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Sooo today was Canada Day! And I had the day off.

I took the bus downtown. The Multicultural Society was hosting a free pancake breakfast, so of course I was up for that. By the time I got there, they were winding down but still with plenty left over and were giving out extra packages. So, I was able to bring some home to freeze for later.

The weather was not too bad. Not super hot, anyway. No rain. A little smokey, but that's business as usual.

The parade was all right! I mean, you have to calibrate your expectations, considering it's Fort Mac, but it was still a good time. The Filipino-Canadian Association went all out, with multiple floats and some really impressive dancers in traditional clothing. Alberta Wildfire made an appearance with a really nice float. The local McDonalds did a surprisingly really good, high-effort entry, with floats and costumes and ribbon dancers. ?! (On the one hand, ew, big corporation etc. On the other hand, like, it's all local staff putting in the effort to do a nice parade entry. So there is that. ...I hope they got paid though.) And also the military museum had a whole-ass TANK on the flatbed of a truck, that was pretty cool.

The only downer was an evangelical coming up to me to proselytize. I removed myself from the situation and went to stand somewhere else, but I'm honestly still kind of mad about it. Not cool, yo.

My parents invited themselves over this evening. I wasn't thrilled about that. However, they brought Chinese takeout with them, so overall I'm going to consider it a net win.

+ The weather recently has been kind of awful. We had a ton of snow dumped on us on Friday and Saturday; a lot of people were stranded out on Highway 63, with blizzard conditions. The highway had to be shut down and everything. For those not familiar with my area, this is the long highway on the 5-hour drive between Edmonton and Fort McMurray. There is a 200-km stretch without any services at all, nothing but wilderness. So it's a pretty bad place to be stuck. ...Anyway, the weather in town has been fine, but the overall vibe has been kind of intense. Also, I think maybe people are on-edge because the 10-year anniversary of the Beast is coming up.

+ Went to a yoga class on Saturday; this was one in collaboration with the local Pride group. It's the second event I've gone to in two weeks where I was the only participant who showed up. On the one hand, by basically having a private class I can target my own goals. On the other, well... part of the reason I even go to pride stuff is so I can make an attempt at interacting with people socially. So, very mixed feelings. Hopefully once it gets warmer more people will be in the mood to go to things.

+ I've been working on my FTH fic and having a really good time with it. LT/Pru is very far outside my wheelhouse, and I kind of wonder what the recipient will actually think of this one... But I just keep telling myself that they were aware going in that I don't normally write these characters, so. I guess we'll both have to accept that I'll do my best and that'll be that. I've been using my fountain pen to write it and ngl that is great motivation to work on it. Yay purple ink.

+ Speaking of which I've decided to keep track of how many times I fill my Jinhao with the Iroshizuku ink. I've marked down the purchase date too. Basically what I want to do is figure out how long it'll take me to go through the 50ml bottle through normal use. I mean, on the one hand I do like the idea of trying a bunch of different inks, but on the other hand it's a pretty big bottle and it doesn't seem like it would be practical to have other inks if it takes forever to go through them. As for the Kaweco pen, I already know that it takes me about 2 months to go through 1 cartridge, so there's that (which means I currently own, uh, 4 years worth of cartridges, but let's not get into that).

So, tonight was Wood Buffalo Pride's Trans Day of Remembrance event. It was kind of a combination memorial and potluck. Very different from previous events, which were outdoor night-time vigils. Not a great time of year for that up here, so it was nice to have something out of the cold.

On November 18th, the Alberta government introduced Bill 9. This uses the Notwithstanding Clause to halt legal challenges against the transphobic Bills 26, 27, and 29.

I cannot emphasize enough how much of a big deal this is - not just because of the transphobic bills, but because of the use of the Notwithstanding Clause. By blocking legal challenges to their bills, the government of Alberta is restricting the rights of Albertans. Additionally, this comes less than a month after the government used the Notwithstanding Clause to force an end to the teacher strike.

I'm not very good at explaining the issues with all this, so instead I will link to some statements:

Statement from Egale Canada and Skipping Stone

Statement from Wood Buffalo Pride

Also, I came across a thoughtful statement from the Otipemisiwak Metis Nation that gives a succint explanation about why this affects more than the LGBT2QA community and why people should care about the use of the Notwithstanding Clause. It makes a good point that this kind of measure is not supposed to be a first resort. If people won't care about the wellbeing of trans people, maybe they will at least care about the precedent this sets for the erosion of Charter rights. Maybe.

Anyway, before we started the actual memorial, there was a letter writing session. I wrote to the premier and my MLA. I doubt any of these letters will even get read, and even if they do get read I doubt it will have any result, but at least I felt like I was doing something. (Someone joked that we should write to our member of parliament too, even though this is a province-level issue. "Might as well send Laila Goodridge a letter, since she doesn't like being left out". Haaaa. You gotta laugh.)

The memorial itself was very well-done and thoughtful. Two local writers read some of their original spoken-word work, which was cool. And the dinner was nice too. Of course, the mood was kind of low, but it was still nice to see everybody and have a chat.

I'm glad I went (and also glad that the memorial was indoors this year). But I'm really unhappy with my provincial government right now, and things feel kind of impossible at the moment.

I'm feeling very discouraged about the upcoming federal election. And I don't just mean like, on the big picture level, but at the local level.

My district will go to the Conservative candidate no matter what. This is northern Alberta; enough said. Even so, I'm disappointed that the other candidates aren't making more of an effort. People shouldn't have to go digging for information about why they should vote for you in particular to represent them (rather than just looking up the general party platform); it should be easy to access.

Additionally, some of the candidates don't even live in the riding*. FIFO (fly-in, fly-out) is a sore spot up here even when talking about regular workers; there is no way anybody in Fort Mac is going to vote for a candidate who doesn't have ties to the region.

Some things I'm taking into consideration are:
Which party aligns closest with my values?
Which non-Conservative party do I think is most likely to win nationally?
Which candidate for my riding do I actually like the best and would theoretically want to represent me based on the information that I have?

Unfortunately, the answers to those questions are all different. But advance voting opens tomorrow morning, so I guess I'll come to a decision soon.

Even though there is unlikely to be a shakeup here, I hope that there will be enough non-CPC votes that the other parties will take that into account and at least make more of an attempt in this region next time.

On the subject of the Conservative candidate for my region - I've been a little frustrated about this. I was speaking recently with some people who will not be voting for her, which is great. But the only thing they're interested in discussing is the fact that she's related to someone who has a criminal record. As far as I know, Laila Goodridge was not involved in the robbery*. There is plenty to criticize her for on her own merits and her party's merits, and personally I don't think we should take her family member's actions into account here.

+ I've been recently enjoying the latest YiH pages (694-699, which is the current as of today). I like Siiri a lot and it's cool to have her in the comic again. ...Plus the stuff actually happening - sneaking in like that, haaaa. And the art in the last few pages has been really nice. I never did get around to that re-read. Maybe I should wait until the end and then do a re-read? But I don't know when Mika will be finished it, though IIRC he has an estimate of how many pages he has before completion.

+ It rained a lot today. That was good; we needed it.

+ I've been reading the manga series Since I Could Die Tomorrow by Sumako Kari. The pretty covers were what drew me in. It's a slice-of-life manga centred around Honna, a 42-year-old woman struggling with a busy work life and the trials of getting older. It's very grounded, down to earth. I don't often come across manga with older female protagonists, so it was surprising to find this at random. It's very earnest.

+ This upcoming weekend, the Ukrainian Cultural Society is having an independence day celebration in the park. I'm thinking about going. Maybe. There will be a performance by the Ukrainian Dance Club, which would be cool to see - it seems like every time they have a public performance, I have some kind of scheduling conflict, so I haven't been able to go to any of their shows. The event is a potluck, so I would have to think of something to bring.

I'm still not 100% sure about going. I won't know anyone there, and I'm not good at social interaction at the best of times. And I don't really consider myself Ukrainian-Canadian because I wasn't raised with the culture, so there's this... weird feeling of "I don't really go here" that probably nobody else would care about but I feel weird about. (Italian would be a better match as far as "stuff I'm more familiar with" since at the very least I was kinda raised with that, but Fort Mac doesn't have any Italian cultural clubs to speak of). But it might be worthwhile to try.

I'd like to at least find out if the cultural society has a mailing list or something; it's really hard to get information about their events and I usually don't know about them until the last minute.

I went to a free rumba dance class this evening. <3 It was put on by the local Social Dance Club as a pride month event and run by someone I know from Pride YMM.

It was super fun! Typically, I'm not into dancing at all, but I guess ballroom is more my thing. Something about having like, specific steps, rather than just freeforming it, makes it actually doable.

The class was small, but the numbers were even, so that worked out for me.

I had a really good time, so I'll probably look into this again at a later date. The dance club is going on summer hiatus soon, but will pick up again in September. Their lessons usually aren't free - that was just a special thing for today - but the price is not too bad, shouldn't be an issue. I'll have to keep an eye on things and see what's available next. :V

Brief update on the situation:

We've had some light rain the last few days, and more rain on the way.

No changes to the status of neighbourhoods under evac order vs evac alert, so I'm still staying put for now. I was staying at my parents' through the week, but I'm back at my own home for now. The situation has improved since earlier in the week.

Go bag is still packed, though. And will be until the alert is lifted.

This whole week has been exhausting, man. It's really not what I'd had in mind.

The province is exploring possibilities of rail between Fort Mac and Edmonton. [Details at the local paper: Fort McMurray Today]

Do I think this is likely to happen? Nah.

Do I wish it would happen? Yes.

It'd be nice to have another option for getting out of the city. Flights are a pain in the ass, and there have been a lot of flight cancellations in the last couple of years (it's like, any time somebody in my family has tried to fly anywhere, the flight leaving out of Fort Mac got cancelled). Bus service is unreliable. And like... yeah, most people will just suck it up and make the 5-hour drive to Edmonton, because that's currently the most reliable way to get anywhere. But it would be nice to not have to drive if you want to get anywhere, you know?

Train could also help with connections. Like - a lot of people drive to Edmonton, then catch their flight from there, because it's less expensive and doesn't have the possibility that the flight leaving Fort Mac will be cancelled. It's honestly something I'm thinking about doing the next time I'm taking a major flight, because I'm so sick of cancellations. But doing that means you need to leave your car there, and then... drive back home on your way back. A train would take care of this issue - if the train is reliable.

Ugh, man, living in the ass-end of nowhere just kind of sucks, you know?

Sportchek was having a big sale today, so I went down to buy some walking shoes. The ones I have are on their last legs - aren't falling apart quite yet, but it's only a matter of time.

I usually wear Nike Air Monarchs, but this time I picked up a pair of UnderArmour Charged Pursuit 3s. This is a big departure for me - for several years now, I've worn Air Monarchs and nothing else. But I wanted to try something new.

They're a very different shoe; the Nikes have a sturdy leather upper and are advertised as training shoes, while the UnderArmour have a fabric mesh upper and are intended for running. The leather vs fabric mesh is significant - while the leather upper isn't waterproof, they're much more resistant to water (shallow puddles, unexpected rain) than something that's just fabric. On the other hand, the fabric mesh will be much more comfortable in summer, and won't get as hot as the Nikes. ...I'm also slightly concerned because the Nikes are wider than the UA shoes, but - they felt great in the store, so.

I don't know. I'll give these a try. If I don't like them, I'll just switch them to be my regular everyday shoes, because I'll need to replace those too soon.

My feet have been giving me trouble lately. I can't figure out if it's because I've been exercising harder lately (due to switching to my outdoor walking route), or if it's because I need new shoes, or if I have some kind of strain going on, some plantar fasciitis or something. I looked up the symptoms, and there were some similarities. ...Upside, the typical treatment is some easy stretches. So, I'll do that, see what happens. It's a "won't make it worse, might help" kind of thing. Augh, so frustrating when my body is full of complaints! :|

On the subject of "things I'll be doing with the shoes" - signups for the local marathon are coming up next month. And I found out that 1. you don't have to do the whole thing; you can just do 5k or 3k if you want, and 2. you don't have to run it; you can walk it if you want. ...SO I'm thinking about signing up for that, and walking either 3k or 5k. Going to have to consider it carefully, but I'm leaning toward yes. Because... why not? I mean, my daily walk is somewhere between 4 and 5k, so this'll be a breeze. And I don't (can't) run, but walking, I can definitely do.

It might be fun. :V

[edit]
Wore the shoes on my walk this evening. Wow, are these things ever light on my feet! Definitely more breathable/less hot and stuffy than the Nikes. Still have no idea how they'll hold up to the absolute beating that I give my exercise shoes on a daily basis, but I guess we'll have to see.

+ Had a three-day weekend due to the stat holiday. Didn't get anywhere near as much rest as I would have liked, buuuuut it was still nice!

+ I'm super tired. I don't even know why. There's no reason for it! (Self, you know why: you spent Friday and Saturday running around, and then you spent most of today cleaning like a maniac.) ...Anyway, upside, I spent some of today talking to Tik, and later on I did get to relax, and watched not one but two horror movies this evening (which weren't as terrible as I expected), so overall it's All Good. :V

+ There are two Little Libraries in my town; one within walking distance, and one that I need to drive to. So, yesterday I went to take a look at the farther one. It's slightly larger; had a pretty good selection, too. Anyway - I'm glad that I know where it is now. It'll be nice to return the books I take from Nearby Library to the Second Library when I'm finished with them - so that they don't go to the same place twice.

+ Pride YMM - I forgot to mention in the entry about the board meeting, but just remembered - they're working on becoming a Registered Charity. Hopefully will happen next year. This is really exciting news, because it'll likely mean it'll be easier to get funding. Also, donations, probably (I know I'm more likely to donate to registered orgs 'cause you can claim it on taxes etc). Anyway, they need to rewrite some of their bylaws first, but it sounds like they have a clear roadmap. Wish I could help, but ha, definitely not my area of expertise.

+ Spent today reading through some stuff about Polish grammar. I now feel as if my brains have turned into sludge. Cases sure are a thing, eh. On the upside, I do feel a bit more confident in the possibility that I can learn how to read Polish eventually. Speak it? No, aside from canned tourist phrases - but then again I can't speak Norwegian either (I can read Norwegian, but not speak it). Anyway... I didn't absorb much of it, but since we're just getting started, I'm not too fussed about that. It did clarify some things that I stumbled over when poking at it on Duolingo, so that was helpful. Can't remember the specifics, but it was case-related, which is not a surprise in hindsight.

+ It's so damn dry over here. In retaliation I've slathered myself in as much moisturiser as possible, and now I feel like a shea-scented slug. There's just no way to win, is there. :V

+ My thoughts on DW's beta inbox and post entry page are "Ew, it looks different". I'll get used to it eventually (and will have to, since it's due to go out of beta soon...ish), and functionally everything seems to be working fine for me, but. It sure does look different. :V

+ I hope you all had a good weekend!