress weather, yet. That is what she said, but I discerned that she did not like the dress, presumably because it was a sundress (too revealing), and because it was yellow (not flattering).
Or perhaps Mom was just being practical. I wore pants or shorts to play in. As soon as I came home from school or church, I changed out of my dress or skirt into pants, and went outside to play. Dresses were not play clothes, and that was a good thing, as I was a tree-climbing, hole-digging, fort-building tomboy.
Anyways, one gloriously sunny day, the first really warm day of spring, I finally talked Mom into letting me wear the dress outside to play. It was a weekend, and the grass was turning green and the trees were budding, with the first few leaves starting to pop out. My parents and most of the neighbours were out in their yards doing what northern people used to do at that time of year. They were burning the dead grass off the lawn so the new grass could grow in better.
My parents used matches to light a section of dry grass, and then stood near the patch of burning grass with rakes to control the spread of the flames. My Dad was very safety conscious, so he had the hose running into a bucket nearby. Of course, it was also important to not burn the grass on a windy day. We kids loved the burning of the grass. It was a chance to play with fire, and what child does not love fire?
At some point that afternoon, I was squatting down, feeding tufts of dried grass into the flames, when suddenly my dad shouted. I stood up. He came running towards me with the hose. "Your dress is on fire!"
Just as I felt something burn the back of my leg, he doused me with the hose. Then he yelled at me for managing to catch my dress on fire. I was sent into the house to change into something more appropriate. I inspected the dress and the bottom edge of the hem was burnt. The dress was ruined.
After that experience, I never had yellow clothing again. Somehow, the experience of insisting on wearing the yellow dress against my mother's wishes, and having a close call with fire, and being told that yellow did not suit me cured my of yearning for yellow clothing for many decades. That is, until recently. Last year I bought a yellow blouse. I have worn it to work several times, and every time I wear it, I feel happy and sunny. When I look in the mirror, my skin does not look green, and it seems to suit me just fine. Today I went shopping, and bought two summer outfits that are mostly yellow. I feel very pleased with myself. That is one of the joys of getting older. I have decided that I can wear a yellow dress if I want.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Dismantling the Post-Secondary Education System -- Part 2
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about post-secondary education in Canada, and how our excellent educational system has contributed to Canada's global economic success and high quality of life. I posed the question: Why would anyone want to dismantle our post-secondary education system?
There is no doubt in my mind that post-secondary education (PSE) is under siege in this country. In the province of British Columbia, since a liberal-conservative coalition party (the BC "Liberals") took power twelve years ago, colleges and universities have been under assault.
In the first few years, the actions of that government initially appeared positive in terms of greater access for students. In the early 2000's, the BC government opened a slew of new universities, such as Thompson Rivers University, Vancouver Island University, and the University of the Fraser Valley. Essentially, they transformed a number of colleges into full degree granting independent universities under the University Act. Most of these former colleges already had limited degree granting status, and/or had been offering university degrees in partnership arrangements with large BC research universities.
Behind the scenes, however, the BC Liberals were busy interfering with the autonomy of universities to set their own curriculum and course content, and were taken to court repeatedly. The BC Liberals labelled the new universities "teaching universities" and funded them on a different formula than the four "research universities." This was in part a cost-saving strategy, but more ominously, it signaled the government's attempt to remake the nature of university itself. This motive became especially apparent in the last five years when the BC Liberals developed "letters of expectation" for post-secondary institutions as part of the budget process. These letters limit the institutions' autonomy and explicitly provide instruction to universities and colleges to focus on the BC government's priorities. When you consider the fact that universities serve the broader public good, and that universities have very long planning horizons (5 or more years to plan a new program and get government approval to run it, long term commitment to see each cohort of students through 4-5 years to completion, and multi-year or even whole career commitments to highly specialized teaching staff), it seems foolhardy to force universities to align their missions with the short term ideas of the political party of the day.
Also, over their years in power, the BC Liberals tore up contracts and cut wages across the entire public sector. Although the budget cuts to kindergarten to grade twelve (K-12) education and the health sector received the most press, universities were severely impacted as well. More than a decade of legislated 0-0-0 and 0-0-2 salary increments have resulted in BC university professors at many of the institutions being among the lowest paid in Canada in comparable PSE sectors, which affects the province's ability to attract and retain the best and the brightest. Beginning professors make less than school teachers, bus drivers, letter carriers, and oil field workers; and student support staff at BC universities currently make 50% less than their counterparts in Alberta.
During the reign of the current premier, the BC Liberals also have decimated the community college system. For example, in the northern half of the province, colleges such as Northwest Community College faced such severe budget cuts that they were required to close campuses and programs, and lay off ten percent of their employees. No sooner had the government thrown the colleges into disarray and decimated upgrading, trades, and technical education opportunities for students, than the government announced that there was a shortage of trained trades and technical workers in the northern part of the province, and demanded that colleges address these training needs (the "Workforce Table" initiative). Ludicrous, cynical, and shortsighted are the words that spring to mind.
Similar budget slashing has occurred across several other Canadian provinces. In Quebec, a recent attempt reduce operating grants to post-secondary institutions and raise student tuition to match rates in other Canadian provinces resulted in widespread student protests, strikes, and campus closures. The government responded to the students by withdrawing the tuition increase, and requiring universities to make up the funding cuts by making large internal budget reductions. Budget cuts to PSE are also underway in Ontario.
Most recently, Premier Redford's Progressive Conservative government in the province of Alberta brought in a bad news budget that disproportionately slammed universities and colleges. In the spring of 2012 (which just happened to be around election time) the Conservatives promised provincial post-secondary institutions three years of stable funding of two percent increases to their operating grants each year. As two percent is not enough to cover additional operating costs each year, this funding level actually entailed making cuts. However, at least it was a known amount that could be addressed through careful planning.
By March 7 of this year, the promise was long forgotten. The Redford's Conservatives announced a cut of 147 million dollars in operating grants for Alberta colleges and universities. The six universities each have to cut 7.3 percent of their continuing operating budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1, a mere 22 days after the budget announcement. When this reduction to the operating grant is combined with the increased costs of running a university and meeting contractual obligations, this amount translates as actual budget cuts in the realm of 10-12%. To put this in perspective, it means laying off ten percent of university employees and closing programs and thousands of seats for students. This, in a province that already has a low post-secondary participation rate. To make matters worse, the minister responsible for advanced education, Thomas Lukaszuk, accompanied the budget announcement with "mandate letters" requiring the universities to comply with government directives based on half-baked notions about duplication of programs and misunderstandings of how the provincial transfer system works, and then a few weeks later also decided to freeze tuition at 2012 levels rather than allowing an adjustment for inflation.
Here is a link that provides an insight into what the cuts will mean. This letter to the editor of the Lethbridge Herald written by Rob Sutherland describes the impact on the University of Lethbridge, and the surrounding community. The University of Lethbridge, a small but very good comprehensive university in southern Alberta, is known for its commitment to access, high quality, small class sizes and a personalized learning environment, and an aspiration to make a positive difference in the world. Sutherland's letter has sparked a thoughtful exchange of ideas in the paper's comment section.
Surely these massive cuts to universities and colleges will have a profound impact on the communities and students they serve. These budget reductions are not just "cutting a bit of fat," but in fact begin the process of dismantling the entire university and college system. The post-secondary education system has taken nearly two centuries to build, and has served Canada well in the global economy. As we destroy our universities, we will lose our competitive advantage and doom our children and grandchildren to less prosperous futures.
Sadly, the small-minded Canadian politicians with their slash and burn mentalities and five year horizons are not particularly original. As discussed in a chilling article in Aljazeera on the neoliberal assault on academia, it seems that they are simply capitalizing on anti-education trends elsewhere in the world and targeting post-secondary education as a handy way to balance their budgets.
If you care about the future of post-secondary education and the future of our country, don't vote for these politicians.
There is no doubt in my mind that post-secondary education (PSE) is under siege in this country. In the province of British Columbia, since a liberal-conservative coalition party (the BC "Liberals") took power twelve years ago, colleges and universities have been under assault.
In the first few years, the actions of that government initially appeared positive in terms of greater access for students. In the early 2000's, the BC government opened a slew of new universities, such as Thompson Rivers University, Vancouver Island University, and the University of the Fraser Valley. Essentially, they transformed a number of colleges into full degree granting independent universities under the University Act. Most of these former colleges already had limited degree granting status, and/or had been offering university degrees in partnership arrangements with large BC research universities.
Behind the scenes, however, the BC Liberals were busy interfering with the autonomy of universities to set their own curriculum and course content, and were taken to court repeatedly. The BC Liberals labelled the new universities "teaching universities" and funded them on a different formula than the four "research universities." This was in part a cost-saving strategy, but more ominously, it signaled the government's attempt to remake the nature of university itself. This motive became especially apparent in the last five years when the BC Liberals developed "letters of expectation" for post-secondary institutions as part of the budget process. These letters limit the institutions' autonomy and explicitly provide instruction to universities and colleges to focus on the BC government's priorities. When you consider the fact that universities serve the broader public good, and that universities have very long planning horizons (5 or more years to plan a new program and get government approval to run it, long term commitment to see each cohort of students through 4-5 years to completion, and multi-year or even whole career commitments to highly specialized teaching staff), it seems foolhardy to force universities to align their missions with the short term ideas of the political party of the day.
Also, over their years in power, the BC Liberals tore up contracts and cut wages across the entire public sector. Although the budget cuts to kindergarten to grade twelve (K-12) education and the health sector received the most press, universities were severely impacted as well. More than a decade of legislated 0-0-0 and 0-0-2 salary increments have resulted in BC university professors at many of the institutions being among the lowest paid in Canada in comparable PSE sectors, which affects the province's ability to attract and retain the best and the brightest. Beginning professors make less than school teachers, bus drivers, letter carriers, and oil field workers; and student support staff at BC universities currently make 50% less than their counterparts in Alberta.
During the reign of the current premier, the BC Liberals also have decimated the community college system. For example, in the northern half of the province, colleges such as Northwest Community College faced such severe budget cuts that they were required to close campuses and programs, and lay off ten percent of their employees. No sooner had the government thrown the colleges into disarray and decimated upgrading, trades, and technical education opportunities for students, than the government announced that there was a shortage of trained trades and technical workers in the northern part of the province, and demanded that colleges address these training needs (the "Workforce Table" initiative). Ludicrous, cynical, and shortsighted are the words that spring to mind.
Similar budget slashing has occurred across several other Canadian provinces. In Quebec, a recent attempt reduce operating grants to post-secondary institutions and raise student tuition to match rates in other Canadian provinces resulted in widespread student protests, strikes, and campus closures. The government responded to the students by withdrawing the tuition increase, and requiring universities to make up the funding cuts by making large internal budget reductions. Budget cuts to PSE are also underway in Ontario.
Most recently, Premier Redford's Progressive Conservative government in the province of Alberta brought in a bad news budget that disproportionately slammed universities and colleges. In the spring of 2012 (which just happened to be around election time) the Conservatives promised provincial post-secondary institutions three years of stable funding of two percent increases to their operating grants each year. As two percent is not enough to cover additional operating costs each year, this funding level actually entailed making cuts. However, at least it was a known amount that could be addressed through careful planning.
By March 7 of this year, the promise was long forgotten. The Redford's Conservatives announced a cut of 147 million dollars in operating grants for Alberta colleges and universities. The six universities each have to cut 7.3 percent of their continuing operating budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1, a mere 22 days after the budget announcement. When this reduction to the operating grant is combined with the increased costs of running a university and meeting contractual obligations, this amount translates as actual budget cuts in the realm of 10-12%. To put this in perspective, it means laying off ten percent of university employees and closing programs and thousands of seats for students. This, in a province that already has a low post-secondary participation rate. To make matters worse, the minister responsible for advanced education, Thomas Lukaszuk, accompanied the budget announcement with "mandate letters" requiring the universities to comply with government directives based on half-baked notions about duplication of programs and misunderstandings of how the provincial transfer system works, and then a few weeks later also decided to freeze tuition at 2012 levels rather than allowing an adjustment for inflation.
Here is a link that provides an insight into what the cuts will mean. This letter to the editor of the Lethbridge Herald written by Rob Sutherland describes the impact on the University of Lethbridge, and the surrounding community. The University of Lethbridge, a small but very good comprehensive university in southern Alberta, is known for its commitment to access, high quality, small class sizes and a personalized learning environment, and an aspiration to make a positive difference in the world. Sutherland's letter has sparked a thoughtful exchange of ideas in the paper's comment section.
Surely these massive cuts to universities and colleges will have a profound impact on the communities and students they serve. These budget reductions are not just "cutting a bit of fat," but in fact begin the process of dismantling the entire university and college system. The post-secondary education system has taken nearly two centuries to build, and has served Canada well in the global economy. As we destroy our universities, we will lose our competitive advantage and doom our children and grandchildren to less prosperous futures.
Sadly, the small-minded Canadian politicians with their slash and burn mentalities and five year horizons are not particularly original. As discussed in a chilling article in Aljazeera on the neoliberal assault on academia, it seems that they are simply capitalizing on anti-education trends elsewhere in the world and targeting post-secondary education as a handy way to balance their budgets.
If you care about the future of post-secondary education and the future of our country, don't vote for these politicians.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
The Emotion of Fear
I remember once as a child reading that the four primary human emotions are happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Happiness, sadness, and anger, yes. I immediately agreed that those are very basic core emotions -- but fear? Back then, I thought that fear was misplaced in the group. "I hardly ever feel afraid of things," I mused, thinking of spiders, bears, monsters, heights, and cowboy movies. I thought that the psychology researchers must have made a mistake.
I guess I had a charmed childhood, and had not experienced very many ugly situations that would have engendered the emotion of fear. Also, I grew up in a houseful of boys, and perhaps absorbed the lesson taught to little boys: thou shalt not express fear. Or perhaps I was a particularly brave (or foolhardy) child; I shudder now when I look back at the kinds of risks I took before I reached adolescence. I climbed cliffs. I skied fast. I spoke to strangers. I went down into old mine shafts exploring. I spied on a hobo camp near the train tracks.
It turns out that the psychologists were right, and I was wrong. When I reached adolescence and junior high school, I discovered that I did feel fear. In fact it became a pretty common emotion. As a younger child, I was confident and sure of myself. But as a teen, I did not fit in socially very well, and came to doubt myself and fear social situations. I was afraid to join groups of girls in the hallway at lunch, afraid of being left out when teams were chosen, and afraid of dressing the wrong way or saying the wrong thing. These fears became deeply woven into my behaviours and approach to life.
I have spent my entire adult life trying to overcome a fear of social groups and my fear of being judged negatively by others. The fear also spills over into lack of confidence about my performance/fear that I will fail. For example, about a year ago, I started a new job. It is a more senior position than my previous job, in a new place, and involving new challenges. It is not surprising that any person would feel some degree of anxiety starting a challenging new job. But I did not feel just a little anxiety; I was really scared, every single day. Every new expectation, every time I had to lead a meeting or speak up in a team discussion, every time I had to make a decision, I worried and dreaded the situation.
Gradually over this year, I have gained confidence. Things that terrified me at first, like standing up front of all of the staff in the the organization and leading a meeting, I now can do comfortably and with hardly any preparation. In fact, things that used to frighten me so much that I could hardly think straight now seem interesting, rewarding, and even "fun." It is kind of strange to describe work as fun, but it is amazingly exhilarating and gratifying to face a situation that is intellectually or socially challenging and work through it to a positive resolution. I guess that is why I like to set challenges for myself, like taking up a new job that really makes me stretch and that is scary to me. It feels good to learn and grow.
Similarly, I have recently taken up painting again after not having painted for about ten years. I used to love painting. But every time I thought about starting to paint again, I would procrastinate, make excuses, and and avoid it. It was fear. For some reason, I feared that I would not be able to remember how to paint. I was so afraid that I could not even start.
In my new city, I signed up for an evening painting class. The first few sessions, I was really gruff, tense, and antisocial. Fear. I was afraid of the room full of strangers, afraid of trying to paint, and afraid of failing at painting. The first picture I painted was fairly rough. But I was feeling so much joy actually making art again that I cut myself lots of slack and gave myself permission to do an imperfect painting. Now the fear has subsided and I am enjoying every hour in my painting class. I am working on my fifth painting since October. And I am loving it!
I guess I know from experience that it is important to experience new situations and to challenge myself, even though I feel afraid. But even with intellectual understanding, the feelings of fear are present at first, and fear doesn't feel good. But maybe the accomplishment wouldn't feel as good if I didn't have to work through fear to get there.
I guess I had a charmed childhood, and had not experienced very many ugly situations that would have engendered the emotion of fear. Also, I grew up in a houseful of boys, and perhaps absorbed the lesson taught to little boys: thou shalt not express fear. Or perhaps I was a particularly brave (or foolhardy) child; I shudder now when I look back at the kinds of risks I took before I reached adolescence. I climbed cliffs. I skied fast. I spoke to strangers. I went down into old mine shafts exploring. I spied on a hobo camp near the train tracks.
It turns out that the psychologists were right, and I was wrong. When I reached adolescence and junior high school, I discovered that I did feel fear. In fact it became a pretty common emotion. As a younger child, I was confident and sure of myself. But as a teen, I did not fit in socially very well, and came to doubt myself and fear social situations. I was afraid to join groups of girls in the hallway at lunch, afraid of being left out when teams were chosen, and afraid of dressing the wrong way or saying the wrong thing. These fears became deeply woven into my behaviours and approach to life.
I have spent my entire adult life trying to overcome a fear of social groups and my fear of being judged negatively by others. The fear also spills over into lack of confidence about my performance/fear that I will fail. For example, about a year ago, I started a new job. It is a more senior position than my previous job, in a new place, and involving new challenges. It is not surprising that any person would feel some degree of anxiety starting a challenging new job. But I did not feel just a little anxiety; I was really scared, every single day. Every new expectation, every time I had to lead a meeting or speak up in a team discussion, every time I had to make a decision, I worried and dreaded the situation.
Gradually over this year, I have gained confidence. Things that terrified me at first, like standing up front of all of the staff in the the organization and leading a meeting, I now can do comfortably and with hardly any preparation. In fact, things that used to frighten me so much that I could hardly think straight now seem interesting, rewarding, and even "fun." It is kind of strange to describe work as fun, but it is amazingly exhilarating and gratifying to face a situation that is intellectually or socially challenging and work through it to a positive resolution. I guess that is why I like to set challenges for myself, like taking up a new job that really makes me stretch and that is scary to me. It feels good to learn and grow.
Similarly, I have recently taken up painting again after not having painted for about ten years. I used to love painting. But every time I thought about starting to paint again, I would procrastinate, make excuses, and and avoid it. It was fear. For some reason, I feared that I would not be able to remember how to paint. I was so afraid that I could not even start.
In my new city, I signed up for an evening painting class. The first few sessions, I was really gruff, tense, and antisocial. Fear. I was afraid of the room full of strangers, afraid of trying to paint, and afraid of failing at painting. The first picture I painted was fairly rough. But I was feeling so much joy actually making art again that I cut myself lots of slack and gave myself permission to do an imperfect painting. Now the fear has subsided and I am enjoying every hour in my painting class. I am working on my fifth painting since October. And I am loving it!
I guess I know from experience that it is important to experience new situations and to challenge myself, even though I feel afraid. But even with intellectual understanding, the feelings of fear are present at first, and fear doesn't feel good. But maybe the accomplishment wouldn't feel as good if I didn't have to work through fear to get there.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The Dismantling of Post-Secondary Education in Canada - Part 1
Canada has an excellent post-secondary education system. Canadian university researchers are at the forefront globally, making discoveries in areas as diverse as neuroscience, innovative communication technologies, forest entomology, distance education, immunology, genetic markers of various cancers, learning disabilities, climate change, new approaches to qualitative inquiry, and indigenous orality and literature.
Our universities and community colleges offer students a wide range of choices in their chosen degree paths, and an opportunity to pursue their education in a post-secondary system that is of high quality and that provides broad access. No matter where in this large and rugged land a person lives, he or she can obtain trades or technical training, or the first two years of university study at a local community college. Cities over 50,000 have a public university or branch campus, and many large cities have more than one comprehensive public university and several colleges, technical schools, and private post-secondary institutions.
Perhaps because of its geography, Canada also is a leader on the world stage in its development of university distance learning. Although university in Canada is not free, it is very affordable, and there is a well-developed scholarships system and government student loans program. Canadian universities also are becoming an increasingly attractive destination for international students, as their high quality affordable degree programs, great student services, and welcoming environments have been recognized.
Canada's excellent post-secondary system can be credited with the success of the Canadian knowledge and technology economy. Through knowledge transfer from basic and applied research in universities to our businesses, industries, and social institutions, Canadians enjoy a thriving economy, a great standard of living, good health, high levels of literacy, and global prominence. Because of the quality of our universities, Canadian scientists, teachers, doctors, nurses, and business leaders are well regarded and can work all over the world.
We have done a great job in Canada of building a world class post-secondary system. So why would anyone want to dismantle and destroy it? Good question. Stay tuned for part 2.
Our universities and community colleges offer students a wide range of choices in their chosen degree paths, and an opportunity to pursue their education in a post-secondary system that is of high quality and that provides broad access. No matter where in this large and rugged land a person lives, he or she can obtain trades or technical training, or the first two years of university study at a local community college. Cities over 50,000 have a public university or branch campus, and many large cities have more than one comprehensive public university and several colleges, technical schools, and private post-secondary institutions.
Perhaps because of its geography, Canada also is a leader on the world stage in its development of university distance learning. Although university in Canada is not free, it is very affordable, and there is a well-developed scholarships system and government student loans program. Canadian universities also are becoming an increasingly attractive destination for international students, as their high quality affordable degree programs, great student services, and welcoming environments have been recognized.
Canada's excellent post-secondary system can be credited with the success of the Canadian knowledge and technology economy. Through knowledge transfer from basic and applied research in universities to our businesses, industries, and social institutions, Canadians enjoy a thriving economy, a great standard of living, good health, high levels of literacy, and global prominence. Because of the quality of our universities, Canadian scientists, teachers, doctors, nurses, and business leaders are well regarded and can work all over the world.
We have done a great job in Canada of building a world class post-secondary system. So why would anyone want to dismantle and destroy it? Good question. Stay tuned for part 2.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Marion Boddy-Evans
I have discovered another artist whose work I really love -- Marion Boddy-Evans. Marion lives and paints on the Isle of Skye. (How cool is that?). According to her website self-description, her primary medium is acrylics. Most of her current works are on the themes of seascapes & landscapes, sheep, and trees & forests. For example this painting below is titled "Minch 12."
It is in her Landscapes & Seascapes series, inspired by the view of the sea as seen from her studio. As can be seen in this painting, she has an amazing command of colour, and handles the paint expressively to convey the mood of a place. Her tree and sheep paintings are equally wonderful. In addition to her website, she also has a blog, the Mad Cat Art Studio, and she has published a book, "The Moods of the Minch."
But wait, there's more! She also is a writer and a teacher. For more than ten years, she has written the Painting pages on About.com. The site is extensive, and includes articles on each painting medium (oil, watercolour, etc.), various painting styles (abstract, realism, etc.), colour theory, composition, begin-to-paint introductory lessons, and much more. I especially like her projects and tutorials section. In this section, she presents a series of tutorials on, for example, landscape painting, or portraiture. Her explanations are explicit and well-written, and include visual examples. She welcomes comments from her readers as well.
She also sets monthly painting projects, in which she presents a specific challenge, and invites readers to submit their work. For example, the February/March 2013 project is "Opaque-Colours Portraits." Marion has quite a following. Often 20-50 works are submitted in response to the monthly challenge, and Marion somehow finds the time to write helpful and encouraging feedback about the paintings to most of the participants.
I guess I am one of the only people on the Internet who didn't know about Marion Boddy-Evans! I am glad I finally discovered her.
It is in her Landscapes & Seascapes series, inspired by the view of the sea as seen from her studio. As can be seen in this painting, she has an amazing command of colour, and handles the paint expressively to convey the mood of a place. Her tree and sheep paintings are equally wonderful. In addition to her website, she also has a blog, the Mad Cat Art Studio, and she has published a book, "The Moods of the Minch."
But wait, there's more! She also is a writer and a teacher. For more than ten years, she has written the Painting pages on About.com. The site is extensive, and includes articles on each painting medium (oil, watercolour, etc.), various painting styles (abstract, realism, etc.), colour theory, composition, begin-to-paint introductory lessons, and much more. I especially like her projects and tutorials section. In this section, she presents a series of tutorials on, for example, landscape painting, or portraiture. Her explanations are explicit and well-written, and include visual examples. She welcomes comments from her readers as well.
She also sets monthly painting projects, in which she presents a specific challenge, and invites readers to submit their work. For example, the February/March 2013 project is "Opaque-Colours Portraits." Marion has quite a following. Often 20-50 works are submitted in response to the monthly challenge, and Marion somehow finds the time to write helpful and encouraging feedback about the paintings to most of the participants.
I guess I am one of the only people on the Internet who didn't know about Marion Boddy-Evans! I am glad I finally discovered her.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Tom Thomson
I have always been a great fan of the paintings of Canada's Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. This painting, In the Northland, is by Tom Thomson.
Tom Thomson hiked and canoed through northern Ontario, painting landscapes along the shores of the Great Lakes and especially in Algonquin Park. The painting below, Northern River, was painted in 1915, nearly a century ago.
The painting below, The Pool, also was painted by Thomson in 1915.
The three paintings that I have chosen to feature here show interesting differences in his treatment of trees. In each composition, the viewer is looking through trees to a body of water. Each painting demonstrates sophisticated and dramatic use of colour to represent the quality of the light. As well, each painting makes use of verticals contrasted with larger masses or colour blocks. And yet, each painting is quite different in mood and technique.
I can look at Thomson's paintings again and again, and I continue to marvel at them and learn from them.
There is a brief biography of Tom Thomson written by Brandi Leigh here.
Tom Thomson hiked and canoed through northern Ontario, painting landscapes along the shores of the Great Lakes and especially in Algonquin Park. The painting below, Northern River, was painted in 1915, nearly a century ago.
The painting below, The Pool, also was painted by Thomson in 1915.
The three paintings that I have chosen to feature here show interesting differences in his treatment of trees. In each composition, the viewer is looking through trees to a body of water. Each painting demonstrates sophisticated and dramatic use of colour to represent the quality of the light. As well, each painting makes use of verticals contrasted with larger masses or colour blocks. And yet, each painting is quite different in mood and technique.
I can look at Thomson's paintings again and again, and I continue to marvel at them and learn from them.
There is a brief biography of Tom Thomson written by Brandi Leigh here.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Doctor Sock's Heart Healthy Habits for Life
A couple of months ago, I decided that I needed to make some modifications to my diet and lifestyle in order to develop more heart healthy habits. I began my process by identifying healthy habits that I already had. Then I went on to analyze areas that could use some improvements. These not so healthy habits fell into a number of different categories. Some of these include: salt, the pervasiveness of hidden sugars in the diet, my love of dairy fats, and the way that my personal identity and lifestyle has been wrapped around cooking and food.
Now, before I tell you about my method of tackling the goal of developing some different habits, I want to talk about a couple of my views on health and diet. First, I am an active person, and I love the outdoors. I have always engaged in a variety of sports and activities, because I enjoy them and being outdoors and active makes me feel good. Also, I have always been interested in topics related to health. I worked in the health field for a number of years and I find the intersection of science, social practices, and human beliefs and psychology interesting. I continue to read a lot on various health topics. Although bodies age, and predispositions to certain illnesses can be genetic or due to environmental exposure, most individuals in North American societies do have the ability to make behavioural choices that can have a big impact on their long term health. For example, people can choose to smoke or not. They can choose to be sedentary or not. They can choose to eat a varied diet or to eat a lot of fast food.
Finally, I do not believe in dieting. I believe that the cultural pressures on women (and increasingly men as well) to have a certain appearance and body weight are primarily fuelled by the corporate greed for money. This includes the fashion industry, the cosmetics industry, the weight loss industry, the entertainment industry, and even many offshoots of the health system. I have never been on a diet, and don't intend to ever go on a diet. I do not own a scale. I generally eat what I want, and try to pay attention to my body's signals of satiation. However, now that I am a little older and not as active as I used to be, I don't need to eat quite as much as I used to. Also, I have a very sedentary and stressful job that takes many hours out of every day, leaving less time to plan and cook healthy meals, so some bad eating habits have crept into my routine, just out of convenience. Hence I have done a little reflection on my lifestyle habits and identified some that are not so healthy that I want to change. But even these changes will be incremental and not absolute. So for example, I might decide to eat less butter, but I will not ban butter altogether.
So here is the overall framework of Dr Sock's Heart Healthy Habits for Life:
1. Decide on your overall purpose. Write it down.
2. Identify the heart healthy habits that you already have established. List them.
3. Identify the areas or behaviours that are not so healthy. List them.
4. Choose a goal for Week 1. This should be a tiny goal that will be very easy for you to accomplish.
5. Write the Week 1 goal down and post it in your kitchen, or wherever you will be sure to notice it several times a day (Facebook? Sticky note on your computer?).
6. All week, do the thing that you said you would.
7. At the end of Week 1, give yourself a sticker (if you accomplished your goal - no cheating).
8. Set a new, different goal for Week 2. This should also be something that is easy to accomplish. Post it beside the Week 1 goal.
9. In Week 2, do both things - the Week 1 goal and the Week 2 goal.
10. At the end of Week 2, give yourself a sticker for each of Week 1 and Week 2, if you did them.
11. Set another new goal for Week 3. This week you will be paying attention to all three goals and trying to accomplish them.
12. At the end of Week 3, if you have three consecutive stickers for your Week 1 goal, you can consider yourself successful in establishing a new habit, and you no longer have to monitor that goal. If you miss meeting the goal any week, then give yourself an X instead of a sticker, and start over until you have three consecutive stickers in a row.
13. Continue on like this, setting a new very easy goal each week. At any given time, if you are successful in achieving your weekly goals, you will only be having to monitor three goals at a time, which is quite manageable.
14. If you find that you are not meeting your weekly goals, take another look at the goals you are setting. Probably they are too hard. Choose goals that are really easy; you want to be successful, not to punish yourself! You also want to set goals that you will be able to stick with for the long term. Over time, the little tiny changes will add up to an overall lifestyle change.
I have followed the Dr Sock plan for ten weeks, with a two week break over Christmas when we were travelling, and right now I am taking a break from adding new goals. So what did I do, and how did it go? Here are my goals:
Week 1. Water for lunch weekdays instead of juice.
Week 2. No transfat snacks at home.
Week 3. Limit of 1 sugared soft drink per week.
Week 4. One vegetarian supper per week.
Week 5. Drink skim milk or almond milk at home (instead of 1%)
Week 6. Use Becel margarine (instead of butter) on toast and bread at home.
Week 7. Leave work by 5:30 pm one day per week.
Week 8. Eat one piece of fruit or serving of berries (fresh or frozen) 5 out of 7 days per week.
Week 9. Eat a maximum of 40 grams of full fat cheese 5 out of 7 days per week.
Week 10. Drink 8 oz. water every day.
I am happy to report that I received 3 consecutive stickers on every one of my goals. The one that I struggled the most with was the Week 7 goal. It took several tries before I was able to accomplish it three times in a row. The goal that made me feel the most sorry for myself was the Week 6 goal. I like butter, so I felt sorry for myself every time I spread margarine on my bread instead. But you notice that I did not ban butter entirely. I was allowed to eat it when I was not at home, and I continued to cook with it. However, now that I am into the habit of using margarine, I don't seem to miss butter anymore.
Have I backslid on anything after I stopped keeping track? Yes, a little, but for the most part the new habits are there. The change to skim milk was not successful. I have gone back to one percent milk. However, I am now also buying almond milk, and I have discovered that I really like it and it has replaced some of my milk drinking.
I would have predicted that the Week 9 goal of reducing my cheese consumption would have been the hardest. However, because I allowed myself a fairly generous portion (40 grams), and also because it is not that hard to buy fat-reduced cheese, I actually haven't found that change hard to make at all.
So there you have it. Make little tiny incremental changes to set yourself up for success, and persist long enough to turn those changes in behaviour into long term good habits.
Now, before I tell you about my method of tackling the goal of developing some different habits, I want to talk about a couple of my views on health and diet. First, I am an active person, and I love the outdoors. I have always engaged in a variety of sports and activities, because I enjoy them and being outdoors and active makes me feel good. Also, I have always been interested in topics related to health. I worked in the health field for a number of years and I find the intersection of science, social practices, and human beliefs and psychology interesting. I continue to read a lot on various health topics. Although bodies age, and predispositions to certain illnesses can be genetic or due to environmental exposure, most individuals in North American societies do have the ability to make behavioural choices that can have a big impact on their long term health. For example, people can choose to smoke or not. They can choose to be sedentary or not. They can choose to eat a varied diet or to eat a lot of fast food.
Finally, I do not believe in dieting. I believe that the cultural pressures on women (and increasingly men as well) to have a certain appearance and body weight are primarily fuelled by the corporate greed for money. This includes the fashion industry, the cosmetics industry, the weight loss industry, the entertainment industry, and even many offshoots of the health system. I have never been on a diet, and don't intend to ever go on a diet. I do not own a scale. I generally eat what I want, and try to pay attention to my body's signals of satiation. However, now that I am a little older and not as active as I used to be, I don't need to eat quite as much as I used to. Also, I have a very sedentary and stressful job that takes many hours out of every day, leaving less time to plan and cook healthy meals, so some bad eating habits have crept into my routine, just out of convenience. Hence I have done a little reflection on my lifestyle habits and identified some that are not so healthy that I want to change. But even these changes will be incremental and not absolute. So for example, I might decide to eat less butter, but I will not ban butter altogether.
So here is the overall framework of Dr Sock's Heart Healthy Habits for Life:
1. Decide on your overall purpose. Write it down.
2. Identify the heart healthy habits that you already have established. List them.
3. Identify the areas or behaviours that are not so healthy. List them.
4. Choose a goal for Week 1. This should be a tiny goal that will be very easy for you to accomplish.
5. Write the Week 1 goal down and post it in your kitchen, or wherever you will be sure to notice it several times a day (Facebook? Sticky note on your computer?).
6. All week, do the thing that you said you would.
7. At the end of Week 1, give yourself a sticker (if you accomplished your goal - no cheating).
8. Set a new, different goal for Week 2. This should also be something that is easy to accomplish. Post it beside the Week 1 goal.
9. In Week 2, do both things - the Week 1 goal and the Week 2 goal.
10. At the end of Week 2, give yourself a sticker for each of Week 1 and Week 2, if you did them.
11. Set another new goal for Week 3. This week you will be paying attention to all three goals and trying to accomplish them.
12. At the end of Week 3, if you have three consecutive stickers for your Week 1 goal, you can consider yourself successful in establishing a new habit, and you no longer have to monitor that goal. If you miss meeting the goal any week, then give yourself an X instead of a sticker, and start over until you have three consecutive stickers in a row.
13. Continue on like this, setting a new very easy goal each week. At any given time, if you are successful in achieving your weekly goals, you will only be having to monitor three goals at a time, which is quite manageable.
14. If you find that you are not meeting your weekly goals, take another look at the goals you are setting. Probably they are too hard. Choose goals that are really easy; you want to be successful, not to punish yourself! You also want to set goals that you will be able to stick with for the long term. Over time, the little tiny changes will add up to an overall lifestyle change.
I have followed the Dr Sock plan for ten weeks, with a two week break over Christmas when we were travelling, and right now I am taking a break from adding new goals. So what did I do, and how did it go? Here are my goals:
Week 1. Water for lunch weekdays instead of juice.
Week 2. No transfat snacks at home.
Week 3. Limit of 1 sugared soft drink per week.
Week 4. One vegetarian supper per week.
Week 5. Drink skim milk or almond milk at home (instead of 1%)
Week 6. Use Becel margarine (instead of butter) on toast and bread at home.
Week 7. Leave work by 5:30 pm one day per week.
Week 8. Eat one piece of fruit or serving of berries (fresh or frozen) 5 out of 7 days per week.
Week 9. Eat a maximum of 40 grams of full fat cheese 5 out of 7 days per week.
Week 10. Drink 8 oz. water every day.
I am happy to report that I received 3 consecutive stickers on every one of my goals. The one that I struggled the most with was the Week 7 goal. It took several tries before I was able to accomplish it three times in a row. The goal that made me feel the most sorry for myself was the Week 6 goal. I like butter, so I felt sorry for myself every time I spread margarine on my bread instead. But you notice that I did not ban butter entirely. I was allowed to eat it when I was not at home, and I continued to cook with it. However, now that I am into the habit of using margarine, I don't seem to miss butter anymore.
Have I backslid on anything after I stopped keeping track? Yes, a little, but for the most part the new habits are there. The change to skim milk was not successful. I have gone back to one percent milk. However, I am now also buying almond milk, and I have discovered that I really like it and it has replaced some of my milk drinking.
I would have predicted that the Week 9 goal of reducing my cheese consumption would have been the hardest. However, because I allowed myself a fairly generous portion (40 grams), and also because it is not that hard to buy fat-reduced cheese, I actually haven't found that change hard to make at all.
So there you have it. Make little tiny incremental changes to set yourself up for success, and persist long enough to turn those changes in behaviour into long term good habits.
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