what purple means to me

I'm a bit late to following up on my previous election post, but now that I am in Toronto, which also just had it's own election (albeit with a somewhat different result), I'll just say a few things.

In the weeks leading up to election night, everytime I wore purple, people asked me if I was part of "the purple revolution." The truth is that I just like the colour purple and it is a staple of my wardrobe. I didn't ultimately make up my mind on who to vote for until a week or two before election day. I've met Naheed Nenshi a few times over the past few years as part of my day job, and have always found him to be bright, articulate and thought provoking. When he entered the race, I really thought he was just doing so to further the conversation. I even said to a few friends that I thought he should drop out and throw his support behind more legitimate contenders (i.e. Wayne Stewart or Kent Hehr). Ultimately of course, the reverse happened. And then as he gained momentum, I decided I would vote for him, but I figured he still wouldn't win. I knew all of my FB friends had planned to vote for him, but whether or not they would actually go out on the day and fill out a ballot was unknown. Turns out they did. Good for them. And good for him for capturing their imagination and inspiring them to care about municipal politics.

In my mind, the best candidate won. And I do think he will get shit done. Not just the things my young left-wing friends care about (i.e. the arts, poverty reduction, libraries, bike lanes, walkable cities, etc) but other things like budget reduction, the airport tunnel, snow removal, and investment attraction. The issue of course is that he is receiving so many accolades that he cannot possibly meet (and really, I don't think I'm being a huge pessimist here), I just hope that people are not too disappointed. He is human. He is mayor of a major city with a $60 million budget shortfall, civic employees with incredibly low morale, a growing population and the lowest property taxes in Canada. Good luck.

To me the real story is about participation. Today while visiting with my friend Victoria we ran into her neighbour who was coming home from cleaning out her office ... as of Tuesday she was out of a job because she was on Smitherman's campaign team. You would think she'd be super pissed about Ford and his big win. And while I wouldn't exactly call her happy, she wasn't ranting about how ridiculous it was that a "buffoon" had won. Nor was she cynical about the whole thing. She had great perspective. She had met some great people, worked on something that mattered and in the end, over 50% of the electorate turned up to make their choice and even though it wasn't hers, she was okay with it. Toronto may have picked a polarizing leader, but at least people made the effort to pick him (or not, as the case may be).

The same thing happened in Calgary. Calgary has led the nation in population growth over the past ten years, and as the city has grown it has been said that the people who move here aren’t really committed to sticking around. The common knock against Calgary is that they come to work and make their money, but build their life elsewhere, leaving us with a lifeless community. 54% of the electorate showing up to vote proves that this is not the case. Such a large turnout demonstrates that people voted because they are committed to this city. They are here for the long term and they want to be engaged in the community. And it wasn’t just on Election Day. Throughout the campaign, there was a strong indication that this election would be different. People were talking about the issues and the candidates everywhere you went. No aldermanic candidates ran unopposed. For the first time there was an aldermanic forum in every ward, and people actually showed up. In more than one case, organizers had to scramble for more chairs. There were over 35 mayoral forums, attended by the majority of the candidates, and a large number of citizens. The largest, organized by Civic Camp and the University of Calgary’s Student Union, had over 800 attendees. When was the last time 800 people showed up for anything related to municipal politics? In my mind, all the discussion about what it means that Canada's most conservative city elected a Muslim mayor is totally beyond the point (nor was it really discussed until after he won - seriously no one cared). The real highlight for me is the fact that wherever you went, people were talking about the city, what type of person is needed to make it a better place, and how excited they were to be able to make that choice. As geeky political type, I found this to be super cool. As a result, I'm hopeful that the conversations that were had leading up to the election will continue on into Nenshi's 3 years (and possible more) as mayor, and that people will commit to being engaged to the Calgary community for the long term.

Ok, will stand down from my soap box now. I promise my next post will be much more vacuous in nature.

a modern romance

How's this for a modern tale of romance, with the requisite life lessons:

Boy and girl meet at Christmas staff party in Toronto. Boy and girl fall in love. Girl spends a few months working at the Olympics in Vancouver. Boy visits often. Girl goes back to Toronto. Boy gets transferred to Calgary. Girl stays in Toronto. Boy and girl date long distance, travelling back and forth or meeting in various cities in between. Families are introduced. Girl spends time at boy's family farm. Girl seeks transfer back to Calgary. Boy and girl make plans to build a house together. Boy and girl get in big fight in Invermere because he has ridiculous friends and is apparently very stubborn. In late September, boy goes to Toronto for work and stays with girl. For 4 days everything is fine and then they discuss said housing situation while watching Glee. It doesn't go well. So during a commercial break, because boy does not know how to handle an adult relationship with all of its various nuances, breaks up with girl. Two weeks later they do the ritual exchange of stuff. Five days after that, girl's friend's co-worker shows said friend (that would be me) her eharmony matches. One of them is boy. Yep, the same boy. This really happened.

So the question is, does girl have the right to be pissed at boy? On the one hand, they are broken up and so in theory he can do whatever he wants. On the other hand, eharmony? Really? This is how you're moving on? Go on a date. Meet some random at a bar. Don't go shopping for a replacement girlfriend, 10 days after you've just broken up. And don't think she won't find out about it.

So in this modern tale of romance, there are no winners. There are however valuable lessons. One - boys are dumb. Two - breakups are never easy. And three, as shown time and time again, the world is just too damn small.

whatever could be on your mind?

One of my favourite scenes from any show ever. Love me some Peggy and Joan.

cake disaster

Remember my pie success? Well, tonight I had the opposite problem. I was so confident in my cake making abilities that I had 3+ glasses of wine before making my signature chocolate chip cake for the United Way bake sale at work tomorrow. I love this cake. My mom used to make it for me on my birthday. I can pretty much make it from memory and whenever I bring it somewhere it's a big hit. Tonight I failed. Miserably. It didn't rise. I didn't have enough flour, but figured it would be ok. I was wrong. I'm pretty sure that no one will want to pay anything for it and so will not help raise any money for charity. Lesson learned - don't drink and bake.

thanks emily et al

Today is civic election day in my neck of the woods. I love voting. I've voted in every election and I change my vote a lot (Liberals for Joe!) One of my least favourite things is partisanship. You should be able to vote for who you want depending on the important issues of the day, not just because it's the way your parents voted or because of something that the governing party of the day did 20 years ago. This is why American politics drive me crazy and also why it's tough living in Alberta where the conservative have been in power since the dinosaurs were roaming through Drumheller. But civic politics are different - there are no party lines and the policies put in place my our mayor and aldermen (even if the are women, they are still called aldermen, but that's a different story), really matter. We spend so much time worrying about our federal politicians, but they are so removed from us - if my property taxes go up, if my streets are free of snow, if I have access to the library, if the bridge I walk across every day is patrolled by police, if there are enough seats in the arts venues, if the bike path is accessible to all, if construction delays my commute, etc - are all decided by the men and women who get voted in today. And I think that matters.

And just in case you needed another reminder about why voting is so important, in a great example of symmetry, it just so happens that 81 years ago today, 5 Canadian women won the right to be declared "persons" under the law in all Commonwealth countries. 81 years is not that long. It's not even a lifetime. My grandmother is 96. It's crazy to me that I know someone who at one point who would not have been allowed to have a say about the direction of the society in which she lives.

thanks again

Another thing I am thankful for = frequent flyer miles.

Thanks to aeroplan and my numerous flights to visit friends and family, I now have enough points to fly to Hawaii for free in 3 weeks. Let the countdown begin. Aloha!

no turkey, but still thankful

Today is Thanksgiving Monday. I could not be happier to have the day off. For that I am thankful. I am thankful for many other things too ... here is an incomplete list of other things I am happy for, right now, Monday October 11th at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon (I specify the time and date, because what I am thankful for changes at an alarmingly fast pace):

• my parents (obvious, but true) - they live far away and I get annoyed with them on the phone, but they are the most generous, well meaning people in the world and I could not have asked for a better mother and father.
• my friends (another obvious statement) - both near and far. I have been lucky enough to have travelled and lived in various cities and I have friends in all of these places. And I got to spend some quality time with a few of them, both new and old, this weekend, so that is wonderful.
• alcohol - this might seem weird, and mean that I have a drinking problem, but it's true. I'm thankful for the great bottle of pinot noir that SS and I shared last night over a pork loin dinner (no turkey for us), and while I was super hungover on Saturday, I'm thankful for the vodka sodas on Friday night (and from a few weeks ago at the Drake) that allowed my friends to get ridiculously drunk and provide hours of entertainment and great stories to last for years. But I promise that I don't drink alone (well not excessively) and I know when to stop. So please don't be freaked out that it's listed third here.
• BBM - I've mentioned this before, but really I think it's my favourite new technology.
• music - a soundtrack to my life makes things much more interesting.
• photography - along with the music, the images of my life that I wouldn't otherwise remember, remind me of all the good times I've had.
• the pathway system - I love that there are pathways dedicated to walkers, runners, cyclists, rollerbladers, etc that run through some of the most beautiful places in the city and that on sunny fall days like this past Saturday, people take full advantage of them.
• the Saturday newspaper - I do love the interweb and all the things you can find online, but there is still so much to be said for reading an actual paper full of stories from all around the world. Ideally with multiple cups of coffee.

There are obviously many more things that I am thankful for ... this is a list that could never end. But sometimes it's nice to stop and highlight a few.

thefacebook

Last night I saw The Social Network. I am not a movie reviewer, but here are my thoughts, take 'em or leave 'em.

First off, it was a very good movie. Was it the best movie I've seen this year (as some reviewers have taken to calling it)? No. Movies that I liked better than this one include The Kids are Alright, Me Too (a Spanish movie I saw at the film fest last week), and maybe even Inception. But still it was really good.

Obviously it's a great story - 19 year old screws over friends to become the youngest billionaire in the world. And more importantly, he created the phenomenon that is Facebook, of which I have been a member since sometime in 2007. To be able to write the code (whatever the hell that means), have it go viral, then mainstream and figure out how to make money from something that is ostensibly free is amazing. Even if it might not have been his idea to start out with, he took it and ran with it. Congrats Mr. Zuckerberg. The script was great - lots of talking, with subtle humour that you really have to listen for. I laughed out loud numerous times (and often times alone ... not sure if the rest of the theatre just wasn't paying as much attention as I was). The acting is great - Jesse Eisenberg in particular. And Andrew Garfield as the original CFO who really got screwed over. He was fabulous. It helps that he is super cute. And not at all age appropriate for me to be crushing on, but whatever. JT was good too - but really, I think I prefer him as a singer.

One thing I will say though is that there are no strong female characters in the movie. If we take this movies at face value (which I know we're not supposed to), it appears that there were no smart girls at Harvard in the early years of this decade - only groupies, girls bused in for parties, one night stands, slutty interns or complete whackos. I suppose you could argue that a female is responsible for the whole phenomenon (she breaks up with Zuckerberg, he starts an early version of facebook and then mopes when she doesn't accept his friend request right away), but really, this movie is about horny boys who happen to write computer code and turn out to be evil genuises.

What's almost more interesting than the movie itself is all of the coverage around it (mostly through blogs and other forms of social meadia) - what's true, what's not, what could be, and what definitely isn't. Seriously, if you want to waste a few solid hours reading some very entertaining articles, click on any of the above.

And as an appropriate coda to show just how useful Facebook really is, last night I did some Facebook stalking (one of my specialties) and found out that yankee hat guy and threesome date guy are friends. For serious. This city is just too damn small.

sister wives

Below is a partial transcript of the discussion that I had with HC (over BBM of course) while watching Sister Wives:

HC: "This is a lifestyle I don't get ...I feel like I'm programmed by society to only accept monogamy ... Which given events of recent past ... I don't have a ton of faith (or respect) in. Bizarre."

Me: "I don't think that polygamy is the answer though ...especially seeing as it is only reserved for men only. You never hear about "brother-husbands."*

HC: "No one wants multiple husbands ... The jury is often out on one, as far as I understand it. The bathroom habits alone... I couldn't handle it."

Me: "This guy does not seem like a winner."

HC: "Keep in mind his dad may be his cousin or something ... I think everyone is a few bricks short of a load."

So this was a semi-serious conversation about the merits of polygamy. Men, take this as a wake up call - all of the douchebaggery of late is making smart women like HC ponder an alternate lifestyle. This is not a good thing. Time for you to step up.

* Incidentally, I looked into women who marry more than one man ... it's called polyandry. And according to wikipedia, it's legal in Saskatchewan. Yep.

some helpful advice

Dear Don,

I know that you have been in a dark place of late. All that boozing, smoking, sleeping around, and lying about your true identity is bound to take a toll. But just because you're not feeling that great about yourself these days doesn't mean that you should settle for someone like Dr. Faye Miller. She's blonde. She's boring. She talks funny and I don't even think she's a real doctor. So this is why I cheered when Megan squeezed your hand, even if I think that making your way through the secretary pool is probably not the best way to ease your pain. In my humble opinion, I think you should go out and find Rachel Menken. I think we can all agree that she was the best of your mistresses. Apparently she's hanging out with a motorcycle gang (see Sons of Anarchy), but I think you can take them on. You are Don Draper after all.

Sincerely,

K

P.S. I really hope that Lucky Strike leaving SCDP doesn't mean the end of your agency. Because that would really suck.

P.P.S. Please tell Roger that I don't enjoy his sad sack routine. Without his quippy one liners, he is not nearly as attractive.