50 good questions to ask yourself and others

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The Thinker by 4johnny5 on Flickr

Oh, the joy of a good question.

I recently re-discovered an entire list of them when I switched over to Facebook timeline.

It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since I spotted “The Complete Book of Questions” – a little book tucked between texts that were twice its size — while working at a public library.

I was so delighted by the book that I read all 1001 of them, then selected 50 to pose to my friends on Facebook.

I think the list is worth re-posting, and re-pondering.

I can’t remember which questions are verbatim and which are paraphrased, or if they even appeared in this order, but I do know they start off innocuously and get more personal.

I’m really curious about which questions will pique your interest. Please feel free to tackle them in the comments below!

50 good questions to ask yourself and others

1. What are your nicknames? What do you prefer to be called?

2. What books on your shelf are begging to be read?

3. How often do you doodle? What do your doodles look like?

4. What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep? Toss and Turn? Try to get up and do something productive?

5. How many days could you last in solitary confinement? How would you do it?

6. Do you save old greeting cards and letters? Throw them away?

7. Who is the biggest pack rat you know?

8. When making an entrance in to a party, do you make your presence known? Do you slip in and look for someone you know? Do you sneak in quietly and find a safe spot to roost?

9. What is your strongest sense? If you had to give one up, which would it be?

10. How many times a day do you look at yourself in the mirror?

11. What is the strangest thing you believed as a child?

12. What is one guilty pleasure you enjoy too much to give up?

13. Who performs the most random acts of kindness out of everyone you know?

14. How often do you read the newspaper? Which paper? Which sections?

15. Which animals scare you most? Why?

16. Are you more likely to avoid conflict or engage it head-on?

17. What was the most recent compliment you’ve received and savoured?

18. What is something about yourself that you hope will change, but probably never will?

19. Are you a creature of habit? Explain.

20. Are you high maintenance? Explain.

21. When was the last time you really pushed yourself to your physical limits?

22. Do you have a whole lot of acquaintances or just a few very close friends? Why?

23. Are you more inclined to “build your own empire” or unleash the potential of others?

24. What’s a strange occurrence you’ve experienced but have never (or rarely) shared with anyone?

25. What do you think about more than anything else?

26. What’s something that amazes you?

27. Do you prefer that people shoot straight with you or temper their words? Why?

28. Where’s your favourite place to take an out-of-town guest?

29. What’s one thing you’d rather pay someone to do than do yourself? Why?

30. Do you have a catchphrase?

31. What’s your reaction towards people who are outspoken about their beliefs? What conditions cause you to dislike or, conversely, enjoy talking with them?

32. How and where do you prefer to study?

33. What position do you sleep in?

34. What’s your all-time favourite town or city? Why?

35. What are the top three qualities that draw you to someone new?

36. How has your birth order/characteristics of siblings affected you?

37. If you could eliminate one weakness or limitation in your life, what would it be?

38. If you could restore one broken relationship, which would it be?

39. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to?

40. Do you believe ignorance is bliss? Why or why not?

41. What do you consider unforgivable?

42. Have you forgiven yourself for past personal failures? Why or why not?

43. How difficult is it for you to forgive someone who refuses to apologize?

44.Do you hold any convictions that you would be willing to die for?

45. To what extent do you trust people? Explain.

46. In what area of your life are you immature?

47. What was the best news you ever received?

48. How difficult is it for you to be honest, even when your words may be hurtful or unpopular?

49. When did you immediately click with someone you just met? Why? What was the long term result? Conversely, are you close with anyone now that you really disliked at first?

50. When do you find yourself singing?

Bullied teen’s message of hope touches thousands

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Courage doesn’t always roar.  Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.  ~Mary Anne Radmacher

His name is Jonah, and he has just been introduced to thousands. The now 14-year-old uploaded this video before starting 8th grade, and its simple message is this: he has been the target of bullying since the 1st grade, has cut himself and considered suicide — but he has since decided that his bullies will not get the best of him.

It’s difficult to know how to react to this video. Of course his brave declaration feels like something to celebrate — indeed, most comments are messages of support, empathy and admiration — but I can’t help but worry about how he is right now. I’m sure I’m not the only one reminded of the tragic Jamie Hubley story, and others like it.

Jonah’s video was uploaded in August, but it started to go viral in the first days of December. When I first saw it about an hour ago, it had around 11,000 likes. In the time it took me to write this post, that number climbed to over 14,000. (Oddly, the hit counter seems to be stuck at 908.)

Jonah mentions in the video that he only has one good friend at his school. A little internet sleuthing produced the following video and I, for one, was very happy to see him and his pal doing the things 14-year-olds should be doing.

I’ll conclude by saying that most of the 12,914 comments beneath the cue card video praise Jonah for his bravery, creativity and resilience. Many, many say that they know how badly it hurts to be bullied, and that they, too, would like to be Jonah’s friend.

It is my sincere hope that in the world beyond YouTube, as in the comment thread, the hateful voices are drowned out by the loving ones.

Kudos, Jonas. Please take good care.

———————————

Update, Dec 4: New online – a public page for Jonah Mowry and several support pages:

And — to my incredible relief — here is a brand new thank you video, complete with seasonal decorations, that shows Jonah looking healthy and happy after a full semester of 8th grade.

Some people are saying Jonah’s brave act has changed their life. Here’s the first response video I’ve seen, and I doubt it will be the last.

————————————

Update, Dec. 6: A friend told me the link to Jonah’s thank you video isn’t working, so here’s the note he posted on Facebook to explain the backstory behind the viral video and express his gratitude for all the support:

Jonah Mowry's thank you message on Facebook

Who’s afraid of the big, bad belly?

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By Brittney Sabo

Yesterday I admired 75 different women’s bellies. They were plump, lean, scarred, furry, wrinkled, smooth, freckled and all photoshop-free.

As I went through the gallery, it struck me that I could only think of one positive image of bare stomach fat in mainstream media. Lizzie Miller’s photo shoot for Glamour magazine, which accompanied an article about body confidence, generated the kind of stunned fascination that a Sasquatch riding a unicorn might. (If you know others, please share them!)

The magazine editor received a barrage of emails reacting to the image, and as Miller herself remarked in the Guardian, “the overwhelming reaction to the tiny photograph, buried on page 194 of Glamour magazine ‘shows that the world is hungry to see pictures of normal women.’”

I certainly was. My 75-belly experience began when I saw the following image on Pinterest.com, then clicked through to see photos and captions that celebrated women’s bellies — regardless of whether or not they would be considered attractive by mainstream standards — on xojane’s real girl belly project.

"I love my little 'pooch' that is my belly. So cute, I named it sunshine." -- Sabrina, Age 19 (xojane.com)

It was refreshing to see something like this on Pinterest, which sometimes feels like a bastion of “thinspiration” and body-shaming.

Pinterest, in case you’ve never heard of it, is an online pinboard that allows users (“pinners”) to organize and share things that they like. Relative to the general internet population, women are greatly over-represented at pinterest.com, and the vast majority are 18 – 34 years old, according to Alexa stats. All pinners have their own boards, but there are also community boards that aggregate everyone’s pins into public galleries.

It’s a very visual platform, and it’s easy to see that whether people are pinning photographs or quotations, crafts or cars, they’re most often showcasing what they consider beautiful.

Perhaps predictably then, women’s bodies have become something of a battleground, with some posting quotations like “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” while others fire back “b*tch please, have you ever tasted nutella?”

In this context, some pinners reacted to the above photo of Sabrina’s tummy like this:

But others responded this way:


If you’re interested in the whole thread and the range of reactions, you can read it here, but suffice it to say some people were thoughtful while others responded by skinny-bashing or implying that one type of body is better than the rest — and the latter didn’t sit well with me.

As I remarked in the thread, I think it’s important that we see the beauty in diversity, and stop being so patronizing toward other women.

I, for one, felt happy and grateful after viewing the gallery. I was especially grateful to the women that wrote things that are sometimes hard to admit (like saying they’d never had a good look at their own bellies, or that they found it really hard to take a picture without automatically sucking it in, or that it took time to embrace their saggy skin and scars.) I don’t think anyone mentioned male approval. The experience was refreshing and more unvarnished than any advertiser-mediated Dove ad could ever be.

Although I hope we all strive to be healthy, this may or may not mean we’re skinny and blemish-free. And health is not just physical — we must constantly work on having healthy psyches and recognizing that junk images are bad for us, just as we know junk food is.

BEFORE

AFTER (click through to see more images)

The tummy thread was a reminder that we all need to strive for and promote a more well-rounded appreciation of all the things that make women beautiful, and much more than that!

There’s more to life than wanting to be wanted. (That last link was to a great book on the topic.) Why don’t we spend more time discussing what makes us interesting, intelligent, influential, courageous, funny, kind, quirky, or unique?

In this spirit, here are a few words and images that help combat all the ugly things that are shared on Pinterest under the guise of promoting beauty.

I hope to endorse the radical notion that we should spend more time celebrating — and no time shaming — ourselves and others.

Source: google.com.eg via Mona on Pinterest

(Please, forgive the typos in that one! Also, I wish we saw more faces.)

Source: sodahead.com via Nicole on Pinterest

On changing the world, anonymously

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Yes, Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that changed the world — but in celebrating figureheads, we often overlook the people who make up the movement.

In this recently posted TED x teen talk, Natalie Warne expresses her longtime admiration for the civil rights leader, and why she yearned to meet the man who (seemingly single-handedly) transformed a generation.

Instead, she met someone who else who changed her perspective.

00:57: “I met a man named Dr. Vincent Harding. He worked with Dr. King from day one and even wrote some of his most iconic speeches. You see, this was a really important moment for me as a kid because it was the first time that I realized that it wasn’t just Dr. King who led this revolution. He was surrounded by a movement made up of anonymous extraordinaries.”

Anonymous extraordinaries are people who work selflessly and vigorously for what they believe in. People who are motivated by conviction, and not recognition. It took me a long time to realize the significance of this moment … “

Natalie, who is now barely in her 20s, set out to end a war that started five years before she was born. As an idealistic 18-year-old, she threw herself into an unpaid internship and spent 1,152 hours to make one prominent woman pay attention so that one prominent man might sign one bill into law.

As it turns out, she became something of a poster child for her efforts — but she insists her time in the spotlight is not what defines her. She’s guided by her belief in the importance of her cause: a pilot light that burns even on dark nights of the soul.

Natalie’s power as a lecturer comes from her naked conviction, her humility, and her ability to speak truth even if her voice shakes.

Young idealists like Natalie are constantly told to be more realistic — but thank goodness they don’t listen. Instead, she rejects reality and pushes for the dream.

Post-it Note Diaries. (Best. Book trailer. Ever.)

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“All the stories are true. They’re about everyday life. Bad jobs, terrible vacations, weirdo neighbours, good days gone bad, bad days gone good — each as recognizable as the canvas they’re drawn on,” – Arthur Jones on Post-it Note Diaries.

I sat motionless for a full minute after watching this book trailer for Post-it Note Diaries. (I’m talking literally here.)

Other than the fact that the trailer’s really well done, three points sold me:

  • There are some real storytelling heavyweights in this one. It features some my favourite contributors to This American Life, like David Rakoff, Jonathan Goldstein, and Starlee Kine — people who really know how to spin the true tales of everyday life into magic. (Side note: If you don’t already listen to This American Life, please stop reading this and just, aaaah, just go listen.)
  • Graphic novels are such delightfully speedy reads. Most recently I devoured Paying For It, Chester Brown’s provocative comic book memoir about paying for sex. In a world of ‘not enough time’ excuses, there’s just something intensely satisfying about getting cover to cover in one sitting. (Especially since the bookmarks are glaring at me from the halfway point in so many other texts.)
  • I, too, have a sticky note addiction (or Post-it notes, if we must). I find excuses to draw and write on them. I’ve used them to make calendars. I even watch random youtube videos about them. (Careful with that last link. It’s a wormhole into the surprisingly expansive universe of sticky note art videos).

Maybe after I read it, I’ll review it for you in black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow. But, for now, I’m committing to this one with photo evidence:

Joan Donaldson scholarship: addendum

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The CBC's Toronto headquarters. (Fabiola Carletti)

Dear readers: My apologies to those of you who aren’t applying for the Joan Donaldson scholarship at the CBC. This post won’t be very interesting to you, so here are cute things falling asleep instead. (Now that has popular appeal!)

So, moving right along: This post started out as a reply to a question beneath my recent post: Thoughts on the Joan Donaldson CBC News Scholarship.

Maybe it’s the extra large coffee I just had, or the self-indulgent joys of unedited writing, but my answer to Luciana’s question has ballooned into a blog post in its own right. For those of you who like painstaking detail, see below. If you’d rather pass, here are those cute things again.

TORONTO REGIONAL PLACEMENT

Luciana asked what medium I worked in most at CBC Toronto. The short answer is television. The long answer is that the CBC is undergoing a sea change toward a more integrated approach to reporting. The walls have literally come down between people working in different mediums. For instance, “radio reporters” are now asked to do live hits for television, or write blog posts, or live tweet at events.

In these times of transition, Donaldsons have a wider range of opportunities. If you’re assertive about what you want to learn, you don’t have to limit yourself to any one platform.

Before me, CBC Toronto had never had a Donaldson intern (because they used to work on news network and other nationally-focused shows. See previous post.) So when I arrived, I was asked what I wanted to do. Here’s what resulted:

  • Shadowed Stephanie Matteis on the Jordan Manners trial. Stayed late at the courts on verdict watch and sent updates to the assignment desk via iPhone.
  • Spent one week writing television scripts for the anchors under the direction of Alex Sienkiewicz. Also learned to create the text banners and other added value elements you see on your screen (like bullet-point lists, maps, etc).
  • Attended all 9:30 a.m. editorial meetings and, most days, stayed until the show was over. I came in early to do this so that I would have a sense of how they chose stories.
  • Watched the show from the control room on two occasions.
  • Printed and ran scripts to the anchors.
  • Listened to police scanners and made calls to push for details on breaking news. Also made calls to fact check and to set up interviews for reporters.
  • Learned how to look up items on the internal video vault, DTV. Sometimes we had to get older items “restored.”
  • Wrote one radio piece and edited it on Dalet. Also recorded a phone call in studio.
  • Shadowed Muhammed Lila on a story about organ donation.
  • Stopped people for street interviews re: the Vancouver riot reaction, Air Canada back to work legislation, subway branding, GO bus refunds, etc.
  • Conducted an interview for Steven D’Souza’s item on the Book of Negroes
  • Gathered clips (short interviews) for the show – including the Scarborough daycare shut down, the McCain funeral, West Nile prevention and the shots heard outside a high school. Also went with camera people to obtain miscellaneous b-roll.
  • Went to do an after-hours interview for the Bollywood dance class item with a camera person.
  • Provided miscellaneous help to reporters and writers. Ex: transcribing interviews for Genevieve Tomney and Mike Crawley, and tracking down tapes for Nil Köksal.
  • Learned to send things through “ingest” (get them on the video editing/viewing system). These visuals came from the internet, FTP sites, cassettes from the visual resources library, etc.
  • Compiled a list of lesser-known Toronto attractions for Kimberly Gale.
  • On my last day, went to New Market to take notes for John Lancaster. Directed the cameraperson to get shots of the accused’s supporters and gathered clips from the defense lawyer and several students of the accused. Sent John detailed notes after the trial. (And made my way back to Toronto on my own, haha.)

That was all in my first month of the program! Again, I had never done any broadcast journalism before so it was baptism by fire. I didn’t ask to do more radio work or shadow the online reporters because I wanted to experience TV writing/reporting. I felt that I needed to focus on that since I had given it short shrift in j-school.

ARTS UNIT

I spent most of my time with the arts unit doing one of two things:

  • I wrote for the arts webpage (both blog posts and news stories), made photo galleries, wrote sidebars, added useful links, and did some reporting over the phone. I must say we newbies should count our lucky stars that we’re learning about CBCnews.ca after the massive redesign of the website. More senior online writers have had to ‘unlearn’ a lot of older habits, so it’s a big bonus that we’re starting fresh with the new site.
  • I also did “tape production” – which means I worked in an edit suite with a video editor while coordinating with a producer downstairs. My job was to collect visuals on tight deadlines and select clips from pre-taped interviews. I would also do banners and write questions.

In short, it takes a lot of behind-the-scenes work to make the magic happen. Luciana asked me about these two placements, so I didn’t get into my cbcnews.ca placement or my time with news network. They would be, as they say, a whole other story.

For now, suffice it to say that I learned to be a jack of all trades at the CBC, and it’s part of the reason I was offered work in three different departments after my internship ended.

Best of luck to all of you applying. I can see you’re already stepping it up for 2012! Thanks for reading.

Thoughts on the Joan Donaldson CBC News Scholarship

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Joan Donaldson scholarship recipients 2011, with program co-ordinator Mark Mietkiewicz (center)

Hello September, I didn’t see you come in! Now that you’re here, I guess my first adventure in public broadcasting is really over.

I can go ahead and say it, then: I am now an alumna of the Joan Donaldson Scholarship program, an intensive four-month paid internship with CBC News.

I’ve had the chance to reflect on this moment. Our supervisor Mark Mietkiewicz (the jovial fellow holding a book in the picture above) recently asked us to write down our feedback for the benefit of future participants. Every year, roughly eight eligible students are selected, and now that I’m in the position to know what they’re getting into, I thought I’d share my insights with the interwebs.

PLEASE NOTE: Donaldsons used to do two rotations over the summer, both focused on television news production, but the CBC tried something different this year. My group is the first to do four separate month-long stints across a wider range of departments — including online and radio placements.

My rotations were:

  • CBC Toronto – regional news placement: May 18-June 17
  • CBCNews.ca – online placement (some people chose radio instead): June 20-July 8
  • CBC News Network – television placement: July 11-Aug 5
  • Arts content unit – content unit placement: Aug 8-Sep 2

What are your overall thoughts on the program?

I am astonished at the range of experiences I’ve had at the CBC – from feature writing and chase producing to video editing and clip gathering. The revamped Joan Donaldson program is a smorgasbord of opportunity and, once I got used to all the moving around, I was able to connect each new skill to the others. In one summer, I’ve experienced more departments at the CBC than some staff members do over decades. Given the changing nature of our profession, I was happy to put my adaptability to the test.

There are far too many internships that do not provide young people with meaningful work, fair compensation, or high-level mentorship. This program does the polar opposite: it begins by acknowledging our potential and then actively invests in our development.

As I’ve frequently mentioned, I am impressed by how many exceptionally supportive people there are at the CBC. Some names that stand out are:

  • Tashauna Reid
  • Lianne Elliott
  • John Keating
  • Mandy Luk
  • Kimberly Gale
  • Muhammad Lila
  • Jennifer Walter
  • Ian Johnson
  • Redmond Shannon
  • Michael Primo
  • Daniel Schwartz
  • Caroline Gdyczynski
  • Vanessa Conneely
  • Alison Downie
  • Dwight Drummond
  • Jessica Wong
  • Laura Heinbuch
  • Laura Thompson
  • Simon Parubchak
    (To the cub journos reading this, I left these names in so that you know who to look for when you’re dazed and confused. If the list seems long, you have no idea how many people work in the building. This is shorter than a line up for coffee.)

These are people who must remember what it’s like to be rookies, because they made it their business to be instructive and supportive in very specific ways – and if I were to list all those that have been helpful and kind more generally, I’d be here all night!

Did the orientation prepare you for what you’d be facing?

We covered so much ground during orientation – from newsroom tours to technical training. Those initial introductions helped me make a smoother landing in the newsroom. I can’t imagine starting this job without having been told the basics – training spared me from having to ask what vizRT is and why elevator colours are mentioned so frequently.

One thing I would add to the schedule is a visit to visual resources and other tape storage spaces. I would have also liked to meet some camera people and get a sense of where we meet them should we need to gather clips or report.

One thing I would get rid of is the technical explanation of how information travels between regions. Although intercity browsing is important to understand, I think it’s too much to process initially. It may be best to get trained in it a couple weeks after becoming more familiarized with DTV. (Forgive some of this inside baseball talk. Remember, I wrote this for the coach.)

I liked that the lines of communication stayed open after orientation. Our midterm debriefs and meeting with Jennifer McGuire were wonderful opportunities to reflect and see what others were doing in their placements. I appreciated receiving email from people like Kate Pemberton who were genuinely interested in our feedback on the program while we were still in it.

It’s evident that much thought went into designing our training schedule and getting busy people to welcome us to the CBC. This level of consideration is certainly not something I take for granted as an entry-level journalist.

What was the best part of program?

Although I have relished every opportunity, my stint with the online team was the highlight of my contract. Perhaps this is owing to my background in print journalism and blogging, but I really enjoyed writing longer articles and working on multimedia elements. My experience confirmed what I already suspected: online journalism is an exciting growth area at a traditional broadcaster. There is a lot of room to experiment and set precedents.

I also appreciate that, through social networking, the CBC is starting to rethink its role in a new media landscape. I believe we must continue to lower the barriers to public expression and civic engagement, and pass knowledge from the most experienced to the newly interested. It’s the shift from journalism as lecture to journalism as conversation.

What could be improved?

I think we could have the conversation about post-internship opportunities a little bit earlier. I know I stressed out about it quite a bit, and wondered if I would even get an entry-level shot after such an enriching summer. Of course it’s unfair and unrealistic to ask for guarantees, but the feedback process might include dialogue about job prospects. Supervisors could tell us whether or not they would hire us — or how competitive we are compared to the average applicant — and where they might imagine us working post-Donaldson. I think it’s also important to be frank about the state of the industry: most young journalists get offered back-fill and casual work before anything too stable. If we know that going in, we can prepare ourselves for the uncertainty.

What would you say to someone who was thinking of applying?

I would advise anyone thinking about this internship to take a course in television and/or radio production if possible, as there is some platform-specific logic to get used to.
I focused on new media at school, my internships have been in print and online, and my priority over the years has been to sharpen my writing skills. Although I still think that good writing is essential in all mediums, I wish I had spent more time understanding how traditional broadcasting works. For instance, when given the choice at school, I operated the camera instead of doing the stand-ups. In retrospect, I would have done the opposite or at least tried to do both. Some Donaldsons this year were able to do full items as reporters because they had that on-camera confidence.

In short, I’d tell new applicants that even if they don’t plan to be personalities, they should sharpen their performance skills enough to try it out.

What job prospects are you pursuing at the CBC?

I’m fortunate enough to have three opportunities lined up. Renee Pellerin has me signed up for nine days of tape management during the Toronto International Film Festival; Cindy Gould from News Network has offered me some work as an editorial assistant; and Darlene Domagala has hired me as a casual writer after my term ends. I can’t even express how grateful and happy I am! I am eager to continue working here, and grateful to those that made it possible. (I should mention that I spent a lot of time applying to jobs on cbc.ca/jobs and suggesting myself to those in the position to hire me.)

Let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. Goodbye Jack Layton.

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Jack Layton and Olivia Chow. Pride Toronto 2011. By Fabiola Carletti. (CC)

I took this photo of Jack Layton and Olivia Chow during the Toronto Pride Parade this summer. Jack looked healthy and excited, waving vigorously at the cheering crowd.

That was July 3, 2011.

I never could have guessed, snapping that photo, that I was witnessing one of his final public appearances. When a hoarse and skeletal Jack announced his new cancer on July 25, the normally bustling newsroom at the CBC fell silent.

He said that he, like many other Canadians, was facing an advancing cancer. Despite the somber news, he walked in and out smiling, and held his head up high.

This morning, when I walked by a muted television at work, I saw a red-eyed Peter Mansbridge standing on set. Peter is never on the morning show. Before I even read the banner, I knew something was wrong.

Then the realization: Jack Layton is gone.

I instantly thought back to the beaming and energetic man I saw at Pride that day, and I wondered how everything could happen so quickly. I knew he had a tough road ahead of him, but I thought his strong spirit would keep defying odds and pull his weakening body along. If he could have, I know he would have kept his promise to lead the official opposition in September.

The most popular tweet going remains:

I agree. Today we lost a very decent man — one who deeply cared about Canada. He was proof that optimism need not fade with youth. That a loving and lasting partnership is possible. That generations can connect.

The word he used most in his last letter, as illustrated in the word cloud below, was BETTER.

Jack Layton's last speech as a word cloud.

Art director Stuart Thursby was so inspired by the text that he turned excerpts of it into free downloadable posters. Hundreds flocked to city hall and left messages of hope. Many posted the following mantra on social media:

Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair.

This final message transcends partisan differences. Jack’s a man who held on to hope until his last day. As we bid him goodbye, we should take his words to heart — regardless of who we voted for.

We should always be trying to be better people, and better to each other … right down to our last breath.

Thanks, Jack, for being loving, hopeful, and optimistic. You will be greatly missed.

Jack Layton will have a state funeral, a rare honour announced late Monday. Prime Minister Stephen Harper exercised his discretion to offer the ceremony to Olivia Chow. It will take place on Saturday, August 27 in Toronto.

(If you can’t make the funeral, there are other ways to connect. Like this wonderful initiative just launched on Facebook: Acts of love, hope, and optimism in memory of Jack Layton)

Here’s one of mine:

 

Jack Layton and Olivia Chow. Pride Toronto 2011. By Fabiola Carletti. (CC)