Who or what has inspired me lately or in general

Anisah Madden and Patrick Stephenson because they are doing it- living off the grid but not opting out, and having a pretty good time.

5 films about Christo and Jean Claude- Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin

Barb Clague because she is amazing.

The film Young at Heart and the Young at Heart Chorus, for showing me again that music is one of the most powerful artistic mediums we have. http://www.youngatheartchorus.com/

Dziga Vertov’s-  Man with the Movie Camera

Freegan- http://freegan.info/?page=home

Murray Bush, because he works for, hopes for a more just world, and he is like me, stuck at about 5 wondering why people aren’t behaving better and being nicer to each other, and because he makes me laugh harder than just about anyone in the world.

The green beans sprouting in their trays at the community centre.

Dave Eggers and 826 Valencia - www.826valencia.org/

The red finches flying outside my window.

Al Jazeera -http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/55ABE840-AC30-41D2-BDC9-06BBE2A36665.htm

Candelaria and Herman Zapp and their 3 children Pampa, Tehue and Paloma- http://www.argentinaalaska.com/eng/index.htm

Jennifer 8 Lee and the Fortune Cookie Chronicles -www.fortunecookiechronicles.com/

Marlene and Sam George because they are so in love.

My friends raising children in this world.

Keira McPhee for leaving her secure job and starting something new, necessary and fun.

Brian Lamb for starting me on this blog, it is loosening my brain congestion with every entry.

Sunflower seeds sprouting through soil, because they break out of a hard shell that they wear at the top of their sprouting point almost like a helmet, protecting them through the hard parts and dropping it when its no longer necessary.

Marian Anderson for having one of the most beautiful singing voices i have ever heard.

Charles Barber, because he will say just about anything to anyone, he is deeply generous, funny, and has made me love music even more than i did before i met him.

Toby Barazzuol for his generosity, commitment to change and showing me a real live example of a functional community minded business.

Jeremy Liu and the Bitter Melon Society- http://www.bittermelon.org/index.html

Annie Roy and Pierre Allard and ATSA- http://www.atsa.qc.ca/pages/conferencesandworkshops.asp

Margaret Mitchell because she spoke of the violence against women in a room that responded to her with laughter, and she stood in the truth, and the laughter became shame, and then action. – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mitchell_%28Canadian_politician%29

Eve Ensler for speaking her truth, exposing violence, and saying vagina over and over again until it becomes normal, until it becomes normal that we see ourselves, as women, and that we see women as whole beings, real, valuable, essential, and human beings. -www.vday.org/contents/vday/aboutvday/eveensler

Marge Lam because she lives with pain everyday, and she is still funny, so beautiful, so creative and in a short time has made a new home, in a new city

John Watts because he has been clean for almost 5months, because after being in institutions most of his life and living on the street, his eyes still smile when he smiles

Geez Magazine and the Make Affluence History Campaign, because they put action and words to my thoughts and feelings. - www.geezmagazine.org/

Tikkun Magazine because they have provided me with some balanced discussion on the Issues of Isreal and Palestine, and creating content that gives me some pride in being jewish. - www.tikkun.org/

Derrick Jensen for writing A language Older than Words, because it made me feel less alone, made me cry, laugh, feel rage, immobilized, and because he challenged me to look at what’s ugly about the world, and to keep looking and to look away when i need to, but to look back, because i’ll be okay. - www.derrickjensen.org/

Bruce Alexander because he validates my intuition with 36 years of research, and he keeps speaking the truth about addiction, because he won an award for controversy, because he is curious, and genuinely interested in change. - www.cfdp.ca/roots.pdf

Doris Goodman, my mother, because she seems to take things less personally, because she’s durable, and she would do anything for me, and even though she has lived with pain all her life, she is also, like my friend Marge, still funny.