I Am Pippi Longstocking

It's been a long time since I thought about my days as a nine-year-old. When I opened an early Christmas present today, I couldn't help but feel like the last 31 years hadn't happened.

I had an idol and her name was Pippi Longstocking. Here's what Wikpedia says about her.

Pippi Longstocking is a fictional character in a series of children's books created by author Astrid Lindgren. She is a nine-year-old girl with red braids that stick out sideways. She is very unconventional, assertive, extraordinarily strong and rich. She lives alone with a monkey and a horse in an old house. Her friends Tommy and Annika accompany her on her adventures.

These children live with a complete lack of adult supervision, and they frequently mock and dupe the adults they do encounter; this certainly adds to the appeal these characters hold for their young readers.

A Swedish TV series was created based on the Pippi Longstocking books in the 1970s. Inger Nilsson gave a confident oddball performance that was uncommonly consistent and eccentric for a child actor. The Swedish series was re-edited as 4 poorly-dubbed feature films for US distribution. They became weekend television staples in several cities in America throughout the 1970s and 80s.

Pippi wasn't pretty or popular but in my books, she was the coolest girl to walk the earth. And if she could have adventures in the world, so could I. In the movies, she went around singing this little ditty. I haven't stopped chanting it all day.

I am Pippi Longstocking, how I love my funny name. I am Pippi Longstocking, if you say it fast it's funny! Pippi, Pippi, Pippi Longstocking.

Oh Chocolat

As if I need another addiction.

I just brewed up some drinking chocolate. This is not the hot chocolate that all of us are used to drinking after a skate at the rink. This is high test. This is exotic. This is indulgence.

Trevis at Black Pearl Coffee tipped me off that he'd have some in stock soon. I was familiar with the product after sampling Starbucks' version, called Chantico, a few months back. I stopped in Tuesday and picked up a bag. Black Pearl's stock is the Soma brand and it's laced with ginger, orange peel, vanilla, chili peppers and a blend of spices. The mixture get brewed up on the stove and whisked until smooth. Serve it like espresso.

It's thick, spicy and unique. Pair it with a few of those Venezuelan choco-covered beans (also at Black Pearl) and you have to wonder who needs illicit drugs when there are so many organic alternatives.

Be Selfish this Holiday Season

With the holiday season upon us, I thought I'd share the editorial I wrote that appeared in yesterday's issue of Winnipeg Life magazine. (Also check out www.CanadaHelps.org/GiftCards/charity_gift_card.aspx)


I was in search of an answer. Why does it feel good to give? Handing over a pretty package will give you some warm fuzzies but donating your time or cutting a healthy cheque takes you up to a whole new level.

After much research that wasn’t getting me anywhere, I stumbled upon a reference to a book called The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others. It seems Dr. Allan Luks has the answer.

Luks is the former executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Health and executive director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of New York City. He published his book in 1991 after conducting a study with more than 3,000 volunteers of all ages. His survey asked volunteers how they felt when they did a kind act. After a computerized analysis, he saw a clear cause-and-effect relationship between helping and good health.

“Helping contributes to the maintenance of good health,” he said. “And it can diminish the effect of diseases and disorders both serious and minor, psychological and physical.” That’s a good enough reason for me.

Luks’ volunteers confessed to feeling a rush of euphoria, followed by a longer period of calm, after performing a kind act. He called this feeling helper’s high. Apparently the act of giving causes the body to release its natural painkillers, the endorphins. Who knew? Imagine getting a tax receipt and a rush of endorphins.

In some strange way, the act of giving is a selfish one. “I donate because I know there’s always a need,” said an anonymous source. “But more than that, it’s because it makes me realize how fortunate I am. And really, it just makes me feel really, really good inside.”

This issue of Winnipeg Life is packed with fabulous fashion, funky stories and a gift guide that will put the finishing touches on your holiday shopping. Read it, embrace it, then put it aside and be a little selfish. Go get some of that helper’s high.

Happy holidays.

Shel Zolkewich
Editor

The Exclamation Point!

PUNCTUATION MONDAY

The first rule of using the exclamation point is never use the exclamation point. Let me back up but just a little. We've become immune to the funny little line with the period floating at its end. Every command on a television commercial ends with the EP. Low! Today! 2006! Every second e-mail from a pal contains at least one. "I'll see you at lunch!" Must be a really good lunch. So use it sparingly and only when you really, really mean it.

The rules say use an EP only at the end of a word group or sentence that expresses exceptional feeling or deserves special attention.

Proper use of the EP
"He's dead!"

Of course we'd only use the EP if someone were truly surprised at this situation.

Improper use of the EP
In the fisherman's memory the fish lives on, increasing in weight and length with each passing year, until at last it is big enough to shade a fishing boat!

The sentence is emphatic enough without the EP.

Never end two consecutive sentences with the EP. One has to have more force than the other or the two will simply be washed into mediocrity.

Mighty Spruces from Little Seedlings Grow

About 15 years from now, these seedlings will be big enough to grace someone's living room for Christmas. While this scene looks a little cold and bleak, the atmosphere inside the barn at Tyndall, Manitoba's Windrift Tree Farm is warm and festive. Pick out a fresh-cut tree, grab a hot chocolate and a hot dog and gather by the woodstove. Let heaven and nature sing.

Make Christmas Dreams Come True

Gather 'round the artifical tree this season and hope Santa brings you a Hi Fi. The crew from Bounce Communication Design hope they've been good enough for a very special gift this season. They'd like to win Canadian Tire's A Picture is Worth $10,000 contest. You can help make a holiday wish come true by voting once a day until Dec. 15.

www.holidaypicturecontest.com/English/vote_thankyou.cfm?photo=IMB1197

Learn to Speak Bee

I'm sure this magazine has nothing to do with the beloved television spot where the two Indian scientists discuss the merits of speaking bee. This magazine is; however, a fresh alternative to women's magazines. How do I know? Because they've done something bold and unorthodox with their magazine logo and that's good enough for me.

Chec out www.beemag.com

Cock on the Block

Irish Spring can't hold a candle to Red Rooster. If there's one retail shop I can get excited about, it's LUSH. The British-born soap and cosmetics company is coming to Polo Park. That will make my trips to Toronto and Vancouver much less expensive. You see, each time I visited one of those cities, I would load up on Red Rooster (my favourite soap) and a few other LUSH goodies. Buying a year's worth of soap can get pricey.

Erika in LUSH's marketing department says they are hoping for a Dec. 23 opening of the Winnipeg store. If you've never been to a LUSH store, get ready for a real marketing twist. Handmade products are displayed on butchers' blocks, priced by weight, wrapped in grease-proof paper and stamped with a best-before date. Yummy.

Decorating on a Ukrainian Dime

Welcome to Winnipeg where the winters are blustery and the prices are cheap, cheap, cheap. Or maybe it's just Ukrainian shoppers that can't rest until they find the best deal. For example, these chairs were $129 apiece at JYSK. Then my sister alerted me to the fact that they were on sale for $99. Made the trip back and got a price adjustment of $134. Couple that with a Palliser dining table purchased at Factory Kitchens Direct on King Street for a whopping $169 and you've got a great looking set. Total price: $565 plus tax. Baba Zolkewich would be proud.

Keep Your Colon (Use) Clean

PUNCTUATION MONDAY

Looking to get some attention? Use a colon.

Let’s start with some of the uses that we can easily get our heads around.

Use a colon after a salutation in a formal letter
Dear Sir or Madam:

Use a colon to indicate hours and minutes
5:30

Use a colon to show ratios
The ratio of apples to oranges was 2:1.

Use a colon between a title and subtitle
The Glory of Hera: Greek Mythology and the Greek Family

Use a colon to separate city from publisher in bibliographic entries
Winnipeg: Portage and Main Press, 2005

Now for the uses that require a little bit of eye squinting and head scratching.

1. Use a colon after an independent clause to direct attention to a list, quotation or appositive (you’ll remember from last week that an appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames a nearby noun).

(List) Your grocery list should include the following: three frog cuticles, one large dragon, six gallons of unicorn blood and pinch of pixie dust.

(Quotation) Consider the words of Nigel Powers: “There’s only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people’s cultures and the Dutch.”

(Appositive) I am described by two of the seven deadly sins: sloth and gluttony.

2. Use a colon between independent clauses if the second summarizes or explains the first.

Minds are like parachutes: they function only when opened.

3. Don’t use a colon after such as, including or for example.

Who Is She Talking To?

“So young to have lost her mind.” That’s what the woman beside me in the check-out line was thinking. And how could I blame her. There I was, staring at the suspended ceiling in IGA and yapping out loud about the potential profitability of magazine publishing, how I’d like to see the inside of that $7 million house on Wellington Crescent and why I can’t post comments to Ian’s blog.

I’ve been getting a lot of those looks lately. The kind you give to the crazy woman beside you. To set things straight, I haven’t lost my mind. I got an ear bud. You know, an ear bud. Those little things that stick in your ear and get connected to your cell phone. Handsfree. That means I can walk and chew gum at the same time. Or in tonight’s case, do the grocery shopping and get some business planning for 2006 done before 6 pm.

A word of caution—ear buds and the cords that connect them to your cell are often hidden by heavy winter clothing. In this case, it truly appears as though you are talking to yourself.

Don’t be the crazy lady on the block. Don’t be the weird guy who walks down the street talking to himself. When in doubt, unplug and hold your cell to your ear. It’s not nearly as convenient but at least neighbours and strangers will interrupt to say hi rather than cross the street to avoid you. But then again, maybe being avoided and left in my own little world isn’t such a bad thing. I think I will stay plugged in.

Don't Avoid the Crash

As if the first movie called Crash (David Cronenberg, 1996) wasn’t disturbing enough, the 2004 film with the same name by director Paul Haggis is every bit as difficult and demanding to watch.

The plot kicks off with a motor vehicle incident that introduces us to a racially-diverse cast of characters—all connected in some way to the crash. Contrary to what the title suggests, this is a movie about racism. It takes place in Los Angeles and while you would expect black/white tension, it goes well beyond that. It seems everyone in this city has a problem with someone else. The Persian shop owner goes gunning for a young Hispanic family man. A pair of thieving young black men takes a run, literally, at a Chinese man. A pampered white woman berates everyone around her.

Twice I wanted to turn off this movie but I winced and looked away and persevered. And I’m glad I did. If nothing else, it made me realize how much more tolerant we are here in the great white north. Sure we still have miles to go before we sleep but at least we can visit a Vietnamese restaurant and have a chat with the owner or welcome a Mexican into our family and love her like a sister.