Relay for Life - June 5/09

I'm participating in the Lake Diefenbaker Relay for Life this year.

Join me in making cancer history. Pledge me today!

NaNoWriMo 2008

Another November, another novel!

I've decided to jump back onto the novel-writing wagon and have signed up for National Novel Writing Month again. However this year I have signed up to be the Municipal Liaison for Saskatoon and area, which means that I am organizing things like coffee get-togethers, write-ins at the public library, and parties to kick-off and celebrate the completion of NaNoWriMo. I'm hoping that this will provide the following benefits:

1. It will create increased incentive to fight through and finish the novel.
2. Having more to do will make me more productive in my leisure time.

If you would like to see how I'm doing you can come back to this post.

This is my current wordcount:



Saskatchewan has also challenged a couple of other regions in our annual... challenge against other regions called the Incredible International Challenge. This year we're competing against our annual nemesis, Montana, and a new one, Edinburgh. However, we've tried to lead them on to thinking they're each teaming up with us against the other one. This way we're guaranteed to win!

Soon Melbourne, Australia found out about our plan and declared war on us. Then their nemesis Nashville, Tenn. jumped to support us! It's like a World Word War! Here's the overall wordcount for these regions so far (SK, MT, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Nashville):





During the Incredible International Challenge participating regions will contend for these awards:

• The"We Are The Champions" Award goes to the region with the most winners.

• The "We Are Also The Champions" Award goes to the region with the highest percentage of winners (take the number of winners and divide by the number of people who signed up and posted a word count).

• The "Carpal Tunnel Award" goes to the region that writes the most words in total.

• The "Loquacious Grandeur Award" goes to the region with the highest average number of words written (take the total words written and divide by the number of people who signed up and posted a word count).

• The "Everybody Gets An Award" Award goes to any region who has not already won an award. In the spirit of Nanowrimo, every region who participates will be a winner!

To help raise money for NaNoWriMo I'd like to ask people to use GoodSearch for their websearches in November, and choose to support the Office of Letters and Light (which organizes NaNoWriMo). Every time someone searches through that Yahoo makes a small donation. If you would like to goad me on by making a donation, you can do so through my page on Firstgiving.

All in all it's looking to be another fun NaNo!

The Outlook GPS Scavenger Hunt

Next weekend I will be hosting a scavenger hunt here in Outlook for fellow geocaching enthusiasts. It will involve teams of 2-5 participants with no more than 1 vehicle, at least one GPS receiver, and at least one digital camera. Teams will receive a list of items they need to find, mark coordinates on their GPS receiver, and take a picture of someone from their team near the location. I'm hoping people will have fun with this! It's a little challenging, because everyone will be from out of town. I've chosen some relatively easy items and some pretty challenging items for people to find. Afterwards we'll be meeting at CJ's Java Joint to eat, hang out, hand out prizes, and drool over the cool old map they have hanging in there!



Special thanks to the sponsors for supplying prizes:



www.gpscity.ca

www.gpscentral.ca






www.landsharkz.ca






www.cacherstoybox.ca







www.worldcaching.com



Northbound Trading Company

Fibroid update

Last week I had my first hormone shot. I jump when I get shots unless I am able to watch it pierce the skin, so I was happy to receive it in the arm! I haven't noticed any crazy menopause-like symptoms, but I have noticed that my fibroid feels less hard and isn't tender anymore. In fact, a stretch that I have found uncomfortable to do for the last couple of years causes me no discomfort at all now! I didn't expect that to happen until I felt the fibroid shrink quite a bit! I can't quite tell if it has shrunk at all yet, but I think it might have a little bit.

Fun with Fibroids!

Okay, well, they're not really that fun, but I couldn't think of a good title for this entry...

So anyway, I've known for about 8 years that I had a fibroid. I had volunteered to be in a research study looking at follicular development in the ovaries at the time. On the first visit they did an ultrasound of my uterus and found a 3 cm fibroid. Fibroids are non-cancerous tumours that evolved from the muscle of the uterus. I ended up being excluded from the study for another reason, and attempted to go for follow-up like the head researcher had recommended. Got shrugged off by the gynecologist at the appointment (it's a little more complicated than that, but don't want to go into the details).

In the next couple of years I took a pathology class and found out that a large fibroid is 1 cm and larger.

A few years later my doctor retired and I got a new doctor. When I asked her if I should be having any follow-up about the fibroid, she didn't think so. In spring 2006 I started being able to sometimes feel a small mass about halfway between my navel and 'down there.' I was wondering if was my uterus, bladder, or what. In May I had my annual check-up and mentioned it to my GP, but she didn't examine it (must not have brought it up the right way).

It continued to grow. By spring 2007 the mass was feeling pretty big, so I mentioned it to my GP at my annual check up again. This time she examined my abdomen and sent me off for an ultrasound. Results: a 7cm fibroid. When I went back for follow-up she told me how big it was and asked me if I wanted surgery. No discussion about my symptoms, possible consequences or anything! I'm sure I looked confused - I mean, what the heck was I supposed to be basing that sort of decision on? Anyway, she ended up giving me a referral for a gynecologist. I saw him in August and he examined me and we discussed different options and possible scenarios about surgery and its consequences. He said I'd need to get an MRI before any sort of surgery would be undertaken. And so I waited for that. The Saskatoon Health Region's website said it was about a 2-3 month wait for MRIs. That should have meant about October or November. And I waited...

Finally, the MRI happened towards the end of April. About a month later I called the gynecologist's office since I hadn't heard any results. I ended up getting in to see him again a few days after that. At the time of the MRI the large fibroid that I can feel was 10.2 x 9.3 x 6.8 cm... which turns out to occupy a 645 ml volume! That would be about the same length as a baby at 13 weeks. ...And would also explain why I feel so huge all the time. I can't breathe very well when I bend down to put on my shoes. I'm pretty lucky with the location of this fibroid. It's on the outside of my uterus, so hopefully not too much normal uterine muscle will be damaged during the surgery.

So now the next phase is preparing for the surgery. Once I find out if my medical coverage has kicked in at work I will go out and purchase my first monthly Trelstar shot - a hormone which after the first couple weeks will induce temporary menopause. This will decrease the amount of estrogen I have in my body and should shrink the fibroid to about half its current size. This will decrease the invasiveness of the surgery I need to remove the fibroid. I should be getting this just three times, then have my surgery afterwards.

So overall it looks like I'll get to 'enjoy' fake menopause over the summer, have surgery in the fall and have a little recovery time after that. I'm not sure how it compares to something like a hysterectomy where you are unable to lift anything greater than 10 lbs for 6 weeks. I'll have to learn what sort of activity limitations will be imposed... then I guess I'll be off of work (unless I specialize in hand therapy for a few weeks!).

So yeah, that's the big thing in my life right now...

Technoviking

You gotta love how the people on the web will find something funny then twist it to make it even more funny or twisted or whatever - way after it originally happened. Tonight I ran across a series of 'Techno Viking" videos. Here is the original version.

I did a bit of poking around on the internet and this footage is apparently from the Berlin "Fuckparade" in 2000 (check wikipedia and everything2). One video comment claims to have quoted the following from wikipedia:

A man known as "Techno Viking," a German shopkeep named Hans Shlepkopper led the demonstration through the streets of Berlin and is video taped while performing a complicated series of techno dance moves.

Here are some other versions ("Techno Viking does not dance to music, but music dances to Techno Viking"):

Beat It
Technoviking Drama
Ghostbusters
Technoviking Peanut Butter Jelly
Technoviking Friends
Technoviking Pirate
Technoviking does the Hustle
Technoviking WoW
They're taking the hobbits to Isengard
Technoviking bakes a cake
Right Said Technoviking
Let the dream come true
What happened to Technoviking

This one is my favourite version by far (0:30 is where it gets fun)

My Christmas Registry

Just posting this here for the family. I will keep adding to it as I think of things.

• The Children of Hurin - by J.R.R. Tolkein
• cordless telephone with 2 handsets
• Layali Yasmina CD
• gift card for Future Shop (for a digital camera)
• money to buy furniture
• bedside table
• large Lagostina Ticino frying pan (from Canadian Tire) I already have 20 cm frying pan
  
• bookshelves (oak coloured)
• Flight of the Conchords DVD (from HBO) or CD
• chocolate coloured curtains for my bedroom (window ~ 32"x48") NOT TABBED CURTAINS (would be nice if had pale blue accent)
• a VCR
• floor lamp(s)
• a shredding machine
  

Bizarre but true

Surgery on girl born with 8 limbs went 'wonderfully well'

Have I mentioned I've been watching the X-Men movies lately... it's sort of bending my perception of this story!

The Saga of Aud the Deepminded - Part 1

DISCLAIMER: While this story is about historical people and I have spent many hours researching them, many of the sources conflict with one another. I have chosen elements from various sources to create what I hope to be an interesting story. DO NOT USE THIS STORY AS A SOURCE FOR ANY ACADEMIC WORKS. Also, I'm writing this rather quickly so I expect there to be all sorts of internal inconsistency, poor grammar, and godawful punctuation.

Chapter 1 – Ketil Flatnose

There was a hersir in Romsdal province named Ketil Flatnose. He was the son of Bjorn Buna who was also a hersir and he was the son of Grim, Lord of Sogn. Bjorn Buna’s mother was a woman from Lappland whose father was a chieftain that Grim traded with on a yearly basis. Ketil’s family could trace its roots to King Haleyg of Halogaland. Ketil Flatnose was highly respected throughout the north as a powerful man with many powerful connections.

He took to wife Yngvild, daughter of Ketil Wether, a hersir of Raumarike who was a man of good family.

Ketil Flatnose made many successful excursions to the western isles and men were happy to follow him. He had a knack for knowing where to find the best goods and always shared them fairly with his followers.

His wife Yngvild was widely admired, for she was very beautiful and Ketil always brought back the finest jewelry and fabrics to adorn her with. There were many people who said that her features were no less fine than the treasures she wore.

At this time Ketil and Yngvild had three children. Their oldest son was named Bjorn, for his father’s father. Next came two daughters, Thorunn, who was later called Hyrna “the Horned”, and Aud, who would grow to become a woman of great renown.

One summer Ketil was off raiding in the western isles. He had partnered up with Jarl Kjallak of Jamtland and they brought together a mighty force which raided throughout Mercia for several months. The two men fought well together, and grew to greatly admire one another. On one occasion Ketil Flatnose had the opportunity to slay a man who was about to attack Kjallak from behind. Kjallak offered to foster Ketil’s young son Bjorn. This was a great honour to Ketil as Kjallak had the finest land in Jamtland and received rent from many freemen.

Chapter 2 – The Return

Aud ran excitedly to find her sister Thorunn. She had looked for her back at the house, but Yngvild had sent Thorunn up to the shieling with Aisling to milk the goats.

There had been a strong wind blowing from the southwest for several days, and Aud had caught Yngvild looking seaward numerous times. Aud knew the baby would soon be here – Yngvild’s tummy was so big now. Sometimes Aud would put her hand on Yngvild’s tummy and feel the baby move beneath it. Yngvild’s tummy was so hard. Sometimes when she was alone Aud would poke her own tummy, but it didn’t feel the same.

Aud was starting to slow down, but she was so excited that she just tried harder and harder to run. The shieling was so far away from the house, but Aud didn’t mind the climb because she loved to look out over the fjord below. She could see the shieling now, and Corin was out with the sheep. He waved at her and started to walk towards her.

“Daddy’s home!” Aud yelled out excitedly.

Corin turned towards the shieling and went inside. In a few seconds Thorunn came running out, meeting Aud and njarly running into her.

“Daddy’s home?” asked Thorunn with great excitement. Her voice njarly trembled.

Aud pointed down to Romsdal fjord which spread out before them. There were sixteen longships there which hadn’t been there jarlier that morning when Thorunn headed up to the shieling with Aisling. The ships had men moving in out of them repeatedly as they unloaded the ships of all the great treasures and trade goods that they had reaped from their journey. Aud could see many large stacks and piles accumulating on the docks. From that distance she was not able to make out Ketil Flatnose, her father.

“I wonder what he brought us this time!” yelled Thorunn as she started to run down the valley toward the docks. Aud ran, but couldn’t keep up with her older sister as she ran down the valley. She stopped for a brief rest, and looked back up the valley towards the shieling. Aisling and Corin were standing beside it. Aud thought they looked stiffer than normal, and maybe even a little bit sad.

Aud took off down the slope again. She could see Ketil now, and Thorunn was njarly there. Thorunn yelled out something that Aud couldn’t hear, and Ketil turned to see her. He grabbed her strongly in both arms and swung her up overhead. Thorunn’s laughter carried all the way up to Aud. She ran faster.

“And there’s my little lambchop!!” called out Ketil Flatnose as he put Thorunn back down on the ground and reached out for Aud. Aud njarly leapt up into his arms, she was so excited. He swung her around too, then hugged her close to him while he did a little dance.

“I missed you so much, daddy!” said Aud, “I want to hear all your stories about your adventures!”

“That’s going to have to wait. I have important things to do tonight, but when all of Jarl Kjallak’s men are gone you will not lack for new tales. We had great successes and I am sure that my stories will not disappoint you,” said Ketil. “Now run along. You girls stay out of the way here. Go tell your mother I will be back to the house shortly.”

“Yes, daddy,” the girls called out simultaneously.

They ran back home to share the news with everyone there. Then their mother sent them out to fetch their older brother Bjorn from a neighbouring farmyard.

Chapter 3 - The Changes at Home

It had been several days since Ketil Flatnose had returned home with Jarl Kjallak. Aud had hardly seen her father for fifteen minutes in total since his return. She did not know how it was possible, but she felt like she missed him even more now that he was home than she did when he was out faring in the Western Isles. There were so many men around, too. They celebrated every night. In the evenings Yngvild sent the girls to stay in the old hut on their farm where Aisling, Corin and the new woman her father had brought home from the Western Isles all stayed. Aud couldn’t understand this new woman at all, but Aisling seemed to be able to talk to her in some sort of jibberish language they both knew. This new woman was very pretty but very quiet, and stayed near Aisling as much as she could. Aud heard her crying one night. She could not understand why she was not happy – Romsdalen was such a nice place and Aud loved it very much.

The next day was a very busy one on the farm. Jarl Kjallak was leaving for Jamtland the next day, and Ketil was going to host a large feast to honour him. There was a flurry of activity all over the place as Yngvild, Aisling, and the new woman worked away at preparing the feast. Aisling had been baking bread for the last few days and was preparing one last batch for the night’s festivities. Aud waited until Aisling was alone, then approached her.

“Aisling, what’s wrong with the new woman? Why is she not happy?” asked Aud.

“Oh Aud, you cannot understand why, you silly little girl,” replied Aisling as she focused on kneading the last of the dough she had prepared.

Aud got mad. “I can too!” she retorted huffily.

Aisling laughed. “Oh all right,” she replied, “Caoimhe is a long way from home and…”

“What did you say? Is that her name?” Aud interrupted.

“Yes, Caoimhe. It’s Gaelic, like my name,” said Aisling.

“What’s Gaelic?” asked Aud.

“It’s the language of the people of the Western Isles, or at least part of the Western Isles. That’s where Caoimhe and I come from.”

Aud was surprised. She never knew that Aisling had not lived in Romsdalen her whole life. “You didn’t grow up here?” Aud asked incredulously, her eyes widening with surprise.

“No,” said Aisling, “I was born in Pictland. Around five summers ago your father raided in my town. He and his followers killed many men, and took many people from their homes. He had us tied up, put us in his ships, and sailed us away for many days. He took us to a strange place where people with dark-coloured hair and skin lived, and sold or traded most of us away to these strangers. I was a pretty woman back then, and I guess he must have liked how I looked…”

“I think you are still pretty, Aisling,” said Aud.

“You are a sweet girl, Aud, but living with your mother has been very hard on me. I think she was jealous of me at first, and she tried very hard to find things to punish me for. There were many nights where I did not wake up the next day after she beat me.”

Aud went quiet. She remembered one night a few weeks earlier when her mother had been very angry. She yelled and yelled at Aisling, and Aud heard what sounded like hitting. The next day Aisling’s face was covered in bruises.

Aisling looked over at Aud. The girl was starting to look at her in a sad way.

“Oh, but you were not asking about me, you were asking about Caoimhe,” said Aisling quickly.

“I still do not know what it is that you are saying her name is – is it Key-vee?” asked Aud.

“No, it is like Key-va,” said Aisling with strong enunciation.

“Key-va?”

“Yes, that’s right,” said Aisling. “It means ‘beautiful’ in Gaelic.”

“Oh that is the right name for her,” said Aud, “She is so pretty.”

“Yes, though it is unlikely that she will long stay that way, if your mother treats her the same way as she has treated me” Aisling said sadly, staring at the ground.

Aud stared at Aisling for a minute, but the woman said nothing more. She grabbed the loaves she had prepared and took them to the outdoor oven.

“I guess she must really miss her home,” thought Aud as she skipped away from the fire house and went outside to chase butterflies.

That night there was a lot of commotion coming from the longhouse as the feast went on. Aud had a hard time staying asleep with all the cheering and yelling that was going on. It got a little quiet for a few minutes and she nearly fell asleep, but there was an even louder cheer than any of the other cheers that had been cheered before. Yup, that was some cheering.

Anyway, a few minutes after that she heard someone run past the hut, crying. She tiptoed over to the doorway and peaked out. The full moon was shining out over the Romsdal fjord, brilliantly lighting up Ketil Flatnose’s farm. She could see someone, possibly a boy, crouched and huddled up against the rock fence of the pig pen. She looked back into the hut; Aisling, Corin, and Thorunn were all soundly sleeping (in Corin’s case he was making a lot of sound, snoring away in the corner on an old, worn-out chair).

Aud grabbed the blanket from the little hay pile where she was sleeping, wrapped it around her, and left the hut as quietly as she could. She cautiously approached the pig pen, and soon realized that the boy was her brother Bjorn.

“Bjorn!” she called out in a loud whisper. He looked up and quickly turned his face away, but she could tell that he had been crying.

She sat down beside him.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

He started wailing, despite himself. Aud put her hand on his back and waited. After a few minutes he started to cry less.

“Daddy is sending me away with Jarl Kjallak,” he managed to choke out.

Aud’s eyes popped open with surprise. “What? Really?” she asked.

“Yes… and we’re leaving tomorrow!” said Bjorn.

Aud did not know what to say. She could not imagine the farm without Bjorn. Who would she go and throw rocks in the creek with? For that matter, who would she go throw rocks at by the creek? Every day she followed Bjorn down to the fjord and she would sit in a boat with him while he fished. She liked to do that. It was so calm out on the water. She sometimes peered down into the water and tried to make out the bottom. If she could convince him, sometimes he rowed out to the little island and they would climb onto it and pretend to fight dragons. Bjorn was a lot more fun than Thorunn. She just wanted to do work and help everyone.

Aud started to get mad. “No!” she yelled, “He can not make you go away!”

She got up and ran towards the longhouse, leaving her brother there with his shock and fear to keep him company. Just as she was about to throw herself into the main door, it shot open. She screamed, and the man who was coming out nearly fell over himself in surprise. After taking a second to get herself together Aud scuttled past him, and ran into the loud, choatic longhouse. Her father was sitting on the high seat, holding Caoimhe on his lap. Caoimhe had both of her forearms held out before her, pressed into Ketil’s chest, trying to hold him back. Aud took no notice. She ran up to him.

“Daddy!” she yelled and tried to climb up onto the high seat and hug him. “You can’t make him go away!”

“Aud! My little girl!” called out Ketil with a drunken drawl. He released his grip on Caoimhe, who immediately pulled away out of reach, and pulled Aud up onto his lap. He started to tickle her. She started to laugh, despite herself.

“Daddy!” she yelled, “Daddy, stop! Stop, Daddy! Stop!”

Ketil tickled her even harder, laughing his deep-throated laugh that Aud had heard so many times before. Her laughter turned to screams.

“Stop! Stop! Nooo, stop!!!”

Ketil lightened his touch a bit, then started up even harder than before. He grinned hugely.

“Ow! Daddy, no!!! That hurts! You are hurting me! Stop!” yelled Aud.

Everyone in the longhouse was starting to watch them. Most of the men were laughing at them. Aud was getting mad. She tried to punch Ketil, and flailed her legs out in an effort to kick him. He relaxed his grip of her, then let her go. She turned to face him.

“Daddy, you can not let him go!” she pleaded. “Please do not make Bjorn go!”

He pulled her closer.

“Keep your voice down,” he gruffly replied, “This is a great honour for your brother and for our family. Jarl Kjallak is a great man and an even better friend. Your brother could not have a better foster-father. Now go back to bed and stop causing trouble.”

Aud sulked away.

“How could he be so mean?” she thought, “It’s not fair.”

When she went back to the pig pen Bjorn was gone. She could not see him anywhere. She went back to the haypile in the old hut and cried herself to sleep.

The next day before Bjorn left, Ketil got the whole family together. He shared some stories about his raids in Pictland, and gave gifts to everyone. To Bjorn he gave a fine dagger with intricate scrollwork on the handle. It had belonged to a great Pict leader, the uncle of Caoimhe. He told Bjorn that he was proud of him and that he would become a great man under Jarl Kjallak. To Thorunn he gave two finely carved bone combs for her long, blond hair. Aud received a doll made of wax with real human hair, dressed in fine clothes. She was very excited about her gift, and nearly forgot about how her brother would be leaving in a matter of hours. Yngvild’s gifts were very valuable: a finely carved chest containing a large pile of beautiful fabrics, a silver chalice, and a set of silver bracelets. This, however, was not enough to placate her for Ketil’s gift to himself, Caoimhe.

Countdown

Less than 5 hours until NaNoWriMo 2007 starts! Yay! I'm excited to try out the idea I was inspired to start on in 2002... an Icelandic saga based on the life of Aud the Deepminded, a woman who settled in Iceland around 900 C.E. I've studied a variety of sources, many of which conflict with each other, and pieced together a timeline for my storyline. This time I will not be starting with the experiences of Aud's great-grandfathers... I'll start at her dad... and quickly get into her life. Good luck to me!

Go! Tickets

Haven't heard anything more from the CBC producer I talked to the other day, but I just checked the Go! website and they have a show location and time:

Refinery Arts and Spirit Centre (I believe this is near 12th St. and Lansdowne)
Thurs. Oct. 11/07 7:00-8:30 pm
Free tickets are available through the show's website ticket order form: http://www.cbc.ca/go/tickets.html

The show airs on CBC1 at 10:00 am Sat. Oct. 13. It's a fun show to listen to and I'm looking forward to being involved in a live show. I'll be teaching a dance class downtown at 9:00 so I won't be able to hang out after. :-( Could be a really fun dance class if I'm still full of adrenaline!

Complete Strangers

Well, this morning I was contacted by 2 complete strangers.

Stranger 1: A female bisexual Saskatonian poked me on Facebook. I felt really odd about that, but just ignored the poke.

Stranger 2: A producer from the CBC Radio show Go! e-mailed me about being part of a geocaching-oriented competition when they record a show here in October!! I'm so excited!!! I'll keep the details posted as I find out more. You can request free tickets at their website. I'm still trying to figure out how they got my e-mail address...

On the Web again!

On the weekend my dance troupe did some advertising at a bridal show. A blogger from the StarPhoenix mentioned us on her blog (nice photo too). You can see it for yourself at: Wedded Diss

New Zealand's 4th Most Popular Folk Parody Duo

I have to thank Mike for introducing me to Flight of the Conchords, a very funny duo from New Zealand. They write hilarious lyrics and have genius comedic timing. Here are some my favourite clips of them:

Business Time

Albi the Racist Dragon

Jenny

I'm on YouTube!

Here's a video where I'm one of the people dancing in the basement of the Refinery this spring. I think it was posted by a friend of a fellow dancer...

The Clip