The Smallest Person

So, I realize that last year, I neglected to do my annual Remembrance Day post. Boo on me. But, maybe that's a good thing too - it means that none of our Canadian troops died while in service! Our time in Afghanistan ended in 2011, and since then, it's just been good ol' peacekeeping.

And yet...we still lost soldiers - one in a horrific purposeful hit & run, and another in the shocking events in Ottawa - made even more tragic because he was standing guard as sentry at the National War Memorial. He became Canada's son in those moments, moreso than any other young man who gave his life for us, because he was standing on guard for those who had died for us many many years ago. The irony was heart achingly sad.

Here's to all those who fight for us, leave their families and loved ones to protect us. To defend our country and make us proud. And boy do they ever.

Here's to all those who have died for us. Many of them young. Many of them married. Many of them with children. All of them have left behind someone who misses them terribly. To those who died this year, and all the years before, I say THANK YOU.

In Memory Of:

Lt. ANDREW F. WEBSTER
WO. PATRICE VINCENT
Cpl. NATHAN CIRILLO

These brave Canadian souls lost their lives this year. Once again, thank you. We shall not forget you.

Robin Williams died yesterday.

It is SO surreal. And very shocking. Apparently he took his own life, after a long struggle with depression and alcoholism. More shocking (to me) is how it has affected me. Usually a celebrity's passing is something I acknowledge and feel sad over, but I actually wept when I learned that Robin Williams was gone. And I continue to cry on and off throughout the day.

There is something about the man, the joy and laughter that he brought to so many lives, the way he touched so many people, his humour and wit, his gravitas and immense talent - it truly breaks my heart to think that such a light has gone out of our world. did

I actually did not know about his battle with depression, but isn't that always the way - those who shine the brightest have the darkest demons? Robin Williams has been so prevalent in our culture, one of those people who you just think you will always be there. From Mork and MIndy, to Dead Poets Society, to Aladdin, to Good Morning Vietnam, to Hook, to Patch Adams, to Mrs. Doubtfire, to Night At The Museum, to Good Will Hunting, to Popeye, to Jumanji, to The Birdcage, to Jack, to Insomnia, to One Hour Photo, to all the rest of the movies I have & haven't seen, he was so much more than just a hilarious comedian - he was a brilliant actor. His range was incredible, and I'm sure a lot of people (myself included) would have even realized it but for his untimely death now.

Barack Obama issued a statement regarding the actor's death:

"Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien – but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most – from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets. The Obama family offers our condolences to Robin’s family, his friends, and everyone who found their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams."

How appropriate and true.

"O Captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills"

Bangarang, Robin Williams, show them the white light you're made of!

I hope you have at last found the peace you need, Mr. Williams, God Bless.

Life comes at you hard sometimes. And then it grabs you and runs away with you, regardless of your plans and intentions.

I have a baby boy now.

Yes. I am now a mom. GAH! It sounds so crazy! Life has changed greatly since my last entry, and yet, not so much that I don't recognize it. The pregnancy was a "good one" according to many others (only a little nausea for the first five months; a week of super crazy lower back pain) and the labour was "not horrible" (36 hours of labour, including about 6-10 hours of terrible contractions; but only 25 minutes of pushing - something that impressed the doctor and nurses who told me most first time mothers experience at least three hours of pushing!!!!) and now I have a beautiful son. Throughout the pregnancy, I felt like a host for an alien life form, and I experienced MANY doubts about my future relationship to this "thing" once he was born.

He was born on July 23, he is now 10 days old, and I've fallen in love with him, head over heels, something which I DID NOT expect at all. I want nothing more than to give him the world, and it makes me feel super silly at times, but I guess that's what parenting is all about.

I'm exhausted and frustrated, but Husband and I are doing well and I am dreading when Husband has to return to work after taking two weeks off to be with me and Baby. I may go out of my mind, because I can't fathom doing all the changing and feeding and trying to nap, etc., etc., etc. by myself until Husband gets home from work. Gah. But hundreds of thousands of women do it everyday, so I can too.

In non-baby news:
*I'm currently reviewing military history books for an online British magazine. Fun! They send me books, I read, I review, they post.
*Kim's Convenience is going to start gearing up for a run at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton (without me!!!) and then a run in December at Soulpepper, which I'd like to SM...but I need to think very carefully about that (loss of maternity benefits, going back to work three months earlier than planned, etc.)
*Both of my parents have now retired and I fear that they may kill each other at home.
*I'm actually enjoying not being at work all the time...but I also miss it terribly and feel very left out/behind. Life.

Oh I've been so remiss on LJ'ing, and I feel horrible about it. Because it does force me to write and record my life and such and it's also been a part of my life for so long, I don't want to give up. SO I WON'T.

Anyway, recently came back from our big second family trip! ITALY! Much like Germany in 2010, the whole family packed up and off we went to eat gelato three times a day, the most delicious pasta, learn more about balsamic vinegar than I ever thought possible, and prosciutto every morning! It was great! Rome was overhyped and the worst part of the trip, Tuscany was relaxing and beautiful, Cinque Terre was a nice detour (and also the scene of the "death march" in which I felt like I was going to die) and Florence was AMAZING! Mike and I went off to Vienna at the end for a few days while the rest of the family went to Venice (but we'd already been there) and that was great too. I REALLY like Germanic countries. Like. LOVE. :)

Anyway, am now babysitting the niece and nephew and am stealing a few moments to blog. Because I haven't done it in a while.
Still fangirling over Band of Brothers, still in love with my dog, still doing Kim's Convenience (off to Hamilton in about a week) and still writing every now and then. I have all these great ideas in my head...it's just really hard to get them down on paper (or on the screen for that matter) in a manner that is true to the images in my brain.

I'd like to expand more on the Italy trip throughout this evening, but I feel like creative juices flowing and I'm going to write until the hockey game and then see what happens.

Okay Star Trek Into Darkness, you were fun & awesome, but I'm about to get all nitpicky on your cinematic ass!

Okay, I'm a Star Trek fan. I like Star Trek. I like fun. I like action movies. But mashing Star Trek plus fun plus action does NOT always equal A GOOD STAR TREK MOVIE. I commence my nitpicking. And if you haven't seen the movie, this might not make sense. If you have, feel free to provide a rebuttal. I like rebuttals.

First: SPOILERS.

Second: There is EXCESSIVE use of CAPITALS and exclamation marks from henceforth.If you are offended by such things, this is not something you want to read. You've been warned.

( And FIGHT!Collapse )


And if you want more nitpicky goodness, please read THIS ARTICLE which I feel was written by someone who was inside my head while I watched the movie, and maybe THIS ARTICLE and watch THIS VIDEO

 V. quick update-like-blurb: So...just started ANOTHER story! That's three I have on the go currently that are "active". Wow. When I write...I write. So, 2 chick lits, 1 Band of Brothers fan fic.
Why does the writing bug hit me after midnight? I want to sleep...BUT I WANT TO WRITE!!!! For some reason, when I try to write during the day....I get nothing...I'm all blocked. Then the sun goes down and my mind comes alive.
Bah.
And with my opera contract coming up, I'll have very little time to write...

What with this time on my hands since I have very few rehearsals for the show I'm doing for Rhubarb, and prep for the opera doesn't start till the end of the month...I am writing. Two scripts, fan fic and a chick lit. Maybe two chick lits. I hate that I'm writing them...I hope I don't make them too dumb. But, they are based on dreams I had and the dreams were awesome. True story!

Okay, so I finally saw Les Miserables and The Hobbit.
Reviews follow:

( Les Miserables...so miserable...Collapse )
( An Unexpected Journey (but totally expected MAGIC!)Collapse )

Non-movie related, my laptop died. I was GOING to take it to Geek Squad...and then BFE said he could fix it. And he did! But in the process...deleted all my files. Cry. But then he recovered all my files! Joy! And then he decided to back up my files. Nice. But it would take a day of dl'ing. Poop. And then he got impatient and broke my hard drive. Cry. And then he took it to a computer guy who said he could fix it! Joy! And guy fixed it! JOY! But then it didn't work. Cry. And so after all that...my laptop files EXIST. My laptop WORKS. But...the hard drive doesn't want to WORK. I just want to CRY. I just want my files. I don't care about the laptop. I can buy another. But, my WRITINGS!!! And my pictures!!! I was stupid to have NOT moved everything over to my external HD whenever I thought about it.

Sigh.

Also...moving to London, ON on Monday. Here we go.

Today is the 68th Anniversary of what is popularly known as the Battle of the Bulge, the German offensive in the Ardennes in December 1944 that was Hitler’s last great gamble in the West. We mark that anniversary today with a poem by two veterans of the 101st Airborne, Leonard Rapport and Arthur Norwood Jr, who were among many American Airborne troops besieged at Bastogne in 1944.

The poem is called ‘The Hills of Bastogne’.

The crops should be full in Belgium this year,
The soil should be fertile, but the price has been dear,
The wheat should be red on the hills of Bastogne,
For its roots have been drenched the the blood of our own.
Battered and reeling we stand in their way,
It’s here we are, and here we will stay.
Embittered, wrathful, we watch our pals fall,
God, where’s the end, the end of it all?
Confident and powerful, they strike at our lines,
But we beat them back, fighting for time.
Berserk with fury, they are hitting us now,
Flesh against steel – we’ll hold – but how?
For each day that we stay, more mothers must grieve.
For each hill that we hold more men must we leave.
Yes, honor the men who will some day come home,
But pray for the men ‘neath the hills of Bastogne.

(Originally posted by @sommecourt, Paul Reed at http://ww2battlefields.wordpress.c…)
(Photo of the Easy Company Memorial at the Ardennes Forest in Bastogne, Belgium, taken by Les E)

Dear world,

I know that I didn't post anything on FB or Twitter or Tumblr or ANYTHING about the shooting in Connecticut, and barely mentioned the stabbings in China, and yes, they were all horrible, especially because they happened to CHILDREN...but...I didn't think you would stick it to me by killing my friends.

It was especially heinous of you world, to take revenge by having the phone call come while we were enjoying visiting my in-laws whom we haven't seen in a while, and had just received Sean & Chelsea's Christmas card two days ago.

And world, I can't tell you how unbelievably impotent I felt when my husband got off the phone and began to cry.

And while all the news channels and papers and internets won't be abuzz with fury over the fucking stupid accident that claimed the all-too-short lives of our friends yesterday morning on a stupid slushy highway up in Timmins at the hands of a fucking tractor trailer and its driver who was sent to hospital with MINOR injuries while they were CRUSHED by his fucking truck, I will purposefully IGNORE the Connecticut shooting and the China stabbing and focus on my husband and his friends who were very close to Sean & Chelsea and have lost two lives that meant so much to them.

I don't hate the driver (yet) because we still don't have enough information about how the accident occurred, and all I can do now is pray that Sean and Chelsea were killed instantly and felt no pain.

So, in conclusion, fuck you world. Fuck you.

We miss you Sean and Chels...

Merry fucking Christmas.