June's almost over?

Lest we sit around and wallow in various stages of sloth and idleness, the SigOther and I have gone and gotten involved with a local show that will be performed at Granville Island for two weeks in July. The play, linked above, is called Other Freds and revolves (oddly enough) around a poor fellow named Fred and a few of his counterparts in alternate universes.

While there will be three rather intense weeks (one of rehearsals and two of the show) involved on our part, and our part is a very miniscule portion, albeit at the very end, it looks to be a great deal of fuss and fun. I think we even have scheduling worked out so that the animals in our house will be contented throughout our required absences.

I'm not going to get into too much more about the piece until after it's started because, if anyone's around, they should go! That, and really, you'll know just about as much as I do by visiting the site. It turns out that we won't actually be able to see any of the play - we were hoping for maybe a little - so we'll be in the dark as to its full impact.

And that's really going to be too bad, to have to say that we never got to see Other Freds, but we will get to say that we were in it.

summer and the melanin-deprived

On the first day of summer, it seems only appropriate to comment on my requisite use of sun protection. Now, it is pissing rain here, and they [yes, the ubiquitous weather-predicting "they"] are threatening thunder storms, but I'm sure that's beside the point.

It's probably a good thing that I live on the wet coast. Sun and I have a tenuous relationship. I enjoy it, in small doses of moderate warmth and vitamin D, and it does it's best to make sure that I don't enjoy it at all.

In the full force of sunlight, I get a wee bit blotchy. I may get groggy, light headed or, I'm told, temperamental. In small, repetitive doses, I get a marginal farmers' tan and a few more freckles on my arms and face. I don't think my legs have tanned since high school and I'm pretty sure my stomach could be used to send reflective signals into outer space. At worst, I'm pasty; at best, semi-transparent.

So, I spend my summers slathering on SPFs of increasing numbers. Despite all the dire warnings, it still seems, on some level, rather counter-productive to purposely go out into the sun wearing shorts and tanks, only to coat oneself in sun-deflecting lotion. I know I need to get over that, but some days....it's just not right. Maybe I need a little healthy colour or, at least, evenly distributed colour. What if my back matched the backs of my arms?

Oh, I know. Tanning is bad for you. And so, against my wild'n'crazy inner rebel, I don't.

Sitting inside in front of the computer too much is bad for you too.

But you don't get sunburned.

hand over your genes

This National Geographic Genography study came across my email the other day via my SigOther as something I might be interested in doing. As I understand it, the study is attempting to track the movement of indigenous peoples based on their genetic make up. As a non-indigenous person, that doesn't make me terribly useful, but NG is offering to tell me my background, genetically, for a small fee that will help to fund the "real" project and provide them some interesting info at the same time.

My SigOther was right. I am interested in that kind of stuff and have, sporadically, thought about dabbling in the whole family tree thing. I tend to be far more stuck in the past than the future and am always interested in the what-happened-when stories. My curiosity really should have gotten the better of me on this one, and I should have already sent away my order.

As recently as 5 or 6 years ago, I would have.

Now, however, I seem to have several reasons not to participate. First, I'm pretty sure that my most of my long-long ago relatives were from Scotland, Ireland, England (and, therefore, at least partly Scandinavian), Denmark and India. Second, I'm not too sure that I want to pay for it. Third, while my sample for analysis will be discarded by the end of the study (in an estimated 5 years) and will only be used to test for the markers used in this study (unless I request otherwise), it is clear from the terms and conditions that participant information will be disclosed, when required by law. And, the way things are going, I'm not inclined to simply hand over my entire genetic code.

Now, realistically, I drop my DNA all around me every day, practically wantonly, in lost hair and skin. If anyone really desperately wanted to sequence the code in my cells, it wouldn't take them long to get a sample. In addition, I have nothing to hide and a lot that I'd like to know. What is lurking in my background? Do I have any genetic predispositions? How does that fit into the population as a whole? But, that's not really the point. All this interesting stuff can be analyzed a million different ways, not only for interest's sake, but to come back and somehow bite me in the ass. No, I'm not sure of that last bit, but the fact that such a concept is now even something I anticipate is really really scary. And sad. Even more-so, that a simple change in the letters at the end of a web address could change everything. I probably wouldn't be writing this post if it were at ".ca" or ".de" or ".co.uk". I'd be off scraping the inside of my cheek for a buccal DNA sample instead.

the remainder of the week

No, the week hasn't started yet, but it's pretty much over already. Monday, I have no extra-curricular stuff (yay!) except to practice for what is to come. Tuesday, I have to watch Canadian Idol and the spouse has to go out for the evening. Wednesday, I have choir rehearsal for a performance on Thursday. Thursday, in addition to the singing, I have a reading of four poems as part of a year end wrap up for a poetry studio.

The choir and poetry studio are both run through the same arts centre, which is how I get hit up twice on the same evening. Ack. Fortunately, or not, time managed itself such that I'll be able to perform in both capacities.

In addition to that, I have to remember to phone my dentist, the local guitar shop and a few flooring places as well as get in gear to buy birthday presents for both my parents-in-law and my sister. And it seems that Father's Day is fast approaching.

Hm. I haven't fully reconciled the fact that it's already June. I actually tried to write "January" the other day instead of "June". With a schedule like this coming week, it's no wonder dates are a-flying. Perhaps by the time I get through the end of this week, it'll be August - just in time for two weeks of holidays.