Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Mental Health Stamps

What's your secret to stay on top?

There’s a competition to design a stamp for Mental Health Day. Apparently this is a huge fundraiser for both the Post Office and the MH society.

Once the artist completed the design, the entry gets posted online and by the end of the month the viewer will be the judge. The creator is supposed to market the likeability's by wearing a T-shirt, talking to the local newspapers and link it on Facebook.

What excites me about the corpus at this point, is the variety of ideas on sound sanity. It’s about friendship and hardship; taking hands and letting go, imagining a safe place and finding a home, enjoying a job and volunteer, saying yes and saying no, thinking with your head and acting with your heart.

Most of us can add to the list still growing and please do.

To keep one’s wits in every season life throws at you, one has to be anchored whilst reaching for the top.   Sometimes it's to shake a leaf, rely on inner sources, break a branch, but when summer comes it's to be fruitful, nurturing and to cast a shade.

Purchasing a mental health stamp to mail a payment, sympathy or kind regards? It doesn't matter, what matter is the someone behind the counter who can appreciate a customer playing to his or her heart’s content.

My wish for you is to design a stamp and to live it.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Who wants to be a nerd?

Urban word of the day: "You're a nerd when your IQ exceeds your weight."

That's why I'm having a double-double and a maple-doughnut for now.

Not that I really need an excuse, but rather safe than sorry.

Happy holidays to you too.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Mudstickers on SUVs

In the country where I spent most of my life, there is quite a gap between the rich and the poor and only the former can afford to buy SUVs. Getting out of the parked vehicle wealth by the stretch of the arm will sound, WEET-WEET, to activate the alarm.

SUVs and Jeeps have another gig – they are issued with mud stickers - yes fake splashes and stripes for the less adventured.  True or false this makes the playing field more even and the poor can cease-fire: the vehicle is to the owner of such an expense that outdoor-trips over dunes and through dungeons are in overdraft and placed on the dream list. Mudstickers must do the trick.

In Canada all cars WEET-WEET, every car get splashed and salted and car-wash services are offered at almost every gas station. 

My children drive nice cars and by paying the monthly installments, they know a car wash is a healthy alternative for a rusty, weathered car.

So here I am in the passenger seat in front of the black hole. The driver follows the directions and skillfully tracks the wheels, neutrals the gearstick and sits back. Mighty streams of water power down and foamy sponges from behind, front and sideways make an awkward noise. Next are huge blue rubber arms swinging to and fro. I fear the charcoal car is to be stripped from all paint, like in the Namib Desert where I heard cars can get metal silver sandblasted in minutes.

Rollers out of the the dark, rise, pluck and scrub the vehicle slowly-slowly moving towards the front. I think I can add one more thing to my growing list of pains – I’m claustrophobic. “Now is not a good idea to get out of the car,” says the experienced driver.

From nowhere comes a northern wind and pushes every drop of water from the windows into the deserving sky.

The driver turns the engine on, pays the attendant and drives to the parking lot where most of the cars, SUVs and Jeeps are in desperate need of the next power wash. Needless to say the shiny charcoal Mazda stands out in the crowd.

Snow-splash-stickers or mud-blob wannabees do not have a market over here for winter gives every Canadian driver a daily one for free.

WEET-WEET my story is out.