Thursday Thoughts - 6 - My Internet Footprints

Just as a person's bookshelf will tell a lot about a person, the sites frequented by a person as she surfs the net is also a good snapshot into her inner life. If you look closely, you can find my internet footprints in the February snow.

1 - Art Renewal Center

This is where I find many of the art pieces which appear on my Sidebar Art Gallery - but not all.














2 - Ballet.co

This site salvaged my sanity when my husband and I first moved to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia from Toronto, Ontario ten years ago. I could read reviews of current ballet productions from companies all over the world. And it has a sizeable article archive, too.















3 - Convicts to Australia

This site is one example of web research I love to do for my various works in progress.











4 - Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com

I refer to both of these sites more times than you might suspect...







5 - Empire Theatres

A great site to find out what's on the screens, where and at what times they're playing.












6 - Facebook

This is my Facebook page. Just love Facebook. It keeps me in regular contact with so many of my friends and family members who aren't in hugging distance. Come and find me! I'm listed as Julia Smith.















7 - Internet Movie Database

What would I do without this site? I shudder to think. Although I have a somewhat photographic memory when it comes to remembering actors and where I saw them last, I rely on IMDB constantly when I want to check out an actor, director, etc. and what else they've done.

My favorite part of IMDB is the User Comments section attached to each film. Just love reading other viewers' reactions to films.













8 - Life Paths Animal Totems and Earth Medicine

This isn't the only animal totem site I go to, but it certainly is a comprehensive resource, as long as your totem is covered by this site. Otherwise, I simply Google search the animal in question and go where the results take me.












9 - The National Ballet of Canada

This one's a no-brainer...













10 - Poetry Forms and Terminology

A site I go to when I feel a poem coming on, and need to find a form to give it structure.












11 - The Quote Garden

I love including quotes in my cards to people. This is where I find many of them.












12 - Richard Armitage Online

My favorite fangirl site. I hit GB.net pretty regularly, too.














13 - YouTube

I'm listening to my YouTube playlist right now. Take My Hand, Precious Lord by Elvis, actually.

Tagged - I'm It! - 29

I've been tagged! Ellora's Cave author, Wylie Kinson, nailed me in the Tag, You're It! game.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. List 6 unspectacular quirks you have.
4. Tag 6 bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each person’s blog to let them know they’ve been tagged.

I always find it to be such a challenge to think of unspectacular quirks. I'm made up of nothing but quirks. How can there be anything unspectacular about moi?

Alright, alright - I'll think up 6 quirks and we'll call them unspectacular - how's that?

1 - I'm very open to animal totem messages.

What are those, you ask? Well, animal totems are spiritual guides who come to you if you can understand what they're saying. Did you ever hear the saying, when the student is willing, the teacher will come?


Most people aren't even aware of their animal totems, but with some attention, you'll start to notice. For example, my animal totem is the black panther. I've been attracted to panthers for my entire life, and I have a collection of panther prints and figures. I adore black Jaguar cars. I love everything to do with panthers. And the description of a person with the panther as her totem might as well have my picture on it.

One aspect of a person with the panther totem would explain my constant stream of messages given to me by animal totems. "Every thing about Black Panther has been geared toward a heightened awareness of his/her surroundings. Mysticism surrounds the Black Panther. With her penetrating yellow-green gaze, Panther evokes the sense that she is capable of looking into the future. Hence this beautiful cat is closely linked to Seers and Prophets." - Life Paths

So how would a person realize she's getting a spirit message from an animal totem? It all depends on the timing. And also on the oddness/appropriateness of the sighting.


For example, earlier this week I left the house to catch my bus for work. I live in a suburb, so it's never happened before that two ducks were hanging out at the corner of my street. I tried mentally telling them to shoo, but several cars had to drive around them before they decided to waddle up onto a lawn out of harm's way.

What was happening with me this week? I've been doing a lot of work on my Scorpius story, which in turn has stirred up some personal emotional work for me.

So what was Duck trying to tell me? "Her message is to listen to emotions and feelings as the bringers of truths, as opposed to side stepping or ignoring them as intolerable or shameful. Water Energy is the carrier of intuitive messages that can be missed due to intellectual stifling." - Goddess Realm Animal Totems

A strange coincidence?


When I was coming towards the end of my contract at the pension agency a few months ago, worrying and worrying about not being hired permanently, I walked towards the ferry after work. A black mink scurried along the wharf, right beside Salty's restaurant - right in front of me. Minks - if you're wondering - are not that common on the very populated and urban waterfront. In fact, I'd never seen one before that.

What had Mink come to tell me? "Are you completing a life cycle, something that you started long ago? Perhaps you are ready for a move? Mink will guide in this direction and will last approximately 2-3 weeks. Allow Mink's wisdom to show you the power of adaptability and balance." - Star Stuffs

After a really stressful month, I was hired permanently. Mink told me not to worry, but I worried anyway. But I did remind myself that Mink had told me not to.


2 - My scanning position would be a nightmarish bore to some people. Well, to many people. But for me, it's just the thing. I find tedious, repetitive work anything but.

For me it's meditative. It allows one part of my mind to work on my stories while I'm being paid to do something else for the province. It's win-win all around.



3 - Please - no speaker phone.

No drive-through speaker asking me for my order.

No CBC radio, talk-talk-talk-talk through the tinny, hissy speaker.

None of that.

I've got too many characters clamoring for my attention in my head as it is.



4 - I love wading into crowds, but I hate having to talk to individual people.

I love taking the bus, but I just want to sit there, look out the window and think. No talking to the person next to me. No extroversion, please. I'm an introvert.

I love moseying through a mall filled with shoppers. I'll even answer a question, if someone asks me. But I'll never go up to anyone myself and ask anything. Forget it.





5 - I don't have patience for people who have no patience.

Try and wrap your head around that one. Actually, to me it makes perfect sense. I'm very patient. I take my time and do things right.

Rushy people generally make mistakes, have to go back over their work and fix things, or the ultimate horror - they just don't care and let it go as is.

*shudder*





6 - If the particle smasher comes into common use, the first thing I would like to put into a black hole would be English-language voiceovers for foreign-language films.

Honestly, I can't bear to listen to them. Give me the beauty of the language being spoken by the actors. Let me hear their breath caught in their throat, their laughter, their cries. I don't want to experience half a performance.


Well, that was fun. Thanks, Wylie!

Now, a-tagging I will go, a-tagging I will go.

Ann
Apprentice Writer
Bobbi
Joy Renee
Kelly
Susan

Tagged - I'm It! - 20

Thomma Lyn tagged me for this 7 Things Meme. The rules:

Tell seven random and/or interesting things about myself. Get five blog buddies to play, too and link to their blogs. Don't forget to post the rules.

Well, that was painless. Let's go -



1 - Night Watch and Day Watch

As you may know, my current obsession revolves around two amazing Russian urban paranormal films, based on a series of books by Sergei Lukyanenko. I've recently finished the first book and I'm in the middle of the second book right now.










I just love this shot from Night Watch. Anton, played by Konstantin Khabensky, is trying to see through the dimensions to ward off an attack by a vampire.




The sequel, Day Watch picks up where Night Watch leaves off. Basically, it's a modern fable about the forces of Light and Dark, filtered through a post-Soviet Russia. There's lots of Cold War references, where each side closely watches the other to ensure their Truce is observed.

Pictured on the poster here is Alisa, a witch and a Day Watch agent who keeps tabs on the Light. Anton and Svetlana are magicians and Night Watch agents who keep tabs on the Dark. They also have a romantic relationship.





In this shot from Day Watch, Svetlana has pushed her way into a deeper level of the Gloom, and Anton cannot follow. She's chasing a young Dark One. This sequence is really amazing. In reading the books, the challenge of shooting the scenes that take place in the Gloom would seem daunting, but director Timur Bekmambetov found a fabulous way to do it.



2 - Animal Totems - Polar bear and Panther

An animal totem is a spiritual guide who gets our attention by being something we are drawn to throughout our lifetime. Is there an animal with whom you've always felt a deep kinship? Do you run into images of this animal over and over again? Do you collect images of an animal? Conversely, is there an animal of whom you are terrified? Or have you been bitten by an animal? Sometimes the totem seeks a sharp means of connecting.

My husband Brad's animal totem is the polar bear. He's a lifelong fan of Coca Cola, and its polar bear mascot just intensified this connection. He has a small collection of Coke bears, and whenever I see a photo of a polar bear, I immediately think of Brad, through size, body language and its remoteness out on the tundra.

"The white color associated with the polar bear is very significant. It represents 'purity of spirit'. Polar Bear serves as a valuable ally in overcoming fear, both physical and mental. Known as the 'Ice Man' in some tribes because of its preference for hunting on sea ice, Polar Bear's environment is symbolic. It points to the frozen emotions stored within oneself and the need for allowing those emotions to express themselves. Those with this medicine have karmic challenges associated with flexibility, change and stubbornness.

They know how to conserve their strength as well as their energy and use both at the most appropriate time for the best outcome. Polar bears weigh up to 1600 pounds and can knock a 500 pound seal out of the water with one blow. They are the most aggressive and carnivorous of all bears. Polar bears have no enemies in the animal kingdom. Their only enemy is the human hunter." - sayahda.com


I've always been attracted to the black panther. Significantly, I've been allergic to cats all my life, no matter that I've taken two sets of allergy shots with 'cat' included in the serum. I'm better than I used to be with them, but there's no pet cats in my future I'm afraid. That tells me how strong the cat totem is for me. I have several panther prints and statues, including a little one by my bed.

"The Black Panther has perhaps the greatest mysticism associated with it. Panther is of a lunar significance and often signals a time of rebirth after a time of suffering. This implies that an old issue may finally begin to be resolved. As a totem, it awakens the inner passions, signaling not just a time of coming into one's own power, but reclaiming one's true power. The Black Panther always brings a guardian energy to those to whom it comes.

This often means facing aspects of the self or of life that have been painted over, or covered up to be forgotten. A powerful and ancient totem, it is the symbol of the Goddess, ferocity and valor. Panthers are solitary creatures and develop an inner knowing. They can be absolutely silent when stalking their prey: with a Panther totem, you will find your greatest power in silence and stealth, as you pursue your goals and aspirations." - fortunecity.com





3 - The best thing about Canada's East Coast Navy

I live in Halifax, which among other things is a naval port. Growing up, we also had an airforce base here, and many of my friends' fathers were in the military. The airforce base is unfortunately an aviation museum these days, but the navy chugs along.

Which brings me to my next door neighbor, Mack, a sailor aboard HMCS Preserver.


This is a photo of the Preserver in action, refueling the USS Ingraham during Operation Apollo on the Arabian Sea several years ago. Mack was at sea for this operation.

Photo - Replenishment at sea by MCpl Brian Walsh


When he's not at sea, Mack moseys around on his roof putting up Christmas lights (that's him behind me, two Christmases ago.) Mack is the World's Best Next Door Neighbor. He shovels our shared driveway before I can get out of my pyjamas. Mack and his wife Freida, that is - technically it's a tie for the World's Best Next Door Neighbor.

My mom and I can't do enough for them, and they are always there for us. The best thing about the navy is having a sailor for a next door neighbor. 'Ready, Aye, Ready'


4 - My east coast family and my Toronto family

My world is all about family. I've only taken one trip that didn't take me back and forth to family and friends.

This is my Nova Scotia clan at a family dinner in February. Back row: Newt, my sister Michelle, Mom, Brad, me, my cousin Julianne, Heather and Emily
Front row: Uncle Charlie, my cousin Charlie, Sarah, Auntie Noel, Laura, Stephen holding Molly


This is my other east coast clan. Clockwise from Baby Ava, Matt, Natasha, my step mom Doris, Michelle and Newt.





And then we have my Toronto family who I miss SO much: clockwise from my mother-in-law Joan, Brad, our nieces Emily and Christi, Jeremy, Violetta and my brother-in-law Jeff (whom I featured as a guest poet on the Poetry Train) holding Christi & Jeremy's Baby Brianna.


These guys technically live in Ottawa but I usually see them in Toronto: clockwise from Baby Brianna, our godson and nephew Francis, nephew Peter, my brother-in-law Ken and Anna, whom I featured in my cyber gallery.)



And this is my sister-in-law Karen with Jeff's daughter Emily.








5 - The Aunt Sheila rose

My Aunt Sheila always loved yellow roses. When she passed away five years ago (wow, that seems crazy) we wanted to plant a yellow rose bush in our yard, in her memory. This is how it looked last summer.


This is the last time we were all together. She and Uncle Frank lived in Virginia, and they came up for a month-long visit when Brad and I lived with Gram in her Yarmouth house. Here in this picture we've got Gram, Brad, Mom seated and Aunt Sheila in red. Uncle Frank was there, just not in this picture. We celebrated the four November birthdays and Christmas early (it was September.) We laughed a lot!


6 - Toronto Romance Writers meeting, October 2007

When Brad and I flew to Toronto for his parents' 50th wedding anniversary, another big highlight for me was attending the TRW meeting. I got to see blog buddies in 3D. Here is Amy Ruttan, Leah Braemel and me.


Eve Silver gave the talk, and here is Amy, Eve, Wylie Kinson and me. Meeting you was so wonderful! ((hugs))


Next time I go there, I'll be able to see my long lost Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada buddy Christine d'Abo, shown here at right at last year's writers' retreat. That's Renee Field beside her.


7 - Jo Beverley

A few years ago, I couldn't believe my own fabulous fortune when our RWA chapter hosted historical romance author Jo Beverley for an all-day workshop. I'm a total Jo Beverley fan girl. She's my favorite, favorite, favorite.


Enjoying the workshop is Deborah Hale, my cousin Julianne MacLean and Lilly Cain.


Across the room we have Mary Louise, me, Kelly Boyce and Cathryn Fox.






And now - a-tagging I will go, a-tagging I will go...

Ann
and Anne
Flowerpot
Samantha Lucas
Susan