Keith and Me

Feb 25 Somewhere near the Finch subway station

To The Friends of The Brooks...

Well its 8:15 in the AM and I have a midterm at 10 so why in the world am I posting? Good question. It has a lot to do with a boy actually. I have recently become well acquainted with a certain gentleman by the name of Keith with whom I have exchanged romantic intentions. AND HE HAS DECIDED TO TELL PEOPLE TO LOOK AT MY BLOG! Oh gee, I sound like such a nerd! Well, maybe I am but …
Anyway, this AM’s post is mainly a welcome to Keith’s friends and an assurance that I am not (despite what he may say) addicted to Heroine, I have never plowed a field, and just b/c I’m at Queens …that doesn’t mean anything.
Oh, I thought that you’re all probably pretty nervous, I mean, you need to be protective of your friends…who is this Robyn Girl? So I thought I might list 10 reasons that I like Keith.
#1 He has a car
#2 He is 22 and lives at home
#3 He apparently rocks at ‘dance dance revolution’
#4 He goes to York (I hear the campus is beautiful)
#5 He knows Andrew Fulford…(and my parents love Andrew.)
#6 When his hair gets long he gets a rat tail (*smirk*)
#7 He lives in Bradford (and I’ve always wanted to be involved with someone from Bradford, just about as much as I’ve always wanted to be dragged behind a moving vehicle by my eyebrows while being pelted with flaming cinders.)
#8 I can school him in basketball (and very possibly lots of other things)
#9 His excellent vocabulary
#10 And in all honesty b/c I’ve never met someone who makes me laugh as long and loud as he does. (and I’m laughing WITH him… really)
Anyway, it’s early and that’s as witty as I can be with random facts about Rome spinning around in my head! So folks, I am not a creepy, ditzy or scary. And who knows, I may be meeting you all sometime soon.
*a note to my friends* -stop freaking out guys, I mean it! I know this may be the first you’ve heard of this but… cut me some slack here. I promise I meant to tell you… all of you. Really! Aw, who am I kidding, no one reads my blog anyway.
Maybe I should review my notes.
PS. Please leave a comment, i need all the dirt I can get on this kid!
PPS. If you need help pulling a prank on him....I'm your girl!

PPPS (i'm the hot one in the middle)

Monday Report

So i'm a huge fan of Rick Mercer's show monday report (mondays at 8 on CBC) and they're having a contest right now for small town events. HOW COULD I RESIST! i mean, i know i just wrote about bradford in my last post BUT its carrot fest. So , i sent them off this little letter. i promise to not write anything more about Bradford for a while... people are actually going to start to think i like this place. Anyway, here's my letter. I hope i win. if i do i get a TRIP TO TORONTO (oooooooo, aaaaaaaaaa) and i get to see a taping of the show. (which i have a feeling is free anyway). Oh and don't tell me if there are any typos or anything b/c i already sent it and i'd feel silly.

Dear Mr. Mercer and the other brilliant minds of Monday report,
My name is Robyn Symons and I hail from the small town of Bradford Ontario. Now, while I may be away at university for 8 months of the year, my heart remains in my little town. You see, Bradford (more formally known as Bradford West Gwillimbury) is known for one great thing: Its carrots. Being situated directly north of the Holland marsh, Bradford is one of the largest producers of carrots in Canada (or at least that’s what I’ve been told and believe) and subsequently is the home of Carrot fest every August. Now I’m sure you’re thinking that this is just another forced and cheesy attempt to get some small town pride going…and boy, are you right. But, nonetheless, its quite an amusing festival. You can check out all the details on the web site (http://www.townofbradford.com/carrot/index.html) and I’d like to just highlight couple of things about it. Please notice firstly that while Carrot fest is held in August, this year’s plans appear to be WELL UNDERWAY (we take this festival very seriously apparently). As well all the events are carrot-centric please note the following events: A Carrot Cake and Muffin Contest, A Vegetable Sculpture Contest, A Vegetable Hat Contest, and of course, in the spirit of all things carrot , Unicyclist, Jugglers, Mimes and of course a Hula Hoop Contest. The festival openly encourages everyone to get involved and claims that you only need two things; approval of the committee…and insurance. (I’m not quite sure what can go wrong during a vegetable hat contest but…if they say its necessary, than you’d better get it.). I think probably the most exciting thing about Carrot fest is the annual appearance of the Bradford West Gwillimburry town mascot….a giant carrot named Gwilly. Now, Gwilly can be seen on the side of a barn at the hwy 400 and hwy 88 exit and on a sign coming into Bradford where he has a motorized arm that waves at you, but nothing NOTHING compares to the sight of an adult dressed as an oversized vegetable. So Rick and all you other people who read e-mails, Bradford carrot fest has all the quality of any high class festival. Sure, it may be a little hokey but I think the events motto sums it up nicely “Its not just about carrots, its about life”.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my e-mail, your show is the highlight of my Mondays.
Sincerely
Robyn Symons

A picture from the park

I took this Picture this AM. All the trees were covered in these long crystal like bits of ice. I think the fog from last night froze onto the trees. Anyway, I thought it was very pretty.

If I Were The Mayor

Now, don't take this as a cheesy elementary school essay. I'm serious! I could be mayor of Bradford. I mean, I'm not even at all sure that I want to live in Bradford when I'm done school but if I did here are some of my ideas.
#1 Limiting of big box stores. I'd make sure that it would be difficult for large companies to move into Bradford. And if they really really want into Bradford they're going to have to have stores that 'fit into the natural landscape'. ie. Not big ugly stores with giant parking lots. As well, they would need to be public transit and walking friendly.
#2 plant more trees
#3 maintaining Bradford small town appeal (yah I know, what appeal is there to a small town... But apparently there is).
#4 All new developments would have to a) not have a large garage on the front b) be more conducive to walking and public transit c) have lots of greenspace d) and trees e)also they would need to be unique in some way. ie. Not cookie cutter cheesy suburb houses. Bradford needs to have a unique feel. Maybe we could hire a Dutch architect or something.
#5 A community compost system
#6 No garbage
#7 mandatory carrot consumption
#8 No sleeping through council meetings OR eating candies loudly into the microphone ( I'm talking to you Frank Jonkman)
#9 a public transit plan
#10 more giant billboards with Gwilly waving, just so everyone feels welcome (and/or very confused)
#11 negotiating with the Canadian government to get CSIS headquarters to Bradford
#12 lobbying for recognition of the 'townie' as a distinct ethnic group
#13 more trees
#14 a percentage of drug profits made by teens in lions' park and the tim hortons' parking lots to go to the unwed mothers of Bradford
#15 getting rid of that porn store on main St.
#16 putting in an ikea
#17 more fire trucks
#18 more Go trains
#19 fewer people with low IQs
#20 flowers
#21 mandatory branding with a A hot 'Gwilly' Iron for all citizens of Bradford thus making Bradford citizenship as lucrative as Roman citizenship.

Okay, so maybe only a couple of those ideas were serious but in all honesty, its time for Frank Jonkman to retire. So lets keep Bradford from becoming just another Ajax and lets keep it special. And what's more special than your very own gwilly brand?

ps. is this the sort of thing i'm supposed to write in a blog?

A Letter to My MP

So here is a little letter i've written to my MP. i haven't sent it yet b/c i'm not sure how coherent it is (mainly b/c of the medicine i'm on.) so please give me some feed back and i'll fix it up and send it ! thanks.
R.

Dear Ms. Guergis
My name is Robyn Symons and I am one of your constituents from the far south of your riding; Beeton. And while I am currently away at school, I have a request. I am writing to you today because of my great concern in regards to the Bill that was put in front of the house today. I am a strong opponent the legalization of same sex marriage [civil or otherwise] and would like my view represented in your vote. While I understand that many constituents may disagree with my stance on the issue I would like you to strongly consider voting against the Bill.
I have been very concerned lately with recent moves to abandon tradition simply for the sake of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. While I recognize that the Charter is a well intentioned document, I would like to point out that it is a very young document that was not chosen by the people of Canada. As well, it was conceived quickly and crafted poorly in attempts to give Trudeau a legacy. I do not deny that the general concept of the Charter is a nice idea but really, with only a portion of our constitution written, what was the point of the Charter? Could conventions not have carried us through? And now we turn away from convention because the ‘holy’ Charter makes it seemingly ‘sacrilege’ to do otherwise. This document is not divinely inspired and needs to be looked at in this light. We are not Americans and do not need to worship our pieces of paper as they worship their constitution.
Secondly, I have great difficulty with the Supreme Court acting the way it has been. The function of the judicial review since the birth of the Charter has given these 9 judges FAR too much power. Suddenly the government policy is decided my appointed officials who appear to be infallible. But they too are human and should not technically be responsible for the direction the country heads. The Liberals have been using the Supreme Court as an excuse to put this bill through, and the Supreme Court has only to look at the Charter for its back up. However the base on which this whole thing is centered, the Charter, is flawed. Ms. Guergis, I entreat you to stand up for the morals of Canadian society that were not protected by the Charter. I respectfully request that as my representative you vote against the Bill legalizing same sex civil unions. The Charter is not sacred, it is not perfect and should not be treated as such. The collective rights of Canadians need to be stood up for just as much as the individual ones.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my letter and responding.
Sincerely
Robyn Symons