Life after death?

Written by Kate Atkinson, Life after Life explores themes of fate, family and independence through the eyes of Ursula Todd, a baby born, and dead, and born again in 1910.

Let me explain.

A story punctuated by near misses, Life after Life explores what it would be like to be able to be born again and again and do things differently based on what you've learned, or vaguely remembered, from a past life.

While Ursula (ahem!) doesn't always remember her past lives, she does have feelings, mostly of dread, when she realizes that she is about to embark on a path that might, eventually, lead to her early demise.

When I started reading LAL I wasn't sure I would be able to handle reading repeating sections of text - I actually found it a little annoying at first - but as the story progressed I became absolutely engrossed in Ursula's life and the decisions she made.

Based on the premise that hindsight is 20/20, Atkinson's book sees Ursula doing everything from avoiding getting raped (and pregnant) and shooting Hitler to choosing the right mate and fate.

Originally recommended by Elaine Lui of Lainey Gossip and eTalk fame, the book is an intelligent and well-written look into the life of one woman in wartime Europe.

One of my favourite quotes from the book, that "some Buddhist philosophers believe that sometimes a bad thing happens to prevent a worse thing from happening," has given me immense comfort, and courage, the past few days...

What would you do differently if you had the chance to live your life over and over again?

Do you have regrets? 

I remember watching a video on YouTube (I think) that was filmed in Romania (again, I think) about regret and what was really interesting is that the majority of people expressed regret at having NOT done things rather than having done them.

Like I say... life's a garden, dig it!

For an interesting take on regret, check out Kathryn Schulz's Ted Talks and let me know what you think.

    

Seeing signs everywhere

Some (or even most) people like to take pictures of people. 

Then there are those who enjoy photographing landscapes... and such.

Then there's me... who can't get enough of signs!

 so clever!

Whether I'm travelling in Europe or walking around my hometown I often find myself drawn to signs.

I'm not sure if it's the images, the writing, or the combination of both, but I find signs fascinating and have accumulated quite a photo collection of them.

 lol

 stop and take some time to... do some art?

A sign can be one of many things. 

It can used to identify or advertise a place of business, to indicate the rules of the road or to express a feeling or thought. It can also refer to an object or event whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else.

I'm always looking for signs... of all varieties.

I've come face to face with a couple of interesting ones lately (again, of all varieties) and have thus decided to share a few... the ones I could photograph anyway.

My dad recently told me that we hailed from Gypsy stock so the following sign really caught my attention...

And just look at these... an adorable (and bilingual) missing dog and found tefilin (sic)...

According to Wikipedia and in case you're curious, tefillin (correctly spelled with two l's), also called phylacteries, are a "set of small, black, leather boxes which contain scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah."    

And finally, an artist who enjoys signs as much as I do.

Friday five

Street style has become a global phenomenon thanks to the world wide web. 

With literally hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs dedicated to street style worldwide - including an old friend of mine's, Tommy Ton, who is the talent behind Jak & Jil - it isn't surprising that more and more people are turning to regular people to see what's hot... 

... and what's not.

According to Andy Warhol, "in the future everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes." While he eventually tired of that line and changed it to "in fifteen minutes everybody will be famous," I'll stick with his initial thought and tell y'all about my fifteen (or five) minutes of fame.

The Huffington Post is an online news "aggregator" and blog founded by Arianna Huffington, among others, which has been running a recurring feature called "Styles de rue," or street styles, which highlights stylish Montrealers on the streets of, well, Montreal.

And guess who they papped?

That's right.

Lil ol' me. 

But don't worry. I won't let my 15 minutes get to my head. How could I when these guys are rocking (and socking) true street style?

 

  

Neighborhood watch

According to Merriam-Webster, there is an inextricable link between the word "neighbor" and the word(s) "fellow man," or kindred human being.

Not where I live.

Where I live, a neighbor is someone who calls the city to complain about another neighbor's lawn.

Sigh...

Moving here has been very different than I thought it would be and one of the most difficult things has been making new friends.

I used to be the kind of gal who made new friends everywhere she went.

Since moving here though, it feels as if I haven't met a single kindred spirit.

Except for Tammy.

Tammy is a neighborhood cat and truth be told... she is one of the few things (people?) that has made me smile this week.

Isn't she beautiful? 

Last night a little after 1 a.m. I realized I had forgotten to take the recycling out. Since the truck comes by early in the morning and I didn't want to miss it, I decided to get out of bed and do the deed.

I scampered down the stairs and dragged the recycling bin, yard waste bin and six cardboard boxes filled with the remains of the day garden to the curb before turning around to see Tammy trying to make a break for it... into my house.

This isn't the first Tammy has tried to adopt me, or the house I live in, and I hope it isn't the last because the look she gave me before scurrying away filled my heart with hope and love.

Seriously.

The reason I had so much garden waste - a bin and six boxes seems a little excessive, don't you think - is because a neighbor who shall remain nameless (the cranky Polish guy next door) complained to the city about the sorry state of our lawn and gardens.

In addition to being the last thing I needed to deal with this week it also made me feel really bad, and kind of sad, because I actually put a lot of work into, and take a lot of pride out of, maintaining what I thought was a beautiful home.  

To satisfy the neighbor (and the city which gave me one week to address the issue) I spent the last three days weeding, pruning and mowing (for the first time, might I add).

Unlike Gwyneth Paltrow... who works a seventies vibe.

Here are two quotes that sum up the way I feel about life right now...

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people (OR CATS!) who rekindle the inner spirit.

Albert Schweitzer

A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.
Leo Buscaglia

 





 

SoCal speak

Speech patters, or the distinctive manners in which people speak, fascinate me.

Personally, I've always had a penchant for a slightly questioning tone or high rising terminal - one that rises slightly at the end as if the speaker is asking a question. 

Think Anthony Bourdain. 

Or Nicole Richie.

Known as "uptalking," it is a common trait in Spanish language speech patters which explains why it is so ubiquitous in Southern California.

And amongst the Kardashians. 

Also known as Valleyspeak (sorry Tony!), uptalking implies that the person speaking cannot be 100% declarative because everything they say ends with a slight... flourish. And it also usually includes a "like," or two, thrown if for good measure.

You, like, know what I'm talking about???   

One of the many reasons that I'm obsessed with the K-dashes is the way they eat. 

Especially Kourtney. 

She chews very carefully. And deliberately.

Just so.

She talks the same way. Enunciating. every. syllable. 

Especially her s's.

Lovesss it.

Apparently I'm not the only one who has a thing for the Calabasas dialect. Emma Watson, who stars in Sofia Coppola's latest film The Bling Ring, based her speech pattern on the manner of speaking prevalent in Calabasas, CA where the Kardashians are from.

Just saying.














    

Beach Blanket Bingo

So the other day I was watching The View - umm, you know, as you do - and they were talking to Frankie Avalon, the very former teen idol who popularized the beach party movie with Anette Funicello, about something or other...

If I were in a beach party movie the soundtrack would most definitely be Santo and Johnny's Sleep Walk, circa 1959.

But back to beach blankets. 

I had the opportunity to roll out my very own not long after my View viewing at St-Zotique Beach, located a mere 45 minutes outside of Montreal.

Complete with sun, sand and water, the beach is "the ideal place to spend quality time with your family" according to the website. It's also the ideal place to enjoy the most multicultural, and delicious, barbeque ever. And that's according to me.    

But the proof, as they say, is in the pudding...

Aside from barbequing, the beach was also a great opportunity for some people to get some baptizing in. Apparently.

But above everything, the beach, and beach party vibe, provided me and my pals with some good, clean fun on an otherwise... very hot day. There's nothing a little Banana Boat and a frolic in the ocean (or in this case, Lac Tabar...) won't cure.  

 

And to end, a song from another day, another beach and another couple...