Category Archives: Not your average writing

Vancouver – the dead man zone

 

You’re a woman of just about any age walking down the street, and a car goes by and you hear the shrill of a high pitched whistle, and then, ”Hey baby, nice ass!”  In fact, wherever you go you here names like “honey,” “baby,” “sweetie,” “cutie,” “beautiful” and “darling.” Sounds kind of like a town in Texas, don’t it? It’s actually the city of London, Ontario, a decent-sized city of just over 368,000 people located in the southwestern part of the province, a two-hour’s drive west of Toronto. As a person of the feminine gender, you are bound to get stared at, smiled at, whistled at, hit on, yelled at and even groped if you’re on a crowded city bus. It actually sounds like any big city, really, but from my experience of being born and raised there for twenty-four years, it happens the most often in London. I’ve lived in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, spent time in Montreal, Seattle, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. I’ve never been to New York, so I can’t speak for that city.  However, one place in my experience was actually worse:  Cancun, Mexico. I’ve never heard so many “Hey Chiquita!” and marriage proposals during a one-week, all-inclusive vacation.

It’s either demeaning or ego-boosting, depending on the mood you or the person you’re with are in. After awhile, it becomes the norm, occurring at any time of the day in any location from the drug store to the local pub. Every woman can feel quite attractive yet preyed upon, never quite deciding if it offends her or not.

So you want to get away from all the laud attention and feel like a human being of equality and self-respect. Hail the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. Located by the Pacific Ocean, this city is known for its majestic beauty of mountain-lined coasts and valleys of rain forests.  People here love the outdoors and partake in sporting events such as rock-climbing, hiking, sailing, skiing, snowshoeing, golfing and running.

You arrive here and instantly notice how much more peaceful your walks downtown and to the corner store are (only if you can tune out the pandemonium of the death-defying traffic). It’s not just because of the ocean breeze blowing in your ears or the gentle lapping of the waves on the shores.  There’s no one yelling at you (except for the bad drivers), no sideways glances or whispering a demeaning name under his breath as he passes you. You are confident your self-respect has been restored and you actually feel liberated for once in your life.

But this liberation has gone too far. After months of the screaming silence, you notice something else. When you walk down the street, you don’t even get a glance from a man who passes you by. He doesn’t even acknowledge your presence. You say hello to one and he completely ignores you. Either you’ve gotten really ugly over the past few years, or all the men in Vancouver are gay, castrated or just too exhausted from all the outdoor sports. Maybe all the fresh mountain air has blown away all the pheromones and sexual desire. Oh, wait a minute, homeless men talk to me all the time, but they usually want money.

I went to a club once in the downtown core. My friend who is very attractive was wearing a black mini-dress showing good cleavage and pleather high-heeled boots. She looked hot. Not one single guy came up to her. She got a few fleeting glances. The men were literally on one side of the bar and women on the other, like a high school dance.

What is it with the men in Vancouver? I don’t care for the catcalling and shrewd whistling, but being liberated or not, there is still such a thing as attraction and if I’m in the mood to flirt, I’d like to have it reciprocated, even if it’s on the Skytrain. The men all stare at their feet. I know I’m not a supermodel in looks, but I also know I’m reasonably attractive to look at, especially in London.

small things you can do to change your perspective that don’t cost the planet

inspired by Keri Smith

(an ongoing list)

1. Change the height at which you perform everyday tasks. (i.e. brush your teeth while on your knees.)

2. Look under every object you encounter for a week.

3. Wear sunglasses all day (inside and outside). Notice how it feels to take them off.

4. Alter your body somehow so as to impede your motor function slightly. i.e. tie two fingers together.

5. For one day greet everyone you encounter with “top o’ the morning to ya!”

6. Speak through a tube (paper towel tube, then recycle it when you’re done).

7. Move frequently used items (i.e. salt and pepper shakers) to places they are not normally found.

8. Place something small behind your ear for an entire day. See if you forget about it.

9. Cut your food into new and interesting shapes. Arrange your dinner (or your table items) into a “grid” formation.

10. Exclude one vowel from all of your emails.

11. For one month create all of your correspondence on an outdated form of technology. (i.e. typewriter, pen & paper, dictaphone).

12. Add something to your name. (“the 3rd”, “the great”, “the illustrious”) Alternate: Add some letters to your name but don’t tell anyone.

13. Sponsor a contest based on an everyday task. (i.e. “Contest for person whose socks stay up consistently”)

Now to muster up the courage to do at least one of them (without getting fired!)

Creepy Critters


Halloween is a holiday with lots of creepy wildlife associated with it, but are they really so creepy? From toads to bats to owls, the National Wildlife Federation shares the facts about these animals and what they are up to at this time of year, which might dispel a few myths.

Bats

 

Blood sucking vampire bats are real – but they mostly feed on chickens and cows and only live in Latin America. Most North American bats are insect eaters, feeding on everything from moths to mosquitoes to beetles. They use echolocation to find their prey, which is kind of like radar, rather than eyesight. They tend to have beady little eyes and weird-shaped faces which makes them look scary. But those faces help capture sound waves bouncing off of prey and other objects and funnel those waves to their ears.

Many bat species are entering into hibernation in caves or hollow trees, but some fly south for the winter just like birds.

Spiders

Spiders, with their eight legs and multiple eyes, are creatures right out of nightmares—and their sticky webs and venomous fangs don’t help their public image either. But even though they might look scary, spiders are actually extremely beneficial predators of all sorts of insect pests. And only three species in the U.S. that have venom considered strong enough to hurt people: the black widow, the brown recluse and the hobo, and spider bites from these are very rare.

In the fall, female spiders are guarding egg sacks which hold the next generation of spiders.

Toads


Toads are not just a key ingredient in witches’ brew, they are important environmental indicators. All amphibians are susceptible to environmental toxins because of their sensitive skin. They are usually the first species to die out in polluted areas. If you have healthy toad populations in your area, it’s a good sign that your neighborhood is fairly unpolluted. And no, you cannot catch warts from touching a toad.

Toads are voracious pest predators in the warm months, but go into underground hibernation by late fall and won’t emerge until spring. Click here for fun toad and frog facts!

Wolves

The howl of the wolf can cause either heart-rending terror or spiritual inspiration. People have either vilified or glorified wolves throughout history, but the real life wild canines are neither hounds from hell or spiritual guides. In reality, gray wolves are top predators that play a key role in balancing the ecosystem. They control deer and other prey populations as well as other predators lower down on the food chain, like coyotes and raccoons.

Once found throughout North America, the only remaining gray wolf populations live in limited regions of the United States and Canada in wilderness areas. They go out of their way to avoid humans. At this time of year, they are in the process of growing their thick winter coats to guard against winter’s bitter temperatures.

Snakes

          

The slithering, legless body. The forked tongue. The lidless eyes. Everything about a snake is decidedly non-human. But even though they strike fear in many people, most snake species are completely harmless. In fact, snakes are enormously beneficial, helping to control insect and rodent pests. The only time a snake will try to bite is if it’s cornered or startled. The natural reaction of all snakes to people is to get away or hide.

By late October, most snakes are moving to their underground hibernation grounds, where they will doze away the cold months waiting for the warmer days of spring.

Owls

The nocturnal habits, glowing eyes and utterly silent flight make these predatory birds the epitome of eeriness. It turns out that all of those things are simply adaptations for survival. Owls are nocturnal to avoid competition for prey with day-flying hawks. Their giant eyes and the fringed feathers that make no noise when the bird is flying allow them to hunt in the darkness.

                         
 

Most owls are year-round residents and don’t migrate. Listen for the hoot-hoot-hoot of the great horned owl or the whinnying shriek of the screech owl when you’re trick or treating this year!

Now that you know the truth about these valuable wildlife, get outside and look for these cool animals.You might consider attracting them to your yard (except the wolves) The National Wildlife Federation shows you how to turn your property into a wildlife habitat at http://www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife

© 2008 Newswise