IDSers are crazy. I'm at Scarborough, and I just spotted one, dressed in a padded suit and helmet with "poverty" written all over it. He had a really big stick and was offering people the chance to fight him...to fight poverty. Is this what it's come to? I generally applaud clever publicity gimicks, but in this case I worry. Is our political and societal dialogue so beyond caring about the world's rampant poverty that we have to resort to non-mainstream protests to get poverty issues included in the global agenda? It seems like such a no-brainer, as poverty is the root cause of so many problems we are currently fighting against (terrorism, drugs, for a couple of examples).

Speaking of poverty, this is an interesting take on Make Poverty History, conceptualized by my neighbour:
Make Affluence History

hungry for communication

I'm so connected it scares me sometimes. I am currently sitting in the pub, having a beer and msning with my mother. Ingo's on the phone with me, and I'm expecting an email. And as soon as I get off the phone, I need to send you a text message. This is ridiculous. And I'm not even that high tech. Wait for the blackberry...

applauding diversity

I have recently realized that I've achieved a long-term lifestyle goal. While in the past I've felt like Kate Living and Kate Doing, where I have point of extreme play, and extreme travail, this is not the case at the moment. The success comes from an extremely diverse weekly to do list, and diversity keeps me interested. It avoids extremes. The component parts of LIFE at the moment are various and interesting: volunteering at CPAR and developing a possible placement with them, three courses at school, new volunteering at Bioline International, three or four shifts a week at Cafe Crepe, time spent with i and ella, random development engagements, and a little bit of Kate time and assorted errands. Most recently, I've just gotten a position as an e-mentor with DreamNow.ca...this is very exciting! I'll be helping to lead other youth through community and international development projects, starting with action planning with students at the YouCan Resolve conference. So, I'll be in Winnipeg next week, at this conference, hanging out with 400 other youth who are interested in Peace Building and Conflict Resolution, and I'll keep contact with about 50 of them, helping them to achieve their action goals! And they're going to pay me!

So, while the positive aspects of my lifestyle as illustrate here are numerous, I'd just like to highlight to parts. In general, hurrah for diversity in daily life. And more specifically, hurrah that I've got a job that is more relevant to my goals and interests than being a waitress!