GetUp! Australia: A Moving Video to 'End Marriage Discrimination'

I don't think there is anything I could possibly say that would prepare you for the story you're about to embark. It's really something you need to see.

I can't stop crying, this will stay with me for a long time.  I just need to do my part to get as many people as possible to see this video.  You can share this video below on Facebook or Twitter.

Making the "Big Move"

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on February 23, 2011.

Well, it's been in the works for quite some time (at least, in my head, on paper and through strategic planning), and now it's finally come to fruition.  There's a time in everyone's life where it becomes a - pardon my French - a "shit or get off the pot" moment, and I've finally hit it.  At the wise, yet tender age of 30 and still blessed with youthful genes, stars are beginning to align, directing me in a path that had been in front of me all along.  For some reason, I had been rebuffing and fighting this road, refusing to acknowledge it and what possible accomplishments I could achieve.  I could really try, it wouldn't be that terrible, and I would be a better person just for trying.

I'm not going to jinx it and tell you, but I'll at least let you know that I've decided to take back a part of my life that seems to be destined for something great, and most importantly, attainable ... at least now, in my current mood, I'm feeling positive about it.  (You should have seen me earlier today, you'd think you were talking to a different person!

This all still scares me, though.  Ultimately, I don't know what will happen.  I have an idea of what I will be doing, what I want to do - "Get a plan, and make it work," my father always says to me.  Well, I've got a plan, so far.  Let's see how well this works.

Inspiration From Disaster: Gibson Guitars in Nashville Has A "Flood of Creativity"

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on January 11, 2011.

photos by Brian Wawzeneck

My heart went out to the people of Tennessee in early May 2010, who had experienced a torrent of rain and floods for two straight days, driving people out of their homes, drowning landmarks and causing millions of dollars of damage in its wake.  As a music lover, my heart sank even furthur to hear that the Grand Ole Opry House, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center and the Gibson Guitar USA factory in Nashville had suffered some terrible damage, as well.

But, as Bryan Wawzeneck, international editor for Gibson Lifestyle blog, had said, "Sometimes great beauty can be found in the strangest of places and under the most horrible of circumstances."

The Gibson USA factory, located in Nashville, Tennessee, the plant which crafts the esteemed and highly reputed Les Paul and SG guitar models, was ravaged by flood waters, leaving many guitars still left to be finished unsalvageable.  The receding waters revealed much damage that was heartbreaking to the staff and luthiers that had worked so painstakingly on these instruments, only to have them destroyed beyond rescue.  The seemingly endless destruction of months of hard work wasn't the only thing revealed - in the finishing department, where many guitars were stored to dry after paint and laquer were applied, the receding waters left an unexpected inspirational mark.  

'In All Thy Political Correctness Command!'

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on March 5, 2010.

The following post is an editorial from the author.  So remember, it's just an opinion.  Smile, everybody!

I've read in the news recently that the Canadian Conservative government's throne speech (for those not of Canuck origin, this is when the Governor-General, a Commonwealth representative, makes a keynote speech outlining the goals of the parliamentary government) consisted of a few points of interest: budget cuts, a "tough on crime" bill, and a proposal to adjust the national anthem of Canada to be more gender-neutral.

Here's the offending stanza of our anthem: "True patriot love, in all thy sons command!"


Here's the offered lyric in its place: "True patriot love, thou dost us all command!"


This suggestion came at the hands of Janet Keeping, president of the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership in Calgary.  She says that the anthem as it is does not reflect modern women who "are side by side with their male counterparts, showing that patriotic love, making those sacrifices," she totes to CTV News Channel. 

"We know that that language was not meant to include all of us.  I would just change it to 'In all of us command' and be done with it," she says at the end of her statement.


The suggestion is not of modern invention; it comes from an original version of a poem written in 1908 by Mercy E. Powell McColloch, which includes this stanza.  McColloch had submitted his version of O Canada into a contest hosted by Collier's Weekly Magazine.  He did win the contest, but his version didn't garner wide acceptance.  Well, we are about to repeat history, according to popular polls all around the internet.

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games: I Believe in Canada!

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on March 1, 2010.

 
I believe, Canada!  I believe!

I've never really been a big sports fan - except for hockey; it's a rite of passage for all Canadians, really.  So with the Olympic Games ending in sweet victory with Team Canada taking the gold medal for men's hockey, it had turned into an overwhelming swell of pride that we, as a nation, take our passions seriously and with dignity. 

Yes, sweet indeed.  But merely a jewel in the crown that was the presentation of the Olympic Games in Vancouver.  We, as Canadians, proved ourselves worthy hosts to the world, shattering the presumption that we are a reserved, quiet people with hesitation of our place in the world.  The Opening Ceremonies showed the poetry of the vast wheat fields in the Prairies, the relentless energy of the Eastern Coast fiddlers, the passion in performance of our greatest artists and musicians, the youth of our nation that step on their soapboxes with a mission to change what the world knows about our incredible country.  Our Opening Ceremonies gave way to conversation about what the world thought they knew about us as a people, and I think they now understand us a little better.

Haiti: A Nation In Need, A Nation Of Miracles

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on February 19, 2010.

The earthquake that had hit this impoverished nation about a month ago had changed the lives of these people forever, with a society in ruins, death at every corner, missing family and loved ones yet to be found.  Food is scarce, water is depleted, shelter questionable, with the country still threatened with powerful aftershocks.  No matter how much help is sent, it doesn't seem to get to them fast enough, with nearly 3 million people displaced and in need of the most basic qualities of life.

We hear of devastation and death, we hear of panic and despair, but we also hear of miracles.  Survivors are still being found among the ruins, singing praises to the heavens, smiling happily at their rescuers.  Nations from all over the world toss rubble aside in hopes to find more survivors; the sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives of those who still hope.

Haiti is still in need, and the rebuilding efforts will be colossal.  Backed with a global effort made up of charitable organizations and international governments, it is a combined goal that Haiti will become a nation that will be able to restore its envisioned glory, its culture and society intact and stronger than ever.

Below are a collection of images that have marked poignant emotional and public moments of the tragedy and triumphs of the Haitian people.  If you would like to help, donate now to World Vision Canada, and the Canadian government will match your donation.

Some of these images may be disturbing in nature.

Moral Obscenity 101: Kanye West

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on September 28, 2009.

This is an editorial by the author.  Any comments made are of the author, and the author alone, unless otherwise stated.  I welcome your thoughts on this post.  (Resources: Wikipedia.org, Youtube)

For those who have been avoiding all things pop culture and relative news these past few weeks, you would have learned that at the 2009 MTV Video Awards, upon earning her win for Best Female Video for 'You Belong With Me', Taylor Swift was interrupted by professional jackass rapper/hip-hop artist Kanye West, who stormed the stage, stole the microphone out of Taylor's frozen hands, and stood shocked as he declared that Beyonce's video 'Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)' was the "best video of all time", to the shock, amazement and disapproval of the packed theatre.  Since, he has sparked the international catchphrase "and I'mma let ya finish ..."

For me, this was the straw the broke my Kanye camel's back.