The rain washed out the protest

The picture I took while on my lunch break, on Thursday, June 24. Native Protest. Chanting was: "I stole the Native Land."

Happiness

The happiness comes in little bits and pieces. Like memory sketches of times that in retrospect look better than they felt in real time. Or anticipation of the event we believe will bring us joy. But it is always elusive. The moment you believe you are happy , you start worrying about not being happy anymore when that moment passes. As if present happiness is only achievable when you can totally forget about past and future. But your mind will play tricks on you. It will be almost impossible to continue being happy. Happiness is just a moment in time. It is so expensive to be happy that it makes me wonder how to find happiness in not being happy. Like, I know I am not the best I could be NOW, but I see the potential, and although I am NOT happy, I am happy that I can change and undertake that journey of transformation. Enjoy it and be part of process, Being happy in unhappiness. Pushing yourself to the limits. Achieving in transformation. Happiness is just a dream.

Wedding at St. Lawrence Market

And with permission of Andrej Acin I am publishing this photo here. Thanks to him I found out that this was not a real wedding. It was promotional campaign for travel agency :)



The building that houses St. Lawrence Market was first built in 1831, but burnt down in 1849, only to be rebuilt in 1850 as St. Lawrence Hall, that stands in its place until today. There is some magic around old buildings. Their walls and floors emit the energy of all the times the building has been living in. If you tune in, you can sense old and new times, you can hear steps of those walking those floors decades ago, or you can smell the smells and hear the sounds of the times long gone by. But yesterday, there was more to St. Lawrence Market than just food. In between two meat counters, beside tables where people were eating their take out breakfast/lunch, there was a beautiful scene, almost like from the movie. The bride in old fashioned bridal gown, with tiara, and bouquet of silk large roses, dark pink colour, the groom with the baloon flower in his taxedo, bride's maid in beautiful pink dress (absolutely beautiful pink). And then, the opera singer appear, with knitted red scarf, singing arias from Carmen and other operas... For a moment time stopped and felt as if we all were on the big cloud surrounded with bubbles.




Yes, bride and groom were giving away tiny bottles to blow bubbles. I will call this picture in my mental photo album: Wedding at St. Lawrence Market. Long live bride and groom. They for sure are creative!

Facebook "friend request"

I received recently the "friend request" from someone that I do not know. Curious to find out why this person wants to be my FB friend, I sent the message asking: "Why do you want to be my FB friend?" and the reply was: "Because I love communism... How old are you?". I was puzzled, so I replied: "I do not see what your love for communism have to do with my age?" I think I added: "I am very old:)". I am still waiting for the reply. The individual who sent me FB request has an octopus as his profile picture. I do not know what to think. Maybe it is one of those young adults in search for identity, looking for a sexy communist girlfiend ( which I am certainly not, and I am not even sure how come they did not see my profile picture where I am standing at the entrance of Universal Studios in Florida - with my son). So it makes me rethink joining FB groups - I thought that they unite people around common interests. It never occured to me that it could be place for someone to look for some kind of romance:)

While looking around the Internet, I stumbled upon this link that has nothing to do with my post, but here it is nevertheless:)

http://www.meaningsoflife.com/

Have you filed your taxes?

Here is a bigger picture. If you ever wondered where your tax dollars go, here it is. As you can see more than 25 percent of the income tax revenue goes back to the citizens. It means that the tax dollars are used to fund programs such as Employment Insurance, Children’s Benefits and Seniors Benefits.

Let's look at federal expenses for the fiscal year of 2008-2009.




The Canadian tax system is based on self-assessment. The United States, Australia, and New Zealand also use the self-assessment system. Self-assessment is considered the most economical and efficient way to collect income tax.

Under the self-assessment system, non-residents with Canadian income and Canadian residents are responsible for making sure they have paid their taxes according to the Income Tax Act. Income and deductions are listed on the return so both the taxpayer and the CRA can calculate the taxes the taxpayer has to pay

Below are some of the milestones in Canadian taxation.

Canada first collected personal income tax in 1917.
The organization that evolved into the CRA was founded in 1927.
Starting in 1966, Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions were collected from employers and self-employed Canadians.
In 1972, Revenue Canada Taxation began to collect Unemployment Insurance premiums (now called Employment Insurance or EI).
The federal government began to collect the goods and services tax (GST) in 1991.
The Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) program was introduced in 1993.
The Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) program was introduced in July 2006.
The Working Income tax Benefit (WITB) program was introduced in 2007.

Even though you may not have to file a tax return, you may want to. By filing a tax return, you could qualify for a tax refund, credit, or benefit. For more information, go to Benefits of filing a tax return.

If you pay more tax than you owe during the year you could qualify for a tax refund. The tax refund cheque is sent out with a Notice of Assessment or deposited into your bank account if you have asked for direct deposit.

Whether you get a refund or not, you may qualify for a tax credit or benefit.

So what are you waiting for:)

One day in March

Wake up, do exercises, eat breakfast ( blueberries with cereal, coffee, one vitamin C - chewable and cod fish liver oil - Norwegian ), check if there is any windchill, stop to hear the bird chirping ( no it is not spring yet, but imagine...), decide what to wear, apply makeup, walk bravely to the new day, think positive, do not give up whatever you are doing.

A note to myself: in spite of other people's schadenfreude ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schadenfreude), be the way you are, continue being happy for other people's successes, as well as your own.

What is your nationality?

I was asked the other day by someone what was my nationality. This is an excerpt from our conversation:

The person: "What is your nationality?"

Me: "Canadian."

The person: "But you have an accent."

Me: "So what?"

The end.