Keira-anne.com

For those of you that have stumbled upon my slice of the web pie over the last year, I wish you all a very merry Christmas. I hope that tomorrow, and this entire season, provides opportunity for you all to spend time in the presence of loved ones. As I lay here, just minutes away from starting a Christmas Eve Scrabble game with my mom and my aunt, Charley has crawled up alongside of me to remind me she loves me. Wherever this night finds you, whoever it finds you with, I hope and pray that joy comes to each and every one of you.

Christmas wishes from Miss604, Santa Claus and a blissfully cheesy-looking Keira-Anne…

With tomorrow being Christmas, it’s only fair that I take a quick break from blogging. Have no fear, o my brothers, for your faithful narrator will be back on Boxing Day with another tempting edition of Wanton Wednesdays.

Earlier today (well, technically yesterday), Becky wrote on my FB wall and stated that she bets I’ve been wearing an apron 24/7 since arriving at my mom’s, simply because I can (she obviously knows me well). Oddly enough, she’s right. In the last 48 hours since I’ve been in Courtenay, I have baked, or assisted in baking, no less than ginger spice cookies, ladyfingers, rum balls, my fabulously famous 3-day buns, cranberry lime shortbread and a valiant attempt at ripping off Starbucks’ Cranberry Bliss Bars.

Much of that was made with a shake and bake at my dear friend Bethany’s this afternoon. Her daughter made a brief appearance after her nap, long enough to roll out some shortbread dough, before she was whisked away to Mt. Washington for an afternoon of snow tubing. I used Bethany’s camera to snap some shots of the afternoon in progress…

Sure it looked like Starbucks’ Cranberry Bliss Bars, but tasted nothing like them. Whoever formulated that rip-off recipe was way off.

Once we had finally finished our flurry of activity in the kitchen, our tired and powdered sugar-covered bodies flopped onto Bethany’s over-sized couch. What I’ve come to appreciate of my new friendship with Bethany is the talks that we have. She is one of the most open-minded and straight-shooting women that I know. I can’t tell you how refreshing that truly is to my soul. Did I mention that she is also very sweet? She made me a Christmas present.

And yes, she designed the cover too. She’s a talent, that girl.

Before I left, Bethany gave me another gift. She gave me a compliment, unlike any other I’ve ever received. Usually I get the compliments of the following sort:

“Keira, your hair is gorgeous.”

or…

“Keira, I wish I smelled as pretty as you do.”

or…

“Keira, how come you’re so good at everything you do?”

or…

“Keira…oh, Keira…mmm…yeah…”

No, Bethany’s comment was nothing of the garden variety. “You know what I like about you so much?” she began. “You’re an enigma. I can’t figure you out.”

Here I am, a girl who has long wondered if she’s too boring or too plain or uninteresting. And then someone calls me an enigma. It’s a compliment of the biggest sort that only really serves to better illustrate the kind of girl that Bethany. To me, she seems as though she’s one who sees straight to the heart of things and can easily cut through the shit to see what’s really there. There ought to be more people like that in all our lives.

Only a few hours ago I arrived at my destination. The Comox Valley bus depot is nothing more than a decrepit storefront in one of the Valley’s industrial sections wedged behind the London Drugs store with just enough space for an hourly bus to drop-off and pick-up. I never enjoy my rides on Greyhound buses. Well, any buses for that matter. Each and every time it’s an absolute freak-show of the most mutant kind. To even attempt to describe the fellow travelers that I encounter couldn’t do it justice. I just feel dirty.

However, after a long ride over a short distance, I finally pulled into my mom and aunt’s driveway - too much luggage and Szechwan take-out in hand. The lights of our tree twinkled from inside the warm and cosy rancher as a few wisps of snowflakes began to fall. To see Charley made me laugh and smile in delight and I’m constantly amazed at how much bigger she gets every time I see her.

Comox Valley snow photo courtesy of Nemo’s Great Uncle on Flickr

It almost ridiculous that I’m blogging when I could be wrapping gifts and listing out the baking ingredients I need to pick up tomorrow. The fact that I was hammering away at the office 12 hours ago is the furthest thing from my mind. And so, this is where I say goodbye and goodnight as I sign off in the greater interest of a hot shower, toasty legwarmers, a roaring fireplace, puppy cuddles and yards and yards of giftwrap.

I’ve got three crazy hours ahead of me to wrap things up at work before heading to Pacific Central bus terminal to hop on a Greyhound to the Comox Valley. Translation: no time to write today. So instead, for your listening and viewing pleasure, I present YouTube videos and songs to get you into the Christmas spirit.

Hanson’s Christmas Special

“All I Want For Christmas Is You” - Mariah Carey

“It’s Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” - U2

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” - Band Aid

And just for Amy…

“Last Christmas” - Wham

And in case you’re in need of a reminder of one of the most classic Christmas movies ever…

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation from Warner Home Video

It’s winter and it’s cold. With the cold air comes the dry air and with the dry air comes dry hair. My hair has been very dry…not to mention over-processed. On a daily basis, I use no less than Gentle Shampoo, Alojoba Conditioner, Tonic, Brilliantine Cream and Does-It-All Hairspray, all from the Bumble & Bumble line. What can I say? I’m an addict.

Photo courtesy of Bumble & Bumble

This week is a no-blowdry/no-product week. Aside from shampoo, conditioner and my Tonic spray, my hair is going wild and free. It’s been two days and already it feels ridiculously softer. Just thought you needed to know that.

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On the weekend, I popped into my local SPCA shelter to support the Toy Drive for the Animals. I was, without a doubt, incredibly impressed by the outpouring of support from the community. There were toys, treats, blankets, beds, kennels and so much more, stacked as high as the ceiling. Touring the facility was encouraging in that there are a lot of people out there that care about lost, abandoned or hurt animals. It was, at the same time, heartbreaking because I just wanted to cuddle and hold each one I saw.

To those of you that were able to help out on Sunday’s Toy Drive, I extend to you a huge thank you! As I mentioned, there is a great need year-round, so if you’re in Vancouver, visit our shelter to find out ways in which you can help.

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And lastly, this Friday sees the beginning of my very-much-needed Christmas vacation. My work-related stress level is most certainly at its peak, and I need a few days to let that drop off. It will be two glorious weeks free of meetings, dress pants, agreements, orders, transcriptions and Chambers applications. It will be two glorious weeks full of baking, music, pajamas, Charley, my family, friends, Christmas tea, twinkling lights, falling snow and, undoubtedly, snowboarding at Mt. Washington with cute boys men.

HOT DAMN!

Photo courtesy of Mount Washington Alpine Resort

That photo was taken at 10:14 a.m. today. The mid-mountain base is already at 181 cm. I hopped into HMV yesterday to pick up some new music to ride to because my record collection has a serious case of complacency. I’m bored with it. I grabbed Jay-Z’s “American Gangster” and both “College Dropout” and “Late Registration” from Kanye West. I haven’t listened to either Kanye record yet, but gave Jay-Z’s a spin after work for a bit. Don’t get me wrong, there’s always room for Big Pimpin’, but he has most certainly evolved as both an artist and producer. The record is laced with rich beats and smart lyrics, so I’m already stoked to shred the slopes just listening to the record.

In August, I made mention of a fast-growing oil slick in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island. The protected waterway, which is banned even to kayakers and other recreational activities, was home to a toxic spill that spanned more than 14 kilometres after an overturned barge dumped a gross amount of diesel fuel.

The damage caused by the spill was, undoubtedly, devastating, but just as tragic was the lack of action taken by the Provincial Government to have the spill immediately cleaned up.

Photo courtesy of makeupanid on Flickr

Only now, nearly four months after the spill, is a submersible being lowered into the waters of Robson Bight to evaluate the scope of the destruction. Victoria-based A-Channel news reported on current activities in the Bight:

A manned submersible aboard the Aurora Explorer freight vessel is lowered into the water above five targets that have been identified as possible wreckage. Pilot Jeff Heaton will descend 370 metres and document what’s left of the logging equipment with a high-definition camera…and hopefully provide answers.

Jim Borrowman, a volunteer Warden of the reserve believes the best possible scenario is the fuel truck at the bottom of the ocean is empty now, with no diesel left in it to do any more damage. On the other hand, points out Dorthea Hangaard of the Living Oceans Society, if there is still a substantial amount of fuel involved, it could also be sucked out without lifting the equipment to the surface.

Hopefully this will initiate a more thorough and formal investigation into what actually happened in the killer whale sanctuary. I will keep you updated if and when more information becomes available.

A-Channel News Story

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Looking for a way to get into the Christmas spirit and do something charitable?

Play Santa for the animals!

Photo courtesy of ChromaticRat on Flickr

“Shelter animals are prone to depression from loneliness and boredom. Toys very much help stimulate the mind and provide moments of joy and comfort,” said Rhonda Sherwood, volunteer co-ordinator for the Vancouver shelter.

Sherwood acknowledges that while toys may seem like a luxury for shelter animals, they offer necessary enrichment, without which behavioural problems could develop.”

The wish list is a full one, with a need for balls, squeaky toys, Frisbees, blankets, towels, food, treats and whatever else may encourage healthy growth in needy animals.

If you’d like to help out and donate, please visit the Vancouver shelter this Sunday, December 16, 2007 between noon and 4:00 p.m. The shelter is located at 1205 East 7th Avenue. [Map]

Please be reminded that shelters around British Columbia house and care for injured, neglected, lost or abandoned animals 365 days a year, so feel free to help out whenever you can.

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And on a light end-note, my hunt for a new and fantastic mascara has come to an end. I’ve long been a user of Maybelline’s Full N’ Soft mascara, but it has of late been M.I.A. from the shelves at my local Shopper’s Drug Mart.

Last night I bit the bullet and shelled out for a pricier mascara, and after using it for the first time this morning, I’ve got to say that Smashbox’s Focal Point mascara is well worth the dough. Formulated with a special blend of waxes and polymers, it coats each lash individually, not as clumps. Yay!

When I was a little girl, our family always trekked onto the snow-blanketed farm at my Uncle Alfons’s and picked out the most beautiful tree we could find for Christmas. I loved bringing it home and decorating each and every branch with all things twinkley and bright. What I loved even more was the rich scent that filled every corner of our house.

In the last ten years or so, it seems that Christmas has instead become a time to pay hommage to Radiohead with a fake, plastic tree in our household.

My family isn’t the only one to take on the ideal that it’s better to have a fake, reusable tree rather than cutting down a real one each year. However, if we really get to the “root” of things, it doesn’t seem as though that’s the case.

Photo courtesy of Janet Moore-Call on Flickr

Dr. Faisal Moola of the David Suzuki Foundation supports an excellent case for trimming a real tree each Christmas rather than hauling that big box out of storage.

“Real trees are far, far more superior environmentally than a plastic tree that is non-biodegradable and can’t be recycled,” he notes. “Most cities have programs where they will collect Christmas trees and pulp them or chip them and then they’ll use them as a growing medium in our parks and natural areas so the nutrients the tree acquired while it was growing are then returned back to the earth.”

Still not convinced? Time for a breakdown.

1. Real trees are biodegradable; fake, plastic trees are not. (Just make sure you remove all scraps of tinsel and garland when disposing of the tree).

2. Local Christmas tree farms grow the trees for this very specific purpose, and you can rest assured that as soon as you hack your tree down, another seedling is planted in its place.

3. Growing trees, whether in nature or on a Christmas tree farm, produces oxygen and absorbs carbon dioxide - your lungs will thank you (and the trees smell grrrrrrreat!)

4. Sure you can use your fake, plastic tree for a dozen Christmases, but did you give much thought to the environmental pollution generated to have that tree shipped to you from China? And further, even though it’s fake, the tree will ultimately still reach the end of it’s life and will simply be another chunk of non-biodegradable plastic in the landfill.

5. Shop for your tree at a local, sustainable Christmas tree farm and you’ll be supporting your local economy.

I’ve been spending another rushed weekend on Vancouver Island with my family, and part of what makes the time feel as though it flies by is the fact that I always try to pack so much activity in such a short period of time. Today was no exception. Being that my birthday is officially next weekend, I’ll be sipping pinot noir and noshing on chic tapas with a few fabulous and fun friends at “Chez Jack.” This weekend was reserved for celebrating with my mom, aunt and Charley with a big vat of Szechuan beef and chow mein before ice cream cake.

And guess what?

I photo-blogged.

Being the lover of First Nation art that I am, my mom thought it appropriate to get me a birthday card designed by a local artist from the Comox First Nation. This untitled piece is, for all intensive purposes, entitled “Queneesh.”

“The Majestic Comox Glacier is a symbol of our community, heritage and one of the physical features that make our area so beautiful. Recent reports have made it evident that the glacier is disappearing at an alarming rate and will likely be gone within my lifetime.

For members of the Comox First Nation, the glacier has even more significance according to stories such as this: An old chief was forewarned of the coming of a great flood. He was told by the Creator to prepare four canoes, great lengths of rope and to pick the strongest and most attractive members of the community. When the flood came the selected people went into the canoes. Whenever non-selected individuals tried to enter a canoe, the craft would magically move away from them. The flood destroyed the village and the rest of its inhabitants.

The people in the canoes floated around for a while with no evidence of land in sight. Eventually, they spotted a large white whale. They attached their ropes to the whale. By the time the water receded, the whale landed on the sight of the glacier, keeping the Comox people in our territory. To this day we respect our Heritage and refer to the glacier as “Queneesh,” or white whale.” - Andy Everson

For months, I’ve been covetting this hoodie. It was designed by Sheri Moon Zombie, one of my personal heroines. She defines individuality and has created her own “sexy.” For those of you who are unfamiliar with her, she’s not only the wife of Rob Zombie, but also the star of a handful of his films (including one of my personal top tens, ‘The Devil’s Rejects‘). Add “designer” to her roster as she’s created her own line of hot tops for men, women, kids and pups with Total Skull.

Please don’t copy me, k?

After all birthday celebrations were said and done, it was time to trim the tree. My aunt was displaying a previously unseen level of Christmas spirit, and surprised me by showing up in a Santa hat.

Needless to say, the hat got passed around.

The pre-Christmas festivities proved to be a little much for Charley. In no time at all, she was tuckered right out…

And last, but certainly not least, I want to turn your attention to a fairly new cosmetic line from Australia.

Today I was on the hunt for a fantastic new lip balm or gloss and was directed to Bloom Cosmetics. Though the line’s been around for almost 15 years, it’s based out of the southern hemisphere and is something very new to me. I snagged their grapefruit-flavoured ‘Delicious Lips’ lip balm and I’m completely sold. Their products are made with mainly natural ingredients, including the succulent essential oils contained in the lip balms.

Stay tuned because I’m quite sure that I’ll have more to say about this line in the future.

It’s the most lovable time of the year. I love Christmas, I love knowing that Christmas is coming and I love all the anticipation that comes with the season. Did I just make a faux pas? Perhaps to some. Sometimes when you give an inch, people will take a mile.

True, this is a season full of different holidays and celebrations; among them there’s Diwali, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and Christmas itself. We live in a day and age of political correctness and thus the use of “Merry Christmas” has almost become taboo. Perhaps this is a tired topic, but it hasn’t been put to rest just yet.

Photo courtesy of matrianklw on Flickr

As a young girl, wherever I went, we said “Merry Christmas” and it was often splashed across store windows in cheap poster paint. It seems as though saying so is no longer okay. While it’s one thing to wish someone “Happy Holidays” in terms of a general greeting, but to start calling a Christmas tree a holiday tree is going over the line in my personal opinion.

It’s undoubtedly important to respect and preserve any group or religion practicing and celebrating a holiday that is unique to said group’s beliefs. However, this is also true with Christmas. I would never dream of calling a menorah a candle stand, just as I feel it’s equally disrespectful to neutralize traditions that have sprung out of the Christian practice of Christmas for the sake of being politically correct.

Christianity (whether Catholic, Protestant, Baptist or whatever other denomination you can associate with the faith) was largely the practice for nuclear families decades ago. Households celebrated Christmas because it was what they believed in. This rings just as true, for example, with Hindu families that are currently celebrating Diwali. In today’s age, there are countless households that will celebrate Christmas with a tree, trimmings and everything else, though perhaps they don’t actually practice Christianity. And truth be told, that’s really okay with me. However, I am of the opinion that it’s not okay to defuse the particular holiday for those that celebrate it based on its original meaning. In doing so, you’re robbing someone of their right to celebrate what they believe.

Last week I set up my Christmas tree, soon I’ll start my Christmas baking and Christmas shopping…all as part of my preparation for Christmas on December 25th.

As yesterday was my mom’s birthday, I’m heading home to Vancouver Island tomorrow after work so that we can celebrate as a family. As the days get closer to Christmas, the anticipation in the Valley continues to grow and that only gets me even more excited. If you’re also planning to be in the Valley over the next few days, be sure to check out the 13th Annual Charles Dickens Christmas Craft Faire.

Photo courtesy of Downtown Courtenay Online
Over the last few years, this event has become somewhat of a tradition for my mother and I. For three days, the great room at the Florence Filberg Centre is bustling with homemade ornaments, knit scarves, luxurious candles, locally-made jewelry, woodworking and so much more. The theme this year is “Nature At Its Best.”

What: The 13th Annual Charles Dickens Christmas Craft Faire

When: November 9 from 3-9p.m., November 10 from 10am-5pm, November 11 from 10am-4pm

Where: Florence Filberg Centre, 411 Anderton Avenue, Courtenay, British Columbia

Who: If you’re there on Friday evening, the Co-Val Choristers will be performing carols at 7p.m. in anticipation of their “A Christmas Peace” performance. If you’re hungry, stop in at the downstairs concession being held by the Evergreen Seniors.

How Much: Your $2 admission gets you a free ticket in the raffle for prizes from local businesses; children are free.

For more information, call (250) 339-9891 or e-mail dickens.faire@gmail.com

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On a side note, I’m very excited to say that part of the piece I wrote with regards to my interview with Taylor Hanson has been posted on Hanson’s official website with a link to the interview on the LAist. Check it out here if you’re interested.

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Thanks for all the great responses to Wanton Wednesdays: Week 2 yesterday. Please feel free to e-mail me with any topic ideas you may have for upcoming weeks.

Here’s a question for today: What is it that is unconventionally attractive to you on someone of the opposite sex (or in some cases, the same sex)?

For me, I love a little bit of a tummy on a guy. In my opinion, rock-hard abs are overrated. A little tummy fits perfectly into the small of my back when spooning, enhancing that safe and secure feeling. It’s positively sublime.