Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

I'll just get it out of the way - race is a complex issue. Multi-faceted with many, many perspectives. I have no answer to anything, because, well,  race is a complex issue; but here is what I'll tell my son: 1. Form your own opinion. You'll hear arguments and counter-arguments. Some who believe that being "colourblind" is the answer, and those who say that while the idea is noble, it may in fact invalidate racist experiences. And those who started #BlackLivesMatter to highlight violence against blacks, didn't mean that ONLY black lives mattered, but the counter hashtag #AllLivesMatter implied that it did. You may not even be aware of  "white privilege" and the many subtleties of that discussion.  The white person who is struggling to survive, and has no job, may be wondering what exactly is "white privilege".  They can't see it, but it is the privilege of not having to be aware of the colour of their skin - not in housing, in t

Raising children in today's world is incredibly complex. Raising girls seems to me to be even more so. I freely admit I know little about the intricacies of raising girls, but one thing I do know is that fathers play an important role in their daughters' self-esteem . I wanted to share an exchange between one father and his 16-year old daughter in their Swagdad group chat - they were engaged in a "pun-off" of the herb and food variety. Despite the misspellings and the strange herbs like "bandhaniya" common in the Caribbean, you'll get the idea. (Cider is a pun on her sister's name) I think that this "Daddy", my brother, is doing a great job keeping his daughter close.

It is now May and I wanted to give a short update on how I've been doing on my list of 50 things this year. I've been working on a few things, and I've completed a few. I am including the list of 50 in the original post: My list of 50 things to do this year (Partial) Completed In progress Not Started, Recent changes in red Visit Enchanted Rock. Climb Mt. Bonnell steps. Sunset while dining at Oasis. I hear the view is great. Watch Sound of Music with the family. High Tea. Celebrate with friends I've made through work. Celebrate with sister survivors. Celebrate with my mommy and neighbourhood friends. Celebrate with my Zanshin (karate) family. Celebrate with friends I've made through my husband's work. Get some fitness photos-  an exercise photo shoot! Go to a music festival/event for SXSW  or ACL or something (with or without kids). I live in Austin after all! My husband and I went to ReggaeFest 2016! Up my social profile. (I now have a twit

In some dojos, it may be common to break boards, but it is not so common in ours. Recently however, our instructors brought boards for us to break. In the past we've broken "rebreakable" boards - those that can be struck, "break" and then put back together for reuse. This time he brought real boards (almost 1 inch thick) for us to break. I was nervous. These are real boards. Did I mention I was not able to break the harder "rebreakable" boards and had to downgrade to the easier one in a previous session? (Not a big confidence builder.) But I did it! I opted for a front kick and was able to break the board. I was so proud of myself to know that I could actually break that board, I got back to my place and couldn't stand still. So excited about that! So very grateful for my karate family! I did it. Breaking Boards in Karate Follow me on Twitter @AustinTrini and Instagram @AustinTrini . **This site uses co

Gender and Stereotypes I appear to be quite fascinated by gender differences and stereotypes. Why? Well, it is a topic I find myself repeating. The first time I blogged about gender was way back in 2009 when I was trying to figure out how come boys become boys. Then I pointed out the differences between my husband's reading shelf and mine in 2012 and most recently when I talked about the boys' and girls' soccer team names in 2013. More Gender Stereotypes Well, I recently visited my son's class to help with a writing assignment - the assignment was to write a "how-to" report: procedural writing. It is always enjoyable to see how they think, and the things that are top-of-mind for them. Here are some of the topics the kids chose - HTML Tables Topic Gender How to braid your hair Girl How to do the highschool cheer Girl How to do the crow (a yoga) pose Girl How to lace your ice-skates Girl How to tie your laces Girl, but f