neglect

Oh dear blog, how I have neglected thee. I promise I still love you, and my lack of copy on your web page is due to the crime of false advertising, which I do not want to commit. My blog is entitled the 'Danielle Adventures' and quite frankly my life has been very unadventurous as of late. I could tell you about work, or what I ate for dinner last night,I had a cheeseburger fyi, but those things aren't really all that entertaining and I fear I might never have returning readers if I wrote about such things. That being said, I have committed myself to having some sort of an adventure this coming long weekend and I will report back...stay tuned.

true north strong and free

It's been over a week since the G20 came to Toronto; I waited to post about this because quite frankly everyone else took care of the publicity and I really didn't know what to say. That being said, it's been a week and I still don't know what to say. If you live in Toronto, it was almost as though the G20 weekend never happened Monday morning [minus of course a few boarded up windows] Everything seemed well in the City of Toronto post G20 and peace had been restored so to speak.

I support protesting; the opportunity and acceptance of free speech is one of the great things about Canada, but those that took the protesting to a non-peaceful place should be embarrassed. I was embarrassed of Toronto that day, not by the City itself [because quite frankly the police and City did an amazing job] but with the people that decided to deface public property, put people in danger and ultimately protest the G20 in a dangerous, violent and non-effective way.

You have a problem with the G20? I get it, I don't think it ever should have been in Toronto and I hated that it was here, but you didn't see me setting police cars on fire or throwing rocks through windows [among many other things]. To those of you that were not in Toronto that day, and perhaps received a negative perspective through the media, allow me to clarify a few things. First, the Toronto Police force did an amazing job with the resources they were provided. And secondly, although there were some people protesting the G20 in an ineffective way, there were also many peaceful protesters that represented Canadian free-speech well.

I did a bit of research on past G20 conferences, and guess what? There have been numerous violent protests before. Not to say it's right, or that it should be expected, but why make the same mistake again and again? The Toronto Police force said they were under resourced to handle the G20, and obviously they were right. I am still at a loss, because there seems to be so much wasted energy, money, anger that resulted in a violent situation.

melting

Oh hey there, it's me Danielle, I'm just writing you from my air conditioned office which is tres fantastical...but, I am dreading tonight because it is then that I am forced to return to my one bedroom, top floor, non-air conditioned apartment, dum dum dum...

I feel as though I am a non-winner when it comes to my body temperature; I complained in Timmins when it was -46 (after windchill) and I am complaining today when it is +44 (after humidity) in Toronto. Where is the balance? Am I forced to only be comfortable in late September, early October and then again in Mid May? Damn you global warming! I am not off the hook for this global warming business; I too am a contributor to the ever-evolving issue, but I am, or so I believe I am, a conscious contributor. We obviously can not go through this life without leaving some sort of a carbon footprint, but I think people need to start taking some responsibility. I saw someone litter the other day, and I was shocked...I think that's a good thing. Okay, obviously not the littering part, but the fact that littering is such a faux-pas these days [stupid littering dude]! If more people took a little better care of this world, maybe we wouldn't be in such a dramatic state of unstable, ever-changing weather. Okay, that's my rant...I can go back to enjoying the air conditioning in my office, which yes I am aware, is a negative contributor to the environment.