I don’t generally participate in memes but, I confess, I did like 3lime’s a waste of time a bit of fun (her blog is worth the read). also, I am procrastinating finishing a presentation I have to give on wednesday for summit.
here goes:
What experience has most shaped you and why?
my mother’s putting everyone else’s needs in front of hers. she was an amazing woman, and did everything for us. in the end, it killed her, and she’s missed so many things we would have liked to have had her around for. it’s taught me that it’s ok to be selfish, and that you have to look out for yourself, but that it doesn’t have to come at the expense of others. there’s a balance there, and you need to figure it out.
If you had a whole day with no commitments what would you do?
I’d make coffee, read the paper, watch or read the news, and then spend the day with that girl (and hopefully some friends) eating, drinking, laughing, and playing. I get to do this every so often, and it’s wonderful. alternatively I’d play with my pinball machines; but only if there was no one around.
What food or drink could you never give up?
I don’t think there’s anything I could never give up. I also think that’s a good thing, because it’s not exactly something I can control in a lot of cases. I’d have a very hard time giving up coffee – in any of its forms – completely, and it’d also be tough to dispense with eggs and bacon. those are my favourite foods; I’m a morning kind of person.
If you could travel anywhere, where would that be and why?
Southeast Asia. There’s something incredibly compelling about Asian culture. I live in a place that has very little history and/or sense of self, and I love visiting places where you can feel the years in the surroundings. I’d love to grab a backpack and go for six months or so, and just travel through the rural/non-touristy areas of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and other locales in the area. There’s tremendous upheaval in all of those places as a millennium or two of history and tradition clashes with today, and I’d like to experience it first-hand.
Who do you have a crush on?
I have no crushes, really, these days. I’m honestly quite happy where I am, and I want for nothing. No, really.
Past crushes have included:
– Linda Fiorentino. Her voice kills me, still. It all started with Vision Quest (god, what a horrible movie)
– An HR rep at the company in NY I worked for. That crush was crushed when I realized she was a smoker. Oh well.
– Audrey Hepburn. As in the young Audrey Hepburn. Her eyes were amazing.
– Sharon, one of the receptionists at the office from the early nineties.
– Matt Damon. Yes, I’m kidding.
If you were the leader of your country, what would you do?
Hold the privatized entities that were once public accountable to serving the people that depend on them. The public invested an unbelievable amount into infrastructure that was sold for a song to organizations like Bell, Canadian National, and energy companies. It was incredibly short-sighted, and their privatization should have had some incentives in place to ensure those investments weren’t held against us after the fact.
Focus on program delivery versus program administration. Our government and health care systems are ridiculously large, and continue to grow in size and spending every year. I’m a proponent of small government doing big things, and believe that the amount of administrative overhead in place is unsane, especially considering that most of the shenanigans that occur are at the exec level and higher. Government continues to claw more and more money away from the people it serves, and always threatens those it represents with program – not administration – cuts. Healthcare continues to take away its coverage while continuing to increase the workload of the people delivering through over-administration. Fuck that. I don’t pay taxes just to employ a bunch of people. I pay taxes to employ people who will deliver for me.
Re-focus on self-sufficiency. I like the benefits globalization can bring, but I worry we’ve gone too far to the offshoring side. We have precious little manufacturing capability, and we’re so co-dependant on other states to function we’d be kind of screwed if there was ever any kind of meltdown. I’m not saying go nationalistic and protective, but I do think we should make a concerted effort to re-ignite manufacturing in this country, and to work on ways that are non-exploitative and cost-effective.
What am I reading right now?
The Drunkard’s Walk – Leonard Mlodinow
What the Dog Saw – Malcolm Gladwell
The Passage – Justin Cronin
Why We Run: A Natural History – B. Heinrich
What recent event has made you sad?
Letting that girl down, and realizing how a little thing can have a big impact. I’m still learning. 🙂
What recent event has made you angry?
Anything Dalton McGuinty. The tax grab in the HST and spin-doctory that it’s not and is good for us; the sekrit legislation to broaden police powers, and subsequent denial of responsibility; the failed promises; the weaseling; the continuation of doing nothing substantive to prevent the province’s continued slide. It’s not just Dalton, but he’s a pretty good representation of what’s wrong with our “leaders” who no longer lead.
Ok, I’m done. Must get back to my preso.
linda fiorentino is hot.
this was awesome.