It's Been Grand, 2015.

Thanks for being a great year.

I have no reason to be ungrateful.  Despite the dramatic dip in oil prices, I'm still working at a job I enjoy.  I am able to spend the holidays with my family.  I traveled a bit this year.  I got to catch up with dear family and friends near and far because of wedding activities.  I continue to keep my mind and body busy and searching. 

I was a bit lame last night and went home earlier than planned so I could get up early this morning for an Ashtanga yoga New Year's Eve event, which consisted of 108 sun salutations. It was worth it - I am happy to say I did all 108 (holy good workout batman!) and now I'm at the office wrapping up. This may be my tamest New Year's Eve yet.  I see it as a replica of a big chunk of my year, working many hours and also doing more yoga-ing. 

This holiday was one full of relaxation and marathoning Hannibal (wow, made me glad to be eating plants) and plans to marathon Star Wars (man the Force Awakens was fun to watch!).  And a sprinkle of work of course.  I even FINALLY did some condo cleaning. Finally!  Maybe one day soon I can invite people over without feeling like a hoarder.

Now off to enjoy the last of my 2015!

Mind Farts
-bumped into my massage therapist at the yoga session this morning and realized i'm long overdue for a massage
-i did however finally use up my pedicure gift card from last Christmas and it was sooooo relaxing.  i totally understand why women go to the spa  - why don't i do this more often?
-confession: guilty pleasure of 2015 = K-dramas
-also watched the Big Short. loved it.  funny and refreshing learning experience about the American 2008 housing crash
-vegan = cheap easy drunk
-mad props to the Edmonton Public Library!  i've been borrowing books like crazy.  i've even been picking them up at the very same branch my mom used to take me and my sister to when we were new immigrant kids.  talk about coming around full circle!

WHYYY

Photos from Edmonton Journal/Instagram/Facebook

Look at how stupid these pictures are.

These men along with a 13-year-old (whose name Canadian law is currently protecting) that shot down two Mac's convenience store employees at two separate locations on the same night in Edmonton this Friday.  The employees did not put up a fight and were executed for no reason.

One employee was a 35-year-old father who just came from India to be with his wife and child.  The other was a 41-year-old man from the Philippines who was also trying to support his family, sending money back to the Philippines.  Now they're dead just before Christmas for no reason whatsoever.  

Photos from CBC

I don't know how to wrap my head around this.  I understand people resort to robbery because of poverty/messed up upbringings/etc. but there is absolutely no reason to kill innocent people that pose zero threat and with zero cause.  How can one even feel any pity for people who murder senselessly?  What gets me is that these criminals are re-offenders.  Including the 13-year-old.  How do we even rehabilitate people like these?    Something is not working in the justice system.  

R.I.P. Karanpal Bhangu and Ricky Cenabre :( 

Now THIS is Living.

I am currently listening to Tao Porchon-Lynch speak and I can't stop smiling. I would love one day to be like her as I approach 100 years of age. 

She still teaches yoga and has won numerous dance competitions (she started learning ballroom at 87.. With partners decades younger).

She's vegetarian and still has a childlike wonder about everything, especially nature. She will even avoid killing bugs (like me!). 

She still drives. She still drinks fresh juice and eats Indian food. 

She is more flexible than most people I know.  She has more health and joy in her life than many people I know.

She HUNG OUT WITH GANDHI.

She exemplifies why I have no desire to accept the status quo, blindly eating and sitting ourselves into oblivion, without a thought about what it does to our bodies and minds.  Or giving up on learning something new just because of age or any other so-called "restriction."  Too many people nowadays give up too early.

Eff that!

Some Christmas Cheer!

Quite nice not to work at all this weekend and do some fun socializing and relaxing instead. 

Mind Farts

-it's confirmed: Hachi is a completely different dog at daycare! Very calm and angelic at home but a hyper maniac at daycare. No wonder he's so tired when he gets home!

-one of my favourite compliments is being called strong :) a nerdy bookworm will always love hearing that.  thanks yoga teacher!

-even though I am still trying to figure out how to maneuver being a lonely unicorn vegan in this city, it is comforting that many of my friends are considerate enough to prepare things I can eat or make sure to warn me about things that I shouldn't eat - much appreciated!

-i am really digging the library these days.  I can't resist, even with all the overtime hours at work.  This month alone I've already read about yoga, Ray Charles and Sarah de Vries (one of the many women murdered at the Pickton farm. Her sister Maggie de Vries did a great job authoring the book ... A lot of painful and raw but eye-opening truth in there)

A Heavy Hearted Morning.

This morning I saw the smallest casket I've ever seen. A funeral for a little child is a whole new level of sadness. It just seems so unfair that he didn't even get a chance at life.  

Rest in peace little one. 

Soylent Day 4.

So far so good! Myself and male carnivorous coworkers have managed to stay on the Soylent wagon.  One more day to go! We are gonna nuts at our first solid food dinner tomorrow night!

Soylent really does seem to fulfill basic nourishment needs.  We are satisfied but still sometimes crave the saltiness and crunchiness of solid meals. My craving is for something potato-y or onion ring-y that can be dipped in ketchup.  

Since we don't really "eat lunch" anymore, we've been doing some entertaining activities during lunchtime. So far we've gone bowling, played foosball and today we are going to Big Al's, a massive aquarium emporium.  

My true test of resistance was yesterday. There was an office dinner at the Italian restaurant next door and I managed to sit and socialize and NOT eat or drink!  I was glad I didn't because I had an Ashtanga class afterwards. 

I also got "Mugged" yesterday - a new office Christmas ritual that just popped up this year.  You receive a mug filled with goodies from an anonymous gifter, put up a sign on your cubicle and then find another victim to anonymously mug :) 

And I miraculously haven't touched any of the dark chocolates in my mug! 

Pretty Good Start.

Yoga practice, check.

Soylent for breakfast, check. 

All before 730AM! Not bad :)

Soylent is much better cold.. I'm not sure why it tastes so bad warm! It's pretty subtle though, especially when cold. I caved and added some Nesquick flavour. 

A Painful Piece of News at Lunchtime.

Photo: Toronto Star

Anita Krajnc may go to jail for 10 years because she gave water to terrified dehydrated pigs on their way to the slaughterhouse.  Kudos to you Anita for being so damn brave and compassionate.  In her own words:

Peering in, I was met face to face with sad and terrified pigs, each one eerily similar to the dog standing by my side. The sight was haunting. I knew I had to act.

People may laugh at me for caring about pigs, but the more I think about it, the more I ask myself what makes them different from our beloved dogs?  The more I see and hear about the horrors that humans inflict in the name of "because it tastes good," the more I know for sure that I will never go back to eating meat.  To me, it just doesn't make sense ... aside from moral/ethical reasons, it can make you fat and sick and it harms the planet.  AND less people go hungry if we grew plants for food instead of breeding animals and killing them.     

But I'm sick of having to respond to "Oh! I could never do that!  I could never give up [insert animal product here]."

So now when people ask how I manage to look younger/take care of my skin/have so much energy, I just smile.  

Although ... maybe it's because I'm delving deeper into my thirties - I feel like I am "coming into my own" and finally getting to know what affects me deeply and what I won't back down from.  The big 3-0 was a thrill once I hit it, because I noticed I started to not care so much about what others thought.  I used to have the rep of being "too nice" but now I know there are things I will not succumb to just to be nice.  One is eating meat and another one is putting up with the irritating combination of ignorance and rudeness.  The latter I put up with way too much when I was younger - including racist white "friends."  Ugh.  I am also much more ferociously protective of my family and culture.  Maybe because my parents are getting older and also I realize how much they actually sacrificed for my sister and I, especially now that I am working.  I cannot imagine what it was like for my parents, leaving everything behind for a foreign country, just so their kids could get better chances.  If my parents get insulted, then best believe I'm doubly insulted.

So yeah, I'm changing.  

It can be challenging.  I'm with someone who I met when I was in my twenties and I don't know where this will take us.  I ate meat in my twenties.  I went through a long dancer phase during which I went vegetarian for a couple of years.  Now it's veganism and yoga (which I have a feeling are two things that voraciously feed off each other).  I feel I've definitely morphed a lot more than he has.  So far he's been pretty understanding.  But if conflict comes about, who's being unfair?  The one who changed or the one who stayed the same?  

The majority of my family and friends eat meat and it can be a tricky to deal with.  I used to be fairly nonchalant about it (heard this one a lot: "oh, you're such a cool non-preachy vegan!") but now when I see pieces of carcass my stomach does turn.  How to resolve this, I'm still unsure.  Run away to some magical predominantly vegan city where I am finally not a lonely unicorn?  I'm not gonna lie, I do daydream about it once in a while.  I mean c'mon I'm in the land of Alberta beef!  Le sigh.    

Okay time to walk the little munchkin before it gets too late (and sketchy).