Visiting Chicago: Round Two

Almost exactly a year ago I spent three fantastic days in Chicago. I fell in love with the city and experienced so many new and exciting things. So when the opportunity arose to go to Chicago again this year, I knew immediately I was going back.

After the trip last year, I wrote two very detailed blog posts about my travels. I thought they might be interesting to those coming on the trip for the first time this year.

If you would like to read the first post, click here. And, if you would also like to read the second post, click here.

In just under a week I'll return to the Windy City, and I can't wait! Get ready Chicago. I'm baaack!

Reducing my carbon footprint in Winnipeg

I really hate driving downtown every day.

Taking the bus doesn't bother me - and I really do prefer it - but I don't want to take the bus when I have three bags full of stuff (including a laptop, lunch, portable hard drive and camera) that I have to carry on and off the bus with me. I look like a pack mule. It's slightly ridiculous.

Working at IISD for my work placement has taught me a lot about living environmentally-friendly. Almost every single person in my office cycles to work throughout the year, resorting to the bus or carpooling only during the winter months. I admire that about my current co-workers, and it has made me realize that complaining about carrying "too much stuff" is an excuse that most people make so they don't have to try to be more eco-friendly.

This is part of the reason why I've decided to attempt to start riding my bike to and from work every day. It is only 10 km from my front door to my new job at MPI, and I'm pretty sure I could do that in well under an hour.

There are, however, two concerns I have regarding this new idea.

1. Wardrobe changes - I'm pretty sure MPI doesn't have showers or change rooms or anything to support an employee who wants to bike to work. IISD has all of the above, and employees are given time to change and get ready for his or her day. I'll have to carry my work clothes in my backpack, and change at the office.
2. Pembina Highway - There isn't a clearly marked bike corridor on this main thoroughfare, and I've heard horror stories of cyclists getting clipped, knocked over or flat out hit by frustrated commuters during rush hour. It is illegal to bike on the sidewalk - because bikes are technically considered to be "vehicles" - but the prospect of travelling all the way down Pembina every day makes me very, very nervous.

Please, City of Winnipeg, we need a bike path or a clearly marked bike corridor down Pembina Highway from the University of Winnipeg to Osborne. Please. PLEASE!

Today, I'm going to do a "pre-bike" to work in an attempt to determine IF I can complete the trip with my bike, my self and my backpack intact. I also want to see what it's like biking down a busy road during the day.

Wish me luck! And don't worry, I'm wearing a helmet.

The Lake Winnipeg eutrophication problem

Every summer when I was younger, I looked forward to the two weeks my family spent at Winnipeg Beach. As soon as we arrived at our cottage, I would drop my bags at the door, kick off my shoes, and race towards the nearest pier. Reaching the wide platform at the end, I would hop down the stairs two at a time until my legs were immersed in the chilly water. Looking out towards the large expanse of water, I would spend a moment re-introducing myself with one of my favourite places in the world.

Unfortunately, many people have stopped running towards the water. The condition of Lake Winnipeg has been deteriorating for years, leaving many people with fears that it will one day be deemed “un-swimmable.”

The lake at its finest. This is what I remember...

Lake Winnipeg suffers from eutrophication, a condition that occurs when nutrients accumulate and begin affecting a body of water. It can be a natural process, which is usually very slow and gradual, or can result from human activities, including deposits of human sewage and agricultural wastes. In some advanced cases, blooms of algae begin to grow. They disrupt normal functioning of the lake and decrease oxygen when they decompose, which makes it difficult for fish and other living organisms to survive. The water becomes cloudy, and is usually green, red, brown or yellow in colour.

Eutrophication has been detected in lakes in countries all over the world, including Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. According to a 2008 study from the University of Alberta, forty-eight per cent of lakes in North America are experiencing some form of eutrophication. Lake Winnipeg is the tenth largest freshwater lake (by surface area) in the world, and a variety of small communities are situated along its shore.

Two well-known communities located at Lake Winnipeg are Winnipeg Beach and Grand Beach. Each year, thousands of families vacation in these communities and take advantage of the amenities.

While there are still many things to keep people occupied, both communities are a far cry from what they used to be. Development of Winnipeg Beach, situated on the west side of the lake, began in 1900.

At its peak, it boasted a train station, dance pavilion, roller coaster and boardwalk. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) began transporting passengers to the town in 1903. The opposite side of the lake followed suit in 1914. The CPR’s rival – the Canadian National Company – began running trains to Grand Beach, and built a lakeside resort and dance pavilion. Cottage communities grew on both sides of the lake, and before long, Lake Winnipeg was one of the most popular places to spend time in Manitoba.

Veronica Kitt spent the summers of her childhood at her family cottage in Winnipeg Beach. Her family moved to the lake as soon as school finished for the summer in June, and would stay until the August long weekend. Many other families followed the same procedure.

The only mode of practical transportation from the city to Winnipeg Beach was the train. There were numerous stops along the route, and Kitt remembers getting off at the 1^st Avenue train station in Sandy Hook.

Families brought necessary items from home, but everything else could be purchased at the lake. An Eaton’s catalogue was available to summer residents, and everything including food, clothing, and household items could be shipped to cottages. A transfer company could be hired to move all a family’s belongings from Winnipeg to the lake, and another company would pick up, wash, and drop off laundry.

“Everything was at your fingertips,” Kitt said with a smile. “It was wonderful.”

Some of Kitt’s fondest memories included walking into downtown Winnipeg Beach, going on the roller coaster, walking along the boardwalk, and visiting the dance pavilion. She also remembers visiting the community centre every night, and it was always bustling with activity.

“We didn’t need caregivers or anything. You just went,” she said.

When asked about the current condition of the lake, Kitt stated that not much has changed.

“Kids used to always get sick, and my mom called it ‘summer complaint.’ But it was just a part of the summer. I don’t think the lake has changed at all.”

Parts of the lake now...

Kitt expressed sadness that spending time at Lake Winnipeg is not as popular as it was in the past. She was also sorry that relics from the past no longer exist.

“One day there’s a train, the next day there’s no train,” she said sadly. “It’s too bad that things have changed.”

To be continued...

Local author fuelled my desire to publish

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been in awe of authors. It amazes me that people can actually write something, have it published, and have other people purchase and read it.

I have wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, so I was thoroughly excited – and more than a little giddy – when I met Winnipeg poet, Ron Romanowski.

I have known Ron and his wife, Lil, my entire life. But, I hadn’t seen them for years. We were reunited for the first time last May at Aqua Books, where Ron gave a reading from his third book of poetry – Insurrection – as part of a larger presentation.

If you would like to read the blog entry I wrote about that, click here.

On Wednesday, May 4, Ron will be launching his fourth poetry collection. It is titled The Big Book of Canadian Poetry, and here is the back cover write-up:

"In March of 2009 six Winnipeg poets met to forge a new direction for poetry in Canada. They wanted to instigate a more public focus to Canadian poetry. They wanted to write the Canadian poetry of the strike, the carnival, the revolution and the flash mob. They proceeded by studying the sociology of groups in the works of Dario Fo, Mikhail Bakhtin, Rebecca Solnit and others. They did practical research by attending some of Winnipeg’s many festivals and political and other mass events. New Festival Theory is what they call their philosophy. But their practice is poetry. The Big Book of Canadian Poetry is the brash and challenging debut from the New Festival crew.”

If you are looking for something cultural or artistic to do on May 4^th, please check out Ron’s book launch and show your support. I’m sure it will be a fantastic event, and I’m so excited to read his FOURTH book of poetry.

Click here, to check out the poetry trailer for the book launch.

Congratulations, Ron! I can’t wait for my autographed copy of The Big Book Of Canadian Poetry so I can start reading!

Today in history: "Iceberg, right ahead!"

I’m sure that most people are aware of the significance of April 14th. It was on this day – 99 years ago – that the world’s most famous ocean liner struck an iceberg.

I have been a Titanic-lover since I was a little girl. Even before the movie was released in 1997, I wanted to learn everything possible about the disaster. I would watch every single documentary I could get my hands on, and take notes as I learned new facts. By the time I moved away from my Titanic addiction, I had filled three binders with information.

Below, I have included a few Titanic facts that I find interesting. They are from the collection of information I accumulated over the years*, and I hope you find them interesting…

• The Titanic struck the iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912.
• It took 2 hours and 40 minutes to completely sink.
• There were roughly 2,200 people on board the Titanic. Only 705 survived.
• One of the first boats to leave the Titanic carried only 28 people. They were designed to hold over 60.
• There were six iceberg warnings received by the Titanic on the day of the sinking.
• The ship could have stayed afloat if four of the watertight compartments flooded. Unfortunately, five flooded.
• The watertight compartments were actually not watertight at all. They were open at the top, which caused a wave to flood over each compartment as the ship sank.
• The cost to build the ship was $7.5 million and it took 3,000 men two years.

*The information included in the above statistics comes from many different sources.

"Pieces" Book Launch Video

Here is the video of footage from my book launch. It was edited by my friend and classmate - Jeff Ward - who also filmed the entire event. It's a small snapshot of what was definitely the most amazing evening of my life, so I hope you love it!

I will also be editing a longer video this summer that includes all of the speeches, the questions and the signing line at the end. Stay tuned!

This is the end...

Last year, at the end of first term, my classmate Christa Campbell wrote something kind about everyone in our class and posted it on her blog.

I initially planned to copy her idea, but after careful consideration I decided it would take forever to write about every single person I’ve taken classes with over the last two years. It’s impossible to sum up most of my peers in only a few words, and I could write an essay about each and every one of them.

Instead, I decided to write a post about the end of CreComm and how I feel about it…

I can still remember the first day of school like it was yesterday. I was terrified. I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into, and I was intently eyeing the exit. We were given “the talk” that basically underlined the fact that our personal lives had just been thrown out the door for the duration of our college education. We were told to fix any personal issues in our lives immediately, as well as take care of the little things like doctor and dentist appointments.

God, was I glad I listened.

I have never – in my entire life - been as stressed as I was during CreComm. There were moments when I thought my head was going to explode, and days when I wanted to sit in a corner and cry my eyes out. I frequently uttered the phrase “there is NO way I’m going to finish all this,” but somehow, I always managed to hand everything in on time.

And, I managed to make it through two years of CreComm without an auto fail.

For those of you reading this blog who aren’t familiar with auto fails, let me explain. When a student spells a proper name incorrectly (e.g. Tim Hortons, the Winnipeg Free Press, etc…) they automatically are deducted 50 per cent on the assignment. Usually, there are additional marks taken off for everyday issues, which means the student automatically fails that assignment.

Almost everyone in CreComm gets them. Except me…

My time in the program was amazing. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, and I would do it again in a second. I met people that I know will be my friends for the rest of my life, and we bonded and grew together in a way that I didn’t realize was possible.

I have hated goodbyes since I was a teenager, so I’m going to end this blog post now.

CreComms: I love you, I’ll miss you, and I can’t wait for both the CCMA’s and convocation when we are all together again.

Lots of love,

Ama

(Note: I DID hand in my last PR assignment on Monday, and I don’t know for SURE yet that I didn’t auto fail it. I am assuming I did not, but I won’t know for sure for a few weeks…)