I would like to introduce you to a lovely not-for-profit group I am part of ; )……….

……. Manchester Women’s Design Group………

I came across this group nearly two years ago, when I attended a really interesting workshop run by an artist and an architect from London who came up to Manchester for the day.

The group is a bunch of lovely ladies, who are interested in how women use, interact and shape the built environment: the city, the street, the park, etc…

Sometime we overolook how our surroundings have been shaped mostly with a man’s view, overly pragmatic perhaps, and so small things can be overlooked. Women’s use of the built environment is different enough to create interesting topics of conversation and debate.

We work on what we call ‘gender equality’.

Bringing the woman’s perspective into play is about creating a more pleasant environment for all.

For example:

Making streets safer at night to walk and cycle down can make a woman feel safe and confident, but equally it can create a safer place for men, children, elderly people and so on. Or better lit bus stops, has it ever happen to you to wait for a bus late a night, after maybe a night out? When I was student it happened only few times to me, but it was eery enough to make the hair on my neck to stand.

Wider pavements, with dropped kerbs, for mums with prams can make life easier to go about the everyday life, but can also be much more accessible to people with disabilities.

Creating safer cycle paths may encourage more women to cycle, but it also provides more pleasant rides for the novice driver, the elder driver and the young family at week ends.

I have met some great women, who all work their hardest with great passion but equally enjoy a giggle and a chocolate digestive biscuit lol! We come from all sorts of backgrounds, working in all sorts of professions, arts, businesses etc…

We are just passionate about making Manchester a little more softer, gentler, accessible and equal for all…

We have a blog that we have set up to share what we get up to: www.womensdesign.blogspot.com

Next Tuesday there is a free lecture by Lorna Green, a fantastic sculptor who works on environmental art, held at the Manchester Metropolitan University Campus. If you are free after work, come along!!

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Da un anno a questa parte faccio parte di un gruppo di not-for-profit che si chiama Manchester Women’s Design Group.

Mi capito` di andare ad un ‘workshop’ organizzato da un’artista ed un architetto sull’uso di tutti giorni della citta` e delle sue infrastrutture come donna.

E cosi` ho conosciuto un gruppo allegro e molto interessante di donne, appassionate dell’ambiente e della citta` e di come il punto di vista femminile possa creare un ambiente urbano piu` piacevole e piu` sicuro per tutti : )

Ci incontriamo una volta al mese e organizziamo iniziative, eventi, incontri in cui idee su come si possa creare un ambiente piu` accessible, con piu` parita` per tutti. Noi donne infondo abbiamo un instinto innato a pensare agli altri oltre che a noi stesse (anzi a volte a noi stesse ci pensiamo poco!!), cosa che forse il lato maschile non apprezza abbastanza (!)…

Martedi` prossimo abbiamo organizzato, assieme agli studenti di architettura, un incontro con un artista/scultrice simpaticissima Lorna Green. Speriamo vada bene!

]]> http://ehomnick.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/in-avoidance-of-a-lonely-thanksgiving/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:10:29 +0000 ehomnick http://ehomnick.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/in-avoidance-of-a-lonely-thanksgiving/

I took a short break from blogging to analyze my eating habits and explore my reasons for being vegan. This started on Thursday night when Jason and I got home late and all I wanted was butternut squash in pancake form, a salad with lots of goodies (including red bell peppers, avocado, and leftover roasted brussels sprouts), a large serving of a French baguette, and red wine. I picked up the bread and Jason got the wine, and I used a shredded butternut squash to make latkes, substituting the squash for potatoes. Traditional latkes involve egg, onion, a little bit of flour, salt, and oil. I used one egg and felt slightly guilty, despite it being a local, free-range, organic brown egg.

Since moving to New York I’ve enjoyed the abundance of farmers markets perhaps more than anything else, but it also concerns me that the actual farms themselves are not accessible. In Michigan I could go to a dairy if I wanted to see how the cows were being treated–many conscious consumer-friendly dairies actually encouraged visitors on their packaging–but here in the city I’m having trouble dealing with the unknown.

I’m also having trouble with finding variety in veganism. If I want to eat out I have to go to the same restaurants, like Blossom, or find a falafel place. At home I resorted to beans and baked goods, and wasn’t getting enough fruits or vegetables. I wanted comfort food because I felt like something was missing in my diet.

This is a problem I had last time I went vegan as well. I’m part ethical vegan, part vegan for health reasons, and I can’t reconcile the two. I’m not thoroughly devoted to either, and that makes me feel guilty as well. And to break veganism requires abandonment of that title: vegan. I ate an egg, I had organic local milk in my coffee this weekend, and I am not a vegan.

There’s an interesting op-ed in the New York Times today entitled “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable.” I’m sure many vegans are dreading the upcoming meat-centric holiday, but I’m not. I’ve relaxed the requirements I created for myself and I care more about being a good guest and enjoying time with my NY family than retaining my self-righteous title. So while I agree with Gary Steiner on many points he makes throughout the op-ed, I completely disagree with his aggression toward meat-eaters. How many other vegans does he know personally? Five. “I have lost more friends than this over arguments about animal ethics,” he says.

Are friends really worth losing over the battles we choose to fight personally? Should we refuse to eat part of a Thanksgiving meal, prepared by people we care about out of kindness and love, because there is meat on the table? Absolutely not, I say.

I really like the food philosophy of a man my parents befriended while attending a conference in the Virgin Islands. The man was a wanderer, biking as much as he could and making acquaintances as he went, enjoying meals prepared by many and buying very little for himself. What he bought was vegan, but he ate whatever people prepared for him without complaint. Bacon and eggs at a church breakfast, chocolate chip cookies, etc. He was a self-labeled “freegan,” socially gracious and living frugally. I imagine his travels would have been much more lonely if he alienated anyone whose eating preferences differed from his own.

Ale of La Mansarda dei Nostri Sogni has invited me to answer 8 questions to share a little more about myself… so here I am in both languages…

1- Sei soprannomi/Six nicknames
Mi piace il mio nome : ) e si pronuncia in modo uguale in entrambe le lingue. Generalmente mi chiamano tutti con il mio nome/I actually like my name, so friends and family mostly call me by  my name, also it’s good that it’s spelt and pronounced the same both in English and Italian.
Sometimes:

Lori – gli amici di scuola in Italia/by school friends in Italy
Lo – gli amici di scuola in Inghilterra/by school friends in England
Loz – alcuni colleghi/ by some colleagues
2- Tre cose che indosso ora/three things I am wearing now
Jeans
un cardigan verde bottiglia/a green cardy – a charity shop find
i calzettoni di lana da casa/my wolly socks with rudolph the raindeer (I wear them all year round!!)

3- Tre cose che ho fatto stanotte ieri e oggi/ three things I have done today, last night and yesterday
Ieri/Yesterday: sono andata a lavoro in bicicletta nonostante un gran ventaccio!/I cycled to work even though the headwind nearly killed me! But I was very proud of myself lol!

Stanotte/Last night: Ho pulito la cucina tutta splendente/I cleaned the kitchen (I don’t like dirty dishes in the morning… but don’t let that fool you I am not a tidy lady!!)

Oggi/Today: ho fatto una donazione per children in need e mi sto godendo la BBC/I donated to Children in Need and I am now enjoying the BBC entairtment!

4-Due cose che ho mangiato oggi/Two things I eat today
Cereali e latte/ Cereals in the office
Sushi (!!)

5-Due persone a cui ho telefonato
La banca/the bank (how exciting I know!)
mum

6-Due cose che farò domani/two things I will do tomorrow
Dipingero` la nostra nuova porta/I am going to paint our new door
Andra` al cinema con PB a vedere Fantastic Mr Fox!!/Is going to the cinema with PB to see Fantastic Mr Fox

7-Tre bibite preferite
Peppermint tea
Cappuccino
Cioccolata calda/Hot chocolate

8- Invito a partecipare 6 persone/I ask 6 people to take part in this (if they fancy and have a spare minute!):
Chiara di http://nellamiasoffitta.blogspot.com/
Daniela di http://www.ilcoltellodibanjas.blogspot.com/
Mammagiramondo http://mammagiramondo.blogspot.com/
Meli of http://bikesandthecity.blogspot.com/
Dottie of http://letsgorideabike.wordpress.com/
Sigrid of http://myhyggelig.blogspot.com/

Happy week end everyone!!

I’m getting quite close to my 100th post. (Oooo, my stomach just did a little flip-flop in anticipation. Yours too?) And many of you out there celebrate your 100th, 500th or 1000th (Joey!) post. But what about those comments? When are they recognized? Where would we be without comments on our musings?

One of the things I did not anticipate enjoying as much as I do about blogging is the comments. Both giving and receiving (wink, wink). There are some days when I sit down at the computer, fully anticipating to write 7 or 8 prolific posts, but instead spend 3 hours reading your blogs and commenting on them. Then I remember why I sat down to the computer in the first place, click ‘new post’ and I got nothin’. Oh sure, I’ve blamed my crazy life but sometimes I have no one to blame but myself. You people are just too interesting. You suck the great ideas right outta me.

But the dialog that comments provide is invaluable.

And I’ve struggled with how to handle comments from day one. First, I was mostly a lurker. Reading your blogs. Skipping along to the next. Sometimes I just had nothing to say, other times I was intimidated by the amazing comments left by others.

After I dipped my toe in and started to comment I took the full plunge and became a comment whore. I’d comment on anything and everything. I’d spend more time commenting than I would creating a new post. It became exhausting. But I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. If they left a comment on my blog, I left a comment on theirs. If they visited my blog and I could see their blog address on my limited stats keeper here on free WordPress, I’d go to their blog and comment. Even with blogs who didn’t know I existed I would pressure myself to leave a comment, any kind of comment, even if I had nothing to say. I imagined they could see (because they had super-high-powered-stats-keepers-that-could-track-me-down-through-tiny-internet-wires) that I had visited and dared not to let them know I had stopped by.

And some of you demand that people comment. (guilt) And some of you ask questions to encourage comments. (more guilt) And some have pictures and quotes and diagrams and recipes and comics and videos and links to other great bloggers and put sooooo much effort into one little post. (even more guilt….hmmmm, I’m a better Catholic than I thought I was.)

So I gave up. I comment when I have something to say. What a revelation that was! My empty comments weren’t getting me anywhere except behind in my writing and making me feel horrible that I was creating vapid, transparent snippets that clutter up your pages.

Which brings me to the comments I receive here…Oops…..That didn’t come out right – it was the timing. Let me try that again…..

I am so thankful for the comments I receive here. Truly! It’s nice to know that I touch people, amuse people or stop and make them re-think. Oh sure, I receive my fair share of spam. Or thinly veiled comments that reek of ‘I’m only commenting because I want you to visit me at my blog.’ But honestly, those are far and few between. I have surrounded myself in Bloggy World (much as I have in the Real World) with wonderful, interesting, thoughtful people. What an amazing extension of my real life this writing has become and I have you all to thank.

Which leads me to……..my 1000th comment! (Party streamers, confetti and cake for all!)

My blog has received its 1000th comment from one of you, dear readers. Will Joe from Meech and Joe please stand up? Let’s give him a hand everyone! Help me to thank him and all of you for commenting here over the past 4 months! I’ve enjoyed hearing from you and commenting on your blogs. Here’s to continuing our conversations together!  

( Unknown Mami has created an interesting meme along this subject, I Comment Therefore I Am. Worth checking out!)

Check out this post by Jess of Get Sconed!  Amusing blog title, great food photography (I’m working on it), awesome amount of fake bacon.  Why can’t there be a fest like this in New York?

Outside of Children's Storefront on Bathurst.

When I spent three weeks in Toronto in Spring, despite my being busy with that whole, oh, conceiving a child while on birth control thing, one of my biggest challenges was to keep the kids and I busy during the many days that Big N was at work. I was in a new town and only had myself and public transportation at my disposal, and I have to say, we did very well finding fun things to do.

A reader of this blog (and I’m sorry, I can’t figure out how to look up who) suggested that I take the kids to someplace called “The Children’s Storefront,” that was just a few subway stops and about a ten minute walk from N’s house. This was one of the first places I ventured off to with the kids on the subway by ourselves. I was nervous because even though I looked it up on the internet, I didn’t quite get what this place was. It was a government-funded early childhood center funded by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. It said it provided resources and information to families with children under six. Okay. So I’m thinking of this in an Americanized way, and I think that it is some kind of place for low-income, high-risk families where you have to apply for services and go through a bunch of bureaucratic hoops and then you get some kind of counselor that tells you what other services you qualify for while doing little developmental assessments on your kids. (Kind of like the Healthy Start program I was used to.)

But I read this article and decided to give it a go and just show up and see what is there,  not knowing whether I, as essentially a tourist from the States would even be allowed in the building. When I entered the building, which was a large multi-level playroom with a kitchen in the back with fresh coffee smells and a crockpot full of soup, I held the kids hands tightly and would not let them go running off into the fun. I awkwardly explained to the woman who seemed to work there that I was from the states visiting my fiancé and was just looking for places for the kids to go to keep us occupied that were low-cost. She invited all of us in and said we could come there any time for free, make ourselves at home, did I want some coffee or soup?

I was all, “Free? Really? You know I am not a resident of Toronto? Are you just being extra nice to me?” I was sort of dumbfounded by this whole notion. But she reassured me that the Children’s Storefront was for everyone with small children, it didn’t matter where you came from or how much money you had or what you needed…an hour of playtime or intense services for mom’s in crisis, they would try to help you out. I filled out no paperwork, gave no address or information about myself (officially, I did tell her our names, but that was it.) Not even a donation box was to be found. She went over some simple rules of play and introduced me to some other mothers. The kids ran off and did their thing while I horrified the moms with my stories of U.S. health insurance premiums and lack of health care, and they told me of different resources available in the Toronto area for moms and kids. I was loaded up with suggestions of other places to take my kids for free or low-cost, and she helped me navigate a better transit route back home.  On a subsequent visit, when Little A had a potty accident after we’d been there just five minutes and I thought we would have to go home because I stupidly forgot to bring extra clothing for him, she pulled out a huge garbage bag of clothes and let us dig in, sending us home in them and told us not to worry about returning them since we were leaving the area soon. (A still has these beloved Halloween socks from there. He was so happy to wear them on Halloween and remembered where they came from.)

It was just the coolest vibe ever. So Canadian. I even thought that if I was able to get permanent residency in Canada and get out from under the health insurance hell-hole I’m currently in and go back to work full-time, I’d totally love to work in a place like this or start something of my own like it. At the very least, I knew that when I got back to Toronto (sooner or later…) I already had some connections to build on and would not be so alone in a new city. I was so looking forward to going back there again.

I was very sad to learn that over the weekend there was a fire and the place burnt down. Everything was lost and the building is totaled. It was such a neat old building, too. So colorful. And a neighborhood landmark that had been hosting families for a couple of generations. Parents were there who had spent time there as children, and now it’s gone.

Luckily, it seems that the storefront touched others as much as it did me, and it is not a building but a community. There are already efforts to find a new location and rebuild underway.  There is a Facebook page called “The Children’s Storefront Needs a New Home” where organizing efforts are taking place, and a fund for donations set up:

Our Charitable Donation account is up and running at TD Canada Trust. The Transit # is 13602 and the Account # is 5206664. (The Children’s Storefront.com)

I know that this cause is far removed from most of my readers, but I thought the least I could do is make a small donation myself and to spread the word to anyone else that is interested.

Here are some pictures of my guys at the Children’s Storefront last Spring:

Little N beelined to the trains. The staff member who was so helpful looks on.

A and N discover that Toronto has toys, too.

I don't know if you can see, but there is a comfy kitchen in the back.

New friends.

Colorful and Cheery with lots of artwork and wall murals, I hope they can replace this atmosphere.

Hi y’all!  No big dramas happening right now, but lots of little stuff – thoughts, rants, you-name-it, floating around in my brain, so I thought I’d share a bit.

First of all, there’s the flu shot thing.  My friend, Babs and I planned to get our flu shots together last week.  At the last minute, my doctor told me that since I had just had outpatient surgery, I had to wait thirty days to get mine.  Okay, fine.  It didn’t make me happy because I’m a big believer in flu shots, not having had the flu in years, but, I figured I’d just have to bite the bullet.  However, I wanted Babs to get hers, at the very least.  So, off we went to CVS, where we found a small line and only had to wait about 20 minutes.  After her shot, Babs told me that she asked the doctor how their vaccine supply was and she said they had plenty.  (Oh yeah, and while I was waiting, a woman sneezed on me, making the whole “not-getting-a-shot” thing a little more difficult to swallow!)

At any rate, Bab’s husband had called his doctor and was told they were out of the vaccine and weren’t getting any more in.  So she sent him to CVS the next morning, where he was told they were saving what vaccine they had left for sick patients and pregnant women.  Sick patients?  Wouldn’t it be a little late for them?  And pregnant women?  This was for the regular flu, not H1N1.  Doesn’t that seem a little unfair?  Anyway, later that same day, my friend Iris went to that same CVS store, only to find a sign on the door saying they were completely out!  She checked Walgreens and a couple of more places, all to no avail.  So, what worries me is that on October 30th when I’ll be cleared to get my shot, will there be any shots left in my city?  Or am I just doomed?  Will my “Bits & Pieces” end at 11?  Sob!

Second thing – When I was pulling my jeans out of the washing machine to put in the dryer, something clattered onto the floor.  It was one of my computer flash drives!  My first thought was, “say goodbye to that drive!”  After I got the dryer going, my curiosity overcame me and I went upstairs and popped it into one of my laptops.  Guess what?  That drive went through the entire wash cycle and didn’t lose one iota of information!  Is that cool, or what?

Third thing – The writer of one of the blogs I’ve read for years is going through some huge problems right now that are affecting not only her mental and emotional health, but her physical health as well.  I’ve never met this woman personally, but I find myself worrying about her…a lot.  That’s what this blogging world does to you.  She has been a daily read for me for so long that I feel I know her and her family.  She’s made me laugh and cry and now she’s going through this horrible nightmare of a time, and there’s nothing I can do for her.  On a lot of her recent posts, she has closed her comments, so there’s not even that.  Isn’t it amazing that the written word can be so powerful as to bring people together from all over the world?  I guess all I can do is keep her in my prayers and ask any of you who have room in your heart for a stranger, to send a good thought to Shannon.  Thank you.

And last – Naturally, I’d like to leave you on an “up” note, so I’m going to share a picture I came across that always makes me smile.

Hope it made you smile, too!

No photos today…it was a late night for everyone in Las Vegas.

We ended up going to the BlogWorld party last night at Jet in the Mirage after a full day of streaming and recording. It was a great day of sessions yesterday, we had Jermaine Dupri, Brian Solis, Leo Laporte and many more take the stage.

One of the coolest sessions was The State of the Blogosphere. I would reference that video and presentation anytime someone tries to say blogging is dead.

Techcrunch has the presentation online – I will send the link soon.
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I just can’t let my blog be alone, so I updated the header and the background stuff… Right now I want to start my “Gymnasial” education in Växjö. I orderd some stuff about the school I want to go to on this site called gymnasieguiden.se. I’m going to the open house this saturday with my mum to check out the school a bit more and get like information about it. My feature plans is to start with Samhällsvetenskap.

Samhällsvetenskap är en beteckning på de vetenskapliga ämnen som studerar samhället ur olika aspekter.
Gränsen mellan samhällsvetenskap och humaniora är diffus.

Not only am I going to check out my school in Växjö this saturday but I am also buying Reese bar’s or something in City Gross(!) Reese is like this chocolate thing with peanuts and stuff, its super gooood!  Tonight I’m eating Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough (!) (!) (!) The best ice-cream on the planet.

(My mac hasn’t been restarted in a while so it’s super slow while I’m uploading my images to flickr!)

This Friday, I will be speaking at Blog World Expo 2009 on How To Make Your Blog Read Better. You’ve probably seen an earlier version of this presentation at Portland’s Beer And Blog, presented a year and-four-days ago—the weekend after my bike was stolen. This one will view practical steps to better legibility and readability of website text in light of what developments have occurred this past year.

Next Wednesday, I will be lecturing at Henry Jenkins’ Transmedia Storytelling and Entertainment class at USC on the topic of Transmedia and Social Change. I’ll talk about principles we can learn from disparate fields of study—specifically: video game, user interface design and architecture—to craft, design and built spaces that encourage players, users and inhabitants to do the right and ethical thing.

I will let you know if any of these two events will be made available via a live streaming channel or video recording.

Good night.

Today I have been going crazy around town and I got some nice shots. I am hoping this weekend that me and a friend will be able to take some pictures we were suppose to take last week. I have been very lazy about uploading but I have been so busy.

Crazy Amanda on the left and on the right crazy Jenny!