Oh, You Are So Amazing

And you never fail to astound me, even when I think you have. And I love you sooooo much because we’re all human and I love us all because I believe life’s too challenging as it is without having room to hate. But you know, having said that, and knowing that hate is a “bad” word, I really really really really really really really really really really really really really, and just in case you think I’m kidding, really, don’t like you. Yes you, Homewood Maitland Crime Prevention Unit. Even your name’s pretentious. Do you really think that with Canada’s military and Toronto’s THREE present police services (OPP, MTP and RCMP) that we need you to patrol our streets as well? Have you even been trained in how to patrol streets and other areas defensively and safely? I have.

“

Learn to spell, asshole.

Vagabonders Changes

So we’ve been keeping house, making things more visually appealing and accessible.  Here’s what we’ve done and plan to do:

About Page

WordPress is amazing for many reasons. One of which is that blogs can have pages and every blog, by default, has an “About” page. We’re finally making use of this. Keep your eyes peeled for a blurb on the About page of what we’re all about.

Canadian Election Coverage

I am so, so, so excited for this. We will soon have a page called Canadian Election Coverage where we will…well, cover the Canadian election (because nobody else will). Look for a series of surveys to be up soon on issues such as Womens’ Rights, Trans Rights, Poverty, Youth and Education that you can send to each political party. 

Sidebars

We’ve re-organized the sidebars into a somewhat orderly thing. If there’s any suggestions you want to make, we’d love to hear them.

Authors

We would love, love, love more authors. So if you (or anyone you know!) wants to get into the blogging world, let us know!

My Playground

Reflection on ‘The Environment’

Growing up, many of my best memories were from camping with my family in the Ontario ‘wilderness’. I say ‘wilderness’ because, over the ten or so years that we camped,  the areas we were camping in became more and more built up and by the time we stopped camping as a family a few years ago they didn’t resemble the ‘wilderness’ areas they had once been. These camping trips and my yearly visits to the outskirts of Edmonton formed an almost parental partnership in raising me to be who I am today. The trips taught me how to care for the environment, and taught me how I am a part of the environment, and how it is a part of me. I developed an interest in animals – how they live, how they communicate, their instincts, how to communicate with them, what they do to survive – and I never lost my connection to them when I came back to the city. In Edmonton, I even befriended a wolf and it was the wolf who taught me who I am as a spiritual being. Eventually, the wolf, as an animal, became my power animal, along with the hawk and these two creatures really influenced my spirit and often I found myself being guided by their instincts. Perhaps that seems a little crazy, but at the end of the day I ended up having some fantastic experiences because of my connection to these two species. As the years went on the area in which my grandma lived in Edmonton got more and more saturated with oil containers and the oil industry in general. The places where I camped became crowded with city families dying to get away for the weekend, but their sense of ‘away’ was very different from the ‘away’ I had experienced as a young child. I haven’t been to Edmonton in a few years, and I haven’t been to any of the campgrounds I used to frequent since I was about 13, but my understanding of the environment, the reasons why I care so much about the environment are very rooted in these memories and I feel disappointed, angry and almost ashamed of my generation and my parents’ generation for taking these memories away from the children I may eventually have and for taking these experiences away from the children I babysit.

Why Karma Exists

I believe in karma because I have to. Through my own experiences and the experiences of others that I have been made to accept, even though it made me angry to do so, I have come to realize that karma may be the only thing I have left. I’m spiritual. I believe in power animals – mine being the wolf and the hawk. Yet sometimes, neither the wolf nor the hawk can guide me and I have no other choice than to have faith that karma does exist. I believe it does exist because, through my own trial and error with other systems of thought and of ‘fate’, it has to. Sometimes when people are in shitty situations they say, ‘things have to get better. They just have to.” Is it a cut-and-dry, scientific thought and ideology that leads them to this conclusion? No. When people say this you can ask, “why?” and they will tell you, “because they can’t get any worse”. Essentially, things have been bad, so they must get better. I have dealt with shit and so one day I will experience happiness. Karma. Now, I know karma exists because I’ve done some pretty awful things, and awful things have been done to me. But then, everyone can say that. I know karma exists because of the good things I’ve done. I’ve taken people under my wing when they needed someones’ wing to be under, and they’ve taken me under theirs when I’ve needed that. I know karma exists because for all the shitty years my family has spent together, things are finally turning around and none of us have a reason why other than karma. Karma may not exist for you. It may not exist for anyone you know. For me, karma exists. Because I want it to, because it has to. It just has to.

“This Isn’t Transphobia But…”

I know my post “Protest In Toronto” happened a while ago. I know the last comment was made on August 26. I know that it’s the end of the second week of September now. I know all of this, but I still believe that it is so necessary for me to rebutt some of the comments made on that post. Okay, all of them but one. 

I’ve spoken with one of the other authors of this blog and we both feel that we cannot let the comments just remain without making some sort of public rebuttal. So here goes.

For starters, I just needed to post this:

Shae’s Top 5 Most Hilariously Condescending and Contradictory Sentences (as taken from the comments and not in any particular order)

#1: “We are here for the safety and integrity of Homewood and Maitland Streets. We are dedicated to removing sex-trade from our neighbourhood, and restoring it to a peaceful and crime-free community.

WE RECOGNIZE THE RIGHTS OF ALL PEOPLE, AND THIS IS NOT DISCRIMINATORY AGAINST THE SEX-TRADE WORKERS OR TRANS-GENDER SEX-TRADE WORKERS (primarilyat this corner).”  I’m glad that everyone is going into this with their mind focused on safety, integrity, being non-discriminatory and recognizing rights and everything but…how can you say in one paragraph that you are dedicated to removing sex-trade from your neighbourhood, and in the next say that you’re not discriminating against sex-trade workers? In claiming to want to restore your neighbourhood’s ‘integrity’, ’safety’ and peacefulness by removing sex-trade and sex-trade workers from your streets, you are inherently saying that sex-trade workers have removed your neighbourhood’s integrity, safety and peacefulness to begin with. I don’t know how you could possibly rationalize this claim as non-descriminatory or how you could even begin to think you are recognizing the rights of sex-trade workers and transgendered individuals.

#2: “The sex-trade workers themselves are at constant risk from being picked up by johns that intend to do them harm.” I’m sure that the sex-trade workers in question really appreciate your concern, but it’s probably something they either think about often and understand. Every job has risks and sex-trade workers are constantly pounded with reminders of the danger they can be in. Unless you’re willing to remove the system of oppressions that have most likely caused the sex-trade workers working around the Homewood/Maitland area to turn to sex-trade, don’t lecture about the dangers of the sex-trade industry.

#3: “Sex workers are a very important and valued segment of society, and I would never venture to prevent it, but, it needs to be kept within an area that is not for families and schools.” Valued? Sex-trade workers are a valued member of society? Are you kidding…surely such a comment was made in jest? If sex trade workers were a “valued segment of society”, as you so kindly put it, they would not need to think about the danger your fellow resident commented about, they would not need to worry about being harrassed by people with flashlights while they tried to do their job. If sex-trade workers were truly a ‘valued’ segment of society, this debate would not be happening at all.

#3.5 (because this one is actually just a joke): “Having a crack deal take place on my front porch is simply not acceptable.” Stop making crack deals on your front porch and you won’t have a problem.

#4: “Transphobia is not part of the equation here. People are not afraid of trans gendered sex workers nor do they object to the lifestyle. …at the license plate of one of ‘her’ prospective johns.” Yes, transphobia is not a part of the equation here. Right…that’s why you put the pronoun ‘her’ in little quote marks. As if to allude that “we all know that ’she’ is actually a he,” as I’ve heard so many people say (though to be honest, they say the opposite about me). 

#5: “Also, the sex workers have told that that they have been here forwever and that we, the ‘gay condo yuppies’should either sell or get over it and put up with the trannies! The sex workers are trying to sabotage history since they HAVE NOT BEEN HERE FOREVER.” Oh my god! Somebody call the History Police!! The sex workers are trying to sabotage history!!!! Okay, so this one is actually my favourite. I’ve read it probably about a hundred times, and I still laugh every time. Also, since when were you allowed to call us trannies? Just because, you know, through all of your transphobic comments (though transphobia is not part of the equation here…) I kind of gather you’re not trans yourself…

Okay, so real rebuttals take more time. They’ll be coming along soon in another post. Possibly in a couple of days, hopefully tomorrow.