Canadian girl out and aboot

Since it's father's day, I might as well write about a cool project that my father is involved with.

My dad is working with a few other people to set up a Bikes for humanity chapter in Saskatoon.

Every year, hundreds of North Americans and Europeans get rid of bikes as they upgrade to new ones. Many people have unused bikes sitting around in their storage sheds or garages. Bikes for humanity chapters collect these bikes and then take them to villages in Africa.


Some of the groups that benefit from bike distribution include:

Women, who typically spend more time walking than men through performing domestic duties like gathering food, water and firewood.
Children, who face long walks to school and arrive too tired to learn, or simply don't attend
Healthcare workers, who often walk long distances to provide medication and counselling to people living with HIV/AIDS and malaria in their homes
Unemployed people, who can start bike shops, delivery businesses, tourism ventures or spin off projects making trailers, racks

My father has already collected 15 bikes in Saskatoon, and will soon be starting his campaign to get more bikes and to get these bikes to Africa.

I don't know all the details yet, but please check out- Bikes for humanity

B* and I are going to a gay wedding in September, and I decided to go on a little hunt for a card today. B* suggested that I get a non-gendered card, but I was quite curious to see what sort of cards were available for same-sex weddings. On Monday, I explored the shops on the Drive, and only found cards at one shop. Unfortunately, these cards were mostly for lesbian couples.

Today, I ventured over to Davie Street where I was disappointed with the selection at Little Sisters. Once again, they had a few cards, but mostly for women. There were actually more cards for heterosexual couples that gay ones in the store as well as a big Pride flag card that said, "Love" on it.

Another store on Denman had the same cards, but a bigger selection of them. I realized that all the same sex cards were made by Raindrop cards , a locally based company. The cards are handmade, and have quilling on them. They're really pretty, but each card costs $10, which is more than I usually spend. One of the cards reads, "For the brides" and another "For the grooms." Do same sex couples really want to be known as brides or grooms? I felt a bit baffled by this assumption.

Another card read, "For the Newlyweds, Justly married," which seemed a bit too political for me. I realize that it's an important act, but I think it's more important to focus on the actual wedding and commitment and the people themselves during that day instead of politicians.

At the Vancouver Public Library gift shop, where I buy a lot of my cards, I saw a card with two suits which read, "You suit each other perfectly, Congratulations." It's not a bad idea, but that card is so cheesy that I need crackers to go with it.

Part of the problem is that in general, I find wedding cards really cheesy or saccharineThey're usually somewhat stereotypical, focus on the bride, and not on the couple's relationship, which is what the wedding should be about.

I didn't buy a card today, but I might shell out the money to support Raindrop cards since they seem to be the only people in the area catering to the gay market. To be honest, I was a bit surprised by this. Gay marriage has been legal in British Columbia for over 2 years now, and there is a large gay population. I know that the number of gays and lesbians who choose to get married is not that high, but I was still surprised by the lack of cards.

Therefore, take note. If you or anyone you know makes cards, there's a niche market that is not being tapped right now.

(For the sake of interest, I also looked up gay wedding cards online and also found some gay wedding cards online at Two grooms and possibly at Gaymart