Happy New Year!

2010 has been a pretty intense year, good for the bloggin'. Here's hoping 2011 brings equally, if not more bloggin' but on more positive terms.

In 2010 we got married, I got a new job that I love, I lived and I learned. Without a doubt, 2010 had it's ups but it also had it's downs over the last few months. I lost my mother in early October and my grand-father two days before Christmas so I'm anxious for the year to end.

As I've said before, I don't believe you can go wake up one morning and everything changes just because you get to use your new calendar. But I do believe that it means spring and summer are coming back and it also means time is moving on.

To me, this year, the New Year is a reminder that time always moves on, no matter how much we wish it didn't. I wished I could stop time when my Mom was sick to keep her with me a bit longer but time passed and what was meant to happen, happened. Life goes on and we have to make that extra effort to keep moving with it.

Thanks for being there for me, dearest reader(s) in 2010 and hopefully I'll have tons to blog about again in 2011 so you'll stick around. All the best to you and yours for the New Year! :)

Let the Olympics begin...

Looking at my news feed on Facebook today, I realized I must have been the only loser who didn't watch the opening ceremonies last night. We went out for our Valentine's day dinner last night because Js is leaving on Monday for a week long visit back home. I'm okay with that. I figured the rest of the world would have something to say about it so it'd be easy to catch up.

Everyone's views are so different and I'm having a grand old time reading what everyone thought about the speeches, the songs, the visuals, the sets, the representation of participating countries and most of all, the representation of Canada.

Seeing as I can't make write my own comments, I've decided to share what caught my attention :

My Nation makes me Proud by friend and fellow blogger esphixiet who shares a interesting letter from our country's Hockey team.

One thing that was missing. In all of the thank you's to volunteers and organizers, Furlong missed a thank you to the men and women whose duty is to keep the olympians and the spectators safe. To keep Canada safe.
The CF has deployed thousands of soldiers to Vancouver on Operation Podium, and yet not a mention.

A screenshot from Bitch Mag that's not really about the opening ceremonies but I did enjoy reading it. Including a shortlist of must-see events.

So here's what you need to set your DVR for (or, here are the days you need to call in sick) to view women blowing apart the body-hating, profoundly commodified definitions of beauty to show us all what breathtaking aesthetics in motion look like

A Facebook buddy, Kyle, had some interesting thoughts on the diversity present (and represented) during the opening ceremonies :

[...] the token natives at the beginning were nice. But remember that nearly 50% of Vancouver is of non-European origin. Seeing as that the opening ceremony should reflect the culture of the host city, I'm surprised not to see any Asian, Indian etc. performances.

Not sure I agree, but it's a different point of view...
(I haven't linked to Kyle's profile or posted his last name, I'd want to get his stamp of approval first.)

An Olympic blog I discovered quite recently and fully intend on reading daily discribes the events of the opening ceremony in a as-it-happens way that amuses me.

It didn't go off without a hitch . . . but went off nonetheless, with three of the four posts rising up to the cauldron where the torch was lit. Steve Nash, ever the unselfish one, didn't get to light a torch. Hey, it could have been worse than a Tripod Flame. As Gretzky departs to light the outdoor cauldron, NBC goes to commercial. Think there are more exhales or expletives in the control booth?

This post made it to my must-add-to-RSS-feed too...

Half an hour in, as team after team of athletes was introduced and paraded, I began waiting for at least one of these dancers to pull a header, face down in the fake snow. I soon became worried for one fast-footed member of the Métis group, as well as for one of the spinning powwow performers—they never let up, even when Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado showed up in their midst. (Sweet Jesus, to think that after all these years we’re still stuck with Bryan Adams.)

All that reading and catching up still hasn't allowed me to decide if I regret missing the Opening Ceremony or not. I sure am having a great time reading up on everyone's views and thoughts - I believe.