...the process now begins...

After EXACTLY 2 years and 1 day--the Canadian government is finally beginning it's long awaited deportation process. My partner and I arrived here 2 years ago and since then have been working extremely hard digging, digging, digging....and digging more roots. Today I received a letter from the Canadian government kindly asking me to pick up my paperwork (which I must file through my lawyer) to prepare for a possible deportation in the near future.

Whether or not I will get to remain in Canada, live peacefully with my partner, continue to work and live amongst my friends is still quite undecided...

I'll keep you posted as the process now begins.

Ricky Gervais--American Social Commentary Through Comedy

I'm not sure if you listen to Ricky Gervais, but he's HILARIOUS!

This article was on NPR.ORG ... check it out!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97002854 <-- Video Link of Ricky Gervais

Day to Day, November 14, 2008 · British comedian Ricky Gervais has made his name playing losers. He wrote and starred in the original British version of The Office, where he played the dunderheaded boss, David Brent. In his next series, Extras, he played the slightly more with-it Andy Millman.

It took coming to the United States to really find his stride, however, he tells NPR's Madeleine Brand. This Saturday, Gervais makes his American TV stand-up debut on HBO with Ricky Gervais: Out of England, which was recorded in New York's Madison Square Garden.

It's his best work yet, he says. There was something about performing for a bunch of Americans that left the famed funny man feeling wild and free.

"I don't know whether I am under more scrutiny in my own country, but I ad-libbed 10 times more than I usually do. I just went off," Gervais says of his performance stateside. "I just enjoyed myself more than I ever did before, and I want to keep that feeling now. It's like I hit the ball perfectly for the first time, I felt that racket. Now I know where to hit the ball every time, and I can't wait to do my next show."

Gervais has long been a fan of American comedy. He cites Laurel and Hardy, Groucho Marx and Woody Allen as major influences for his brand of what he calls "the comedy of embarrassment."

"America is my mecca for entertainment. Everything I have ever loved has come out of America," Gervais says. Those comics "taught me that you have to be at the bottom rung of the ladder. No one wants to see unfeasibly handsome, clever people doing things brilliantly; they want to see a putz struggling and falling over, and the important thing is getting back up again."

Gervais insists there is no place for a peacock in comedy. He says it's all about being the everyman and maintaining a fallible persona that people can relate to. "There should be no machismo in a comedian because comedy is about empathy," he says. "I think the audience doesn't need to be told that your life is better than theirs."

In Out of England, Gervais comes onstage with a king's crown and a rock star's pomp, accompanied by fireworks and Queen's "One World, One Vision." His ostentatious entrance is a tongue-in-cheek jab at production values and the idea of celebrity.

"Soon you find out that all my anecdotes of fame are about me being the underdog, me being embarrassed socially, depressed, everyone getting the better of me," he says.

Gervais says returning to stand-up has allowed him to discover the importance of physical comedy. He realized "what people liked was me acting out a scenario as opposed to just telling jokes," he says. "Because comedy is empathy, most of the things we identify with are probably nonverbal. Body language and the way that you feel things are are more important than what you hear."

His routine touches upon kids with cancer, Nelson Mandela and a dialogue between Nietzsche and Hitler, but Gervais says there are no real victims in his show. "What a satirist does is make fictional superheroes and villains so we can laugh guilt-free," he says.

Gervais' stand-up persona gets everything slightly wrong, a trait he says is important for his brand of the comedy. "When you live in a world where your firstborn isn't dying of terrible diseases and you're not being shot at, the worst thing that happens to us is we do embarrass ourselves."

...it may have sounded mean--but i was being honest.

It was brought to my attention that my previous blog was offensive. And though I don't wish to offend people--opinions seem to have that effect sometimes--and I happen to have many opinions!

To be fair, my workplace is filled with many great people--those who are courteous, friendly, hard working, respectful of the space and the property they are borrowing...and in the same breath, as I inhale from saying that sentence, I must follow it up immediately with the fact that it is also filled with many who are ignorant--people who lie, cheat, steal, are apathetic, are grossly insecure, are rude and self-centered. And as I lament about the "brainlessness" of it--I am not making commentary on any particular individual--but rather an overall workplace-culture where everyone must fend for themselves (kind of like capitalism), rarely help one another out, and constantly feel belittled by a company that sees them as nothing more than a cash-cow.

Don't get me wrong and please don't misunderstand--personal training and coaching different strength disciplines can be an art when you know what you're doing. Having the opportunity and ability to work with individuals one-on-one; bringing them to a place of heightened fitness is extremely rewarding. But just like in EVERY workplace, there are always those individuals who don't fit in--unfortunately for me, at this particular workplace, I'm one of those people.

Plain and simply...I don't like working for a corporation. I don't want to be another cog in the wheel--it's not who I am. While I continue at my post, making a lot of money for a little bit of people, I will continue to blog about it--as honestly as always. I will try my best to articulate my opinions so that they're specific and eloquent... I always hope not to offend, but rather to elicit thought.

So stay tuned for more Stories From The Gym!

A new blog thread for you: STORIES FROM THE GYM!

Lately I've been on a (CRAZY) political tangent. And though I am very passionate about politics, the fact of the matter is I'm an athlete first and foremost. I'm all about The Greater Good, but I'm an athlete at the core. That said, I've decided to start a new thread called: "Stories From the Gym"... I figured you all would benefit from the drama, the hilarity, and the ridiculousness that encompass The Gym--my daily workplace.

I'm a strength coach. And I work in a gym. Most days I can't stand where I work--the lighting, the brainlessness of it all, the fixation on asthetics, and of course working for a corporation (UGH!). If I were to fairly describe myself at work--I'm the girl that is stronger, faster, and WAY more agile than the average. I train athletes and non athletes while talking about politics during their breaks. In a nutshell--that's me. I'd like to say that I get along with everyone, but that's just a pipedream.

Relavent Tangent: During university I often worked in restaurants to make some extra cash to survive (and naturally, to afford to party). After years of this type of work, I finally decided that I would NEVER work in a restaurant--EVER again. The pay was terrible, and at the risk of sounding elitist, I can do better than that--I'm a smart woman. Little did I know that working in a gym would be just as bad... if not worse (actually it's worse). Honestly, I have never worked in an environment that is more unprofessional in my life. Sometimes my workplace is a scene straight out of an MTV reality show--if you're not cool enough, fit enough, successful enough--pack your bags because you're going to get voted off!

To be fair, I have a couple of friends there (4 to be exact)--people that I truly respect and like... but for the most part, I feel as though I am in a reality television show without a confessional to turn to (but then again, that's where you come in!).

That said... here is my "Story From the Gym" of the day. I shall call it "BEASTERIOD"--out of hilarity

There is a group of us that hang out around this one table. We're actually confined to it because we just got a new general manager and her main goal (and this is a quote--obtained through hearsay of course) is "to make sure trainers are no longer sitting around".

In case you are unaware of this fact, trainers are slaves to their clients. If we cannot find a client to fill a time slot, we are either eating, working out, or sitting around-- and there are only so many times that you can eat or work out. Though our managers would love to have us prospecting (gaining more clients=making the corp more $) during this time, the fact of the matter is, they don't pay us to prospect... so we don't if we don't need to.

Back to our table; I digress... So today, our little group--there are 7 of us who regularly converse and are in my opinion the 'tightest knit' group at The Gym: Me, 'the Relative', 'the Footballer', 'Portugal', 'the Fighter', 'Greece' and sometimes 'the Newfie'. Today we (Relative, Portugal, and Footballer) were sitting around and talking about some of the newer members at our particular location. New members are like a new classroom for teachers--they change on a regular basis and you never know what you're going to get...

Today we were discussing a new member who is particularly built for a female. Not that it is a good or bad thing, but in her first week as a new member, she has garnered quite the reputation for herself. Last week Greece had a run-in with her when he mistakenly used one of her machines during her workout. According to his personal description of the story, she started yelling and cursing and speaking in another language when she realized he had been using her machine. For a group of people who spend about 4 hours a day sitting around, this was interesting news. We laughed about this and were a bit scared of having similar run-ins with her in the future.

ENTER ENID: seriously... it's just my luck....

Today I had a business meeting and I was dressed up when I got to The Gym. My hair was done, I was wearing jewelry (which never happens otherwise) and I was wearing make-up. I didn't have many clients, but the few time-slots that I did have happened to be when the yelling--cursing lady was working out. We shall call her Ms. H.

When I describe this woman to you, I want you to visualize the following: petite, about 5'3", very long, dark hair, and a very defined and built physique (think HYPERTROPHY). In my opinion, she may not have gained this strength by natural means. (And not to be a jerk, but she has a very low voice to prove my previous claim--see my earlier post about the steroids documentary)

During one of my training sessions--which I was successfully accomplishing without disturbing anyone else--Ms. Hypertrophy herself, in person, decides to come up to be and ask:

"ARE YOU USING DIS BALL" (be sure to say with a low voice--envision a voice that drinks whiskey in the morning DAILY and smokes ten cigarettes a day... then add a European accent).

I kindly answered: "Yes. We are still using this ball. But we'd be glad to share". (referring to the stability/swiss ball we were using)

She says: "I don like to share (cue eye-roll, then eye-lock and 3 second stare). I vill get my own" (don't forget the whiskey and the cigarette voice-rasp)

My poor client was like 'what the hell is going on'. It was honestly the most awkward/unecessary moment--everyone seemed to be locked into our small and insignificant discussion. Naturally, it wouldn't be a true moment from The Gym if there weren't about 2 or 3 trainers/co-workers in the vicinity to share in the experience. As soon as she walked away, another trainer said (outloud) "Watch out E... don't mess with her" and yet another one said: "don't worry, I've got your back"... it was surreal--sometimes I feel the need to look for the cameras. After our little 3 sentence conversation, she went back to the mirror where she stared at herself and danced (with herself) to the music. It was positively amazing.

In any case, it was just another day on the job. And while it's quite hilarious, I wonder why Ms. H (or as my co-workers lovingly refer to her "Beasteroid"--I'm shaking my head as I type the name) came up to me in the first place. Honestly, there were 3 other Stability Balls, in our immediate vicinity, that were not being used.

Something tells me this won't be our last run-in. We'll see what happens next. Maybe she'll challenge me to a tricep-pushup test... who knows? In any case, there is no telling what could happen at The Gym... tune in for updates.

Until next time...on "Stories From The Gym"...

Will Ms. H ask me on a date? Or will she curse me out for kicking her out of the "Trainer's Only Section"... we shall see!

...READ THIS... it's for the greater good!

Recently, I have been wondering about the United States and its seemingly incestuous relationship with Israel. I use the word incestuous because, well... it kind of feels that way--everyone knows about their strong alliance, but people seem afraid to talk about it... and more importantly, the realities of it = lot's of bombs, missles, and war!

With Barrack Obama's first cabinet appointment being Rahm Emmanuel--a prominent politician with strong Israeli ties--I have become increasingly interested in this topic, particularly in the reason for its sensitivity. And I am determined to get to the bottom of it, so naturally, I have been asking around. I get the history of the relationship--how they met, the long strolls on the beach, the backseat of the car, etc. etc. But, I can't seem to figure out who is telling which what to do--is Israel calling the shots when it comes to the US's actions in the middle east? Or is it the other way around?

While most people I know listen to music and watch the hills, I'm usually at home cracking-out, Amy-Winehouse-Style (ouch!) to CBC and NPR--I can't even help myself!

Today, as I was cooking, I was listening to the CBC and coincidentally a former Israeli soldier was speaking about his experience in the military. And to my 'shock-and-awe', he was speaking out against it. Literally, I was shocked. I even turned off the water so that I could listen!

I learned that he has started an organization called "Breaking the Silence". It is the first organization where soldiers are speaking out about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--calling it an occupation and discussing the ways in which it is immoral and wrong.

WAIT A MINUTE... ARE HUMAN BEINGS EVOLVING BEFORE OUR EYES OR WHAT!!!??

Anyway, I found this extremely interesting and a bit AWESOME. As some of you may or may not know, I am quite supportive of those of us who openly and loudly question the wrong-doings of our governments, our politicians, our CEOs and our militaries--in my opinion it is our duty to question those who have an abundance of power; as those of us who follow blindly are simply unpatriotic (and a bit ignorant).

Below is an excerpt from the organizations' home page--check it out.

LISTEN: This may not be your cup of tea or something you particularly care about--but it's SUPER important. Think about it this way: If you want the world to be a better place, then it is up to you to recognize and support those who are brave enough to go out of their way and put their lives in danger to speak out against the wrongdoings of those who have power. In the very least...it's the very least you can do.


"Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects testimonies of soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories during the Second Intifadah. Soldiers who serve in the Territories are witness to, and participate in military actions which change them immensely. Cases of abuse towards Palestinians, looting, and destruction of property have been the norm for years, but are still excused as military necessities, or explained as extreme and unique cases. Our testimonies portray a different and grim picture of questionable orders in many areas regarding Palestinian civilians. These demonstrate the depth of corruption which is spreading in the Israeli military."

Very Cool Discovery - Sia

Maybe you've heard of her...
Her name is Sia. Her music is fantastic, her videos are eccentric, and her voice is delicious!

If you haven't heard of her before, I strongly suggest you start listening. I first saw her video called buttons and I bought her CD. It is fantastic! I'm desperately hoping she comes to Toronto!

So, here is my Very Cool Discovery of the week: SIA - The girl you lost to cocaine

Can you be whoever you want?

Imagine if cultural norms were non-existent. I don't mean values or morals. I'm talking about pointless judgments. Imagine if there were no geeks, no nerds, no ugly people (whatever that means), no eccentrics. Imagine if you could wear whatever you wanted and no one said it was UNFASHIONABLE, or OUT OF DATE, or UGLY... just imagine if you could be whatever you wanted. Well here is an example of that. I think it is amazing!



Think about it. Then comment.

I'd really like to hear your thoughts.