Sunday, August 21, 2016

Meaty topic

 

I don't want to eat meat
I'm not following a trend. I don't kill living things.
Except maybe flies.
And mosquitoes.

I go without meat quite easily at home or in restaurants.

I don't want to be socially awkward so I occasioanlly eat meat when a guest or prepare meat when acting as a hostess. And this is where I struggle.
How can I sometimes eat meat? 

I'll admit that properly prepared and cooked meat tastes great. But, I've never been a big meat eater even when I was a kid. Long before I pondered the ethics, think it's a question of texture and colour. I eat with my eyes and I love vibrant colours in my plate.

I love animals. I am fascinated by the spiritual connection humans can enjoy with animals.

What has lead me to question eating meat in my life? 

1. What I've learned about the meat industry.
2. My love of living things.
3. Not wanting to participate in the suffering of another being.
4. Staying healthy and as lean as possible despite a slowing metabolism.

Yesterday, I ordered eggs Benedict. Decadently delicious. Then, I realized I was eating ham. I paused a moment before deciding to use mind over matter and to enjoy my meal. I'd totally forgotten there was meat in the dish when I ordered. I wasn't going to let this realization spoil a good meal with friends.

As things stand, I manage to avoid meat most days out of each month. I don't know if I'll ever be a total vegetarian. I doubt that I'll go vegan. I love cheese, yoghurt and eggs too darn much.

When I saw the photos of the baby animals in an old Oprah magazine, I wanted to cut and paste them in my visual journal for their cuteness. But then the journal page looked blank. I grabbed a pencil and and there went my whole rainy day afternoon.








Friday, July 1, 2016

Les jeunes ont besoin de lire de vrais livres/Kids need to read real books


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/10/17/why-kids-still-need-real-books-to-read-and-time-in-school-to-enjoy-them/


English will follow:

Afin d'atteindre un niveau de literacie, il faut lire des livres. De bons livres. J'ai reçu 250$ pour acheter de nouveaux livres pour ma Classe Dejulia et j'en suis reconnaissante. Par contre, un roman en français coûte entre 10$-30$ et un album de qualité ou une B.D. coûte entre 20$-35$. En faisant de la recherche et une bonne sélection, j'ai été capable de sortir de la librairie avec 2 sacs de nouveaux livres à partager avec mes 20 élèves sur 10 mois.

Au Quebec, on change de ministre d'éducation aussi souvent que Tim Horton offre une nouvelle boisson saisonnière (4 ministres en 2 ans dans le gouvernement libéral actuel). C'est difficile d'avoir une vision inspirante au niveau de l'éducation. On a même eu un de nos ministres qui ne voyait pas l'importance de l'achat de livres dans les écoles. 

Voici ma suggestion. Si l'on veut une génération de citoyens engagés qui sont ouverts d'esprit, amoureux de la culture et habiles dans la pensée critique, on se doit de promouvoir la lecture de livres et pour ça, on a besoin d'investir plus de 250$ par groupe-classe par année. 

English:

I truly believe that literacy comes from reading books. Great books. I had 250$ to buy new books for my class this year. And for that I am grateful. However, a novel in French costs anywhere from 10$-30$ and a good quality picture book or comic book costs anywhere from 20$-35$. By doing hours of research and by being selective, I managed to fill 2 small bags with new books to be shared by 20 kids over 10 months.

In Quebec, where we change education ministers like Tim Horton's whips out different themed coffees every season, (we're on our 4th education minister in 2 years within the same Liberal government), it's hard to have a grand vision in education. We even had a minister who actually said that buying new books for students wasn't all that important.

Here's my suggestion. If we want a generation of informed, open-minded, culture loving, critical thinking, engaged citizens, we should try promoting real reading with real books. And that takes money, more than 250$ per class per school year. 

Sunday, March 27, 2016

My head map

 My head map inspired by Personal Geographies by Jill K. Berry

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Love poem #1


Decades long gone
We noticed one another
Time together
Time apart
You are always 
My heart