New Years Resolution Vinyl Street Cafe Style

Years ago I was listening to CBC's Vinyl Street Cafe; and Stuart McLean was talking about New Years Resolutions and tomatoes. He commented on the fact people always make resolutions that for the most part they don't keep. My personal resolution that I enjoy failing at every year is: This year I will eat less sugar! Yeah right. I consume sugar like it's my life line. Removing sugar from my diet feels like I would be taking a part of who I am away (Ok, I know it's weird associating my person being with sugar but really I love the stuff in all forms). Anyways... Stuart McLean decided to make his resolution something he would enjoy keeping, so his resolution was to buy nice tomatoes. Ingenious I thought. I hate bad tomatoes why do I buy them anyways. So I borrowed his idea and made that my new years resolution. In the years since I have always bough nice tomatoes. I like the one's on the vine that almost always taste like summer.

I love tomatoes, to me they taste like summer!

For my Birthday this year my friend Natasha took me to the movie "Surviving progress". It's about over-consumption and progress. I felt it gave a sense of hope and I enjoyed how it made me think about social issues outside of health care. I have been so consumed with my job that I often don't take the time to examine other social problems. I started thinking about my own consumption and how I could do something small to move in a positive direction. I wanted to make it my new years resolution but having decided to make only fun resolutions I would keep I was unsure how to do this.

If I could dress like this everyday I would, and most days I wear a slightly toned down version of this outfit.

I decided to marry the two idea's together. I love clothes and shopping. I feel at one time I am a consumer and other that I just love to express myself through my often loud and colorful clothing. I sadly must admit, when I'm down I love the instant gratification of a new outfit. At the same time I believe I have my own style that does not reflect current trends and I have always been good with second hand clothing. And thus my new years resolution was born: "I will only buy second hand clothing for a year". Some people I realize already do this and without thought but for me this will be a challenge. Now there are two clauses I have included to help me stick to this resolution. 1) Undergarments do not count, call me what you may but there no way in hell I will buy second hand bras, panties or socks. 2) I can buy six new garments this year, call it a cop-out but I am unsure of my success if I do include this. So unlike my resolution of purchasing only "good tomatoes", this resolution severs a few purposes:  It is fun, it puts some constraints on my consumer behavior and it allows me to be still be expressive through the clothing I wear. Without turning into a fashion blog I will post pictures of my secondhand outfit journey here and there.

Three Rules of Life the Hospital has Taught Me

I've been thinking a lot of the things the hospital has taught me about life. Cliche as they may be they ring true to me (and these are merely my thoughts and opinions).

1) Don't Smoke
I don't care that your Great Aunt Edna smoked everyday and she's 89.I don't care if you only smoke socially or infrequently. Smoking leads to death plain and simple. I don't preach to my friends that smoke I know they know it's bad and I know they want to quit. People tend to say things like I'm going to quit once work is less stressful, once the kids are older etc.. There will never be a perfect time and it will always be hard, so get help talk to your Dr.; get your friends and family to support you. And for those of us who don't smoke; support people who are quitting when they get grumpy, don't guilt them if they slip up and be there for them, it is not easy. I don't want to see people I care for at a COPD or cancer clinic years down the road.

2) Everything In Moderation
Too much of anything is bad. Too much food, too much booze, too many drugs. If you choose to drink be responsible drink water, get a ride home. If you do drugs, don't mix them. More so than not people OD when there is more than one drug in their system. And for the love of god, do not mix MDMA and coke. It is a toxic mix that lead to heart attacks. One makes your heart stiff, the other makes your heart beat fast and essentially it explodes. No joke. Young or old bad shit happens when you do too many drugs.  Too much food leads to a multitude of problems down the road, try to eat healthy for the most part. Indulge but not everyday.  Everything in moderation applies to pretty much everything.

3) Live Life and Love

On a great adventure with awesome girls  xox

Tell people you love them every chance you can. Shit happens so make life count. Return anger and hate with love and understanding. Follow your passion. I've found a job that I look forward to going to. It's exciting, challenges and makes me think. Be happy at your job you spend a huge part of your life working. Try new things, and make fun goals. I'm going to learn how to surf this year. A day is never lost if you laugh at least once.

Celebrating life!

Allow people to have different opinions than yourself. This can be hard for me, and I can be dismissive when people have different opinions than myself, but I need to realize that different opinions/beliefs are what makes the world exciting. Take chances (not dangerous ones); how can we ever know if we don't try. Failure is not a negative word it just means try again or try something else. Do what makes you happy (so long as it doesn't hurt others). We only have one life, I am reminded of that everyday so lets all make the most of it.

Love