So, today I turn 37. Ho hum.

Normally, I am jazzed about my birthday. However, today I am moving to my new apartment, and I am not ready. Not at all.

I worked all weekend. In fact, with the exception of the Fringe closing weekend in August, I am working every weekend this summer. It sucks, but it is money in my pocket.

This is how I looked about a week ago:

My portfolio for my application to enroll in the Honours-level filmmaking course is not completed yet (although I am working on it right now, too), and it is also due today.

I need more boxes.

I need an ice cream cake.

I need to enjoy this day in some capacity. I need joy.

Lately, I’ve been finding myself looking at the comments on different things at IMDb. I have no wish to comment there, because I find that it’s like any bulletin board with passionate people: eventually, something erupts into a flame war.

Anyway, on one thread for Gurinder Chadha, who is one of my favourite directors, a student had typed in: “I am studying for my ‘A’ levels, and need to give 5 examples of female directors and what they have produced.” She (I’m assuming it was a girl) remarked that it’s difficult to find information on female directors, or even to know who they are. I very nearly responded, until I realized that, after about 14 other people had given their responses, the student had said thank you, and that she had passed her exams.

The whole query has sparked off something in my brain, and I feel compelled to list the female directors that come into it. This is by no means a complete list, and I am restricting it to film, not TV. I am also providing links to their pages at IMDb, in case a name rings in YOUR brain and you want to know what she has worked on.

Gurinder Chadha has directed Bend It Like Beckham, a sweet little story about an Indian girl struggling to fit in with her fairly traditional family despite her love for and great skill at football. I’ve also enjoyed Bhaji on the Beach and Bride and Prejudice.

Patricia Rozema is a Canadian who has directed a number of quirky films, including I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing, and an unusual adaptation of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, in which she incorporated many details of Jane Austen’s life and earliest work into the main character.

Penelope Spheeris is probably most famous for Wayne’s World, but she has also directed the Decline of Western Civilization trilogy, which looks at punk music culture.

Jane Campion’s The Piano won all kinds of awards, including Best Actress for Holly Hunter at the 1994 Oscar awards, but she has also directed Holy Smoke with Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel, among other films.

Barbra Streisand is NOT one of my favourites, I have to tell you. It’s not that she doesn’t have talent, it’s not that she doesn’t produce good quality films…it’s just (and if you feel compelled to explain, please don’t)…I don’t understand all the hype, or why she’s considered an icon. Having said that, Yentl is one of my favourite films from the 80s.

Who are some of your favourites?

Hi!

First of all, I would like to thank you. Thank you so much for sharing your addiction with the rest of us out in public. Thank you also, for clogging up hospital rooms, clinics, doctors’ offices and specialists’ waiting lists with your smoking-related ailments. On behalf of all children who were born to mothers who smoked, thank you for passing down the propensity for developing any number of medical and mental issues (the connection between ADD and mother’s smoking while pregnant has been recently established).

On the other hand, thank you also, for keeping cash crop farmers working to support your habit. I’m sure they could find other crops or types of farming to benefit the food chain, or the industrial sector, but as tobacco farming is more lucrative, what’s the point?

See, when you light up, you are affecting so many more people than just yourself. Many smokers in recent years have felt set upon by bylaws, governments, and a trend of popular thought that vilifies them, and not without reason. Perhaps you are one of them. If you look at the larger picture, however, you have to agree that choosing to smoke is not really a private issue.

For beginners, your immediate family have to live with the smell of your clothes, your breath, the inside of your car(s) and home. With chemical allergies on the rise, you could easily be living with someone who is getting sick simply from the smell of the smoke.

When you blow smoke from your lungs, you are breathing out toxins that have circulated through your body, which include carbon dioxide, now magnified through regular breathing practises. Someone next to you is breathing that into THEIR body.

These toxins could be killing someone you love–and that someone may even be YOU. Cancer is believed to be caused by the mutation of cells and tissue after being exposed (usually repeatedly) to toxic chemicals. Have you looked at the ingredients on the label of a pack of smokes recently? It’s not just dried tobacco leaves rolled into a convenient little tube. No no. There are additives: preservatives and other chemicals used for flavour and for enhancing addiction. The FDA has a list of 599 allowed additives used by the 5 major tobacco companies in the U.S. (and also here in Canada).

On their own, some of these chemicals are relatively benign, but once you set fire to them…well, hundreds of new chemical compositions are formed, and many of them are carcinogenic. Cancer is a devastating disease. There is just barely enough research to figure out how it gets started. There are hundreds of types of cancer–one for every part of the body, and then some. When untreated, they are fatal.

FATAL–as in “dead as a dodo,” “shuffled off the mortal coil,” “an ex-human,” etc. As in, NO CURE. Sure, there are some surgeries and some treatments that can shrink or remove cancerous tumours, but there is absolutely no guarantee of permanent remission. And cancer from smoking does not only happen to smokers. It can develop inside anyone who has prolonged or regular contact with smokers.

And hey, let’s not forget there are other heath problems that can come from smoking: emphysema, respiratory ailments, such as asthma, increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, cerebral atrophy (brain shrinkage), increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, cataracts, Buerger’s disease, the list could go on.

If you think death from any one of these only affects YOU, look around you. Do you have children? A spouse? Friends? Neighbours? Internet buddies? Other family? Get the picture?

Smoking causes death. It’s that simple. It is an addiction like any other, and it kills. That is not a private issue: it affects us all.

Think about it before you light up again.

Thank you,
jeopardygirl

I should warn you now, that this is not a happy post. But it’s not unhappy because I’m angry or upset about current circumstances of my life. No, it’s not a happy post because my grandmother died.

I feel like a bad granddaughter right now, because I am not upset, or in shock, or any of those other expected emotional states at the moment. That may change, but for now, I am aware that my ties to her were cut long ago, and it makes it hard to feel sad in the “traditional” way.

I think I’m more angry than sad. Angry because:

1) she practiced “out of sight, out of mind” better than anyone I ever met. When you were in her vicinity, you felt loved and cared for, and special. But I lived hundreds of miles away, and she never tried to keep in touch except through my father, who was and is an immature drunk.

2) no one bothered to try and find me to tell me she had died. She has been gone since February 24 of this year, and I’m just finding out now.

3) it is too late to repair or salvage some kind of relationship with her–and even if I could, it would mean I would have to have a relationship with my drunk-ass father who doesn’t deserve to have me in his life, because that’s the way that family works.

I felt neglected by her in life, and neglected now that’s she’s gone, too. What could have been a special and close relationship never materialized.

1. Prepare to spend up to 20 minutes to get your photo done. Although from start to finish, the process only takes about 2 minutes, give yourself the leeway. Canadian Passport office requirements are so stringent, your photographer may need to make several attempts at taking and/or printing your passport photos so they will pass.

2. Wear a dark or brightly coloured shirt. You will be photographed in front of a white background, so wearing darker colours will provide better contrast which will reduce the incidence of “flare” on the shoulders. “Flare” is a bright white area reflecting the camera’s flash, which disguises the definition of facial features and the silhouette.

3. Leave the bling at home. Necklaces and earrings cause “flare” around the neck, ears and face.

4. Wear your hair down. Passport officials are looking at hair length, as well as colour.

5. Wear minimal make-up, especially if you have oily or combination skin. Shiny cheeks or foreheads can also result in the dreaded flare. I have even applied face powder to men and children on a number of occasions.

6. Have a sense of humour, but don’t smile in the photos. I have a strong feeling you are supposed to look like you are already in trouble.

Always keep in mind the following:

a) Your passport photo will be scanned into computer systems where ever you travel.
b) It will be your passport photo for FIVE years.
c) I can guarantee it will not be the most attractive photo of you ever taken.
d) Your photographer will probably give you a coupon for a free session and/or a free sheet to entice you to come back for regular portraits. If they don’t, go ahead and ask for one.

If these tips help just ONE person, I’ll be happy.