CURRENT MISSION

Soak up as much summer sun & warm weather as possible!

ABOUT ME

I have the good fortune to be working at "Earth's General Store" (EGS). With a focus on reducing our ecological footprint, EGS has been serving the community of Edmonton for 24 years. The store is locally owned & operated & offers a variety of products: cloth diapers, composting worms, energy efficiency devices, certified fair trade & certified organic coffee (E-town's only roaster of this nature!) & CFTCO chocolate (yum!), books, & magazines. I do abide by the store's ethos: "Consume less, consume locally, consume wisely, & love lots more!"
I volunteer at CJSR, Edmonton's campus-based community radio station. (In Edmonton on your fm dial 88.5 or check out www.cjsr.com) I host a program called "Hamster Tales" that features an eclectic mix of music, & interviews with musicians or organizers of Anarchist bookfairs or solar engineers or film fest programmers...essentially things that are happening in the community to encourage participation. I am a vegetarian who loves to eat & is adding recipes to my small repertoire with the help of my friends. I prefer learning recipes hands-on as opposed to out of a book.

PHILOSOPHY

I cannot claim this as my own philosophy, but my friend gave me a quotation from American dancer & choreographer, Martha Graham. It has stuck with me. Here it is from Wikipedia.
According to Agnes de Mille: "I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. ... I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me, very quietly,"
'"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others"'
from The Life and Work of Martha Graham [2]

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have hosted & look forward to meet other members via their couches or a monthly meet-up.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My friend Babe Lloyd recommended this website to me & said he met some great people overseas. I am a Hostelling International member so off-the-beaten path has always appealed to me.

Interests

Bicycles, board games (love scrabble), usually like card games I just need to be reminded how to play them. Creating; from writing original silly songs or making a friend's birthday card or collage. While I have no formal art or music training, I have finally realized that we all have the potential to create, we just have to start.

• arts
• writing
• books
• dancing
• recipes
• chocolate
• coffee
• vegetarian
• board games
• music
• business
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

I am a fan of novels by John Irving. Book recommendations are welcome; that is how I was turned on to John Irving. As a radio programmer, I have been led to many great artists & enjoy many styles of music. There are some excellent musicians in this city & country. I like: Wendy McNeill (former Edmontonian), Babe Lloyd (biting social commentary while rocking out!) Pangina (girl rockers...the lead singer & drummer are rocking moms!) & too many more to mention. Usually dig Coen brothers & Pedro Almovodar movies. Rarely see big box office stuff. I'm the girl who borrows foreign films from the library & deliberately avoids the new release shelves at the video store. E-town has a great annual documentary film fest called "Global Visions" featuring fantastic films from all over the world. Check out "Life & Debt" & "Super Amigos".

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A double rainbow end-to-end from my back yard one summer. There must be others...gimme time!

Teach, Learn, Share

I make delicious curried chickpeas.
I could teach you the basics of Qi Gong.
I could show you some Traditional Thai Massage moves.
We could write a song or story or poem together.
Could you teach me a tasty vegetarian recipe?
Can you tell me about a community bicycle network where you live?
Can you share some funky & interesting things to see & do?

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