Emillie The Dancer, reprise

So, Emillie had a great weekend at the Irwin Feis in Calgary.

Saturday, she had five competitions. She won two firsts, a second and a third, which was a really decent showing for the first competition after the long summer break.

On Sunday, Em's big trophy competition took place. I think she was more nervous than she was telling me because, after she danced, she was all teary. This competition was pretty important to her, as winning it, which she did, gets her into the next level, Preliminaries.

Additionally though, getting into Prelims allows her to go to Vancouver and compete in the Oireachtas ("oriactus") where she can qualify for Nationals and also Worlds, which are held in Ireland.

She's pretty happy and we're quite proud.

Many thanks to our great teachers, Sally Houston, Kim Houston-Kinash and Kerry Houston of Ard Na Greine in Calgary for their love and dedication to all their students.

Illogical Statements

I would like to comment on two letters “Bitter” and “Zip it Up,” that appeared in the Calgary Herald on Tuesday, October 4^th. The link is www.calgaryherald.com. You'll have to cut/past to make it work.

The writer of “Bitter” implies that only teenaged girls produce babies afflicted with foetal alcohol syndrome or the related spectrum disorder. This is false. Sadly, mothers of FAS/FASD babies come from every part of society and from every child-bearing age group. To lay blame at the feet of teenaged girls is short-sighted and unfair. Such a belief allows people to ignore the realties of this preventable disability. It also allows those who fall outside that stereotype to continue hide behind their age, their status or their economic position.

On the issue of men commenting on abortion, “Zip it Up” includes the comment that men should keep their mouse caged. It is highly hypocritical for women to make strident claims for their reproductive rights, yet to continue to blame men for unplanned pregnancies.

If women are going to really and truly own their pro-choice stance, they must acknowledge and act on the truth that choice also includes doing everything necessary to not become pregnant if they don’t want to bear a child.

The median age for abortions (first and repeat) is 28. One would expect that, after a certain age, most women know what causes a pregnancy. This is absolutely an issue with an age demographic that knows better but doesn’t act.

Choice applies to both before and after the fact; however, choice applied before the fact will, in most cases, eliminate having to make a choice after the fact. A before-the-fact choice does little damage to a woman’s body and mind and certainly doesn’t leave another being dead.

The reality is this: women do have the right to manage their own reproduction and to have choices. However, women who do little or nothing to prevent a pregnancy have abdicated, plain and simple.

In a country where birth control information is free, legal and unlimited, and access to before-the-fact pregnancy prevention is available everywhere and to everyone, also often at no cost, there is no excuse for the majority of unplanned pregnancies. Far too many of those pregnancies result when women play Russian roulette with the bodies they claim to have dominion over. As such, placing blame anywhere else but on one’s own shoulders is simply wrong.

Women who ignore the extensive pregnancy prevention resources and choices available to them refuse responsible reproductive practice and reject responsibility for self.

Forks, Knives, Dirty Napkins and Where the Heck are your Manners?

This will be short.

When you're eating, your fork and knife, if you need to set either of them down, go across the edge of your plate.

Under NO circumstances should they hang off the edge of your plate like crazy legs.

The reason for this is that when someone comes by to remove your plate, if your fork and knife are properly posed, they will not fall into your lap when the plate is lifted up.

Secondly, properly positioned cutlery does not pose a dining danger for the people who might be sharing your table. Things left hanging are easy to accidentally hit. Imagine if your lovely dinner guest happens to knock your fork or knife onto her new, white, silk, Simon Chang trousers.

Elbows do not belong on tables until the meal is properly cleared. Your chest does not go on the table at any time.

Your napkin goes on your lap the instant you sit down.

Ask more questions than you answer. People like to talk about themselves. If two people in conversation remember these two things, the conversation will flow well and probably be very interesting.

Many people think that good maners are pompous and to be practiced by the well-to-do only. This is not the case.

Manners make you nicer to be around.

'Kay, I'm done.