up to earth

Prayers for a colleague

Miss Lanteigne — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:40:45 +0000

A work friend died yesterday after taking his own life. I feel that an injustice was done in that he did not receive councelling or appropriate supervision after being released on bail. After less than 24 hours of being released on bond, he was dead. I feel the media distorted the facts in his case and mentioned charges that did not exist against him. However, the press took it upon themselves to outright deceive the public, which included his students. He must have been despondent and felt that the only solution was to cut his life short. If he had remained in jail or in some sort of ‘suicide watch’ then he would still be alive. If he had some sort of discourse with his pastor or other councellor then maybe he would have changed his mind. Based on the manner in which he chose to end his life, I’d say that he planned this and stewed on this in the hours at home after his release on bail. This was most likely not a decision that was based on a whim or ambivalence.

David, you were a great teacher and although I did not know you very well, your students loved you and admired your teaching style and amazing personality. Your fans will struggle with your choice and be angry with so many of the factors that led to your death. RIP

Toronto Gardeners! Please kill your Ragweed NOW!!!

Miss Lanteigne — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:59:49 +0000

OK. I love the fact that there are so many garden addicts like myself who live in my area. I’ve been noticing that many lovely flower gardens have huge thickets of ragweed growing amongst the cosmos, daisies, coreopsis, etc. Keep the goldenrods and KILL THE RAGWEED NOW before they go into flower. About 20 to 25% of the population will get bad allergies to the pollen (including myself, of course) I even noticed a huge vegetable garden in the Dawes/Dentonia area with a row of ragweed left with the melons and squash. WHY? Are the gardeners only selectively pulling out certain weeds and keeping others? In case you aren’t sure what this plant looks like, here are all the specs on ragweed.

Be vigilant because it grows in grass and can flower at a very short height (about 4 inches) but usually it grows taller than that. I can remember playing with it when I was younger and thought the leaves looked a lot like a carrot. Basically, you must pull out the entire plant to kill it. This is more easily done when the ground is wet . Put on gloves and get working. Make sure to sleep with your windows closed, if possible, because the pollen is released during the night and early morning. Good luck.

Don't feel bad about it...pull out this weed now!

What kind of flower are you?

Miss Lanteigne — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:30:14 +0000

I am a
Canna

What Flower
Are You?

More Ojibwe Language Resources

Miss Lanteigne — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 02:22:26 +0000

I found some video language resources on You Tube. These are in a dialect similar (Northern Ojibwe) to but not the same as the one highlighted in my language handouts/resources (also Northern Ojibwe). I hope that these will be helpful for people into teaching and preserving First Nations culture through language.

Ojibwe language: basic vocabulary

Ojibwe language: Counting to ten

Handouts for First Nations Identity course

Miss Lanteigne — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 01:50:51 +0000

These are the lessons and handouts that go with the course outline in the “For Teachers” section of this blog. They go along with the lessons and modules for a course called First Nations Identity. Please click on “For Teachers” to understand the background and context of these handouts and to view the entire document with the proposal. There are units/modules and rubrics for many different assignments and projects. Help yourself to these handouts and charts for yourself and your students!

Steve Irwin was amazing

Miss Lanteigne — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 02:38:37 +0000

Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter was probably one of the craziest, yet coolest naturalists ever. My brother was the first person I knew who knew this guy (from his T.V. show). I finally watched an episode and I was freaking out and laughing because of the things he would do with the crocodiles. I think he wrestled one just like Ace Ventura did in the second Ace movie. The strong Australian accent along with his use of WOW and BEAUTIFUL and LOOK AT THE SIZE OF HER TEETH made me a hardcore fan. I love taking risks with my little wild animals at home (Chaz and Maggie, two cats) and I’ll tackle them whenever I get the urge for a cat fight.

Too bad that Steve Irwin is gone, RIP. This is Chaz!

Nice visitor to my garden

Miss Lanteigne — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:26:32 +0000

I had a nice surprise today when I went to water my tomato plants: a huge cicada was hanging out on one of them. This is the first time that I’ve ever seen one, even though I hear their electrical sounds all of the time. I even took a short video of it right before it took off. I really felt as if my garden was set in France, with all of the lavender and the cicada, of course. Here’s a few pics:

Here’s my cicada video

Teaching at the NLC

Miss Lanteigne — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 19:13:50 +0000

I’ll be taking a few years off from teaching at the Native Learning Centre in Toronto (trying for a baby) and here is a great project that took place in 2006. The students made short films and this one got raves from everyone. It’s a satire of America’s Next Top Model done “Nishnawbe” style! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApSn1Q8jQ5I

My first post!

Miss Lanteigne — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 03:10:45 +0000

Well, here is a new attempt at a blog even though I’m not good at this. I’ll try putting it into my real website. Basically, people need to realize that planting green things will improve our situation. People, especially young people, do not spend enough time outside. They’re sitting in front of the TV or computer for too long. My students don’t even know how to figure out which way is East, South, West or North. I see more and more young people throwing garbage onto the ground as they walk outside, or out of the door of a car. My students even leave almost full plates of their leftover lunches on the floor at their own school. This attitude definitely sucks. I’m hoping to start a green-project at the school and turn some of the students on to how gardening connects you to the world you live in. It really balances people out. Anyway, so much for that. Here’s Le Petit Prince trying to heal his world with his beautiful roses!

Pat: Eco-warrior and Rock star!

Miss Lanteigne — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 19:01:48 +0000

“Who does he think he is? Neil Young?”

Hilarious House of Frightenstein

Miss Lanteigne — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 22:41:00 +0000

This is an amazing website that offers two free episodes of this great show. Check it out!

http://www.frightenstein.com/goodies/index.html

The Night the Lights Went Out in T.O.

Miss Lanteigne — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 20:56:00 +0000

I found some photos of August 15th (?), 2002, when everyone in southern Ontario and parts of the U.S. lost all power. I was scheduled to close the restaurant where I worked and was sent home. Patrick and I walked home, along with everyone else who depended on the transit system. Driving anywhere was chaotic because of the lack of traffic signals. The whole experience was pretty cool. People were generally very helpful with each other. The best part was at night. Patrick’s brother Michel invited us over to keep him company. We hung out there with other friends and when it became dark, we decided to go for a walk around the neighbourhood. I grabbed a flashlight and we started on our adventure.

Broadview streetcars backed up

It turned out that lots of others were doing the same thing. We met up with hundreds of other people who were looking at the Toronto skyline from the east part of Riverdale Park. The view was pretty different without most of the lights from the buildings. A few lights remained in buildings with their own generators. We noticed people walking around with drinks and joints and pretty relaxed about the whole situation.

Coffee Time on Broadview and Danforth. Business as usual!

We walked up to the Danforth to see crowds of people still sitting in bars, being served by candlelight.

One of the bars still serving on the Danforth

After seeing everyone else having fun, we decided to walk up to the Only Cafe for some drinks, and the place was full with regulars who were very drunk. The vibe was getting pretty ugly so we all left.

The Only Cafe

Our Michel pretending to not be able to see!

Everyone was so impressed with that evening of no electricity. The night was beautiful, quiet and the sky was full of stars. Couples were acting romantic and strangers looking out for each other. That night felt like a camping night right in the big city.

Muskoka Wildlife Centre

Miss Lanteigne — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 22:56:00 +0000

Patrick and I found this place just north of Orillia while we were vacationing last March Break. These animals were either kept as pets and rescued or injured and nursed back to health. Click here for their website: http://www.muskokawildlifecentre.com/

Mazie

Miss Lanteigne — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 15:46:00 +0000

Here are pix of a very cute puppy named Mazie. They were taken last December when she was still so small. She was adopted by my friends Tory and Jamie. Here is Mazie with Tory (both are so cute) visiting everyone at the Only Cafe. If you want to see more cute pictures and movies of Mazie (she has a wedding video!) then go to Jamie’s blog site link on this page.

Bruce’s Mill Conservation Area

Miss Lanteigne — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 15:08:00 +0000

Here are some pics from a nice conservation area called Bruce’s Mill just north of Toronto. The trail system is a little confusing (i.e. black trail is really the blue trail!). We’ve been here twice and it’s so beautiful in the fall. It is associated with a golf course/club which is a bit disappointing. I’d give it 3 out of five stars, for being close to Toronto, but it doesn’t have a water system though the trails until you get to the Mill. Here’s more info: http://www.trca.on.ca/parks_and_culture/places_to_visit/bruce_mill/

Paddling the Petawawa River, Algonquin Park

Miss Lanteigne — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 09:38:40 +0000

Paddling the Petawawa River, September 9th, 2001. Because of what would happen two days later in New York, I would run back into the woods again.

Welcome to Up to Earth

Miss Lanteigne — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 18:59:00 +0000

This site is dedicated to those who feel the need to Greenify places like Toronto.