Danforth shooting site

This is steps from the Danforth shooting site, just a few months after the tragedy.

It is one short block from where I used to live for 9 years (and 4 years on Pape), and where some of my friends, acquaintances, and former neighbours still live.

The weird thing is the two areas I go to visit friends – Danforth/Carlaw and Yonge/Finch – both had mass killings this past year. VERY SCARY AND SAD!!

1) Unsealed warrants reveal Toronto Danforth shooter had ‘fascination with death’

2) ‘Nobody’s seen anything like this’: 10 dead, 15 injured in north Toronto van ramming attack

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Bunch of pics…it’s been awhile

Haven’t been posting for quite some time. Here are some pics for posterity (including one by PetSmart and two from the media).

This is reaching back a ways, but a good friend from high school played on Team Canada Women’s Ice Hockey team for two Olympics. These are pics from the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City – the year that BOTH the Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey teams won!

Women’s sports has come a long way in the past 30-some years. When I was a teen, there was next to no future for women in sports, particularly team sports. Vicky is now the Head Coach for U of T’s Women’s Hockey.

Vicky is also one of the most humble people you will ever meet. She excelled at every sport she played, had a room overflowing with trophies and medals,  yet she is just so modest with a great sense of humour. (We even bowled at a Doubles Bowling Tournament together as kids and won – they paired the best bowlers with the worst. Guess which one I was?)

Above left: Jayna  Hefford, Cassie Campbell-Pascal (captain) and Vicky Sunohara (assistant captain)

Friends from CMHA: Dave and Jim.

–>  AUGUSTINE, I didn’t include your pic to respect your privacy.

         

Above: Much-loved Smoky, the rescue cat I got for my friend Aaron in 2015.

Professor Li, below, is 106-years old in this picture. She is related to the last emperor of China and was born and raised in the Forbidden City. She’s a specialist in the Chinese language. She also raised 9 children by herself (!!) and was invited to Canada in the 1950’s at the invitation of the United Nations to help with translations at the Toronto Reference Library (her English is very good, luckily for me). The Canadian government is currently doing a study on her because of her unique gene pool, obvious longevity, and Manchurian ancestry with her gray eyes.

Allison on one of our rare, though enjoyable, walks. Mostly we do coffees together and email and text lengthy essays on life to each other – LOL!

D. and I are coming up to our 3rd anniversary this month (June 2018), yet I have never posted his pic here. I try to be mindful about how people may feel about being seen on a seemingly stigmatizing site, such as this one.

Andy Capp, an old cartoon favourite.

This cartoon clip applies to everyone, righteous priest and alcoholic alike…

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RIP Uncle Tony

My Uncle Tony (Anthony Bernard Chan) by marriage is a proud 3rd-generation Chinese-Canadian who passed away on Sunday, June 3, 2018. He is survived by my aunt Angela-Wei and his daughter Lian. His funeral and life commemoration was on Saturday, June 9, 2018 at the atheist church in West Hill (this church is a real gem and is led by the dynamic Gretta Vosper).

It is a shame I or someone didn’t  video-record Tony’s funeral service. It was beautiful and moving, and a real slice of history (Canadian, American, Chinese). Some of his former students from the University of Washington flew up and spoke of Tony’s ability to inspire a genuine desire to learn. Tony travelled to 29 countries and worked in 5 (?). A former CBC anchor, documentary filmmaker, ground-breaking author, and a much beloved professor of many years, Tony B. Chan was a trailblazer in so many areas.

Rest in peace, Tony (June 25, 1944 – June 3, 2018).

Above: University of Toronto’s main campus library set up a memorial in Tony’s honour, featuring some of his many works (written and film).

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Chowing down

My mom, D. and I went to Kelsey’s, but only this pic turned out well. I didn’t think to take one of us together, lol! (See next post.)


In fact, I’ve had my phone 5 whole months before I even thought to take my first ever selfie (which was of D. and I). What a slow learner I am, and a Luddite!! It’s the drugs, I swear!

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My dear Kira

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Canadian family history

Sorry to the subscribers for all the mass editing!

Since I do rattle on about socio-environmental issues in Canada, here are some ‘fun facts’ about my family below, since *credibility* is at a premium when one is a mental health survivor…

  • A number of my relatives are 4th- and 5th-generation Chinese-Canadians;
  • My parents obtained their respective degrees at Queen’s ’61 (Kingston, Ontario) and Mount St. Mary’s College ’64 (Los Angeles, California);
  • My engineer father worked for Ontario Hydro for a couple of decades, and was responsible for a billion dollar project, back in the 1980s;
  • My late grandfather (born 1909) and his 11 siblings were/are all university-educated, as was my grandmother I believe (she passed before I was born), and all my aunts and uncles on both sides of my family, and so on;
  • My maternal aunt is in the Canadian Who’s Who, and has sat on the board of directors for TIFF, several hospitals, etc;
  • 3 of my aunts, and 2 of my uncles (by marriage), are published authors;
  • My cousin moved to the U.S. to study architecture, and ended up working in New York — this is one of his projects:

https://vimeo.com/103481838;

  • My uncle (by marriage) had 3 uncles who served in the Canadian military during WWII, and their family restaurant Panama Café was a Victoria landmark from 1910 to 1967 (see photos below; I haven’t gotten around to digging out our family photos).

Pics from the extended family…

Interior of the Panama Café, ca. 1917. Chan Dun is standing behind the counter (City of Victoria Archives, M00274).

Standing in front of the Panama Café are Koo Ching Lim (left) and her husband Chan Dun (right) with three of their four sons who served in the Second World War: (from left) Ira, Paul, and Roy. (Photo courtesy of Anthony Chan).

Thanks Tony, be well. We love you.

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One-Word Essays

(Note: These are NOT my photos; they come from an email circular.)

My relative who has been on psychiatric meds for over 40 years sent this email. She was able to stay at one job, got married, and has been active in church and in her communities.

One Word Essays

Determination

 
          
 
 

Hope

 
 

Contemplation

 
 

Love

 
 
 

Excitement

 
 
 

Security

 
 
 

Adventure

 
 

Contentment

 
 
 

Longevity

 
 

Curiosity

 
 
 

Heroism

 
 
 

Aspirations

 
 
 

Confusion

 
 
 

Honor

 
 
 

Accomplishment

 
 
 

Perseverance

 
 
 

Whimsy

 
 
Tradition
 

Companionship

 
 
 

Beauty

 
 
 

Caring

 
 
 

Relating

 
 
 

Fruitful

 
 
 

Awe

 
 

Tenacity

 


 
 
 

Friendship

 
 

May your troubles be less,
May your blessings be more,
May nothing but happiness
Come through your door!

 

Hope You have an enjoyable DAY

and experience all of GOD’s BLESSINGS !!!

 

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Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all the women who have children of their own, or have been like a mother to others! Have a great day and year!

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Remembering Tooker

Today is activist and politician Tooker Gomberg’s Memorial Day.

Please read here to learn more about Tooker.

And a NOW Magazine article on his passing.

God bless his widow Angela Bischoff, who is handling both Greenspiration.org and her other eco-campaigns through the Ontario Clean Air Alliance (OCAA). Angela has twice  been voted Best Activist by readers of NOW Magazine in 2013 and 2014.

Love and peace to all.

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Navigating Socially – Yikes

I have moved this post to its own page, ‘Then and Now’, coming soon.

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Sibbald’s Point

No photography for, like, 6 months. Am having to relearn the very basics all over again – urghh!

These shots are from a day trip to Sibbald’s Point, out on Lake Simcoe, and a random pic of my dog. We did African drumming with Phil, Wendy, and Eric from Shaw Percussion.

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Coptic Church

It was a challenge positioning myself in the snow. Frankly speaking, I don’t know how photographers do it.

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Trying to Find a Groove

Nothing in particular about these photos. One is from my current personal development course (Managing Conflict). And there’s my dog, of course. She always crosses her paws, very lady-like.  🙂

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Click on the photo below to enlarge it. Jigsaw puzzle of self-understanding and how personal pain from the past impacts one’s life today.

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Posted in animals, architecture, artwork, decorative art, fish and marine life, flowers, food, nature, pets, places, therapy, things | 3 Comments

Nice Horsey

 

We visited TheFreedomHorseClub.com today. Here are a few of the nice horses there!

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The Season’s-a-changin’

Been awhile since my last post – like many Canadians, I have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Don’t know how to take interesting landscape photos when the surroundings start looking bare and stark. You may not see much from me until next spring!

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My arts therapy projects, below…

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