My family didn’t go on vacation. Ever. So the concept is quite foreign to me. Oh, I “get” it, intellectually. We all need a break, blah blah blah. But it isn’t in my programming, really.
I think my Mom would have been a traveller, given half a chance. She famously (well, famously to me anyway) hitchhiked across the continent with her best buddy, Charlotte, after they both graduated from nursing school. Whenever they ran out of money, they stopped and got nursing jobs for a few months, then carried on. What an adventure that must have been, exploring North America in the late-40′s, post-war era. They traveled together for over a year, I think. Across the prairies to Vancouver, down the coast to LA, through New Orleans and back up through New York City. That’s my Mom.
But … was it a vacation? Not really. It was an adventure. Soon, she married my father and started having babies. When I was four, and Mom had been married almost 20 years, she took me to Florida. We stayed for a week with my aunt and uncle in their trailer. That was the only vacation we ever took, and I only vaguely remember it.
Actually, now that I think of it, I remember being told something about a camping trip to the Pinery Provincial Park when I was still in a wicker bassinet. Hardly an experience that would have left an indelible mark.
My father used words like “tomfoolery” and “lazy bastards” whenever anyone took a day off work, so the concept of taking an extended break was certainly not in his programming, either. Those words also applied to Christmas and birthday celebrations but I think I’ve managed not to let his severe case of the grumps spoil my fun on those days. I’m not sure if it is a family farming culture thing – no time to rest! – or just my father’s peculiar inability to let go of his Protestant work ethic. But we didn’t go anywhere as a family, or plan anything like a trip or a “vacation”.
That makes it sound like we didn’t have any fun – we certainly did. There was card-playing, board games, lots of horsing around and activity with my brothers, including building our own ice rinks, fishing the local creeks, swinging from ropes into piles of straw in the barn, and breaking windows with errant baseballs. I spent a significant amount of time begging my mother to buy me, or let me buy, a mini-bike. Later, for me, there were organized sports (hockey, softball, swimming), music lessons and theatre projects. But … no vacations, per se.
My life looks a bit like this now, in fact. Busy – a lovely balance between work and play in my day-to-day life. However, now that I am better at recognizing the signs and appreciating the rhythm of modern life, I am faced with the indisputable fact that I Must Go Away From Time To Time And Shift Gears. The signs are clearer to me now than they once were: emotional exhaustion, lack of motivation, mild depression, disinterest, disorganization, lack of creativity. The rhythm, particularly of my primary job as a professor, couldn’t be clearer. This great gaping maw of time stretches from mid-June to late August, begging to be filled with interesting distractions.
What do I typically do? This year, my official obligations ended with my institution on June 18, a Friday. My first client meeting was scheduled for – wait for it – June 21, Monday. Now that I really think on it, there is something almost obscene about this. As with other years, I have sort of puttered through the summer, not really planning much, doing some work for clients, sleeping in, trying to relax and be less structured, spending some lovely time with friends, letting things unfold. But it doesn’t feel very “vacation”-like. I’m terrible at planning vacations in advance – I have no training, role-modeling or examples from my past to guide me – and I shudder at forking out the dough. Check with anyone I’ve been involved with for any length of time … they’ll confirm this in spades.
How does someone like me really go on vacation? I have learned that I can trick myself into it. In 2008, I took off by myself to Barbados and justified it as a “strategic planning retreat” for my business. I found a bed and breakfast with high speed wireless and spent a portion of every day drumming up new ideas and documenting a business plan for the next few years. Of course, I also got a tan and swam in the ocean a lot. This compromise – a working vacation – is about as close as I’m going to get to the real deal.
So, what have I done on my summer vacation at this last-minute cottage rental? I have:
Developed a workshop (powerpoint and materials) on recruitment best practices for a client. First time I’ve prepared a session to be delivered by someone else. Very liberating.
Developed a bio for a client to be included in a bid for a significant chunk of work. I love spin.
Completed the first edit on the script for Fundy Boy: Back to Broadway. The original gang is re-assembling, I’ll be directing/lighting/running around. Rehearsals start late August for an October 1-2 staging. Be there!
Still to be completed:
Working out operational workflows for two specific processes for a client, mapping out and justifying the recommended changes in processes.
Creating a workplan for my two weeks of prep prior to classes starting at Centennial. Lots to do … very little time to do it!
Oh … I have also …
Slept like a rock
Gotten up early, with the mist on the water, and spent hours fishing on a silent, still lake, absorbing the sound of the loons
Dozed on the floating dock, listened to audiobooks and gotten rather a lot of sun
Re-connected with dear, long-time friends who also have a cottage on this lake and eaten steak and – mmmm – mashed potatoes and s’mores
Gone swimming
Spent some glorious time with Knotty Girl when she dropped by
Bailed out the boat, in the pouring rain, so I can get back to shore for supplies (this was actually kind of fun although I’m very glad it had stopped raining by the time I’d returned)
Pondered blogging and a re-entry therein
Still to come:
More hanging out with Knotty Girl, and two more joyful and lovely fishing buddies who are arriving for the weekend
More dozing on dock
More fishing and swimming
Some yummy cottage meals when the gang is here
Perhaps some live action Scrabble playing and Balderdashing
More blogging?
So, this business of tricking myself into vacationing actually works. As long as I feel I’m accomplishing something, I’m good to go. I think of it as the Protestant-work-ethic-work-around.
OK – I need to think about workflows now. Well, shortly. First, a dip in the lake … I may have gotten a sunburn writing this.
So, the last few months of 2009 became a muddy blur during which time writing, and exercising, took a backseat to the following:
caring for the lovely Freddie as she recovered from surgery to repair ruptured discs in her spine (neck). My home became a baby-gated, cushioned, modified pet crate for seven weeks. My dog was in pain and I felt helpless. And then, shortly afterwards, broke. So grateful that Freddie’s Other Mom, and the lovely WWBA, were able to be such a supportive part of this adventure. But it did take its toll. Freddie needs to be carried up and down stairs and, at first, needed more, shorter walks. I live up two flights of stairs and my routine was tied more than ever, to Freddie’s requirements. I was exhausted.
… and thus got I ill myself with a persistent bronchial infection – several weeks of coughing and hacking and sleeping badly.
having my car vandalized, right here in the underground parking lot. Stuff stolen, car damaged. Much time and energy lost over a 10 day period, dealing with this. Not to mention feeling just a wee bit violated.
grading 174 really sub-par essay-like business reports in 3.5 weeks. That is a real number, 174. 87 in the first round that had to be done quickly and returned so they could have feedback to complete and hand in the second round. Second round to be graded to the grade submission deadline at the end of term. This activity will suck your brain out through the eye of a needle and will rip your heart out of your chest, tossing it away like last year’s PlayStation. Don’t let anyone tell you that teaching isn’t an emotional pursuit. After teaching plagiarism (how to avoid it, not how to do it) as a topic in class, finding students who persist in the behaviour is like getting smacked up the side of the head with a 2 x 4. I’m not sure I can explain why, it just feels … horrible. It does get balanced out, of course, by students who really do make incredible progress and there were some really fine moments of this as well. Somehow, though, this term, the amount of grading and the roller coaster ride it took me on just about did me in.
ongoing negotiations with management on workload issues (see above) and the looming possibility of a strike that no one wants yet that seems difficult to avoid. Multiple meetings with management over next term’s workload. A workload review by a larger committee. Not much progress. Stress. Self-doubt. Worry.
As you can see, not a lot of writing took place. Furthermore, I actually have found myself daydreaming of the smell of my gym. What I’ve learned is that my mental and emotional health is linked to these two activities. Thus, I resolve to re-prioritize and get both disciplines back into my life. Although I’m going to wait until mid-February to actually step on the scales, I think. Yikes.
Anyway, thanks for your patience – all three or four of you. Stay tuned for more … as for now, I’m off to the gym!
It has been roughly seven weeks since I’ve been able to even consider blogging. I can’t really apologize for this as it has been a fantastic seven weeks. I’m clearly in a “work hard, play hard” phase of my life and it takes me away from some of the processing place I get into when I write. I do miss it and I hope to find a way to integrate it back in. As part of my weekly “to do” list ritual, I keep a list of notes on future blog posts, little text sketches of things I need to say, or mull over, or share. I re-write the list each week, and usually add one or two ideas … their time will come.
“Work hard, play hard.” My Mom would SO approve of this. Of “getting out there”, as she would say. Trying things, finding barriers, working around them. Making mistakes. Responding carefully to that reality. Giving. Taking. Playing fair. Laughing. Feeling blessed. Feeling hurt. Keeping it in perspective. Feeling loved. Not being afraid of the intensity. A little cowed, sometimes, but not letting that stop me. Keeping it real.
Yes, Mom would be pleased that my hands-on working/playing life has taken over from processing and analysis for a while. So, for Mother’s Day, I dedicate this entire active busy intense jam-packed spring season to the memory of my Mom. It was her favourite time of year anyway – she loved being out in the garden, fussing, planning. She died in her garden, in the spring of 1998. Death in a place of growth and possibility. In my experience, these last two – growth and possibility – trump death every time.
I hope everyone has enjoyed a connection with the maternal, however it appears, this weekend. Happy Mother’s Day!
So for ages now I’ve been puttering away at upgrading my business site. Given the fragmented life I’m living at the moment, this project has suffered from “shoemaker’s children” syndrome. I’m able to offer others all kinds of advice on their site strategies. I can’t seem to focus on my own.
Nonetheless, with the able creative design work of the magnificent Pam Sloan, it all got done and launched late Sunday night. Phew!
The main business site is here. This should remain fairly stable, although I have more testimonials on the way (so I’m told) and will be adding links and clients as appropriate. The nav bar is expandable so if I have “new services” to add, that is fairly easily done.
After years of experimenting with keeping my volunteer/fundraising work under the same umbrella as my revenue-generating business site, I’ve decided this doesn’t really work. It muddies the message. So I have split this off and will house all the creative fun stuff here. This site needs the most polishing up, design and content-wise, but I wasn’t going to hold up the works, so to speak, by continuing to fiddle with it. I’m collecting photos from past productions to put into an album here, so that should be fun.
My new business blog is here. The first two entries are on a) e-mail spoofing, and b) the tension between core competency and market differentiation. I think the next one is on managing up and managing down … but I can’t be sure until I really sit down to write. I think I’ll eventually manage about one entry per week. I have an endless number of ideas for this blog – all I need to do is become self-aware of the anecdotes that come out of my mouth like frogs and toads, in the classroom.
After one entry, the stats here were interesting to watch. 33% of the traffic generated to the site came from google searches, which is terrific. Next step here is to throw some ads up and see what happens.
It is all a grand experiment. And it keeps me off the streets.
My next blogging projects include:
a blog for one of my hockey leagues to keep everyone connected
a place for women to talk about anger
something about grocery stores in Toronto
Do stay tuned … I’ll be off the streets a while it seems …
Posted on January 15, 2009 by Venus in blogging, food
Possibly. I’ll let you decide.
The CheapEats Toronto Blog (go there NOW if you are even remotely interested in food in Toronto) recently re-purposed some content from another blog. Specifically, a TED presentation, about 16 minutes long, about the history and evolution of Chinese food in the United States. I’d love to see a Canadian analysis along the same lines someday. Funny and fascinating.
So I added two new bits to my blogroll. Cate and Ali are writing about knitting here. Except “writing about knitting” doesn’t really quite capture what is going on. Especially here.
I just discovered my neighbour’s blog, Seizure Salad, and really enjoyed it. It is from this blog that I steal the following link to a site called We Feel Fine. I need to spend much more time here and I just can’t this morning. It is the kind of site that can suck you in, bouncing, in my case, between the output of the methodology and the methodology itself. Bouncing between looking at the results, and wondering how the heck they did that.
In short, this site trolls the Internet, specifically blogs, every 10 minutes, looking for instances of the phrases “I feel” and “I am feeling”. It then presents the data in a sort of kaliedescope that a site visitor clicks on, randomly, and is presented with the snippet of blog that corresponds to the randomly selected point. A marriage of mathematics and art.
I must send this link to my friend, Bill Ralph, who produces art with algorithms. Fascinating.
Although, I suppose knitting is also art + mathematics, si?
Check … check … 1-2-3 … *tap tap* … is this thing on?
Hello!
So, here I am, launching The HandBasket 3.0, a.k.a. Blogging 3.0 … feels like I’m unpacking boxes and checking out the view from here. Looks pretty amazing so far. Must admit I’m smitten with WordPress, the self-hosted option, and all that it has to offer. This is going to be fun!
I’ve imported (manually, post-by-post) some of my favourite posts from my old blog on Vox.com. I’ve managed to get up to November 2007 and plan to fill in the rest of 07-08 within the next few days. I love Vox and its community and all that it has to offer in terms of simplicity and ease. But, alas, it is time for me to leave my comfy nest and fly on my own now.
The last time I switched platforms, from LJ to Vox, I mused about why I blog at all. I no longer ask that question, at least not with the same interest or frequency. It is like asking why one enjoys good food or good music, or why one feels compelled to learn new things … it is just a part of my life. I think about things. I observe. I like to share what I think. I like to start, or continue, conversations.
I’m planning on starting a few more topic-focused blogs in the very near future. Watch this space for details.
But, now … I really must get to the gym … please do feel free to comment, subscribe or otherwise interact with this blog. Remember … we are all in this handbasket together, peeking over the side, and wondering where the hell we are going anyway … … we might as well have a few good chats along the way.
