Hello cyberworld,

Sorry for not posting in a few days. I've been busy with Summerstock and watching season one of Battlestar Galactica outside of Stock. My god what a good series. Anywho...

I'm reading The Unfinished Canadian right now, and as I was reading the first chapter, one passage stood out in my mind. The author describes how a professor named Martin J. Gannon points out symbols of national character in different countries. "He says, for example, that the most distinctive symbol of Japan is the spare, landscaped garden...in Turkey, the symbol is the coffeehouse, which mixes elements of the religious and the secular....etc". The particular passage I'm concerned with is this: "In Ireland, it is conversation, the staff of life for a gregarious people in thrall to the melody and meaning of language." My heart sang at this sentence. It resonated with me for very personal reasons, namely that I have a strong affinity for Irish culture, a pride and sense of belonging in its context. I'm half Irish from my mom's side and my dad is in a Celtic folk band, not to mention the constant exposure to Irish myth and legend for my own fairy tale. And then this got me thinking: I'm more proud of my Irishness than my Canadianness, not to mention my Germanness and Danishness. This doesn't seem right, since I've never actually been to Ireland, nor am I particularly gregarious or gifted in storytelling, which the Irish are famous for. Indeed I'd say I'm thrall to the "melody and meaning of language", otherwise I wouldn't be on here journaling, but it's not in the same way. I am only HALF Irish after all. And I hate Guinness. The pride I have is more the product of wishful thinking than anything else; the desire to belong to a heritage as strong and ancient and mysterious as Ireland's. And so what's wrong with Canada that I have to entreat a step-parent identity? Some may argue it is Canadian to have multiple identities and roots, to be a chameleon of sorts. It's possible, but this theory doesn't seem to satisfy. I act as though I am a cultural orphan, having to look elsewhere than my broad nation. Well, if I'm not going to look here I might as well not stay here and call myself Canadian at all! I am not an orphan. But I think that cultural disconnect is very real, if only in our heads, otherwise so many people wouldn't feel like this, prompting people like Andrew Cohen to write books like The Unfinished Canadian. I may not be an orphan, but at times I am certainly a child estranged from his parent. Well at any rate, the search for Canada goes on, until I can know it and love it for what it is.

In other news, I'm debating over word choice for my story. When I refer to mortal human beings, I'm tempted to define the race as Man, rather than Humanity. I don't mean to be sexist at all, but in some ways the word Man, being archaic and obsolete now in our day better suits a more archaic world. I don't want to compromise this world simply because of modern sensibilities. Trust me, this is not something I take lightly, as I wouldn't use it in the context of our real contemporary world. Women and Women's rights supporters have fought too long and hard to be hampered by small yet significant things like language suited to a patriarchal society. But at the same time, I don't like the idea of political correctness running amok and eradicating the possibilities of language, and the decor of my fairy world. Just know that that's as far patriarchy goes in my story. Otherwise I'm determined to make it as balanced as possible in the roles that both sexes play (without making it seem forced and depreciate the many and rich differences between Men and Women in this place). Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.