Things Worth Celebrating

Back in March, I went to Whistler with the Para Nordic Cross Country Skiing is Believing program to do some photography. My friend Andrea had asked me to come do some photography for them to provide to their funders. There was also the possibly some of the photos being published in a BC XC ski magazine. I was more than happy to support this amazing program. (Which, if you missed it, I posted about here.) 

I now have copies of the magazine! This is it:

It's distributed BC wide.

Two of my photographs appear with an article that talks about the program. One is at the top with the header (two sit skiers racing) and the other is the second down on the right. (A group of sit skiers practicing what to do if they should tip over.)

Here's my photo credit! I am really chuffed about this because it's the first time my photos have been published outside of artistic publications. I am still not quite comfortable labelling myself as a photographer-I am not technical about it at all. I shoot and edit with what feels right to my artistic eye, but I can't for the life of me tell you what a f-stop is, nor do I care. All I know is that I enjoy shooting and editing and I really loved the opportunity to have this experience.

Speaking of Andrea, last Tuesday, I went out to UBC with my friend Courtney to support Andrea as she defended her thesis, which was her work on AthletesFirst. Andrea did an fantastic job staying cool under pressure. I think the Doctors who were hearing her defence were very impressed with her as well because in the end, she was granted her Doctor of Philosophy degree! We are all *SO* proud of her!

This was the final slide of Andrea's presentation. Recognize anyone? It was sweet of her to include this photo. (I guest blogged for AthletesFirst at one point, which is why I was included in the presentation.) Another lovely thing about attending Andrea's defence was that I finally got to meet Josh Vander Vies and Meyrick Jones. Both great guys-Josh is super smart and Meyrick is really funny.

Soon Andrea will be off to the UK to do some post-doctorate work. Congratulations Dr. Andrea!!

Magic Mailbox: London 2012 Edition

I had the honour of guest blogging for Andrea, of Athletes First while she was away in the UK at a conference and she very kindly offered to bring home some swag for me from London 2012 as a thank you. 

True to her word, these fabulous goodies arrived today! There's Mandeville, the Paralympic Mascot (who at this moment I can totally relate to, seeing as I've been a one eyed spectator!) a mug to match (in my favourite colours!) and two packages of Cadbury chocolate mascots. I'm going to save the chocolate till I go to Whistler. It seems fitting to eat 2012 chocolates where our 2010 alpine events were hosted and you can bet I'll be saving the wrappers! Those will end up in my journal for sure!

Andrea also included a beautiful card that depicts eight rowers. In addition to being a Paralympic ski guide, she is also a rower. She said the card was in celebration of the silver medal the Canadian Women's 8 team won last week. Andrea has friends who were rowing in that boat! 

So, so cool and very much appreciated! THANK YOU ANDREA!! 

Measuring the Impact

Sumi, the Vancouver 2010 

Paralympic Mascot

I have some big news to share: I was invited by Andrea Bundon to guest blog over at AthletesFirst.ca this week. Athletes First is part of Andrea's graduate student research project at the University of British Columbia.

In her own words, "The project explores how the internet can be used by people who share a comment interest (which in this case is disability sport) to discuss topics of concern to them."

I've been following Athletes First for some time now, on the recommendation of Josh Vander Vies, a Paralympian who competes for Canada in Boccia, because as anyone who has read my blog knows, I have a deep and abiding love for the Olympics and Paralympics. (On a side note, you simple have to watch this short documentary about Josh. It speaks so eloquently to the resiliency of the human spirit.)

I have learned so much from reading Andrea's blog. There's always amazing debates about what's posted and it's such delicious food for thought. Often things are brought up that I just hadn't considered and I've found myself more than once thinking differently about something as a result of the conversation that happens there. I love hearing other people's perspectives. I had the pleasure of meeting Andrea in late May.

 Andrea is a long time competitor in rowing and cross country skiing. She has been a ski guide for  visually impaired Paralympic cross-country and biathlon skier Courtney Knight. Last week, when Andrea sent me an email, asking if I might be interested in guest blogging while she's away in the UK attending a conference, I immediately said YES! So...without further ado, here's the link to The 2010 Paralympics: A Personal Legacy.


Thank you Andrea for the opportunity to share my thoughts about the impact the 2010 Paralympics had on my life. With the 2012 Games a mere 8 days away, I am feeling particularly nostalgic about 2010.

29 Days of Magic

I'm gearing up for another fabulous course with Vivienne, which starts in a matter of days! I am so excited about Montage, which is about working with video and stills to tell your own story. I'm a little nervous because this is a bit outside my comfort zone, but I'm excited to learn new things. The desire to learn new things always trumps the nervousness though, thankfully!

Meanwhile, I've been working on a few more photographs. The one above was taken at Burnaby Village Museum. I loved the look of the prices poking up inside an old cash register. I took this one while I was there for the End of Day Celebration. Once upon a time, I was a volunteer tour guide there while visiting BC on summer vacation. It was fun because I got to dress up in 1920's costumes every day for a month and teach people from around the world about local history.

This shot comes from the Downtown East Side. Vivienne recently held a class at Opus (a local art store) on double exposures and I discovered the lane ways nearby were full of graffiti. You'll remember me saying that my new benchmark for true friendship is that a real friend will say "YES!" when you say "Let's go shoot in a filthy alleyway." Curiosity also trumps trepidation.

May has been such a crazy month. I feel like I've lived 1000 lifetimes in the span of the last 29 days. Seth commented the other day that I must feel changed. Yes, in many ways I do. I'm still processing everything I learned and thinking about the important stuff. Really, it was almost too much goodness to take in at once.  

Yesterday was also a wonderful day. I had the pleasure of meeting Andrea Bundon, who is a PHD student at UBC. She launched a blog about disability and sport, called Athletes First some time ago, as part of her research. I've been following along, learning alot from the posts and people's responses and I've commented myself from time to time. Andrea asked me if I would be willing to do an interview with her about the my participation on her blog and what my thoughts were on a number of topics related to disability and spot. I was happy to help.

It turns out she's an incredibly interesting and lovely person and I had a great time having a very thoughtful discussion with her. It's always wonderful when you connect with other kindred spirits! (She's also a prairie girl!) I came away feeling like I'd learned so much and I'm excited to see where her research takes her. Andrea has kindly invited me to do a guest post at some point and I'm really excited about that!

Funnily enough, my day wasn't over after Andrea and I talked for 2 hours. Tiina, who is working the the MS Society's local chapter contacted me last week asking if I would be willing to do an interview. They want to feature me as a member of distinction on the MS Society website. So...there was two more hours of interesting conversation with Tiina who is also lovely. It was wonderful spending time with her.

I feel deeply grateful for everything that has happened in my life in the last 29 days. At times, I feel kind of emotional about it. Like I said, it's been alot to take in and I'm still processing. It will be good to turn inward for the next while and work on Montage. I think the timing is perfect.