Last night while running on the elliptical, I watched Dawn of the Dead. Now, as far as running, it’s a great movie, keeps the heart rate and adrenalin up. No super quiet scenes making it hard to hear with the noise from the elliptical. What was really bizarre though was that it was packed with Canadian Actors. A surreal Road to Avonlea, Noddy and Max Headroom meets Night of the Living Dead. It was fairly gruesome in parts, combined with the sound effects of when the “dead” were attacking. But sorely lacking in much of a plot, never really finding out why this had happened to people.

And speaking of things gruesome….. election day today.

Well, the inevitable happened unfortunately. I suspected that Bush would win. Naomi Klein said that people would vote for Bush because of who he represented (or at least who he thinks he does). That his identity was branded much as we brand Nike or any other name. And I find people tend to be more comfortable with the “one” they know rather than take a chance with someone new. So it will be interesting to see what happens in the US now for the next four years. Is this truly a demarcation of Americans becoming more right winged or will people wonder in time what the hell they did.

Everyone is sick in one form or another. Alec and Bram have been sneezing and coughing all week. Bram had a fever for a bit this week. Alec had a nosebleed yesterday. I’ve got the tail end of a cold but I’m feeling ok. Mostly, it’s Bram that has the worst of it right now.

I met with the orthopedic surgeon about my shoulder this week. He doesn’t think I will need surgery. He said that I do need to have 6 months go by without my shoulder subluxating in order for it to permanently heal. I asked him if I would have to stop playing bball but he said as long as I don’t play too agressively and avoid situations where it’s likely to subluxate, I should be ok. The longest I’ve gone without it happening has been one month. So, now I’m going to have to be super diligant. And of course, once the snow hits, it’s skiing time. I told the Doctor I’d stay off the moguls though, lol.

Well it’s been a few days since I’ve posted. I’ve been busy with the kids and work. Bram hasn’t been sleeping well at night lately, which means I’ve been tired. Tonight they went to Kevin and I went and played bball. I got another fat lip. My shoulder is doing very well, seems like my new trend is fat lips. Which of course doesn’t exactly fare well in the dating world, lol.

It’s a short week this week for Alec, only school till Wed. Tomorrow evening he starts swimming lessons. He’s a water rat like me, loves it.

Not much else to say tonight, too zonked. Just wanted to let you all know I ‘m still alive. Although I have another soap box post brewing around in my head. Maybe it’ll work its way out tomorrow.

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine about how fear often motivates people. We were discussing the election and that led to discussing Michael Moore’s films. I think Moore captures it subtly that fear is the reason that people often make the choices they do. In Bowling for Columbine, Moore implies that it’s fear that makes people want to own guns, fear of the unknown, “the enemy”. This past US election I think some people voted for Bush out of fear of not knowing what Kerry would do, out of fear of going with someone unknown, out of fear of the terrorists threats.

Even in our day to day lives, fear often motivates us. I’m guilty of it at times. Fear of not being able to provide for my family has motivated many of my choices. And perhaps there is a healthy dose of fear, or better yet of reason, that helps us in our decisions. The question becomes, when does fear rule our lives? When does living in fear prevent us from making new but necessary choices in our lives. People are afraid to take chances to love someone for fear of loss. Afraid to switch careers for fear of loss of stability. Afraid to be honest for fear of rejection. And perhaps the worst aspect of all, afraid to be true to themself. We’re all guilty of it at times, it’s human nature to a degree, self-preservation. So, maybe it’s about being mindful, conscious of choices and thoughts.

Stepping off the soap box now;)