Update.

Hi guys,

Hope everything is going well.
I am doing ok, a few things to report. I have been working on my website and updating it with new and old work. I have so much more to put on there, I was thinking of migrating my poetry from allpoetry.com to jg-lab.com so I don't have to use their services.

We have reached our clubhouse fundraising goal of $50,000 which is great. Unfortunately. our Treasurer has resigned from the clubhouse. He was an oil company executive and undoubtedly was feeling the crunch of low oil prices. Anyway we hope to replace him with an enthusiastic and sharp-minded individual soon.

I attended the Art Spot Under 100$ art sale on Thursday with a fellow member artist and it was great. They broke last year's sales numbers and made over $7000 in 3 days. What a great show of support. That goes to show the value of a network and thriving community.

I have been promoting the clubhouse arts community through my network, I have received lots of positive feedback.

Also in regards to my health, I made an appointment with my Doctors and my Nurse along with the Program Director of the Clubhouse. I am hoping to advocate for better results with my health.

Anyways,

Life is good!!
Just gotta keep on chippin' away.

Resilience.

Enduring the storm, and taking refuge from the madness of the world.

What's new?

Well I got connected to a wonderful community through the Nickelodeon Music Club. I got to hear Dala and the Doll Sisters perform, and it was a real treat. I volunteered to help setup and teardown. They gave me free entry and some confection tickets. It was great!

 Also I put together a draft of the poetry collection for the clubhouse, and it is a wonderful read.

 http://www.jg-arts.com/arts/Poetry2.pdf

I am renewing my weight loss challenge, and I have been working on my art website as well. So that is keeping me busy, the clubhouse is doing well. I have been researching fundraising ideas to help come up with the 12,000$ we need by next April.

Wellness is its own reward

So things have been going ok, I have made a goal plan and actualized a list of things that I feel I need to work on in the coming months.


I have decided to reduce my meds by another 25mg this month, and I have recently tried a cold pressed juice as an added way to get essential nutrients for my body. I still have undesirable side effects, and this morning I watched an interesting program on tv about toxicity and the body.


The movie FED UP is about the food industry regulations. It is eye-opening to think that such insidiousness exists in big business. So many people get sick and fat because of the lobbying power of sugar & soft drink companies. I understand that there is a choice not to, but advertising has shown to have an effect on people. That is why tobacco companies no longer advertise because it is just bad policy.


I am feeling frustrated and hopeless about my weight. I feel the Toxic Hunger that Dr. Fuhrman talks about.  However, one must persist.


The clubhouse community is so helpful and there is so much potential in the Clubhouse Canada coalition. We can do many great things.

My new hobby.

My new hobby is collecting Nintendo DS games, I have got quite a collection going so far of interesting ways to pass the time.

So far I got:

Digimon World Dawn
Space Invaders Extreme
Rhythm Heaven
Infinite Space
Tetris DS
Korg DS-10
Megaman ZX
Final Fantasy IV
Megaman Battle Network 5
Meteos
Picross3D
Namco Museum DS
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
Uno
Radiant Historia
Digimon World  Dusk
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Electroplankton
Space Bust-a-move

Hehe.

Feeling motivated and on track.

My trip to Vancouver was wonderful. The conference was inspiring and motivational. It was so great to hear stories of triumph over adversity. I met many wonderful people from all over Canada. Minoru Park was awesome, they even had lotus flowers.

We went to see Ali Milner play at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel. It was excellent. We also went to the River Rock Casino for the fancy buffet. We stopped by Iona Park for a nature walk, and went to the Planetarium for an intriguing show. The last night in Burnaby we went up Burnaby Mountain to watch the sunset. The morning of my last day, we went to a French cafe for breakfast. It was wonderful.

After I got back to Calgary, my friends and I went out to Kananaskis for a stay at the William Watson Lodge. It was wonderful, we played Yahtzee, and Crib and went for nature walks. They have a gas barbecue and we had several grilled dinners.

I lost 2.1 pounds since the 17th, that makes it around 7 pounds for the month of June and brings the total up to 42 since January.

I also have been feeling fine since my dosage of Invega was lowered to 75 mg. I have applied for 2 jobs today, one was a Worker for Habitat for Humanity, an organization that works to create affordable homes for people in low-income circumstances. The second one is a window-cleaner position, both are part-time. We'll see what happens.

TGIF.

Getting ready for the trip to Vancouver, got my bags packed, just a few more things to go through before I am ready. I went to the club today and helped peel potatoes for lunch, I had a chicken salad today, it was ok. I had a good chat with Crystal, she is a homeless Aboriginal woman who is desperately trying to get off the streets. She has been to rehab and she is going for treatment again, I tried helping connect her to CMHA's Horizon housing programs.

Victor, Greg and I are planning a trip out to William Watson Lodge in early July, when I get back from BC. I am looking forward to it, it will be nice to relax in the mountains.

A good reason.

I wonder about the world sometimes, all the effort that is put into trying to get ahead, is it ever in vain? Or if there is a purpose in all the madness?

What Viktor Frankl talked about in Man's Search for Meaning. The idea that a person's story and the meaning in it, is the best way to try to solve their problems.

I guess there are equal amounts of good and bad in the world, it is an age-old struggle between the forces of good and bad. It is like each person has to wage war on their own personal demons.

What can we say for certain about the world? Well we know a fair bit, and it is increasingly becoming easier to access that information.

To me the clubhouse movement is about recognizing that people despite their issues and challenges deserve to be recognized as human beings with intelligence and heart. When I went to Worcester to train at Genesis House, the notion of Radical Equality was talked about. One becomes very gentle when you realize that everyone is facing a struggle and has a hard battle to fight.

Anyway, I made a delicious tofu curry today and it was scrumptious. I had a couple games of Yahtzees with my neighbor Giuseppe. He scored two Yahtzees in the first game, and I scored two Yahtzees in the second game.

I also researched about things to do while I am in Burnaby with my daughter.

A more personal look..

I have been trying to resist the inertia I feel sometimes, I go to the clubhouse as a kind of therapy to help motivate me to work on my goals and eventually get back to full-time work. Most of all, I wish to produce more art, high quality art, and try to exhibit it in a venue.

My weight loss has been going well. I have lost 40.2 pounds since January. I am currently at 349.8 pounds. Still feel like a porky pig, but let's be honest, there's a lot of toxic food out there. I had hit a point where I said to myself I can't gain anymore weight, this is just nuts. I have talked to my doctor and we have agreed to lower my dosage of Paliperidone to 75 mg and then assess if it goes well from there.

Mental illness is interesting, because it makes you realize just how vulnerable and fragile we are. I went to the Rocket Custom Tshirt shop and got a Tshirt made that says: FIGHT CRAZINESS WITH compassion. I wanted this shirt for the conference, and I feel is a bit of an activist piece about the crazy world we live in and how so many people fall through the cracks.

Today I went to the club and worked on the presentation for the conference. I also called some of the other clubhouses in Alberta to network for future development.

There was an announcement on the news that a $200 million donation was made to the University of Calgary for medical research by a wealthy businessman. What a generous gift, eh.

I talk to my daughter frequently, and we have Skype video chats which is nearly as good as being together in person. She is doing well, she got her bangs cut and she is growing taller every month. The teachers are on strike in BC so she is finished school early. Summer has begun.

The Kirby Sewell Band.

http://www.reverbnation.com/kirbysewellband

The Kirby Sewell Band is a group that plays funky, soulful blues music. I had the chance to meet Kirby at a local art show here in Calgary, and it was quite interesting. He says he uses the creative process to express his struggles and tribulations. Check them out.

Shurniak Gallery

http://www.shurniakartgallery.com/

The Shurniak Gallery is a "diamond in the rough". Nestled deep in the countryside of the Canadian prairies this gallery is a vestige of a man who has had a long appreciation for the arts. The story of William (Bill) Shurniak goes back a long way. He was born in Saskatchewan and moved to Hong Kong to work in Banking. After a successful career and plenty of collecting he returned home and founded the Shurniak gallery. This gallery features a wide variety of Eastern, Western and Aboriginal Arts. He is a strong supporter of culture. The current exhibition features work by Nancy Thomson whose narrative focuses on Aboriginal ancestry and the importance of cultural identity.

Sawchyn Guitars.

http://www.sawchyn.com

Based in Regina, this custom guitar making company produces excellent sounding guitars that are second to none. I had a chance to play one a few times while I was in university and it was a true delight.

Deep Dark Woods.

I heard about this band from CBC, they just finished a tour of Europe. They started in Saskatoon. They have a very laid-back sound, that is soothing and appealing to the listener. Gentle, honest, and bluesy. This band is worth checking out.

http://www.thedeepdarkwoods.com

Tammi Campbell

Tammi Campbell is a visual artist that works in Saskatoon. She is very hardworking and creative. She is a colleague of mine from when I studied at the University of Saskatchewan.


"She has exhibited throughout Canada and has taken part in residencies at The Banff Centre, the Emma Lake Artists' Workshop, the International Symposium of Contemporary Art of Baie-Saint-Paul, and at Plug In ICA."

http://campbelltammi.com/

Breakz R Boss.

Breaks R Boss is a Calgary-based net label that promotes electronic music of the breakbeat variety. The main organizer behind the label is Stefan Roussin. I had the chance to meet him several times and he is a down-to-earth, inspirational character that likes to get funky.

http://www.breakzrboss.com/

Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Dr. Joel Fuhrman is an advocate for good health through making better choices when it comes to eating food. He has witnessed first-hand the transforming power of intensive nutrient-rich diets. A great deal of what he says is common sense but sadly the North American diet is packed with unhealthy, toxic foods that make us sick and die prematurely. Nonetheless, making better choices is easy and fun to do. It really creates a snowball effect, where you become motivated to do more and increase your well-being.

http://www.drfuhrman.com/

Grow Calgary

Grow Calgary is a volunteer-run community garden initiative that provides fresh produce for the food bank. It is Canada's largest urban agricultural farm.

http://www.growcalgary.ca/

Woodwyn Homes.

Woodwyn Homes is a community of people on Victoria Island, BC that operates to offer homeless people a chance to recover and rebuild their lives.

"It is vital for us to Believe in People, until they are ready to Believe in Themselves. We don't always have the wisdom, confidence, awareness, peer support, understanding, resilience, or will power to make the right decisions.
Mistakes are all too often a slippery slope. Holding unflinchingly to the sacred and inherent Value in a person's Dignity and Worthiness, when circumstances suggest otherwise, is called Unconditional Love."

http://woodwynnfarms.org/

Sook-yin Lee.

Sook-yin Lee is a radio host of the CBC radio program "Definitely not the Opera". DNTO for short. She is one of those distinctly Canadian voices that make listening to her a true pleasure. She asks insightful questions, and has a wry sense of humour that is fun.
http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/about.html

Girls on Decks.

Girls on Decks are a collective of female DJs that promote and perform electronic music mixing. I had the chance to see one of these DJs perform several years ago. DJ Isis Graham is an inspiring and confident lady on the decks. Saturday March 8 in Calgary is their 10 Year Anniversary party. Should be exciting! Check them out.
http://www.girlsondecks.com/