Sasha Speak's
Daily Blog
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Sasha JaegerBaird: Posted on October-24-12 12:16 AM
I was just reminded tonight, from someone who I deeply respect and admire, that sometimes I need to think before I post.
I
have happily made references, or even direct quotes, from other
people's Blogs, online news sites, and other printed material, here, on
my own Blog. Most often I am very good at giving credit to the person or
place that I got the information from.
Usually I will place a link, or direct link, to the source of the information. I will quote who said it or post where I got the information from. I may copy parts of the story and then provide a link to the entire story. I may even post an entire article with the author or source provided.
However, every once in awhile, I fall short. I forget to give credit where credit is due. I leave out the source of the information that I am posting.
I
really do not do it intentionally. In fact, I think we have all done it
more than a few times. We hear or see a great quote or saying and use
it without thought or consequence of who said it or where it came from.
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
I know that I can say that I have personally flattered a few people, during my life, with my imitation of sorts.
But back to the specific issue at hand.
I quoted a fellow Blogger, here on my own Blog, on a couple of occasions. Only I did not credit him for this information.
As many of us do, I copied and pasted the information.
I have to say in my defense that I did not sign it, or take credit for it. Nor, did I put myself the author of it. However, I also did not credit this person for it, as I should have. I just copied and pasted it on my Blog.
A simple thing really. Just copy and paste. No thought about it.
However, it is really a such dangerous ability.
Many of our children are doing it each
and every day. They do it without thinking or consequence. They go
online, research the information, copy and paste it, and then write the
essay and call it their own.
Similar things are happening all over North America, in Universities everywhere. Students are paying for other people to do their work and then they sign their own name to it and turn it in as their own work.
They give no thought to the person who spent countless time and energy researching and writing the information.
Picasso once said "Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal".
My interpretation of what he probably meant by that is that every person is influenced by what has been said and done before. If not directly, then it is influenced by their exposure to other people, the media etc. We are all the product of our environments and what happens around us each and every day. We expand upon our own knowledge and have the benefit of those who have done similar things before us to draw from.
We all borrow information because most of what we know comes from other sources that have already done the preliminary work before us. To merely copy something is to take an existing interpretation and not run away with it, but give credit to where we got it. To steal an idea, is to take something of value and to make our own.
But I digress away from my original point; giving proper credit where credit is due.
I have fell short on this, on a number of occasions. For this, I am truly remiss. I sincerely apologize to you, my readers, for failing to give proper credit where this credit is due.
I promise I will endeavor, in the future, to always note the author or source of my information. It is only fair to everyone.
To the source of some of my recent information, I sincerely apologize to you, for failing to give proper credit. I will do so, from now on. Please accept my humblest apologies. I hope that you will forgive me, and understand it was not to slight you in any way. It most cases, it is nothing more than an oversight on my part. My being in a hurry to post and not taking the time to stop and think.
There are always consequences in everything we do and say. We should always take the time to think about those consequences before we act or put our name on something. I know that I will from now on.
To the person who reminded me of my indiscretion, and doing so, by giving me a good swift kick in the arse, I appreciate it. Thank you, my friend.
Sincerely, Sasha JaegerBaird
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Sasha JaegerBaird: Posted on October-14-12 12:59 AM
I just wanted to pass this story along.
Tonight on the news was a story about a woman named Allison Tate.
Who is she you ask?
Well, she is a mother, like so many of us women are.
She is a mother who suddenly got a huge wake up call, at a party that one of her children was invited to attend. At this party was a photo booth. Her young son excitedly tried to drag his mother over to get their pictures done together.
However, like so many of us who are or have been a mother, Allison hesitated because she did not feel that she looked good enough to be in the pictures.
Allison, like many mother's do, has spent years being the one behind the camera, as the one taking the photos of her family. And also as many mom's do, she has avoided the camera altogether because she felt that her hair was not perfect, her makeup was not done or that her double chin might show.
Then something began to dawn on her. She went home and looked through all of the photos that she has documented of her children's lives and one person was very conspicuously absent from all of those photos. Her.
She realized that one day, when her children go through those photos, there will be no photographic evidence of her existence. Then hit her. Her children do not care that she was not wearing any makeup, or that her hair was askew. They would not care if she had not lost that baby weight that she had gained having all her beautiful children. They would only see that she was not in those pictures.
It was right then and there she knew that it no longer mattered what she "felt" she looked like. She would be in those pictures from now on.
She states: "Our sons need to see how young and beautiful and human their mamas were.
Our daughters need to see us vulnerable and open and just being
ourselves -- women, mamas, people living lives. Avoiding the camera
because we don't like to see our own pictures? How can that be?"
And she is so very right. How many of us avoid the camera when it comes out? We worry more about how we "think" we are perceived, than how we really look to others, especially family. Our family love us for who we are, not what we think we should look like. We all have imperfections.
As mother's we usually are the first one to get up and the last to go to bed. How many time's do we really stop to throw on make up Christmas morning before coming down to see what "Santa" has left for our children. We hide ourselves behind our camera's to avoid what "we" think of how we look. Really though, it is what our children feel about us, that matter's.
Allison goes on to say: "Too much of a mama's life goes undocumented and unseen. People,
including my children, don't see the way I make sure my kids' favorite
stuffed animals are on their beds at night. They don't know how I walk
the grocery store aisles looking for treats that will thrill them for a
special day. They don't know that I saved their side-snap, paper-thin
baby shirts from the hospital where they were born or their little
hospital bracelets in keepsake boxes high on the top shelves of their
closets.
They don't see me tossing and turning in bed wondering if I am
doing an okay job as a mother, if they are okay in their schools, where
we should take them for a vacation, what we should do for their
birthdays. I'm up long past the news on Christmas Eve wrapping presents
and eating cookies and milk, and I spend hours hunting the Internet and
the local Targets for specially-requested Halloween costumes and
birthday presents. They don't see any of that."
And she is right!!! We need to be documented for our children and our grandchildren and their children, too. We need to be seen sitting right there beside them.
After all, we are the women who, as Allison says:
"gave birth to them, whom they can thank for their ample
thighs and their pretty hair; the woman who nursed them all for the
first years of their lives, enduring porn star-sized boobs and leaking
through her shirts for months on end; the one who ran around gathering
snacks to be the week's parent reader or planning the class Valentine's
Day party; me, who cried when I dropped them off at preschool, breathed
in the smell of their post-bath hair when I read them bedtime stories,
and defied speeding laws when I had to rush them to the pediatric ER in
the middle of the night for fill-in-the-blank (ear infections, croup,
rota virus)."
We, mom's, can all learn a lesson through Allison's heartfelt revelation.
As Allison so eloquently puts it:
"Someday I won't be here -- and I don't know if that someday is tomorrow
or thirty or forty or fifty years from now -- but I want them to have
pictures of me. I want them to see the way I looked at them, see how
much I loved them.
I am not perfect to look at and I am not perfect to
love, but I am perfectly their mother."
I am one of those mother's have has spent many years lurking behind the camera. I, too, have suddenly taken to hiding when a camera is taken out. However, after reading Allison's story and seeing the broadcast on the news tonight, I will now be right up front and center when the camera comes out. I will be sitting beside my children and with my grandchildren from this point forward.
To Mom's everywhere - "We need to get out from behind those camera's and be in the moment!!!!"
You can read Allison's entire article here:
Or watch the online CTV News Story here:
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Sasha JaegerBaird: Posted on October-30-10 12:45 AM
As All Hallow's Eve is just about upon us, I thought you might like a little Hallowe'en History lesson. Halloween - The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows Halloween had its beginnings in an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of the dead. The Celtic peoples, who were once found all over Europe, divided the year by four major holidays. According to their calendar, the year began on a day corresponding to November 1st on our present calendar. The date marked the beginning of winter. Since they were pastoral people, it was a time when cattle and sheep had to be moved to closer pastures and all livestock had to be secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested and stored. The date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle. The festival observed at this time was called Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween). It was the biggest and most significant holiday of the Celtic year. The Celts believed that at the time of Samhain, more so than any other time of the year, the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living, because at Samhain the souls of those who had died during the year travelled into the otherworld. People gathered to sacrifice animals, fruits, and vegetables. They also lit bonfires in honour of the dead, to aid them on their journey, and to keep them away from the living. On that day all manner of beings were abroad: ghosts, fairies, and demons--all part of the dark and dread. Samhain became the Halloween we are familiar with when Christian missionaries attempted to change the religious practices of the Celtic people. In the early centuries of the first millennium A.D., before missionaries such as St. Patrick and St. Columcille converted them to Christianity, the Celts practiced an elaborate religion through their priestly caste, the Druids, who were priests, poets, scientists and scholars all at once. As religious leaders, ritual specialists, and bearers of learning, the Druids were not unlike the very missionaries and monks who were to Christianize their people and brand them evil devil worshippers. As a result of their efforts to wipe out "pagan" holidays, such as Samhain, the Christians succeeded in effecting major transformations in it. In 601 A.D. Pope Gregory the First issued a now famous edict to his missionaries concerning the native beliefs and customs of the peoples he hoped to convert. Rather than try to obliterate native peoples' customs and beliefs, the pope instructed his missionaries to use them: if a group of people worshipped a tree, rather than cut it down, he advised them to consecrate it to Christ and allow its continued worship. In terms of spreading Christianity, this was a brilliant concept and it became a basic approach used in Catholic missionary work. Church holy days were purposely set to coincide with native holy days. Christmas, for instance, was assigned the arbitrary date of December 25th because it corresponded with the mid-winter celebration of many peoples. Likewise, St. John's Day was set on the summer solstice. Samhain, with its emphasis on the supernatural, was decidedly pagan. While missionaries identified their holy days with those observed by the Celts, they branded the earlier religion's supernatural deities as evil, and associated them with the devil. As representatives of the rival religion, Druids were considered evil worshippers of devilish or demonic gods and spirits. The Celtic underworld inevitably became identified with the Christian Hell. The effects of this policy were to diminish but not totally eradicate the beliefs in the traditional gods. Celtic belief in supernatural creatures persisted, while the church made deliberate attempts to define them as being not merely dangerous, but malicious. Followers of the old religion went into hiding and were branded as witches. The Christian feast of All Saints was assigned to November 1st. The day honored every Christian saint, especially those that did not otherwise have a special day devoted to them. This feast day was meant to substitute for Samhain, to draw the devotion of the Celtic peoples, and, finally, to replace it forever. That did not happen, but the traditional Celtic deities diminished in status, becoming fairies or leprechauns of more recent traditions. The old beliefs associated with Samhain never died out entirely. The powerful symbolism of the travelling dead was too strong, and perhaps too basic to the human psyche, to be satisfied with the new, more abstract Catholic feast honoring saints. Recognizing that something that would subsume the original energy of Samhain was necessary, the church tried again to supplant it with a Christian feast day in the 9th century. This time it established November 2nd as All Souls Day--a day when the living prayed for the souls of all the dead. But, once again, the practice of retaining traditional customs while attempting to redefine them had a sustaining effect: the traditional beliefs and customs lived on, in new guises. All Saints Day, otherwise known as All Hallows (hallowed means sanctified or holy), continued the ancient Celtic traditions. The evening prior to the day was the time of the most intense activity, both human and supernatural. People continued to celebrate All Hallows Eve as a time of the wandering dead, but the supernatural beings were now thought to be evil. The folk continued to propitiate those spirits (and their masked impersonators) by setting out gifts of food and drink. Subsequently, All Hallows Eve became Hallow Evening, which became Hallowe'en--an ancient Celtic, pre-Christian New Year's Day in contemporary dress. Many supernatural creatures became associated with All Hallows. In Ireland fairies were numbered among the legendary creatures who roamed on Halloween. An old folk ballad called "Allison Gross" tells the story of how the fairy queen saved a man from a witch's spell on Halloween. O Allison Gross, that lives in yon tower
the ugliest witch int he North Country...
She's turned me into an ugly worm
and gard me toddle around a tree...
But as it fell out last Hallow even
When the seely [fairy] court was riding by,
the Queen lighted down on a gowany bank
Not far from the tree where I wont to lie...
She's change me again to my own proper shape
And I no more toddle about the tree. In old England cakes were made for the wandering souls, and people went "a' soulin'" for these "soul cakes." Halloween, a time of magic, also became a day of divination, with a host of magical beliefs: for instance, if persons hold a mirror on Halloween and walk backwards down the stairs to the basement, the face that appears in the mirror will be their next lover. Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called "mumming", from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. To this day, witches, ghosts, and skeleton figures of the dead are among the favorite disguises. Halloween also retains some features that harken back to the original harvest holiday of Samhain, such as the customs of bobbing for apples and carving vegetables, as well as the fruits, nuts, and spices cider associated with the day.  Today Halloween is becoming once again and adult holiday or masquerade, like mardi Gras. Men and women in every disguise imaginable are taking to the streets of big American cities and parading past grinningly carved, candlelit jack o'lanterns, re- enacting customs with a lengthy pedigree. Their masked antics challenge, mock, tease, and appease the dread forces of the night, of the soul, and of the otherworld that becomes our world on this night of reversible possibilities, inverted roles, and transcendency. In so doing, they are reaffirming death and its place as a part of life in an exhilarating celebration of a holy and magic evening. Jack Santino - September 1982 |
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Posted on October-29-10 9:18 PM
A few of us are meeting at 1:00 p.m., at the old Bellevue Cemetery. Anyone wishing to help volunteer can join us there. The more the merrier, the faster it will go. Bring your own work/garden gloves. Directions: from main street Bellevue, go towards east Bellevue, travel on 27th Avenue until 215th street (turn left), then left again on Larch Avenue (27th Ave), follow up gravel road to cemetery. You can't miss it. See here for google directions. If you have any troubles, call me at 403-563-6073. Thank you in advance. |
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Sasha JaegerBaird: Posted on October-27-10 4:22 AM
I am happy to report that some wonderful people have stepped forward to offer their help, to clean up the Old Bellevue Cemetery. We will be going out on Saturday afternoon at about 1:00 pm (weather-permitting), if anyone else wants to join us. Bring your own garden/work gloves, rake, gas mower or weed eater. If someone has a pickup truck and can haul away some of the wood, that would be helpful. Hot chocolate will be supplied. If you think you might be able to join us, please let me know, so I can have an idea of a head count. I am even more pleased to report that some unknown people have already taken the initiative, gone out there and done some work. I happened to take a drive out to the cemetery today and found this pleasant surprise. There have been some trees and branches already cut down and piled outside of the cemetery. They are ready for further cutting up and disposal. That is what a truck is needed for. I'm not quite sure what all the piles of dirt are about, that are on the ground both inside and outside the cemetery. I would like to get to the bottom of that. Maybe someone was wanting to fill the spots where some of the graves had sunk?? Anyway, the dirt is there for it now. It just needs to be spread around in the appropriate places. Then come Spring, we can spread some grass seed in these spots. I would also like to see if we can get a bench or two placed out there. If someone can donate a bench, that would be awesome!! Or maybe, if someone is handy and can make it a winter project to build one or two benches. Let's try to work together, to make this a nicer place for people to come honor their loved one's. I also have a couple of people who have volunteered their time and help for the coming Spring, as work will again need to be done then and over the Summer. If you can't join us this weekend, but do want to help at some point, please feel free to contact me with your name and contact number and I will add you to the list of volunteers. Thank you for listening and caring, Crowsnest Pass. I know you will have made at least one elderly woman, very happy. In the end, the community, as a whole, will also benefit from this. |
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Posted on October-23-10 9:21 PM
I was recently contacted by a reporter for the Crowsnest Pass Promoter. He asked me for an approximate 200 word paragraph, about what I felt about democracy here in the Pass. The following is what I submitted: When honeybees seek a new home, they choose the best site through a democratic process. Scouts are sent out to look for a new site. Once a quality site is found, a scout will advise the other scouts, who will in turn, come and judge it for themselves. The most popular site is chosen when the number of bees visiting it reaches a critical threshold. Humans can learn much about democratic decision-making by looking at bees. If the members of a group have common interests, such as the bees in a swarm, then the keys to good collective decision-making are to ensure the group contains diverse members and an impartial leader -- and conducts open debates. I believe that the democratic process is alive and well, here in the Crowsnest Pass. I truly feel that we have now turned a huge page. We have already decided in favor of change. We have a new Mayor and an almost all new council. This new council seems to be comprised of very diverse members. We will soon see if it also has an impartial leader. Personally, I have had the pleasure to meet all of them and spend some time with most of them, during the election process. They all seem to be very competent people. I wish this new council all the very best. I'm sure that they will take the Crowsnest Pass forward into a brand new and brighter future! My congratulations to all of you!! - Sasha JaegerBaird |
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Sasha JaegerBaird: Posted on October-20-10 10:29 PM
What a way to wake up!! One minute I'm sound asleep and the next, I am waking up to a loud security alarm wailing downstairs. I bolt upright, jump out of the bed and bound down the stairs. I run to the wall alarm and punch in my pass code. It reads that the number 2 key fob has triggered the police alarm. I look toward the door and see that it's still closed. So the first question is, where is my youngest son?? He is the owner of the number two key fob, and I know that he is not at home. Second question is, are the police on their way?? I open the front door in time to find my youngest son calmly sauntering up the driveway. He stares at what must have been my wild looking eyes and still pj'd state and asks " what's up??". I breathed out a huge sigh of relief. I then calmed down enough to ask him if he accidentally triggered the alarm. He asked why and says that he might have. I explain what just happened and then suddenly realize that the police might still be on their way. I rush back upstairs in enough time to hear my phone stop running. I realize that the alarm company has already called me once. I call them back, give them the pass code and then am told that the police still might be coming out. Yup. They arrive soon after. The police officer asks me if everything is alright. I tell her that I am perfectly fine and begin to explain what had happened. She then asks if I am being held at gun point and being made to say that. I laugh and tell her no, that everything is fine. I thank her and she goes on her way. So, I realize the following things.... First, my son needs to be much more careful with his keys. His mom just about had a heart attack. Second, it's nice to know that my alarm company is on the ball. Third, it's great to know that our fine men and women of the R.C.M.P. are on the ball and at the scene within minutes. Fourth, I need to start talking my phone with me when I rush downstairs. I could have avoided the police arriving with their hands on their guns. Fifth, if this had been an actual break in, bounding down the stairs in my pj's, was probably not the best decision. What a way to start the day!!! It could only go up from there. lol |
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Sasha JaegerBaird: Posted on October-20-10 12:40 PM
Well, it was day after the election and time to take a much needed rest. The first thing I got to do that I haven't in quite awhile, I slept in. Yes, it was a much needed and deserved luxury. I enjoyed every minute of it, even if I could only remember a few dream fragments. Then it was up and at it, as time waits for no man, or woman. There were signs to take down. Funny thing, as I reflect upon that for a moment. It took me five days, over two weeks and many many (wo)man hours to design the signs, make them up, put them up in strategic places and then check on them regularly for wind damage, disappearance, vandalism, and just to see if they were still where I have put them. Some had even mysteriously moved up to a whole block from where they had been initially placed. Weird!?! Then, sadly, it took my son and I only 3 hours to take them down. I say sadly, because it reminded me of what was not to be. But I do not begrudge any single moment of my running for council. I enjoyed every thing about it. Even the long hours and lack of sleep. Why?? Because I got to meet many new faces and get reacquainted with many other's. If I missed meeting you, it wasn't for lack of trying. It was a long campaign process. It taught me a lot. Most of it made me realize how much I love this community and what it has to offer. The Crowsnest Pass is a beautiful place. From it's pristine rivers and lakes to it's magnificent mountains. It is the best place to live!! After spending 29 years living in a city of over a million, you can appreciate coming home to a place such as this. It made me realize how much I miss small town living. No noise, light or air pollution. It is just clear skies, and stars as far as the eye can see, at night. It is quiet solitude and peaceful living. And the people are warm, friendly and welcoming. I can say that I am trying glad and proud to live here. All this was very apparent during the campaign process. I was invited into homes, and warmly embraced by strangers. I was hugged by children and was met with approval by many an animal. I also made many new friend's. It was both touching and heartfelt. Thank you Crowsnest Pass for your support. I promise you this, you have not heard the last of me. Stay tuned here for my daily Blogs of happenings in and around the Crowsnest Pass. |
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