My *new* James Joyce “Ulysses” course I’m creating for the University of Ottawa’s Continuing Education Personal Enrichment Program! Will you join me this Fall 2012 for four evenings?

Best way to take in new Sylvie Hill articles, old Shotguns and if you have a story, let’s get it up here and there!

I ran around kissing lots of boys then wrote about! Hoxton Square Circles: Starfucking Tales of Sexless One-night Stands (2001) is the name of the book. Check out the spoken-word poet Sylvie here!

Part I: The Last Suppers

The last time a Carpenter came through my door, he broke my heart and cleared out his furniture, including his most beautiful, real-wood, heavy, dining room table.

Nearly black like the colour of my true {ex-} love’s hair, the dining room table was a very rich, espresso-coloured structure with the glossiest table top, and fit for Kings with four chairs and a big wooden bench. Walnut? Oak? Something more durable than our relationship, anyroads.

There, we had shared our breakfasts half awake, taco dinners in fits of laughter, and one Christmas celebration in warmth. We’d watch Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune from “our” table, and even caught that episode where that New York City editor got lucky and decoded the most complex(t) of puzzles in but a few letters, shouting the answer: “I’ve Got A Very Good Feeling About This!!”

While that lucky lady made it to the bonus round with her great feeling about that, I was having a very “bad feeling” about this: my own round in the game called LoveLife, thanks. I landed on BANKRUPT, man — emotionally, intimately, and challenged in the furniture department, you bet it: “table-y” bereft.

I needed a god-damn table. When he left, there would be a big void in my apartment, and a hole in my heart, and I’d need to fill it. Fast. Panic set in, and I did what any Carpenter-less female might do: I ordered from Sears. Oh, fake-wood table from Sears. Mr. Carpenter was too distracted to help me shop for the right thing, but he did pick up the order for me in his truck and delivered it. Oh, and what a load. But then guess what happened…

***
THIS IS NOW…

In the first meeting to discuss my new threshing-floor dining room table, I meet Matthew Wallace of naCoille Studio, Ottawa (Ontario – Canada) on Easter Monday.

He is a family man, a photographer, a graphic designer, an artist and entrepreneur — and a wood guy. From my first conversation over the phone with Matthew, I know I’m in for a treat. Professionalism, knowledge and ideas is what this guy is all about.

He comes over today to measure the space I have in the dining room for the table. We measure it up for a table of about 5 feet long, and 40 inches wide! He brings with him samples of the wood he’ll use for the legs and for the table top. We’ll go with a more traditional apron-leg fit and he’ll stain them a bit darker than the top. That’s because the natural colours in the wood end up shining through after treatment, and often you’ll find a nice mix of rich, dark colours!

Here’s the wood he brought! He salvages very old wood from decrepit Ottawa-region barns. It’s in rough shape now, but you’ll see how he’ll transform something abandoned and discarded into something…beautiful.

What a great first consult. In one hour, I know where we’re heading, and it’s going to be great!

Check back here soon for more updates about the Sears catastrophe and Step 2 of the Table-Build!

“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I’ve bought a big bat, I’m all ready you see, now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!” ~Dr. Seuss

Would You Like Your Cancer (WYLYC) documents the heartfelt and spirited journey of young Ottawa author, Megan Oates, who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 17. At a time when she should have been playing teenager preparing for college or university, she was being wheeled down hospital hallways to surgery to have her thyroid gland cut out. Now in her mid-twenties, Oates penned the memoir to tell the story of her battle against cancer and how, testament to being a “fighter,” she won both renewed life and love in the end.

A chronicled exposé of discovery to recovery, WYLYC is a poignant and instructive tale for teenagers and adults alike, cancer survivors and their supporters, to remind us that in sickness and in health, all we need is love and gratitude—and, maybe even a bit of skateboarding…

LOVER/FIGHTER

Not her Grandmother’s death from cancer, nor a shitty boyfriend were going to separate Oates from her will to achieve her goals. This fierce determination, energy and spunk make WYLYC a compelling and candid recollection of a persevering teenager who in 2012, at 24 years-old, is now six-years cancer-free.

The legacy of courage was passed on to Oates by her Grandmother, who died from cancer in 1996, and to whom the book is dedicated. Oates recounts in the memoir how on her sickbed, her dying Grandmother hands her a figurine of two teddy bears—a little girl bear on a wooden fence facing a little boy bear holding flowers behind his back. “I think that figurine and what it portrayed was my Grandmother’s way of telling me to ‘never settle’ since she would never have the opportunity to talk to me about love,” she writes.

Oates’ Aunt Gail is also a source of strength: “When the cancer ordeal had subsided, the disease continued to be a part of my life,” she writes. The fight was now part of her, and she self-identifies with her Aunt Gail who had been diagnosed twice and lost a leg to cancer. “It takes someone with a strong sense of character to battle cancer.”

Fighting all the way, she goes from several appointments through to post-treatment with helpful doctors, friends and family by her side. She invokes her own bravery and heavy emotion when she writes about the chilling experience of the fine needle aspiration biopsy where one of her fathers (she has two), beside her, “with his hands to his mouth,” had to look away. Holding her breath as the needle enters her neck to poke at the potentially cancerous nodule in her thyroid, she writes:

“I could not move and I could not breathe. I wanted to go home, so badly. I read a booklet on the fine needle aspiration biopsy. It informed me the test was fast, safe and usually caused little discomfort. Well, they lied. Before this whole thing, I had been a tough girl. …I wasn’t afraid of dying and I knew that one day, life as I knew it would end. Having the procedure changed my thought process to a degree. I began to think more seriously about the severity of the situation.”

What follows from her diagnosis are new routines, including several rituals to keep her secluded from others because of the radiation in her body from the treatment. She must juggle her hours at her job at Music World and face skeptical coworkers who scoff at why she gets so much time off. The experience clarifies for Oates, in the end, what was worth worrying about and what was not.

For the prom, a tailor over-chopping two feet off her prom dress, which had been ripped at the edge by the cat, and totally ruining it? No problem. Footwear? “I told everyone they wouldn’t catch me in heels at the prom. …Sure enough, I showed up in my green and blue checkered Vans slip-ons.”

It’s that character that prevails when the asshole, cheating ex-boyfriend breaks up with Oates at the kitchen table reminding her: “I only stayed with you because you had cancer, don’t forget that.”

She wins in the end with her new boyfriend Joshua. “I never thought I would have someone to love me unconditionally, to be there through the good, the bad and the ugly,” she writes. “He was there when I was sick, when I had hospital appointments, when I had good news and when I had bad news.”

Provocative as a young woman, this author crafted a must-read memoir that is never boring, and always entertaining in its boldness or captivating in its softness. WYLYC is a quick read with an easy narrative style. Structurally, it’s peppered with quotes to introduce each of the eighteen chapters. While conversational in tone, the text is cleverly crafted, setting up poignant memories that will have you laughing out loud or balling your eyes out.

Read rhetorically, Would You Like Your Cancer? supposes that no, the reader would absolutely not want their cancer, thanks! Read inquisitively, it prompts the philosophical question of how disease can be a learning experience. Either way it is read, the title challenges the reader to reflect on the topic—deeply.

INSPIRATION

Oates hopes to raise awareness of the disease among young people with the same excitement she understood of Rob Dyer, the young skateboarder who created Skate4Cancer.com and skateboarded across the United States and Canada to raise awareness for cancer and to reach his personal goal of turning the loss of his mother into something positive. Two years and a month after Oates’ diagnosis, she had “s4c” tattooed on the inside of her right wrist along with a skateboard deck, and the word ‘hope’ written on the inside of her left wrist. While she’s never met Dyer, she says “his positivity, drive and determination are so inspirational.”

Oates’ desire to connect with human beings is strong: “If you take a city bus and take a good look at the people around you, you’ll never know their story. … If you never saw the three and a half inch scar on my neck, almost connecting my two collarbones you would never know I was ever sick. … I wish you could look at someone and just know everything; know all their fears, thoughts, and their stories. I think people would be much more understanding of each other.”

Learning about this girl’s story increases the reader’s understanding of what cancer patients go through. How they fight to stay themselves instead of becoming a cancer label. WYLYC teaches about perseverance in real ways, through the aspirations of young Oates:

“I always thought it would be wonderful to have a fall wedding. In my mind, visions of bright orange and fire red leaves on a white wedding dress were breathtaking. After having a successful surgery, I could go on wishing and hoping for those simple things in life.”

WYLYC demystifies the ominous “journey” of battling cancer and gives meaning and shape to the words “courage” and “hope.” Courage to keep on dreaming, and hope to keep on truckin’. Through one Ottawa girl’s personal story, the experience of cancer is all the more real, invoking compassion and inspiring conversation and awareness, accomplishing Oates’ purpose in scribbling a memoir in the first place.

For me, dining-room tables have taught me a little about big love, loss and life. “How the hell can furniture do that?” you’re asking! Ah, I have a special story to tell. It’s going to start soon…

Over the next while, Matthew Wallace of Ottawa’s NaCoille Studio is going to salvage and transform dead wood to build me my very own, and very first, real-wood dining-room table. We’re going to document the whole process! Do you know where your table comes from? I will! From reclaiming the wood from somewhere, through process and the build to settling it in my home, you can follow this journey. You’ll see: sometimes a table, isn’t JUST a table.

NaCoille Studio takes the time to select the best reclaimed & salvaged wood locally from all over the Ottawa Valley and its surrounding areas. You can find them at Twitter @naCoille_Studio .

I learned about NaCoille Studio through Ottawa’s Antique Skateboard Shop.

So, pull up a chair. Would you like to hear the story?

The journey starts now…

Not her Grandmother’s death from cancer, nor a shitty boyfriend were going to separate Oates from her will to achieve her goals. This fierce determination, energy and spunk make WYLYC a compelling and a candid recollection of a persevering teenager who in 2012, at 24 years-old, is now six-years cancer-free.

Follow Megan Oates on Twitter @Megan_Oates and @OfficialWYLYC

Strive to be the best version of yourself because there is nobody better.

Our Pink Thoughts, on-line, celebrates the lives of Canadian girls and women, offering tips and advice along the way. Each week Our Pink Thoughts features an impressive Canadian girl or woman who is impacting our society in a positive way.

Sylvie will be contributing a piece in Spring 2012 on the Inspiring Dominique Larocque of Creative Wheel Consulting & LaRoccaXC Mountain Biking School/Club.

The Creative Wheel Centre is founded on the belief that connecting with nature through physical, contemplative and artistic pursuits is the most potent medicine available to us all.

La belle Domi: Mountain Bike Teacher, Inspirational Force for Women

3 Writers, Photographers and Tattooers

Hard-core, Slow-mo: Andrew Tweedy

Secrets of the Artful Self-Promoter

2009 Awards Gala in Ottawa, Ontario

The fifth annual Canadian Folk Music awards gala will take place on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at Dominion Chalmers Church, 355 Cooper Street, Ottawa, Ontario (corner of O’Conner), http://www.dcpresentations.com. The awards ceremony will feature live music by April Verch, Old Man Luedecke, Les Charbonniers de l’Enfer, Yonder Hill, Valdy and Caterina Cardeal & Mike Siracusa, followed by a reception for all.

CD available in Ottawa at Compact Music.

SHOWS:
13 Nov 2009 20:30
Blacksheep (Bushpilots CD release) Wakefield, Quebec
20 Nov 2009 21:00
Royal Oak (Canal/Echo Drive) Ottawa, Ontario
21 Nov 2009 21:30
Thirsty Moose Carleton Place, Ontario

Formed in 2004 the Brothers Chaffey are a roots rock n’ roll band hailing from Ottawa, Ontario. The sibling team of Matthew (lead vocals/guitar), and younger brother Curtis (lead guitar/vocals) have been performing together for 10 years in various acts. Since 2005, the Brothers Chaffey have performed consistently with Dave Macdonald (bass) and Nick Diak (drums) as their rhythm section and the foundation to the band’s sound. More recently the band has expanded their line-up by adding a new member, Adam Puddington (guitar/vocals). This driving version of the band delivers powerful rhythms and a distinct groove.

The vitality and intensity of their music has earned the Brothers Chaffey a reputation for up-tempo, dancehall, rock n’ roll shows. They have toured from coast to coast and maintained a solid fan base in Halifax, Toronto and Ottawa in support of their first record release Harbord Street Soul. During 2008/09 the Brothers collaborated with engineer/producer Ken Friesen (Tragically Hip/the Sadies) to create Bloodlines, their second full length LP and their most rock n’ roll sound to date.

“The Brothers Chaffey are brave old souls in a brave new world.” – Sylvie Hill, Ottawa XPress

A total 180° from the autobiographical Hoxton Square Circles: Starfucking Tales of Sexless One-night Stands, the new book spills other people’s sad-sack sonofabitch stories of suffering and redemption from adultery, infedility and obsessive love.

Inspired by Kate Chopin’s 1899 novel, The Awakening, and T.S. Eliot’s 1949 play, The Cocktail Party, Hill explores themes of isolation in marriage, or long-term relationships, and the fiery fierce hunger to connect profoundly with ourselves by using others romantically.