Showing posts with label Just stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Just stuff. Show all posts

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Everything You Need To Know

My younger son graduated from elementary school this year and part of the process was getting a published Yearbook. As I contributed photos to the yearbook (yay!) I was just as excited to flip through it as he was. But I have to admit, my favourite page is full of quotes from the Grade 5 class in response to "Any advice for next year's Grade 5's?"

In the spirit of Robert Fulgham, I thought you might enjoy reading their responses:

Listen in class.
Listen carefully and follow instructions.
Don't get stressed by homework, it'll only get you frustrated.
Bring your homework back to school.

Make good choices, use your manners, be awesome.
Be a role model.
Don't be a tattle tale.
Don't get into trouble.
All the kids look up to you so do good stuff and help when needed.

Stay on your toes.
Make memories, work hard, have fun.
Participate.
When in PE don't be afraid to go all out. Do your best!

Study.
Study Math.
Listen in Math.
Try to live through Math.

Don't be an idiot. Be Smart!
Be creative.
Believe in yourself.
Get some sleep. 

Hmmmm. Pretty good stuff. Pretty smart kids.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Man in Black Mini Concert

While exercising upstairs at the Commonwealth Community Centre yesterday, there was a water polo tournament going on in the pool below me. Headphones on, I was elliptical hiking (that's what I call it to make me feel better when I am inside the gym on a beautiful day) to the beat of  the Red Hot Chili Peppers trying my best to keep up with the game below.

The timer ticked down and the action stopped as the home team lost to the visitors. Both teams, one exuberant the other forlorn, exited the pool and toweled off as this Man in Black, head to toe, casually sauntered onto the pool deck with an electric guitar in hand.

He grabbed the microphone from the announcer, plugged into an amp and started to rock out, shuffling his feet with his moves like Jagger.

Lime green bikinis and fluorescent orange board shorts jumped from the diving boards behind him. Dads threw little boys into the air and let them splash back into the water. A family of folks were playing water volleyball in the shallow pool, oblivious to the concert just steps away. All the while this Man in Black kept rocking out, singing his heart out, strumming his guitar and shuffling away.

Now, I was listening to Californication, and there was a wall of glass and about a hundred feet between us, so I have no idea what he was playing, but I can only assume he was doing a good job as a few of the judges got up from their seats and started dancing, bumping hips and clapping hands and laughing between them.

There is truly nothing better in this world than watching people step out, and stand out, from the ordinary and do something extraordinary. Thank you Man in Black for the smiles you brought to all of us watching you.


Monday, January 30, 2012

10,000 Views

Hey! I just noticed this blog has received over 10,000 views. Crazy! Thanks for all you readers out there!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Liking the Outlook

Here's my Gemini outlook for 2012. I think I like it! And thanks to Ninette for pointing this bit of good news (hey, take it where you can get it).

"This really is your year. Not only does the once-in-a-lifetime Venus transit fall in your sign but Jupiter, planet of success and enlightenment, also begins a 13-month stay in Gemini. Their combined influence will help you to recognize without a shadow of doubt where your future lies – and chances are it will have little to do with material goals, acquisitions or accomplishments. Your worldview will alter dramatically, as will your priorities. By the time the last of the year’s four eclipses falls in your sign on Nov. 28, you will know how to make those changes work, not just for yourself but for the wider community too."

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Cabin Resort, RV Highrise, Public Art . . . What Is This?

Not mine, but I love the composition and storytelling of these photos! Found them both here.



Thursday, June 16, 2011

A simpler life for the next 40 years

My friend and I were chatting back and force via email, and he wrote this. I kinda like it... a lot!

"I often fantasize about spending my days selling photo prints out of a booth at Granville Island Market ...and calling up my fiance in the afternoon: “Honey, I made $13 today! Come on down, we’re having fish tacos tonight!!”"

Ah.... now that sounds like a simple, sweet life. Perhaps something to shoot for sometime over the next 40 years.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Top 15 Music over 40 years

Quite a while ago my son asked me to list the 15 most influential music albums in my life. I'm not sure why, but I didn't get around to it until today. I guess I thought it would make a good Turning 40 post. A retrospective of the last 40 years of my life. Here goes in chronological order (according to my brain, and not necessarily an album date):

1. Shaun Cassidy, 1977
This was my first and last major infatuation with a celebrity. I remember sitting in my bedroom, with its red shag carpet, looking at his debut Shaun Cassidy album cover for hours.  "Da Doo Ron Ron" was my favourite song, of course.

2. Quirky Song Collection,
While I can't recall the name of the album, I can still sing the songs, including "Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)", "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)", "Yakety Yak", "Seven Little Girls (Sitting in the Back Seat)", and "The Purple People Eater".

3. Bill Haley and the Comets
I thank my dad for this one. He really likes the America 50's rock and roll music and for quite a while I explored music during that time. "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Rock Around the Clock" were perfect songs to clean my bedroom to. This led me to Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Coasters, Ritchie Valens, Elvis Presley and others.

4. Elvis
Yep, I was a HUGE Elvis fan. Don't listen very much now, but still love "Blue Christmas" and "Jailhouse Rock".

5. The Beach Boys
First concert. I still remember being front row dancing with other young Beach Boys fans (just a few of us with hordes of older fans in the rows behind). Inspired the Gilby Freedom Bad Mother Fucker road trip to Malibu where I first unsuccessfully learned to surf. Greatest Hits Volume 1.

6. The Clash
Who hasn't been influenced by The Clash? Combat Rock. Bring back my black boots, ripped black tights, long black Batman t-shirt and plaid logger jacket. Major black eyeliner. Mosh pit.

(6A. Tiny shout out to the Stray Cats here as well for making a runner-up appearance.)

7. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Album: I Love Rock 'n' Roll. "Crimson and Clover" was the best song to sing along to driving down any old freekin' freedom highway when you first get your license and keys to any ole beat up 72 Toyota Corolla. "I Hate Myself for Loving You." No, I don't.....still love it!

8 . Collection, Sixties Music
You know, all those great songs they put in movies about the Vietnam war. Peace, love, granola stuff and those tough songs with helicopters in the background.

9.. The Doors
Ah... memories of The Doors. All of them fuzzy. Hazy. Something about sleeping under a dining room table..... While not necessarily live in the moment, it was nice groovin' to their Greatest Hits compilation.

10. Bob Marley
His best-known hits include "I Shot the Sheriff", "No Woman, No Cry", "Could You Be Loved", "One Love". All great, but for me, it was all about "Exodus". Over and over and over and over and over again. All the time. Legends has to be one of the best all around albums of all times.

(10a. Somewhere in here I have to shout out to Spirit of the West Save This House, for adding zest and life and fun to frickin' everything whenever I played them. They know how to liven up a west coast party! Still on the dance list...)

11. Depeche Mode
Album: Music for the Masses. Best. Concert. Ever. I still know every song off by heart. I lived and died by Depeche Mode, all shrouded in black and black and more black and some purple hair and vintage chic thrown in for colour.

12. Pixies
Just amazing music. Too hard to pick a fav album. Defining sounds that surrounded some defining moments in my life. I love the edge and clarity they brought to that time in my life.

(12a. Shout out to Sebadoh, Pavement, Dinosaur Jr. Helmet, Galaxy 500, Meet Daisy, Violent Femmes, Velvet Underground, Camper Van Beethoven and all other sounds that filled those "band days".)

13. Enya
Enya. The music I played for both my kids. The music I got married to. I still hum her in the quiet times.

14. Liz Phair.
Exile in Guyville. Great album. Fucking great album. Toughens you up. Makes you want to clean your house in your bra while smoking and drinking. And then tell everyone to go fuck themselves. Yep..... gotta love her!

15. Nirvana
I still get pissed that Nirvana isn't playing anymore. Nevermind.

Yep, music doesn't influence as much anymore. I am influenced more by other things, but it's still a part of my life. And heck, I still reserve the right to add 16 anytime in the next 40 years. Perhaps gypsy music or Public Access or Ben Harper, or .......

The (Illustrious) Gypsy has spoken

Not to be outdone by my super stud husband  (read blog post below) I put my 25 cent piece into The Gypsy to have the illustrious and beautiful Madame Esmeralda read my fortune. Forty years of livin' has given me top marks for Luck and Creativity...very nice, I'll take that! However, my fairly-high (not to be confused with highly-fair) love ranking needs some work if I'm going to keep up with super stud.

25 cent SUPER STUD

Yep, it's true. The 25 cent LOVE METER at the top of Hell's Gate Airtram rated my husband as SUPER STUD. Final reading. Bona fide.

I am one lucky gal, for sure!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

40 times better

Just donated 40 pieces of clothing (give or take) I no longer need. Some wouldn't fit me unless I dropped 40 lbs and some wouldn't fit me even if I gained 40 lbs. Some have been out of style for 40 years - or perhaps in style, out of style, in style and then out again. Let's just say I'm not waiting for my fifties for them to be fashionable again. 

Dropped two hefty garbage bags off at The Mustard Seed. Four people offered to help me carry these two bags and as I was leaving a wrinkled, somewhat toothless man with a pancake-sized chocolate chip cookie held the door open for me and smiled. "God bless you," he said.

All of which made me feel 40 times better.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Our Family History

Okay, so my horoscope said something about not starting any new projects today, as I don't have time and will become overwhelmed. I think I read something about burnout....

Who am I to listen? I just hit send on what could end up being a rather large project.

For many years I have been intrigued by my family history, mostly because I just don't know very much about it. Most of my grandparents passed away when I was very young and I know very little about who they were. And my husband's family not only speaks another language (Czech) but their family records were lost when they escaped from communist controlled Czechoslovakia in 1978. Let's just say our collective history is pretty thin....

But this is the year "I will do anything and everything I want, and pay for the fun when I'm forty-one." And I decided this is the year I would document my family history... at least a bit of it...back to our great-grandparents. The "pay for it" will come next year when I will be too exhausted to research or write anything. But hopefully by that time I will have a neat bow tied around a tidy history book. And a huge grin on my face. And a shared history to offer my kids to help them understand their place in this world.

Burnout shmurnout. Bring it on! (Eeek....did I mention I also wanted to write a novel this year....oh god, what have I done??)

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Secret Agent Susan

Read this today:

"Scandinavian notebook maker Archie Grand produces high quality notebooks for designers, artists, secret agents and other breeds of charlatans, scoundrels and luminaries."

I want a secret agent notebook! How cool is that!!

More appropriately I should get a notebook for this year, my 40th birthday year. And I will fill it with adventures, clippings, secret messages, and mishaps from a year of living life in a plane, on a train, in a car, near and far, and on the edge.... of 39 that is.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

If you had a million dollars

Dear Mom,

When you win the lottery I give you full permission to surprise me by booking this entire boutique boat for me and my dive friends. I know I haven't put my SCUBA mask on in a while (really, the cold BC currents aren't so appealing any more) but I would have no problem diving off this Phinisi in Indonesia.

You can come, too, and just lounge around on deck and get spa treatments or hang in your room and watch movies or melt into your bed. I will join you for a waterfront cocktail once I'm out of the water and back on the Arenui.

Love
Susan

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Dear Red Bike

It's been almost two months since we last saw each other, and I wanted you to know that I really miss you and think about you all the time! Really. I miss your strong pedals and your grippy bars and your shiny red coat. I miss your kickstand, too. And your lock. I really miss your lock, cause it was just so cool and I wish all the time I still had you and your lock with me. I miss locking you up by the church in Middleburg (you know the one) before we headed to the flea market and found that basket of Smurfs and even though I didn't buy any I still wish I had. I miss Papa Smurf. I miss your speed and agility as we rode by cows and "mini-campings" and cute country homes. And the way you turned me when we soared on the blue path right by the turn to the green path and we had to backtrack. You know, you really kicked my ass that day - for the entire 38 kilometres...well, okay, perhaps just the last 18 - and the memory of it still hurts.


















p.s. I hope your bell isn't rusty yet.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Baguette Bistro Bro

Look! My brother is in Look. The local Burnaby magazine, that is. Just click on page 9. But look, I know the heading says "Gourmet Brunch at Home" but don't listen to that nonsense. You have to head to Chez Meme Baguette Bistro to truly experience the "breakfast creation that's a definite gastro-delight" live in person. And that way, you can meet my sister-in-law Isabelle. A few photos to whet your bon appetit:







Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Scrimp or Splurge?

Personally, I prefer both!

A good friend Anita launched a new website, scrimporsplurge.ca, which I love. Being a relatively new Victorian (okay, it's been a few years now, so not that new) I still have much to learn about the ins and outs of where-to-go, what-to-do and who-to-buy-from about town. Cool tips and tricks from Anita? I'll take them gladly!

Oh, and check out the photo gallery of Victoria scenes, featuring little Hugo Spence, not to mention a few other Susan Rybar photos.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Love this!

From my friend Margaret's Facebook status:

"So the barista at the coffee shop at my hotel this morning was all of about 20 years old. He told me he is in the midst of buying a typewriter to improve his writing. Said that with a typewriter, you have to think before you write. Wise words from a young lad."

Thursday, March 18, 2010

I'm alive

It has been a while since my last post. It has been a while since my last..... thoughtfully written post (still might be a while yet). And, while these simple words I am about to write are not eloquent, profound, or philosophical, I find it refreshing that there is a spark in my belly that urges me to write.... whatever there is to share, now.

Time moves on from day to day. During busy, chaotic periods, time moves quickly from task to task to task, from sun up to sun down, leaving little room for tired brains and energyless anything to find space for creative thought.

I have no creative thought now. I have no organized thought now. All I have is a little spark simmering just enough to ramble on and on.

I kinda like that. I need more rambling in my life. More spontaneous combustion. More space for possibilities.

Kapow.

I am going upstairs to grab our bellows. I will open my mouth wide and force some air into the wee spaces in my soul and stoke that simmering spark. 

Burn baby burn.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Going to be all right

I took the skytrain from New West to Vancouver early, early, dark in the morning a few days ago. Somewhere close to Chinatown a glowing white sign illuminated the skyline.

"Everything Is Going To Be All Right"

I smiled. "I know," I said to myself. "I know."

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

font

Further to my last post, I also had to pick out a font that I liked.

After the designers version of a blind taste test, I picked Helvetica. Turns out the font is over 50 years old, it's the most widely used and recognized font ever, and has recently become the subject of its own movie.

Described as distinctive, professional and timeless, the font that will represent me also represents Crate & Barrel, American Airlines, Mattel, The North Face, Dole, National Car Rental, evian and Harley Davidson. Oh, and it also is used by Jeep, which happens to have a moss green colour attached to its Helvetica font.

Funny how you can be attracted to something so quickly. My immediate reaction on seeing Helvetica during my taste test (visual test) was akin to love at first sight. A pang of longing over I don't know what. Just words. Swirls and a perfect letter "a."

This has not been written in Helvetica.