in Canadian Culture |

I’m the “Oh Canada” Contributor on Squidoo

This was originally posted to the Squidoo network when I was accepted as the "Oh Canada" Contributor.

ohcanadaWhy become the Squidoo Contributor for “Oh Canada”?

First, I am Canadian. Born in down town Toronto, grew up in and around Ontario but mainly in the town of Port Union (which became Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto). I have travelled across Canada on the Via train, Greyhound bus, and by camper van, staying in youth hostels and the odd fancy hotel when the budget stretched enough. I’ve been from the ocean in Vancouver out to the ocean on PEI (Prince Edward Island). I have yet to be north enough to see the Canadian tundra – but I have been to Timmons and Thunder Bay at least twice.

Secondly, I really love to find out about Canadian art, history, culture, people, places, traditions…. all of it. When I see the word Canada on something it pops out at me and I will read whatever it is about. Even something I would otherwise not have an interest in or not even like all that much. I absorb Canadiana, greedily. That doesn’t mean I immerse myself in everything, there is only so much of me I can give, but I like to know the good, bad, and the ugly so I can create a whole picture of what Canada is and who we, as a people in the world, are.

I think it is a shame for people to say they are Canadian if they have not done some travelling to see Canada and meet more of the people than they find in the area they begin in. Canadiansare told we don’t have a real identity so we often defend ourselves with what culture, art and history is uniquely our own. That is a shame too because it just shows how well we know Canada is the country which people think of as nice but don’t really know who we are.

So, that is why I have taken on the challenge, the project, of being the Contributor for "Oh Canada". I want to teach the world (at least those who stop by here) about Canada and Canadians.

I Really do Love the Canadian Flag

February 15th is National Flag of Canada Day

What is the Canadian National Anthem?

Listen to us sing it!

(The original post had videos here).

The Canadian anthem is “O Canada”. Here are people singing it, making their own versions. One of these is a video without singing, but I remember watching this as a kid.

My Background (like an About Me).

I am a proud Canadian and I do like to write about, research, and teach the world about Canada and Canadians.

I photograph abandoned, derelict farm houses. I like the history, the feeling of something surviving in spite of time and neglect. I like the way old buildings give us so many links to both our past and our culture. Travelling around Ontario (day trips and some over nights) I take a lot of backroads, get coffee in local restaurants and I keep in touch with other explorers across Canada through the groups I founded and moderate on Flickr.

I especially like Canadian music, literature and movies/ TV shows. Here we get so much media from the US it can be overwhelming. I make a point to support our own Canadian media by watching and listening to CBC, the oldest Canadian broadcaster and the most Canadian focused of them all. If you want to know about Canadian music, writers and others you can count on the CBC to have current news and old facts in their archives too.

I studied Canadian Literature as a course in high school and college. I do read a lot of everything, not just Canadian, but I am aware of Canadian writers and did belong to an online group (until it folded). I had thought to start up another group but that does take a huge amount of time and energy so it on a project on the backburner. Meanwhile I continue to write my site for writers and it does have some focus on Canadian resources (just because that is what I find most useful for myself, as a Canadian freelance writer).

As the Oh Canada Contributor at Squidoo I would be happy to bring some niches of Canadian culture, history and art to light.

Canada Day in 2017 Will be Canada’s 150th Birthday

1867 – 2017

Canadian Heritage
The Canadian heritage site from the Government of Canada.
Canada 150
In 2017 Canada will have it’s 150th birthday.
Flickr: Canada Day
Canada Day photographs on Flickr.
Imagi Nation 150
Canada’s Sesquicentennial from Calgary, Alberta.
Explore 150
Explore150 is a uniquely Canadian project that brings together mobile technology and youth engagement inviting young people to discover, celebrate and share the beauty and inspiration offered by natural, cultural and historical sites across Canada.
The CBC Digital Archives
CBC is the Canadian media and broadcaster. There is more than one, but CBC is across Canada and (as far as I know) has the most history.
The Canadian Encyclopedia
Today in Canadian history.
These were the comments with the original post on Squidoo. Also the poll.

Have you been to Canada?

Have you travelled to Canada?

Of course, I’m Canadian, I travel somewhere in Canada every day.   (36%)
36%
Yes, I’ve been to the east coast of Canada.   (5%)
5%
Yes, I’ve been to Ontario (in the middle) of Canada.   (5%)
5%
Yes, I’ve been to the western provinces of Canada.   (5%)
5%
Yes, I’ve been to northern Canada.   (0%)
0%
Yes, but only to Toronto, or Montreal or Vancouver (the biggest cities) in Canada.   (10%)
10%
Yes, I’ve been to Ottawa. (The capital of Canada).   (0%)
0%
No, I’ve never been to Canada.   (5%)
5%
Not yet, I’d like to see Canada some day.   (31%)
31%

Total Votes: 19

  • Pastiche Jul 15, 2014 @ 12:41 pm
    I am in need of a new US passport, then I hope to visit Toronto and PEI.
  • thatgrrl Jul 15, 2014 @ 5:13 pm
    It’s a nice drive from Toronto to the east coast. We did it several years ago with my Mom, my little sister and myself.
  • esmonaco Jul 03, 2014 @ 10:37 am
    Hi, I look forward to following this and congrats!! for taking on the Oh Canada Contributor. We live in Western New York not so far away from Canada!!! Love it 🙂
  • SamanthaHaupt Jul 01, 2014 @ 8:14 pm
    Great lens and nice to meet you! I’m looking forward to reading more of your lenses. I’m from Halton Hills, Ontario so I’m also a proud Canadian, and I’ve written about a trip to Algonquin Park in one of my lenses 🙂
  • thatgrrl Jul 01, 2014 @ 11:07 pm
    I’ve been posting Canadian and related posts to Oh Canada on Facebook. I will look for your post and add it there. The FB page isn’t doing much but it might help to have the link for Dear Mr. Google. 🙂 I’m in Barrie and I have been to Halton Hills, but not in awhile.
  • ibidii Jun 29, 2014 @ 4:48 pm
    Howdy Laura, I love Canada! My favorite vacation was in Canada. Took a month and camped western Canada from Vancouver to Kamloops, 100 mile house , Prince George to Calgary and back through Montana, WYoming, Utah, Idaho back to San Francisco in 1976. My ancestors on My Dad’s line directly are from Hastings, Thurlow, Addison, Ontario. My cousins still have the farm there, I hope to go there to visit them! I am looking for my negatives to make a lens on that trip. I started out with ASCII back then. You are awesome at it! My contributor is early american history and I am doing a lens on my Canada ancestors line soon. I see that you are doing great as the Canadian contributor! I will add some of your lenses to my I am the Early American Contributor page at
    facebook. I sent you an invite for my regular page! Nice to meet you laura! Awesome lens here!

…./?,?/
…( =’;’=) ??? ~Sherry IBIDII
…/??
.(... . . /.)

 

  • thatgrrl Jun 29, 2014 @ 7:47 pm
    Nice to meet you Sherry. Good luck with your contributing on Squidoo too. Did you keep your ASCII work? I’ve been keeping some as I find it. Most of the other sites with collections are not updating still. Only Christopher Johnson still seems active with updates fairly often. I travelled out to western Canada on the Greyhound bus. Funny that it was about 20 years ago now. Does not seem that long ago at all.
  • CreativeArtist Jun 14, 2014 @ 11:41 pm
    I’ve not been that far north, but I do like hearing about my northern neighbors. : )
  • thatgrrl Jun 15, 2014 @ 3:22 pm
    Maybe you will make the trip some day. 🙂
  • Colin323 Apr 25, 2014 @ 6:22 am
    Canada & New Zealand are the only two countries now on my bucket list of places to see. I think it is great you are so proud of your country. There is much to be proud of, and there is a great affinity between the Brits and Canadians, I think. We share similar values on life. And without Canadian support in WW2, we would have been stuffed!
  • thatgrrl Apr 25, 2014 @ 2:27 pm
    I have a huge list of places I would like to see. I haven’t been to Europe at all and then there is South America too. It would be really great to get to see at least something of each continent but if I could only pick three countries it would be the UK (as a whole, though it’s cheating a bit), Russia and… hard to choose between France and Eastern Europe. I love old architecture so I’d need to do the research and decide which place has the most I want to see, and photograph. But, I have to get to the UK because my family are from all over there and I really must visit Loch Ness. I read so much about it as a kid, I was sure I’d see Nessie if I could just get there. 🙂
  • RenaissanceWoman2010 Apr 05, 2014 @ 6:36 pm
    Congrats on your new contributor role. I’m not Canadian, but I could easily live there. I look forward to experiencing Canada through your eyes.
  • thatgrrl Apr 06, 2014 @ 12:19 am
    Thank you. 🙂
  • CorrinnaJohnson Mar 17, 2014 @ 5:20 pm
    Hello from the West Kootenays in BC! I look forward to following your topic!
  • thatgrrl Mar 17, 2014 @ 10:01 pm
    Hello back. 🙂
  • kimmanleyort Mar 15, 2014 @ 9:15 pm
    Thanks for your visits. I have no idea what being an Oh Canada contributor means, but I do have several Canadian content lenses. Love this one.
  • thatgrrl Mar 15, 2014 @ 10:11 pm
    It just means I’m going to be posting about Canada and encouraging others to join in, from Squidoo or from outside the community. I will look for more of your lenses. I started a Facebook page but not sure if that will be useful or just more on my to-do list. I do have a Canadiana content feed which I curate through Scoop.it. That seems to do more for me than Facebook.
  • Pukeko Mar 07, 2014 @ 10:00 pm
    Sounds like you are perfect for this niche! Wonderful visuals in the video. I didn’t know how to answer your poll. I have been to Vancouver and driven from Montreal to Niagra Falls over a month. I added this page to my Around the Globe FB page.
  • flycatcher Mar 07, 2014 @ 8:38 pm
    Absolutely thrilled to hear you’re taking on the Can Con, @thatgrrl – and equally thrilled to see you included the Joe Canada video in your quick cultural tour . Iconic stuff, eh?
  • Wednesday_Elf Mar 07, 2014 @ 5:43 pm
    I had grandparents on both sides of my family from Canada – one from Toronto, one from Quebec. I grew up in western NY State and have been to Niagara Falls more times than I can count and we always went to the Canadian side, so I’d ‘visit’ Canada briefly about 6 times every summer. 🙂 I love reading and learning about Canada and Canadian culture and look forward to your articles and those you share from other Canadians. Congrats on becoming the “Oh Canada” contributor.
  • Brite-Ideas Mar 06, 2014 @ 12:02 pm
    Congrats on your niche! – not sure if I passed on a lens I did a long time ago on the GTA (yep, I’m Canadian too) http://brite-ideas.squidoo.com/greater-toronto-area, if you want to use it anywhere in your niche – I love Canada and look forward to your pages!
  • thatgrrl Mar 06, 2014 @ 2:00 pm
    Thank you. I will add your lens to the Facebook page I made. Working on a few Canadian lens ideas. Keep getting in my own way.
  • Ruthi Feb 23, 2014 @ 8:09 pm
    I think you will do a great job as the Oh Canada Contributor! I once had an opportunity to move to Canada and decided against it, mostly because of the cold. I can’t stand an inch of snow, never mind a foot or more! But I would love to visit and see its beauty up close and personal.
  • thatgrrl Feb 23, 2014 @ 10:18 pm
    The snow isn’t that big a deal unless you have to be the one shovelling it. Even then, I hear the guys boasting about how much they shovelled and how long it took them to finish. 🙂
  • susan-zutautas Feb 23, 2014 @ 6:43 pm
    Looking forward to following your Oh-Canada lenses! Orillia, Ontario here 🙂
  • thatgrrl Feb 23, 2014 @ 10:19 pm
    My brother and his wife are in Orillia. Thanks for the comment.
  • nightcats Feb 23, 2014 @ 2:52 pm
    Thanks for stepping up to the plate and becoming the Canada contributor. I know you will do a fabulous job — and incidentally, how about our Canadian men and women of hockey at the Sochi Olympics! Gold and gold — and against such worthy competitors.
  • thatgrrl Feb 23, 2014 @ 5:27 pm

    I got rid of my cable TV and haven’t seen much of the Olympics. I’m just superstitious enough to think that may be why they are doing well and if I start watching now I will botch it up! 🙂

    Will see how Oh Canada goes. I am trying to come back from being burnt out, it’s still uphill but I’ve begun making progress. Thanks for the note and the confidence.