As a communicator I find it extremely offensive to be told or asked to censor myself.
The opinions expressed on this blog are exactly that. Opinions. Thoughts. Ideas.
None of the posts on this blog are intended to insult or ridicule anyone. If people disagree with anything I have posted here you are completely entitled to do so. I would never try to stop someone from having an opinion.
Since nothing on my blog is illegal or propagating hate I will not delete any of my posts. My reaction to anyone trying to censor me is "Don't read my blog." That certainly is your choice.
There are many novels I've come across in my life as a student that I didn't like nor did I even finish reading them because of the content, but I wouldn't have burned any of those books. A couple examples being, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. These two novels actually were on the reading list for a university course called The Writer and Society. While I think both of these novels were well written. I didn't like the content, so guess what I did? That's right, I closed the cover, and said "no thank you." I highly doubt I offended either author by not finishing the read.
I am not in the same league as the above mentioned authors, but the fundamentals are the same.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Awesome Me!
My first tactic in attracting people to me has always been to play the smart girl card, then the cute girl card with a fun and open personality. I've never had a problem expressing my feelings and ideas.
Since we've been talking about branding ourselves I couldn't help thinking, in a humourous way, that a job interview is like getting a date. It's easy to look good on paper, but sometimes not so good looking in person. I'm not necessarily referring to appearance, though that is one aspect.
When I went on my first internship information meeting at blueprintpr in Ottawa a couple of weeks ago before I even went into the office I decided I was going to be myself right from the beginning. Sooner or later they would know how I act, what I look like, pick-up on my sense of humour and overall how I carry myself. I figured I might as well get that out in the open.
As a communicator, and soon-to-be professional communicator, it is important to thrive in an environment where you mesh with the people you work with. It is always one of my goals to see how instantly I mesh with someone and if it isn't as instant as would be ideal I make an extra effort to be co-operative and open-minded.
Since we've been talking about branding ourselves I couldn't help thinking, in a humourous way, that a job interview is like getting a date. It's easy to look good on paper, but sometimes not so good looking in person. I'm not necessarily referring to appearance, though that is one aspect.
When I went on my first internship information meeting at blueprintpr in Ottawa a couple of weeks ago before I even went into the office I decided I was going to be myself right from the beginning. Sooner or later they would know how I act, what I look like, pick-up on my sense of humour and overall how I carry myself. I figured I might as well get that out in the open.
As a communicator, and soon-to-be professional communicator, it is important to thrive in an environment where you mesh with the people you work with. It is always one of my goals to see how instantly I mesh with someone and if it isn't as instant as would be ideal I make an extra effort to be co-operative and open-minded.
Oh, Dear, The Conservatives
I watched our Prime Minister address the Canadian people from his office on Parliament Hill this evening that aired around 7:00p.m. on CBC Newsworld.
There wasn't anything particularly interesting about his speech. It was well rehearsed and his delivery was a slow, even tone. He did not convey anything of significant value to me. It just sounded like everything else he has said.
I don't vote Conservative and I probably never will. The uncertain condition of Parliament frightens me. I'm not an overly political person, but I do exercise my right to vote and place value on our leaders even if I don't always agree with them. I do believe Canada needs a break from the Conservatives. The Liberals need to get it together.
There wasn't anything particularly interesting about his speech. It was well rehearsed and his delivery was a slow, even tone. He did not convey anything of significant value to me. It just sounded like everything else he has said.
I don't vote Conservative and I probably never will. The uncertain condition of Parliament frightens me. I'm not an overly political person, but I do exercise my right to vote and place value on our leaders even if I don't always agree with them. I do believe Canada needs a break from the Conservatives. The Liberals need to get it together.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
About Gender
All right, so in presentations class today, we gave group presentations regarding some aspect of the fundraising we, as a group worked on, nearly a month ago.
One particular presentation caught me off guard and I must add, here, I was quite insulted. I have since cooled off, but will post my initial feelings regarding it.
A group in the class presented their views and opinions regarding the group dynamic in running a fundraising event.
Then came the gender component that somehow worked its way into the presentation. I wrote down a few point form notes which highlight my initial feelings. At a later time I will post my follow up thoughts. I thought I would be in a position now to post my reflections, but I will have to do that in a couple of days or so.
The presenters in this group made a list of how women communicate and another list how men communicate. I failed to see how either one of those lists relate to our fundraising campaign.
These are my notes on how these lists made me feel:
- stereotypical gender profile
- drawing boundaries in a class where gender has never been an issue
- sometimes stereotypes/generalizations can help to diagnose and recognize larger social issues, but these lists made me wonder how this would apply to a class of about 20 people where sexism has never been a problem
- as a woman, I don't appreciate being placed in that category
- I don't think either list was an accurate portrayal of anyone in the class
- I am not a feminist, but the list on how women or men communicate was absolutely ridiculous and insulting, perhaps that was not the intended message/result of the presentation, but clearly there wasn't much thought about how an audience many react, even though the presenters did ask how people in the class felt about the list, I felt that I actually had to think about it, in order to avoid being angry before giving my opinion
Like I wrote earlier in this post. I will post more of my opinion once I've had more time to reflect.
One particular presentation caught me off guard and I must add, here, I was quite insulted. I have since cooled off, but will post my initial feelings regarding it.
A group in the class presented their views and opinions regarding the group dynamic in running a fundraising event.
Then came the gender component that somehow worked its way into the presentation. I wrote down a few point form notes which highlight my initial feelings. At a later time I will post my follow up thoughts. I thought I would be in a position now to post my reflections, but I will have to do that in a couple of days or so.
The presenters in this group made a list of how women communicate and another list how men communicate. I failed to see how either one of those lists relate to our fundraising campaign.
These are my notes on how these lists made me feel:
- stereotypical gender profile
- drawing boundaries in a class where gender has never been an issue
- sometimes stereotypes/generalizations can help to diagnose and recognize larger social issues, but these lists made me wonder how this would apply to a class of about 20 people where sexism has never been a problem
- as a woman, I don't appreciate being placed in that category
- I don't think either list was an accurate portrayal of anyone in the class
- I am not a feminist, but the list on how women or men communicate was absolutely ridiculous and insulting, perhaps that was not the intended message/result of the presentation, but clearly there wasn't much thought about how an audience many react, even though the presenters did ask how people in the class felt about the list, I felt that I actually had to think about it, in order to avoid being angry before giving my opinion
Like I wrote earlier in this post. I will post more of my opinion once I've had more time to reflect.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Lockdown Drill at Loyalist
One day last week I was riding the bus home when I overheard two young guys talking about the upcoming lockdown drill. I was quite surprised at what they were saying.
The first guy was just stating that one of his teacher's had explained to the class what was to take place and how they should prepare. He appeared to see the value in such a practise, but his friend did not.
The other guy thought it was funny that we would have to prepare for such an emergency. He was laughing that students might have to hide under the desks if there was threat.
I then wondered if the second guy was laughing out of discomfort rather than ignorance. It is scary that we are in a time where we would have to prepare to dive under a desk in order to dodge a bullet.
Even though I support a lockdown drill I wonder when will metal detectors be a next step.
The first guy was just stating that one of his teacher's had explained to the class what was to take place and how they should prepare. He appeared to see the value in such a practise, but his friend did not.
The other guy thought it was funny that we would have to prepare for such an emergency. He was laughing that students might have to hide under the desks if there was threat.
I then wondered if the second guy was laughing out of discomfort rather than ignorance. It is scary that we are in a time where we would have to prepare to dive under a desk in order to dodge a bullet.
Even though I support a lockdown drill I wonder when will metal detectors be a next step.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Ban on tenant smoking a hazy issue
The Belleville Intelligencer published an article relating to the local health unit strongly encouraging landlords to stop current tenants from smoking in their units as well as keeping new tenants who smoke from moving in.
The Smoke Free Ontario Act provides information regarding the legislation that became active in May 2006. There are provisions for tenants and landlords.
An interesting part of the article is: It prohibits smoking in the common areas of condominiums, apartment buildings, and colleges and universities residences, she said. It prohibits smoking in the common areas of condominiums, apartment buildings, and colleges and universities residences. As a tenant and a non-smoker, I firmly support no smoking in common and confined areas, especially in a building elevator, not only is that a health issue, but it becomes a fire hazard, too.
The Smoke Free Ontario Act provides information regarding the legislation that became active in May 2006. There are provisions for tenants and landlords.
An interesting part of the article is: It prohibits smoking in the common areas of condominiums, apartment buildings, and colleges and universities residences, she said. It prohibits smoking in the common areas of condominiums, apartment buildings, and colleges and universities residences. As a tenant and a non-smoker, I firmly support no smoking in common and confined areas, especially in a building elevator, not only is that a health issue, but it becomes a fire hazard, too.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Public Health Agency, Salmonella Awareness
I read an article online at www.cbc.ca titled, Public health agency investigating possible salmonella outbreak which was posted today. In the wake of recent listeria and melamine scares attention has turned to salmonella. This article is aimed to inform and educate the public on how to avoid contamination and sickness related to salmonella poisoning. A specific source of contamination was not named in the article, but the Public Health Agency is advising the public before something big happens, such as higher than normal outbreaks and even death occurs. The tips included in the article to reduce incidents are frequent hand washing, cleaning food during preparation and washing hands after handling animals.
I think at this point in time the Public Health Agency has done the right thing by providing Canadians with information regarding the prevention of spreading and protecting themselves when it comes to salmonella. Not only can these tips be applied to salmonella but can be useful when trying to prevent and control other bacterial infections, especially with flu season coming in the next few months.
I think at this point in time the Public Health Agency has done the right thing by providing Canadians with information regarding the prevention of spreading and protecting themselves when it comes to salmonella. Not only can these tips be applied to salmonella but can be useful when trying to prevent and control other bacterial infections, especially with flu season coming in the next few months.
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