Dawn Wentzell

Am I Doing This All Wrong?

Last week, my twitter friend Andrew Norcross and several others launched Untemplater, a site encouraging GenY’ers* to shake up their lives and do what they want.
I’m slightly insulted by their use of the GenY label, as — technically — I’m GenX, and the advice still applies to me. I’ll just pretend they write GenX as [...]

I <3 Chili

This isn’t really a recipe, it’s an ode to chili. I love it. Really, I do.
When I was a kid, I hated it. I absolutely dreaded the nights my mom would make chili con carne. I dunno what it was about the meal, but I could barely get it down.
Now, I probably eat chili weekly. [...]

Applying the KISS Principle

Keep it simple, stupid.
I’ve been thinking about this idea quite a bit lately, and particularly how to apply it to my life.
Since starting with Outspoken Media in October, I’ve been…well, busy. Really busy. I work long hours; Outspoken Media is a start up, so I knew that when I signed on. But in addition to [...]

My Kitchen is Famous!

Ok well not really. But HGTV did write a post about me and some of the renos I’ve done on the kitchen for their Real People Reno series yesterday. You can check it out at Woman vs. Kitchen.
Gotta say, it caught me kind of off guard. Last week during the Mike Holmes show they were [...]

An Example of Evil Socialized Healthcare

While our friends to the south are debating the future of their country’s health care system, I thought I’d give a story of Canada’s health care from my point of view.
One seemingly popular tactic of the GOP is it scare Americans into thinking that a Canadian-like health care system will only lead to death and [...]

Desiderata

The following poem was read by my friend’s father at her wedding.
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and [...]

Card-making better than scrapbooking

Recently, I’ve gotten into making cards. You know, like greeting cards. It’s kind of a fun, quick little craft, and the recipients are generally thrilled.
How did I decide to start doing it? Well, I have a problem with buying craft supplies. I really shouldn’t be allowed into craft stores unsupervised; when I am, I come [...]

Yummy ‘Mexican’-style Meatloaf

For those of you who know me, you know I like to cook. But you probably don’t know that I’ve never actually followed a recipe exactly, and I’ve probably never made the same dish the same way twice. I like to experiment, and I sometimes think I know better than cook book authors
I [...]

I’m not voting for Harper because…

Aside from my issues with the Conservative Party of Canada and their values and policies, there are several reasons why I think Harper has been an inadequate leader.

After claiming that he wants Canada to hold elections only every 4 years, he turns around and calls an election. I cannot trust what he says, and I [...]

My 2008 Election Wish List

The 2008 federal election was just announced two days ago, but already I’m sick of hearing about it. Honestly, none of the parties have anything new to say. My mind is pretty much made up as to which candidate I will be voting for, but it almost seems like I’m choosing the least bad out [...]